Database Develop

is flashing rom like a bios flash?

Hi There I know this is probably a stupid question but when you flash your rom (assuming it all works OK!) does it affect programs installed?
I would like to flash to a version with GPS but Can't be bothered to start installing software from scratch!

Depends what you're flashing. You can flash various discrete parts of the phone, eg JUST the radio, JUST the extended rom etc, but flashing the OS will effectively wipe out your device. You can recognise an OS flash because it'll be quite large, say > 30mb.
Best advice if you must flash, is take a full backup first, do the flash, and then restore your backup. This is not always wise or effective because new flashes can have new registry settings etc which get FUBARd when you write over them with your backup, but it might work. And if not, you can always revert to your original rom, and then your backup WILL work.
V

Cool, Thanks!
So this http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=294718 which is lvsw's rom for gps functionality which is 47 meg will be a whole new OS because it is big?

To reiterate...
Will a rom flash to enable GPS mean that I have to install all of my programs from scratch?
Thanks!

wingnutLP said:
To reiterate...
Will a rom flash to enable GPS mean that I have to install all of my programs from scratch?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, unless you use a backup program that specifically supports restore after a ROM upgrage, such as Sprite Backup. I haven't tried it myself but there are detailed instructions on the Sprite website that involve a series of steps: backup, run a program, save a file, upgrade to new ROM, copy files back, restore backup, etc etc. I don't know if it is actually worth the effort.
I am leaning towards upgrading and reinstalling from scratch; the only PITA is recreating connections and mail accounts, most of the rest should be handled via ActiveSync.

[Q] Random Titanium Backup Question...

Sup XDA... first time poster... on/off lurker... just a quick question i was messing with my captivate today trying to load 2.2 on it... kies wasn't working for me so i did a whole lotta messing around with the phone... in the process i backed up my stuff on TB... while trying to restore it, it restored from a previous upgrade i did in dec. i ended up losing most of my text messages, profiles i set up and important memos... anything i can do to restore it or am i screwed...?
I think i accidentally hit the back up user apps instead of user apps+data and restored user apps+data... could that be the reason...?

I don't think that TiBu backs up text messages. I use SMS backup+ on the market for that. It backs it up to my Gmail account. It does this automatically, and has the option to restore if I flash a new ROM.
I read somewhere that TiBu system data back ups can cause issues if you flash a new ROM and try to restore system data from a different ROM. So I have always been afraid of system data in TiBu.
If you back up the apps without the data, then the app will install, but it's a fresh install. That way anything you did in the app is lost. For example if you back up just the app Facebook, when you restore you are not signed in anymore. If you backup app + data, when you restore you are already signed in again. That could be how you lost memos from an app, but Text messages is another animal.
If you are playing with Kies, you should try the custom ROMs. They are extremely easy to install, there's lots of guides, and they run so much better than the 2.2 from Samsung/AT&T.

Don't really think you can do anything at this point to get your stuff back. You should do a nandroid backup before flashing new firmware, though. If the rom you flashed didn't work, or if you couldn't restore something with TB (or forgot to even do a TB backup), you can always roll your phone back to your previous firmware, complete with all your data.

quarlow said:
I don't think that TiBu backs up
If you are playing with Kies, you should try the custom ROMs. They are extremely easy to install, there's lots of guides, and they run so much better than the 2.2 from Samsung/AT&T.
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Agree a ROM is the way to go. Huge improvement over just using a bloated 2.2.

Will flashing a new ROM wipe everything?

My main question is that I want to go to the ROM F1 Galaxy S II V6 - SP1 [Look & Feel Of Galaxy S II] or to another updated ROM.
I am coming from froyo 2.2 JK2 (with VooDoo). If I do this flash will I loose all my app data/other data? Is there a way to flash the ROM and save this data? I don't mind losing messages or bookmarks, I just don't want to have to install all of my apps again.
Thank you!

aznhybrid said:
My main question is that I want to go to the ROM F1 Galaxy S II V6 - SP1 [Look & Feel Of Galaxy S II] or to another updated ROM.
I am coming from froyo 2.2 JK2 (with VooDoo). If I do this flash will I loose all my app data/other data? Is there a way to flash the ROM and save this data? I don't mind losing messages or bookmarks, I just don't want to have to install all of my apps again.
Thank you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
each rom is different, some are wipe version, some are non-wipe. There are a lot of good arguments for cleaning your phone and doing a clean install every time you change rom -- although most people don't, hence the length of threads with people having issues from legacy data and programs having incompatibility issues.
As a general rule prior to flashing any new rom or kernel you should:
1. do a complete nandroid backup in recovery
2. backup your apps using Titanium backup or similar
3. copy the Titanium backup, your photos, music, contacts etc. to your PC
4. then flash, clean and reformat as required without fear of being able to recover important data and files.
Again, some do this. Many don't. Depends how frequently you are flashing and how replaceable your files are.

