Database Info

[Q] Trying to create a CW zip with all the apps i want to install automatically

Can some one provide some instructions on how to go about making a CW zip file to flash and install all the apps that is on my phone?
I've seen a few of these floating around in the forum, and wanted to make my own to save time after every ROM flash
Do I just grab all the APK files throw them into a folder and Zip & Sign it?
or do I have to do a Nandroid backup first, then only use the app files from the backup?

I would like to know this too....

Would be nice as well instead of restoring
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

Take an existing update.zip type file. Add a folder to it with the full proper path for your apps you want to pre-install (typically this will be /data/app) and put all the apps in that folder. Should look something like this in a windows/mac explorer window:
Code:
META-INF
/com/google/android/updater-script
data
/app/myfirstapp.apk
/app/mysecondapp.apk
Then use a text editor to edit the META-INF/com/google/android/updater-script file to include the commands to copy over your stuff. It would something along the lines of:
Code:
ui_print("Installing New App Files to /data");
package_extract_dir("data", "/data");
Edit out anything in the update template you're working out of that you don't want to happen (ie., format or symlinks, etc).
Repackage the zip file and make sure nothing else got in there by mistake by re-opening it (like those pesky Mac .ds-store files).
You can re-sign it with the android tools, but I don't believe you need to with Clockwork.
I would have a fresh nandroid before testing anything, of course.
You feel this approach is better than just using Titanium to restore apps? You won't get back any app data that isn't stored on the sdcard.

Thanks!
yes, now that makes sense, i recall reading that some where else to add extra APK to the ROMs
so it's the same idea, just without the ROM portion
now i get it

distortedloop said:
Take an existing update.zip type file. Add a folder to it with the full proper path for your apps you want to pre-install (typically this will be /data/app) and put all the apps in that folder. Should look something like this in a windows/mac explorer window:
Code:
META-INF
/com/google/android/updater-script
data
/app/myfirstapp.apk
/app/mysecondapp.apk
Then use a text editor to edit the META-INF/com/google/android/updater-script file to include the commands to copy over your stuff. It would something along the lines of:
Code:
ui_print("Installing New App Files to /data");
package_extract_dir("data", "/data");
Edit out anything in the update template you're working out of that you don't want to happen (ie., format or symlinks, etc).
Repackage the zip file and make sure nothing else got in there by mistake by re-opening it (like those pesky Mac .ds-store files).
You can re-sign it with the android tools, but I don't believe you need to with Clockwork.
I would have a fresh nandroid before testing anything, of course.
You feel this approach is better than just using Titanium to restore apps? You won't get back any app data that isn't stored on the sdcard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ya essentially this method is doingan advanced nandroid restore for data only except without the settings.
Sent from my MattedBlues CM7 Nexus S from the XDA Premium app.

kenvan19 said:
Ya essentially this method is doingan advanced nandroid restore for data only except without the settings.
Sent from my MattedBlues CM7 Nexus S from the XDA Premium app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I suppose if you want the app data restored as well, you would just need to identify it's location in the /data directory and add it to the /data folder in the update you're making. Seems like most of the app data goes into /data/data.
Just thinking out loud here...
So for a sample app on my phone I have called jefit pro I'd put the following in the update file.
Code:
/data/je.fit.pro-1.apk <---apk itself
/data/data/je.fit.pro <--the folder
/data/data/je.fit.pro/databases/data
/data/data/je.fit.pro/lib
/data/data/je.fit.pro/preferences/preferences.xml
I'd just pull the whole folder for the /data/data/je.fit.pro from the phone via adb.
I'm not sure how useful putting the data back is, since that's not a static set of files on many apps, but for some apps where the data is just some settings or preference files it may be a nice touch.
I don't really see any advantage to this over just use Titanium to restore apps and data, but it should work.
(<<---- this would be the whole folder and its subfolders that I pulled via adb off the phone)

distortedloop said:
I don't really see any advantage to this over just use Titanium to restore apps and data, but it should work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AllGamer, I'm glad you brought this up, while I don't personally have any apps I want to put on the phone in this method, except perhaps titanium itself, I just realized we could of course do the same thing for all those little custom tweaks we put on our phones, like for me I push my personalized ringtones/notification sounds to /system. That's easy enough with adb or rootexplorer, but why not just flash them from a zip while in CW after a wipe or install of a new rom?

