Database Info

[Q] Recovering data after root?

I'm about to root my new NS and every guide I see reminds me that the internal storage ("SD card") will be wiped - I'm cool with that. But since I'm unrooted I can't use Titanium yet to back up my apps.
So my question is - once I root, what's the best way to get everything back without manually doing everything all over again?

fchipm said:
I'm about to root my new NS and every guide I see reminds me that the internal storage ("SD card") will be wiped - I'm cool with that. But since I'm unrooted I can't use Titanium yet to back up my apps.
So my question is - once I root, what's the best way to get everything back without manually doing everything all over again?
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I see a lot of people say appbrain lets them easily reinstall all their apps after a wipe. Apps, but not app data.
Not sure how that works, i haven't tried it myself. edit: little google search revealed this on how to do it:
Without root, there's no way you're going to save your data that's on the internal storage space.

distortedloop said:
I see a lot of people say appbrain lets them easily reinstall all their apps after a wipe. Apps, but not app data.
Not sure how that works, i haven't tried it myself. edit: little google search revealed this on how to do it:
Without root, there's no way you're going to save your data that's on the internal storage space.
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Yeah I just read some more about it - apparently it's just not at all possible yet, or ever.
Oh well better get to rooting before I have TOO much to lose.

fchipm said:
Yeah I just read some more about it - apparently it's just not at all possible yet, or ever.
Oh well better get to rooting before I have TOO much to lose.
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Yeah, that's why I'm an early rooter on all my phones.
App developer's should be encouraged (or allowed by Google) to put their app data into someplace that the user can back up.
I wonder if the reason app data is put in a root-only read place of the device by default is part of the sand-boxing security.

Best backup before root
The only thing I really had to hunt for was to backup Angry Birds. Thankfully there's an app called Angry Cheaters that is both free and gives you save files for Angry Birds.
I just went through this process yesterday. Google actually saves most/all of your apps and will reinstall when you reenter you gmail address. It also restored my wifi passwords (in addition to obvious things like email/contacts). Just be careful if you have to wipe multiple times while exploring root that you let this process do its thing, it forgot a few apps that way. Thankfully appbrain had moved all of my previous apps to another list.
The only other thing I couldn't back up was some auto mileage data, so I just wrote that into notepad and called it a day.
Is there anything else you are specifically trying to get? I was really only focused on Angry Birds.

Hmmm here is a question/thought
If unlocking your bootloader whipes everything clean, would it be a possibility to run data harvesting apps on the device to get w.e data you lost back?
both on the "sd" and /data/data

I use an app called "rsync backup" ... it can generate a DSS key to install on your server of choice, and tell it to back up /mnt/sdcard/ ... the only thing it won't access on the USB Storage area is a folder called ".android_secure" ... but everything else copies just fine.
I routinely sync my phone with this app to my workstation at the office, and a system at home.

haha.. this is why i unlocked the bootloader/rooted my s right away, i didnt have any data to back up. makes it painless

simms22 said:
haha.. this is why i unlocked the bootloader/rooted my s right away, i didnt have any data to back up. makes it painless
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Kinda wish i did this, but oh well.
Still curious if my idea is even possible..anyone have any input?

Gmail widget fix

I had the same problem as many with the missing gmail widget. Here is how I fixed it:
Apps / Settings / Privacy / Factory data reset
PLEASE NOTE this makes your tablet as if it was brand new outta box so please backup any data you don't wanna lose. Everything took me about 10 minutes to get setup again and the gmail widget is now listed under widgets and working once again. Market synced all my installed apps from market back automatically.

nfodiz said:
I had the same problem as many with the missing gmail widget. Here is how I fixed it:
Apps / Settings / Privacy / Factory data reset
PLEASE NOTE this makes your tablet as if it was brand new outta box so please backup any data you don't wanna lose. Everything took me about 10 minutes to get setup again and the gmail widget is now listed under widgets and working once again. Market synced all my installed apps from market back automatically.
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Thank you!

thats unacceptable for those of us who actually use this device for more than just the programs included with the stock rom.

nfodiz said:
I had the same problem as many with the missing gmail widget. Here is how I fixed it:
Apps / Settings / Privacy / Factory data reset
PLEASE NOTE this makes your tablet as if it was brand new outta box so please backup any data you don't wanna lose. Everything took me about 10 minutes to get setup again and the gmail widget is now listed under widgets and working once again. Market synced all my installed apps from market back automatically.
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Does that action delete/ format your files in the TF? How about the files on my SD card?
Rio

It wipes everything off the TF and what your left with is a brand new 3.1 installation. It didn't touch my microsd cards data. I know this is not an ideal solution for the power users out there but it may help out some until Asus issues a fix.

