adb backup and restore contacts issue - Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hey,
i just did the following:
- installed SDK on my win7 PC
- managed to create a backup file with the "adb backup -all" command (the file is 300MB+) not sure why its called "-all" so far it looks like it backed only the app-settings
- synched my device with my google account
- did a factory reset
- logged into my google account
- several contacts are missing and i also dont see them in my googlemail accounts
- i restore the backup with the "adb restore 'filepath'" command it says successfully restored
- the missing contacts are still not in my contacts, BUT somehow they are in the phone. For example, when i dial "783" for "STE", the Name and Number of one of the missing contacts (in this example Steven) does appear above the dialpad and it even has a big "S" with a colored circle in the back (contact list icon) with it.
- when i press the name/number, nothing happens
- when i press the contact list icon, i get a system message that reads like "this contact doesnt exist" and i get kicked to my homescreen
- BONUS: i synched again with my google account and now the "hidden" missing contacts are all gone again.
- i want all my contacts back. what can i do?
I know this sounds strage and I dont have any clue how this could be solved, so - any info/feedback would be great!
Thanks,
L3O

You have allready deleted your contacts on gmail server. So, anytime you try to restore them and than sync, this contacts will gone.
Best option to get them all back is to restore, (not sync with Google yet), get some 3rd party app to sync contacts with PC, than sync with Google and at the end sync contacts from yout PC to phone as edited.

zagorteney said:
You have allready deleted your contacts on gmail server. So, anytime you try to restore them and than sync, this contacts will gone.
Best option to get them all back is to restore, (not sync with Google yet), get some 3rd party app to sync contacts with PC, than sync with Google and at the end sync contacts from yout PC to phone as edited.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your quick reply! :good:
Meanwhile i also tried to restore the backup without sync with Google. Same scenario as before, only without the Google Contacts. That means, in this case my contac list is empty, but i still can see the missing contacts when I dial (for example 783, like in the example above).. I think that means they are on my phone, but not listed in my contact list - do you have any idea where these contacs may have been saved?
And can you suggest a 3rd party software for the workaround you mentioned in your commend?

L3O said:
Thanks for your quick reply! :good:
Meanwhile i also tried to restore the backup without sync with Google. Same scenario as before, only without the Google Contacts. That means, in this case my contac list is empty, but i still can see the missing contacts when I dial (for example 783, like in the example above).. I think that means they are on my phone, but not listed in my contact list - do you have any idea where these contacs may have been saved?
And can you suggest a 3rd party software for the workaround you mentioned in your commend?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've solved situations like this with MyPhoneExplorer https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fjsoft.myphoneexplorer.client , http://www.fjsoft.at/en/ (PC Client).
BE CAREFUL when install PC client; there is a lot of malware during installation!
---------- Post added at 09:02 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:43 PM ----------
L3O said:
Hey,
i just did the following:
- installed SDK on my win7 PC
- managed to create a backup file with the "adb backup -all" command (the file is 300MB+) not sure why its called "-all" so far it looks like it backed only the app-settings
- synched my device with my google account
- did a factory reset
- logged into my google account
- several contacts are missing and i also dont see them in my googlemail accounts
- i restore the backup with the "adb restore 'filepath'" command it says successfully restored
- the missing contacts are still not in my contacts, BUT somehow they are in the phone. For example, when i dial "783" for "STE", the Name and Number of one of the missing contacts (in this example Steven) does appear above the dialpad and it even has a big "S" with a colored circle in the back (contact list icon) with it.
- when i press the name/number, nothing happens
- when i press the contact list icon, i get a system message that reads like "this contact doesnt exist" and i get kicked to my homescreen
- BONUS: i synched again with my google account and now the "hidden" missing contacts are all gone again.
- i want all my contacts back. what can i do?
I know this sounds strage and I dont have any clue how this could be solved, so - any info/feedback would be great!
Thanks,
L3O
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Huh. Or maybe you think about Google Dialer feature named Caller ID?

zagorteney said:
Huh. Or maybe you think about Google Dialer feature named Caller ID?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
not sure what this means - the caller id feature links google maps entries with a number you are calling, right? how can this feature be helpful for my issue?
meanwhile i tried myphonexplorer and every app that might contain the missing contacts (ie. facebook app).
i have a whole lot of contacts now, many only containig an email adress, but still the same problem as before:
some of the contacts are only displayed in the dial window, but i cant call them and they are not in my contact list. also myphoneexplorer doesnt list them
so, my guess is, that adb backup restored some data at some place on my nexus 5 where the phone app can acess them, but the contact list doesnt.
does anyone know where this data might be saved and how i could access it in a way that i can export/sync it?
Thanks!

I seem to remember logging into my google account (on my laptop / desktop) and somewhere within Gmail/ Contacts there was a setting to retroactively restore "older" syncs of my contacts..
For instance I restored my contacts list from a sync a week prior..