distortedloop said:
AllGamer, I'm glad you brought this up, while I don't personally have any apps I want to put on the phone in this method, except perhaps titanium itself, I just realized we could of course do the same thing for all those little custom tweaks we put on our phones, like for me I push my personalized ringtones/notification sounds to /system. That's easy enough with adb or rootexplorer, but why not just flash them from a zip while in CW after a wipe or install of a new rom?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the idea came up from several places, first Titanium Backup itself offers to create a signed .zip installer for CW
and i've seen other devices forums with people packing up like 100+ apps/tweaks/mods into it to flash after CW is done flashing the new ROM
yes, of course we can use TI, i have TI pro and it's very easy, but Ti is slow.... at restoring 300+ Apps
but everytime i see CW restoring a Zip file or even a full Nandroid backup, it does it so fast and quickly, that i though... hell might as well keep an updated signed .zip wtih all my must have apps, and flash it along right after any new ROM flash (when testing out different Custom ROMs) then i don't need to spend like an hour everytime restoring + configuring the phones
i noticed that Ti works a hell of a lot faster if the apps are already installed, and you only need to restore the data.
and that is the main reason i want to compile a list of all the apps
once they are all installed, then i can use any of the good market utilities that can do mass Apps2SD and i'll be up and running in as quickly as 15min vs. a whole hour waste on a restore/config everytime you change the ROM
using Ti i found most of the System settings can be restored safely without corrupting the new ROM
email
accounts & syncs
bluetooth pairings
wifi
... ah shoot forgot the rest
only do not restore settings for:
launcher,
wireless network (phone company)
android market
and anything that has to do with default settings
probably this weekend i'll dissect the CW zip created by Ti itself, and add more to it

Sounds like a good plan...but you've got 300+ apps if I recall correctly. I imagine that will take a long time to restore either method!
The Titanium update zip is a good place to start. Use the setting to make it a "user" app and it will put it in /data, where you want the rest of your apps as well. You could just dump what you want right into the zip file there in the folder that has titanium's apk itself and not even worry about messing with the updater-script file.

[Q] Can you rename Rom backup folders?

noob question i know however just a quick one,
can you rename nandroid backup folders with messing up md5sum ?
i load a ton of roms on the regular [a junkie i know] basis and get flustered when i have tons of backups but they are all dated

great question i also would like to know never had the balls to try cuz it says something about messing it up i know in rom manager u can under manage and restore (i think) also rom manager doesnt see ur cwm backups i usually go through ando zip but yea id def like to kno

Suprah said:
noob question i know however just a quick one,
can you rename nandroid backup folders with messing up md5sum ?
i load a ton of roms on the regular [a junkie i know] basis and get flustered when i have tons of backups but they are all dated
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know if you can rename the folders themselves, but you CAN rename the backup file itself. I use Root Explorer to do this. Just make sure you don't put any spaces in the new file name. You can use dashes and underscores to separate words and numbers, though.

Someone in the past said you can download mand5 to generate a new md5 sum, but I haven't tried it.

@visedmonk do u think andro zip will work it says it will let me rename then i click on that and it says change to file extension can make file unusable and i dont space any letters for instance il put cm for (cyanogenmod) rite next to the numbers havent had the balls to try it

sarni84 said:
@visedmonk do u think andro zip will work it says it will let me rename then i click on that and it says change to file extension can make file unusable and i dont space any letters for instance il put cm for (cyanogenmod) rite next to the numbers havent had the balls to try it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I dunno. I've never used andro zip. Only one way to find out...
But seriously, it should work. To be safe, though, make a copy of the file you want to rename and place the copy with the unaltered name on your computer or sd card or whatever. Then you can rename the file and see if it works. If it does, great. If it doesn't, you still have the backup you need.

Suprah said:
noob question i know however just a quick one,
can you rename nandroid backup folders with messing up md5sum ?
i load a ton of roms on the regular [a junkie i know] basis and get flustered when i have tons of backups but they are all dated
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't know if you're using "nandroid" generically to refer to both the true nandroid as well as CWM but I rename CWM backup folders all the time and have never had trouble restoring them. I've done it from ROM Manager, via a file manager and also via ADB.

short/y said:
Don't know if you're using "nandroid" generically to refer to both the true nandroid as well as CWM but I rename CWM backup folders all the time and have never had trouble restoring them. I've done it from ROM Manager, via a file manager and also via ADB.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
im talking about the folder not the actual files in the folder.
i just want to organize my roms so i can always jump between each

@suprah name it like this ex, 2011-06-16.05.57.13.....
you want...2011-06-16.05.57.13gingerbread ? rite well when i try that in andro zip it sayin it will make file unusable.... n i guess i will have to try and i always used to use rom manager and just go to manage and restore backups but its different with this phone especially cuz rom mana doesnt see cwm i guess?

