Database Info

[Q] Titanium backup question

Searched and didn't find this specific question or anything close - so I'll post
I've been flashing roms a lot now that I've got the hang of it, but I think I was creating a problem for myself with titanium backup, which I think I've maybe now solved, but I'm not absolutely sure.
On the last couple of nighlies of CM that I've flashed I've been getting unfixable FC of the phone app (rom manager fix permissions didn't fix it and neither did wiping dalvik cache).
So I flashed ns-collab and I like it, but today I got the same FC problems and had to restore my nandroid to get the phone working (I was at work).
NS-collab is meant to be stable so I was starting to think that it's not the roms that are at fault but something I'm doing, and I had a feeling it was what I do with TB. So here is exactly what I do when I flash a new rom.
____________________________
I have TB set to "backup all user apps". That's it - no system data.
Before flashing the rom (even if it's just an update) I clear data, cache, and dalvik cache.
When I've got the new rom flashed I do not allow google backup to restore my stuff as I want it done with TB.
In TB restore I run "Restore all apps with data". When I do this I select the app+data checkbox in TB before clicking "Run the batch operation".
___________________________
So, I had a look at the apps that get restored when I run TB "Restore all apps with data", and I noticed there is quite a lot of android stuff in there like the dialler and lots of other services that are part of the android os and don't need restored with TB really.
I've just flashed the updated version of ns-collab and I removed all these android services from the TB restore before I ran it so I'll see if any problems crop up now.
But my question is, was I causing the phone to be unstable by allowing these android services to be restored by TB. Remember I did not select to restore system data, but I am wondering if system data was restored anyway because there were android apps in the list and I had the app+data option selected.
Hope the above isn't confusing and any advice will be appreciated.

Lot of information but I say you found your problem yourself.

I have not had issues in the past restoring: bookmarks, contacts/calls storage, SMS/MMS/APN Dialer storage, SMS/MMS PREFS etc.
I do think you are giving yourself a little extra work than needed. It is not necessary to do a data wipe before updating a ROM, wiping cache and dalvik cache should be sufficient and a lot of people don't even do that. Of course a good clean wipe every now and then is good and gives you that warm fuzzy feeling inside like after you change the oil in your car
In general, I do not recommend a full batch restore like restore all apps and data. I find when restoring with TB it is a good time to clean up and only restore the apps your really want back on your phone. I also do a batch restore, de-select all and just go down the list and pick out the stuff I HAVE to have.

irishrally said:
I have not had issues in the past restoring: bookmarks, contacts/calls storage, SMS/MMS/APN Dialer storage, SMS/MMS PREFS etc.
I do think you are giving yourself a little extra work than needed. It is not necessary to do a data wipe before updating a ROM, wiping cache and dalvik cache should be sufficient and a lot of people don't even do that. Of course a good clean wipe every now and then is good and gives you that warm fuzzy feeling inside like after you change the oil in your car
In general, I do not recommend a full batch restore like restore all apps and data. I find when restoring with TB it is a good time to clean up and only restore the apps your really want back on your phone. I also do a batch restore, de-select all and just go down the list and pick out the stuff I HAVE to have.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you are right about me giving myself work. Because I'm still a noob I'm still over cautious I think.
Maybe I'll try doing it your way. Sounds sensible.
Anybody know definitively whether me restoring everything via all apps and data would have contributed to the FCs I have been getting?

buachaille said:
I think you are right about me giving myself work. Because I'm still a noob I'm still over cautious I think.
Maybe I'll try doing it your way. Sounds sensible.
Anybody know definitively whether me restoring everything via all apps and data would have contributed to the FCs I have been getting?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you try fixing permissions? I only use the batch for Backup all user apps.
Backing up bookmarks.. I use BookmarkSB and SMS (i know theres a app for that) but i use GVoice so i dont need it

I've never had a problem restoring user apps with data. Instead of restoring all, choose restore missing user apps with data or something like that.
Although, I've had problems restoring SMS and certain data for system apps on the NS. Can't figure out why it doesn't work but whatever.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

I would suggest you install app2sd & move your application to the sd-card. Each time you flash a new rom just wipe the /cache, dalvik-cache and battery stats. This is all you would ever require.

Thanks for all the replies. Quite a few suggestions there which I will try out.
Didn't have any FC problems at all at work today, so I'm hoping my more cautious restore last night might have done the trick.

buachaille said:
Thanks for all the replies. Quite a few suggestions there which I will try out.
Didn't have any FC problems at all at work today, so I'm hoping my more cautious restore last night might have done the trick.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah FCs happen when you backup system apps / bookmarks etc. It could interfere

