Database Users

Compete Android OS Image restoration / backup?

Hey all,
When I had my Windows mobile phone, I could use Sprite Backup to make a backup that basically acted as an image that I could store on the SD Card. I could then do anything possible to my phone, and then I could simply restore the image, and it went back to the EXACT state it was when i took the image - registry, ALL apps, messages, icons, etc..., just like a 100% hard drive image.
I have Sprite backup on my Samsung Epic now, and was wondering if it acted the same way?
That is, if I install a custom rom, I would like to be able to factory restore it, then apply the backup to take it back to the exact state it was.
Is this how it works?
Thanks,
Matt!

It's called a nand backup and one of the benefits of rooting
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

Great,
I'm rooted, so I'll. Check it out....
Thanks!

Get the one click root and recovery. Once you have clockwork mod you can do a full backup. Also you can do an "advanced restore" and just restore your /data.
I have found that sometimes a restore doesn't work correctly and I have to reflash the rom and just restore /data to put my apps and settings back.
A word of warning, sometimes when you flash an old /data to a new rom it causes issues with programs. Personally, I have had very few issues doing it, even when moving between 2.1 and 2.2.1, but ymmv.

Why are my Clockworkmod backups unusable?

So, I just rooted my Mytouch 4G a few days ago using the 'Ultimate' guide on this forum. I had root access and I disabled and deleted some stock apps from my phone. I was using LauncherPro instead of the HTC Sense launcher. I made a backup in Clockworkmod recovery immediately after installing Clockworkmod, before I'd made any major changes.
So, I spent the past few days removing and tweaking things. I had my phone working extremely well. But then I realized that I actually wanted an .apk file (the stock visual voicemail app) that I'd already deleted from the phone. It should be in my original backup file, right? So I figured that I'd make a new backup, restore my old backup containing the .apk file, copy the .apk file off of the phone, then restore my recent backup. Well...this didn't work.
When I restored either the original backup or the more recent backup, the phone would boot up and I'd get a message that the System UIDs are inconsistent. The phone would let me make phone calls, but 95% of my apps were missing from the loader. Most of the icons on my home screens were grayed out and would tell me the applications were missing when I tried to click on them.
I tried Fix Permissions in Clockworkmod recovery, but it didn't help. My Android Market app and all of my file manager apps didn't work, so I couldn't reinstall any apps. When I'd wipe all the data on my phone, but only restore the System backup, the Android Market would work and the phone basically returns to stock. But as soon as I restore my Data backup, everything breaks.
At this point, I've already wiped the phone and started over from scratch, but I'm afraid to rely on Clockworkmod/Rom Manager for backups again. Any ideas what went wrong?

did you flash a different kernel? this may be the issue, as I know that for other devices CWM does not restore the kernel.

this happens when your backups/card gets corrupted... it could of been a number of things... changing the name of something to how much you scan the card... hard to say exactly what caused it... If your really worried about it I would suggest making a backup of your backup on your computer just to be safe...

Hmm. Mine does.
mr.tenuki said:
did you flash a different kernel? this may be the issue, as I know that for other devices CWM does not restore the kernel.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my stickie key HTC Glacier using XDA App

I did make a backup of my backup, but it's not like these backups sat on the memory card for months before they got used. I ran the restore within minutes of when I made the last backup. Besides, aren't the backups hashed with md5 and then retested before restoring? So, if the files did get corrupted, I would think Clockworkmod would have notified me, no?
I just wish that after making a backup, there was some way to test it out without taking the chance of trashing my phone.
Regarding using a different kernel, I did not. I did not flash any experimental/downloaded images, these were simple backups and restores of my existing phone data.

mr.tenuki said:
did you flash a different kernel? this may be the issue, as I know that for other devices CWM does not restore the kernel.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is for phones that dont support Nand like the vibrant. HTC phones is a full backup including kernel.

sundayhustler said:
I did make a backup of my backup, but it's not like these backups sat on the memory card for months before they got used. I ran the restore within minutes of when I made the last backup. Besides, aren't the backups hashed with md5 and then retested before restoring? So, if the files did get corrupted, I would think Clockworkmod would have notified me, no?
I just wish that after making a backup, there was some way to test it out without taking the chance of trashing my phone.
Regarding using a different kernel, I did not. I did not flash any experimental/downloaded images, these were simple backups and restores of my existing phone data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your right, CWM does do a md5 check when restoring. I'm sorry, I don't know what could be wrong. I currently have like 5 backups of 4 ROMS and have to restored to just to play around. Did you do apps2sd? This can cause major issues when switching ROM's.

