when switching back and forth between roms or just keeping up with Cyanogen's speedy update schedule, I always have problems with the market knowing which apps I have and which I don't, so I was wondering if an app or script could just scan the apps on the device internal & apps2sd them remake the marketdb to reflect what is truly on the phone??
I may be wrong but it seems as its the marketdb that keeps this info, not the market "server" so it sounds easy, but since I couldn't code my way out of a paperbag how would I know if its easy or not...
it's no big deal but it would be nice, im sure im not the only cat who has thought of this so there must be sumthing more complex than I can understand that keeps it from happening...
just an idea,
bhang
the marketdb sucks for that kind of thing. use atrackdog. it creates its own db and updates it every time you run it to show exactly what you have on the phone and scans the market for updates on request.
Backup for root users allows you to backup and restore your market database.
bengrulz said:
Backup for root users allows you to backup and restore your market database.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That option has never worked for me...as with some of the other options in that program. The only ones that seem to work properly for me is backing up SMS and bookmarks. Sometimes backups of alarms work, sometimes not.
so to start off, ill say i know absolutly nothing about linux, but i managed to root and flash modacos custom rom to my phone. i have no idea what any of the commands i used to do it mean, or how to use any of them to do anything else (other than removing a bunch of the crap that sprint puts on the phone, i managed to do that with the help of one of the other threads on here). anyways, ive got that done and am wondering what to do now. i came from a titan and am used to when im done flashing things, everything is totally different. like going from stock rom to having m2d and it being super sweet. with the new rom it seems like there isnt a lot of new stuff going on or a lot of changes. wifi tether works amazingly though. anyways, im done with the pointless ranting and heres what im trying to figure out....
1. are all of my contacts really saved to gmail? like all of the stuff from all of them? so if i hard reset, and just sign into my gmail account, will it reload all of my contacts? im used to pim backup and knowing that its all gonna be there after im done doing stuff (ive never used gmail before and am not sure how it works)
2. if i do a hard reset, do i need to redo everything like root and re-flash the custom rom or will all of that stay intact? will all of the sprint garbage like nascar be back on there after doing the cmd propmt remove of it or will i have to do that again? im not nessicarily worried about the apps that i have installed already so im not worried about that at all, i can find them later.
3. is there anything usefull that i can do with root that will increase performance or anything. like i said earlier, i dont know anything about linux , so is there like a list of comands somewhere to look through that might help me out?
4. does a2sd see your programs and automatically move them to the sd with the proper formatting of the sd card? i did the fat32, ext2 and swap. since i didnt know if it moved them over, i manually uninstalled everything and reinstalled them. after uninstalling everything i had 104 free and after reinstall i had 101.
5. would it be benificial to go ahead and do a hard reset, if the sprint crap is back on on all of that other **** that can be erased is back, get rid of that, and start from scratch to install all of my stuff i want. i dl a lot of **** that i uninstalled before. i hear linux is really good at installing and uninstalling things, but if ive dl'ed 75 things then uninstallled them, is there gonna be any garbage left on my phone from it? i know there was a lot of garbage left on the sd before i formated. actually, there was **** on there (on the sd) from progs i dl'ed and uninstalled awhile ago, even after formating so im thinging a hard reset would be helpful.
im sure ill have a lot more questions about this whole linux/android stuff sooo.....if people are trying to be helpful and help me out that would be awesome. if your going to be an asshole and blast me for my nubbish questions, dont bother.
thanks in advance
ix3u
The super-custom ROMS are on their way, they just take some time (we only got root this past weekend afterall!)
1.) Some contacts are saved to your phone, but I believe the default is to save it to gmail. You can check by going into the People App, click menu->View and the numbers should show you how much is on google and how many are on your phone.
2.) I'm afraid I'm not sure on a hard reset...I use Nandroid and if all else fails, the RUU to recover (Nandroid is just a snapshot in time...it will be however it was when you backed it up when you restore....while the RUU puts it back to true "factory", as if you just pulled it out of the box).
