Database Info

HOW TO: Manually backup 3rd-party application settings and data

This tutorial will explain how to backup application data and settings for 3rd-party apps that do not have an export/import settings feature. Looking to upgrade your ROM but don't want to lose your todos/highscores/whatnots after a data wipe? Then read on..
(I've never used apps to SD, so I'm not completely sure how the data is stored with that. I'm assuming the entire data partition is moved to the SD though, so the procedures outlined in this guide are not necessary / do not apply to apps2sd)
Tools needed:
adb
Backing up settings
Run a adb shell in the command prompt and navigate to /data/data
Code:
c:\android-sdk-windows-1.5_r1\tools> adb shell
# cd /data/data
Find the folder of the app whose settings you want to backup. In android 1.5, M/SMS are stored in com.android.providers.telephony and bookmarks are in com.android.browser. For third party apps, you can use ls to list all installed apps and find your app folder manually, or use find - say I want to find the app folder for the Astrid todo app:
Code:
# ls
<.....lots of directories....>
com.timsu.astrid
<.....more directories....>
# find *astrid* -maxdepth 0
com.timsu.astrid
Now open a separate command prompt and use adb pull to copy the application's data folder to your computer. This does not copy the app itself, only its saved data and settings. App .apks reside in /data/apps, which you can also adb pull out if you want. In this example I pull out settings for Astrid:
Code:
c:\android-sdk-windows-1.5_r1\tools> adb pull /data/data/com.timsu.astrid d:\desktop\com.timsu.astrid
Feel free to replace d:\desktop with the location of your choice, of course. Repeat the above for each app folder you want to backup.
Restoring settings after a wipe
First thing to do is reinstall the apk, from sdcard, adb install, market, whatever. After the app is installed, you can restore settings in one of two ways: the easy way or the hard but safe (paranoid) way.
The Easy Way:
This quick and dirty method will give everyone full read/write/execute permissions on the application's settings/data. This is normally a Very Bad Idea with a normal linux computer, but realistically there is very little risk of this posing any real security issues on a device like a phone.
First, adb push the settings into the data folder, overwriting the app's stock settings (in this example, the astrid data I backed up) then adb shell into the phone and navigate to /data/data:
Code:
c:\android-sdk-windows-1.5_r1\tools> adb push d:\desktop\com.timsu.astrid /data/data/com.timsu.astrid
Done
c:\android-sdk-windows-1.5_r1\tools> adb shell
# cd /data/data
Now give full permissions to the app's data folder and its contents:
Code:
# chmod 777 com.timsu.astrid
# cd com.timsu.astrid
# chmod 777 * */*
And that's it. Launch the app and your settings/data should be restored.
The Hard Way
I'm not going to go into this in detail because if you're reading this, you probably know the commands to do this anyway. After you reinstall the app, the general idea is to run ls -l on the stock app data directory and its subdirectories to display the owner and permissions of each file/folder as setup by the android system. Write these down then adb push the backup app data folder in, which overwrites everything with directories and files owned by root. Then use chown and chmod to restore the original owners and permissions for each file and directory. Needless to say this can be quite a hassle if you're dealing with more than a few application backups.

is there any way to backup up wifi wep and wpa keys?
if there was i wouldnt mind wiping, but typing in a 63character long passkey gets very tedious after a while!

Wifi settings are stored in /data/misc/wifi:
-rw-rw---- system wifi 29620 2009-04-29 21:31 wpa_supplicant.conf

ah cool, thank you very much

Excel guide. I tried this before wiping my rom and installing a new one and it worked perfectly for 2 different applications. Great! Thanks!

good idea, can save some time.

Thanks for this

So ...
cyricc said:
Tools needed:
adb
Code:
c:\android-sdk-windows-1.5_r1\tools> adb pull /data/data/com.timsu.astrid d:\desktop\com.timsu.astrid
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i am just wondering why would you use adb instead of just copying to the sdcard?!?
Code:
# mkdir /sdcard/my_backup_data
# cp /data/data/com.timsu.astrid /sdcard/my_backup_data
this would perform the same function "on the fly" without the need of even having a computer .. maybe add this into the OP?

I just used root explorer to copy the apks to sdcard

LucidREM said:
i am just wondering why would you use adb instead of just copying to the sdcard?!?
Code:
# mkdir /sdcard/my_backup_data
# cp /data/data/com.timsu.astrid /sdcard/my_backup_data
this would perform the same function "on the fly" without the need of even having a computer .. maybe add this into the OP?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And you can use "tar" instead of "cp" to also automagically save/restore the correct UID, GID & permissions... or compress data...

Hmm i cud write a batch script to do all this. If theres a huge percentage of windows users here that would like this let me know. Features im thinking of are
1 click backup of all apps or choose from list of apps
launcher icon / wifi settings backup
1 click restore of all apps or specific app

Daneshm90 said:
Hmm i cud write a batch script to do all this. If theres a huge percentage of windows users here that would like this let me know. Features im thinking of are
1 click backup of all apps or choose from list of apps
launcher icon / wifi settings backup
1 click restore of all apps or specific app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 here!
While these methods work fine, I am never one to reject a streamlined version. Thanks for this OP and Dane.

Scripting
Daneshm90 said:
Hmm i cud write a batch script to do all this. If theres a huge percentage of windows users here that would like this let me know. Features im thinking of are
1 click backup of all apps or choose from list of apps
launcher icon / wifi settings backup
1 click restore of all apps or specific app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that's very easy

TAR
joseangel.alv said:
And you can use "tar" instead of "cp" to also automagically save/restore the correct UID, GID & permissions... or compress data...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
serious? so:
# tar /data/data/com.timsu.astrid /sdcard/my_backup_data/com.timsu.astrid.tar
would do this? or something different? i will look over the syntax myself .. that makes scripting so easy too

TAR
LucidREM said:
serious? so:
# tar /data/data/com.timsu.astrid /sdcard/my_backup_data/com.timsu.astrid.tar
would do this? or something different? i will look over the syntax myself .. that makes scripting so easy too
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
# tar -czf /sdcard/my_backup_data/com.timsu.astrid.tgz /data/data/com.timsu.astrid
this (i guess) would be the correct functioning

Any idea where the homescreen layout is saved ? is it specific to the launcher ur using ?
W/e i think my script covers that by backing up data folder. Alright guys these r the options i have so far. Anything missing ?
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}

Launcher
Daneshm90 said:
Any idea where the homescreen layout is saved ? is it specific to the launcher ur using ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that would depend on which launcher you have i suppose

LucidREM said:
that would depend on which launcher you have i suppose
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Correct. Its the database folder within the specific launcher u are using. So in essense by backing up the whole /data folder or just ur specific launcher's /data folder u are preserving ur icons/widget layout.

