Database Develop

What is the best way to Backup User Settings between ROM Upgrades

Currently I am using CM 5.0.6-N1, it's running really well and I've spend many hours installing multiple applications (SD Card) and configuring many of them and system parameters as well.
I would like to test CM 5.0.7-N1-Test 2, but before doing that I would like to know what type of Backup Process I should follow in order to keep:
- All my currently installed applications in the SD card
- Keep all my application's configuration
- Keep all my system's configuration
- All my downloads from the Market
- Etc.
I know that everything related to Google will be saved automatically.
Is there a way to upgrade the ROM and after a quick restore to be in the same configuration I am now but with an updated version of the OS ?, thanks a lot

Post in the right section please read the rules

I use the donated version of titanium backup.
It saves all applications and user data.
You do the upgrade and everything should still be there. If not. run titanium restore and voila!
Just make sure you don't select to restore any of the google apps since it'll overwrite the newer version.

I used the nandroid+ ext feature from amon_ra recovery 1.7.0 and it seem to backup my apps. When I went and tried the Desire rom. Didn't like it so i went back, restored with nandroid and all my apps were back on SD.

futango said:
I used the nandroid+ ext feature from amon_ra recovery 1.7.0 and it seem to backup my apps. When I went and tried the Desire rom. Didn't like it so i went back, restored with nandroid and all my apps were back on SD.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What's the difference in Recovery 1.7.0 between Nandroid and Nandroid+ Ext Backup ?
Do you know if the Backup Current ROM option in the ROM Manager application will have the same results ?, thanks

noodles12 said:
I use the donated version of titanium backup.
It saves all applications and user data.
You do the upgrade and everything should still be there. If not. run titanium restore and voila!
Just make sure you don't select to restore any of the google apps since it'll overwrite the newer version.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What's the difference between using Titanium's Backup, Recovery's Nandroid Backup and ROM Manager's Backup ?, all of the will back up the configuration and apps only ?, or some of the will backup the full Android OS as well ?, thanks

brosenz said:
What's the difference in Recovery 1.7.0 between Nandroid and Nandroid+ Ext Backup ?
Do you know if the Backup Current ROM option in the ROM Manager application will have the same results ?, thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nandroid is just a back up of your OS and settings.
Nandroid + Ext is a backup of your OS, settings, and A2SD which are stored in your EXT partition.
Dont know about Rom Manager, never used it.

futango said:
Nandroid is just a back up of your OS and settings.
Nandroid + Ext is a backup of your OS, settings, and A2SD which are stored in your EXT partition.
Dont know about Rom Manager, never used it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But If I perform a Nandroid+ Ext backup of the existing ROM (CM 5.0.6) and then install a new ROM (CM 5.0.7-Test2), and then I do a Nandroid Restore I will replace the new ROM (CM 5.0.7 Test2) with the old one (CM 5.0.6) ???, please could you clarify
I only want to Backup my applications, settings and system configuration, not the ROM itself, thanks

brosenz said:
But If I perform a Nandroid+ Ext backup and then install a new ROM and then I do a Restore I will replace the new ROM with the old one ???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ooo. So your trying to install a NEW rom and restore the settings to that one? You will probably want to use one of those apps from the market. I thought you wanted to try out a dif rom to see if you like it and then go back.

futango said:
ooo. So your trying to install a NEW rom and restore the settings to that one? You will probably want to use one of those apps from the market. I thought you wanted to try out a dif rom to see if you like it and then go back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly, I want to install a new ROM and then restore my settings and applications to the new ROM.
Here is the thing, every 2 to 3 weeks there is a new CM version, I like to be on the edge and always using the latest version, but I do not want to have to install all the applications and configure the setting every time.
Maybe Titanium Backup could be an option ?, thanks

brosenz said:
Exactly, I want to install a new ROM and then restore my settings and applications to the new ROM.
Here is the thing, every 2 to 3 weeks there is a new CM version, I like to be on the edge and always using the latest version, but I do not want to have to install all the applications and configure the setting every time.
Maybe Titanium Backup could be an option ?, thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If your just updating from CM roms you shouldn't have to WIPE. WIPE is what deletes those settings. If you are on a CM rom just install the newer ROM and it should be fine.

futango said:
If your just updating from CM roms you shouldn't have to WIPE. WIPE is what deletes those settings. If you are on a CM rom just install the newer ROM and it should be fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Even if I am installing a Test Version ?, like going from 5.0.6 to 5.0.7-N1-Test2 ?, thanks

You can use Titanium Backup or MyBackupPro. Both work very well with backing up your settings, apps and market links. I prefer the donate version of MyBackupPro because it always seems to get the job done without errors. I have issues with Titanium Backup quite often(Lots of FC's with certain apps after a restore). However, I do have both installed. It would just be whatever your preference is. Try MyBackupPro for simplicity sake and go from there. You won't lose anything if you use either one when switching ROMS.

brosenz said:
Even if I am installing a Test Version ?, like going from 5.0.6 to 5.0.7-N1-Test2 ?, thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You will prob have to wipe. Either use on of those backup apps or just redo it. Create nandroid backups for each. so you dont have to worry bout it next time.

