Database Develop

changing custom Rom to another then restore with nandroid

I got a general enquiry, if I am currently on a trickdroid custom rom and wanted to flash ARHD, do I make a nandroid back up then full wipe before flashing ARHD? But when I restore the nandroid, does it revert me back to trickdroid since the nandroid backup was built using the data of trickdroid?
My goal is to change Roms but also able to retain apps and settings that I have set in my last Rom.
I just downloaded titanium backup too.
Sent from my HTC One using xda premium

Nandroid is a complete backup of /system /data and boot.img. You want titanium backup to retain data from rom to rom.

I have read a few threads but wasn't sure, thank you for confirming this. Much appreciated.
Sent from my HTC One using xda premium

just avoid restoring system data, just restore apps and userdata.

gunnyman said:
just avoid restoring system data, just restore apps and userdata.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Gunnyman, I have googled some guides in regards to wiping rom and restoring backups created by Titanium backup.
In my understanding of the process, The major point is not to restore system data and system apps as you have mentioned, but couple of guides have mentioned just to download the apps from the play/market store instead just restore the actual apps that was backed up by Titanium (So this will only restore the apps data). If this is true, is there a way to automatically download all my apps after I sign into my accounts after setting up the new ROM and restore partially the data from TiBU?
Many thanks in advance.

Cloudyherb said:
Hi Gunnyman, I have googled some guides in regards to wiping rom and restoring backups created by Titanium backup.
In my understanding of the process, The major point is not to restore system data and system apps as you have mentioned, but couple of guides have mentioned just to download the apps from the play/market store instead just restore the actual apps that was backed up by Titanium (So this will only restore the apps data). If this is true, is there a way to automatically download all my apps after I sign into my accounts after setting up the new ROM and restore partially the data from TiBU?
Many thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately Google's "restore this phone" feature you see when setting up a phone is hit or miss and there's no way to force it to do so.
HTC backup, present on some ROMS here, like mike1986's ahrd does the trick it uses dropbox to store backups of your phone.
I just use TiBu for everything as it always works and is more convenient for me.

gunnyman said:
Unfortunately Google's "restore this phone" feature you see when setting up a phone is hit or miss and there's no way to force it to do so.
HTC backup, present on some ROMS here, like mike1986's ahrd does the trick it uses dropbox to store backups of your phone.
I just use TiBu for everything as it always works and is more convenient for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is actually my first Android phone, I have always been using iphone (jailbroken), but I was never a religious loyal fan of their products, it is like a streamlined factory of robots and using it makes me feels like a prisoner. Android's customisation definitely lured me here, I research their system and finds it more promising in terms of customisation and personalisation.
I have a 25GB dropbox account, which was a free subscription rewarded for registering a new dropbox account through HTC devices., ( I had one existing 2gb account so I used a new e-mail address.)
I have actually turned off the HTC sync option, delete my account and disabled it. I saw posts on the forums that this is to maximise battery performances as constant syncing drains battery to a fair degree.
I am actually on ARHD 7.1 but considering flashing Trickdroid for experimenting purposes and also to test out its customisation ability in comparison.
What is your backup setup like? For example, if you would have to flash to a different ROM, or updating a Rom, would the steps be different? Because updating a rom over an existing one, IE ARHD 7.3 over ARHD 7.1, it can be flashed dirty without wiping right?

Cloudyherb said:
This is actually my first Android phone, I have always been using iphone (jailbroken), but I was never a religious loyal fan of their products, it is like a streamlined factory of robots and using it makes me feels like a prisoner. Android's customisation definitely lured me here, I research their system and finds it more promising in terms of customisation and personalisation.
I have a 25GB dropbox account, which was a free subscription rewarded for registering a new dropbox account through HTC devices., ( I had one existing 2gb account so I used a new e-mail address.)
I have actually turned off the HTC sync option, delete my account and disabled it. I saw posts on the forums that this is to maximise battery performances as constant syncing drains battery to a fair degree.
I am actually on ARHD 7.1 but considering flashing Trickdroid for experimenting purposes and also to test out its customisation ability in comparison.
What is your backup setup like? For example, if you would have to flash to a different ROM, or updating a Rom, would the steps be different? Because updating a rom over an existing one, IE ARHD 7.3 over ARHD 7.1, it can be flashed dirty without wiping right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I always do a factory wipe, then restore my titanium backup. back up in running with new ROM in 15 minutes.

gunnyman said:
Unfortunately Google's "restore this phone" feature you see when setting up a phone is hit or miss and there's no way to force it to do so.
HTC backup, present on some ROMS here, like mike1986's ahrd does the trick it uses dropbox to store backups of your phone.
I just use TiBu for everything as it always works and is more convenient for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
gunnyman said:
I always do a factory wipe, then restore my titanium backup. back up in running with new ROM in 15 minutes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And then using HTC and dropbox to restore your apps? But using TiBU to restore the apps settings over?
The user data have to be input manually, correct?