Ok so here it is :
This assumes adb is in ur path.
Just place .bat file anywhere and run.

TAR
ok .. so i am just a sucker for the obvious i guess .. try this one out:
# lucid -archive
yay me! what this will do is to archive (tar) the whole /data/data folder .. not just one specific app .. then you can restore one part or all parts later (ok .. i did NOT script the restore portion)

[HOW-TO] Stock Apps for All!

After two days of fumbling around with adb, numerous nandroid backups, and ultimately wiping my system, I, with the help of my friend Kiraly (his xda username), have successfully installed the stock Messaging, Clock, Calculator and Browser apps onto my phone.
The Messaging app was of particular interest to me because I hate how the HTC Sense Messaging app always loads briefly when you enter a thread of messages, no matter how many messages are in the actual thread. Also, the stock Android Messaging app has a feature similar to BBM in that an icon within the thread notifies you when a message has actually sent.
By following the instructions contained hereunder, you agree to indemnify and hold harmless the original poster (the "OP"). I hereby disclaim all warranties and liability for any harm that may result by following the aforementioned instructions.
Installing these apps was fairly easy once we found out how it needed to be done. You will need the following:
A. Minimal knowledge of adb, or rather knowledge of how to copy and paste adb commands.
B. You will need full root (root and nand unlocked)
C. 1.47 kernel with the modified default.prop file http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=7138666
D. The Root Explorer app (this can be purchased in the Android Market)
E. You will need the following .apk files from BuglessBeast. They are the only apps that I have been able to successfully install. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=700175
-Mms.apk
-Browser.apk
-DeskClock.apk
-Calculator.apk
STEP 1
Perform a nandroid backup.
STEP 2
Plug your phone into your computer via USB and mount the sd card.
STEP 3
Download the 1.47 kernel with the modified default.prop file. The stock kernel is also contained in the following link, and you can always revert back to it if need be. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=7138666
STEP 4
Flash the modified 1.47 kernel .zip file to the root of your sd card (for all you rookies out there, simply drag the .zip file onto your sd card).
STEP 5
Reboot into recovery and install the kernel you just flashed. Then, reboot the phone.
STEP 6
Download the BuglessBeast ROM http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=700175
STEP 7
Unzip the BuglessBeast file. Open the unzipped file. Find the folder labeled "System", and open it. Then, find the folder labeled "App", and open it. Find the files labeled Mms.apk, Browser.apk, DeskClock.apk and Calculator.apk. Drag those files to your desktop.
STEP 8
Download and open the Root Explorer app. Scroll down to the bottom and click on the folder labeled "System." Then, at the top of the app, click "Mount R/W." After you click that, open the "app" folder. Each application has two files you need to delete. Do not delete any of the clock files. You will need to delete the following files and then quit the application when you have finished:
-Browser.apk
-Browser.odex
-Mms.apk
-Mms.odex
-Calculator.apk
-Calculator.odex
STEP 9
Open the Command Prompt if you are a Windows user or the Terminal application if you are a Mac user and navigate to the tools folder of the Android SDK. Do not boot into recovery.
STEP 10
Type the following commands in order. We will use the Browser.apk as an example, and I will assume the file is on your desktop:
Code:
adb shell
Code:
mount -o remount,rw -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock4 /system
Code:
exit
Code:
adb push C:\Users\YourUserName\Browser.apk /system/app
Code:
adb shell
Code:
chmod 6755 /system/app/Browser.apk
Code:
exit
Code:
adb reboot
STEP 11
Rinse and repeat!
Thanks to frankenstein\ for the kenel, laydros for getting me started in the right direction, BuglessPete for the .apk files, and most importantly to Kiraly for all his assistance.
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}

<3
10 char

I hope the push command is correct. On my Mac, when the files is on my desktop, the command is:
/adb push /Users/kpoz/Desktop/Browser.apk /system/app
Someone please let me know if the push command is not correct for Windows.

kpoz said:
I hope the push command is correct. On my Mac, when the files is on my desktop, the command is:
/adb push /Users/kpoz/Desktop/Browser.apk /system/app
Someone please let me know if the push command is not correct for Windows.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm using Ubuntu but I have a Windows lappy around with adb setup, I'll test it out and let you know.

neckface said:
I'm using Ubuntu but I have a Windows lappy around with adb setup, I'll test it out and let you know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great, thanks. I almost forgot to delete the "./" before "adb" when I was writing the tutorial. For whatever reason, on a Mac the command is ./adb, and on Windows it is simply adb.

kpoz said:
Great, thanks. I almost forgot to delete the "./" before "adb" when I was writing the tutorial. For whatever reason, on a Mac the command is ./adb, and on Windows it is simply adb.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup, same with Linux.

Just replaced the Sense Mms app with the stock one using this technique and it worked perfectly. Only thing I did differently was rather than deleting the stock files I just renamed them with a *.bak for easy restoring in case I ever need to.
Also I'm using Netarchy's kernel [FPS fix] and I did not need to do all the steps with the default.prop, I was able to mount the system folder with write permission.
And in case anyone is like me and just wants to replace the messaging app rather than all of them, I'll attach the apk for much quicker downloading. Its the apk straight out of the BuglessBeast ROM.

kpoz said:
I hope the push command is correct. On my Mac, when the files is on my desktop, the command is:
/adb push /Users/kpoz/Desktop/Browser.apk /system/app
Someone please let me know if the push command is not correct for Windows.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Push command is correct for windows. It may vary slightly depending on where you placed the apk files.

tehpsyc said:
Just replaced the Sense Mms app with the stock one using this technique and it worked perfectly. Only thing I did differently was rather than deleting the stock files I just renamed them with a *.bak for easy restoring in case I ever need to.
Also I'm using Netarchy's kernel [FPS fix] and I did not need to do all the steps with the default.prop, I was able to mount the system folder with write permission.
And in case anyone is like me and just wants to replace the messaging app rather than all of them, I'll attach the apk for much quicker downloading. Its the apk straight out of the BuglessBeast ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad it worked for you! Thanks for attaching the Mms.apk.
I'm glad that slow, unresponsive Sense Messages app is long gone. You know there is something wrong with your app (*cough, HTC, *cough) when you get a "Loading" message when opening a thread, regardless of how many messages are in said thread.