3.) There's a few things you can do to the UI settings that can increase performance, but the real performance gains are pending the release of the CDMA Kernel by HTC for us to play with and port some of the performance changes that were done to the GSM Kernel (Google for Teknologic's Kernel 1.8...it's included in MoDaCo 2.9). Teknologic kept a very good changelog and site describing some of the things he did and why.
4.) I have no experience with A2SD, but there's a bunch of threads about it...hopefully one of them will have teh answer you seek?
5.) I suppose a hard reset couldn't hurt...it would certainly rule a lot of things out when troubleshooting. I download a lot of apps too only to find I didn't like them enough to keep them and removed them. From what I can tell, it does clean up the application files pretty thoroughly on the OS partitions...the SD card I believe most apps leave alone on uninstall just to be careful not to delete too much because the SD card is designed for people to access and drop files onto, whereas the OS is meant to be managed by the OS...so it's just being careful to leave data on the SD card to play it safe rather than risk deleting someone's favorite picture of their kid or something.
Xda has been one of the more gentle forums I've seen in a long time. You're in good hands here. Hopefully some of that info was useful...if not, someone else will likely be along shortly to give better/more complete answers. ^_^
Hey all,
I was really hioping someone could give me a hand.
I am due a delivery of a hero at somepoint today. Now from what i have read and researched, the hero is a little behind with the Android version and we are awaiting a new update from HTC. ( i don't want to go the custom ROM route, not just yet)
Now, if the HTC rep i spoke to is to be believed, we wont get the update until Mid-April earliest. that's a month of my contacts, settings etc etc that will be lost with a ROM update.
My question is this, Can anyone recommend a decent back-up utility for the Hero?
I don't mind paying for it, but i would prefere if it can save my mail settings (maybe the 3 internet settings too as they are a pain)
I have seen a few apps around to do it, but you never know unless you try.
i would rather not go the trial and error route on my contacts!
(i have also heard that the Hero comes with a pretty decent PC Sync utility to install to my PC that will take backups etc, any thruth to this?)
Thanks for your help guys,
TM411
"My Backup Pro" is a very good app (costs £4 ish i think) in the market. probably the best non rooted app you will find to back everything up.
If you were to root your phone you could use an app called "titanium backup" personally I haven not got on with it but a lot of people on this site love it (maybe I should give it a second chance?)
Google phones sync contacts with google by default (access via a pc @ www.google.com/contacts) so once your happy they are all on that website you never need to worry about backing them up on your phone ever again
Excellent,
thanks mate.
Quick question though, what is "rooting"
am i missing something simple?
TroubleMaker411 said:
Excellent,
thanks mate.
Quick question though, what is "rooting"
am i missing something simple?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Rooting is the process that gives you more access to things that you normally can't do.
Once this is done it allows apps to control parts of the phone that normally cannot be touched which is why titanium backup is probably the most complete backup app there is.
It also allows you to install custom roms etc
Cool, thanks.
One last question then, sorry to be a pain.
Would you recommend going the custom ROM/rooted path?
If so, is there an Android 2.1/new HTC UI ROM around that you would recommend i have a butchers at?
Thanks again mate
TroubleMaker411 said:
Cool, thanks.
One last question then, sorry to be a pain.
Would you recommend going the custom ROM/rooted path?
If so, is there an Android 2.1/new HTC UI ROM around that you would recommend i have a butchers at?
Thanks again mate
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Installing a custom recovery image does no harm to your phone and will give you the option to backup and flash a custom ROM if you wish.
I would defiantly recommend doing it.
you can always restore to default anyway to remove it for some reason you wished to do so.
there are guides on this site and good videos on www.theunlockr.com to teach you how to do it. It is not hard and just gives you that choice of how to use your phone
Thank you
You have been extremely helpful.
