Database Info

Auto install after Wipe

smeone has probably already thought of this, but incase not i wanted to throw it out there, back on windows mobile we had the ability to set up SDconfig to instal our cab files after we flashed a new rom, saving us time on doing it ourselves. has anyone started to write a script to automatically grab apps from the market if we have to wipe our phone, i have had to wipe my phone 3 times in less than the month thati've had it and it's a bit of a hassle to try and find all the apps from the market again. just wondering if anyone had any idea on how to do this. i'm not that good at the whole coding thing but it would be great if this was implemented somehow.

You could always copy the apk files and do an "adb install x.apk" after a wipe.

The other option right now is to use ASTRO to back up all your apps. Download it in the market, it will copy all of your apps to your SD. Unfortunately you have to reinstall one at a time, but it puts them all in a list. Between this and Mybackup I don't lose anything when I wipe my phone except for data created by individual apps. I am sure I could back this info up too, but it just isn't important to me. Hope this helps.

trmacdonal said:
The other option right now is to use ASTRO to back up all your apps. Download it in the market, it will copy all of your apps to your SD. Unfortunately you have to reinstall one at a time, but it puts them all in a list. Between this and Mybackup I don't lose anything when I wipe my phone except for data created by individual apps. I am sure I could back this info up too, but it just isn't important to me. Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So make an update.zip with all your apks and favorite theme rolled-up. This way you can image your phone and then apply the update and you are set...
Or you can simply roll your own build of your image with your applications/themes already applied so you have a "live" image (so to speak).

Build Your Own alt+w Wipe...(edit: if you don't use apps2sd...)

First Note: These apps will become uninstallable! (much like any other stock rom apk) and must be deleted using the console, somehow.. anybody care to shed some light on how?
Hopefully someone can add more to this or use this info to build a much more thorough how-to, but for now here's what I've got...
Instead of building your own update.zip you can modify your alt+w wipe data to reinstall the downloaded/backed-up apks of your choice. This can also be used to install 3rd party apks without having access to any other installer, for instance if you wipe then find yourself without any access to the internet/market or a computer.
To do this you must first have the apps on the sd. I used astro to backup apps which puts the apks in /sdcard/backups/apps
I'm doing this on IonR2, your system apps may be elsewhere, mine are located in /system/app, you'll need to know where they are for this to work.
Power off your phone and do this (enter the bold stuff only, replace my directories with yours):
home+power (enter recovery)
alt+x (to go to console)
hit enter (cause the prompt says so..)
/ # mount sdcard
/ # mount system
/ # cd sdcard/backups/apps (or cd to where ever your backed up apks are)
/sdcard/backups/apps # ls *appname* (this may be useful for finding the exact *.apk name)
/sdcard/backups/apps # install -cp org.appName.com.apk /system/app (remember to capitalize where necessary)
at this point it should hang for a second then return to the "/sdcard/backups/apps #" prompt, if so the apk has successfully been added.
/sdcard/backups/apps # reboot (or install more apks if you like)
home+power then alt+w to test if you so desire. now your backed up apk should reinstall itself if you ever have to do an alt+w wipe again..(weather the apk is on the sd card or not)
I know, not very thorough but wth, I figured someone might find this as useful as I did(or be able to expand on it a bit, data, app settings etc). Also cool if you happen to have no net connection, no pc access and a wiped phone with no real useful/fun apps...

u only have to do this once, and it'll flash the new roms WITH these apps installed? how do we 'clear' these apps if we don't want to have them installed when we wipe?

Is it possible to install all the apps in your backup directory at once, with some sort of batch command?

These apps will become uninstallable! (much like any other stock rom apk) and must be deleted using the console, somehow.. anybody care to shed some light on how?
@ Lieu10ant, yeah, you only have to do once/updated rom, this modifies the base install. the newely added apks will be installed every time you alt+w (wipe). If you apply an update.zip this process will need to be redone(I'm pretty sure, haven't tried).
@ lukekirstein, I'm sure there's a way but I'm not sure how. Really hoping someone more knowledgable jumps in here with a bit more info :/
I've added a file manager(with backed up apps installer) and wifi tether because I always need/use em and never really planned on uninstalling em..