initial said:
Push command is correct for windows. It may vary slightly depending on where you placed the apk files.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for confirming.

tehpsyc said:
Just replaced the Sense Mms app with the stock one using this technique and it worked perfectly. Only thing I did differently was rather than deleting the stock files I just renamed them with a *.bak for easy restoring in case I ever need to.
Also I'm using Netarchy's kernel [FPS fix] and I did not need to do all the steps with the default.prop, I was able to mount the system folder with write permission.
And in case anyone is like me and just wants to replace the messaging app rather than all of them, I'll attach the apk for much quicker downloading. Its the apk straight out of the BuglessBeast ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What is the sense messenger app called? I can't find anything resembling it.
Here's a list of my HTC programs.
Code:
# ls /system/app/*htc*
/system/app/com.htc.MusicWidget.apk
/system/app/com.htc.NewsReaderWidget.apk
/system/app/com.htc.TwitterWidget.apk
/system/app/com.htc.WeatherWidget.apk
/system/app/htcbookmarkwidget.apk
/system/app/htccalendarwidgets.apk
/system/app/htccontactwidgets.apk
/system/app/htcmailwidgets.apk
/system/app/htcmsgwidgets.apk
/system/app/htcsearchwidgets.apk
/system/app/htcsettingwidgets.apk
I see the htc messenger widget but do I have to get rid of that? I don't think that's the messenger application file.

initial said:
What is the sense messenger app called? I can't find anything resembling it.
Here's a list of my HTC programs.
Code:
# ls /system/app/*htc*
/system/app/com.htc.MusicWidget.apk
/system/app/com.htc.NewsReaderWidget.apk
/system/app/com.htc.TwitterWidget.apk
/system/app/com.htc.WeatherWidget.apk
/system/app/htcbookmarkwidget.apk
/system/app/htccalendarwidgets.apk
/system/app/htccontactwidgets.apk
/system/app/htcmailwidgets.apk
/system/app/htcmsgwidgets.apk
/system/app/htcsearchwidgets.apk
/system/app/htcsettingwidgets.apk
I see the htc messenger widget but do I have to get rid of that? I don't think that's the messenger application file.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Sense Messenger app is called Mms.apk. Delete the Mms.apk and Mms.odex files. It's in the OP
Do not delete htcmessengeruploader.

kpoz said:
The Sense Messenger app is called Mms.apk. Delete the Mms.apk and Mms.odex files. It's in the OP
Do not delete htcmessengeruploader.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh didn't realize it was the same. I'm using DamageControl's ROM and assumed HTC had a different label for some reason. Thanks for clearing that up.
In any case, I got a few FCs here and there and MMS is failing to send on the DC ROM. I'll tinker with it some more and see if I can figure something out.
btw, if anyone is doing this on DC's ROMs then don't bother looking for any *.odex files since his rom is de'odexed.

initial said:
Oh didn't realize it was the same. I'm using DamageControl's ROM and assumed HTC had a different label for some reason. Thanks for clearing that up.
In any case, I got a few FCs here and there and MMS is failing to send on the DC ROM. I'll tinker with it some more and see if I can figure something out.
btw, if anyone is doing this on DC's ROMs then don't bother looking for any *.odex files since his rom is de'odexed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Originally, Kiraly and I tried pushing these files and then using a shell to install them, but it resulting in a ton of force closes. We couldn't open any of the apps.
Regrettably, I'm not savvy enough to attempt to fix this issue for you if you are running a ROM like DC, especially a deodexed ROM. Best of luck to you.
Maybe the install command will work for you where it failed for me.
Try the following:
Code:
adb shell
mount -o remount,rw -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock4 /system
exit
adb push :\Users\YourUserName\Browser.apk /sdcard
adb shell
install /sdcard/Browser.apk /system/app
exit
adb reboot

[How-To](UPDATED 11/1/10)Working Marketplace in 2.2 Emulator (no system.img)(ROOTED)

This all started out as an experiment to get my nandroid system.img file running in the adb emulator. Well sadly I haven't been able to do that (yet) but I have found something useful. I've Seen several people all over asking how to get a working marketplace app in 2.2 on the adb emulator. After a lot of researching (and trial and error) I've managed to get one. Here are the steps I've taken. (Steps 5 and 6 optional, you can just use the included build.prop if you prefer)
1) Create an avd running 2.2 (froyo,plenty of places explain how to do this so I won't)
2) Download the file (attached below, root files included)
3) Unzip to a location that's easy to remember and find.
4) Load your emulated phone (allow it to load fully)
5) enter this command in a command prompt/terminal window (make sure you "cd" to the directory where you extracted the files)
Code:
adb pull /system/build.prop
6) Remove or comment "ro.config.nocheckin=yes" (no quotes, might be able to just change it to "no" but I haven't tried it that way)
7) enter these commands
Winblows (I mean windows)
Code:
adb remount
adb push build.prop /system/build.prop
adb install GoogleServicesFramework.apk
adb install Vending.apk
adb install Gmail.apk (optional but sometimes signing in here lets the market sign in)
adb shell rm /system/app/SdkSetup.apk
Linux
Code:
adb remount
adb push ./build.prop /system/build.prop
adb install ./GoogleServicesFramework.apk
adb install ./Vending.apk
adb install ./Gmail.apk
adb shell rm /system/app/SdkSetup.apk
8) Sign in. If it works you're done if not reboot and try again, sometimes it takes 3 or 4 reboots to set. If your emulated phone has a data signal from your computer (you'll see a 3G and network icon in the notification area) just wait for it to sign in. The cancel button should grey out within a minute. If it says it can't connect restart the emulator and try again, be patient.
There is a known bug that not all apps show up in the marketplace. I'm not sure why so if someone here knows how to fix that by all means leave a post and let me know. If I see it I'll add it to the first post (provided it works of course )
Edit: Working on getting root on the emulator (just for the hell of it). So far I have su in the xbin directory and superuser.apk installed. Not 100% sure what else I need to do to get the su requests to go through though, I'll probably PM a more experienced member and post back when I have more. Got root? I do (got it working.) Here are the steps you need to take.
Rooting the standard android image on the emulator
1) Open a command prompt (cd to the directoy where you extracted the files)
2) enter these commands
Code:
adb shell mount -o rw,remount -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock03 /system
adb push su /system/xbin/su
adb shell chmod 06755 /system
adb shell chmod 06755 /system/xbin/su
adb install superuser.apk
That's it! You now have a rooted, market-enabled android emulator.
New! N00b-friendly method
1) create your avd
2) download the emulator files archive attached to this post
3) extract somewhere easy to find
4) open command prompt/terminal and cd to the extracted location
5) start your avd
6) Run your script (windows.bat or linux.sh)
7) sign into market and enjoy root!
Note:
You may have to chmod su again upon restarting the emulator.
To get root back simply run the re-root script for your OS (bat for windows,sh for linux)
To install busybox simply run the re-root script, it will automatically install if you're using the script to install on a new avd.

