[Q] edit build files before flashing it. - Vibrant Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

so ive had my vibrant for a couple months now coming from an hd2. ive been flashing roms and trying different stuff out, im good with odin and cwm, clueless with adb. with windows mobile the custom build just came how they were and theres no way to remove/add programs and stuff previous to flashing it(with my knowledge). well i just now realized i can access all the files in an android build because its a simple zip file. My question is, how safe is it to remove the apk's from the /system/app folder and then flashing it. Same thing with fonts and notifications. i want to strip all the stuff out that i dont use before flashing so i dont have to do it afterwards. Is there more to this than im making of it?
tl;dr - can i delete files out of a build (apks, notifiations, wallpapers) before flashing it through cwm??

You sure can. I do it all the time. Just make a copy of the untouched version (in case you pull something important or goof up).
"if you amplify everything, nothing is heard"

wow thats gonna save alot of time.
follow up questions: is there any way to have settings preset before i install a rom?
ive tried the built in google back/restore settings but it seems the only thing it does is the browser settings. all system settings i have to reset.

Related

What is the best way to backup my Gtab before modding?

Hi,
I am new to Android and the Gtab. I am basically curious as to what the best way is to backup my Gtab. What software and the steps to take (what is the difference between cwm and nvflash?).
I actually like the stock rom but my biggest frustration is the lack of the market which I would like to have. Having that said, I would like to run something different on the Gtab which will support the market app and not the Gmarket app. I looked around the forums and I see lots of good tutorials but it confuses me on how I backup with my stock rom before I begin any of the tutorials to upgrade to a new rom. I feel like backing up is the biggest step and don't want to mess this up so that I can revert back if I do make a mistake down the road. I'm sure once you do this a couple of times it starts to make sense but I have not done it yet and want to make sure I understand everything before I move forward.
I am a beginner but want to be able to get more out of my Gtab. Please help.
It needs to be modded right out of the box, so how much could you have possibly gotten installed?
Ok, I'm kidding.
What are you trying to "backup"? If it's DOC's and Books, music, etc, either dump it all onto a secondary memory card, or dump your data to a PC using usb connection. As for settings like email, etc. I say skip the backup and just reinstall the stuff.
I keep all of the working installers I've found on my external SD card so if I need to wipe & start over, I just go through and click/install them again.
bnovak said:
It needs to be modded right out of the box, so how much could you have possibly gotten installed?
Ok, I'm kidding.
What are you trying to "backup"? If it's DOC's and Books, music, etc, either dump it all onto a secondary memory card, or dump your data to a PC using usb connection. As for settings like email, etc. I say skip the backup and just reinstall the stuff.
I keep all of the working installers I've found on my external SD card so if I need to wipe & start over, I just go through and click/install them again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
Thanks for the post. I think I may have not worded my question right. My fault since I am new. What I mean is what do I need to do to backup my current OS I suppose. For instance, it has android 2.2 correct? I upgraded OOTB to firmware 3588 which works well but no market. What do I need to do to back this OS up so that I can revert back to it in case of any problems? Sorry if I am still confusing you guys but like I said earlier, I am completely new and still learning the phraseology and such. Thanks!
jetguy35,
Most people get Titanium Backup and backup the apps and system with a batch file in that.
That takes care of apps.
If the whole tablet gets messed up you either NVFlash back to the bekit 1105 version
per the NVFlash recovery thread in developers, if its not too bad you reinstall the
current 3588 version from a download.
There are other ways some people suggest, but I don't recommend what I haven't used and don't know about.
Good Luck!!!
Rev
An app called Titanium Backup will allow you to back up your apps and their data.
To do a complete system backup, you'll need to get clockworkmod installed (bekit .8 version), once booted into clockworkmod there is a back up option which will back up all system files and apps.
Check this thread in the development section for installing clockworkmod:
[Sticky][Guide]Install ClockworkMod, A ROM, Flash Player, and the Market Fix
Insall clockwork mod .8 and boot to recovery and backup entire rom. ..then save a copy from internal to external sd card in case you need it.
Sent from my VEGAn-TAB-v1.0.0b5.1.1 using Tapatalk
personally (and I was in your shoes last week)
I would just go through the TNT Lite post and flash that ROM onto the tablet. If you go TNT 4.4.0 you DO NOT WANT CLOCKWORK.
It's really simple - plug in USB, copy the correct files to the tablet, push and hold pwr-volume up and give it a couple minutes.
I think the vanilla ROM is floating around so if you don't have a bunch of personalized files, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Anytime you flash it, you are going to have to add some of the programs back in anyway.
Roebeets TnT build is super fast and super stable. You won't know what hit you when you turn it on the first time.
bnovak,
That's a good idea, but not everyone is ready, or has the expertise or even wants
to move up to a ROM.
I have two tablets and one is running the experimental next generation TwoTabX ROM
that is on hold waiting for VS to do something -- and the other most of the time is
pure stock (so I can test stuff and get OTA updates etc.
When I go to work, doesn't matter which I take because both work well.
Stock is not bad!!! You should have seen the original software!!!
Rev

