[Q] Unable to restore everything from PC Companion backup - Xperia Z Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Having issues with using PC Companion 2.1 and backed phone data before preforming a full OS reload.
Phone restored back to OS original but when I try to run a restore, I can't view or see anything from the backup file.
File is a .dbk and I can use PC Companion to view the contents, but where's my SMS text messages stored??
I did select everything for backup so should be present somewhere as the file is total 14.5GB
Any idea

MrSpocky said:
Having issues with using PC Companion 2.1 and backed phone data before preforming a full OS reload.
Phone restored back to OS original but when I try to run a restore, I can't view or see anything from the backup file.
File is a .dbk and I can use PC Companion to view the contents, but where's my SMS text messages stored??
I did select everything for backup so should be present somewhere as the file is total 14.5GB
Any idea
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here... i lost all my contacts, calendars etc....... I assumed PC Companion backup would have them backed up since all the boxes are checked... but no........ now I've paid the consequences of trusting it...

Lord Farkward said:
Same here... i lost all my contacts, calendars etc....... I assumed PC Companion backup would have them backed up since all the boxes are checked... but no........ now I've paid the consequences of trusting it...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We'll that blows!
Sony...what's the point of using a backup application that doesn't work????
Anybody else have any recommendations on other applications that do work? Not going to use PC Companion for any backups from now on

Well I have something back.
Snooped around the net and located a great product called MyPhoneExplorer and installed this to see what I could find. Nothing.
But then when I preformed the restore, it managed to restore the SMS and contacts for me Not too bothered with regards the apps but the important contacts and messages are now back.
Not sure what MyPhoneExplorer did but has done something good

Related

Backup Contacts

Does Sprite Backup, backup your contacts? I'm not sure of your contacts are stored in the WM6 File system or not anyway. If Sprite Backup doesnt backup your contacts can anyone recommend a way of doing this as I have to many to store on the SIM card so i store them in the phone.
(I did search the forum for this but nothing of use came up)
Here is an easier method with no applications needed.
go to my device and copy the pim file using file explorer and when you do need to get your contacts back, simply copy the pim file back under my device.
If I flash my kaiser rom with a newer one will I lose my contacts, and just need to copy this file back or do my contacts remain untouched?
your contacts will remain the way it was when you copy it.
HUH? So i do need to back them up before I flash the rom or not?
bazzatron said:
HUH? So i do need to back them up before I flash the rom or not?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here is also a good idea. If you have Windows Outlook just sync your phone with that and it will place all of your contacts in outlook. That way when you flash to a ROM of your choice you will always have your contacts saved. That's what I do.
copualt3 said:
Here is an easier method with no applications needed.
go to my device and copy the pim file using file explorer and when you do need to get your contacts back, simply copy the pim file back under my device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
copy pim to storage card and paste it back to my device with your new rom flash.
yes, sprite does back-up your contacts if you specify in it's setting.
but for backing up just the contacts (as my fail-safe plan), i have always used a tiny app called PPCBackupContacts v1.6 authored by the great dotfred which can be found in this forum. it had always worked perfectly 100% each time. you can even select delete all contacts from it and restore the whole database again whenever you please to avoid duplicate contacts when restoring.
i hope this works for you too.
regards,
myownregister
copualt3 said:
copy pim to storage card and paste it back to my device with your new rom flash.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Done that, AND contacts won start any more?????
I use PIM Backup (you can find it here)
copualt3 said:
copy pim to storage card and paste it back to my device with your new rom flash.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
to avoid the shared file error. how do u paste back the copy of the pim file? Pim is locked whenever the phone is on and I can't delete it
I like PIM Backup as well. I use it not only to backup my contacts, but also my call history, ringtones, alarms, and various other custom files and folders. That way, when I flash a new ROM or do a hard reset, I just install my software and then use PIM Backup to restore all my customizations. It's great! And it'll do scheduled backups, so I get a nightly backup without even thinking about it.
Hello all
I have a At&t Tilt
After we sync phone with comp & have contacts on PC
is there a way to save that as a FIle on the computer for backup ?
Cos when i did hard reset & make my phone back to factory settings
& then when I sync the phone again with latop it copys all
contacts from Device to PC & Cleans out all contacts on PC
luckyly I had a Sprite back up
But do want a back up for just my contacts & SMS messages
Any Suggestions ?
copualt3 said:
copy pim to storage card and paste it back to my device with your new rom flash.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hello all, i backup my contact(some contain contact pic) in this way,too, and perfect on my kaiser
KAKTUS CAR said:
Done that, AND contacts won start any more?????
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sometime i met this issue, i repeat the step to cover pim.vol file with ur backup one ,softreset, and u can make the contact work again

[Q] can't restore contact from titanium backup

HI there
i recently restored my phone after flashing a different rom. everything went well and i restored almost everything using titanium backup. i clicked for "install missing apps and data" but unfortunately i could not restore my phone contacts. my contacts are also not synced with gmail. please help?
Did you click on the button in the top middle to bring up the list of programs, and restore contacts then reboot?(assuming you backed it up of course). Cause all it sounds like you did was that batch restore of MISSING apps. The contacts.apk was included so it didn't get restored.
i'm curious about this too. I dont need to restore my contacts but I've installed custom roms for a few friends who didnt have their contacts sync'd with gmail and after restoring what I thought was the contacts, it didnt actually restore.
so I've had this problem before, too. I'm curious to hear from someone who successfully restored phone contacts from TiBu.
Always sync your contacts with Google
I never used TiBu for contacts or calendar entries.
bravomail said:
I never used TiBu for contacts or calendar entries.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this is what I tell my friends before I install a custom rom lol
Not sure if this thread is dead or not but I just flashed my brother's phone and used TiBu to restore missing apps + data. For contacts I tried restoring [Contacts/Calls] Storage 2.2, rebooted and still nothing. I dont know what else can I do now. Is there any way I can pull the information out manually from TiBu backup files? I opened com.android.providers.contacts-20110625-144656.tar.gz and noticed the raw data is in the files. Any ideas would be helpful....
Thanks!
graveheart_82 said:
Not sure if this thread is dead or not but I just flashed my brother's phone and used TiBu to restore missing apps + data. For contacts I tried restoring [Contacts/Calls] Storage 2.2, rebooted and still nothing. I dont know what else can I do now. Is there any way I can pull the information out manually from TiBu backup files? I opened com.android.providers.contacts-20110625-144656.tar.gz and noticed the raw data is in the files. Any ideas would be helpful....
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did he sync contacts with his Google account? If so sign into Gmail from the phone and sync. I use the Backup with Gmail from the market to backup calls and texts too. All of my call history, contacts, and texts are synching with my Gmail, works great.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using Tapatalk
Restart the phone after restoring apps and system data.
When it comes to backing up my contact list I'm Old School. I still do it the same way I did on my Palm OS device. Export to a vCard file (*.vcf). Since android still has that feature I occasionally make a backup of my contacts as a *.vcf and copy it to my SD card, PC or dropbox. However, after reading this post I gave it a try and successfully restored my contacts, txt messages, call logs etc with TiBu. After a restore (I was able to confirm that the 'Restore missing apps + all system data' batch restore will restore your contacts etc. However they don't show in your contact list after a restore. You can try to force close the Contacts and Contact storage from the 'Manage Applications' -> 'Running' screen, and when you restart your contacts after that they should appear. However tried and true method is the simplest.
=> Do a Re-boot.
I tried it successfully four times and doing a restart of the phone worked the best, smoothest and easiest. Then all my contacts were successfully restored.
I performed this on a I897 running FireFly 3.0.2.2 (Froyo based ROM) I used the latest version of TiBu 3.9.0.1 free version and made sure that busybox was updated to 1.18.4
If you're worried about TiBu not working, exporting your contacts to a *.vcf file does give you a nice file that you can then import natively into Android and most other mobile OS. (I've personally verified that *.vcf works on Pantech and Lg messaging phones, Palm OS, Windows Mobile, Blackberry, Thunderbird, Outlook)
antiquinal said:
HI there
i recently restored my phone after flashing a different rom. everything went well and i restored almost everything using titanium backup. i clicked for "install missing apps and data" but unfortunately i could not restore my phone contacts. my contacts are also not synced with gmail. please help?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea, don't use TiBU to restore any system apps like contacts or messaging ESPECIALLY when changing roms/android os versions.
I would recommend backing up ur contacts to your google account. Also, see if u can find a .vcf file in your TiBU backup

[Q] Go SMS Pro

I always backed up the settings.
After I installed cyanogenmod I restored all my apps using Titanium backup manager.
When I open Go SMS Pro it does not show any of my messages. I tried restoring from previous back ups.
Please help Thanks
Trystan34 said:
I always backed up the settings.
After I installed cyanogenmod I restored all my apps using Titanium backup manager.
When I open Go SMS Pro it does not show any of my messages. I tried restoring from previous back ups.
Please help Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have Titanium Backup Pro....think you can extract from the Nand backup...I would suggest you to try MyPhone Explorer where you can backup your apps, messages and contacts+files to the computer easily via wi-fi, USB, BT as well.
Hope this helps.
SREEPRAJAY said:
If you have Titanium Backup Pro....think you can extract from the Nand backup...I would suggest you to try MyPhone Explorer where you can backup your apps, messages and contacts+files to the computer easily via wi-fi, USB, BT as well.
Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have tried extracting from nandroid and still not appearing.
I had saved a message in private box and it is there but the other messages are not.
Trystan34 said:
I have tried extracting from nandroid and still not appearing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This feature is only with TB Pro and not in the free version.... u have that?
I know I have the pro version and have restored the app from it and it's still not there.
I think I backed up settings and not the actual messages.
I thought titanium backup would restore it though
Trystan34 said:
I know I have the pro version and have restored the app from it and it's still not there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did u do the batch restore?with apps+user data?how was it?
yes it did not work. On the stock rom there was a app that backed up I think messages, contacts, calander etc. Do you know what it was? Maybe I could use that to get them back?
Trystan34 said:
yes it did not work. On the stock rom there was a app that backed up I think messages, contacts, calander etc. Do you know what it was? Maybe I could use that to get them back?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not sure if I used it.I agree there was something which used the battery and drained it fast....think the devs removed it as we can use the TB for almost all things....
My sim contacts don't show up in cm also.
Titanium doesn't save sms, at least for Go, I've never had them restored except for private box. The only way is to save them from within Go. Try Appextractor that can retrieve sms from nandroid.
Trystan34 said:
My sim contacts don't show up in cm also.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Open the Contacts and I remember there is something to be selected, to show the SIM+Phone contacts....if not, only the phone contacts are only shown. Check the CM thread...you will get some answer there....
BTW perhaps Go just read sms in stock sms app that's why they are not saved by titanium. Try to restore stock sms app's data.
If you backed up the sms you will find them in GOSMS/backup just take the latest backup and paste it into /sdcard/GOSMS/backup/SmsRestore and then from GO SMS app restore the msges.
Hello!
For backup of your SMS, calendar and contacts use MyPhoneExplorer – as already stated - it is free and will backup those including all SMS.
Titanium backup is good for your apps – but since you contact/sms/calendar app has changed it with the update to CM7 – Titanium won’t help you cause it only restores data for specific apps – and if they aren’t there it doesn’t restore the data for them.
As for the contacts from SIM - did you do import from SIM?
Striatum_bdr said:
Titanium doesn't save sms, at least for Go, I've never had them restored except for private box. The only way is to save them from within Go. Try Appextractor that can retrieve sms from nandroid.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
THANK YOU!!!!!!!!! I used Appextractor and it worked!!! You are the best!!
I am so happy now!
Medizinmann said:
Hello!
For backup of your SMS, calendar and contacts use MyPhoneExplorer – as already stated - it is free and will backup those including all SMS.
Titanium backup is good for your apps – but since you contact/sms/calendar app has changed it with the update to CM7 – Titanium won’t help you cause it only restores data for specific apps – and if they aren’t there it doesn’t restore the data for them.
As for the contacts from SIM - did you do import from SIM?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I have and it says "No contacts on your SIM card." I have tried my sim card in another phone and there is contacts.
I have tried AppExtractor and it restored contacts!! They still not showing from sim though
Hello!
I don't use contacts from SIM since my old Nokia 3210-days - so I don't know any other methods...sorry...
You could try to bluetooth the contact using your other phone - if it is able to or try to export some other format (i.e. vcal).
I used Thunderbird with plugin for vcal to import my old contacts from my SE P1i.
Me too, I use only google sync.
Ok. Thank you for all your help.
I have got them back using AppExtractor. On the stock rom contacts there was a option to import facebook contacts. Is it possible in cm?
Hello!
I don't use facebook - so I will guess...
I am pretty sure it should be automatic if set it up in...
setting > accounts & sync
...if you have installed the facebook app - that is - of course...
When you set it up to sync with calendar/contacts it should do so automatically - at least this is the way it does with my MS Exchange and WhatsApp account.

Helium (formerly Carbon) - Backup/Restore

Hi folks,
I've done a fair bit of searching and although it has been briefly discussed before I can't see any recent mentions about Helium (aka Carbon) from clockworkmod (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.koushikdutta.backup&hl=en).
The Google Play store page for the app mentions that the app doesn't work on the Xperia S and Z due to some changes Sony made, however when I first got my Xperia Z (at launch in the UK), I was able to backup app data (and some apks) from my Galaxy S3 and restore them onto the Xperia Z without any issues.
Given there have been a few software updates from Sony since launch, does anyone have any recent experience with Helium, specifically whether it works correctly to backup and restore to the Xperia Z? I couldn't find a suitable thread or forum to try to ask the developer directly what the specific issues were with the Xperia S and Z that led to the warning on the app page.
I had a problem restoring Apps with this app after full factory reset. It always crashed. Tried to restore from SD card and CLOUD. on my galaxy s3 it works fine. The build in sony's backup and restore app is doing great.
neoxkid said:
I had a problem restoring Apps with this app after full factory reset. It always crashed. Tried to restore from SD card and CLOUD. on my galaxy s3 it works fine. The build in sony's backup and restore app is doing great.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply. What does the Sony app actually backup? Does it include some/all apks and the actual app data too (e.g game progress)?
Yes, it includ app+data, even clock alarms
Hi. Why doesn't work the program to NOT ROOT galaxy s2 with android 4.1.2?
It bring me that message
"An error occured while perfoming your app backup. A log of the error has been sent to ClockworkMod. Clock Backup to attempt to backup the remaining apps."
I have do ALL the steps you are describe but the program DOESN'T WORK..... Can you please suggest me something?
Helium kept telling me that I had a backup password which I had never set.
fits79 said:
Hi. Why doesn't work the program to NOT ROOT galaxy s2 with android 4.1.2?
It bring me that message
"An error occured while perfoming your app backup. A log of the error has been sent to ClockworkMod. Clock Backup to attempt to backup the remaining apps."
I have do ALL the steps you are describe but the program DOESN'T WORK..... Can you please suggest me something?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, the problem is your rom
No it ISN'T the my rom.
And that is because i try it into to galaxy s2.
01. With Oficial and NOT root 4.0.3 sales code eur
02. With oficial 4.1.2 nordic sales code nee
So........
I decided to unlock and root my phone. So I did some backups with mybackup pro and decided to give a try to helium (because I never managed to restore the data of the apps with mybackup pro, just with root). I did the backup, saved it on the internal storage, copied it on my computer, unlocked my phone, rooted it, installed helium, copied the backup to the internal storage and... when i try to restore the backup from the internal storage it doesn't find it... I am now trying to reinstall it, don't give it su and see if I see the backup... if I don't see it... well.. idk what to say... I do a backup and then I cannot restore it? nice (sarcastic)
Edit: no.. I cannot find the backup
dreamxp said:
Helium kept telling me that I had a backup password which I had never set.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes same problem here, it seems the devs of this app are idiots
I started using this for the first time last week. Now I'm making a new backup and it is asking me to connect my phone to the computer again. do I need this each time I create a backup to my external sd card?
Samribi said:
I decided to unlock and root my phone. So I did some backups with mybackup pro and decided to give a try to helium (because I never managed to restore the data of the apps with mybackup pro, just with root). I did the backup, saved it on the internal storage, copied it on my computer, unlocked my phone, rooted it, installed helium, copied the backup to the internal storage and... when i try to restore the backup from the internal storage it doesn't find it... I am now trying to reinstall it, don't give it su and see if I see the backup... if I don't see it... well.. idk what to say... I do a backup and then I cannot restore it? nice (sarcastic)
Edit: no.. I cannot find the backup
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the same problem... Hi%5... hope somebody will look into this matter ...
---------- Post added at 11:20 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:03 AM ----------
If you're still interested.. (if u want the app data. i.e : savegames) I found a way.. Just keep those backup files in your computer. And then download the apps you want to restore.. Then make backups of them again.. Then they will have those backup up files in the "Carbon" folder. Then copy the folders inside without the "nomedia" file. It then the app will show the backup & viola... Apps restored...
Sent from my Xperia V using xda app-developers app
fits79 said:
Hi. Why doesn't work the program to NOT ROOT galaxy s2 with android 4.1.2?
It bring me that message
"An error occured while perfoming your app backup. A log of the error has been sent to ClockworkMod. Clock Backup to attempt to backup the remaining apps."
I have do ALL the steps you are describe but the program DOESN'T WORK..... Can you please suggest me something?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same issue for me
Helium works fine for me, only problem is that messages are stored 'the wrong way' in Sony stock-ROM's last time i tried one of those.
Urticant2 said:
Hi, the problem is your rom
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the same problem, just unplug your phone from the usb and it works
mljjlm said:
Helium works fine for me, only problem is that messages are stored 'the wrong way' in Sony stock-ROM's last time i tried one of those.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is there something weird about the way messages are stored in general? Everything else seemed to work - the one thing I can't seem to figure out is how to restore text messages (com.android.providers.telephony.ab) - I've tried to do it as a whole app using the PC interface, tried copying the folder as a replacement via Android File Transfer to the 'carbon' folder, etc.
When I try to restore via helium server, it quickly shows me everything as restored but I don't see the messages. When I try to do it manually (e.g. force copy), I don't see an option under "Restore and Sync" to actually select messaging.
Am I missing something stupid / obvious? The raw data seems to be there (for example, call logs were uploaded just fine, text messages seem to have an issue).
--Dan
bfettd said:
Is there something weird about the way messages are stored in general? Everything else seemed to work - the one thing I can't seem to figure out is how to restore text messages (com.android.providers.telephony.ab) - I've tried to do it as a whole app using the PC interface, tried copying the folder as a replacement via Android File Transfer to the 'carbon' folder, etc.
When I try to restore via helium server, it quickly shows me everything as restored but I don't see the messages. When I try to do it manually (e.g. force copy), I don't see an option under "Restore and Sync" to actually select messaging.
Am I missing something stupid / obvious? The raw data seems to be there (for example, call logs were uploaded just fine, text messages seem to have an issue).
--Dan
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm.. I just used the SD-card backup, so I don't know about other stuff
mljjlm said:
Hmm.. I just used the SD-card backup, so I don't know about other stuff
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So I came up with a solution based on what works for others. Why this works when it didn't previously is beyond me, but hopefully someone else can use it if individual parts of their Helium backup don't work properly (in theory it should work for any app / SQL dataset). The whole point of Helium is that we're running non-rooted phones and so Titanium Backup or the like aren't applicable. For reference, I'm running an N4 to OSX 10.7.x
1. Use the Helium Server to create a full backup.
2. Wipe phone or whatever you need to do (I had to do a factory reset for Google since it's an N4 and my proximity sensor is dead).
3. Install the apps you had previously via Play Store (pain in the a**).
4. Run Helium server and upload the backup data.
5. Update apps as needed (should be auto but who knows for individual stuff).
6. Check app data in apps. Texts are obviously easy to see for me. Hopefully everything restored nicely for you here.
***Now for the bit for people who got corrupted restores.
7. Unzip the backup file on your computer, select the .ab files that correspond to the missing / corrupted restores and then zip those into a new file on your computer (for step 9). Keep these files handy in unzipped form as well for step 10.
8. Perform a new Helium backup of those sections onto the internal SD card (yes it will be blank, worry not).
9. (Optional step): Run Helium server and upload that new zip file (with the stuff that didn't make it) alone. Try restore. Unlikely to work but worth a shot.
10. Running Android File Transfer, find the SD card, find the folder 'carbon' and then find the corresponding sub-folders that have the modules that were corrupted. Replace the SD card backups of the broken modules with the good ones from your computer.
11. Run Helium restore again, but only for the sections you want (I swear, for me Messaging didn't show up the first few times but after step 10 it did).
12. Wait, hoepfully it works well. I would reboot after running the restore to a) kill Helium and b) confirm functionality.
FWIW, my telephony.ab was 1.8MB and took SIX hours to restore. Seriously. Yeah yeah, that's a lot of texts but six hours? I've since added "SMS Backup & Restore" to my phone and will probably just use that, map out my phone layout and functionality and just manually replace apps from now on since most data is in the cloud. You lose some stuff, but prima facie it's boat tons easier.
Hopefully that helps someone else who had the same issues.
--Dan
Somehow my phone got soft factory reset (lost all the apps but the files) when i tried to install the apps that I had before it throws a play store error while installing saying it couldnt be installed because of an unkown error "-24" plz helpp
Why are you mocking Koush? Yes the Koush. He made this app. He specifically said in the app description that:
Note: Helium is NOT available to Motorola devices. This is because Motorola phones have a bug that break Android's backup mechanism. Until this is fixed by Motorola, Helium will not work on those Androids. You can download Helium manually here:
http://download.clockworkmod.com/apks/Backup.apk
If you find that Helium *does* work on your Motorola Android, please notify me.
Note: Some Sony devices have issues with Helium. This includes the Xperia S and Xperia Z. Sony has *disabled* backup on these devices completely.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Anyway to extract data from PC Companion backup file?

I ran a full backup of my Z3C on 5.1 with PC Companion, this file is on my computer.
Next I "downgraded" to Android 4.4.4 as I was having some intermittent battery issues and I missed the functionality of have Xposed and root.
Now when I try to restore the backed up file PC Companion tells me it cannot restore to a different firmware version.
Some of the files (contacts, plain text notes, etc) should not be a problem.
I also copied the entire 16GB phone memory separately.
Is there any way to restore my essential files (contacts, notes and calender) please?
Thankyou

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