I use HTC sync then tibu to restorethe data and any apps it may have missed.

[Q] slow boot

I've had my phone @ 1 month, and other than rooting it I never had to reboot. I used Hasoon's Desire_C_All-In-One_Kit_v2.0 to install the recovery, root, and superuser. I still have the stock ROM and software. I have installed NovaLauncher, AvastMobile Security, Titanium Backup Pro, and Holo Lockscreen. I haven't disabled or uninstalled any of the apps that came on the phone (Bell). For what ever reason today, when I hit the power button to wake the phone it went into slow motion for almost a minute, then seemed fine. My calendar and contacts ended up all messed up. So I restored ContactStorage with Titanium Backup which recommended a reboot. I held the power button until the Restart menu appeared and hit restart. The phone shut down and rebooted, which seemed slow to me, roughly a minute to get to the Sense Lock screen, and another 30 seconds to get to the Holo Lock Screen. Once the lockscreen was engaged the home screen appeared, but the phone was very sluggiish for @ another minute, then all seems fine.
Is this amount of time normal to restart the phone? or has something been changed somehow?
thanks in advance.

vega509 said:
I've had my phone @ 1 month, and other than rooting it I never had to reboot. I used Hasoon's Desire_C_All-In-One_Kit_v2.0 to install the recovery, root, and superuser. I still have the stock ROM and software. I have installed NovaLauncher, AvastMobile Security, Titanium Backup Pro, and Holo Lockscreen. I haven't disabled or uninstalled any of the apps that came on the phone (Bell). For what ever reason today, when I hit the power button to wake the phone it went into slow motion for almost a minute, then seemed fine. My calendar and contacts ended up all messed up. So I restored ContactStorage with Titanium Backup which recommended a reboot. I held the power button until the Restart menu appeared and hit restart. The phone shut down and rebooted, which seemed slow to me, roughly a minute to get to the Sense Lock screen, and another 30 seconds to get to the Holo Lock Screen. Once the lockscreen was engaged the home screen appeared, but the phone was very sluggiish for @ another minute, then all seems fine.
Is this amount of time normal to restart the phone? or has something been changed somehow?
thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The stock rom is pretty slow, and the stock launcher being there (since you haven't uninstalled any bloatware) doesn't help out to make it faster.
You can try installing a custom kernel. Links are in the index thread. That could help you speed up a little.
What I would recommend is switching to CM10 or any of the roms based on it.
So bottom line, yeah with the stock rom its pretty normal to get a lot of lag.
P.S.
[@ = at (example i was @ Daniels place last night)/ name marker (example @me4488)]

me4488 said:
The stock rom is pretty slow, and the stock launcher being there (since you haven't uninstalled any bloatware) doesn't help out to make it faster.
You can try installing a custom kernel. Links are in the index thread. That could help you speed up a little.
What I would recommend is switching to CM10 or any of the roms based on it.
So bottom line, yeah with the stock rom its pretty normal to get a lot of lag.
P.S.
[@ = at (example i was @ Daniels place last night)/ name marker (example @me4488)]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
to remove bloatware, will Titanium backup do, or would it be better to use NoBloat?
thanks again, for replies in both threads.
ps when do these Image Verification entries stop?

vega509 said:
to remove bloatware, will Titanium backup do, or would it be better to use NoBloat?
thanks again, for replies in both threads.
ps when do these Image Verification entries stop?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try out Rom toolbox.. or any app that can force un-install other apps and make sure to not remove anything important (Common sense eh)
Also consider flashing a custom Rom, they can help with bloatware issues, everything (I think) can be found in the index so start there.
Remember to always Hit Thanks when people help you, and whenever you use someones work, or if you appreciates someone work, and also the verifications stop after 10 posts i think, which is when you are able to post in the development section as well

penguin449 said:
Try out Rom toolbox.. or any app that can force un-install other apps and make sure to not remove anything important (Common sense eh)
Also consider flashing a custom Rom, they can help with bloatware issues, everything (I think) can be found in the index so start there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've installed Rom Toolbox Lite, and froze a lot of the bloatware. Sped things up quite noticeably. I froze the HTC lockscreen app, but it appears to be still running.Should I uninstall it?
As I install apps to replace the clock, calendar etc should I also be uninstalling the same original apps?
I haven't tried the backup or nandroid backup yet. Is this considered a replacement for Titanium? Are the nandroid backups the same as those done from the bootloader?
I've been looking for a tutorial but have not found any. Does anyone have a link to one?
Sorry for all the questions, and thanks again for all the help.