Post 2
[reserved for updates, explanations, pictures, present/future tweaks in progress, etc]
Pictures:
Superuser list,Marketplace (I like solitaire><), Terminal with su permissions, and re-rooted Terminal​
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Tweaks:
1: root (done!)
2: busybox (done!)

Wow nice....

Thank you the root resets after reboot, working on making it stick but its not hard to do it again, just start with the "-wipe-data" command and redo the root, market works after reboot though. Still working on getting a dumped system.img to boot, ill post that in its own thread when i get it. Glad you like this.
Sent from my ROOTED T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide using XDA App
Edit: see first post on how to get root back,no data-wipe!

so cool!! Good job man!

Thanks ^_^ let me know if you find any problems that I haven't already mentioned and I'll see if I can fix them or if they're just an emulator quirk.

Sorry for the double post but I wanted to let you all know busybox is now included! Installation can be performed through scripts (included in the "Emulator Files.rar" archive) or manually. If you wish to do it manually simply open the script in a text editor to see what's going on and enter the commands in a command prompt/terminal window.

I'm not able to make this work, not with a toolkit downloaded yesterday anyway.
Pulling of build.prop works, but pushing fails with a directory related error.
"adb shell" followed by "cd /system" and "ls -l" gives a list of files that does not include build.prop, neither as a file nor as a directory.
"ls -l build.prop" works though, and lists a file with 0644 permissions.
Install of all apks different from Gmail fails, with an error that says that those apks are already installed. Uninstalling them through adb doesn't work, netting instead a simple generic error.
Does anyone know whether I'm doing something wrong or Google has modified the emulator images so to render the Market workaround unusable? If so, where could I download an earlier version of the 2.2 system image?
Many thanks
Rocco

I actually had this issue as well. Try re-making the avd, worked for me. You could also try running the scripts to install, might work. If it doesnt post back and ill post the system.img from my sdk.
Sent from my ROOTED T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide using XDA App

I have the same problem as ropi. Remade the avd several times with different properties, still no go.
I would really appreciate it if someone could upload a fully set-up avd somewhere.

I'll try again late this afternoon (I'm on CEST). Hope it works. If not, I'd be happy too if some kind soul would upload a link to a working avd
Thanks for the kind help
Rocco

I have no idea why people are having so many problems :/. I had the problem and once I remade the avd it went away. Try starting with the -partition-size 96 option and see if that helps. If not here are the files, just extract to your avd directory, it has the ini and img files you need and it's already setup. Just run re-root to get root back and sign into market and you're good to go.
http://hotfile.com/dl/79959332/3efbade/froyo-avd.rar.html
Edit: I just downloaded the latest revision and everything seems to be working fine :/ As I've said before try starting with -partition-size 96 and also try using the scripts I've provided. That should fix the issues, but if it doesn't there's always the hotfile link I've provided (or if you're just lazy lol)
Edit 2: also,just thought of this, make sure before you push the build.prop you adb remount. Pulling will work fine without doing that but pushing won't. No one said if they had done this and still received the errors so I'm trying to cover all bases. If remount fails try the adb shell mount command posted on the first page.

Thanks dbzfanatic, that avd worked great.

Glad it worked for ya. Let us know how everything works.
Sent from my ROOTED T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide using XDA App

A lot of apps can not be found in the Market ... I cannot find Lookout....

Yeah, I've mentioned that,firs post. It's a known bug. Nothing I can do to fix it at the moment. You could download the apk on your phone then pull it then install it in the emulator. Bit of a roundabout way of doing things but it's all we can do on the emulator for the time being, at least from what I know.

Ok after a bit of poking around (sorry it took so long) I found out a bit about the market. It seems it's not just your region that it uses to show apps but things like your carrier, presence/absence of a SIM card, Android version, etc. It uses the filters to choose which apps to show and which to exclude (not showing an American user Japanese apps, not showing someone on Verizon T-Mobile apps, etc) so this explains part of the problem. I also found out that the SIM card and IMEI numbers were(are?) hard-coded into the emulator binary, changing these may allow us to see a few more apps. I looked through the binary file a bit and didn't find anything but I'll look more closely in a bit (new job, yay <- read as "groan"). I don't know how to emulate or spoof a carrier so that will still cut us back on some of the apps being seen. If anyone knows how to do this please post here and let us know! It would also be beneficial if a user who has already modified their IMEI and SIM numbers in the emulator to compare the apps list to the one you see in the standard, non-modded emulator binary and let us know if there is a difference or not. The more apps we can see in the marketplace the better!

Just wanted to confirm that I've tried Market Enabler a few days ago and it doesn't seem to work.

Alright thanks for the feedback. Ill keep working on it.
Sent from my ROOTED T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide using XDA App

Despite several tries, I've so far been unsuccessful in using this method to install the marketplace on a 2.2 avd. Many thanks for having provided ready-made avds, then!
I've been able to install marketplace on the Galaxy Tab images provided by Samsung, though!
Keep up the good work

[Guide]How to prepare a stock rom for modification (written for beginners)