Titanium Backup has been my lifesaver. I switch back and forth between the CM5 and Desire ROMs on what seems like a near daily basis.
Since you're using primarily the CM5 ROM, here's my suggested procedure using TB
1. Run the Backup all user apps + system data script
This backs EVERYTHING up (account settings, home screen layout settings, launcher settings, all your apps including paid/protected, the works).
2. Do your ROM upgrade.
2a. If you do a clean/wiped upgrade, just skip all the initial setup steps on first boot. TB will take care of restoring it.
2b. Re-install TB from Market as necessary.
3. Start TB and Run the Restore missing apps + system data script
4. Reboot (not necessary, but highly recommended)
Voilà. All your apps (including all their settings) are restored.
NOTE: I don't know why, but I always seem to have to manually restore the launcher/home config from TB. If your home icons don't restore just manually find 'launcher' in the list of backups in TB and opt to restore it.
Another cool (but unadvertised) thing about TB is that it integrates the labels/categories from a program called Apps Organizer. So, you categorize all your apps into whatever categories you want in AO and when you go into TB there they are, ready for you to filter you backups by category!

[Q] Whats the difference? ClockWork, nandroid, Titanium

I'm a bit confused on what the differences are between the 3 and when you'd want one over the other. I could figure out the 2nd half of the question if it was more clear the first half.
Here is what I think I've gleaned:
ClockWork backs up my ROM ...does it do installed apps too? does it grab user data? Is it the one stop recover from my own stupidity app?
Titanium backs up installed apps and their settings?
nandroid...no clue really
It would be nice to put this into a wiki
Peter

Clockwork is the ROM manager flash to your phone to allow you to get into the restore mod.
Nandroid is the backup of your entire phone at that time.
Titanium backsup your apps and app data.
Backing up your ROM is like a restore point on a computer, you reload that and your phone is back to the way it was at that point. Titanium allows you to back up your apps and reinstall all backups/app data/ or just some. Whatever your preference.

wow, I didn't think I was confused, but i guess I am now.
I understand Titanium app+data backup. No Q's there.
But as for ROM Manager, I've always been under the impression that when I choose the "Backup Current ROM" option within ROM Manager, I was performing a full image backup of the phone. Is this not the case? If not, what exactly am I backing up? As the OP inquired, what is the difference between this and the nandroid b/u?

You are correct - ROM Manager, is the big tool that encompasses the others. It uses NANdroid to do a full backup - everything. It is more of a disk image then a restore point.
You use ROM Manager to boot into a special menu that gives you NANdroid and NANdroid has access to the entire ROM and Data to back everything up.
http://wiki.cyanogenmod.com/index.php?title=Howto:_Nandroid_Backup

I have been trying to sort this out in my mind as well. I think this is the case (someone please correct if wrong):
nandroid, whether done from within CWM or Rom Manager, essentially makes an image backup of your whole phone--perhaps not technically as an "image," but the end effect is the same. If you restore a nandroid backup, you get your whole phone back exactly as it was when the backup was made.
LATER: Soccer_Dad said that nandroid does not include the modem and kernel.
TitaniumBackup depends a bit on what you select at the time the backup is made, but mostly is used to backup apps and (apps data???), although it can do more than that. Typically, it is used to restore your apps back onto a phone after flashing a new ROM.
If those are correct, I have a question still--how do you backup and restore your homescreens or desktop icons? I presume they would be included in a nandroid backup, but if you do a ROM and TitaniumBackup restore, is there an easy way to get all your app icons back onto the right screen panels?

movrshakr said:
I have been trying to sort this out in my mind as well. I think this is the case (someone please correct if wrong):
nandroid, whether done from within CWM or Rom Manager, essentially makes an image backup of your whole phone--perhaps not technically as an "image," but the end effect is the same. If you restore a nandroid backup, you get your whole phone back exactly as it was when the backup was made.
TitaniumBackup depends a bit on what you select at the time the backup is made, but mostly is used to backup apps and (apps data???), although it can do more than that. Typically, it is used to restore your apps back onto a phone after flashing a new ROM.
If those are correct, I have a question still--how do you backup and restore your homescreens or desktop icons? I presume they would be included in a nandroid backup, but if you do a ROM and TitaniumBackup restore, is there an easy way to get all your app icons back onto the right screen panels?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Quick answer would be to backup the data of your launcher. I personaly use ADW Ex and whenever I restore it after a flash, it all comes back the way it was (beside wallpaper which isn't all too hard to change )