[Q] Edit update package?

Does anybody know what is in an update package? Is it like a Windows Ghost image of a functional operating system or is it a collection of stuff that gets installed? What I'm looking for is, is it possible to edit the package to remove programs you don't want prior to installation?
I ask because I question how cleanly rooting and deleting apps through a file manager actually removes apps. Of course this is probably because I have a lack of knowledge as to how this OS works.
If you want a clean image, flash stock (if that's what you want to start from) -> root -> delete apps you dont want -> unroot (if you want) -> nandroid
Uninstalling apps is just about the same as deleting them manually, only you need to restart so android knows it's not installed and clears it's cache (uninstalling does it automatically i think?) Data should be removed either way (in same manner as cache)
Nandroid?
Can you point me to the best description of how to perform this backup/restore?
Do I need to download anything else to do this?
mid_life_crisis said:
Does anybody know what is in an update package? Is it like a Windows Ghost image of a functional operating system or is it a collection of stuff that gets installed? What I'm looking for is, is it possible to edit the package to remove programs you don't want prior to installation?
I ask because I question how cleanly rooting and deleting apps through a file manager actually removes apps. Of course this is probably because I have a lack of knowledge as to how this OS works.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not Android Development
Please post in the correct Forums Please
Moving to Q&A
I have installed Quick Boot which does nothing terribly useful that I can see so far. On my Streak (rooted), all it does is a simple reboot.
Do I need additional downloads to be able to make recovery images?
Nandroid backups
To do a nandroid backup (which I think is something similar to a disc image in Windows) you have to install either Clockwork Recovery or StreakMod Recovery. Personnally I had to use StreakMod because Clockwork gives me errors when it tries to backup all the files.
Just do a search here in the forum for either and they both have threads stickied with all the information you need.
One thing to be careful of is installing drivers, follow any directions to the letter and constantly check to make sure windows hasn't tried to install it's own drivers once you connect your Streak to the computer.
That has to be bar none biggest problem we all face, drivers, which are the way of communication between the computer and your phone.
What I finally did was used what is called the QDL tool to repair my phone, then took the necessary steps to install StreakMod recovery. QDL tool will put a Stock Froyo system on your phone. Once you have Streakmod installed then you can make a nandroid backup to get you back to that stock system (just as you would in windows) if you screwed up your phone by fiddling with it.
Once I made a nandroid backup of my Stock Froyo and installed all apps I wanted and got all accounts setupd, I went back and made ANOTHER nandroid backup of my system....
I forgot to mention the reason for making a nandroid backup after using the QDL tool to get back to stock froyo. The QDL tool will leave you with the stock DELL recovery which doesn't allow you to flash custom roms. So, install the custom ROM and then make an image of your system and then you won't ever have to go back and take all those painful steps to get StreakMod on your phone again, it will be a part of the image you created with nandroid.
Now with all that said, and Streakmod installed, it's a very simple process to flash Streakdroid to your phone, actually the EASIEST step out of everything I had done so far, but everyone has to jump through the hoops first I guess.
Don't worry about making a nandroid image after your initial install of StreakDroid, you already have it in the form of the .zip file you will have on your SD card.
So after getting StreakDroid installed, I setup all my apps again, with the launcher I liked, accounts and everything else, and THEN made another nandroid image.
So now I have two images to choose from, the stock installation with apps and accounts, rooted and StreakMod installed, and then a StreakMod image with all the same things, apps and accounts... I tend to go back and forth depending on my mood. It's only about a 10 minute process going from one system to the other, kinda like dualbooting a computer...
Whew!!! Have fun!!!