The problem with switching roms

So I'm pretty sure I figured out why a lot of us are having problems with teddys new rom. I'm guessing all of us have gone from rom to rom on this forum and I personally didn't have any problems untill I went from revolutions lightning rom to teddys touchmiuiwiz rom. I don't know why but I'm guessing something is incompatable with our backups between those two roms because teddys rom works perfectly fine untill I restore my apps and settings which are backed up currently with titanium backup from lightning rom. Once I do that my sd card starts acting weird and I get force closes loss of ringtones ect... so that's the only thing I can figure is going on :-/ I'm not sure what is causing the problem exactly but I'm pretty sure that's what the problem is.
Maybe someone can figure it out and fix it? This post might be pointless but I just figured I would share my thoughts and findings hence why I posted this in the general section.
Sent from my SGH-T839 using XDA App

i agree. TMW would be a 10/10 if my shiz didnt fux up. i even had to do my first ever odin because of it (although teds noob faq helped me through the odin (thanks ted))
Sent from my SGH-T839 using XDA App

The issue with nandroid restores is that they restore the full /data partition, rather than just the apps, it restores the data for each app, as well as the dalvik-cache. Wiping the dalvik-cache fixes most of the issues, but some apps are still older/different versions, or do not include the changes we have implemented in our rom, and therefore are incompatible.
The issue becomes that the restored apps are looking for something that isn't there in our rom, because they are from a different rom. You can always try wiping the data for the app that's FCing, but this is why we suggest using Titanium Backup, as it can backup just apps, rather than apps and data.

[Q] Need some help installing revolver please

Ok so I have mt TF rooted, CWM with backup done, I have the revolver rom on sd so do I need to do anything special like clear caches or anything and will I lose any of my installed games or apps ? I read that on Android rev hd you have to use super wipe lite and was wondering if you have to do that with revolver.
My tablet is brand new 3.2 HC but I do have some games and stuff I dont want to lose.
Thanks for your help.

I did not clear stuff for the first time, but it is recommended - and yes, if you wipe the system you'll lose your apps, but not what's on the internal memory (/mnt/sdcard)

As davebugyi said, it is not 100% required, but strongly recommended (you could run into issues if you don't do it) if you change roms. By that I mean switch between different roms, not just update your current one. I always do it when changing roms, using the CWM clear/wipe feature is usually sufficient (unless the ROM developer says otherwise in the intall instructions).
If you want to persist apps and app data, you can try one of the backup tools such as Titanium backup. I havent tried it yet with this device though..

Titanium backup
I use titanium backup to backup apps+data then do a complete wipe. Install revelover then restore titanium backup and all your files/games etc are restored.

Thanks Guys
I will do a backup with what you recommended and wipe then install. I just hope this revolver rom is worth it. Seems like everytime you look on the forum someone post a new rom.

best rom
The revolver rom is the best. One of it's features is when you click on the history icon it gives a list of history but they have a little red x in the top corner of each. Clicking the x closes the history for that screen. Keeps yout TF clean and fast. Other roms do not have that facility.
Enjoy

Which backup tool to choose?

Hi there! I've been reading (a lot) around here the last months and that's been really helpfull. Went from stock GB on my locked XPS through just about all ROM's available for XPS to CM10 now. Thanks XDA, thanks all!
Still a real lot to learn. One of the things that really keeps me wondering is which method (besides a Nandroid) I shld use for backing up. Google takes care of my contacts and settings automatically. But what is the best tool to backup and restore my apps (question 1)? I've used Astro, Go Backup and several others I can't even remember. And if I use one, do I still need Gapps all the time or is that doing a double job (question 2)?
My last question: I understand doing an upgrade of your custom rom you don't need to swipe, so your data stays. But if you do need to, when can you do a data restore after installing a new ROM (question 3)?

1. For backing up and restoring apps, I use Titanium Backup and I think most people would swear by it ( it's worth the donate for the extra features ). For sms though, GoSMS's backup feature is the best working one for me.
2. I'm pretty sure you still need to flash Gapps, but I'm not sure. Been off Cyan for a while. Besides, I think flashing Gapps is faster than restoring through most backup apps.
3. It depends on the rom and you should read the ROM's thread, but I always wipe between updates just in case ( I have an SGSII ). If you mean restore data by Titanium or another app, I think after letting the phone sit for 10 minutes on initial new ROM boot, you can start restoring apps. If you mean selectively restoring just data through nandroid though, I'm not sure if that should even be done, or how exactly to minimize issues.
Hope that helps.

DIMENSIONAL said:
1. For backing up and restoring apps, I use Titanium Backup and I think most people would swear by it ( it's worth the donate for the extra features ). For sms though, GoSMS's backup feature is the best working one for me.
2. I'm pretty sure you still need to flash Gapps, but I'm not sure. Been off Cyan for a while. Besides, I think flashing Gapps is faster than restoring through most backup apps.
3. It depends on the rom and you should read the ROM's thread, but I always wipe between updates just in case ( I have an SGSII ). If you mean restore data by Titanium or another app, I think after letting the phone sit for 10 minutes on initial new ROM boot, you can start restoring apps. If you mean selectively restoring just data through nandroid though, I'm not sure if that should even be done, or how exactly to minimize issues.
Hope that helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
tx DIMENSIONAL!
Late night yesterday I ran into this app here on fxp: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1859261 Maybe that might become (be) handy? Not for me yet, due to problems with XPS for this app at the moment
2. Gapps.... Gapps is faster for sure. But not off course not exactly the things you want.... But there's something out to make your own zip.file with all your apps and/or other data and system files in it I think. Stopped reading when it got to complicated for me to try without much feedback at that moment. Sorry I forgot to mark the thread. Lost it for now.
3. I did this data restore thing once after reading a tip in a thread for a particular ROM here somewhere.