movrshakr said:
I have been trying to sort this out in my mind as well. I think this is the case (someone please correct if wrong):
nandroid, whether done from within CWM or Rom Manager, essentially makes an image backup of your whole phone--perhaps not technically as an "image," but the end effect is the same. If you restore a nandroid backup, you get your whole phone back exactly as it was when the backup was made.
TitaniumBackup depends a bit on what you select at the time the backup is made, but mostly is used to backup apps and (apps data???), although it can do more than that. Typically, it is used to restore your apps back onto a phone after flashing a new ROM.
If those are correct, I have a question still--how do you backup and restore your homescreens or desktop icons? I presume they would be included in a nandroid backup, but if you do a ROM and TitaniumBackup restore, is there an easy way to get all your app icons back onto the right screen panels?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With Titanium backup select your homescreen app and backup app + data. Widgets will have to be reapplied but apps and icons should be all there when you restore.
*Cm7 Nook*

movrshakr said:
I have been trying to sort this out in my mind as well. I think this is the case (someone please correct if wrong):
nandroid, whether done from within CWM or Rom Manager, essentially makes an image backup of your whole phone--perhaps not technically as an "image," but the end effect is the same. If you restore a nandroid backup, you get your whole phone back exactly as it was when the backup was made.
TitaniumBackup depends a bit on what you select at the time the backup is made, but mostly is used to backup apps and (apps data???), although it can do more than that. Typically, it is used to restore your apps back onto a phone after flashing a new ROM.
If those are correct, I have a question still--how do you backup and restore your homescreens or desktop icons? I presume they would be included in a nandroid backup, but if you do a ROM and TitaniumBackup restore, is there an easy way to get all your app icons back onto the right screen panels?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In case you are a flashaholic, the nandroid backup gets everything...except the modem and kernel. If you flash a bunch, and then restore an earlier nandroid backup, you could end up with some incompatibilities. I rename my backups (found in the clockworkmod directory on your sdcard) with date.rom.kernel.modem, so I know how to get a true restore (and I keep a flashable copy of the kernel and modem on my PC so I don't have to search for those in XDA, since the site is always undergoing maintenance at 10 pm PDT).
I use that a bunch, to go back to a perfectly functional Serendipity after testing out other mods/roms/etc. You will want to back up and store current tasks, calendar items, contacts, call logs, sms, etc. before your restore, to update the old rom with your recent calls/texts/etc.

Thanks. Nice additional explanation. I did not know that nandroid did not do modem and kernel. (Is there something that does?)
Will modify my previous post for future readers.

