Hello! I have a little experience using computers from late 1995 Year, and from year 2000 I am using also Linux from time to time, and very rare but it was a delight freeBSD. I have no experience on Android and MacOs.
Now, I all my family (father, mother, girlfriend and I) changed the phones on Android which is Linux based, but for ARM processors.
Anyway, I have played a little with Android 4 x86 on my laptop.
Please considering that I am new in the Android sutff.
From, my point of view, a Android Smartphone is just a little computer like an raspberry pi / pandaboard / beagle board.
So, a mini computer with an Arm processor running a very small and tiny operating system max 8 Gb, when on my gentoo install I had been using about 30-40 Gb. I know, the size can be affected by the compiling flags but anyway. Please corecct me if I am wrong.
Now, on all my system I had, from my experience I did 2 Backups, like this:
My laptop is backed-up on the External Hardisk number 1, and the External Hardisk number 1 is backed-up on the External Hardisk number 2.
So, as it is a good practice to have a backup handy, I keep 2 backups in 2 different location in case of hardware failure / water flood etc. Some of the files I need are backed up in the cloud, on the internet.
I use to make IMAGES of the Operating System partition, and of the mbr , and of the partition table, with software like Acronis True Image, Paragon, DriveImage XML, Norton Ghost, Clone Zilla.
When I had to do data recovery I did an Acronis "sector-by-sector" approach image of the hardisk, and I recovered files from that image.
Can you guys please introduce me please on the android field?
I assume that maybe I will need to get root on one or two phones, and one phone need's to be unlocked from the carrier.
Before doing this I would like to make a full backup of the phones.
1) How can I make a FULL backup of the android phones? In this moment my mother phone is a samsung galaxy mini2 Samsung Galaxy Mini 2 s6500 and mine is Sony Xperia L
2)
a) If I will "unlock" the phone from the carrier (locked on orange, but i wish to use also Vodafone, I tim, I wind, moviestar, o2 etc)
b) If I will "root" the phone to gain administrator acces on it
After step A) and B) if I will restore the original backup, the phone will be "locked" back to Orange, and "un-rooted", or it will be "unlocked" and "un-rooted"?
3) Instead of having an hardisk like computer have, I guess the smartphone is using an "usb-stick/sd-card/ssdhdd"-like memory for storage of the operating system, so how can I see the partition table, the mbr, on the device?
Thank you in advance!
In my experience the best backup apps available require root. So I would recommend unlocking and rooting the phone first, get all the apps you wish to use installed, then use clockworkmod recovery to make a backup. This backup will include everything including the current unlocked rooted status, and can be restored using the same software. I also reccomend titanium backup for app backups, which includes user defined settings for each app. There are free and paid versions of each and both work equally well. Both apps, Titanium Backup Root, and Clockwork Manager are available for install from the play store.
Thank you for your feedback, but I wish to backup before unlocking, I will root the phone only as a last resort.
It could be possible to need the phone locked up, if there will be warranty problems.
I am currently reading about Odin, next will be CWM and TWRP, as I am not familiar with those "tools" and I don't know for what are they used for.
As I learned by now, with odin I can go back to an old firmware. But first I need to learn how to back it up in this state, locked, and un-rooted.
After I have read, read, read, and read again a lot of posts, blogs, forums, it seems that If I wish to backup the Stock Rom, I need to do root on the device. But if I will "root" the device, make backup, change rom, then recover the stock rom from backup (which is in the rooted stage), can I UN-ROOT it again?
Yes. Most phones have unroot options available. Alternatively, flashing stock rom to a rooted phone using odin etc will be in unrooted state. Stock firmware will also return the bootloader and recovery( which is what cwm and twrp are btw) to stck as well.