Im pretty sure you would have to use "rm" and individually remove all apps you dont want.

instead of backing up your apps, just run apps to sd and never reinstall any apps again

Breakthecycle2 said:
Im pretty sure you would have to use "rm" and individually remove all apps you dont want.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you would mount the system again from the recovery console and 'rm' each app you don't want. You would want to be careful not to batch delete stuff.

sonikamd said:
These apps will become uninstallable! (much like any other stock rom apk) and must be deleted using the console, somehow.. anybody care to shed some light on how?
@ lukekirstein, I'm sure there's a way but I'm not sure how. Really hoping someone more knowledgable jumps in here with a bit more info :/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wouldn't it be a nice thing to make them uninstallable? That would, in theory, make them a lot more stable like the stock apps and can only be updated, not modified. You can probably delete them through console in recovery or even through ADB if you wanted to. It'd definitely be impossible to do it through some basic installer or the package uninstaller while the phone is running normally. The same process as a stock app.
I know you can't do it while the phone is running (bummer :/) but I was hoping it's possible when the phone is off.

@ Breakthecycle2, cool, I figured rm through console after mounting but haven't tried so wasn't 100% on that one.
@ Sirus20x6, I prefer this method to apps2sd, mainly because everything's stored in the phone's internal memory. Although I know most folks now seem to be using an apps2sd of some sort.
@ lukekirstein, yeah. That's why I do it this way, but some may want them uninstallable so I figured I better make a point to inform those folks

Wouldn't this decrease your internal memory since these apps are being saved to the phone so you can later wipe?

jusplainmike, I would assume so. Something to keep in mind.

Would a nand be better?

sonikamd said:
I'm doing this on IonR2, your system apps may be elsewhere, mine are located in /system/app, you'll need to know where they are for this to work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
(10c)

perhaps, depends on what you want I suppose. I wipe clean every so often just to get a fresh start, speed things back up etc. Sometimes while installing themes I wipe multiple times and also just want a clean slate.
This is definitely not the way to go for a complete backup-restore. Just seems a good way to reinstall a few missing by stock apps after a wipe.

lol soulife i know, i know

I believe apps2sd is the best bet for keeping apps after a wipe or fresh install.

retort
sonikamd said:
lol soulife i know, i know
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only reason is because you push a market app to internal memory it read only. If there's an update you have to open terminal or adb and rm and push the update back. Plus if you flash a new update it will wipe them out. With a2sd however you can update them no hastle, and even if you flash a new build, with a2sd the reinstall themself. Much more convient as long as you smart with your partitioning.

I think you guys may be doing this the hard way. If you are wiping and moving to a compatible ROM, just leave the sd card as it is and the new ROM should be able to find and install the apps as long as it has apps2sd built in.
If you are moving to an incompatible ROM you will have to remove old sd app directory first.
rm -r /system/sd/app
then you should be able to just copy over your entire apk backup directory to your sdcard as follows.
cp- a /sdcard/yourdirectoryname /system/sd/app
and if you are installing a ROM that has app2sd built in, it should find all the apps and install them.
If the ROM you use does not have apps to sd, then you will be able to use Lucid script to move apps from phone to sd card app directory (with already copied apps) and link directory

Tru, I just don't use apps2sd. My sd is constantly getting mangled for one reason or another..

uh, by doing this you're filling up your /system folder which actually needs memory to improve. and you can uninstall them by
mount -o rw,remount -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock3 /system
rm/system/app/nameof.apk
on another note wouldnt wiping while having info in the system ; wipe?
anyways

Angry Birds save location (one more time...)

Apologies - I know this has been asked before but my problem is a bit different:
... a couple of days ago I had a crash and had to reinstall ROM. Everything was fine, but upon trying to restore Angry Birds (yes, again...) I can't for the life of it make it work. Supposedly the AB data folder is in /sdcard/data/data. However, after installing AB, playing one level and checking, there's nothing there!!! If I restore the data with QtADB the game exits before it loads...
Any ideas? Where on earth should I place my data before my gf kills me?
Thanks...

The savegame file is "highscores.lua", it should be placed in "/data/data/com.rovio.angrybirds/files".
You can't explore the "/data/data" folder with a common file manager. You need Root manager or something like that (or ADB's shell).
Do not forget to set the file's permission for read/write.

