Database Users

Messed up home screen after backup

I apologize if this post isn't very clear, I'm tired and English is not my native language...
I upgraded to Cyanogen's 5.0.7 Test 5 ROM not too long ago from CM 4.2.14.1. Before doing that I backed up my app data wit Backup for root users. I haven't done that before, so I checked multiple boxes, not knowing which one was the correct one. The tutorial I followed then stated I should check the SD-card to make sure only app data was backed-up, and no system data.
So I checked and found only maps from my apps.
So far so good.
However, when I restored the app data, my home screen got messed up. It thinks the fourth screen is the center one (so it goes there when pressing the home button) and all widgets say "Problem loading this widget". Also I can't change anything. I Can't remove or rearrange widgets or shortcuts. If I try to do so, Android crashes (FC on android.process.acore).
I'm pretty sure it is completely my own fault, not a bug in the ROM. When I restored the data I must have corrupted the file in which the home screen data is stored.
So, finally my questions: Is there a way to restore this without doing a wipe (I'm guessing re-flashing without a wipe will still keep the corrupted settings)?
If anyone can tell me which file is responsible for the home screen settings, can I delete it so Android will restore it with a new (empty) one?
Can I replace it with someone else's? Or extract it from a ROM-file?
That are the solutions I came up with. If its easier to just wipe and re-flash, tell me and I will do so. I just hoped there was a way I can prevent having to set up the phone all over again...
Thanks in advance!

Did you nandroid backup? If you did, restore it and backup all your apps using Titanium Backup. Backup for root users has always gave me problems as well. Titanium Backup allows all the same options that you need, but just works better imho.
If you didn't nandroid and can't do that - I'm pretty sure a wipe is your only option. You can try fix_permissions from the terminal, but I don't think it's going to fix your problems.

I did do a nandroid backup, but that was just before I flashed CM 5... I guess restoring a nandroid backup from my CM 4.2.14.1 setup is not a good idea?
Hmm, guess I will be re-flashing this evening Thanks anyway!
EDIT: I will use Titanium from now on... I had heard of it, but the tutorial I followed used Backup for root users...

Restoring a nandroid backup is NOT bad at all. That's what its there for. It doesn't matter if you nandroided a completely different ROM then flashed CM5. Flashing a new ROM doesn't affect the nandroid backup EVER.
You flash a nasty, nasty ROM and are like, "Oh ****!" Just go nandroid.
I usually wipe all data/cache before restoring, but some people don't. Either way, it completely restores your phone to the state it was at before backing up. This includes applications and everything. (App data, system settings, app settings, etc.)

I thought nandroid just restored system files and settings... But if it completely restores my phone, a might just as well wipe and re-flash since it will restore it to the previous ROM.
Thanks for the info, I have learned some more about my phone

Some super-simple noob backup questions

Quick and to the point:
1. Is a clockwork backup a full image of the system, such that if I restore from it no matter what kernel, rom, mod, etc. I've installed, I get exactly the completely system and state that I had when I made the backup? I.e., it is a true failsafe against messing up the phone, so long as CWR will boot and the SD card is intact?
2. A complete backup with Titanium, backing up all apps and system data, is a migration path for trying a new ROM? IOW, I can simply do a complete backup with Titanium, wipe wipe wipe, install the target ROM, then restore "missing apps and data" from Titanium and -- voila! I'm on the new ROM, but with all my apps, configuration, etc. I had before?
I'm getting ready to try out the Syndicate ROM...

dwallersv said:
Quick and to the point:
1. Is a clockwork backup a full image of the system, such that if I restore from it no matter what kernel, rom, mod, etc. I've installed, I get exactly the completely system and state that I had when I made the backup? I.e., it is a true failsafe against messing up the phone, so long as CWR will boot and the SD card is intact?
2. A complete backup with Titanium, backing up all apps and system data, is a migration path for trying a new ROM? IOW, I can simply do a complete backup with Titanium, wipe wipe wipe, install the target ROM, then restore "missing apps and data" from Titanium and -- voila! I'm on the new ROM, but with all my apps, configuration, etc. I had before?
I'm getting ready to try out the Syndicate ROM...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ha! I am searching now for the exact same question! I am looking to try the Epic Experience. I will follow this thread to see what the answer is.
Thanks.