How to prepare your i9001 stockROM for modding
First of all I want to say that I know that there already are tutorials about this, but this is just my sites "well explained aio tutorial" that everyone should be able to follow successfully, just as my other tutorials. I added loads of screenshots to make everything a lot easier. So please no complaining about duplicates
Short description:
In this tutorial I will explain you how to prepare a stock rom for modding, the files in this tutorial (cwm and root) are for the Samsung Galaxy S Plus (GT-i9001) only!
The deodex part will work for every device, So if you have an other device then the i9001 you can only follow the deodex part if you would like to.
General notes
- I know I already made a tutorial about how to root the i9001, but this method is faster and easier, so forget the old method and use this one!
- In this tutorial I assume that you have installed your new stock ROM (or still have the original one) and made no modifications to it yet (this excludes apps & settings)
Chapters:
1. ClockWorkMod Recovery (CWM)
2. Getting full access to your system files (Root)
3. How to make system apks available for modding (Deodex)
Chapter 1. ClockWorkMod Recovery
The first step of this guide is to get rid of the stock recovery, the stock recovery is very useless if you compare it to CWM.
CWM is a custom recovery that it known worldwide, it has a great number of options and actually should be installed by default on any smartphone!
The method of flashing the recovery will be Odin (Mutli Downloader 4.43), this method doesn’t require root access and is very trusted.
What you have to do on your pc:
1. Download and unpack Odin and AriesVE.ops
2. Download and unpack CWM v5.5.0.4 (ICS Compatible)
3. Download and install Samsung USB Drivers
4. Now go to the folder where you extracted odin and AriesVE.ops, and open odin (Multi_Downloader_v4.43_with_smd0425.exe)
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
5. Click on the “OPS” button, now choose the AriesVE.ops file you downloaded earlier, after this check the “One package” checkbox
6. Now click the “One Package” button and choose the “recovery-clockwork-5.5.0.4-ariesve.tar.md5″ file you downloaded earlier, now it will perform an md5 check
7. Now turn off your i9001 if it’s on at the moment.
8. Turn it on by holding: Volume Down + Home + Power (hold it for about 6 seconds) until the Download Mode comes
9. Now put the USB cable in your phone and computer, your computer will now install all needed drivers
10. Once the driver installation is complete you will see a yellow block in your upper left odin window
This means it’s detected and ready to flash
11. Now click the “Start” button and the flashing will start
(as you see this process only takes a few seconds)
12. Now your phone will reboot and CWM is installed correctly. (You can also press the “Volume up + Power” buttons when you see the Samsung logo (when odin reboots your phone), It will force your device to go to cwm.
What I strongly advice is to make a backup of your current rom (backup & restore > backup)
Now see the next chapter for quick rooting!
Chapter 2. Getting full access to your system files (Root)
Once CWM is installed it’s very easy to root your phone very fast.
1. Download Root-i9001-Signed.zip or scan this barcode on your phone:
2. Put the zip on your sdcards root, and turn off your phone.
3. Now turn your phone on by holding: Volume Up + Power, when you see the Samsung logo wait another 2/3 sec and then release both buttons.
4. Now CWM Recovery will show, use the volume buttons to scroll up and down, use the home button to choose something
5. Scroll to “install zip from sdcard” and press the home button
(using the volume down button to go down in the menu)
(after pressing home in main menu)
6. Now Press home again to go to “choose zip from sdcard, this will let you browse your internal sdcard, now search for the root-i9001-signed.zip file
(my sdcard is a bit messy ^^)
7. When you found the zip press Home to choose it
8. Now scroll up (it’s faster then down) until you reach Yes, then press the home button again. This will install the root zip on your phone
9. Now press the back button once to return to the main menu, with “reboot system now” selected, press the home button once to reboot your phone
10 . When your phone is rebooted you should look for the SuperUser app and open it, now press the menu button and choose “Preferences”
11. Now scroll all the way down to Superuser information, then press the second button “Su Binary v3.0-beta2″, this will open the updater
(dutch language)
12. As you see it’s outdated and needs to be updated, press the Update button to do this
13. Now the updating will start, and soon SuperUser will ask for SuperUser permissions, click Grant
(dutch language)
14. After clicking grant the update process will continue and will be done in a few seconds
15. Now your Su Binaries are updated you need to update the app itself, just go to the market and search for “Super User”
16. Choose the one contributed by: ChainsDD, now click the “Update” button to update it. You are now done with the rooting.
Chapter 3. How to make system apks available for modding (Deodex)
Requirements for deodexing:
- Android SDK (x86)
- Java Development Kit (x86)
- Busybox Installed on your phone (the download from the market is the installer, so you will need to run the app to install it)
1. Download xUltimate Script v2.3.3, unpack it in some folder and if you have an anti-virus, scan the jar folder and add “auto_app.exe” and “auto_frame.exe” to exclusions/trusted files. (at least my anti-virus thinks it’s dangerous, but it’s not..)
2. Run “Main Skip.bat”, now the main menu of xUltimate will open
3. Now connect your phone in debugging mode to your pc (but not in mass storage mode!), and choose “1″ then press enter, this will pull all system apps from your device
4. When the pulling is complete choose “2″ and press enter, this will pull all system framework files.
5. Now that you’ve collected all apks/odex files, you will probably need to remove these apks from the “origi_app” folder, since they will probably fail to deodex.
- GoogleQuickSearch.apk / GoogleQuickSearch.odex
- Maps.apk / Maps.odex
- Phonesky.apk / Phonesky.odex
- PlusOne.apk / PlusOne.odex
- Voicesearch.apk / Voicesearch.odex
These apps can be redownloaded at the market later! (Phonesky is just the market installer, not the actual market installation)
6. Now choose “3″ and press enter, now the deodexing of the system apps will start.
This may take a while, but at least it will deodex until the end, since the trouble makers are already removed.
7. When the deodexing of the system apps is done you will return to the main menu, now choose “4″ and press enter to deodex the framework files
Luckily deodexing the framework goes a lot faster then the apps. When this process is also done you will have 2 output folders, called “done_app” and “done_frame”
8. What you will need to do is copy both folders to your internal sdcard’s root (since you’re still in debugging mode, drag down the status bar and click on the usb notification, then click on “Mount Storage” to mount your internal sdcard on your computer (Mass Storage Mode)
9. After you copied both folders, you need to press “Unmount Storage” on your phone, now it will be back in normal debugging mode, keep the usb cable in because we are not done yet.
10. Download ADB (Android Debug Bridge) and unpack it in some folder, Now in that folder “Shift+Right Click” at some empty spot > Open command window here (This is only for Windows 7). XP users will have to open cmd manually and “cd” to the adb directory
11. Once your in cmd, enter the following commands to successfully deodex your phone (an explanation of the commands can be found below them, make sure you don’t enter the symbols as well, I added those so you can see if you’re in the right mode)
> adb shell
* daemon not running. starting it now on port 5037 *
* daemon started successfully *
$ su
# stop
# mount -o remount rw /system
# rm /system/app/*.odex
# rm /system/framework/*.odex
# busybox cp /sdcard/done_app/* /system/app/
# busybox cp /sdcard/done_frame/* /system/framework/
# busybox chmod 644 -R /system/app/*
# busybox chmod 644 -R /system/framework/*
# reboot
What did those commands actually do?:
“adb shell” – opens a shell interface for your phone, this is the same as a unix shell
“su” – asks for superuser permissions (and gets it right away)
“stop” – this command freezes your phone completely, except the adb traffic, that means you can replace system files without crashing your device
“mount -o remount rw /system” - this remounts the system partition but writable
“rm /system/app/*.odex” / “rm /system/framework/*.odex” – This deletes the old .odex files which are not needed anymore after deodexing
“busybox cp /sdcard/done_app/* /system/app/” / “busybox cp /sdcard/done_frame/* /system/framework/” – This copies the apks from the folders in your sdcard to the right destination.
“busybox chmod 644 -R /system/app/*” / “busybox chmod 644 -R /system/framework/*” – This command sets the permissions to RW-R-R, some users say it’s not needed but just remember to do it always, it’s a good thing! (and bad permissions may even crash your device)
“reboot” – well, I think you know what this does.
Ok so If you entered all commands correctly your phone will now reboot and succeed to boot. be ware that it takes a lot longer then a normal boot since the dalvik-cache has to rebuilt, this takes about 1 minute and 30 seconds at the i9001. (also depending on the amount of apps you have)
12. Now that your phone is successfully deodexed it’s ready to be customized! This means you can install Theme’s and Mod’s, but you can also do all other kinds of customization, since your phone is also rooted, such as installing Thunderbolt. But don’t forget to redownload the apps that you removed before deodexing
I hope you’ve learned something in this tutorial, I’ve already written a tutorial about rooting, but this way of rooting is just way better then the traditional method.