[Guide] Backup and Flashing Recommendations, Info, and Tips

Below is some information to help out people with backing up their device, some backup tips, some general information on flashing, and tips and best practices for flashing. Hope this helps!!
Assumptions:
This guide assumes you are fully rooted at this point. If not follow any one of the guides.
To test root type "su" into a terminal. You should get a "#" back. You can use a terminal emulator from the market or ADB. To get ADB up and running follow this guide here. That guide is for Windows users, but Mac and *nix users shouldn't be much more difficult.
Backing up
NAND Backup:
Once rooted you can use the app quickboot to boot into recovery to do a NAND backup. If your ROM doesn't have this app installed, download from Marketplace. Open app and choose "Recovery". Once in recovery, find the backup and recovery option.
Once done you can reboot and continue on as normal. This is an essential step (or using Rom Manager below). If you ever screw up something major or you try a new ROM and want to go back, this will allow you to restore easily and get back to a point where things worked fine. It would also be highly recommended to do one of these backups before doing something major that has potential to break things. Use best judgment here.
Rom Manager:
NOTE: This is unverified to work. Once ROM Manager is functional on NI Adam I will update this guide.
Titanium Backup (TB):
Once you have your NAND backup I would also recommend installing Titanium Backup from the Marketplace (I would also pay for the license because you get better performance and the dev deserves some green for this awesome app!). Once installed open it. The first time it will ask you to update Busybox. Let it and wait for this to download. When done it will ask you reboot app from the notification area. Do this and then wait for app to fully load, two messages should appear, the second one indicates it is fully loaded. Then hit menu and go to the batch section. Choose " Backup all user apps + system data".
This will backup everything on your phone for you to your SD card. This will take a while so go get some coffee and check back in. Do not close the app or turn off your phone, the screen can go blank and you can let it sit, but it will need time to run. I think when the screen turns off it puts an icon in notification that should be updating the progress of the batch. Once done, it should tell you in the notification area. For me it takes awhile with my 228 some elements I'm backing up. Your mileage will vary.
SMS/MMS
I came across a thread that mentions using Handy Backup for backing up SMS/MMS messages. I have not tried this app or used it so I don't have any directions to give on it. But I have had people ask and I have seen folks ask in other threads. So if TB doesn't give you enough, try this one or some other app.
Backup to Computer:
I'm still looking for a better method for this one. I'm sure someone has something and if you do please let me know so I can update this section.
Currently I backup files and folders to my local NAS at home after major changes. Incremental changes I let TB handle. This is just a simple process of setting the SD card to storage and copy/paste. Works fine and I have only done this once so far after everything was set to my liking.
You might wonder why this important? Well if you are going to play around a lot with different ROMs and constantly read/writing info to your SD card, it is important because SD cards are not perfect. They can be corrupted and can fail from too much writing of info. It usually takes a lot of work to get one to the point of failure, but I managed to do it with my HTC Mogul so I can vouch that it can happen.
Important folders on SD card:
- /sdcard/clockwork/backup
This will get all backups performed by clockwork. If you grab the entire clockwork folder then you will get ROM downloads and such too. I don't really recommend this as it never takes more than 25 minutes for me to download any image. Plus with a secure NAND backup, you can always restore quickly.
- /sdcard/nandroid
This should be the backup the folder used by AmonRa recovery.
- /sdcard/TitaniumBackup
Folder used by TB for backing up of apps.
Of course throw in any other folders you deem important. What that is depends on you. Making a backup of everything else probably wont take long too. For me I rarely have more than 7gb of data on my card so backing up takes roughly 30-50 minutes.
All of this may seem like a lot of work, but once done you will have a robust system in place. And will allow you the opportunity to safely play!!
Restoring
Restoring is a simple process but can be time consuming. To speed things up you can pay for the full version of TB, which I highly recommend.
TB
Follow the directions below for what I do after flashing. If you have already read that and are ready to restore then do the following...
Open up TB and let if fully load, you will get two small popup messages. The second one means that TB has fully loaded the OS information. Then hit the menu key and choose batch. Scroll down and look for "Restore all apps with data". Run this batch to restore everything. Keep in mind if you backed up everything and are now changing ROMs that you might run into problems. I have yet to run across issues, but this is just an FYI. Also another reason to have a full NAND backup with Rom Manager. If you run into too many problems just restore with it and problem solved.
Restores and backups take awhile with TB, but are worth the wait. Once done with the full restore you can then do incremental backup and restores in the future.
Also don't forget to open up the apps after restoring and make sure the apps are setup how you want. Then double check with TB to make sure things are fully backed up, just click "Backup all new apps & newer versions". Once done with this reboot.
After a TB restore always reboot. After the reboot go into Rom Manager and NAND backup following the steps above in the backup section. This will ensure you have a full system backup with the settings you want.
Rom Manager
For now go to recovery to restore.
Flashing Tips and Problems
Watch Girls Gone Wild for help with this...
More to come here...
Stock ROM with Root (back to defaults) or Completely Unroot:
I Just Flashed with no Backups:
Below is what I did before I had Titanium Backup in place and after flashing a custom ROM...
Once booted right after flashing I make sure things look fine, fully sync to Google, then reboot. When I come back from that I turn on WiFi and go to Marketplace and Download section. Any apps I previously downloaded will be in that section waiting for me to download. Download them all at once, DO NOT leave that section before downloading everything, or you will lose that list and it will only show apps currently downloaded and installed.
Once done, open apps and customize to liking. Then download Rom Manager if you don't already have it and follow the above section. Once done with that follow the above section on Titanium Backup. Then enjoy your custom ROM.
Flashing in general:
ALWAYS make sure your battery is at least 50% full. The last thing you want is your phone to die on you in the middle of flashing.
Follow the above backup guides before flashing another custom ROM. Save yourself time and trouble. Also I have read about people using NAND backups to sort of switch between different ROMs. In the short term that shouldn't be a problem, but long term that can make your SD card unstable. Make sure you follow the above section for backing up your SD card to computer.
If changing from one ROM to another it is best practice and almost always recommended to wipe data and dalvik cache. This also will alleviate many issues people run into. And if you follow my backup recommendations then it shouldn't be an issue to do either of these.
Some ROM devs have other items you can add to their ROM. Follow their directions for flashing those items. Some devs want you to boot first than go back and flash, others allow for you to just start flashing right away with no waiting. Pay attention to the directions on your ROM thread. If you screw something up, try flashing the package again. If things look worse or it didn't work, re-flash your ROM or restore your backup and try again.
Once booted up follow guides above for backing up or restoring. Otherwise if you have problems look below before asking questions. If you can't find it here try searching before asking questions. If you still can't find it feel free to ask for help, but keep the question in the thread for your ROM you are flashing, or if you think it is a rooting issue, in the thread of the root process you followed.
Issue:
That's all for now!
I'm sure there is plenty more to add to this down the road, but for now this is all the dumping my brain can handle. Leave comments and suggestions and let's make this a strong guide with the right information to help those in need.