Mal_toofy said:
I seem to remember logging into my google account (on my laptop / desktop) and somewhere within Gmail/ Contacts there was a setting to retroactively restore "older" syncs of my contacts..
For instance I restored my contacts list from a sync a week prior..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
for some reason, google dindt sync all the contacts - i guess thats the actual reason i have this mess right now.
meanwhile i decided not to invest any more time in error-tracking, typed all the "ghost contacts" into myphonexplorer by hand and synced it first to my nexus 5 and then to google. i think i lost some though. meh.
Thanks for your help anyways!

Related

Backup program that backup both contacts and contact thumbs?

Will MyBackupPro or Titanium Backup do this?
Lets say i get a new android phone, and want to backup/restore contacts with contact the contact thumbnails. Going to be a drag adding 200 pictures each time i change phones
bump!
need one as well
"Yes, MyBackup Pro will also backup the contacts icon picture."
Found that on android forums.
http://androidforums.com/htc-desire...pictures-before-factory-reset.html#post854116
Seems MyBackupPro will do the job then.
If anyone can confirm this, id be greatfull.
Also found this:
"If your contacts are Google ones then the details and photos will be re-synced back to you phone after the update, Have a look at your Gmail account on a pc and check. "
Any way to easy convert phone contacts to google contacts? (Cant find Contactsync anymore on market, this app should do the trick)
I have alot of contacts, and dont want to do each one manualy. I tried to set up contacts sync to make it sync with gmail, but it will only sync google contacts it seems.

Contact edits in phone do not update back to web

Hey,
I'm using Sergio's CoreDroid 1.5 on my HD2 and I've had this problem in all of the previous Android ROMs that I have used, but there are a good number of ppl who have had no problem with the same builds. Searching Google also does not turn up any suitable answer.
All the contacts in my phone are saved under Google, so whenever I make any updates to my Google Contacts on the web it is sync'd fine to my Phone. On the other hand if I edit any of my contacts on the phone (like adding an extra number or email address or change the name) they are never Sync'd back to Google Contacts on the web... instead it ends up deleting the new info from my phone when it syncs from the web!! Same is the case if I change the primary number for a contact (in case the person has two numbers in his contact) it reverts back to the original choice!
Making new contacts has a mind of its own.. Mostly it does sync back the new contact info to Google contacts, but sometimes it does not.. and the new contact is deleted because no such info exists under Google Contacts. I don't have any proof but I think it only syncs info back to Google if I choose specific groups for the newly created contact.
I have checked every setting in my phone but did not find anything which shows that my phone does not have privileges to edit contacts on my phone and reflect changes back to the web. Neither is there any setting in my Google Contacts which does not let me edit changes to Contacts from my phone.
Does any one else have this problem? My problem does not lie in a bad flash or anything.. as I have already made a lot of fresh flashes but nothing seems to work!
UPDATE: I backed up all my contacts in Gmail to a csv file, and then deleted all the contacts. I then imported all the contacts back to my Gmail contacts. Up till now all the contacts that I edit remain that way, and also reflect the changes back to Gmail contacts. I guess it was a problem with Google or something, cuz when I made all my contact lists last year they were made on Gmail and after that none would update when I changed anything on my phone, as I have already pointed out. But now all work as they are supposed to. You can also backup contacts on your phone and delete from the phone but it is not recommended as the phone backup does not remember the group divisions. So your best bet is to use Gmail as it will preserve the groupings. Also after backing up remember to delete the contacts from Gmail and also from your phone and then import back into Gmail, otherwise it will make a mess of making double contacts. Do let me know if this worked for you.

[Q] Change list of contacts

I originally imported Gmail contacts last November but now I have a cleaned-up Gmail list. It would be easier to completely delete the gTab file and reimport, but I can't find how to so... nor can I find a likely suspect data file on the tablet. Any suggestions? Thanks.
Tom
Not sure but maybe you just have to remove your Gmail account and create it again. Probably it will sync the new contact list
BR
Somehow it appears to me that the e-mail app is separate from the contacts app, and I haven't found anything clarifying what must be done to delete contact entries. There do not seem to be any controls to delete contact records one at a time or as a checklist ala File Expert. I was using the tablet mail app before I decided to experiment with the contacts list. I thought I might recognize a likely data but not yet.
On my phone it's under Settings -> Accounts & sync but I don't see any such option on my g tab. Maybe just not exposed in the older version of TNTLite I'm running. Worth a look...

movedfromdev[Q] Syncing Contacts

I dont know what i'm doing wrong but hoping someone can tell me. Whenever i save a contact I save it as a google contact. I store the number but if i flash a new rom I lose that contact I saved. I tried going into settings>accounts&sync and syncing all the accounts to see if it saved it but when I go on my pc and check my google contacts it doesnt appear. What am I doing wrong? Ive lost many numbers I needed....
Saving contacts
bx10r said:
I dont know what i'm doing wrong but hoping someone can tell me. Whenever i save a contact I save it as a google contact. I store the number but if i flash a new rom I lose that contact I saved. I tried going into settings>accounts&sync and syncing all the accounts to see if it saved it but when I go on my pc and check my google contacts it doesnt appear. What am I doing wrong? Ive lost many numbers I needed....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the same problem and have solved it by backing up my contacts on both my phone and my google account and then restoring them after booting the new ROM. I also use the backup with the contact program and I use GO launcher as my "menu manager". I use the GO Backup tool as a third level of backup. Any other method from anyone else would be useful as it is bit of a messy solution. BUT it does stop me losing contacts. I have also used the Microsoft Outlook tool as yet another backup when I sync. Can't have too many backups when the gremlins are out get your contact list.
Anyone?

