[Q] Updating to Fresh 2.3.3 and/or Undoing Apps2sd - Hero CDMA Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

So I'm running Fresh 2.1 and tried to upgrade to 2.3.3 last night, but it was putting it into an endless reboot. I made sure I wiped the cache and data so the only thing I can think of that's causing the problem is that I'm using apps2sd and didn't wipe my ext3 partition. Reflashed back to my 2.1 backup and things are back to running fine now thankfully. It's brought a few questions up for me, though
Before I go the route of wiping my ext3 partition for apps2sd I want to make sure I can still recover back to the way things were before in case the upgrade to 2.3.3 doesn't work. I use Clockwork ROM Manager with Nandroid to do my backups but when watching the backup take place it looks like it tries to mount the ext3 partition to back it up but fails. Honestly not fully familiar with how apps2sd really works, so I don't know if that failure during the nandroid backup means my apps on the ext3 partition aren't getting backed up. Would that mean that if I wiped the ext3 partition and tried to recover my 2.1 ROM that my apps would not be there?
I thought maybe I could just undo the apps2sd setup, do a backup and then I'd be fine. But I'm having trouble finding clear, up to date instructions for how to undo apps2sd.
If anyone can clarify any of my issues or point me in the right direction, I'd appreciate it. Thanks!

Could someone at least point me to some updated instructions for undoing apps2sd on the Sprint Hero?

pdragon said:
Could someone at least point me to some updated instructions for undoing apps2sd on the Sprint Hero?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The instructions you are looking for are here
Normally (at least in the RA recovery) when you go to the backup menu for nandroid, you can choose if you wish to backup normally or with the ext partition included (much bigger file, takes longer). Regardless, if you wipe your ext partition, and you need to nandroid back, the backup will work fine, you will just need to reinstall your applications.
I save myself some time when I need to do this by using "Shootme" (free on the market) and take screen shots of my apps, then I can just refer back to the screenies to find everything I need. Alternatively, you could use the ADB "pull" command and take a copy of your apps directory onto your computer, then push them back if needs be.
Hope this helps!

Thanks for the reply, runngwlf. I guess either the version of Nandroid I have, ClockworkMod Recovery, or my phone doesn't support backing up with the ext. When I go into Nandroid, my only options are Backup, Restore & Advanced Restore. Choosing backup just goes straight into running the backup with no choices. During the backup it gives an error saying it couldn't mount the ext partition.
Thanks for confirming the backup will still work, just without my apps. Guess I'll give it a shot!

runngwlf said:
...
Normally (at least in the RA recovery) when you go to the backup menu for nandroid, you can choose if you wish to backup normally or with the ext partition included (much bigger file, takes longer)...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hah! That little tidbit got me going in the right direction. Looking through the ClockworkMod i saw an option to install RA Recovery as an alternative boot recovery. Lo and behold, rebooting into RA Recovery gives me that ext backup option. Thanks again!