Sent from my SM-T210R using xda app-developers app
doctortonic said:
After I have read, read, read, and read again a lot of posts, blogs, forums, it seems that If I wish to backup the Stock Rom, I need to do root on the device. But if I will "root" the device, make backup, change rom, then recover the stock rom from backup (which is in the rooted stage), can I UN-ROOT it again?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know which phone(s) you have, but let's say you root your phone. You can then install ClockworkMod Recovery which allows you to flash custom ROMs and make full NAND backups (backups of the entire system partition), i.e you can backup whole ROMs. If you're on a custom ROM and you want to go back to a previous ROM, then just restore your NAND backup from Recovery and voila! Your phone will look and behave exactly like it did before you flashed the other ROM, and all SMS', phone records and apps will be there. Sure, it'll still be rooted, but simply open SuperSU (if that's the root app you'll be using), go to settings and tap "un-root". Done.
So..
- Make a typical backup of stuff, like moving important things to your computer etc. since accidents happen.
- Root and install Recovery
- Make a NAND backup in Recovery
- Flash a custom ROM if you want to
When you want to go back to stock:
- Boot into Recovery
- Restore your NAND backup
- Reboot and you're done
- Un-root if you'd like to
Tip: Store your NAND backup on your SD card and not on the internal storage in case you ever do a complete wipe of the internal storage or something happens to your phone and you lose your backup.
Note: Be sure to quote this post if you want a reply from me. I'm not usually in the Q&A section, and i'll be notified by Tapatalk on my phone when you quote this post. That way i'll see your reply, and i can then reply faster again.
I tried to root the phone with some software found in this forum ( SuperOneClick ) but did not worked.
I tooked the phone to a service and Unlocked the phone from the carrier network.
I asked if the phone will be rooted after the unlock, and they told:
PhoneService: "No, but do you wish to be rooted?"
Me:"How is better and safe, rooted or unrooted?"
PhoneService: "You have the advantage for example that you can move the aplications to card, but is safe to have the phone unrooted"
Me: "If it is possible please root the phone"
PhoneService: "oky, give us 30 minutes"
After 30 minutes (I took a walking), they unlocked the phone but said that rooting the phone will take more time, so I not rooted the phone.
As the phone dosen't need neccesary to be rooted, as I have no aplication in it which require this (there is only 2 apps, Opera browser and Copy To Sim / Import contact to Sim), and I don't desire to install more apps on it as only my mother is using it, I will leave the phone unrooted.
I wished only to have a Backup of the rom, just in case something will go wrong, to restore the phone back to the warrany service if there is this need, but as long the phone can be locked be back again, there is no such need to root it.
Guys, thank you very much for the input, really appreciated!
How about a adb backup? Using adb tools. Try search on Google for it. If I remember correctly, root is not needed.
Yes, I've always taken the exploits, but today I received (my 3rd or 4th) replacement Razr HD (I'd wanted a bigger phone, but this was free because the last one was under warranty... asurion). Shocker: they sent the 183.46.15 build (dammit). So all my nands are worthless.
But I did the current root exploit that keeps your phone locked but gives you root (I can get rid of the bloat and edit my files, yay), and installed a working cwm recovery for flashing zips, and flashed the tethering exploit for -15, so this new Razr HD (and it's *really* new; I'm shocked) is purring.
(the older one had been unlocked, "previously owned", which seemed fortunate, but in 6 months' time the battery had expanded so much the thing's a time bomb)
The Uncool: I'm Vicodined up (temporarily sick), and have been doing these exploits all day to see if it were even possible to get root/tethering/xposed. I'd thought it would be impossible, but was pleasantly surprised (though, damn I'd love it unlocked. But this serves my needs.)
But I didn't think about getting my old settings/apps from the old phone to the new. Though I have TiBu, it's pretty borked because my previous Razrs had that SD Card emulation directory (and I *never* understood why; didn't think about it too much). So when I copied my old phone to my laptop, Win 8.1 showed two subdirectories: "Internal Storage" and "SD Card". New phone, of course, just has "Internal Storage". And half the files in TiBu are in the \storage\emulated\legacy\blah blah blah\ (what appears as "SD Card" in Win 8.1).