It's much appreciated
TM411
hey all, i apologize in advance because i am fairly new to the rooting world, let alone the smartphone realm (considering the DROID3 is my first smartphone ever) but i heard about roots, hacks and all the crazy stuff you can do with a rooted phone. so i thought id give it a try.. ive backed up all my files, at least i think so, with titanium backup. i am wondering is there a way to get rid of all that crappy bloatware without going in to the system files and reprogramming it? im a reasonably intelligent person. and im tired of painfully reading through the internet, (been up for 18 hours now) and i really just want to put it to rest. ive already rooted i really just need some help from here. thanks all, and i appreciate any comments, sarcastic or not
Welcome to XDA. The search button is your friend. All of your answers can be found in the first few threads that are stickied at the top of the Development Section.
For root:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1240130
Remove Bloat:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1238472
If you don't want to run the script in the link above to remove the bloatware, you can use Titanium Backup PRO to 'freeze' any bloatware apps that you don't want to use. The freeze feature is only available in the paid version.
thank you friend, i have recently come across gemini app manager it claims to be able to do the same things as titanium backup pro, do you have any experience with this app? i "froze" a couple of my apps and the next thing i know i cant text or view my contacts.. please help
Don't freeze random things which you're not sure what it does, or apps that sounds as if it part of the system framework or phone related.
Zoibster said:
thank you friend, i have recently come across gemini app manager it claims to be able to do the same things as titanium backup pro, do you have any experience with this app? i "froze" a couple of my apps and the next thing i know i cant text or view my contacts.. please help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have not used gemini app manager so I can't comment on the app.
As far as freezing goes - as mentioned, you have to be careful what you freeze. Freezing system apps can cause some things to not work properly.
Did you follow the link I listed for de-bloating earlier? If you download the .zip file and open it in a text editor it will show you all the apps that are frozen by the script and you can then use that list to freeze apps manually...
Hi,
I did check other threads but I couldn't find anything directly related to this. I run my Galaxy S on an official firmware and don't have any mod installed. Well, aside from having it rooted.Firmware version is 2.3.6 xxjw4.
For a few months now, I feel the phone is getting slower and slower but now is becoming ridiculous. I mean, too many times it might take up to 5 seconds just to unlock the screen or get into the contact list. I have very few apps installed and I think I make a light use of it... basically, I use it as a phone, I use the calendar for appointments and I browse the internet. That's pretty much it. I use the full Opera browser though, and that's a heavy one. I also know about the need to sometimes unmount the SD card.
So anyway, my question is this... might it be the case that this phone is getting old and its hardware can't cope like it used to with its software? Or could it be some other problem that I don't even know how to ask about or check?
Cheers!
Maybe its time for you to flash a custom ics/jb rom? For ics , i recommend SlimIcs: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1488096
Mongopusher42 said:
Maybe its time for you to flash a custom ics/jb rom? For ics , i recommend SlimIcs: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1488096
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
At the beginning when I started to have this phone, I was using stock rom, I could not cope either with the tendency of this phone to micro-freeze and developpers brought a tweak called "lagfix" it saved the world for this phone... no more freeze due to non efficient memory management.
Now it's standard on any custom rom, so yes... go for a custom rom.
Badzoo said:
At the beginning when I started to have this phone, I was using stock rom, I could not cope either with the tendency of this phone to micro-freeze and developpers brought a tweak called "lagfix" it saved the world for this phone... no more freeze due to non efficient memory management.
Now it's standard on any custom rom, so yes... go for a custom rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thas wassup
Thanks guys and I'm sorry to acknowledged your answers so late... I thought I had set it to instant notification but I apparently didn't!
Yes, I remember the lag-fix thing, it did wonders for this phone.
I'll try the custom rom because this is just getting insane... just today it took me a good full minute to go from checking emails to get out of there to get into my contact list and return a missing call. I would go with a Galaxy III but the thing is a bit huge and second it's still at a novelty price. I'm sure I can get one much cheaper in a couple of months.