I am also having a problem restoring to my stock rom. how big does my backup file have to be?

I have had this problem before. I think in my case my issue was caused by and incompatible version of CWM. I found that to be safe, I usually make two back ups, one with recovery in 2.5.12 and one with 3.0.0.6.

It was the file. It was only 60mb, apparently I ran out of memory thanks though my other backups work fine and I found the stock rom on a thread.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App

oh haha i was about to post.

[Q] Any way to do a full offline backup?

I just noticed that the current clockworkmod for the Nexus 4 generates backups that only include images for boot and recovery.
Is there any way to get a full backup of everything on the device, which can be restored to return the phone to exactly the same state it was in? Having all files in formats that can be restored via fastboot would be ideal (just reflash boot/recovery/system/userdata).
Typically the solution is to dump all of this to the sd card, but since this phone doesn't have an sd card it would probably make sense to just send it over adb to be written to a PC (which is how I believe nandroid used to work when I first started using it on my G1).
If nothing exists I guess I can probably just whip up a script that runs over adb from an insecure recovery.
Why not just use titanium/etc? Well, I do, and that would be my solution for restoring individual apps/etc. However, if I want to mess with an experimental ROM for a few hours I'd rather just do a full image of the whole device and then restore it when I'm done. If I have image files I can restore via fastboot then I know that the phone is restored to the exact state it was in when I started.

I just use TWRP once a month or anytime I make critical changes to my system. (aka NANDROID backup) And also Titanium Backup Pro for individuality of app storage.
Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

Hate to self-reply, but the other reason I don't like Titanium is that it isn't atomic. Time passes between the first and last backup, so the phone might not be restored to a consistent state. It is better than nothing, and it is as good as you can do for an online backup without converting the phone to something like btrfs, but I'd really prefer an atomic backup, which is best done offline unless the OS is designed for it.

chinchillables said:
I just use TWRP once a month or anytime I make critical changes to my system. (aka NANDROID backup) And also Titanium Backup Pro for individuality of app storage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Believe it or not I hadn't heard of TWRP. That seems to work better - I'll see if I prefer it to clockworkmod - if nothing else I'll just boot it from fastboot for backups.
I also use Ti Backup Pro for individual apps. I think that there is a place for both.

[Q] Smooth Rom 4.4

Hi
As you've prob guessed I'm a noob, hence the help.
Ive just recently rooted and unlocked my nexus 7 with wugfresh 1.6.2 and am now looking at putting a custom rom on it.
Ive followed the advice and put titanium backup on and backed up my apps and system data.
Having read the instructions for installing Smooth Rom 4.4, it states 'Please do not restore a 'system' data backup as it would overwritte some important files'
does this mean I cannot restore my apps from titanium backup as I cant restore system data as they where backed up together or is there some other way for me to do it ?
does titanium backup get wiped as well ?
All Help appreciated, this is my first rom install and I dont wanna **** it up.

Robbie_UK said:
All Help appreciated, this is my first rom install and I dont wanna **** it up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The most important thing to do is to make a FULL nandroid backup before you begin.
The 2nd most important thing to do is to get that backup copied someplace else besides the tablet. (PC, USB key, etc) Screw-ups involving accidental erasure of the psuedo- SD card area on the tablet are commonplace with folks that are new to this. It won't do you any good to make a backup if you immediately erase it while fooling around with a custom recovery (or toolkit) that is new to you.
I suggest you learn to make backups using the custom recovery rather than relying on a toolkit.
If you are happy with the tablet in it's current configuration, then a back-up allows you to survive any ****-ups that inevitably follow as you can return back to a known state and proceed again having learned from your mistakes.
FULL NANDROID BACKUPS. COPIED SOMEPLACE SAFE (OFF THE TABLET)
As for TiB, the only thing that is 100% safe is to only restore apps & their data that are NOT pre-installed in whatever ROM you are installing. Note this means not restoring any of the Google gapps as well, as you may have had a different versions of those apps running on your current ROM than on the to-be-installed ROM, whether pre-installed or updated later.
Yeah it's a bit of work restoring apps one by one and re-configuring things. There probably are System apps that can have their data safely restored to the wrong version of the app - but there are absolutely no guarantees that correct operation of the app will follow that.
cheers and good luck