vega509 said:
I've installed Rom Toolbox Lite, and froze a lot of the bloatware. Sped things up quite noticeably. I froze the HTC lockscreen app, but it appears to be still running.Should I uninstall it?
As I install apps to replace the clock, calendar etc should I also be installing the same original apps?
I haven't tried the backup or nandroid backup yet. Is this considered a replacement for Titanium? Are the nandroid backups the same as those done from the bootloader?
I've been looking for a tutorial but have not found any. Does anyone have a link to one?
Sorry for all the questions, and thanks again for all the help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The backups that you take from recovery are called nandroid backups For the lockscreen, take a backup of the apk in your sdcard then delete it from system/app. If it works then great, if not then paste your apk back to system/app You are doing this at your own risk!

vega509 said:
to remove bloatware, will Titanium backup do, or would it be better to use NoBloat?
thanks again, for replies in both threads.
ps when do these Image Verification entries stop?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can use titanium backup. It's the one I prefer. But there are several more that are pretty good, just look for them. =3
I think that is antispam, so it should be after 10-20 posts, when the restriction on posting in the development forums lifts.
P.S. Make a nandroid backup from recovery every week or two or before you make major changes. If the system is stable make another one so that in case you decide to do something else you have your phone ready.
Restoring from backup deletes all the whatsapp and IM messages up until the day you made the backup, so take that in mind.
Keep the last 2 of them as a backup of the backup on your PC at all times. It's a lifesaver.

me4488 said:
You can use titanium backup. It's the one I prefer. But there are several more that are pretty good, just look for them. =3
I think that is antispam, so it should be after 10-20 posts, when the restriction on posting in the development forums lifts.
P.S. Make a nandroid backup from recovery every week or two or before you make major changes. If the system is stable make another one so that in case you decide to do something else you have your phone ready.
Restoring from backup deletes all the whatsapp and IM messages up until the day you made the backup, so take that in mind.
Keep the last 2 of them as a backup of the backup on your PC at all times. It's a lifesaver.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree. I always keep 3 backups with me (not that anyone asked )
1. Stock Clean Unrooted (my very first nandoid)
2. A Sense Custom Rom (rev sense5)
3. A cm10 Custom Rom (cm10)
Every two weeks I try to update my current backup. And yeah, keeping your backups in your PC is good.

aashay960 said:
I agree. I always keep 3 backups with me (not that anyone asked )
1. Stock Clean Unrooted (my very first nandoid)
2. A Sense Custom Rom (rev sense5)
3. A cm10 Custom Rom (cm10)
Every two weeks I try to update my current backup. And yeah, keeping your backups in your PC is good.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
At least I know I'm not the only one.
Yay for "better safe than sorry" and "you can never be too prepared"

me4488 said:
At least I know I'm not the only one.
Yay for "better safe than sorry" and "you can never be too prepared"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i just keep a backup of apps and sms and contacts as ive only got an 8gb sd before a 2gb :crying:

me4488 said:
At least I know I'm not the only one.
Yay for "better safe than sorry" and "you can never be too prepared"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i do neither, i have no back ups, currently my phone is just sitting in fastboot somewhere in my room waiting for the CM7 kernel.. until then i just don't bother using it xD I have my 4x, Galaxy w, and my new (old) hTC Dream

thanks to all who have helped!!
I have uninstalled 69 apps that are either bloatware from Bell and HTC, or are apps I would never use. I used Titanium to freeze the apps 1st, and see if there were any ill effects. Once I determined that what was froze did not affect any other apps, I backed up the frozen apps (batch), and then uninstalled the frozen apps (batch again).
One big plus by using Titanium to remove bloatware was when the uninstall finished, it did not uninstall 2 of the apps I had froze, getting info on these apps showed they were tied to the ROM, Picasa Web Album, and Google Play Music.
Updating CWM to the latest 6.0.3.0 was also a bonus, as ROM Manager now works for Nandroid backups without having to reboot manually (remove and replace the battery).
I will eventually get around to trying custom ROM's when time permits. For now I'm trying different apps such as calendars, keyboards, and launchers. With the multitudes of available apps, anyone have suggestions for keyboards, calendars, and launchers. I've just installed NovaLauncher and ClockQ.
When alternative apps are installed such as calendars, is it preferable to uninstall the same apps that came with the phone?
thanks again to all.