As always, good tutorial :good: I'll probably never need it, but good to know i could if i want.
regards

busprofi said:
As always, good tutorial :good: I'll probably never need it, but good to know i could if i want.
regards
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks . The tutorial is really focussed on beginners, so they have a well explained tutorial to follow, that they will probably understand the first time they read it. (atleast I hope they do ^^)

broodplank1337 said:
Thanks . The tutorial is really focussed on beginners, so they have a well explained tutorial to follow, that they will probably understand the first time they read it. (atleast I hope they do ^^)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
:thumbup: Always the Best!!!
Sent from my GT-I9001 using xda app-developers app

raptor92 said:
:thumbup: Always the Best!!!
Sent from my GT-I9001 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks And the good thing is, I keep getting new idea's for apps and tutorials. my idea source will never go dry! (I guess, since sometimes I suddenly have 3 new apps in my mind, that I can make) In a few years I will have loads of stuff lol (If I keep this tempo of developing/writing tutorials)

Wow another awesome noob-friendly guide. Love your work. Keep it up.
Sent from my GT-I9001 using xda premium

iCloud said:
Wow another awesome noob-friendly guide. Love your work. Keep it up.
Sent from my GT-I9001 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks will do, btw I just noticed that I forgot to post all links! (I just copied it from my blog without thinking about all links). my mistake

I respect your work.thanks for the tutorial,exactly what I need.

john9 said:
I respect your work.thanks for the tutorial,exactly what I need.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you, you're welcome Nice that it's exactly what you need haha

broodplank1337 said:
Thank you, you're welcome Nice that it's exactly what you need haha
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Brood, i have a question on this. After deodexed the app and jar files can these file considered as zipaligned? Because i found that it take a lot of memory compared to the odexed ROM. However, in the xUltimate there is a optimization command available to optimize all the apk files but it also bring many FC after push all the files to the phone.

DreamerTKM said:
Brood, i have a question on this. After deodexed the app and jar files can these file considered as zipaligned? Because i found that it take a lot of memory compared to the odexed ROM. However, in the xUltimate there is a optimization command available to optimize all the apk files but it also bring many FC after push all the files to the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The deodex process calls it aligning, and I'm not sure if that's really a zipalign, but it's very easy to zipalign, just run the attached "03zipalign" in script manager, (with su icon checked), But the fc's are are not normal, you must have made a mistake somewhere, do you still have the odex files inside /system/app and system/framework for example?

broodplank1337 said:
The deodex process calls it aligning, and I'm not sure if that's really a zipalign, but it's very easy to zipalign, just run the attached "03zipalign" in script manager, (with su icon checked), But the fc's are are not normal, you must have made a mistake somewhere, do you still have the odex files inside /system/app and system/framework for example?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope. During the push process i already write the remove command in adb to delete them all. For the FC case this won't happen if i didn't run the command in xUltimate>Advanced>Optimize all apk>Extreme.
After the optimization i found out that the apk files become smaller in size but sometimes some of the apk will get FC in phone. What i have experienced are camera.apk, AxT9IME.apk, Phone.apk and so on.

DreamerTKM said:
Nope. During the push process i already write the remove command in adb to delete them all. For the FC case this won't happen if i didn't run the command in xUltimate>Advanced>Optimize all apk>Extreme.
After the optimization i found out that the apk files become smaller in size but sometimes some of the apk will get FC in phone. What i have experienced are camera.apk, AxT9IME.apk, Phone.apk and so on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I assume you pushed the files while in mass storage mode?, (or did you use adb push?). When you're in mass storage mode you cannot access your sdcard in adb, so what you actually do when using the remove command: nothing.
Then If you place the done_app and done_frame folder in /system/app & /system/framework you will still have the .odex files , Right?
Please follow all steps correctly, I also screwed up at my first deodexes, but when I red the whole tutorial (I believe that was the i9003 one) again it worked
But you can also use deodex packages (KQE for example) which is posted at the KQE rom topic.

broodplank1337 said:
Well, I assume you pushed the files while in mass storage mode?, (or did you use adb push?). When you're in mass storage mode you cannot access your sdcard in adb, so what you actually do when using the remove command: nothing.
Then If you place the done_app and done_frame folder in /system/app & /system/framework you will still have the .odex files , Right?
Please follow all steps correctly, I also screwed up at my first deodexes, but when I red the whole tutorial (I believe that was the i9003 one) again it worked
But you can also use deodex packages (KQE for example) which is posted at the KQE rom topic.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Brood, i redownload the xUltimate using the link that you provided in this forum and now the deodex process run smoothly and successfully. Finally i can manage my phone freely. Thanks again~

DreamerTKM said:
Brood, i redownload the xUltimate using the link that you provided in this forum and now the deodex process run smoothly and successfully. Finally i can manage my phone freely. Thanks again~
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good! You know I've only managed to deodex roms successfully using the 2.3.3 version, I just think that 2.3.3 is the magical version . Enjoy the deodex

broodplank1337 said:
Good! You know I've only managed to deodex roms successfully using the 2.3.3 version, I just think that 2.3.3 is the magical version . Enjoy the deodex
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really? maybe also caused by last time im using the ver 2.4 so this might be the main cause for such problem

Thanks for this guide, but (there's always a but)....
... my I9001 keeps rebooting into CWM now. Whenever I boot it, or reboot it, it will always go back into CWM. I reflashed CWM using this guide, step by step, 4 times with the same result. It's great to have CWM on the phone, but it would be nice to also use the phone as a,... well "phone".
I tried flashing Broodrom (business) and it flashes alright. No way to test it however since all I see after a reboot is,... CWM. I tried 3 different ROMs, but all I see is CWM.
Do I have a seriously strange i9001, or is there something I am missing in this guide? I've flashed quite a few phones so maybe I can't be considered to be a beginner anymore, and maybe that's why this guide won't work for me
Anyways, back to odin and stock ROM for me.

