So here are my limitations.
I have a Samsung S5 but it's the Straight Talk branded version, the SM-903VL. The issue with this S5 is the bootloader is locked so to root the phone you need to downgrade to 4.4 test firmware, root the test firmware then take the cache.img and system.img from another S5 rom, the G900V's stock rom, then move that over and replace the test firmware's cache.img and system.img to get a functional and rootable and full featured operating system on the SM-903VL.
You can read more about it here if it helps you understand better what I'm talking about.
Well, once the G900V's stock rom is on the SM-903VL and it's rooted, you can install Safestrap and then run quite a few different roms through Safestrap!
What I'm wanting to do is take the applications from the extremely debloated stock rom installed on the 1st rom slot and move them to the original rom and not even have to use Safestrap.
So I want to take all the applications on ROM 2, which is slimmed down and extremely lean, and move them to ROM 1 while not just moving the apps from ROM 2, but discarding all the apps originally on ROM 1.
What would be an effective way to do that? I might just try to do it by hand one app at a time through Titanium Backup but there has to be a better way?
So I answered my own question. In case anyone looks up the phone model I have via Google search, they'll maybe find this thread and it'll inspire them to do a similar endeavor.
I used Titanium Backup Pro to back up all user apps, system apps and data while inside ROM 2.
I then moved that all to an external SD card.
Then I went through the process of setting up the phone by putting the phone back into it's stock form with the G900V stock rom. Those directions on how to do that are in the hyperlinked thread above.
Once the G900V ROM was rooted on the Straight Talk SM-903VL Samsung S5 as directed above in the aforementioned thread, I then used Titanium Backup Pro to ''restore'' the system apps, user apps and data onto the Stock G900V rom.
Then, with all the apps from the extremely debloated rom installed now onto the phone, I proceed to adjust the filters to only show apps not backed up. That allowed me to see ALL the apps I needed to remove while keeping all the apps I needed to have a functional rom.
I then used Titanium Backup Pro to uninstall everything that wasn't backed up. From there I had an extremely debloated stock ROM that someone else had created for the G900V (that was impossible to flash since the SM-903VL's bootloader is locked down tight)
Related
Hello, I have recently been able to install and make a backup of my SGH-I727 using CWM. I have also purchased Titanium backup and made application backups.
I have a few specific questions that I have not been able to find an answer to :
1) Will a CWM backup contain all the apps that are on the phone as well? Meaning, if I restore with a backup image I made, will the
unit be exactly as it was before the backup (i.e. home pages, apps, etc)?
2) If the answer to #1 is YES, then what is the use of Titanium backup/restore?
3) I saw on a YOUTUBE video a user "teaching" how to use CWM, before the RESTORE, he formatted the /cache, /data and /system partitions, then did the RESTORE. Is this needed? required? recommended? best practice?
4) I have gb 2.3.5 on the device now and it works fantastic. I would like to try ICS but before I go there, I want to make sure I have a way to get back to what I have now. Is a CWM backup all I need?
5) Will installing a stock Kernel (ICS AT&T in my case) get rid of CWM Recovery? Or will it be there when I want to go back to the backed up version?
6) Lastly, and maybe this one should not be in this thread but lets try : I am learning about Android, and I see references to the "modem/radio" files for each device. Will a CWM backup also backup the radio/modem code in case the ICS install does not go as planned?
Thank you!!
I think you need to do more reading. Many of these questions have been answered.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2
1. Yes a cwm or twrp b/u will put all your apps back just like you never left.!
2. You use titanium when you flash a new rom because of course the new rom won't contain your apps.
3. I've done lots and lots of restores and never wiped first....but wouldn't hurt i guess.
4.yup.!
5.no the recovery remains untouched.
6.I don't think the radio gets backed up or restored. But it's not critical to the rom operation and can be reflashed when ever..
calderonr said:
Hello, I have recently been able to install and make a backup of my SGH-I727 using CWM. I have also purchased Titanium backup and made application backups.
I have a few specific questions that I have not been able to find an answer to :
1) Will a CWM backup contain all the apps that are on the phone as well? Meaning, if I restore with a backup image I made, will the
unit be exactly as it was before the backup (i.e. home pages, apps, etc)?