Contacts won't sync, last sync date 5 months old

Rogers s8+
Latest software build info attached. No roms or root etc.
Completely stock except for Nova launcher.
I have approx 980 contacts on phone, google only has 928 on contacts.google.com for account#1
Issue.
Contacts will not sync, last successful sync was in May.
Troubleshooting, various steps
Rebooted many times.
Toggled sync on and off.
Left off for weeks.
Exported contacts from primary account#1, imported to second account#2 on device that had handful of contacts and synced successfully. Now fully imported account#2 doesn't sync. Toggle on off. Nothing hung.
Seems there is a corrupted contact causing this, I've tried the Google forums but they suggested to remove account and readd.. Except that will lose all my contacts on the device and there's no way I know to check the export file for consistency. So I can't risk losing a bunch of contacts.
Not sure what to do other than manually verify which of the 980 contacts aren't synced and add them online...
Sync on PC then will work on phone
1
AndrOmega said:
Sync on PC then will work on phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry can you explain what you mean? I normally use a Mac but can find a windows pc if needed. Are you saying use Samsung desktop app to sync? Sorry.. Confused.
On a PC or Mac go to google.com and in upper right corner of the page you have Google apps. Search for contacts .
AndrOmega said:
Sync on PC then will work on phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AndrOmega said:
On a PC or Mac go to google.com and in upper right corner of the page you have Google apps. Search for contacts .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been to contacts.google.com it tells me I have less contacts than on my phone.. Not sure what you're suggesting.
I added a contact on contacts.google.com and it synced downward btw. I also added one on my phone and it's synced up. But there's still a difference in number of contacts. Weird.
Download "contacts sync fix" in the play store. I had the same issue and it worked for me. Make sure you export the contacts as a backup in case something goes wrong.
contacts sync fix by Nikolay R might help
I have the same issue since over one year on one phone.
First easy solution to check, your free space. Yes, I am serious. Below 450MB of free disk space on my FLASH, Android completely refuses to sync. Typically, my email application was saying me "network error"; remove a few pictures, and "network works again". If you have multiple sync issues, this is the first thing to check.
If only contacts refuse to sync, I am also facing this. And in my case, "contacts sync fix" did not help. I did not have time to dig the issue, but in short, I suspect two things:
- the picture may be the root cause
- the Note field may be too long for some contacts
... a part of an error message may comeout in logcat, with the name of the contact causing the error. Note that if only a few contacts trigger an error, all other contacts will be sync; and inside a problematic contact, some fields will be sync.
IE: if contact C triggers the problem, and I add a phone number on one side, then, the new phone number will be propagated, even if the picture, or NOTES are not.
It's critical for me, because I have vital things in NOTES, but, most of the contact details are sync fine.
For me, ATM, I have 6 contacts out of 550 which come out in logcat.
I did not had time yet to dig; things I will try are:
- remove picture on both sides (computer and phone)
- remove any french special char from NOTES, because I could face an ISO-UTF conversion issue.
What I know for sure is that all 6 errors happen on contact I use very often, for people close to me, who have pictures and notes (no I did not attribute a picture to all my 550 contacts; and don't need to write note about everyone I know; only people I see most often have these fields populated)
After 4h of digging ... logcat gave me the number of the contact that were not sync (sort of; it gave me contact ID that I converted into names using sqlite). For those contacts, I have removed all fields except name and picture, and now, my sync is fine.
The problem is not a french letter or UTF; the solution was to REMOVE all fields, so that if there used to be an edition conflict, the conflict is solved by "remove".
After re-creating contacts, I have found that for a given contact number, it may be impossible to propagate the name between Android 4 and Android 7 (through Gmail). If I change the name, then the number, and sync everything, only the number is propagated. When number is edited on a phone, the name shown by gmail is the name shown in the last phone that edited the number. IE, a contact may change name only by changing the number. If number 123456 has name Ab on android 4, and Ac on android 7, the name can be switched on Gmail, by editing the number on one phone or an other. Edition conflicts on numbers are solved by using the last change; but conflicts on names are never solved.
If then I edit name on Gmail, both phones are unable to use the new name. Android 7 is not better than 4.
This issue will not produce any error in logcat.

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