[Q] Recovery question

I rooted my device with wug's toolkit and was running TWRP. The OTA came out so i flashed back to stock, unrooted to update to JWR66Y. Now i rooted the device again and also have TWRP. Before i flashed back to stock i backed everything up with titanium backup, i created an android backup with the toolkit and i also created a nandroid backup with the toolkit. I then restored my nandroid backup with the toolkit and the OTA was not applied anymore and i was back to square one. my mistake.... what do i have to do to put everything back the way it was without it reverting back to JWR66V? I am sorta new to this and have a good general knowledge of what is going on and i just need to know what direction to go in.
thanks

I am now rooted with TWRP again... Back to stock with none of my apps but I am up to date with the OTA. Still dont know what direction to go in to restore everything as it was and keep the JWR66Y update.

If you just restore the data partition, that should give you your user apps and app data back but im unsure how well it will work restoring 4.2 data to a 4.3 os
Sent from my LG-P768 using xda app-developers app

donk165 said:
If you just restore the data partition, that should give you your user apps and app data back but im unsure how well it will work restoring 4.2 data to a 4.3 os
Sent from my LG-P768 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok thanks alot.
I was on 4.3 JWR66V before i flashed stock and updated to JWR66Y. Should i use wug's toolkit to restore (just data, not system) or do it through titanium backup?

flyers27 said:
Ok thanks alot.
I was on 4.3 JWR66V before i flashed stock and updated to JWR66Y. Should i use wug's toolkit to restore (just data, not system) or do it through titanium backup?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Id say try using the toolkit first, if it doesnt work, wipe data partition and then try using titanium backup. Another good tool is nandroid manager, i use that to restore apps and data from a CWM nandroid backup. If you put the nandroid backup from the toolkit onto your tab and then use nandroid manager and see if it will read the backup.
Good luck!

donk165 said:
Id say try using the toolkit first, if it doesnt work, wipe data partition and then try using titanium backup. Another good tool is nandroid manager, i use that to restore apps and data from a CWM nandroid backup. If you put the nandroid backup from the toolkit onto your tab and then use nandroid manager and see if it will read the backup.
Good luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok, i just recovered only the data from my nandroid backup with the toolkit and it seemed like everything was ok at first. I tried a few games and they worked until i tried ones that i had saved game data and realized my saved games were not saved. Also the games i had with obb files previously did not work because the obb files were gone. Another thing... all my apk's on the internal card are not there, yet the games are working. I then took the titanium backup folder that i copied to my computer with the backup and put it on the internal card and loaded titanium backup. It did not recognize the folder and it showed that i did not have anything backed up at all.
now what to do?

Update: I clicked on the batch button on titanium backup and was able to try and restore my apps and data. It did not put the apk's back on the internal card or allow me to play my saved games.... I also tried just to restore the Andoid backup using the tookit and that didnt bring anything back either.
I flashed the stock recovery and unrooted with the toolkit to undo everything i just did. I then rooted the device and added TWRP using the toolkit. Now i am rooted with none of my previous apps or saved games, but i am updated to JWR66Y.
Hopefully someone can help me restore all my apps and saved games because what ive done isnt working.

I really dont want to put all the apk's and reinstall all my games and apps back on my nexus. Someone must have some insight please.
thanks