FrepA said:
Thanks for this guide, but (there's always a but)....
... my I9001 keeps rebooting into CWM now. Whenever I boot it, or reboot it, it will always go back into CWM. I reflashed CWM using this guide, step by step, 4 times with the same result. It's great to have CWM on the phone, but it would be nice to also use the phone as a,... well "phone".
I tried flashing Broodrom (business) and it flashes alright. No way to test it however since all I see after a reboot is,... CWM. I tried 3 different ROMs, but all I see is CWM.
Do I have a seriously strange i9001, or is there something I am missing in this guide? I've flashed quite a few phones so maybe I can't be considered to be a beginner anymore, and maybe that's why this guide won't work for me
Anyways, back to odin and stock ROM for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem you're facing is the bootloop bug in cwm, some people experience this bug, you can find the fix in this post: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=24831012&postcount=1330

broodplank1337 said:
The problem you're facing is the bootloop bug in cwm, some people experience this bug, you can find the fix in this post: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=24831012&postcount=1330
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your reply. I did try that solution before I posted (I should have mentioned it, sorry). It didn't solve my problem however. I could boot without going into recovery, but nothing would happen, so the ROM would not be loaded. I should mention however that I had no problems with a different i9001, so I might have a phone with some special issues.

# stop
# mount -o remount rw /system
# rm /system/app/*.odex
# rm /system/framework/*.odex
# busybox cp /sdcard/done_app/* /system/app/
# busybox cp /sdcard/done_frame/* /system/framework/
# busybox chmod 644 -R /system/app/*
# busybox chmod 644 -R /system/framework/*
# reboot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I could not do the above. when i type stop, there is no #.
Edited: I have done it. It is deodex now but when I flash the mod such as the extended toggle bar, when the the phone restart the status bar missing. How can I fix it???

[GUIDE] How to enable adb backup for any app changing android:allowBackup

Some applications can't be backed up by adb backup because the option is disabled on the AndroidManifest.xml of the apk. To workaround this, it is required to set android:allowBackup to true in the AndroidManifest.xml.
The application I will be patching is Signal Private Messenger, which by default doesn't allow adb backups (security reasons, I guess). Also, it's an open source application:
Signal Private Messenger (Play Store)
Signal Private Messenger (GitHub)
CHECKING FLAG_ALLOW_BACKUP
The first step is to check if the flag FLAG_ALLOW_BACKUP is present. It can be done several ways, but the easiest one is to use System Info for Android or System Info Pro for Android to check the flags of any desired application. Of course using Windows or Linux you can use script to auto-check for any number of apks.
You will see that in the app "Signal Private Messenger" the flag is missing with the official version:
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Analyst also displays FLAGS per app. In this screenshot you can see Signal already patched:
APK EASY TOOL (WINDOWS APPLICATION)
To decompile, compile and sign the modified apk, the APK Easy Tool is the best to go, all in one with no complication. It requires java SDK installed and "java" and "javac" to be present on your PATH:
[TOOL] APK Easy Tool v1.2 for Windows (GUI tool, friendly)
Once you've executed "APK Easy Tool v1.2.exe", go to Options and configure "Decompiled directory" and "Compiled directory". You can just hit "Setup directories for me" and the folders will be set automatically to default locations:
Then go to the main tab of the program and leave checked "Sign APK after compile". Hit "Select" on "APK File to work on" and Decompile:
Now on your "Decompiled APKs" folder (you can use directly the button on the main windows of the program), open the file AndroidManifest.xml with a text editor. Notepad++ is highly recommended.
Then replace
android:allowBackup="false"
with
android:allowBackup="true"
After that, save the file and close the text editor. Now go back to APK Easy Tool and hit Compile to build the modified version of Signal Private Messenger. It will be present on the "Compiled directory".
APK EDITOR PRO (ANDROID APPLICATION)
APK Editor Pro is the way to go if you want to edit the file directly on the smartphone. First, you need to get the Signal apk from the smartphone, with some app like APK Extractor Pro.
Open the extracted Signal apk with the apk editor and edit the AndroidManifest.xml. Save and it will automatically compile and sign the new version.
Note that APK Editor Pro is very prone to errors, so it's highly recommender to use the APK Easy Tool instead. Just try and error.
REINSTALL APP
To install on android the patched apk, you must first uninstall your previous version, and this is because the key used to sign the apk is different. If you try to install one app itself with a different signing key, you will get this error: [INSTALL_FAILED_ALREADY_EXISTS]
Now you can see that FLAG_ALLOW_BACKUP is present:
There are some things to have in mind when using apks signed with unofficial keys:
The app will no be updated anymore automatically from Google Play Store or any other store, because you are using a custom key. You must surveil periodically the store where you get the updates, download the newer apk, patch it and update it. The developer may or may not modify flags with future updates.
You can uninstall the patched app at any time to reinstall the official one from Play Store, but you will lose app's data if you don't perform a valid backup before.
Signing keys have an expiration date. The one used by APK Easy Tool is valid for a lot of years so shouldn't be a worry.
The apks generated by APK Easy Tool are not zipaligned, but they will work perfectly the same. The only difference is that they will consum a little more of RAM.
If you modify several apks, it's better to use the same signing key for ease of updating.
OTHER METHODS AND LINKS
There are a lot of methods to decompile, edit, recompile, sign and zipalign apks. I will provide some useful links with other software and development information:
https://developer.android.com/studio/command-line/zipalign.html
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/19543520/zipalign-verification
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/8300822/android-how-to-find-which-platform-version-an-apk-targets
https://github.com/WhisperSystems/Signal-Android/wiki/How-to-build-Signal-from-the-sources
https://shatter-box.com/knowledgebase/android-apk-signing-tool-apk-signer/
[IDE][3.x] APK Studio - IDE for Reverse Engineering Android APKs
Decompile, Edit, and Recompile in One Tool with APK Studio
Idea: Hook "android:allowBackup" in AndroidManifest.xml
[XPOSED][MOD] Backup All Apps
[INDEX] Xposed Modules Collection | Post Modules' Requests Here!
ADB Backup and Restore not all it's cracked up to be.