Suprah said:
im talking about the folder not the actual files in the folder.
i just want to organize my roms so i can always jump between each
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup, that's exactly what I'm talking about. I rename the folders all the time and have no problems restoring.

short/y said:
Yup, that's exactly what I'm talking about. I rename the folders all the time and have no problems restoring.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
alright welp as long as you rename the folder without any spaces, then there would be no problem with restoring nandroid backups

nice nice will try soon cuz yea i have like 6 backups on here n was writing the date down with a name lmao

I renamed the folder once and couldn't restore. It was making a reference to the md5 file.
What I did to fix the backup is rename the folder again but this time without spaces and then it let me restore without any problems.
Now my Nandrioids are all organized
Hope that helped
Sent from my Bionix 2 - A TeamWhiskey Production using XDA App

the stock rooted nandroid restore that's posted in the dev section is renamed to LG-P999-V10f. it's not the typical date format. and alot of people have used it. so the answer is ....yes.

crazythunder said:
the stock rooted nandroid restore that's posted in the dev section is renamed to LG-P999-V10f. it's not the typical date format. and alot of people have used it. so the answer is ....yes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
jus making sure, im not a dev so i assumed that was possible with some code editing

moshe22 said:
I renamed the folder once and couldn't restore. It was making a reference to the md5 file.
What I did to fix the backup is rename the folder again but this time without spaces and then it let me restore without any problems.
Now my Nandrioids are all organized
Hope that helped
Sent from my Bionix 2 - A TeamWhiskey Production using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could be there's a coding error in the recovery code and stops parsing the directory name when it hits a space. The md5 file only references the individual files not the directory.
In general it's better to stay away from spaces in file and directory names. Back in the early days of *nix spaces were verboten and there are still some vestigial issues lurking either in the code or in the coding habits of some people. It's rare but it does happen. Hyphens, underscores, periods are all OK though.
Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk

If after you rename the folder you get an md5 error. This http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=714114 can help you fix it.
BE SURE AND READ THAT POST COMPLETELY
It's imperative that one not generate an md5 sum for a nandroid that is actually corrupted. That will wreak all kinds of havoc on your system.
ONLY PERFORM THE ABOVE IF YOU KNOW ITS NOT RESTORING DUE TO A NAME CHANGE
EDIT: For the record, the above commands can be performed from terminal emulator if you know what bits to leave out. Saved me a few steps.

I rename all of my nandroid backups. They are easy to get confused otherwise. The only thing I change is the year in the date, and leave the month/day alone.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA Premium App

Yea I downloaded the Stock Nandroid and loaded it. I renamed the folder and got a MD5 error. Now I'm not sure it if was because of the rename or because it was a bad download to begin with.
I think I still have the file on my pc and possibly find the MD5 checksum before copying it over this time.

player911 said:
Yea I downloaded the Stock Nandroid and loaded it. I renamed the folder and got a MD5 error. Now I'm not sure it if was because of the rename or because it was a bad download to begin with.
I think I still have the file on my pc and possibly find the MD5 checksum before copying it over this time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most likely because you renamed it
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App

[Q] Is it safe to remove files from a custom rom zip for android?

Hopefully this is a simple answer. I'm using a custom rom on my phone, flashed through CWM. I would like to delete most of the ringtones that come inside the zip file, prior to flashing it to my phone, to make the process quicker/easier than doing the cleanup after they are installed on my phone in /system/media.
If I open the custom rom zip file, and simply delete the ringtones, will CWM simply skip those files? Or will this error on me and cause the installation to fail?
If i cannot simply delete these files, what process would i need to do to remove these from the rom zip?
I have been lurking for a while, and slowly digging in more and more on my android phone, getting more comfortable doing things with it, without being afraid of breaking it. I'm still a bit cautious so far though.
Thanks in advance for any help with my question!