Apologies - forgot to say that I have a fully rooted phone and am using ES explorer. But, for some reason, as I said, /data/data is totally empty, and that's why I'm at a loss... And when I copy my previous AN backup folder into /data/data (including, of course, highscores.lua) the game crashes before it loads.
If I empty the folder again it runs fine, so it must be drawing data from some other folder??

Noone has any idea?
Smells like a full wipe, dammit...

ES File Explorer can't browse directories that require root afaik. You'll need one that can such as Root Explorer.
EDIT: Looks like ES does have root. You need to enable it in settings, under Root options.

HomerSp said:
ES File Explorer can't browse directories that require root afaik. You'll need one that can such as Root Explorer.
EDIT: Looks like ES does have root. You need to enable it in settings, under Root options.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can navigate everywhere on both the mob's internal memory and the SDcard, so I guess it does have root support
On the other hand, /data/data doesn't seem to need root anyhow, but I do have access. The problem persists - AB *must* be pulling data from someplace else

removed

SimonVT said:
Nope, it's /data/data/com.rovio.angrybirds, as has already been mentioned. If /data/data/ is empty for you, your file explorer does not have read access to it, as this is where all apps store data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If a file explored doesn't have read access to a folder it can't even enter the folder, no?. Also, other folders under /data are populated. Finally, as I've mentioned I *can copy* an older backup (either through QtADB or manually, with ESExplorer) but then the game crashes.
[EDIT]Anyhow, I'm getting some weird crashes. Something is definitely wrong with the phone, so I'm doing a full wipe and will check later and get back to you...
Thanks for trying to help

What about the new amazon app store ad free version? Will I have to start from scratch?
I'll pay 99 cents to have ad free, but don't want to have to start all over.

dh4645 said:
What about the new amazon app store ad free version? Will I have to start from scratch?
I'll pay 99 cents to have ad free, but don't want to have to start all over.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's a good question. I would assume it would install slightly differently versus the Android Market version as it would have to associate itself with Amazon meaning you would have to start over.

MechaMorph said:
That's a good question. I would assume it would install slightly differently versus the Android Market version as it would have to associate itself with Amazon meaning you would have to start over.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That would suck. Guess I'll wait and see if anyone can confirm or deny.
I did get rio, which is ad free and runs so much smoother on my underpowered aria.

someone told me ... and i also can confirm it does not erase your progress. it overwites the current version and saves data.
it tells u this when u install
nice!

[APP][ROOT][3.0+] Backup2Tar v0.1 Flashable App+Data Backup using Tar.

Backup2Tar is a Free backup tool that I created to help restore my apps after flashing a new rom.
How it works :
Select which apps to backup from the UI
The app generates a tar file on your sdcard (update.tar.gz) with the package files and data.
Finally, the app will generate restore_tar.zip which contains busybox and a small shell script to find update.tar.gz and extract it.
As of right now it's a very simple app, there are no options at all and I made it for personal use and to (re-)learn Java.
FAQ :
Why tar?
because it's the standard archive format on Linux, preserves permissions and user information.
But all the cool kids use zip files.
Yes, sure you can hack a nice updater-script to fix permissions on all files, but it's bound to screw up permissions some way or the other, specially with apps that have executable files in their /data/data/.
Your icons suck
Feel free to create new icons for the app and I will gladly use them.
Is there anyway to help?
Provide me with ideas, ways to improve it, better artwork and feel free to donate!
TODO :
Toggle saving apps' data and/or cache.
Store other important settings (wifi, gps, etc).
Clean up the source code and publish it.
Tested Devices :
N7000 (running 4.1.2 / Phillz Kernel).
Rooted 3.0.0, 4.0.3, 4.2.2 Android emulators (tested using update-binary, not from recovery).
All comments / suggestions are welcome.

Changelog :
v0.1
Initial alpha release.

Sounds useful, downloading now. Thanks!
Sent from my SGH-I897 using XDA

Will this backup my paid apps or only non "protected" apps?

famewolf said:
Will this backup my paid apps or only non "protected" apps?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure, I don't have any protected apps at the moment to try with.
If you can test and report back it would be great.
The app copies /data/app/xxx.apk and /data/data/xxx, so if the protected files aren't in /data/data they won't be copied.

life.eq.null said:
I'm not sure, I don't have any protected apps at the moment to try with.
If you can test and report back it would be great.
The app copies /data/app/xxx.apk and /data/data/xxx, so if the protected files aren't in /data/data they won't be copied.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll see if I can get some time to install and try it.
Have you considered adding /system/app and it's associated data to the list? An app might be included in one rom and not in another so I'd still want the ability to back it up even if it has to back it up to /data
Also I didn't see it in the screenshots but if not there a single checkbox to backup ALL apps in list would be highly useful rather than having to click all of them.