Is there a version of APK Easy Tool for Mac OS? Thanks!

backup of apps fails despite android: allowBackup="true"
I tried to backup some apps using following ADB-Command:
adb backup -apk -obb -noshared apk.package.name -f C:\Destination\Folder\package_backup.ab
But it didn't work for all my apps.
I started searching for an explanation and a solution for my Problem. Then I found your guide and followed the instructions.
But when I decompiled some of these apps I wasn't able to create a backup, I recognized that some of them had the flag android:allowBackup="true"
Here are a few of these apps (just to name a few):
» app.WTInfoTech.WorldAroundMeLite.apk
» appplus.mobi.lockdownpro.apk
» cn.wps.moffice_eng.apk
» color.dev.com.pink
In reality, there are far more apps than just four.
There are certainly around 40-50 apps that can not be backed up using ADB (even though they have the appropriate flag in the AndroidManifest.xml)
I am using the latest Plattform Tools for Windows (r28.0.1) downloaded from here
Can someone explain to me, why I cannot backup these apps? Even if they have the android:allowBackup="true" flag?
Am I doing something wrong? Or is there some kind of a magic trick that I don't know?
I would be very happy if someone could help me with this problem.

I've been having this problem as well. I noticed that not all apps are backed up using the all flag etc.
I think it boils down to if the app uses a backup agent. Looking at the logcat when attempting to backup ConnectBot using the command adb -apk -obb -f backup.ab org.connectbot It said connect bot is Key-Value and just silently skips it. When using the command adb -apk -obb -keyvalue -f backup.ab org.connectbot It will actually backup some data, but it will not backup the apk.
I don't really have a solution just wanted to share some observations.
Praetoriani said:
I tried to backup some apps using following ADB-Command:
adb backup -apk -obb -noshared apk.package.name -f C:\Destination\Folder\package_backup.ab
But it didn't work for all my apps.
I started searching for an explanation and a solution for my Problem. Then I found your guide and followed the instructions.
But when I decompiled some of these apps I wasn't able to create a backup, I recognized that some of them had the flag android:allowBackup="true"
Here are a few of these apps (just to name a few):
» app.WTInfoTech.WorldAroundMeLite.apk
» appplus.mobi.lockdownpro.apk
» cn.wps.moffice_eng.apk
» color.dev.com.pink
In reality, there are far more apps than just four.
There are certainly around 40-50 apps that can not be backed up using ADB (even though they have the appropriate flag in the AndroidManifest.xml)
I am using the latest Plattform Tools for Windows (r28.0.1) downloaded from here
Can someone explain to me, why I cannot backup these apps? Even if they have the android:allowBackup="true" flag?
Am I doing something wrong? Or is there some kind of a magic trick that I don't know?
I would be very happy if someone could help me with this problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

@dazoe
THX for sharing your knowledge :good:
I'm going to check my logcat as well for these apps adb does not back up
I can give you a short guide on how to extract/backup an apk of a specific package:
1) If you don't know the package-name, you can create a list of all installed packages (sorted in alphabetical prder without app names)
adb shell pm list packages -f | sed -e 's/.*=//' | sort
2) Now look for the desired app you want to extract/backup the apk from. Then run following command:
adb shell pm path com.example.someapp
You will get an output which will look something like the following:
package:/data/app/com.example.someapp-1/base.apk
3) With this information you can simply perform a pull-command like the following:
adb pull -a -p /data/app/com.example.someapp-1/base.apk C\LOCAL\PATH\TO\YOUR\BACKUP\com.example.someapp-1/base.apk
Hope that I could help you with this little guide

I patched the apk I want to backup, but before I uninstall the original and install the patched, are there any other methods that will allow me to restore my original appdata? Since uninstalling the original will remove that appdata. I'm not rooted.

so whats the point if you have to uninstall the app and reinstall using the new apk? itll wipe the data of the app you're trying to back up
is there any way to do this without wiping?

.

lebigmac said:
I ran all of the commands below to uninstall the app in question while keeping my data which I want to backup:
Code:
adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 my.app.name
adb shell pm uninstall -k my.app.name
adb shell cmd package uninstall -k my.app.name
adb uninstall -k my.app.name
These commands probably all call the same procedure under the hood but I just wanted to make sure the app really gets uninstalled. So either one of these commands should do the job.
I guess that part worked and it actually preserved most of my private data.
Now the problem:
When I try to reinstall the modded .apk file I get this error:
Code:
adb: failed to install gen_signed.apk: Failure [INSTALL_FAILED_UPDATE_INCOMPATIBLE: Package my.app.name signatures do not match the previously installed version; ignoring!]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can only reinstall app with same signature, if there is some data left. If you uninstall totally, you can install with different signature (but you lose data). If you need to get the data you can try to root without formatting.

.

lebigmac said:
Hi @scandiun
How can I root stock HTC U11+ running Oreo without formatting internal storage?
As soon as I unlock the bootloader all data gets wiped!?
I need to backup some important app data before I can unlock bootloader and then install TWRP/Magisk.
As you can see I am in a dilemma. Thanks for chiming in.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have no idea about that phone. Most of times, it's now possible unless there is a bug which allows to gain root access while running android. There are 4 ways that you can try:
Try some app which allows to root the phone temporarily while it's running (without the need for any bootloader unlock). For the LG G2 there was AutoRec and Towelroot.
Request HTC a special update or feature for your device (for your specific IMEI/serial number) so they allow you to update or unlock bootloader without data format.
Contact the app developer and request an update for you with android:allowBackup enabled. If the developer is still alive and is willing to do so, because you just need his signing key. Sometimes it's done by Google servers instead of the developer itself.
Wait for your device to oficially update to android 11, since that version will ignore that flag when syncing all phone data to a new phone. There you could sync to a rooted phone with LineageOS and recover the data. Request HTC to update that device
Android 11 forces apps to support local backups but not cloud backups