Well keyboard I use stock cm10 don't use calender and for launcher switch between holo launcher HD and sf launcher
Sent from my HTC Desire C using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Launcher. Nova. Always.
Keyboard. SwiftKey. Always
Clock. Android 4.2 clock. Look in the themes and apps section.
Edit - If you use another launcher than you can not use htc widgets.. So as i use nova, i always use player pro as a music player.

vega509 said:
When alternative apps are installed such as calendars, is it preferable to uninstall or freeze the same apps that came with the phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
for example:
If I keep ClockQ should Clock be uninstalled or frozen?
if I install business calendar should Calendar be uninstalled or frozen?

vega509 said:
for example:
If I keep ClockQ should Clock be uninstalled or frozen?
if I install business calendar should Calendar be uninstalled or frozen?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have a look . http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1897286
Backup, uninstall, if it causes problems restore.

[Q] Stupid Question

I've rooted my phone and I want to get the new MaximusHD ROM (4.3, HTC Sense, Rooted)
How can I replace my ROM while preserving my data (WhatsApp messages, pictures, etc)?
I am sorry but I am coming from the world of Apple and iTunes did everything for me. Android is a totally new beast!

Use titanium Backup from playstore
Sent from my HTC One using xda premium

Philipp_94 said:
Use titanium Backup from playstore
Sent from my HTC One using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks
I downloaded the software.
What do I do? There are so many options. I don't need to backup the apk because I can redownload it from the Play Store.
All i care about is my user data.
Can I flash my ROM without losing data?

wirelessrevolution said:
Thanks
I downloaded the software.
What do I do? There are so many options. I don't need to backup the apk because I can redownload it from the Play Store.
All i care about is my user data.
Can I flash my ROM without losing data?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What do you mean by user data?
Pics music videos etc, basically anything in your SD card will be saved.
I think.
App data, you need to backup the whole app. That's how Ti backup works. You can't download the app form play store and apply your user data to it.
EDIT: just make a nandroid. Then backup whatever you need. If the restore fails, then you have something to fall back on.
Sent from my HTCONE using xda app-developers app

sauprankul said:
What do you mean by user data?
Pics music videos etc, basically anything in your SD card will be saved.
I think.
App data, you need to backup the whole app. That's how Ti backup works. You can't download the app form play store and apply your user data to it.
EDIT: just make a nandroid. Then backup whatever you need. If the restore fails, then you have something to fall back on.
Sent from my HTCONE using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks but I have no idea what a nandroid is or how to do it.

wirelessrevolution said:
Thanks but I have no idea what a nandroid is or how to do it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go to TWRP (personal favorite) or CWM.
Then, back up EVERYTHING.
Except media. But I'm not sure that's actually an option lol.
Oh yeah no need to back up the cache or the recovery either.
I believe CWM doesn't let you choose, you just hit back up and it backs up what it needs to.
Note: you can not selectively restore from a nandroid very easily. It is meant to be sort of a time machine, so if something screws up, you just restore your phone back to how it was.
Sent from my HTCONE using xda app-developers app

Dirty vs Clean install
sauprankul said:
Go to TWRP (personal favorite) or CWM.
Then, back up EVERYTHING.
Except media. But I'm not sure that's actually an option lol.
Oh yeah no need to back up the cache or the recovery either.
I believe CWM doesn't let you choose, you just hit back up and it backs up what it needs to.
Note: you can not selectively restore from a nandroid very easily. It is meant to be sort of a time machine, so if something screws up, you just restore your phone back to how it was.
Sent from my HTCONE using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, TWRP lets you back up all your info. You can pick and choose and it lets you back up the current rom, so if you have issues you can go back to it. Copy that folder to a computer, because what you want to do is a dirty flash and might run into problems. It's best to flash by wiping clean and then replacing or you run into problems with the rom with some of the data.
Just my opinion.

My advice would be to read a lot more about how nandroid backups work and about how backup apps like Titanium Backup work as well before trying anything.
That being said the above advice about doing a nandroid from recovery is a must, especially if you're new to the android world and aren't sure what you're doing. The nandroid is your fail-safe in case anything goes wrong. It will allow you to restore your phone back to exactly how it was when you did the backup.
As far as bringing the app data that you want into your newly flashed rom, this is what I do:
1. Have a rooted device
2. Download Titanium Backup (I bought the pro version, I think you need it to do batch backup/restore)
3. Batch backup all user apps (I also backup my call log and sms/mms messages)
4. Reboot device to recovery and perform a nandroid backup
5. Flash new rom
6. Wipe data/Factory reset
7. Reboot into new rom
8. After doing all the initial device setup (google account, etc.) install Titanium Backup and restore all missing apps NOTE: RESTORE ONLY THE APPS NOT THE DATA!
9. Now this is the part that I do that technically isn't recommended because restoring data can cause issues but it's the only way I've found to restore app data that otherwise can't be restored. Do a batch "restore all apps and data" but select "data only" and "deselect all" and go through and manually select only the apps you really need to restore the data (this can also be done manually through Titanium but I still use the batch function). Also I restore the call log and sms/mms at this step.
Hopefully this helps. Best advice I can give you though is before you do anything, make sure you understand all of the steps completely. I've lost everything too many times because I didn't know what I was doing.

bluetint said:
As far as bringing the app data that you want into your newly flashed rom, this is what I do:
6. Wipe data/Factory reset
8. After doing all the initial device setup (google account, etc.) install Titanium Backup and restore all missing apps NOTE: RESTORE ONLY THE APPS NOT THE DATA!
9. Now this is the part that I do that technically isn't recommended because restoring data can cause issues but it's the only way I've found to restore app data that otherwise can't be restored. Do a batch "restore all apps and data" but select "data only" and "deselect all" and go through and manually select only the apps you really need to restore the data (this can also be done manually through Titanium but I still use the batch function). Also I restore the call log and sms/mms at this step.
Hopefully this helps. Best advice I can give you though is before you do anything, make sure you understand all of the steps completely. I've lost everything too many times because I didn't know what I was doing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Question:
Why can't he restore apps and data together? I've anyways done that, and it's seemed to have worked for me. Maybe I just didn't notice any lost data?
Also. Restoring with the free version is a pita because you have to give it permission for every app individually.
Just saying.
And you do not need to wipe your media, but I recommend that you back it up.
Also: WOAH WOAH WOAH. Did you just tell the OP to flash a ROM, THEN wipe?
I'm pretty darn sure you should not do that.
Sent from my HTCONE using xda app-developers app

sauprankul said:
Question:
Why can't he restore apps and data together? I've anyways done that, and it's seemed to have worked for me. Maybe I just didn't notice any lost data?
Also. Restoring with the free version is a pita because you have to give it permission for every app individually.
Just saying.
And you do not need to wipe your media, but I recommend that you back it up.
Also: WOAH WOAH WOAH. Did you just tell the OP to flash a ROM, THEN wipe?
I'm pretty darn sure you should not do that.
Sent from my HTCONE using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The reason I say not to restore data for every app is that not every app needs it's data restored to get everything back (i.e. Google Hangouts, Facebook, Twitter, etc.) and I've always been warned that restoring data can cause issues. So my reasoning is the less I restore the better.
And I know using the free version of Titanium Backup is a PITA, that is why I said I use the paid version.
I never said to wipe media (I assume you mean the virtual sdcard) I said to wipe data/factory reset (the name of the option in CWM)
And there is nothing wrong with wiping after a flash. The wipe gets rid of user apps/data, anything installed with the rom is fine. If I'm mistaken, I apologize. However, I have never had an issue wiping after a flash.
If the OP doesn't want to follow my advice that's fine, I was simply describing what I've been doing on various devices for the last couple of years.

[Q] Titanium Backup won't Restore Now (UPDATED - PLEASE HELP)

I have a rooted HTC One with:
Android Revolution HD 20.2 by mike1986
Version 4.3
HTC Sense 5.0
Kernel: 3.4.10-geee1312
Build #: 3.09.401.1
I resolved my issue with not being able to backup. I found the legacy folder. I've since reflashed my ROM.
However, now my "restore" is stuck at 0%. It's been like this for 10 minutes. Whats going on?

NEW ISSUE: Now I can't restore. I've fixed my backup and reflashed my ROM. Now my apps won't restore back... Please help!

Same issues. Have no resolution from developer. Hate the app and it's support and don't use it anymore. Anytime I restored settings it soft bricked my phone. I use Helium now and certainly won't recommend TiBu. Glad I had 3 backups with 3 apps and put them all to the test.
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 4

Did you guys backupped also the system app?
If yes it's this the problem.
Titanium working fine here, never had an issue

Backed up everything in batch. Restored using ever possible combination of the app and data or just getting a new app and restoring data. Soft brick every time by trying to get back anything attempted. My 2 other apps restored perfectly every single time. Developer ignored me-certainly won't recommend.
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 4

bbinder said:
Backed up everything in batch. Restored using ever possible combination of the app and data or just getting a new app and restoring data. Soft brick every time by trying to get back anything attempted. My 2 other apps restored perfectly every single time. Developer ignored me-certainly won't recommend.
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's normal if you're trying to restore a system app.
And the batch will backup all...
Is this the prob
It's advised to backup and restore only the data of the system app

Guich said:
It's normal if you're trying to restore a system app.
And the batch will backup all...
Is this the prob
It's advised to backup and restore only the data of the system app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, did just the data on the restore as well as app+data - had the same results with restoring apps that weren't system related as well. Just a pain that I don't have to deal with, with other backup applications. TiBu has just not been great for me at all.

[Q] Upgraded to CM11 - want my Contacts and Messages back

I upgraded my S3 Mini from stock 4.1.2 to CyanogenMod 11. Thinking I was clever, I took a full backup of everything with both Titanium Pro as well as Online Nandroid Backup before flashing CM11.
Only... it looks like I wasn't so clever after all.
If I use Titanium to restore the Contacts Data only then the Contacts application crashes on launch, every time. Some reading suggests that Titanium doesn't always work nicely with system functions, and Contacts is considered a system function. To be fair to Titanium, it warned me before doing the restore that the backup was from a different ROM and might not work.
My contacts weren't synchronised with my Google account so I can't restore from there.
Is there any way to get the Contacts and Messages data restored? Are there third-party programs (for any of Android, Windows, Linux, or OS X, all of which I have available) which can read Titanium backups and export the data in a format that CM11 can use?

You can use this app. I use it on cm11 without any problem at all.

I tried that program, but I can't get it to import from the Titanium backup files. Perhaps I'm missing something in the options, but all I can see there is to transfer data between the phone, the SIM, Google, and Excel.
However, it looks like a useful program for the future, to save me this sort of headache the next time I mess about with phone ROMs; thanks for the suggestion.

Well, I'm getting somewhere, and this is something to keep my occupied on Christmas Day morning while waiting for the rest of the house to wake up...
I went back through Titanium's support documentation again and found something I'd missed earlier: the program has an option to "migrate system data", which is recommended when restoring to a different ROM.
I've got my messages and contact groups back, but I still don't have the individual contacts back. But, progress is progress, and I'll keep plugging away at it.
Worst case scenario, I'll just re-enter them all by hand but I'd rather avoid that if possible.

Reverting back to the pre-rooted stock 4.1.2 firmware from this forum, in the hope that Titanium would happily restore everything without needing the "migrate system data" option didn't work, sadly. The phone got stuck in a boot loop, and reflashing the PARAM file didn't fix it. So, it looks like I'm stuck with CM11. Serves me right for jumping straight in with both feet; no-one else to blame but myself.
However, it looks like the Titanium backup is in SQLite format, so all is not lost. I've managed to dump the data table successfully, so all I need to do now is parse it for importing. But that can wait for another day, as the rest of the house has finally woken up and it's time for breakfast and presents.
Merry Christmas, everyone.

Well, I persevered and finally got the 4.1.2 rooted stock ROM back on the phone without it becoming stuck in a boot loop. Titanium was able to restore my contacts and messages successfully. Now to investigate a more sensible synchronisation/backup tool before messing with a custom ROM again, perhaps Phosimgo mentioned in the first reply.

Restore contacts with TitaniumBackUp after flashing CM
Loganberry said:
Well, I persevered and finally got the 4.1.2 rooted stock ROM back on the phone without it becoming stuck in a boot loop. Titanium was able to restore my contacts and messages successfully. Now to investigate a more sensible synchronisation/backup tool before messing with a custom ROM again, perhaps Phosimgo mentioned in the first reply.
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Seriously!?
I backed up all of my stuff with TitaniumBackUpPro and flashed from 4.1.2. to CM 11 and can't get my contacts restored either.
Your telling me in need to flash back to stock and export my contacts with a different app before flashing CM again?
How is that tool Phosimgo recomended?

I ended up using Super Backup. It worked flawlessly. For the future, my contacts are now backed up to my Google account.
Sent from my GT-I8190 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app