2) If the answer to #1 is YES, then what is the use of Titanium backup/restore?
3) I saw on a YOUTUBE video a user "teaching" how to use CWM, before the RESTORE, he formatted the /cache, /data and /system partitions, then did the RESTORE. Is this needed? required? recommended? best practice?
4) I have gb 2.3.5 on the device now and it works fantastic. I would like to try ICS but before I go there, I want to make sure I have a way to get back to what I have now. Is a CWM backup all I need?
5) Will installing a stock Kernel (ICS AT&T in my case) get rid of CWM Recovery? Or will it be there when I want to go back to the backed up version?
6) Lastly, and maybe this one should not be in this thread but lets try : I am learning about Android, and I see references to the "modem/radio" files for each device. Will a CWM backup also backup the radio/modem code in case the ICS install does not go as planned?
Thank you!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. 99.9% back to what you had
2. if you install a new rom you can use titu to restore your apps and settings, 99.9% of apps should work, but some people like reinstalling thier apps fresh and not from backups
3. i wipe b4 i reinstall from backup, but dont wipe/format your sdcards, thats where all the backups of cwm and titu are, good practice is to backup your sdcards onto your computer, that reminds me, i need todo that
4. yes except for the radio
5. if you mean stock firmware , then yes custom recovery gone, you will get everything back to stock - recovery, kernel, rom, radio. if you mean just the kernel then no
6. no cwm/twrp do not backup or wipe the radio , you will still have what you had b4, but the ics stock firmware install you will get another radio and should be fine, worry about flashing the firmware correctly(do the wipes), radio is easy to flash/reflash with custom recovery(cwm/twrp)
vincom said:
1. 99.9% back to what you had
2. if you install a new rom you can use titu to restore your apps and settings, 99.9% of apps should work, but some people like reinstalling thier apps fresh and not from backups
3. i wipe b4 i reinstall from backup, but dont wipe/format your sdcards, thats where all the backups of cwm and titu are, good practice is to backup your sdcards onto your computer, that reminds me, i need todo that
4. yes except for the radio
5. if you mean stock firmware , then yes custom recovery gone, you will get everything back to stock - recovery, kernel, rom, radio. if you mean just the kernel then no
6. no cwm/twrp do not backup or wipe the radio , you will still have what you had b4, but the ics stock firmware install you will get another radio and should be fine, worry about flashing the firmware correctly(do the wipes), radio is easy to flash/reflash with custom recovery(cwm/twrp)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Vincom and all,
Thanks for the responses....Very useful and I think I am putting all the dots together now. Before I ask this let me say that I am a computer programmer as well but for IBM mainframe systems, so I am a technical person but the distributed computing world (Windows/Unix/Linux, etc) is not that familiar to me, therefore these follow up questions.
I am trying to understand the difference between FIRMWARE, and ROMS and Kernels.
1A) I gather firmware is the software that drives the hardware like device drivers..correct?
2A) I also gather that the Kernel is the version of the operating system. Correct?
3A) ROM is the one that is stomping me a bit...is that the UI version? Like Gnome in Linux?
When I look at my S2, in About Phone I see the following :
Baseband Version - I727UCKJ2
Kernel Version - 2.6.35.11
Build Number GINGERBREAD.UCKJ2
4A) Lastly, when I do a CWM backup, what am I backing up? The ROM and the Kernel? Does it also back up the firmware?
Anyway thanks to all for your input and help!...I love my Android device!
Hello there, To answer a few of your questions.
1.A. Typically Firmware is a patch or software update/version that affects what the hardware is supposed to do..Google definition-Permanent software programmed into a read-only memory.
2.A. Kernel - pretty good explanation of it...
3.A. Google definition - The Android ROM is the Android operating system. This is the User interface (Sense UI in HTC phones) and the file system for maintaining contacts etc. It is composed of a Linux kernel and various add-ons to achieve specific functionality.- I would define it as a user-developed version of android if we are talking about custom ROMs.
4.A. Yes when you back up it backs up everything except the radio.