Related

Help with Nandroid restoring problem

Hey guys,
Wondering if you'll be able to help me here.
I was running Cyan's 4.0.4 stable ROM, I made a Nandroid backup because I wanted to try out the 4.1.11.1. Anyway, I loaded up the new ROM and ran the fix_permissions script hoping that it would solve the force closes issues I was having. But, it didn't.
So I went to restore my Nandroid backup. It seemed to work, but then upon booting - all I got was a black screen and the top notification bar. It would not load the home screen and I couldn't access any apps!
I wiped and installed a clean 4.0.4 and it booted fine....but I'm just wondering if there's any way I can get my data back now.
Thanks for your help!
Casey Rain said:
Hey guys,
Wondering if you'll be able to help me here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wrong place to be asking....there is a Q&A forum.
You're gonna be told this is in the wrong section by someone sooner or later but in the meantime.......
Before you installed CM 4.11.1 had you done a wipe of your phone? Not just the normal wipe, the Ext3 wipe too. If not then it's likely that caused your black screen and problems. Trying to restore the nandroid backup without wiping up what was left over from that will have given you the force closes and other problems.
You've reinstalled 4.0.4 so you know it works so you can wipe again, wipe the Ext3 files (lose programs but they'll be back with nandroid mostly) and then restore your nandroid backup. It should work from there.
My apologies for not posting this in the correct section.
Thanks Dyonas, I will try that. How do I go about wiping the EXT partition?
I didn't wipe before installing the 4.1.11.1 - I used this script, having been led to believe that that would fix any problems. 4.1.11.1 booted fine but I was getting a lot of force closes even after running the script.
That's when I tried to roll back to 4.0.4 using the Nandroid backup, which appeared to work - but only brought up a black screen, and the notification bar.
You ran fix_permissions after loading the update and letting it boot and not before right?
Im just double checking as they maybe the issue. Still the only hope is your nandroid backup.
I would use the Amon RA recovery that allows for wiping ext3 and restoring your nandroid backup.
The script for fixing permissions would solve some problems but the main ones I think you experienced were because of changing from 4.0.4 (Cupcake), to 4.11.1 (Donut) and the changes involved. You can use the new recovery image to wipe ext3 from http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=566669 which is pretty self explanatory after it's installed.
Alternatively you can use Cyanogen's recovery and.......
console
mount /system/sd
rm -rf app
rm -rf app-private
rm -rf app_s
rm -rf dalvik-cache
recovery (to go back to recovery console)
wipe, just to be safe, then try restoring your nandroid backup or flashing 4.11.1 which shouldn't have as many issues after a full wipe.
Tried wiping the EXT from the AMON_RA recovery, then wiping, then restoring the Nandroid backup. Still the same problem with the black screen and not loading the launcher.
What's strange is that I know the backup has worked properly, because my lock screen works with the correct swipe pattern, and when the lock screen is on I can see my background behind it. But then I unlock in - and it's just a black screen with the notification bar.
What should I do now?
I used to use the "Advanced Launcher" and I may have inadvertantly replaced the original launcher. Is there any possibility that this could be because the new launcher has got corrupted or moved somehow?
This is so frustrating because I know I'm almost there! The backup works, except for this whole black screen thing.
Also, should I try restoring the nandroid backup again of (4.0.4) and then running the fix permissions again from recovery console? Any chance that might sort it out?