Well, thanks so much once more and I'll let you know how it goes! :good:
Done, much, much faster!! But the interface looks ... Nothing is familiar anymore, have to go through it all over again :laugh:
Kutusov said:
Done, much, much faster!! But the interface looks ... Nothing is familiar anymore, have to go through it all over again :laugh:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
try this MIUI v4 the interface is much easy.
Samtan4326 said:
try this MIUI v4 the interface is much easy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, currently I had to revert to a xxjw4 as somehow all my contacts wouldn't be backed up. Strange thing really as it started by showing up the right names on my contact log but they would be replaced by just the numbers. I made several attempts to restore those via Titanium Backup Pro but they wouldn't stick. Couldn't find any reference to this anywhere except a single post on a forum by someone complaining about the same problem and the answer was that those with be retrieved by Google sync. Not in my case...
I haven't given up yet but for now I do need those for work so I had to go back. Funny thing is that it's no longer lagging as it was, maybe because of all the wiping data and system and cache I had to go through.
Kutusov said:
Well, currently I had to revert to a xxjw4 as somehow all my contacts wouldn't be backed up. Strange thing really as it started by showing up the right names on my contact log but they would be replaced by just the numbers. I made several attempts to restore those via Titanium Backup Pro but they wouldn't stick. Couldn't find any reference to this anywhere except a single post on a forum by someone complaining about the same problem and the answer was that those with be retrieved by Google sync. Not in my case...
I haven't given up yet but for now I do need those for work so I had to go back. Funny thing is that it's no longer lagging as it was, maybe because of all the wiping data and system and cache I had to go through.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if you backup your contacts try using file explorer to restore back by click on the xxx.vcf file, the contacts will restore back after you select the vcf file , good luck.
Samtan4326 said:
if you backup your contacts try using file explorer to restore back by click on the xxx.vcf file, the contacts will restore back after you select the vcf file , good luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah, so that's the file, thanks!! It kept asking me for a vcard on the SD card which didn't made much sense I'll have to try it during the weekend, even after rolling back I've spent the day with all those little problems you forget about fixing, like trying to take calls while driving and the phone not recognizing the bluetooth earpiece...
Moving to custom rom
I too had 2.3.6 xxjw4 on my SGS GT-I9000. Changing to a custom rom has given my phone a new lease of life! I moved to RemICS-UX, which is an ICS rom (perhaps not suitable for yourself as bluetooth not functional and development has moved on to Remics-JB, a jelly bean rom).
Beware of moving directly from stock to jelly bean custom rom. Many have run into trouble doing this. The wisdom from above is to move from stock to ICS before moving to a JB rom.
As for contacts, I previously set my phone to back up and sync my contacts to my Google account (Setting->Accounts & sync). Then, when the phone reboots after rom installation, Google syncs all my contacts back to my phone. Of course, I do nandroid, Titanium, and MyBackup backups - belt and braces!
Also don't forget to back up your efs folder with its imei details in it. Some people have lost their imei details when flashing, and this may save you the trouble of reflashing xxjw4 to recover it.
My phone is supposed to synch with my Google account and does it more often than I would wish! I feel it noticeably slows everything down when it's synhcing away. Even so, it was unable to get my contacts back. I'm really not sure what happened because when it booted up after recovery, I did had most of the right names on my contact log but a then they were replaced by the numbers only. Contact folder was always empty too...
BTW, where is the xxx.vcf located? Can't find it anywhere....
vcf backup
Kutusov said:
...snip...
BTW, where is the xxx.vcf located? Can't find it anywhere....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You create the vcf file prior to flashing. Go to Contacts->touch menu button->choose 'import/export'->choose 'export to storage'. You will be told the name of the vcf file and its location (in my own case 'mnt/sdcard/00001.vcf'. You can open the vcf file with a text editor and even make a backup on external card. To restore after flashing, go to Contacts->import/export->import from storage.