First off might I comment that Syndicate Rom is a great choice. Not just saying that cause any of them are my buddies either, cause IDK Any of them... so far though Running Syndicate Rom/Kernel with SetCPU at 200-1200 has been the smoothest Rom experience I have had up to date.
1. Is a clockwork backup a full image of the system, such that if I restore from it no matter what kernel, rom, mod, etc. I've installed, I get exactly the completely system and state that I had when I made the backup? I.e., it is a true failsafe against messing up the phone, so long as CWR will boot and the SD card is intact?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes in theory it is a backup of everything, data, apps installed, boot, system, literally the entire phone is backed up. Is it a failsafe though? I would rather say not. On some phones we can restore a clockwork recovery and have no issues, but since I've had my epic and switched around with different Roms, I've noticed that restore dosen't work quite as it should, probably because Roms are so much different, and you run into FC's, boot loops, and other issues... Restoring peices in advanced restore works well but a complete restore almost always has bugs.
True statement though that even if you screw up and get a boot loop, or constant force closes/phone restarts, as long as you can get back into clockwork your phone is not screwed. You were right on that one. So no worries if you wanna test and play.
2. A complete backup with Titanium, backing up all apps and system data, is a migration path for trying a new ROM? IOW, I can simply do a complete backup with Titanium, wipe wipe wipe, install the target ROM, then restore "missing apps and data" from Titanium and -- voila! I'm on the new ROM, but with all my apps, configuration, etc. I had before?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have the idea right. You really don't even need to back all your apps up with titanium anymore these days, though, it too is plagued with FC's and problems. If you are using clockwork recovery, and you have made a backup already... all you have to do when installing a NEW rom is first wipe-fest, then let it boot once, then restart, go to clockwork, go to Advanced Restore, and ONLY restore the DATA part. (Reason for this is if you restore Boot, System, etc it will try to restore the Rom you just installed... Data is where all your apps/settings are at) This will do exactly the same thing as titanium backup will do, only with less bugs and alot easier.

Cool... thanks for the great response.
It's too bad there isn't an iron-clad, 100% reliable means to take a snapshot of the phone that can be restored reliably.
On WM it was simply a matter of using one of the various backup utilities (I used SPB Backup 2) to make an image of the system. No matter what I did to the phone, I could always wipe it back to factory clean, then restore from backup and have my phone back exactly as it was, with no issues.
I'm trying a CW backup, factory reset, restore cycle right now to see what happens. I'll report back on my experience.
EDIT: Okay, one deviation from the WM experience: The factory reset did NOT reset the kernel -- MixUp is still showing as the running kernel. Is Odin the only way to get the factory kernel back?​No matter what, I'm on my way after that to the Syndicate ROM!
EDIT: Okay, the CW restore seems to have restored everything back to the way it was, without problems after some brief playing around. No FCs (so far). On to wiping again, installing Syndicate Standard, then restoring data from CW as recommended here.​

OperationMove said:
You have the idea right. You really don't even need to back all your apps up with titanium anymore these days, though, it too is plagued with FC's and problems. If you are using clockwork recovery, and you have made a backup already... all you have to do when installing a NEW rom is first wipe-fest, then let it boot once, then restart, go to clockwork, go to Advanced Restore, and ONLY restore the DATA part. (Reason for this is if you restore Boot, System, etc it will try to restore the Rom you just installed... Data is where all your apps/settings are at) This will do exactly the same thing as titanium backup will do, only with less bugs and alot easier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alright I took the plunge and it seemed to work well. Some things that I noticed was that on first boot (before I did the restore), all of the preinstalled apps showed up (for instance, wireless tether, wired tether, launcher pro, etc...). Since I did a restore of the data, all of MY apps are there, but some of the apps that were preinstalled disappeared. Not all of them, though. For example, Launcher Pro and Wired and wireless tether disappeared, but Car Home is still there.
Another thing to note is that my widgets on the home screen don't seem to function correctly at first. I had to remove them and readd them to the home screen for them to work.
Other than that, everything is as it should be.