You can backup system apps as well.

I found a bug in restoring, some apps won't restore right without "reinstalling" using the package manager, gonna try to figure out how to call the package manager from recovery.

Workaround to fix the apps that aren't working after restoring is to use adb shell.
PHP:
$ adb shell
$ su
# tar tzf /sdcard/update.tar.gz | grep data/app/ | while read APK; do pm install -r "/$APK"; done
This basicly will use the package manager to "properly" install all the apk.
I will release a fixed version later today.
I will add check-all option as well, I'm still getting the hang of action bars and such.

does this script preserve "move to sd" location? i mean, i used a lot "move to sd" standard android function, to move many big apps to sdcard/.android_secure folder... of course, none of the those that use widgets...
i found that restoring with titanium backup does not preserve this: if i batch restore my apps, it fills up my internal memory (samsung note n7000), and i've to move a bunch of them to sd before redoing restore of the remaining ones... very boring...
is there a way to restore apps EXACTLY in the same location where they were when backupped? thanks

Is it possible to backup the whole ext partition as well? As Im using Link2Sd and to restore it quite tedious. My apps + games are out of the internal space.. So, I extend using ext partition.

Can we flash the backup to stock unrooted rom ,from the stock recovery??
Sent from my GT-I9070 using xda premium

no answers in days from the developer to a fresh project... then no development at all? hope not...

mrshark said:
no answers in days from the developer to a fresh project... then no development at all? hope not...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You posted your original question late on the 28th and this most recent complaint early on the 30th at least by my timezone....perhaps you have an unreasonable expectation as to how soon he needs to respond to you.

famewolf said:
You posted your original question late on the 28th and this most recent complaint early on the 30th at least by my timezone....perhaps you have an unreasonable expectation as to how soon he needs to respond to you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
3 weeks is enough?

Galaxy S7 SM-G930F (6.0.1) - System Partition Size

Hi All
I am hoping someone can help... I have the Galaxy S7 (SM-G930F / 6.0.1 / UK / EE) and have come up with an issue.
I use Cerberus Apps in case my phone is lost - you are able to install this into the system to avoid someone wiping the phone and removing the software. To do this the phone must be rooted and then I usually use Link2SD to transfer the app to make it a system app. This has always worked on my old phones - but alas not this time.
The problem is that the system partition (4Gb) is full!! I have deleted all the language packs to try and clear some space - but it is still full! Strangely enough I also uninstalled an "Amazon" app which was listed as being a system app and quite large (from memory I think it was just under 100Mb)... but when I removed it and rebooted the system partition free space remained unchanged! It's possible that Amazon was a user app and I mis-read it... but anyway - I thought that the only way to clear some space was to resize the system partition - so I installed TWRP (3.0.2), have done a complete backup (system/efs/etc) apart from \data as this showed 0Mb and "failed to mount" when I tried to back it up originally.
So, my question is - can anyone help me to free some space from the system partition to allow Cerberus App to be stored there? I did think about uninstalling the VR Gear files as I dont have a VR device and assumed I could re-load these from Google Play if needed - but I do have the Galaxy Gear watch - so decided not to remove these files in case it screwed this up. Not sure which Google Apps I can remove and re-install if needed... so if anyone knows this, then that would be a help too
I thought you could resize the partition in TWRP but cant find any clear details on how to do this, so thought I'd ask here before I screw the phone up :silly:
Any ideas/help greatly received.