Thanks for writing this up, should help lots of people.
-CC

Nandroid/titanium clarification please.

I'm new to rooting. Just got my moto droid (1) rooted yesterday using superoneclick. Worked Flawlessly. I've installed barnacle wifi teather utilizing my newely establish root 'superuser'.
I've been reading up on custom roms, removing bloatware, ect and am anxious to give it all a go HOWEVER first things first, I need to make a copy/backup of my stock phone's rom right?
I need to be rooted to make a backup right?
Now I've heard about nandroid and titanium back. From what I've gathered titanium backs up all ur apps and there settings to reintall after flashing a new rom,...right? (Since flashin wipes internal memory)
I think, Nandroid is needed for installing new/custom roms and/or reverting back to my stock rom.....nandroid is a program correct?
Am I following this correctly?
Id really appreciate your time to answer my elemenatry questions.
Thanks!
Sent from my Droid using XDA App

Basically, nandroid is a disc image.
You can restore your entire OS quite quickly.
Titanium is simply a very good program for backing up your apps along with data so all your settings are saved.
Restoring with titanium can take a long time though since each app gets installed one by one - and that's when it is working properly. For me, it just keeps closing itself after restoring a singe app.
I haven't seen it recommended but I HIGHLY recommend SuperManager for for backing up and restoring. It doesn't ask any questions. It just puts all your stuff back and it doesn't crash.
So I use SM for restoring the whole shot, and Titanium when I'm being more selective.

if you use nandroid to backup then after you have flashed your new ROM then you can put the nandroid files in the sd/openrecovery/nandroid/ folder, boot into open recovery and pick the nandroid files to install.

I got super manager and backed up my apps to sd card.
Next I got rom manager...now my problem is I cannot get rom manager to back up my stock rom. Flashed the clockworkmod via rom manager and tried booting into recovery,..I only get stock recovery.
Went back into rom manager and flashed the alternative recovery SPRecovery, still no luck booting into an aftermarket recovery.
What the heck am I doing wrong?
Thanks in advance.
Sent from my Droid using XDA App

I haven't gotten ROM Manager to work consistently, but I find that after a few attempts at booting into Clockwork Recovery, it'll eventually go through. Maybe someone can point out a way to make the process take less time.

Got up this morning and thought id try again.
Flashed the clockwork recovery then instantly hit reboot in recovery and voila!! It worked! Weird tho. Made my first nandroid.
Does anyone have a suggestion on what rom to give a try for a motorola droid (1)?
Sent from my Droid using XDA App

kmcgill88 said:
Got up this morning and thought id try again.
Flashed the clockwork recovery then instantly hit reboot in recovery and voila!! It worked! Weird tho. Made my first nandroid.
Does anyone have a suggestion on what rom to give a try for a motorola droid (1)?
Sent from my Droid using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you want 2.2 you should try CM6 or Froyomod 2.5.0
If you want 2.3 you should try Shadowmodbrv.2.3.2 build 3. It's the fastest rom i've tried so far....or CM7 which works quite good.
On all of these roms the battery life is really good...Many people say that their battery life sucks with custom roms but actually they havent had their battery status calibrated correctly. For example, the battery percentage shows 30%, when actually it has 60%.
Search on the forums about calibrating yours if you want...
Hope I've been helpful...
Cheers, vladstercr!

vladstercr said:
If you want 2.2 you should try CM6 or Froyomod 2.5.0
If you want 2.3 you should try Shadowmodbrv.2.3.2 build 3. It's the fastest rom i've tried so far....or CM7 which works quite good.
On all of these roms the battery life is really good...Many people say that their battery life sucks with custom roms but actually they havent had their battery status calibrated correctly. For example, the battery percentage shows 30%, when actually it has 60%.
Search on the forums about calibrating yours if you want...
Hope I've been helpful...
Cheers, vladstercr!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've heard the CM name around a lot. When I go into rom manager I see the CM 6 but I'm still lil nervous to give it a shot. This is my only phone. Soo,....maybe a few more tutorials to review the process once more..just cuz
Now when I flash, say, CM6 I don't need to worry about root or superuser permission anymore do I?
Also what apps, if any, will be pre installed with CM6? (I have backed up my apps with super manager)
I really appreciate everyones help! THANK YOU!
Sent from my Droid using XDA App

Since you did a nandroid, you have very little to worry about.
But, just to be super safe, you can copy the nandroid to your computer.
If anything goes wrong, you have an instant restore handy.
About Super Manager - I forgot to mention that to save all your user data along with your apps and to also have a quick restore process, back up using the smbk option.
When you flash CM6, you will stay rooted and be overclocked to 900 mhz.
There is no bloat installed with CM6 but all the essentials are there.
I don't know anything about ROM Manager stuff because I can't use it on my Milestone.