So I made a hot mess dragging/dropping my "SD Card files" to the device on Win 8.1, as they didn't go into any emulated legacy folders. Dammit. Hopefully I can clean that up tomorrow, but how do I go about emulating an SD Card and copying the files over to make TiBu happy? I think it should be an adb command, but I realized I don't know the freakin file structures anymore. I'm now on 4.4.4, but have been simply flashing backups to new builds since my first Moto Razr HD, and honestly, just got lazy and let programs like TiBu and SDMaid do the hard work.
I'd really prefer NOT to have to copy over apks and install them one-at-a-time, though maybe it's time for a good phone clean? I still have my old device, but any recommendations for a quick and easy (without nandroids, of course), or should I just manually reinstall apps and settings.
Edit:
I should have done the one-at-a-time reinstall of each freaking app (LIKE I'M DOING NOW): the first copy didn't bork anything (just added files); later, using some TiBu command to restore (as per some GINGERBREAD site — I knew better... aargh!), in batch mode, was just stupid. It wasn't calendars and games that bricked the new phone, but surely trying to restore root app settings. I bricked, and had to use House of Moto to unbrick.
2nd, doing the above steps to get root (with lock) again was a joke: didn't work the first time, second, etc. My FXZ was for 4.4.2 instead of the 4.4.4 that came with the phone, and that's all I can guess the problem was. (Never did find the update; I'm on dammit kitkat). And then installing the "working CWM" took so many new tries, as well (it installed, but didn't boot into any sort of recovery for at least 10 attempts and a few uninstalls/reinstalls).
Good news: once I got the thing rooted and the CWM working, flashing was a breeze, so I'm back to where I was with a new phone (still 4.4.2 though), and I'm manually installing. I'm so pissed at TiBu documentation (it's ancient), though I understand TiBu was never meant to be a nand backup.
This will more than do, though. The weird directory structure was from a time I used safestrap (should have remembered that) and I just never cleaned up after that last exploit gave us unlocked phones. Boy do I miss being able to do a nand.
Hello everyone.
please forgive the harsh tone, but this is really getting me crazy.
In preparation to migrating from Android 2.3.5 to Cyanogen on my Samsung Galaxy SII (yep, it's still kicking...) I wanted to make a full backup like, A COMPLETE CLONING. But I've stumbled into a big problem....
let's face it: google mostly points to payware sofwtare from dodgy companies that in turn invest lots of money to climb up the research ladder. Their website are absolutely crap, with wall of text that don't apport any information whatsoever. So, how does one make a full full full full backup of an android phone? and I mean full, in the real meaning of the word: FULL. COMPLETE BACKUP. I mean: If I restore that backup, EVERYTHING WILL COME BACK. Why do I read that, for example, /sdcard ISN'T INCLUDED? what's the point of calling it a full backup?
On my computer, I barely slap in a new HDD, insert the clonezilla disc, and tell him "copy the whole device on the other device". This brings the full package of partitions, file, EVERYTHING. Of course it wouldn't include a USB drive attached to the laptop (the miniSD equivalent, i suppose). also, no point into telling me that a full ANDROID backup wouldn't include the contents of the SD card. The SD card is there to be safely removed during any dodgy operation, am i right? we don't solder miniSD card to phones, and I think I can use the "we" without fear. rooting the phone, for instance, was a breeze.
so to make the point, what do we have on the table?
- Samsung Galaxy SII, GT-I9100, that has been successfully rooted;
- a capable laptop with lots of space to accomodate my backup, with Odin.
I'd like to have a copy of the phone so that if I don't like it, I can flash everything back. and I mean: EVERYTHING. is it possible to accomplish such a thing? and why do backups don't include certain partitions?
Thanks in advance to all the holy souls who are going to answer. Thanks thanks thanks.
[I apologize if this is the wrong place for this thread, or if this question has already been asked. I am new here and have not been able to find the an answer after my own research.]
I have recently lost my Nexus 5X to the bootloop problem that has been going around.