flyers27 said:
I really dont want to put all the apk's and reinstall all my games and apps back on my nexus. Someone must have some insight please.
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, flyers27...
Sorry to read about your difficulties restoring you tablet back to it's pre-4.3 glory.
Unfortunately, there are no easy shortcuts to getting all your apps back the way they where. You're going to have to use Titanium... your NANDROIDs from 4.2.2 won't really help you...
If you have Titanium backups of your apps on your Nexus 7 (by default they're located in /storage/emulated/0/TitaniumBackup), then it's just a case of going through each listed app backup and selecting either (from the Backup/Restore tab) Restore App only or Restore App+Data.
Personally, I only ever use Batch for backing up apps, preferring a more discretionary approach to the apps I restore, and whether or not I choose to restore a given apps associated data. It is, I grant, a bit of a slog, but it's not a task that's going to crop up everyday... it's just a once-in-while-sort-of-thing.
----------------------------------------------------------
Up until Jellybean 4.3 was released a few weeks ago, I'd been happily running a Jellybean 4.2.2 based custom ROM/Kernel combo for six months or so, and I knew if I wanted to avail myself of Jellybean 4.3, I had to wipe the metaphorical slate clean and begin anew.
Here is what I did...
----------------------------------------------------------
1). Performed a NANDROID backup of my (then) 4.2.2 based Custom ROM/Kernel combo. This was more for insurance sake, so should anything go wrong, I could easily get a working system back, relatively quickly. But if everything went according to plan (which it did), that NANDROID backup would be essentially redundant (which it was).
2). Performed a full Titanium backup of all my 150+ user installed apps.
3). Copied EVERYTHING off of my Nexus 7, to my laptop. (NANDROIDs, Titanium backups, Videos, Music, Documents, Images, etc., et.al.)
4). Fastboot flashed Jellybean 4.3 (build JWR66V). Which, also wiped the tablet.
5). Fastboot flashed TWRP and Rooted.
6). Copied EVERYHING (except the NANDROID), back to my Nexus 7. (Titanium backups, Videos, Music, Documents, Images, etc., et.al.)
7). Set about the business of selectively restoring my Titanium backed-up apps.
----------------------------------------------------------
I had the whole thing done in slightly less than 2 hours. Upgraded from 4.2.2 custom to 4.3 stock... and rooted.
Sometimes there are no easy ways; you've just gotta bite the bullet, and get it done. And none of this is technically difficult, it's just a bit tedious.
In your case, it shouldn't take that long... if you have your Titanium backups on your Nexus 7, just restore what you want FOR NOW... and perhaps maybe come back to those less urgent apps at a later date. Not everything has to be restored immediately. The difference between TWRP/CWM NANDROIDS and Titanium, is the former is Monolithic (the restore is all or nothing), but the latter is Granular (you can cherry pick from Titanium).
Anyway... just my thoughts. Hope it helps.
Rgrds,
Ged.

GedBlake said:
Hi, flyers27...
Sorry to read about your difficulties restoring you tablet back to it's pre-4.3 glory.
Unfortunately, there are no easy shortcuts to getting all your apps back the way they where. You're going to have to use Titanium... your NANDROIDs from 4.2.2 won't really help you...
If you have Titanium backups of your apps on your Nexus 7 (by default they're located in /storage/emulated/0/TitaniumBackup), then it's just a case of going through each listed app backup and selecting either (from the Backup/Restore tab) Restore App only or Restore App+Data.
Personally, I only ever use Batch for backing up apps, preferring a more discretionary approach to the apps I restore, and whether or not I choose to restore a given apps associated data. It is, I grant, a bit of a slog, but it's not a task that's going to crop up everyday... it's just a once-in-while-sort-of-thing.
----------------------------------------------------------
Up until Jellybean 4.3 was released a few weeks ago, I'd been happily running a Jellybean 4.2.2 based custom ROM/Kernel combo for six months or so, and I knew if I wanted to avail myself of Jellybean 4.3, I had to wipe the metaphorical slate clean and begin anew.
Here is what I did...
----------------------------------------------------------
1). Performed a NANDROID backup of my (then) 4.2.2 based Custom ROM/Kernel combo. This was more for insurance sake, so should anything go wrong, I could easily get a working system back, relatively quickly. But if everything went according to plan (which it did), that NANDROID backup would be essentially redundant (which it was).
2). Performed a full Titanium backup of all my 150+ user installed apps.
3). Copied EVERYTHING off of my Nexus 7, to my laptop. (NANDROIDs, Titanium backups, Videos, Music, Documents, Images, etc., et.al.)
4). Fastboot flashed Jellybean 4.3 (build JWR66V). Which, also wiped the tablet.
5). Fastboot flashed TWRP and Rooted.
6). Copied EVERYHING (except the NANDROID), back to my Nexus 7. (Titanium backups, Videos, Music, Documents, Images, etc., et.al.)
7). Set about the business of selectively restoring my Titanium backed-up apps.
----------------------------------------------------------
I had the whole thing done in slightly less than 2 hours. Upgraded from 4.2.2 custom to 4.3 stock... and rooted.
Sometimes there are no easy ways; you've just gotta bite the bullet, and get it done. And none of this is technically difficult, it's just a bit tedious.
In your case, it shouldn't take that long... if you have your Titanium backups on your Nexus 7, just restore what you want FOR NOW... and perhaps maybe come back to those less urgent apps at a later date. Not everything has to be restored immediately. The difference between TWRP/CWM NANDROIDS and Titanium, is the former is Monolithic (the restore is all or nothing), but the latter is Granular (you can cherry pick from Titanium).
Anyway... just my thoughts. Hope it helps.
Rgrds,
Ged.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thank you very much, i will try what you said.