vladstercr said:
If you want 2.2 you should try CM6 or Froyomod 2.5.0
If you want 2.3 you should try Shadowmodbrv.2.3.2 build 3. It's the fastest rom i've tried so far....or CM7 which works quite good.
On all of these roms the battery life is really good...Many people say that their battery life sucks with custom roms but actually they havent had their battery status calibrated correctly. For example, the battery percentage shows 30%, when actually it has 60%.
Search on the forums about calibrating yours if you want...
Hope I've been helpful...
Cheers, vladstercr!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
is this the shadwmod you're referring to? http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=939555
will this work for the droid 1 (as long as i flash the proper baseband)? i've tried a fair # of gb builds but not this one and wanna give it a shot. thanks

I've had a few questions about nandroid. So far I do a full back up so I can revert if a new ROM is playing up. If I decide to stick with a new ROM, can I just restore elements of that full backup to get my data (I.e. texts, call logs and apps) back? Or is it all or nothing?
At the moment I just put up with starting fresh but it would be helpful to retain some of that data. (I'm getting bored starting angry birds over and over again!)
Cheers
S
Sent from my Milestone using XDA App

skribzy said:
I've had a few questions about nandroid. So far I do a full back up so I can revert if a new ROM is playing up. If I decide to stick with a new ROM, can I just restore elements of that full backup to get my data (I.e. texts, call logs and apps) back? Or is it all or nothing?
At the moment I just put up with starting fresh but it would be helpful to retain some of that data. (I'm getting bored starting angry birds over and over again!)
Cheers
S
Sent from my Milestone using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nandroid is only useful for a FULL restore of your entire phone's state. it backs up everything in IMG format, and then re-flashes it *in whole* in the event of a restore. so, short answer, no... you can't restore bits and pieces from a nandroid backup.
HOWEVER, Titanium Backup is my app of choice for backing up applications and app data (because no one should have to start over at angry birds!). The donate/Pro app is TOTALLY worth the few bucks, and it's very easy to use.
To use Titanium Backup: download from market (i really suggest the Pro version), click "Batch" then "backup user apps". When you start fresh with a new ROM, cancel all your active downloads, re-download Titanium Backup from the market and select batch>restore missing apps + app data. This way you restore the data associated with your apps, but not a previous ROMs system data. If you are unable to cancel your downloads, there is also a batch method to uninstall all backed up apps, that way you can make sure that you install your backup and not a "fresh" copy from the market.
A quick note about angry birds using Titanium Backup on GB -- with most GB ROMs, Angry Birds will install by default to the sdcard. They, however, will not run on the sdcard. As soon as you've done a restore using Titanium, just go to Settings>Applications>Manage Applications, and click Angry Birds and select "Move to Phone". Then you should be good

vuarnet said:
nandroid is only useful for a FULL restore of your entire phone's state. it backs up everything in IMG format, and then re-flashes it *in whole* in the event of a restore. so, short answer, no... you can't restore bits and pieces from a nandroid backup.
HOWEVER, Titanium Backup is my app of choice for backing up applications and app data (because no one should have to start over at angry birds!). The donate/Pro app is TOTALLY worth the few bucks, and it's very easy to use.
To use Titanium Backup: download from market (i really suggest the Pro version), click "Batch" then "backup user apps". When you start fresh with a new ROM, cancel all your active downloads, re-download Titanium Backup from the market and select batch>restore missing apps + app data. This way you restore the data associated with your apps, but not a previous ROMs system data. If you are unable to cancel your downloads, there is also a batch method to uninstall all backed up apps, that way you can make sure that you install your backup and not a "fresh" copy from the market.
A quick note about angry birds using Titanium Backup on GB -- with most GB ROMs, Angry Birds will install by default to the sdcard. They, however, will not run on the sdcard. As soon as you've done a restore using Titanium, just go to Settings>Applications>Manage Applications, and click Angry Birds and select "Move to Phone". Then you should be good
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thanks very much for such useful advice!

skribzy said:
At the moment I just put up with starting fresh but it would be helpful to retain some of that data. (I'm getting bored starting angry birds over and over again!)
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I have found that TitaniumPro doesn't always restore setting properly. Sometimes you have to go into the individual app and do a manual restore. I am not sure why this is, but just FYI.

mfratto said:
I have found that TitaniumPro doesn't always restore setting properly. Sometimes you have to go into the individual app and do a manual restore. I am not sure why this is, but just FYI.
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Click to collapse
titanium CAN restore system settings / apps, but it's a little bit of a different process to make sure that you don't restore a previous ROM's data, which can cause some pretty serious instabilities if done improperly.
here are some How-Tos for using Titanium Backup: http://www.moddedlogic.com/pe/howto.php
these methods are a little more advanced, and if done improperly can cause instability. these methods can be used in conjunction with restoring "missing apps + app data" like i mentioned above.