To further explain why people might use TIBU and CWM/TWRP is because most people make a full nandroid (cwm backup) for safety / oops moments or just to try out a different rom. TIBU is usually used when users go from rom to rom and dont want to mess with playstore taking its sweet time to reinstall. (only restore app/app data. NEVER RESTORE SYS DATA unless on the same version of android. the sys files are always different rom to rom or version to version)
Baseband is the Radio, Just fyi there are several different versions of radios for our phone but they are typicall Version specific. ie: gb radios wouldnt work on JB
Not as a troll or flame but I am just curious why you are still using GB? My advice is just to install cm10 + gapps and look up installing cyandelta from the playstore.
I offer that as a suggestion because it will update your phone autonomously. also review the forums for which radios are best for cm (I'm still using uclf6 even though there are newer versions)
i've rooted my device with the Exynos exploit and installed titanium backup pro but i am not sure where to start when it comes to transferring app data to a sd card, any tips? can anyone recommend me some app data to sd apps that are simple to use and does the job?
HUYI said:
i've rooted my device with the Exynos exploit and installed titanium backup pro but i am not sure where to start when it comes to transferring app data to a sd card, any tips? can anyone recommend me some app data to sd apps that are simple to use and does the job?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now that you have root you have 2 options I'm aware of for our device. What your trying to accomplish is a link between your actual data folder where apks get installed by default on your internal memory to a replicated directory on your external storage. The device will install data to its default location but then this link will just move it for you to the mirrored directory. Zedomax and tweaker have both made a script to do this. Tweakers script seems to be a cleaner better method but is more user intensive to implement. Zedos script, which im using now is simple to use and it gets the job done. I've had no issues using it on any rom that has init.d support. Stock firmware will not work however, even with root so you'll need to install a rom with init.d support. Theres the recent stock jelly bean in android dev that has this now. Also our dev community has been busy and you got a few choices if youd like a custom rom as well.
To make that happen youll need a custom recovery that youll install with a pc program called odin. Thats a simple procedure shouldnt take more than a few minutes. Also you could do the same with an android app called mobile odin though I haven't done it this way myself so I may not be the best person to ask how. After the recovery has been installed youd want to backup your stock rom then flash your init.d supported rom of choice after a full wipe, then once thats completed flash zedos script, reboot and then everyones favorite: profit!!
If your still reading this at this point and thinking youd like to give it a shot let me know, I can point you to the relevant threads and maybe fill in some blanks on some areas where you need to read between the lines. Good luck and know I think its worth the time my redemption install is terrific, definitely an improvement over stock jellybean imo.
[Thread in wrong area! Mods please move to AT&T S4 under Q/A!]
I recently rooted/installed CleanROM for my S4, but now I have some basic questions regarding what actually happened in the process and how I could improve it. (First smartphone, first Android).
1. Is flashing the exact equivalent of installing a kernel/ROM/app in a recovery like TeamWin that is zipped in an SD card? All I did was select my zipped file and install--the guide says to use GooManager but I never used it. Also, does updating TWRP, kernel, or ROM (same application/kernel/ROM, but newer version) require that you delete the old ZIP, copy over the new ZIP, then install it? Is there a cleaner method (I feel that since we have to wipe to prevent old files from interfering with new ROM that maybe parts of the old version of a ROM may be redundant or may interfere with the new ROM?
2. Is there a way I can save the phone settings when dealing with one ROM and transferring these settings to another ROM? I really don't want to spend 20 minutes to go through all the settings and change it to my liking every time I install a new ROM.
3. With TWRP I could backup the entire ROM and also be able to install that backup ROM if I don't like the new ROM installed? What does Titanium Backup offer in regards to this aside from backing up app data and the ability freeze/uninstall system apps?
4. Does Titanium Backup leave any residual files? I see other apps designed to uninstall system apps and Titanium Backup seems like an all-in-one jack of all trades.
5. I thought I wiped everything and to me, that sounds like reformatting the entire drive. I only wiped system, boot, and data though (good enough for ROMs, according to what I've read). I was surprised when I saw my videos that I had already backed up to my PC accessible on the phone. Should I just wipe literally everything (I assume it would be cleaner) like cache, preload, EFS, modem, recovery, etc.? Will wiping literally everything be like reformatting my phone (since my phone was not reformatted because my personal videos was still there when I installed my custom ROM? If I were to install completely different ROMs cleanly and wanted to keep my personal files, I would only need to wipe system, data, and boot?