hotwired34 said:
Alright I took the plunge and it seemed to work well. Some things that I noticed was that on first boot (before I did the restore), all of the preinstalled apps showed up (for instance, wireless tether, wired tether, launcher pro, etc...). Since I did a restore of the data, all of MY apps are there, but some of the apps that were preinstalled disappeared. Not all of them, though. For example, Launcher Pro and Wired and wireless tether disappeared, but Car Home is still there.
Another thing to note is that my widgets on the home screen don't seem to function correctly at first. I had to remove them and readd them to the home screen for them to work.
Other than that, everything is as it should be.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm... okay. So just to provide a different datapoint, I'll go the Titanium route to get my own apps and settings back, and report. I'm guessing CW wiped the DATA partition before the restore, wiping out the pre-installed stuff from the ROM.

dwallersv said:
Hmmm... okay. So just to provide a different datapoint, I'll go the Titanium route to get my own apps and settings back, and report. I'm guessing CW wiped the DATA partition before the restore, wiping out the pre-installed stuff from the ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, since yesterday, I tried both ways. I did a wipe back to the default Syndicate Rom and installed Titanium Backup. While restoring, I noticed that not all apps would restore (seemed to be ones that were in the stock ROM so it's understandable). I did a restore of apps + data. Now, I had most of my apps back, however, I noticed that some of the data was missing. For me, most importantly was the SMS Messages. I also wanted to note that doing an application by application restore of the backup was very time consuming! I had to basically reinstall every app (and then Titanium restored the data)

Nandroid doesnt seem to touch the kernel on our phones ether I noticed. I had a problem yesterday after I flashed a new rom and when I went to do a restore through nandroid I got a bootloop. Once I reflashed the kernel it fixed the bootlooping problem. I have noticed this in other instances to with kernels not being backed up since I did one after I rooted my phone so I would have a stock image.

Thanks guys on your experience and feedback on the backup thing that I'm wondering what to do after stock root.
dito33
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

pyroswithoutfire said:
Nandroid doesnt seem to touch the kernel on our phones ether I noticed. I had a problem yesterday after I flashed a new rom and when I went to do a restore through nandroid I got a bootloop. Once I reflashed the kernel it fixed the bootlooping problem. I have noticed this in other instances to with kernels not being backed up since I did one after I rooted my phone so I would have a stock image.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is what I have been told in the past- a nandroid restore does not replace the kernel

Nandroid - apps crashing after restore

I I have a Galaxy S4 with KitKat 4.4.2 and TWRP installed. I have been using Nandroid for backups.
Today I (stupidly) deleted the CSC.apk file with Uninstall and the phone started acting really strangely. I tried restoring the CSC app but it wouldn't do it (I tried multiple times). So I booted into TWRP recovery mode and did a full restore which worked fine...until I rebooted the phone.
I have quite a few apps that continually crash with:
Unfortunately, (App Name) has stopped
and then all I can do is tap the OK button. After tapping OK the errors popup continuously.
Is this normal? How can I fix this without reflashing the phone? This is my first restore ever done with Nandroid Any ideas? Annoyingly I also lost the activation for my GPS app (CoPilot). I thought Nandroid was an exact clone/backup so when you screw the phone up you can restore back to EXACTLY how the phone was when the backup was done?
Anyway, appreciate any help or thoughts on how I can get my apps to work without the constant stopping popups!
Thank you!

Can anyone help please?

Go back into recovery and wipe both the regular cache and dalvik cache.
As to the lost CoPilot activation, you'll need to contact CoPilot, then explain the situation to them, and they should be able to help you.

Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
Go back into recovery and wipe both the regular cache and dalvik cache.
As to the lost CoPilot activation, you'll need to contact CoPilot, then explain the situation to them, and they should be able to help you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! I tried that but after wiping both caches and rebooting the phone and entering my SIM PIN, I am still constantly getting the "Unfortunately, (App Name) has stopped".
Is there anything else I can try? I'm a but confused by this as I thought Nandroid was an exect image of the phone! I'm not worried about CoPilot at all but the rest is important

Do a factory reset from within TWRP, then restore from the nandroid backup. How old is this nandroid?

Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
Do a factory reset from within TWRP, then restore from the nandroid backup. How old is this nandroid?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll give that a try tonight. I am running Nandroid 4.4.5 and the backups were created about a week ago.
Many thanks for your help!

BB007BB said:
I'll give that a try tonight. I am running Nandroid 4.4.5 and the backups were created about a week ago.
Many thanks for your help!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So I tried doing a factory reset from TWRP and then doing a Nandroid restrore but after rebooting the phone I was still getting LOTS of errors with applications not working. Even the firewall wouldn't work as it couldn't find the config file.
I don't get it, I thought Nandroid made an EXACT image of your phone so if something went wrong and you performed a restore, your phone would be back to a working state?

BB007BB said:
So I tried doing a factory reset from TWRP and then doing a Nandroid restrore but after rebooting the phone I was still getting LOTS of errors with applications not working. Even the firewall wouldn't work as it couldn't find the config file.
I don't get it, I thought Nandroid made an EXACT image of your phone so if something went wrong and you performed a restore, your phone would be back to a working state?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It does, but your backup can get corrupted.

Warning: TWRP Restore on 7.0 may not work as intended..

EDIT 10/30/2016:
From some of the replies on this thread, I have reached the conclusion that this is not a widespread problem (duh.)
However, if you are locked out of your Nexus after a restore, I have found that the best solution was given by @toknitup420
Best Solution:
In TWRP (or ADB whatever you prefer) go into Advanced --> File Manager and navigate to /data/system/.
Locate locksettings.db and rename/delete it.
Reboot, unlock device, go to Settings --> Security and set a new screen lock passcode. The best part about this solution is that your previously registered fingerprints still work (mine did.)
Some suggested updating TWRP to the latest unofficial 3.0.2-3.
Flashing this version and restoring using it did not fix the issue for me personally, but if you would like to try then here is the link I found searching XDA.
**************************************************
OP:
Disclaimer: I am an XDA n00b, I've frequented these forums for a long while now, but I have never made an account and actually posted until now.
Also, I am using build NRD90U on my Nexus 6p
Not sure if anyone else has had these issues, but last night I had problems restoring from a nandroid backup on TWRP.
First issue:
TWRP would not restore System + Vendor + Data all in one operation. During the Data portion of the restore, it threw an error and cancelled the operation (for the life of me I wish I wrote it down, it was 3am and I just wanted to sleep.)
The Fix: I had to first restore System + Vendor, then reboot back into TWRP. Upon rebooting, TWRP prompts to allow modification of system. I accepted (by swiping) and proceeded to restore ONLY the Data from the nandroid backup.
Second issue:
Upon booting into my fully restored phone, I got locked out of the lockscreen. My pattern would not work, and no matter how many times I tried, I could not get to the "Forgot Pattern?" prompt so that I could change my password. Great.
The Fix: No option but to factory restore. I just booted into fastboot, followed Heisenberg's Flash Guide for the Nexus 6p Step 9 to flash everything except for my Internal Storage partition. Booted into a fresh version of android Nougat, and restored from a Titanium Backup.
I haven't seen any information or talk of turning off the passcode before backing up android in TWRP, but I suspect you should do this to avoid a fully restored system that you are locked out of . (Note: I am not talking about the passcode to boot feature, that was turned off for me in this case, and you should too because this is well known to cause issues when restoring. I am referring to the passcode at the actual lockscreen)
TLDR; Restore Data partition after restoring System + Vendor and reboot back into recovery, and turn off all passcode features before creating a nandroid backup.