TWRP doesn't support encryption so that's likely why /data won't mount. Resizing partitions is typically done via Odin with PIT files, but it's very dangerous, so I wouldn't recommend it.
Luxembourg ROMs have around 130mb free system space, so there must be a ton of carrier bloat in yours. This doesn't sound right though, it's required that there is some space for expansion. Could you run the following command in a root terminal and post the results please?
df -k | grep system

CurtisMJ said:
df -k | grep system
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks Curtis - I left my phone at home today, so will try this tonight and post results. After deleting all the unwanted language files I have about 40Mb space free, but this still doesnt seem to be enough as when I run Link2SD and reboot the phone, Cerberus has vanished and has to be re-installed... although when it re-installs it shows it as an "update" which would indicate that it is installed already - just 'lost' ???
Will update tonight when I get a moment.
Thanks

That's interesting actually. It seems to be indicative of permission issues. The app was successfully moved to the system, but the permissions on its files were wrong and the system refuses to load it(Link2SD's fault, essentially) . It's still acknowledged by the app manager though, which is why it can be "updated". Can you try move it with something apart from Link2SD? I recommend titanium backup.

CurtisMJ said:
Can you try move it with something apart from Link2SD? I recommend titanium backup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks Curtis - I have Titanium Backup (free version) installed already so can give it a go - I have only used it for backups (a long while ago) and have never used it to relocate an app... is it fairly self explanatory how to do it?
Will look tonight when I get in
Thanks

Just tried with titanium myself and it fails in a similar manner. Seems Marshmallow is a little fiddly and Link2SD puts out a generic message when it has issues. Titanium just freezes. You'll have to do it manually
First you'll need to clear the system of failed attempts. Look in the /system/app and /system/priv-app with a root Explorer for Cerberus apks or folders. Next, look in the /data/app folder and find the Cerberus folder. Take note of this path.
Next, fire up a root terminal and enter the following commands. In my case I was moving Greenify.
mount -o remount,rw /system
cp - a /data/app/com.oasisfeng.greenify-1 /system/app/Greenify
Replace the data folder with your noted path. The system path can be anything.
Then reboot and the app should be system.

Hi Curtis
Thanks for spending so much time on this.
OK, I skipped straight to the manual relocation method that you said. Whilst the app is Cerberus the APK etc is called System Framework as I have installed the 'hidden' version rather than the one which shows as Cerberus on the phone. However using OI File Manager, when I look in /system/app and /system/priv-app folders there is nothing called Cerberus or System Framework... so I am assuming that there are no orphaned APKs or other files.
But, this is where the strange thing starts, when I look in the /data/app folder, it is empty... so I am guessing I am looking in the wrong place as there are loads of apps! I am looking from home then selecting data, etc... any thoughts?
Oh, I have checked that hidden files are shown too!
Thanks again

i used to install the same app on my S7
please follow this guide & let me know the result.
1- uninstall Cerberus App, Link2SD, TTb, etc. and reboot
2- install SystemCleanup.
3- from the app SystemCleanup swip to tab apps and remove some bloatware like Google books, music, games, google TTS.
4- Reboot & install Cerberus App, do not run it.
5- from the app SystemCleanup go to apps tab and move Cerberus App to system/app & reboot again.
6- That's all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Hi Abuzar
Thanks for the help... I tried using System Cleanup and initially it didn't work... it didn't show System Framework after cleaning up which made me think it was uninstalled properly. But when I tried to re-install it I got a message asking if I wanted to update the the built in application... so I said yes and re-checked in System Cleanup and it was visible, so I tried uninstalling it and after a couple of attempts it succeeded.
Then I re-installed and it installed it as a new app and it was visible in System Cleanup as installed in /data. So, I moved it to /system and configured it. It now lists in System Cleanup as being installed @auto system+data... so I am assuming it has installed properly... but not 100% sure as it lists some of it in data - so not sure if after a reset it will wipe the user profile from Cerberus or not.
I took a backup in TWRP and thought I would do a factory reset and test it... but on the S7 using factory reset in O/S it asks for my samsung password etc so looks like it may delete my Samsung/Google account's so didn't proceed as I didn't want to delete any online info. So... I tried factory wipe in TWRP but it just said failed "could not mount /data and unable to find crypto footer" and a few more "failed to mount /data" errors... so I gave up and will have to assume its installed properly as a system app
Thanks for all your help.

Just as a final note, the system+data combo sounds normal. Under regular conditions, the system partition is read only, so in order to install any updates to system apps, Android actually installs them as data apps, but cross-references them to system apps and gives them the relevant permissions. You can remove the data part by selecting "Uninstall Updates" in the app info page.