skribzy said:
I've had a few questions about nandroid. So far I do a full back up so I can revert if a new ROM is playing up. If I decide to stick with a new ROM, can I just restore elements of that full backup to get my data (I.e. texts, call logs and apps) back? Or is it all or nothing?
At the moment I just put up with starting fresh but it would be helpful to retain some of that data. (I'm getting bored starting angry birds over and over again!)
Cheers
S
Sent from my Milestone using XDA App
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Its neither. Its both. You can't pluck ur call log txt ect data from a nandroid to my knowledge.
I'm new to this but I have the understanding a nandroid is a snapshot of EXACTLY everything you have on your phone, including txt, call log,ect. So as I'm sure you've read its always suggested to creat a nandroid of your original rom before installing a custom rom. Then u can go back in time if need be.
As for restoring your data after installing a new rom you need to backup your apps, I used super manager via smbk file, once you install the new rom go to market (or its pry saved in sd still) reinstall super manager and use the restore button to reinstall all your apps in one fell swoop.
Contacts, calendar, and email r on the google cloud so that will auto resync once u sign into your phone. I still lost my txt, call log, ect but I didn't care about that.
Now that u have your apps back and get a few settings confgured i decided to make a nandroid of my newly installed Rom just in case I F something up and can't figure out how to g back. With the new nandroid created I can revert back to my stock rom or modded rom annd all apps & data will be exactly how I left it.
Hope that helps.
Anyone plz feel free to correct me if I am wrong.
Sent from my Droid using XDA App

kmcgill88 said:
Its neither. Its both. You can't pluck ur call log txt ect data from a nandroid to my knowledge.
I'm new to this but I have the understanding a nandroid is a snapshot of EXACTLY everything you have on your phone, including txt, call log,ect. So as I'm sure you've read its always suggested to creat a nandroid of your original rom before installing a custom rom. Then u can go back in time if need be.
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Click to collapse
It's *possible* but not easy. Nandroid is a **disk image** (.img file) backup, not a file-by-file backup/file dump. While it's *possible* to dissect it and flash bits and pieces, it would be quite advanced since it would have to be flashed using adb or a terminal emulator ...and even then i'm not sure it would actually work without running the full binary scripts from the recovery restore processes. And even if you did get the binaries to run and flash the .img files to the right places, you would run the possibility that the old data would be incompatible with your current ROM / system.
You can unpack the img file in linux if you know how and push pieces of it using adb shell, but that's still sort of going out of your way for something relatively simple. To unpack an .img file in linux:
# Make a directory where you want the file mounted:
sudo mkdir /image
# Then mount the image on the directory:
sudo mount -o loop /path/to/file.img /image
# Then you could open the directory with nautilus:
nautilus /image
# When you're done, unmount the img:
sudo unmount /image
Nandroid is a backup of a STATE of your phone, not pieces. To backup apps and data, just use a program, there are a bunch out there. You can also do as I do and pull /system and /data from your phone and backup to your computer. You will need the android sdk though. Just connect via USB and make sure USB Debugging is enabled (settings>applications>development) and run in terminal:
cd [android sdk directory/platform-tools/]
adb devices
(make sure your device shows up)
adb pull /system [local directory]
adb pull /data [local directory]
voila. you now have copies of your /data and /system folders on your computer. you can even do your whole internal storage if you want and can create the proper permissions. however, as a caveat, these will not restore a broken system to stable state like a nandroid will, it's pretty much just for restoring individual apps if you lose them or delete something.
bottom line: nandroid is great for what it's intended for. outside of that, there are reasons why there are backup tools / apps for backing up pieces of your ROM. use them each for what they're intended and you'll be good. nandroid backup/restore is like 3 clicks. same for app restore programs. use the appropriate tools for the appropriate jobs and you'll be juuuuust fine.
EDIT: it's also possible to do an advanced nandroid restore of a certain partition, but it's *highly* advisable not to in almost all circumstances. it will most likely screw up more stuff than it fixes. it's really only helpful if the backup and your current ROM are the exact same.
for instance, if I have a nandroid backup of CM6, and i screw something up in my /data folder, and i'm still running the same version of CM6, then i could advanced nandroid my /data partition back in recovery. outside of that, it's pretty much useless and would do more harm than good.

Hi
I'm sorry to jump in in the discussion like this but reading this discussion confused me a little regarding a possible usage of a nandroid backup.
Given the fact that this type of backup is a full image of the system, can I transfer this backup on another motorola droid and restore it also on there? Or each nandroid is associated to a specific phone (even if the model is the same)?
Thank you so much!