Deletes data off the internal storage, but not the sd card.

klau1 said:
thats unacceptable for those of us who actually use this device for more than just the programs included with the stock rom.
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it's called backing up your data and reinstalling your apps. It's a very common thing to do.
download app list backup from the market, that will give you market links for all of your installed apps, and you can download mybackup pro to backup some data.
and BTW, to everyone doing this, backup your internal memory becuase it will be erased as well to my understanding.
going to go ahead and do this when i get home tonight.

Fyi by default Google backs up your app data. So it should automatically redownload the apps you had and have all your settings. Unless of course you pirated them, at which point you're not allowed to complain

The backup/sync option is meant to only restore ones you purchased via the market, not free ones. Although honestly, it's restored a few of the free ones (not all) I've installed too, the last time I reset, so I'm not sure what to think any more.

stuntdouble said:
The backup/sync option is meant to only restore ones you purchased via the market, not free ones. Although honestly, it's restored a few of the free ones (not all) I've installed too, the last time I reset, so I'm not sure what to think any more.
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For me it restores my free ones as well (I have 2 paid apps and 50 free ones, it restores them all).

stuntdouble said:
The backup/sync option is meant to only restore ones you purchased via the market, not free ones. Although honestly, it's restored a few of the free ones (not all) I've installed too, the last time I reset, so I'm not sure what to think any more.
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it restores all free ones for me

magicpork said:
it restores all free ones for me
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same here - all of my apps were reinstalled once I did rebooted. The vast majority of them were free.

magicpork said:
it restores all free ones for me
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Note that it does not restore app data. You need root for that and Titanium Backup and if you have root there are other ways to get the widget back. Any save states (ie. completed levels in Angry Birds etc..) will be lost. Any settings and such as well. I'm not saying don't do it, but just getting that out there for those that don't know. 'Restore' is really the wrong word for this, it's just re-installing so you don't have to.

Sounds like they've changed their policy then if it's restoring all apps now. That's certainly welcome news.

Prof-KOS said:
Note that it does not restore app data. You need root for that and Titanium Backup and if you have root there are other ways to get the widget back. Any save states (ie. completed levels in Angry Birds etc..) will be lost. Any settings and such as well. I'm not saying don't do it, but just getting that out there for those that don't know. 'Restore' is really the wrong word for this, it's just re-installing so you don't have to.
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Exactly why I said factory reset is an unacceptable solution.
Titanium backup or backup pro isn't a solution because it requires root to backup app data, but if you have root you could force install Gmail widget directly without factory reseting in the first place

It is an issue to factory restore things, because there is no way to back up app data without root.
For example, playing games on your tablet, there is no way to recover that saved file unless there is root
Thats why I believe, factory resetting is the last resort resolution and really isn't a fix..
And they always make rooting so difficult, but obtaining app data to restore later or just to backup is the best part of root
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk

Factory Reset - Titanium Backup still the best way to back things up?

UNROOTED!
I know titanium backup was always the best in the past but not sure if the last few years found better options for my S6 Verizon or if phones have better built-in backups. I think TB required root but i dont have that on my stupid S6 verizon. Otherwise, what other options do i have?
A guide would be appreciated, as I am afossil in the XDA world now!
I definitely want my photos/vids, my contacts (should be with google), texts, wifi/pws (thought it seems when I hit "Reset all settings" that it wiped them all, despite having "Backup to google" checked...), apps, etc all restored afterwards if possible.