I have a two month old complete (including all partitions I could) TWRP backup. I also managed to get a complete FireFlash backup right before the phone started its bootloop. Seeing as I'm thinking of upgrading phones and would not like to buy another 5X, nor do I have access to another 5X, these are somewhat useless (as far as I know). I was wondering if one of the backups could be flashed to an android emulator / virtual machine in order to allow me to pull more data off the device. My thought process is that if you could emulate the hardware and partition set-up, then the emulation should be able to flash and boot the recovery, allowing me to have a digital copy of my phone and get everything I want off of it.
If this is not possible, what are my other options to make use of these backups?
One more!
How can I restore TWRP backup to some kind of emulator to work with it as with physical device? I found TWRP recovery for Android Emulator but it seems very limited so idk what will happen why I'll try to restore backup but for sure I'll give it a try... If someone know how exactly I can do that - will be much appreciated for any advice. Thanks.
I'm hoping I'll run into a merciful soul who can help me with some stupid questions. I'm trying to backup app data from my old phone (stock, unrooted Android 8.0) and restore it on my new phone (stock, unrootedAndroid 13).
I previously used Helium to do this, with this exact same model of Android 8.0 phone (LG V20) with no issues. That was several years ago, though. Now I'm encountering two problems:
1. Several apps, such as Candy Crush, are listed as "backup disallowed" in the Helium backup menu. I definitely backed these up in the past, so I'm not sure what's going on.
2. Even with the apps I can backup, I can't get them to restore on the new 13 phone, as the Helium app doesn't seem to see them. It does see my older backups from several years ago, and I can restore from those, but that's not very helpful in this case. The only thing I can guess is causing this is it looks like the newer backups (which are in the same \carbon folder as the old backups that still work) are .ab format while the older ones are all .json format.
I have been researching for days on how to fix this, but I usually end up in threads that go into fairly complex (for me) cmd commands, and I just can't seem to follow them. I'm sure they're written quite well for someone who has some familiarity doing that, but I just don't. I've only ever used cmd when getting specific, step-by-step, dummy-level instructions from tech support.
If anyone can help me surmount these issues, whether through Helium or some other (non-root required) method, I would be really grateful.
If an app disallows backup of its data then no chance when using 3rd-party tools like Helium.
If you don't have root, you always can use the command-line program ADB to make backups with the help of a desktop computer - what requires USB debugging is enabled on both phones in question.
jwoegerbauer said:
If an app disallows backup of its data then no chance when using 3rd-party tools like Helium.
If you don't have root, you always can use the command-line program ADB to make backups with the help of a desktop computer - what requires USB debugging is enabled on both phones in question.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I really, really appreciate your response.
Do you know of any guides for doing this at:
1. Are written for complete idiots like myself? The ones I've found seem to presume a level of comfort with command line interfacing that I just don't have.
2. Go over backing up and restoring data for specific apps? The ones I've found focus on replicating the entire phone.
I'd be willing to root my old phone, but my understanding is that, since it's never been rooted before, this would delete all the app data I'm trying to save. Plus my new phone is a Samsung, and I've read that the newer Samsungs like mine simply cannot be rooted.
Edit: I probably should have mentioned that this is the thread I've found that has gotten me closest to understanding: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...me-between-phones-adb-shell-non-root.4378323/
The main issues I'm facing are:
It says to download the attached "adb.rar," but none of the other threads had mentioned any downloads, so I'm worried about doing that.
It talks about getting app info from "BS4/Pro," but there's no links. I have no idea what that is. So far as I can tell, I can just get the app name by looking at the folder name on my phone or from within the CMD adb commands, but I'm always worried about making assumptions when I already know I have no idea what I'm doing.
Also, I've seen some threads mention that even this method won't work with apps that have backup blocked, but I'm willing to try if I can figure out the other issues.
if the issue is with restoring helium backup, adb is worth a try. it's basically the same method, although helium backups aren't compressed.
if new phone is rooted, restoring backups is possible with more advanced methods.
for apps that have backup opted out, try phone clone apps.