VincentKnife said:
tx DIMENSIONAL!
Late night yesterday I ran into this app here on fxp: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1859261 Maybe that might become (be) handy? Not for me yet, due to problems with XPS for this app at the moment
2. Gapps.... Gapps is faster for sure. But not off course not exactly the things you want.... But there's something out to make your own zip.file with all your apps and/or other data and system files in it I think. Stopped reading when it got to complicated for me to try without much feedback at that moment. Sorry I forgot to mark the thread. Lost it for now.
3. I did this data restore thing once after reading a tip in a thread for a particular ROM here somewhere.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
edit: installed titanium backup; needs a lot of reading agai,n but looks great! tx again!

Another vote for titanium & the pro key here. I prefer"appextractor“ from the play store for my sms/mms restore & I also use the contact restore feature, since it also takes care of my call log (both of these features use data from nandroid), since I have given up on using titanium to restore sms & get the time accurate.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk 2

[Q] Which app to restore apps/settings after installing ROM?

I installed B145 with the kat 80b kernel and the v3 battery patch and everything looks good. I had to swipe as I was using build 81 before. Quite honestly, since I'm not running any synthetic benchmarks nor overclocking the proc, I'm hard pressed to find any difference in performance from EOS 3. Mind you, the buttery feel on this ROM (and EOS 3, for that matter) is day and night when compared to Asus's stock code. So if you're like me and waited this long to root your Transformer (I popped its cherry just a month ago, after having it for 1 year), don't be afraid to try this ROM... the best thing to have happenned to the og transformer.
One question I have is, what are you guys using to constantly restore your apps and/or settings after repeatedly flashing new ROMs? It's a pain in the neck having to reinstall all the apps and setting them up! Thank you and special thanks to Timduru and his minions This thing is awesome...
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk HD

I use Titanium Backup, but I let Google install all my apps, then restore the data.
There are a few apps I have to install using Titanium (from Amazon) that I have to restore using Titanium. Those apps I have to tap the Install button and Done for each one.
I tried using the App Backup in the ROM Toolbox by Jrummy, but it did not restore all the data correctly (mainly thumb keyboard).
I also make nandroid backups using TWRP so I can quickly restore a working ROM without having to reinstall stuff if something goes south.

I also use Titanium Backup but with some reservations. If you're going to go back to the ROM you're running, you're much better off with a nandroid backup. TB is cool for a few reasons: batch backup/restore, system apps or just apps, etc... however you have to be careful with it.
- Make sure you always verify your backups (often). Never assume "they'll work", cause they most likely won't - that's a known issue that it fails to parse its own packages once in a while, so batch restores just lock up the entire operation and you have to forcibly kill it to start where it left off.
- Always keep a copy of the backups elsewhere than on the tablet
- Just because it backs up a system app or an app doesn't mean it can restore it, even on the same rom.
- Some stuff like contacts need to be exported then imported back especially if you're upgrading to another android version.
- System apps will almost always fail to install on another android version unless they were "hacked" to make them work.
So yeah it's a really good and powerful tool but to use with caution. Always redo full backups and verify them before you wipe/flash and always have a complete nandroid backup to restore in case of issues, like Frederuco said.
Edit: Once you're on Team EOS's roms, I dount think you have to do a full wipe anymore. I just wipe cache, dalvik and system, then flash the new rom, that way all my apps are still there. I only do a full reset if I experience issues after doing this, to make sure it's the rom and not apps, and to report to Tim from a fresh flash.

Thank you both. I'll give Titanium a try whenever I try another ROM. In the meantime I decided to go back to EOS3 build 81. I *really* don't like the new status bar on top. It specially bugs me when browsing the web since it's eating up screen real estate.
[Edit]
This is probably a known issue, but for those going back from EOS 4 to EOS 3: the directory /sdcard was copied to /sdcard/0 after installing EOS 4; so, when I restored EOS 3 from nandroid backup, the system wasn't responding as it should and some apps were very slow (I guess expecting to find their data under /sdcard). Copying /sdcard/0 back to /sdcard and rebooting made everything work much better. Thanks.

landous said:
[Edit]
This is probably a known issue, but for those going back from EOS 4 to EOS 3: the directory /sdcard was copied to /sdcard/0 after installing EOS 4; so, when I restored EOS 3 from nandroid backup, the system wasn't responding as it should and some apps were very slow (I guess expecting to find their data under /sdcard). Copying /sdcard/0 back to /sdcard and rebooting made everything work much better. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From what I've read this is an issue with CWM. I saw frederuco mention it on the EOS 4 thread.
I had the same problem, went from build 92 to preview 145 and Titanium Backup couldn't find anything. I was pulling my hair out until I saw his post

If you use TWRP 2.3.2.3 the /0 directory issue goes away.
Also, TWRP IMO is much better than any CWM to date.