Problems updating CM and restoring Nandroid

UPDATE: I've discovered all of my problems seemed to be due to a FUBAR SD card. I wiped, went back to factory, did the stock-to-CM process all over again. Phone STILL either wouldn't boot or would boot but nothing would work with my 2GB card in it. So I formatted a 1GB card I had laying around with 32MB swap, 200MB ext4, and about ~770MB fat32.
Phone now works better than it ever has on any firmware since the day I bought it! It's a lot faster than it's ever been, too. This also explains why I couldn't restore my Nandroid backups. Nandroid and Backup for Root both work great now (and are lifesavers!).
I no longer have any complaints about CM!
Original:
Thank you Mikey1022 for a nice warm threat of banning me for my first post ever. Really makes a newcomer feel welcome around here. My bad for thinking something to do with CyanogenMod and Nandroid was development-related.
Anyway, as was said in my thread that was locked:
The last few times I've updated to a new CM ROM, my phone boots to the android screen, goes black, stays there indefinitely. Have to pull battery.
OF COURSE I always do a Nandroid backup before flashing a new ROM. So I think "well, I'll just revert to my backup." Right?!? No. Whenever I try to restore a Nandroid backup, I get "Error performing restore! Try running nandroid-mobile.sh restore from shell". When I run said command in adb, it tells me:
Verifying backup images...
boot.img: OK
cache.img: FAILED
data.img: FAILED
misc.img: OK
recovery.img: OK
system.img: OK
md5sum: WARNING: 2 of 6 computed checksums did NOT match
Error: md5sum mismatch, aborting
How does my cache and data images "fail?"
So I end up wiping, then re-flashing the CM update, and all is well. Except I have a wiped phone, with none of my apps or settings. I know, I know, I should wipe anyway, right? Bull****. I spend a lot of time customizing my phone, getting it just the way I like. I have tons of apps installed, set up how I like. To wipe every two weeks when CM releases a new update is absurd. I don't have to wipe my computer every time Microsoft issues a security update.
So my two questions are: Many other people report flashing the new CM ROMS without having to wipe, so why doesn't it work for me?
And why can't I restore a friggin Nandroid backup? Really, what is the point of making a backup if there's no way to restore it?
Notes: I have a brown T-mo G1 unlocked on AT&T. I just did this whole process today going from CM 4.2.3.1 to CM 4.2.4. I have CM's Recovery 1.4 installed. I have a 2GB SD card formatted as ~1.4GB fat32, ~500MB ext4, 64MB linux-swap. And I have an anxiety problem. I'm eating Xanax like candy.
I am completely with you that it is inconvenient to wipe and flash and have to put all your settings back together. I've also been lurking for a little while and learned that most people are dickbags about posting in the right forum, rather than just helping someone out. Don't take it personally.
The best thing I have found to do is get Backup for Root. I'd recommend MyBackup Pro as well, to be safe. Backup with both before wiping and flashing a new rom, and usually Backup for Root will restore your desktop and settings. Reboot a couple times if things don't come back instantly.
If I were you, I would just take some time out, copy the files on the SD to a hard drive, reformat the card, wipe the device, and reload everything fresh. But that's just me. Good luck
You can flash the restore through fastboot....
take the data.img and
fastboot flash userdata data.img
though if the md5 is messed up...its probably not a good idea, though at the worst you can wipe
B-man007 said:
You can flash the restore through fastboot....
take the data.img and
fastboot flash userdata data.img
though if the md5 is messed up...its probably not a good idea, though at the worst you can wipe
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What he said. Put all your .img files in the tools of the sdk. In order, the fastboot commands would be:
fastboot flash boot boot.img
fastboot flash userdata data.img
fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
fastboot flash system system.img
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cache and misc don't really matter that much. This will manually restore your nandroid backup.
Thank you very much, FaJu. That is exactly what I needed to know. I will try that next time if I can't get Nandroid to restore.
I also started backing up with Backup for Root, as drspanklebum suggested, so hopefully one way or another I'll make damn sure I can restore my apps and settings if need be!
UPDATE: I've discovered all of my problems seemed to be due to a FUBAR SD card. I wiped, went back to factory, did the stock-to-CM process all over again. Phone STILL either wouldn't boot or would boot but nothing would work with my 2GB card in it. So I formatted a 1GB card I had laying around with 32MB swap, 200MB ext4, and about ~770MB fat32.
Phone now works better than it ever has on any firmware since the day I bought it! It's a lot faster than it's ever been, too. This also explains why I couldn't restore my Nandroid backups. Nandroid and Backup for Root both work great now (and are lifesavers!).
I no longer have any complaints about CM!

changing to different roms with apps2sd enabled

i have just flashed superD and it is the best rom i have used so far, so fast its unbelievable.
i am just curious, if i ever want to experiment with other roms, will i be able to just flash them and then get all my apps working again? will the apps2sd stuff just work.
i currently have a 128mb ext3 partition for the apps but i dont use a lot of apps so its enough for me.
also how do i see the apps through a file manager like astro or linda?
can someone *please* let me know if its safe to change roms with apps2sd enabled, someone must know! just a yes or no would be enough!
I was able to do it with Amon Ra's recovery... Do a BART backup, then wipe Data, and Dalvik... Then Flash the new ROM... I was able to go from CM -> OE -> Kings without losing anything...
I then did a BART restore and brought back my CM installation like it never left...
Good luck...
L8r
Vermithrax said:
I was able to do it with Amon Ra's recovery... Do a BART backup, then wipe Data, and Dalvik... Then Flash the new ROM... I was able to go from CM -> OE -> Kings without losing anything...
I then did a BART restore and brought back my CM installation like it never left...
Good luck...
L8r
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this i dunno about that as bart never works on my recovery, guss becaus ei don't have an sd ext partition? but most roms usually say wipe sd ext partitions, and if you find a good backup program (like titanium backup) you'll never really need to worry about that. titanium not only backs up my apps, it backs up thier settings and such. so if i use a tvguide app on one rom and back it up with titanium, when i reload it on another rom it still has my location and such saved. pretty damn nice.