4. Do I have to use CASUAL again to install an updated TWRP?
5. Does backing up a ROM also backup its root? I'm going to assume this is a dumb question and the answer is no. I'm also guessing I have to block OTA updates from AT&T to ensure I keep my root. How would I go about doing this? Also, would my phone be "safe" if I stick to my ROM (no updates or anything) for 4+ years? I'm asking this as an extreme case because I feel like I'm missing out on AT&T security updates that could protect my phone and also I don't think the developer my ROM (CleanROM) will do frequent updates).
6. I had problems with my computer not being able to recognize my phone and my SD card in the phone after I wiped everything and before I installed a ROM. I literally had to take the SD card from the phone and use an SD card reader to transfer my custom ROM/loki then put it back into the phone. Was I missing a driver?
7. What are some must-have apps a newly rooted user would want?
8. I read that you only need 1 EFS backup and you don't need to back it up every time you are going to install a custom ROM. Can I get a confirmation?
9. What does Goo Manager do and would I want it?
10. Is it essential that I keep up to date with news about my custom ROM/phone to ensure my phone is secured?
**Not Root/ROM related--Is swiping an app away from the Recent Apps List (long-press home button) the equivalent of killing an app? I use the Recent Apps List often but I don't want to go about swiping apps away if means it is killing it, since I read that killing apps are bad and actually drains battery life. Also, is there a mod that lets you access the Recent Apps List by long-pressing the menu one? I only see a mod that kills the app if you long-press it.
Thanks. I'm hoping for many responses as I have more questions to ask but not a lot of free time (I will check back on this thread every several hours until there are no more responses on the thread.
I think you are in the wrong forum.
@work said:
I think you are in the wrong forum.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know, I clicked the edit/delete thread but can't find the delete button. Under reason for editing I told the mods to move it to AT&T S4 under Q/A. I'm new to XDA, what should I do?
otumsel and
just wait,someone will be along and move it.
Hi, I have a GT-S7500 (wife's phone) with stock firmware and CWM. For some reason as soon as I root it, tried many different methods, camera and camcorder (and sometimes wireless) stop working. The thing is i don't really want to root this phone - but I really need to remove bloat Samsung and Italian TIM apps from it because the phone is unusable. (This means: freshly pushed stock firmware has 10-15 useless system processes and services running resulting in 70-80% of RAM usage)
So, I need to remove bloatware without rooting the phone. This is my starting point(http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1534349#post23343879)
I'd like to take the "system.ext4.tar" from my CWM backup, extract, manually remove unwanted apk and odex files from it repack and push it back to the phone. Sounds fun!
Q1: "system.ext4.tar" is a normal .tar file, right? so when I'm finished i just use tar (i'm on *nix)
Q2: The above guide does not say but what is the best way to "push" the system partition back to the phone? My idea was to substitute the "system.ext4.tar" with its modded version right in the CWM backup folder (calculate and change md5 checksum in nandroid.md5) and then execute a restore from CWM. You think that would work? Is there another way to do this(ODIN)?
thanks
a\
Android Kitchen
Ok, I found Android Kitchen(http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=633246) and it resolved all my questions and doubts. You can take apart any rom (stock or custom) modify and repack it for CWM install. Thanx xda!
Please advise. I really **Really** want to be sure that if I try to backup my sister's phone that I do it properly and can fully and cleanly restore it to a new ROM with no issue. (Be sure that I'll also do external backups of Photos and SMS/MMS databases and whatever else possible onto a computer first, in case of data loss or if I screw up.)
---
Okay, so here's the situation: (Google Pixel 6 Pro)
So I installed a custom ROM on my sisters brand new phone a couple of months back. Problem is, the dev behind said ROM may stop maintaining it due to personal reasons. I'll need to in this case switch her phone to another ROM, so that she continues to receive security updates. By the sounds of it I have to wipe the phone completely when switching ROMs, including the user partition. (Correct me if wrong.)