+1 to that, I highly recommend you do a full wipe, Its not that difficult with apps such as titanium backup, It does all the hard work for you.
Doing a wipe ensures no bugs will be carried over and you will get the best result.
i wouldnt say a wipe is necessary when upgrading to a newer version of the same ROM

lgsshedden said:
each rom is different, some are wipe version, some are non-wipe. There are a lot of good arguments for cleaning your phone and doing a clean install every time you change rom -- although most people don't, hence the length of threads with people having issues from legacy data and programs having incompatibility issues.
As a general rule prior to flashing any new rom or kernel you should:
1. do a complete nandroid backup in recovery
2. backup your apps using Titanium backup or similar
3. copy the Titanium backup, your photos, music, contacts etc. to your PC
4. then flash, clean and reformat as required without fear of being able to recover important data and files.
Again, some do this. Many don't. Depends how frequently you are flashing and how replaceable your files are.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ahh thanks! exactly what I was looking for

Will and nandroid backup and titanium backup save the contact data? As in the links to the facebook accounts?
If not what can i use is it possible?
Thanks

Talon26 said:
Will and nandroid backup and titanium backup save the contact data? As in the links to the facebook accounts?
If not what can i use is it possible?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can sync your all your contacts with your Google account and then just install and re-sync Facebook after flashing need Rom..
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App

Nandroid backs everything up. It makes a disc image of the current rom. When you restore a nandroid backup, you restore the entire image.
You won't be able to restore the facebook links using titanium backup. Samsung updated the contact app when upgrading from Froyo to GB. I tried restoring data from Froyo apps to GB apps, and I got so many force close I ended up having reflash the rom. Note this only applies to stock apps. You can restore your market apps without any problem.

Restore lost contact and sms info?

Hi All
I need some help, i just upgraded from eclair to froyo thru Odin with build PDA DTJP5. I left all options blank i didnt do a reset or anything just a straight swap. I read somewhere on here that if you upgrade that way you wouldn't lose you contact, calendar, and sms info. Anyway did the upgrade and of course i cant find my contact, calendar or sms. All my app's are still there just no contacts and sms's
Any help would be much appreciated.
Thanks
Damijan

Also i have noticed that all fonts stayed the same and also the background picture which was was custom, also the my WiFi settings. So im not sure why some of it stayed and others have deleted. Could the file be sitting somewhere on the phone and when i did the update it didn't pick up the files?

Does anybody have any ideas? Or is this the one nobody knows on this forum?

are you sure that the rom you installed didn't make a wipe automatically?

It must of, i thought it wouldn't though because i just installed the stock rom and left all the options in Odin empty. So im not sure but i was wandering if maybe there was a way to find the file.

If I'm not wrong, in Odin you can't decide to or not to wipe system partition. That's a "feature" of the ROM. Some ROMs are in wipe/no wipe version. When updating the phone with KIES it automatically does wipe, but they are stock roms. So, i think, you are in the same case.

gioxoid said:
If I'm not wrong, in Odin you can't decide to or not to wipe system partition. That's a "feature" of the ROM. Some ROMs are in wipe/no wipe version. When updating the phone with KIES it automatically does wipe, but they are stock roms. So, i think, you are in the same case.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also think your Odin-flashed ROM has automatically wiped your data, or at least overwritten part of it. Try backing them up with Titanium Backup to see if the .tar.gz of the backup contains your data (for example, \com.android.providers.contacts-20120208-133114.tar.gz\com.android.providers.contacts-20120208-133114.tar\data\data\com.android.providers.contacts\.\databases\ should contain a big contacts2.db file on my ICS, mine is 2MB).
Is it big? Open it with an sqlite browser or a simple hex editor, if you can find contact names, emails or whatever was in the old contact list, you can try restoring the backup and rebooting.

[Q] ARHD Wipe?

I a installing ARHD...
So I am coming from 13.4 to 31.0... do I need to wipe the stuff in Aroma or can I go without wiping?

I advice you to full wipe all for a clean install and you won't have any issue.
However, backup your contacts, sms and other stuff you need before the full wipe.
p.s. Your sd won't be touched.

Guich said:
I advice you to full wipe all for a clean install and you won't have any issue.
However, backup your contacts, sms and other stuff you need before the full wipe.
p.s. Your sd won't be touched.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm with this guy^^
Definitely wipe it. And it's good to have things backed up anyway. Once you get used to making your backups you can do a full wipe and rom install really quickly, I do them daily when I'm testing or trying out new builds.
My contacts are in google (gmail) and sync when I sign in at the setup screen, I backup and restore sms/mms and I use titanium backup for my user apps, but google installs most of my apps when I sign in. I also copy my entire sdcard storage over to a folder on my computer about every month or so, just in case something happens. I just select the whole thing, drag and drop it into it's own folder on my PC's hard drive.
We all have different methods, just gotta use a method thats best for you to make restoring after an install easy.
On a sidenote: With a jump in versions like that will you be installing different firmware? I dunno that it's required but if you are then you will get a slightly different answer.

CharliesTheMan said:
On a sidenote: With a jump in versions like that will you be installing different firmware? I dunno that it's required but if you are then you will get a slightly different answer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Isn't required, but is better upgrade also the firmware, because it's optimized for the new base

I can tell you that I tried a dirty upgrade (made a nandroid backup first thankfully) from 22.1 to 31, and it messed everything up. restored, backed up apps etc, did wipe through aroma, upgraded, havent had a problem.
couldnt get a firmware upgrade working (s off was giving me the dreaded 1 error, which apparently doesnt have a fix), but its working fine without.