[Q] A2SD & Flashing New ROM

Hi Guys,
I've posted in a couple of threads but didn't let loose for fear of hijacking it, so putting my question here for the good fellows to respond to if possible.
Basically put I have a ROM installed (Kang-o-rama SP1) and have a 1GB A2SD partition courtesy of DarkTremor.
What I want to know is what process should I go through to flash a new ROM but retain that Ext partition? I'm not sure if this is even possible? Should the wipe wipe absolutely everything and then after flashing the ROM I should rebuild the EXT partition and then use Titanium Backup (or something similar) to restore my apps to that A2SD partition?
Can somebody please just tell me what the best process is (even if that means wipe everything, and recreate from scratch each time you flash.
I was under the impression you see that I could wipe everything but retain the actual partition (albeit wiped) to restore apps to after a new Flash?
Thanks in advance
Probably your best bet is to use Titanium. When you restore, look for the setting in the app that mentions something to the effect of attempting to integrate your backup into a different ROM (Sorry don't have app in front of me).
You can also use ADB to pull your sd-ext to your computer. Push it back when you have the new ROM set up with ext
adb pull /sd-ext c:\whateveryouwanttocallit
I use Amon Ra's Recovery but I think Clockwork Mod has an option to backup just your sd-ext.

Moving Dalvik cache to EXT - unable to boot

Hello guys,
I have a little problem which seems to be coming when I move the dalvik cache to the EXT partition of my device.
I am using the latest version of MIUI. It has A2SD built in, but it doesn't seem to be working. It was working before though...
What happened:
I restored the NANDROID backup of the stock ROM I had made before flashing MIUI. Once I booted into it, it warned me about the 2.3.4 OTA update. I did it, but forgot that it overwrites the bootloader, removes root and I will not be able to revert to MIUI.
I pushed the Clockwork recovery and immediately started restoring the NAND backup of my MIUI ROM. Without gaining root on the Stock 2.3.4 ROM.
The Dalvik was moved to the EXT on the MIUI I was trying to restore and functioning properly.
The restore went fine, until it got to restoring the sd-ext. It stood there at some *.tmp file for an hour or so. I removed the battery, booted into recovery, wiped and started the restore again. This time it finished, but when I went to start the phone, it got stuck at the Nexus logo, not even showing the MIUI boot screen.
Wiped again. Tried booting into a previous backup, which didn't have the Dalvik moved to the EXT partition. Restored and booted just fine.
I tried several more times restoring the latest backup I had (the one with dalvik to ext) and got the same result.
Then I tried installing the MIUI backup that didn't have Dalvik moved to EXT and tried moving the Dalvik to EXT. The phone rebooted and same thing happened. Didn't want to get past the Nexus logo.
I then wiped everything except batt stats, formatted ext, and flashed the MIUI ROM. It booted perfectly, but A2SD was not working, just like before (solution was to move dalvik to sd). I downloaded the A2SD GUI only and moved the dalvik to EXT AGAIN. And AGAIN - not booting past Nexus logo.
The only thing I still haven't done is formatting the SD and re-creating the EXT partition.
Any other suggestions on what may be causing this and how to fix it?
I want to have a2sd on this ROM and moving the dalvik to EXT seems to be the only way of achieving this.
Repartition SD card, you've most probably corrupted the EXT partition by pulling the battery.
Do you think that restoring the last MIUI backup I had after this will do the job?
After repartitioning? As long as you back up the files from the main FAT32 partition on the computer, and restore them back - the EXT will be overwritten when restoring nandroid anyway.
Well.... I just formatted the card with Panasonic SD formatter. Transfered only the nandroid backup (without creating an ext partition beforehand) and restored it successfully, but when the phone starts booting it is stuck at the Nexus logo.
I also checked the MD5 of the backup and everything is fine.
Godzi said:
Well.... I just formatted the card with Panasonic SD formatter. Transfered only the nandroid backup (without creating an ext partition beforehand) and restored it successfully, but when the phone starts booting it is stuck at the Nexus logo.
I also checked the MD5 of the backup and everything is fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wipe Cache and dalvic. Than try again. Your System Need a ext wenn you push dalvic to sd before.
I ran out of options.
Formatted the card, tried restoring - Nexus logo
Wiped Everything + Dalvik and Cache, restored - Nexus logo
Wiped Everything + Dalvik and Cache, didn't restore old MIUI backup - successful boot. When I tried to move Dalvik to EXT after the successful boot - Nexus logo after restart.
If anyone can suggest anything... Because this way I have no access to the A2SD on the device with this ROM. And everything was working fine before I restored the Stock Ginger.
Did you try installing DT on any other ROM and try and move dalvik to the sd to see if it does the same thing?
Dude Random21 said:
Did you try installing DT on any other ROM and try and move dalvik to the sd to see if it does the same thing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. I haven't tried with another ROM. I guess I will try CM7 and see what happens when I move the Dalvik to the EXT.
I repartitioned once again, this time using the same EXT size as before the breakdown (512MB). When the backup I am trying to restore was made.
Was using 1024 when I partitioned previously and got the Nexus logo again.
Edit: Same thing. Successful restore and then the Nexus Logo.
I suspect it's the ext partition. Why don't you try formatting through recovery, and do a clean install?
Which recovery do you use? I would avoid Clockwork 3.x...
Well. I formated using Panasonic SD Formatted and then partitioned using the recovery. I did a clean install after that and as soon as I move the Dalvik to the EXT, I can't boot past the Nexus logo.
Yes, Clockwork 3.x. I guess I will try Amon_RA as well. Nothing left to lose.
If you partition with Amon Ra, make sure you up the partition from ext2 to ext3 (available through the Ra menu options)...
Ok. Partitioned with RA.
Tried to transfer the nandroid backup made by Clockwork to a sd/nandroid folder so I can restore it from within RA but it kept giving out some error telling me to look at the recovery log when I selected *.img files from the list.
Good news. I booted into MIUI and installed a2sd GUI. Moved Dalvik to EXT without a problem. I guess Clockwork's partitioning is flawed. Everything is working fine now.
Thank you.
Can anyone suggest a method I can use to restore the Clockwork made NAND backup + the EXT backup now when my partitions are finally alright.
Any method would be fine. Even manual through adb. I don't care. As long as I restore my phone to yesterday.
Thank you guys once again.
You should be fine if you load a clockwork prior to v3.x. I think 2.5.1.4 was the latest version prior to the v3.x series. The issues only arise with v3.x.
But only clockwork is able to restore clockwork backups, and the same goes for Amon_RA.
As an alternative, you can just extract the img files and manually load your data back on. It is definitely more time consuming, but it wouldn't matter what recovery you use. It has been a while since I extracted anything from the img files, and when I did, I just got the data from apps stored on the internal (apps and dalvik were stored on the sdcard), and I think the only program I used was unyaffs2 to extract the data.
Thank you guys!
Partitioning the card with Amon_RA and restoring the old Clockwork-made backup with Clockwork 2.* worked perfectly.
I will not use Clockwork ever agian. Putting Amon_RA and that's it.
You will only have this problem with clockwork 3.x - there doesn't appear to be the same issue with clockwork 2.x
I have been using v2.x without any issues (never upgraded to v3.x). I prefer it because it gives me the option to wipe the /system partition, whereas Amon_RA is missing this feature and you can only do it with a flashable zip.
I use 2.x for a number of reasons. I tried 3.x a few times, but always had ext issues on my N1. Having said that, I've used 3.x on my nook, MT4G and G2, and never had issues with them - just on the N1...
I've used RA 2.2.1 on CM7, MIUI ,Sense rom. I never seen sd-ext issues on my Nexus One.

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