Need important advice on Themeing.

Hi guys. I was wondering a few things. When you theme your phone successfuly, Im under the asumption that if you re-theme it with another them it goes right on top of it correct? How do you remove a theme and is it possible to do that? Or if there are different thems out there you like, how do you go about switching them out? Just keep putting them on top of eachother? Any advice would be great. Thanks guys.
--> [GUIDE] Want to learn how to theme? <--
tonecreationz said:
--> [GUIDE] Want to learn how to theme? <--
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I appreciate the link. But all its showing me is how to actually create a theme. I cant find where the answers to my questions are for the person that just installs the themes but doesnt make them?
Depending on what version of software you are running (1.26, 1.57, 1.83 ATT) I think the best method to completely re-theme is to use a program like Titanium Backup * Root, free version from the market, to back up your apps and data. SBF flash the proper version of deodexed files for your current software version to completely eradicate the current theme. After that apply your new theme and then re-install Titanium Backup to restore your apps and data.
You will most likely need to use gingerbreak to regain root after flashing the SBF. Since this will, most often, result in a clean wipe of your internal and external SD card, make sure to back them both up to your computer before flashing the SBF and proceeding. That way you can just put anything back onto the internal or external memory that isn't put back by titanium.
Putting one theme on top of another really won't hurt anything most of the time, but if the new theme doesn't use all of the same files as the previous theme did then you will end up with items from the old version that weren't replaced.
Terrigno said:
Hi guys. I was wondering a few things. When you theme your phone successfuly, Im under the asumption that if you re-theme it with another them it goes right on top of it correct? How do you remove a theme and is it possible to do that? Or if there are different thems out there you like, how do you go about switching them out? Just keep putting them on top of eachother? Any advice would be great. Thanks guys.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can pull fresh copies of everything that the themes change (framework-res.apk, services.jar, blur-res.apk, are the main ones) and make a CWM update with those in it. Then you can install a theme, and in order to uninstall it all you need to do is go into CWM and use the backup update.zip.
To switch themes, I just keep all themes I have downloaded in a folder called THEMES on my phone. I just boot into CWM and use the backup .zip I made, then I install the new theme .zip and reboot.
If your talking about Gingerblur/Grey blur I think a SBF flash would be your best way to uninstall.
Thanks for the tip guys. I actually had GingerBlur installed before but wasnt all that fond of it. I went ahead and flashed the sbf of 1.8.3 back. Now I have the HoneyGlow theme installed and actually I like it a lot. I was just wondering what its like re-flashing themes over top of themes. I have Tansfers (I think thats the name) Recovery already installed with root access. I got the files already saved on the computer, but thats good advice to put the updates in folders on the phone and do it that way.
Yes, now On im gonna take that external SD card out when I flash. I also tried using Titanium and having a hard time with understanding how it works fully lol.
Terrigno said:
Thanks for the tip guys. I actually had GingerBlur installed before but wasnt all that fond of it. I went ahead and flashed the sbf of 1.8.3 back. Now I have the HoneyGlow theme installed and actually I like it a lot. I was just wondering what its like re-flashing themes over top of themes. I have Tansfers (I think thats the name) Recovery already installed with root access. I got the files already saved on the computer, but thats good advice to put the updates in folders on the phone and do it that way.
Yes, now On im gonna take that external SD card out when I flash. I also tried using Titanium and having a hard time with understanding how it works fully lol.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes you can flash new themes on top of old ones. They just replace various framework files. all themes modifies the same set of framework files pretty much. so when you flash on top, it overwrites the current one with the new one, that's it. the important thing to remember is to flash a theme meant for your rom because framework files can change from rom to rom, so you may get bootloops (soft bricks) if you flash incompatible frameworks.