It should be safe. I haven't removed ringtones before, but i have deleted apps before flashing.
Do not unzip the file, but just open thg zip file with WinRAR or something and delete the stuff from within WinRAR. Then flash it.
If you don't feel good about doing this, check out ROM Cleaner (google it). If you want to completly delete stock apps and stuff after you've flashed, use "Root App Remover" from the market
Sent from my HTC Desire HD using XDA Premium App

Some apps such as system ones will cause errors on the final product once done flashing, but removing such unimportant files as ringtones will cause no problem what so ever. Go ahead with it.
Sent from my tiamat hammerhead xoom
P.s. if this helped please press the thanks button

Thank you very much for the answers!

[Q] Adding Titanium Backup to custom rom

I'm running a custom rom (CM7.2-RC3-APOCALYPSE-BAREBONE v12-06-12, by itasoulas, based on CM7.2 RC3 by vo-1 v31-05-12) on my Galaxy Ace (GT-S5830D). I'm about to flash a newer version of the custom rom, but I wanted to add Titanium Backup and S2E to the rom, so that my ext partition is mounted automatically after flashing, and Titanium Backup is already on and ready to restore.
I have the apk files for S2E & Titanium, do I just add them to the system/app folder in the rom zip? Or do I put them in the data/app folder, in which case I'd have to create said folder in the rom zip? Please let me know, as it would let me eliminate a whole 2/3 steps in the flash/restore process (flash->install S2E->reboot to mount ext->install Titanium->restore becomes flash->restore).
Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'd post this in the CM7.2-RC3-APOCALYPSE thread, but this is my first post and I'm not allowed to post there yet.

As you can see, I didn't get any response from my post, so I rolled the dice and went for it.
So here's how it works for those who don't know:
To add system apps to a rom, place the apk files in the system/app folder in the zip. If you want the apps installed as user apps, place them in the data/app folder in the zip. Worked like a charm. I flashed, booted, configured S2E (installed w/rom), rebooted, ran Titanium Backup and restored everything.
BTW, I was also able to add the APN info for my carrier into the rom. You can do that by editing the apns-conf file in the system/etc folder in the zip. This is handy because when I flash a custom rom I have no APNs set up, as well as no wireless networks saved, so by doing this I was able to run the initial setup when you first reboot the phone (instead of just skipping it, missing Gapps, and adding my account later).
Hope this helped for anyone who is interested.

Neat. Though I'd likely keep titanium as a user app, I'm definitely going to try this.
Sent from my U8150 using XDA

There is an app to move apps from users space to system space available on the google play. It is called app-mover. It is simple tool. If you are already using link2sd then there is a menu option for moving the apps.

HELP - Accidentally deleted Documents UI

Titanium backup didn't backup the app and the versions I could find and try FC
I have S7 (Non-edge) USC variant on 6.0.1
I just need the folder for it with app and all, and refresher on manual installation method
Most apps don't care it's gone and will ask which app to use instead, but stupid stuff like kik will crash
Thanks

Flash stock back over the top and restore with TB ?

*Detection* said:
Flash stock back over the top and restore with TB ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Trying to avoid redoing all the rooting and configuration honestly

Bump
I just need the folder and contents still, anyone?

It's been a week since you made this thread, you could have flashed stock, restored TB and re-rooted in 10-20 mins

*Detection* said:
It's been a week since you made this thread, you could have flashed stock, restored TB and re-rooted in 10-20 mins
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No PC

ReRuss said:
No PC
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't know anyone with a PC, or have access to a PC anywhere for a few mins?
Find that hard to believe, PCs are as common as TVs in houses today
Save your TB backup to MicroSD card, factory reset

ATM I have no access to one that I could use to flash a stock rom with, no.

Factory reset then

Wait, I can send you DocumentsUI.
Note, it's a black themed DocunentsUI from Darkside Theme.
Just create a Folder with name "DocumentsUI" in system/priv-app, and place the apk in there.
Give the apk permission 0644 (rw-r-r) and folder 0755.
Reboot.

memocatcher said:
Wait, I can send you DocumentsUI.
Note, it's a black themed DocunentsUI from Darkside Theme.
Just create a Folder with name "DocumentsUI" in system/priv-app, and place the apk in there.
Give the apk permission 0644 (rw-r-r) and folder 0755.
Reboot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds better than stock look, thanks