This is a known topic, nothing new lol.

tatico28 said:
This is a known topic, nothing new lol.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for acknowledging the disclaimer, just trying to help folks on Google. I didn't find out about it until it was too late.

aeg3d said:
Disclaimer: I am an XDA n00b, I've frequented these forums for a long while now, but I have never made an account and actually posted until now.
Also, I am using build NRD90U on my Nexus 6p
Not sure if anyone else has had these issues, but last night I had problems restoring from a nandroid backup on TWRP.
First issue:
TWRP would not restore System + Vendor + Data all in one operation. During the Data portion of the restore, it threw an error and cancelled the operation (for the life of me I wish I wrote it down, it was 3am and I just wanted to sleep.)
The Fix: I had to first restore System + Vendor, then reboot back into TWRP. Upon rebooting, TWRP prompts to allow modification of system. I accepted (by swiping) and proceeded to restore ONLY the Data from the nandroid backup.
Second issue:
Upon booting into my fully restored phone, I got locked out of the lockscreen. My pattern would not work, and no matter how many times I tried, I could not get to the "Forgot Pattern?" prompt so that I could change my password. Great.
The Fix: No option but to factory restore. I just booted into fastboot, followed Heisenberg's Flash Guide for the Nexus 6p Step 9 to flash everything except for my Internal Storage partition. Booted into a fresh version of android Nougat, and restored from a Titanium Backup.
I haven't seen any information or talk of turning off the passcode before backing up android in TWRP, but I suspect you should do this to avoid a fully restored system that you are locked out of . (Note: I am not talking about the passcode to boot feature, that was turned off for me in this case, and you should too because this is well known to cause issues when restoring. I am referring to the passcode at the actual lockscreen)
TLDR; Restore Data partition after restoring System + Vendor and reboot back into recovery, and turn off all passcode features before creating a nandroid backup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"Warning: before you make a backup with TWRP you must remove all lockscreen security. If you do not do this you will not be able to unlock your device after restoring your backup (entering your pin will result in an "incorrect pin" message), you'll be forced to perform a factory reset to boot into Android. To remove lockscreen security go to Settings>Security>Screen Lock and set it to swipe/none."
I have two pins. One to unlock sim and one to unlock phone. I'm not sure which one you're referring to because I didn't turn off my pin to unlock sim card and I didn't get locked out after restore.
What did stump me was getting a half working phone since the restore included vendor.img which no one said to uncheck before restoring.

tropical cactus said:
I have two pins. One to unlock sim and one to unlock phone. I'm not sure which one you're referring to because I didn't turn off my pin to unlock sim card and I didn't get locked out after restore.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah, that is a feature that I do not use and didn't consider. What I was referring to was turning off the lock screen passcode (boot passcode should also be off, this is a known issue)
tropical cactus said:
What did stump me was getting a half working phone since the restore included vendor.img which no one said to uncheck before restoring.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah yes it is very unclear exactly what to have checked/unchecked for TWRP. I've always been under the impression a System + Vendor + Data backup is sufficient, maybe also check the EFS for extra security (you should back up EFS at least once and keep in a safe place, your phone depends on this to connect to cell towers. If it's corrupted and you have no backup, you're in trouble)

I use TWRP 3.0.2.3 and nandroids restored fine on 7.0 and 7.1 DP with lock screen pin enabled
Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

scoot0073 said:
I use TWRP 3.0.2.3 and nandroids restored fine on 7.0 and 7.1 DP with lock screen pin enabled
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Perhaps it's because I was using TWRP 3.0.2-2.. I'll have to try again later tonight to see if that's the case.
Good to know though, maybe what I experienced is an isolated issue.

3.0.2.2 I believe if I remember I had to disable security lock screen pin b4 I made a nandroid.
But the unofficial 3.0.2.3 not the case
Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