[Q] messed up big time, PLEASE HELP

To put it simply when I boot up my vibrant, it switches to the galaxy s GT-19000 screen then fully boots into what seems like a completely different phone. My contacts were still there until I factory reset, but none of my apps or anything. I also believe that my calls and messaging do not work. I just recently rooted my phone but where things went bad is when I tried installing voodoo lagfix. I tried adding the link where I got the dl for voodoo lagfix but because I am a new user I can not add links, but i got it from the project voodoo website and it was the second link in their dl section, the one for froyo installable with clockworkmod recovery and rom manager. When I try and go into recovery mode ClockwordMod Recovery v2.5.1.3 - Voodoo lagfix is what comes up and is completely different from what the recovery was before. I just want to get rid of voodoo and get my phone back to how it was before. Im sorry for the terrible description, if there is anything else I need to add just let me know, but please, what can I do to fix my phone? any help would be greatly appreciated.
Can you get into download mode?
If so, ODIN to stock JFD.
you may need to use Vol Up + Power, unlike the normal way which is both volume buttons pressed in.
thank you! I used your guide in your sig, which was very helpful, phone is back to normal, however, all of my apps and what not are gone. I am an idiot and forgot to backup before I made changes, is there any other way that I can get back to the way my phone was before? And after going back to the stock JFD using odin, will I still have voodoo on my phone?
If you used titanium backup, your folder of backups should still be on your internal.
If you did not backup, sorry... hope you have them backed up.
No, you do not have voodoo now.
I did back up all of my app with titanium back up, so do I just have to re-dl titanium back up in the market and then just go from there?
^ Ti Backup needs root, so grab the update.zip from my guide and root (incredibly easy), move it to internal, go to stock recovery, install, reboot, you are rooted.
At this point, before you restore, you need to update to a more recent version of Android. you do NOT want to be stuck on JFD (2.1). I'd suggest a ROM like Trigger... crazy stable, faster and themed (I like it).
THEN you can restore your apps after downloading titanium backup (assuming you have them backed up on your internal already).
also, when I connect to my pc and look at my internal sd, the voodoo folder is still there
sorry Im a complete noob to this stuff
Sounds like somebodies got a lot of apps to download againlol. Now you'll remember to get TB and make a backup, heheh, but oh well its a learning experience really! If you have any apps that you paid forl at least gmail will remember that and you will see them as purchased, but unfortunately you'll still have to search for them individually.
cmrn89 said:
also, when I connect to my pc and look at my internal sd, the voodoo folder is still there
sorry Im a complete noob to this stuff
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
whats in it?
- prob just a bunch of logz(lol) just ignore it
^^ the voodoo folder is there b/c you did not format your card *no reason to*
when/if you flash trigger, it will convert you to EXT4 file system (voodoo). This IS okay and not a big deal. Not sure what site you went to, but I have 190% faith in the Trigger ROM and voodoo.. both have very talented people supporting it.
^ Paid apps do not need to be searched for. Look in My Apps, they are all there. He also apparently DID make a backup at some point so lets not go bashing the guy.
I do agree to backup often.
I don't think theyre on my internal anymore, I did a clear cache, factory reset when my phone was initially messed up and I think thats where my problem lies. and as for the rom, what are your thoughts on the TW bionix rom? I initially was trying to root and install this rom
kawika said:
whats in it?
- prob just a bunch of logz(lol) just ignore it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is a bunch of logs, can I just delete this altogether?
Your call man. I made my suggestion for speed/stability/appearance. Don't delete the voodoo folder, even if you did, it will be there after you flash your rom.
- - No intent to flame just my bad humor, sorry.
cmrn89 said:
It is a bunch of logs, can I just delete this altogether?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can do whatever you want with it if ur just gonna ODIN and re-flash. I just thought this was funny my bad. I wouldn't be too concerned with it really. Just leave it alone.
- If in fact you made a backup with TB and moved it to ur PC you could replace that back into the /sdcard/ and when you re-download TB just run the restore batch. BOOM! good to go. If not then oh well.
- The "myapps" will show you all your purchased ROMs so you will not need to research for them, just need to re-download them but any "free" apps will need to be researched and redownloaded.
- My friend has a Nexus S and she says that when she does an initial setup after flashing any ROM the gmail sync automatically downloads all her purchased apps. Thats what I was refering to cuz that would be friggin titz!
- Team Whiskey ROMs are proven and stable Bionix is a great choice to flash.
Good luck!
^ GB restores automatically, while good for some.. I hate it. Takes longer to download/install than restoring AND it doesn't restore the data (boo)