drcrappants said:
UNROOTED!
I know titanium backup was always the best in the past but not sure if the last few years found better options for my S6 Verizon or if phones have better built-in backups. I think TB required root but i dont have that on my stupid S6 verizon. Otherwise, what other options do i have?
A guide would be appreciated, as I am afossil in the XDA world now!
I definitely want my photos/vids, my contacts (should be with google), texts, wifi/pws (thought it seems when I hit "Reset all settings" that it wiped them all, despite having "Backup to google" checked...), apps, etc all restored afterwards if possible.
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Click to collapse
Simple one I would suggest is Samsung SmartSwitch. It pretty much backsup everything.
But for example. if you have any game data stored on your device. It doesnt backup. and if it doesn't backup WhastApp chat back up data as well.
I would suggest a twrp/cwm backup is the best.
Orelse use a USB OTG pendrive to simply copy paste all the files and folders required.But you will need to restore everything
And Samsung Cloud is the best option for backup and restore as of now. For cloud services upto 15 GB after that you will have to pay for the services

Is oneplus switch enough to restore phone/data after doing an oem unlock?

I would like to unlock the bootloader on my phone and realize doing so will wipe the data. I am trying to find the best method to do a backup so the data can be restored as the phone is working beautifully at the moment. Is oneplus switch sufficient or do I need to do something else? I realize I'd need to copy the opbackup folder from the phone to a pc then restore the folder after the unlock.
I browsed the backup folder and I don't see where app specific data is being saved.

It doesn't restore app data so you can use OnePlus Switch to backup apps and your typical data then use Titanium Backup to restore your app data or both app data and apps.

HermitDash said:
It doesn't restore app data so you can use OnePlus Switch to backup apps and your typical data then use Titanium Backup to restore your app data or both app data and apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem is TitaniumBackup or any other USER app cannot access data (beyond their own) until the device is rooted. I can't root it till I can oem unlock it. I have it running just like I like so doing the oem unlock is not worth it to me at this time unless the data can be saved somehow.

famewolf said:
I would like to unlock the bootloader on my phone and realize doing so will wipe the data. I am trying to find the best method to do a backup so the data can be restored as the phone is working beautifully at the moment. Is oneplus switch sufficient or do I need to do something else? I realize I'd need to copy the opbackup folder from the phone to a pc then restore the folder after the unlock.
I browsed the backup folder and I don't see where app specific data is being saved.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you are right - no data. Much of what it does backup I think Google also does. Personally, I would not be concerned with texts or pictures or emails as they are all kept on servers in my case.I would be concerned with app settings - for instance, restoring all my email settings (I have numerous email accounts) and passwords and such is a chore. There is no simple way to backup and restore all those little things.
I do think that Switch backs up a few system settings like default sounds perhaps.

Well the "solution" I came up with wasn't 100% but it's close. When I setup my op7 pro it pulled alot of info from my old phone including all the GOOGLE PLAY apps WITH data. If you have another phone around you could "backup" to it and after oem unlock "restore" from it. That will get you all your google play apps with data. Used in combination with oneplus switch you'll get the REST of your apps, ringtones etc. Basically you'd have to reconfigure any apps you got from elsewhere such as Amazon, XDA or f-droid. There would probably be some system settings you'd have to redo also..specifically bluetooth for one.

famewolf said:
Well the "solution" I came up with wasn't 100% but it's close. When I setup my op7 pro it pulled alot of info from my old phone including all the GOOGLE PLAY apps WITH data. If you have another phone around you could "backup" to it and after oem unlock "restore" from it. That will get you all your google play apps with data. Used in combination with oneplus switch you'll get the REST of your apps, ringtones etc. Basically you'd have to reconfigure any apps you got from elsewhere such as Amazon, XDA or f-droid. There would probably be some system settings you'd have to redo also..specifically bluetooth for one.
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Did you use another OP7 device or some other brand/model? The only sparedevices I have are old LGs currently if I was gonna play with that.