No a nandroid wouldn't necessarily be phone specific.
But it would be OS specific.
There would likely be problems if you restored a CM6 rom (froyo) on a phone that still has eclair on it.

zeppelinrox said:
No a nandroid wouldn't necessarily be phone specific.
But it would be OS specific.
There would likely be problems if you restored a CM6 rom (froyo) on a phone that still has eclair on it.
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it's not necessarily "phone" specific, but it is *device* specific. you wouldn't be able to use a Droid nandroid on a Droid X, for instance. The md5 sum check would fail.
so yes, you would be able to restore a nandroid restore on a backup that you manually moved onto another phone, as long as the device was the same (moto droid to moto droid).

[APP] Tired of having to backup all your apps AND make a Nandroid?

Ever since I got AppExtractor, Titanium backup has been old news.
https://market.android.com/details?...wxLDEsImNvbS5oYW5keWFuZHkuYXBwZXh0cmFjdG9yIl0.
AppExtractor allows you to extract apps straight from a CWM Backup (Nandroid). It even lets you restore SMS/MMS, Contacts, and Settings from a CWM Backup.
So instead of making a CWM backup AND backing up with TTB, you just make one CWM backup and you're set.
"I use Titanium Backup to freeze my bloat/system apps :trollface:"
Yep, Appextractor does that too!
If you're getting Force Closes after restoring apps, press the Fix Permissions button within AppExtractor and there's a good chance of that fixing the problem.
There's just one catch.
The backup you pull from HAS to be done through ROM Manager.
If you use ROM manager anyway, you have nothing to worry about.
If you make the backup through ROM Manager but it still doesn't show up, you need to update CWR. Scroll to the top of ROM Manager, its the first option, just press it.

Already hit the thanks button. I will try it out. I am a big user of titanium back up. It works really good if you know how yo use it but I am always up for trying something new.

This sounds great. Just downloaded and will check it out

Forgive this semi-off topic hijack. I am currently running Liberty ROM and want to check out the new shift3r 2.1 rom (but any rom is applicable) without losing all my settings and apps. Will this app do the trick? Is there another avenue?
Thanks

indigomontoya said:
Forgive this semi-off topic hijack. I am currently running Liberty ROM and want to check out the new shift3r 2.1 rom (but any rom is applicable) without losing all my settings and apps. Will this app do the trick? Is there another avenue?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Make a backup through ROM manager before leaving liberty, reboot and go back to ROM manager and make sure the backup you just made is in the list under Manage Backups.
Follow the instructions to install shift3r (this should include a full wipe).
Once you're on shift3r, install ROM Manager and AppExtractor. Open up AppExtractor and Restore all USER APPS+DATA DO NOT RESTORE SYSTEM APPS/DATA (this will ruin the newly installed ROM)
Settings within apps will be saved, but system settings will not. System settings aren't much of a burden to set up though, you'll be fine.

Titanium just updated to do this too.

Tivo7 said:
Make a backup through ROM manager before leaving liberty, reboot and go back to ROM manager and make sure the backup you just made is in the list under Manage Backups.
Follow the instructions to install shift3r (this should include a full wipe).
Once you're on shift3r, install ROM Manager and AppExtractor. Open up AppExtractor and Restore all USER APPS+DATA DO NOT RESTORE SYSTEM APPS/DATA (this will ruin the newly installed ROM)
Settings within apps will be saved, but system settings will not. System settings aren't much of a burden to set up though, you'll be fine.
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Click to collapse
Thanks for the tip. It seems I am having some problems with ROM Manager making the backup (the sdcard-ext isnt detected during the backup process and i see no status bar moving, which I have read are indications of problems. Plus, the backup doesn't show up after a reboot). I don't have time to trouble shoot it tonight, so this may have to wait.

indigomontoya said:
Thanks for the tip. It seems I am having some problems with ROM Manager making the backup (the sdcard-ext isnt detected during the backup process and i see no status bar moving, which I have read are indications of problems. Plus, the backup doesn't show up after a reboot). I don't have time to trouble shoot it tonight, so this may have to wait.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Backup not showing up means you need to press the first option in ROM Manager (update CWM).

Tivo7 said:
Backup not showing up means you need to press the first option in ROM Manager (update CWM).
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Click to collapse
That did the trick. I had actually already tried that, but it never rebooted and so I figured it wasn't working. Oh well. One more silly question: Do I need to move the backup to my computer or external sdcard before wiping the system - if so where can I find it?

indigomontoya said:
That did the trick. I had actually already tried that, but it never rebooted and so I figured it wasn't working. Oh well. One more silly question: Do I need to move the backup to my computer or external sdcard before wiping the system - if so where can I find it?
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Click to collapse
It should put it on sdcard-ext automatically. No need to move anything.