Oct-Al said:
You create the vcf file prior to flashing. Go to Contacts->touch menu button->choose 'import/export'->choose 'export to storage'. You will be told the name of the vcf file and its location (in my own case 'mnt/sdcard/00001.vcf'. You can open the vcf file with a text editor and even make a backup on external card. To restore after flashing, go to Contacts->import/export->import from storage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right! :good: Just shows how much I know about this stuff
Quick update... re-read everything that was posted here and few other guides and tried to upgrade the ROM all over again during the weekend. I paid special attention to what you (Oct-Al) said about upgrading first to ICS from stock. I don't know the name of ROM but I've used the one that has a ICS333-2.0.1 and a gapps file. All went smoothly but, again, no contacts. The synch thing with Google doesn't work for me also. Synched everything to my account but nothing stays there. I probably have a lot of settings turned off as I tend to opt for maximum privacy and I even disabled that chat thing on my gmail acc.
But now that I know how to create the Vcard I'll give it another try. If all fails I guess I'll just have to fork up some money and get me the SIII although I think that phone is too big. Handled one the other day and it's great with youtube, browsing the internet, etc but carting that thing all day on your trousers' pocket shouldn't be all that nice...
Backup contacts database
Kutusov said:
Right! :good: Just shows how much I know about this stuff
Quick update... re-read everything that was posted here and few other guides and tried to upgrade the ROM all over again during the weekend. I paid special attention to what you (Oct-Al) said about upgrading first to ICS from stock. I don't know the name of ROM but I've used the one that has a ICS333-2.0.1 and a gapps file. All went smoothly but, again, no contacts. The synch thing with Google doesn't work for me also. Synched everything to my account but nothing stays there. I probably have a lot of settings turned off as I tend to opt for maximum privacy and I even disabled that chat thing on my gmail acc.
But now that I know how to create the Vcard I'll give it another try. If all fails I guess I'll just have to fork up some money and get me the SIII although I think that phone is too big. Handled one the other day and it's great with youtube, browsing the internet, etc but carting that thing all day on your trousers' pocket shouldn't be all that nice...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is another option! How confident are you with SQLite databases?
If you look in data/data/com.android.providers.contacts/databases you will find a database called 'contacts2.db' together with some other stuff. If you use Root Explorer (available from Play store - but not free) you can inspect the database with the internal SQLite viewer and confirm this is the database you want. Back up the folder and its contents before flashing.
Oct-Al said:
There is another option! How confident are you with SQLite databases?
If you look in data/data/com.android.providers.contacts/databases you will find a database called 'contacts2.db' together with some other stuff. If you use Root Explorer (available from Play store - but not free) you can inspect the database with the internal SQLite viewer and confirm this is the database you want. Back up the folder and its contents before flashing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Funny that posted this just now I was loggin in to give an update. :laugh:
So I've tried a couple more times and ended up with some problem with the external SD card that wouldn't mount and, stupid me, that's where I had the Vcard file.
Anyway, as I have all the files downloaded I'm pretty fast as trying different things now and I've just realized that all hell brakes lose AFTER I try to recover apps + data with Titanium Backup. Flashed CM9 as a pre-requisite to Slim Bean and everything was fine. I could even retrieve my contacts. But after running TB and rebooting I end up with a never ending sequence of failing processes like gmail, media, android something (they are so many and they pop up so fast I can't even read some of them).
So I'm now fairly confident I can do the upgrade but I'll have to do it in the old fashion (to me) way. I'll have to flash the ROM and then download apps by hand, one at a time.
I'm liking so much the looks and ways of Android 4.xx that there is no way I'm going to give up now :silly:
Well, all done now!!! Running Slim Bean 2.3.0 perfectly, with all the contacts. Everything seems fine, except for my calendar that I can't retrieve (there's always something). Not a big deal aside from the birthdays...
So thanks a lot to you all!! :good:
...well, final update...
I started to have a lot of stuff force closing after restoring a back-up from Titanium Backup. Stock Rom settings and data aparently don't go well with the custom Rom.
Anyway, now sorted... ordered myself an HTC One X :victory: