Database Info

Odd thought: non destructive upgrade procedures...

OK, so here is the story.
I took my P800 on a trip (3 weeks) and left my SX66 (BA) at home. When I came back, the battery was dry and all my data was gone (argh! and no SMS backup! :evil: ). I have a complete backup file from activesync that I can put back onto the BA but I was thinking...
I can download the Spec Ed. ROM from the SX66 standardization project (or any other ROM for that matter) and install it on my BA which will have newer software versions (and hopefully more stability) - contacts and dates are no problem - they are synced. I feel REALLY lazy to go back and install all the software from the beginning though. I had a CD of software (dont know where it is now), but I dont feel like looking for it or trying to get things installed from the beginning.
I had a weird thought - why don't companies make the ROM upgrades non destructive? When you upgrade your OS on your computer you are not required to format and install - so why should you do it on your PDA? it makes absolutely complete sense - no?
Secondly I know that WM2005 is not out on the BA yet (maybe even ever ) - but it doesn't hurt to ask... "Can someone tell me if I can download and install WM2005 on my BA?" (if I could - I would not mind reinstalling things lol)
Just my little rant

Why aren't you using backup software. That will backup nightly if you want, so you can recover a system from hardreset in 3 mins? This will also work after a ROM upgrade.
I export my registry (just cus I'm a geek) and backup daily just in case, after I screwed myself re-installing everything after a hard reset
As you can see from the BigStorage hacks, ROM upgrades don't just upgrade what's on the ROM, but can also redefine the memory layout in terms of storage and extended rom. So I guess by default everything gets wiped, in anticipation of that kind of jiggery pockery.
V

My only backup was activesync
I think I will restore to see what apps I had, then upgrade and reinstall

Do keep frequent backups after that. With a 1gb card, or even Big storage, you can keep a full backup available at all times. Mine's only about 14mb, including Local and Storage backups, and that's with lots and lots installed.
V

How can I create a "disk image" of my device?

Greetings everyone! First off, thank you for a wealth of information on this site as well as the coolest apps and ROMs. I'm glad I came across this site.
I've been trying out different ROMs by different developers. They're all great! I feel like a dude driving a different sports car every week! My question is, how can I create a "disk image" of my current setup? Is there a program for WM6 like PQDI or Norton Ghost?

Thats a good question... this is what we need... than ill test more roms ^^

This part is tricky.
There are two major backup utilities: Sprite and SPB backup.
Trouble is that while they both create a full backup including registry, messages and apps you can not deploy this backup on a different ROM (specially if it is different AKU version or different OS 5 / 6) without serios side effects.
This is because some internal structures (like PIM.VOL) and registry settings are different in these ROMS.
Thats why it is recommended that you backup your contacts, emails and stuff to outlook then sync and reinstall all the apps on the new ROM.
Alternatively, both apps allow you to manually select what is backed up. You can play with that option to only backup "generic" stuff.

Understood.
What I was hoping to find is a utility that takes a snapshot of my current setup and creates one file, or one EXE. It's kinda like swapping hard drives with each having a different OS's. I'd have one "favorite" ROM though (with my personal settings, including keyboard layout, ringtones, contacts, WiFi key info, voice commands, etc) and if I'm done testing someone else's ROM, I can reload that 'favorite' one to continue on with my day, all with one flash.

problem is that many difference between roms also is what registrys are set to what
so if you take that with you some optimezes could be lost

Really?
I've used an old program called PQDI (just like Norton Ghost) and what I'd do is after doing a fresh load of OS on my PC, I'd start to load some of my favorite software like Premiere (I do video editing) and Sonar (I also do music). Then, I create a disk image of my hard drive. Months later, after installing tweaks and stuff, and if for some reason (and this has happened before) I screw up my registry, get a virus, or my PC starts to run slow because of junk that have collected over the months, I'd reload that image and the very next time I turn on my PC, it would have a fresh load of OS with Premiere and Sonar, and nothing else, it's just as if I had bought a new computer.
I was hoping it would be the same on my 8525. There is a feature right now called "Clear Storage" (installed on every WM device) that clears up every things and reloads the ROM. But that erases all the tweaks you've done and starts you off with a fresh load of ROM. :/

Ok, there is one thing you don't seem to be clear on:
On PC stuff you install and OS all can be treated the same because they all reside on an HD and if you can take and image of that you can restore it all whenever you want.
But on devices like the 8525 this is completely different. The ROM on each device is stored and encrypted in a different matter, and needs to be written in a special way so there can be no "generic" tool for ROM flashing. This is also why there are no apps that take complete image of a device (ROM + user apps and data).

Thanks for the clarification. It would have been great if there was, huh? That would make beta testing and reporting much more efficient. Oh well. I'll move on. Thanks again! (Hmm...now what ROM should I try next...)

Sprite Help Needed

Normally I wouldn't ask this kind of question here (as it seems like a simple question) but I'm at a loss and have not found an answer anywhere.
I have a few questions about sprite backup that I hope someone here can answer:
First off, my device is a Kaiser in case it matters (I don't think so in this case except my last and least important question)
1) When backing up with sprite, I always get the error that it can not include Windows\lic\Isoma000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000.db. Why doesn't it back this file up and could it pose any problems in the long run?
2) After a hard reset, if I restore using one of my backup files, i get a lot of errors on the report. Most of the errors say "Error creating value Defalut" but a few say other thing like "Error creating Threading Model / Merit / IsRendered". However, if I do not hard reset prior to restore, i get no errors. What is the problem here? I can't think of any reason why a hard reset prior to restore would be bad.
3) After hard reset, restoring one of my backups causes sporatic duplications in the programs view (i.e. windows\start menu\programs). Usually it is tasks, calculator or calendar that is duplicated but if it is one or all is completely random it seems. I know I can simply delete these dupes but why is it happening in the first place and how do I prevent it? Secondly, i don't know what else it is duping on the device and don't want to browse every file on the device to find out.
4) This one is a little more Kaiser specific but still in regards to sprite. On the apps disk, the are two separate sprite files it seems. The only difference I can see is on has the PPC and desktop version while the other is just the cab for PPC. Funny thing is, the cab is labled as HTC Backup even though it is obviously sprite after install. This is the one I used for install since I didn't care much about the PC agent. Could this be part of my issue? Also, is there any reason I should install one over the other if I don't care about the PC side of sprite (I suppose I could install using that file and then uninstall the pc side but....). This one is more of a curiosity overall as I don't see why it would matter shich version I installed (assuming the file called HTC Backup...... is the same.)
Please help me to understand what's going on here. While not new to PPC, I am new to sprite as I have always used SPB in the past and never had these issues. Wanted to try sprite due to the extended options. Now I'm wondering if my decision to try sprite over SPB was the wrong one.

Can it really be that no one has experienced any of these issues considering that a great majority of XDA user have at least tried sprite backup?
(I really don't usually post in the general forum but thought it might be the best place for this. Maybe it's just that my choice of forums was bad as there seems less activity in the General section..who knows)

Restore a back up after ROM upgrade?

I'm currently running a cooked wm 6.1 ROM, if I want to upgrade is there a way to backup/restore my non-rom programs and PIM info to a new ROM using sprite or spb? I heard sprite allows you to restore across ROM/devises but I looked through all options and there wasn't one that I could see about only backing up non-rom info. I hope this makes any sense and if anyone has answer I sincerely thank you in advance.

short and sweet, you can't backup programs
You can backup their installers though (cabs) (on your storage card) and use sdauto run with a uc compliant rom to reinstall all of your programs.
but if you are not a frequent flasher than i would just suggest writing down everything you have installed and reinstalling it.
PIM backup will store things like contacts, messages ect.

joel2009 said:
short and sweet, you can't backup programs
You can backup their installers though (cabs) (on your storage card) and use sdauto run with a uc compliant rom to reinstall all of your programs.
but if you are not a frequent flasher than i would just suggest writing down everything you have installed and reinstalling it.
PIM backup will store things like contacts, messages ect.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for the response, the sdauto thing sounds promising. I did see it in the kitchen but I don't know how it works.

I believe the latest SPB backup has an option for restoring after a ROM change. However I have not fully investigated this.
Mike

Since i've been backing up and flashing for a long long while now, i've had the distinct pleasure of finding out that in most cases, you can use a previous backup on a new rom unless the system structure stays the same.
you CAN back programs up, as mike said using SPB Backup (Or clone.. if you can afford it )

nir36 said:
Since i've been backing up and flashing for a long long while now, i've had the distinct pleasure of finding out that in most cases, you can use a previous backup on a new rom unless the system structure stays the same.
you CAN back programs up, as mike said using SPB Backup (Or clone.. if you can afford it )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for the response. just curious, if you're cooking a new rom to remove some programs that you found you didn't need, then restore a back up will it put those file back into your windows folder? I only ask because I have an apache and main memory mb's are like Manhattan real estate, there's very little of it and it's very valuable Also what's the difference between spb clone and backup? The description sound about the same. Thanks again

There's another thread going on here on the same issue.
Even if it has the feature, i would personally not recommend it. Going through the time to reinstall your stuff (use Sashimi) is more worth it imo.