[Q] What should I Back Up?

So now that I have root on my phone, using Titanium Backup, WHAT should I backup? I mean... my phone doesn't have inherent instability now does it?
Or does the instability (possibly) come from xposed modules I install?
Are there sets of steps I should take before installing new root apps?
Thanks!
-Matt
Root details:
Verizon S4 (sch-i545)
Stock ROM (4.4.2)
Back up anything you would miss loosing if something happed. For me thats nothing, for others thats maybe a particular apk version, or an apps data.
What do you need to do before installing root apps? Root apps are just programs that require admin rights. Nothing magic, do whatever that app might need, which is probably nothing.
It is generally good to have a full system backup from your recovery... For when you try to do _______ and **** it up.
scryan said:
Back up anything you would miss loosing if something happed. For me thats nothing, for others thats maybe a particular apk version, or an apps data.
What do you need to do before installing root apps? Root apps are just programs that require admin rights. Nothing magic, do whatever that app might need, which is probably nothing.
It is generally good to have a full system backup from your recovery... For when you try to do _______ and **** it up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay great! I already backed up any folders (pictures, pdfs from camsacanner, roms) to my computer via usb before rooting... so...
So when people are talking about TWRP/CWmod recovery... how is it different from stock recovery?
So basically a custom recovery is an all in one answer that allows you to back up EVERYTHING but also allows you to back up EVERYTHING in one blow?
blueman189 said:
Okay great! I already backed up any folders (pictures, pdfs from camsacanner, roms) to my computer via usb before rooting... so...
So when people are talking about TWRP/CWmod recovery... how is it different from stock recovery?
So basically a custom recovery is an all in one answer that allows you to back up EVERYTHING but also allows you to back up EVERYTHING in one blow?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stock recovery will let you do a factory wipe to basically clear data and reset your system to recover from something that messes up your install and makes your phone unusable.
Custom recoveries allow you to flash unofficial files, as well as take basically a snapshot of your system. With a custom recovery you can make a backup of your phone, and almost no matter what happens, you can flash that backup and it will be like nothing happened.
So when you try and run some xposed module that isn't written well, and now makes your phone crash every 2 minutes, you can boot to recovery and flash back to the backup you took right before you installed that module, and it will be like you never did it.
The recovery images are kinda large, as its all your data/apps/the OS all in one. Many custom recoveries will have a file manager that will allow you to deal with files individually, but most typically the point is taking a snapshot of your current system so you can go back to it. I make backups before trying a new rom, that way if after a little bit I am not happy I just flash back and its like I never changed anything.

Categories

Resources