aeg3d said:
Disclaimer: I am an XDA n00b, I've frequented these forums for a long while now, but I have never made an account and actually posted until now.
Also, I am using build NRD90U on my Nexus 6p
Not sure if anyone else has had these issues, but last night I had problems restoring from a nandroid backup on TWRP.
First issue:
TWRP would not restore System + Vendor + Data all in one operation. During the Data portion of the restore, it threw an error and cancelled the operation (for the life of me I wish I wrote it down, it was 3am and I just wanted to sleep.)
The Fix: I had to first restore System + Vendor, then reboot back into TWRP. Upon rebooting, TWRP prompts to allow modification of system. I accepted (by swiping) and proceeded to restore ONLY the Data from the nandroid backup.
Second issue:
Upon booting into my fully restored phone, I got locked out of the lockscreen. My pattern would not work, and no matter how many times I tried, I could not get to the "Forgot Pattern?" prompt so that I could change my password. Great.
The Fix: No option but to factory restore. I just booted into fastboot, followed Heisenberg's Flash Guide for the Nexus 6p Step 9 to flash everything except for my Internal Storage partition. Booted into a fresh version of android Nougat, and restored from a Titanium Backup.
I haven't seen any information or talk of turning off the passcode before backing up android in TWRP, but I suspect you should do this to avoid a fully restored system that you are locked out of . (Note: I am not talking about the passcode to boot feature, that was turned off for me in this case, and you should too because this is well known to cause issues when restoring. I am referring to the passcode at the actual lockscreen)
TLDR; Restore Data partition after restoring System + Vendor and reboot back into recovery, and turn off all passcode features before creating a nandroid backup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All you needed to do was delete locksettings.db in twrp before rebooting. That deletes lock screen security pin. Then you can just reboot and add pin back in settings. Easy.

toknitup420 said:
All you needed to do was delete locksettings.db in twrp before rebooting. That deletes lock screen security pin. Then you can just reboot and add pin back in settings. Easy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought I read somewhere on XDA that this could potentially break the feature (a.k.a. wouldn't be able to reset a new passcode after getting access to homescreen.)

aeg3d said:
I thought I read somewhere on XDA that this could potentially break the feature (a.k.a. wouldn't be able to reset a new passcode after getting access to homescreen.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been doing it like that for months now with no issues.

toknitup420 said:
I've been doing it like that for months now with no issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK I'll have to try that as well, others seem to say it was an error that was patched in the latest TWRP (I was apparently using a slightly older version). Thanks for the tip!

scoot0073 said:
3.0.2.2 I believe if I remember I had to disable security lock screen pin b4 I made a nandroid.
But the unofficial 3.0.2.3 not the case
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK that seems to be the consensus, that I was using a slightly older version of TWRP with this bug. Going to flash tonight to confirm!

Screen lock pattern not recognized after restoring stock TWRP backups

After restoring in TWRP and booting to system the correct pattern wasn't recognized, meaning I couldn't authenticate thus rendering the backup useless. Tried all three backups I had of stock or stock-rooted with the same result, all using the same pattern since getting the phone. Interestingly, though, my latest non-stock ROM's backup, which I'd also set up with the same pattern, was recognized correctly after restoring, so it doesn't seem to be a problem with TWRP.
My only way to return to stock was by flashing the full firmware and setting up again from square one. I've made two fresh backups (before and after setting up my stuff) after temporarily setting the screen lock to none/slide. If others have been able to restore stock backups with their pattern security intact, please let us know. Otherwise I'd advise disabling lock screen security before backing up, and not trusting existing stock backups that weren't done that way.

Had the same problem on other phones. Fixed it by deleting all *.key files in ./data/system via TWRP Filemanager.

Had the same problem, I switched to PIN after a full restore. Good to know there is a fix!

http://cloud.tapatalk.com/s/59cd07bf923a3/LockscreenKey.zip
Flash this if you are locked out of your phone
Sent from my XT1687 using Tapatalk

thudenska said:
Had the same problem on other phones. Fixed it by deleting all *.key files in ./data/system via TWRP Filemanager.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, this solves the problem. However, I recommend to disable the lock before doing the backup (and reenable after).
:laugh:

This problem also occurs when you use a multibooting environment. As soon as you switch back to the first rom, the the pattern isn't recognized. It's driving me crazy! Somehow the patterns don't survive a backup or a change such as installing a second rom...

robot_head said:
http://cloud.tapatalk.com/s/59cd07bf923a3/LockscreenKey.zip
Flash this if you are locked out of your phone
Sent from my XT1687 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome - thanks!
Got into this little pattern lock-out mess when I restored a good working ROM. Did TWRP full-wipe with System partition to do good housekeeping prior to Restore. Restore worked fine except my Pattern Security feature wasn't working. Flashed your Zip Install - worked great and got me in fine after reboot.
Cool to have your Zip Unlocker around in case this happens again.
Thanks - John