You should already have all critical data backed up on at least 2 hdds that are physically and electronically isolated from each other.
There's only two kinds of data users, those who have lost data and those who will.

blackhawk said:
There's only two kinds of data users, those who have lost data and those who will.
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That was deep man. Can I quote u on that ?

jaggillararla said:
That was deep man. Can I quote u on that ?
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Once you have lost a database you can.
Otherwise you don't rate it

backup before unlocking bootloader

Is there a way to back up everything before a wipe that restores well? The ones i've tried miss system settings and all app settings have to be reset. Titanium Backup was awesome but requires root., but something like that is what I'm after

tomplatz said:
Is there a way to back up everything before a wipe that restores well? The ones i've tried miss system settings and all app settings have to be reset. Titanium Backup was awesome but requires root., but something like that is what I'm after
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Click to collapse
This is a biggest issue Google hasn't provided a solution for. You can't backup an android phone unless you root... [emoji1418]
Sent from my SM-N986U using Tapatalk

Any decent apps anyone has found? I know TB level backup not possible

System settings and all app settings backup is hard. Usually, Samsung Kies, mobile data manager software, etc just help us back up data like contacts, text messages, photos, videos, music, apps, etc. Of course, there is no need to root Samsung phone before using them.

tomplatz said:
Is there a way to back up everything before a wipe that restores well? The ones i've tried miss system settings and all app settings have to be reset. Titanium Backup was awesome but requires root., but something like that is what I'm after
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Keep in mind once you unlock bootloader then KNOX will be permantly disabled and apps like samsung pay, samsung pass, encryption and some more will no longer work after this and even if you re-lock bootloader the KNOX will still be unavailable since it's so called safety thing in chip has ben cut so it becomes permanently hardware disabled.
So think before doing it, if you plan to use samsung pay and pass and such later on then avoid unlocking the bootloader.
Also warranty will be voided too.
Skickat från min SM-N986B via Tapatalk

tomplatz said:
Is there a way to back up everything before a wipe that restores well? The ones i've tried miss system settings and all app settings have to be reset. Titanium Backup was awesome but requires root., but something like that is what I'm after
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Click to collapse
The best you can do is use the SD card as your data drive. All mission critical data goes on it.
Therefore no PC or internet connection is needed for a full restore. No wasted time transferring data from the PC or cloud.
All critical data, photos, vids, music, documents, settings backups for apks that let you, contacts and copies of all loaded apks and updates.
I use ApkExport to make copies of all my apks and system updates so after a reload I don't need Playstore and know exactly what to load, fast.
Get at least a .5 tb card so all the data used by the phone can easily fit plus 100 gb headroom.
I pretty much hit the ground running and a reload is 99% complete in about 5 hours with no loss of critical data.
Not copying settings for some apps and especially system settings is a better plan as any bad settings don't get carbon copied. Manual set up also keeps you in aware of what does what. Plus you will find and learn new tricks like this.
I reload about every 6 months to take full advantage of the new optimizations I incorporated since the last reload. Invariably you play with trash apps trying to find the good ones and the poorly written ones can leave a mess behind. It's simply impossible to weed out all the trash and subtle misconfigurations that happen over time.
A reload takes out the trash.
Each reload should get you a couple steps closer to device perfection.
Once you have a fast, stable platform be very cautious of any firmware or OS updates as it only takes one to wreck everything. Many times an "upgrade" turns into an ugly downgrade.
Many app updates are useless or wreck the the app as well.
No reason to fix something that ain't broke... once optimized leave it be.
Find something else to play with.

Just install Samsung Smart switch on your phone. And back up to the SD CARD.
You'll still need to setup individual apps but you will keep system settings.

pcriz said:
Just install Samsung Smart switch on your phone. And back up to the SD CARD.
You'll still need to setup individual apps but you will keep system settings.
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Click to collapse
Thank you.
I forgot about this app.
Last time I used it transfering from a S4 to the 10+ it was a terror. However it should do much better on the same model/OS.
16 gb took 10 minutes to backup to a fast card plus you can see and edit its saved files.
The icon layout will be lost if it saves the theme/icon pack I will wuv it to death...
It should save some time... if not I'll reset again:laugh:

The legendary Tom Platz. Now that's a blast from my past lol

Limeybastard said:
The legendary Tom Platz. Now that's a blast from my past lol
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I have big legs too. Seemed to fit.

tomplatz said:
I have big legs too. Seemed to fit.
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I'll take your word for it. No need for pics. ?