I'm still fairly new to the custom ROM/unlocked bootloader world, so I wanted to kindly ask around for advice on how to **Properly** backup her phone in such a way that I can later fully restore her photos, SMS/MMS, apps, etc. more or less as though I never switched ROMs on her.
I've already heard of TWRP, but the phone doesn't have a version for it. I also heard about the promising Migrate app posted here. Last but not least is the ADB backup feature--however I also heard some conflicting information suggesting that of late Google is deprecating that feature and making it useless. (Please correct if wrong.) I'm still fairly new to the whole custom ROM scene (and rooting too, but in this case her phone is unrooted, only bootloader unlocked with a custom ROM).
Rule #1 - if a OS is fast, stable and fulfilling it's mission... let it be! Updates can and do break things. Pie and higher are relatively secure unless you do stupid things. This stock, optimized N10+ is still running on Pie; last update >2.5 years, current load is over 2 yo. Still fast, stable and secure. I spend very little time doing maintenance and this load runs like a bat out of hell. What's not to like?
If you have to reload latter so be it. Don't go looking for trouble by messing with firmware unless you absolutely need to. Taking a more conservative approach will save you time and trouble in the long run. Google doesn't care about your time or the trouble their updates cause you.
ruq said:
Please advise. I really **Really** want to be sure that if I try to backup my sister's phone that I do it properly and can fully and cleanly restore it to a new ROM with no issue. (Be sure that I'll also do external backups of Photos and SMS/MMS databases and whatever else possible onto a computer first, in case of data loss or if I screw up.)
---
Okay, so here's the situation: (Google Pixel 6 Pro)
So I installed a custom ROM on my sisters brand new phone a couple of months back. Problem is, the dev behind said ROM may stop maintaining it due to personal reasons. I'll need to in this case switch her phone to another ROM, so that she continues to receive security updates. By the sounds of it I have to wipe the phone completely when switching ROMs, including the user partition. (Correct me if wrong.)
I'm still fairly new to the custom ROM/unlocked bootloader world, so I wanted to kindly ask around for advice on how to **Properly** backup her phone in such a way that I can later fully restore her photos, SMS/MMS, apps, etc. more or less as though I never switched ROMs on her.
I've already heard of TWRP, but the phone doesn't have a version for it. I also heard about the promising Migrate app posted here. Last but not least is the ADB backup feature--however I also heard some conflicting information suggesting that of late Google is deprecating that feature and making it useless. (Please correct if wrong.) I'm still fairly new to the whole custom ROM scene (and rooting too, but in this case her phone is unrooted, only bootloader unlocked with a custom ROM).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There should be no reason to need to wipe user partition. It should only be necessary to, at most, wipe the system partition(stock ROM), data partition(user installed apps and user settings), cache partition and dalvik/ART cache then flash the ROM. These wipes will wipe system data, your user settings, user installed apps and their corresponding app data. These wipes will not wipe data/media, the partition where your photos, videos, downloaded files, etc.. are stored.
You can backup the app data for the user installed apps by connecting to PC then use the PC file manager to open your device's internal storage, go to the Android/data folder, in that folder is all of your user app data. Copy the Android/data folder to your PC. After you install your ROM, reinstall all of the user apps that were installed then you can connect to PC and then copy your backed up Android/data folder over to your device to overwrite the ROMs existing Android/data folder. This will restore your app data for your user installed apps.
Contacts should be backed up to Google and restored when signing into the device after the new ROM boots and re-syncing the device.
You will need to backup your SMS/MMS texts via a separate method. Just do a search for:
"Backup and Restore SMS android"
That should find several methods. Use a method that you are comfortable with.
If you use WhatsApp, backing up and restoring WhatsApp, WhatsApp account and your WhatsApp messages requires it's own specific method. You can find the method by doing a search for:
"Backup and restore WhatsApp"
Sorry, if I knew its specific method, I would explain it.
Is there anything else that you don't want to risk losing or anything specific that is on your device that you 100% absolutely need to be certain gets retained/restored after the update?
What custom ROM are you coming from and what ROM are you going to? Depending on the ROMs in question, you might be able to dirty flash the ROM.