12gage said:
thanks for the response. just curious, if you're cooking a new rom to remove some programs that you found you didn't need, then restore a back up will it put those file back into your windows folder? I only ask because I have an apache and main memory mb's are like Manhattan real estate, there's very little of it and it's very valuable Also what's the difference between spb clone and backup? The description sound about the same. Thanks again
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SPB Clone, for instance, backs up all program files folder. meaning you will get all system files and all program files directories back after the backup.
there are problems with it tho. if the app tries to update a different rom it gets stuck in most cases and stuff won't work and so.. since it replaces stuff in the new rom with stuff from the old rom.
as said here.. you should install everything again after flashing a new rom...and use backups when working on the same one.

How do you Back-Up before a flash?

Well just been reading the Flashers Anonymous thread and started to get the hint that you could back up all of your settings rather than just things like contacts w/ PIMbackup.
What do you use and what does it do?
Thanks.

I use sprite backup 6.5.4. Backs up contacts, registry settings, installed programs, preferences...pretty much everything.

telegraph0000 said:
I use sprite backup 6.5.4. Backs up contacts, registry settings, installed programs, preferences...pretty much everything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hello , see the bottom of my signature, Sashimi, its awesome, take the time to see the videos he has, awesome app, it will set up just about everything after a new rom flash.
lupe
sorry, was trying to quote mcspikesky, not telegraph000, my bad

i sync with activesync
stuff on sd don't for obvious reasons require backup
and to get back to the org rom if need be is just flashing
that version rom

If you want to take my advise do NOT NEVER EVER backup any thing else than your PIM because every new ROM WILL have different registry settings and custom chef tweaks!!!
You may backup your username and opera settings using Sashimi and Opera Backup but keep everything else out of you backup.
You may also play with installed programs on the SD card. A lot of them do work just by creating a link into the Windows\Start Up\Programs folder.
For my part I DO have a full backup all the time in case a ROM hard resets and you reinstall it but for new ROM flashes please use only PIM backup. Though SPB Backup for example offers a backup/restore mode to restore "after new ROM flash" it DOES NOT WORK if the new ROM has dramatic changes!
Note:
If you have programs which don't work linked really take a look into the Sashimi installer.

Right...I backup a rom to try out a new one...and if I don't like it, I go back to the previous one and restore. Yes...Sashimi rocks...
*Proud member of XDA's flashers anonymous.

Sashimi is a great way to go; it's a little more flexible than UC in my opinion, and I think it's a good idea to import your settings and install your cabs after you've messed around with the new ROM instead of during customization. That way, you know what cabs to install. I've got a small library of some useful reg settings over here, as well as some settings files and what-not that you can install to back up things (I need to update it one of these days). I've also got a step-by-step that does an ok job of backing up manila settings (it's far from perfect). In the very least, you should back up reg keys that hold registration info for software you've bought, like sk tools or mobile shell. It's easy to find the keys, and you really don't want to waste your time re-entering crap like that every time you flash, do you?
I agree, though, you don't want to do a wholesale import of the entire registry, which is what Sprite backup will do for you. That's just crazy. You want to be as selective as possible. I think that even using something like the rom upgrade backup mode with spb backup is a bad idea. There's a good chance you'll over-write some nice performance tweaks cooked in by the chef with old reg settings that don't work as well. You'll also never really know how well the new rom works, because you won't get to use it with the proper settings.

Is there any good software for backing up email account settings? I hate setting them all up after each rom flash.

Backing up email accounts and settings
I use SPB backup, well worth the money, to back up my PIM data and emails.
Didn't miss a single beat over God knows how many flashes.
I just back up prior flashing, flash, restore, done.

I have both Sprite & PIM running scheduled backups every day - but after a flash only use PIM to restore to prevent the registry complications.
Also have a decent UC setup installing apps, editing the registry for me etc, and have made some cab files (or edited install cabs) to register anything which requires it.
I've found that syncing with activsync before running the PIM restore prevents me getting duplicate contacts / meetings, but this might just be because i have a setting wrong!
Never tried Sashimi, i got UC working, and it does everything i need it to!
@ Maxh - i have an XML file which is called in the UC setup which restores all my e-mail accounts and settings (only leaves the password blank for me). UC isnt easy to get sorted first time, so have some patience, and build it up slowly (mine calls 33 cabs & 16 XML files, so if i change anything, i dont have to re-write the whole thing, just edit out the removed / changed file)

people should realize though that
take
joe have a tmobile branded rom version 1.234 that his device came with
joe upgrades to custom blabla rom version 1.567 don't like it and want to go back
joe will not get more back by flashing a backup he made himself of the 1.234 rom
then he will be just flashing the rom 1.234 he can download at tmobile
a rom is a rom and it makes no difference if it was the very bits originally stored on his device
then a rom from the site as long as version and branding is the same