Develop Bugs

[Q] What to do after rooting?

So..I'm pretty noobish at all this, after doing my research I've finally rooted my phone wanting to mess with setCPU, flashing roms, and getting custom themes and boot animations, unfortunately i spent all my time figuring out how to simply root and nothing beyond..
i'd be grateful if anyone could post threads or just help in general with the above topics

Become a flashaholic like the rest of us. BTW once start you can't stop.
Best advice I can give is to read, read, read and then read some more. Trust me the answers to your questions are in the 1000000s of pages.
Myn's ROM is very good. But I like Caulkins ROM the best with netarchy's 4.2.1 kernel. You don't want to use setCPU with 4.2.1 its not needed.
Just my 2 cents.
And then for some real fun start playing with the CM 6.1 RC1. That's were the fun really begins.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

R1pTheJacka said:
So..I'm pretty noobish at all this, after doing my research I've finally rooted my phone wanting to mess with setCPU, flashing roms, and getting custom themes and boot animations, unfortunately i spent all my time figuring out how to simply root and nothing beyond..
i'd be grateful if anyone could post threads or just help in general with the above topics
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The first thing I did was to start flashing custom ROMS. In the early EVO days, there weren't many choices. Now, there are tons of good options out there, so get to flashin'! You'll also get lots of good ideas hanging out in the themes and mods forum. Stroll around in the "post your screens" thread and you'll be blown away by what some folks have accomplished.
Just my thoughts, of course, I suspect you'll get lots of other suggestions.

yea unfortunately lots of these terms are like a foreign langauge to me =\
after looking up the process of installing roms i see lots of people are saying do a nandroid back up and then copying the rom, radio/WIMAX/PRI/NV updates and kernel
the definitions/translations for that?

Different parts of your phone have their own embedded software that can and doses get upgraded. For example, when you get a major update from Sprint, either OTA (over the air) or donwloaded to your PC and run from there, it not only updates your operating system (Android) and all the other little apps, but frequently your cell receiver/transmitter (radio or baseband), 4G receiver/transmitter (WiMAX) get their own software updates as well. Custom ROM creators frequently exclude these from their packages, so you have to update them separately.
Nandroid is a backup functionality you have once the phone is rooted. It is available through RECOVERY. So if you boot your phone into the BOOTLOADER by holding down the VOL DOWN and powering up, you should be able to choose RECOVERY by using VOL UP and VOL DOWN keyes as arrows, and POWER button as SELECT (or ENTER). Once in RECOVERY mode, there are several options, including backup/restore. The backup IS the nandroid backup everyone mentions. It creates an image of your phone's current setup. If you mess things up later on and the phone system is damages, you can recover by restoring this image to your phone.
Hope this helps.

R1pTheJacka said:
So..I'm pretty noobish at all this, after doing my research I've finally rooted my phone wanting to mess with setCPU, flashing roms, and getting custom themes and boot animations, unfortunately i spent all my time figuring out how to simply root and nothing beyond..
i'd be grateful if anyone could post threads or just help in general with the above topics
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is my first time quoting and I am pretty noobish myself...I don't know these terms either even though I spent all that time trying to root...I still haven't found out how to use a custom rom or boot, I'm a little clueless even after reading for quite awhile. :/
Sent from HTC EVO 4G via xda app

jacoballen22 said:
This is my first time quoting and I am pretty noobish myself...I don't know these terms either even though I spent all that time trying to root...I still haven't found out how to use a custom rom or boot, I'm a little clueless even after reading for quite awhile. :/
Sent from HTC EVO 4G via xda app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Using a custom ROM (or kernel) or boot animation is done through "flashing." Flashing is done via Recovery which can be accessed by the steps listed in a post above. I use the Amon Ra recovery and there are directions how to isntall this elsewhere on the site. I copy the ROM (or kernel or boot anim) to the root of my SD Card, boot into recovery, nandroid backup, wipe caches, wipe data, then I can specify an option to boot from zip on sdcard. (don't remember if it's high-level menu item or not) Anyway, find a Recovery you like (Clockwork or Amon Ra) and there will be specific directions on everything you can do on that Recovery's thread.
This is really a condensed version and there's way better and more thorough advice in Development and Q & A forums in stickies. I highly recommend reading those.

Did you know that you can change the whole look of the phone just by changing the system font? And it's real easy too
Sent from my blah blah blah blah

I know how to get to recovery but I don't know which one I have..and wiping data and cache does what exactly (I've wiped my battery stats before because someone said it helps your battery life)
Sent from HTC EVO 4G via xda app

jacoballen22 said:
I know how to get to recovery but I don't know which one I have..and wiping data and cache does what exactly (I've wiped my battery stats before because someone said it helps your battery life)
Sent from HTC EVO 4G via xda app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're using rom manager, it will tell you at the top what recovery is currently installed.
Hopefully you didn't "just" wipe battery stats - there's a process;
It should be done as follows (copied/summarized from the cyanogen wiki found here);
Battery recalibration
1. Charge the phone to full battery; let it keep charging until the battery says it is fully charged. Do not just wait until the light is green, it isn't always fully charged, causing a lot of inaccuracies. (You can check by going to: Settings -> About Phone -> Status -> Battery Level = Full.)
2. Wipe battery stats with Amon_Ra or ClockworkMod recoveries.
NOTE: To have the most accurate of battery stats, reboot the phone immediately after wiping the battery stats and wait for it to boot completely to the desktop. Once your entire boot is done and you have full access to the phone, go ahead and pull the charger and continue with this troubleshooter.
1. Do not charge the phone until after draining the battery completely, resulting in it automatically shutting off.
2. Recharge the phone completely and then use as you normally would.

I am surprised that no one has posted this yet.
Keep in mind, this is reference to the HTC Dream/G1 which is one of, if not the first offered Android Phone. This article explains what root is, how it was established and definition of terms. I hope this helps.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=513061
This is the informative link, which can answer a lot of questions. Just keep in mind the commands/button combos and such are different on the EVO, but in all respects is the same animal.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=543081
And then finally, the wiki with all of the answers for the HTC Subsonic/EVO
http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/index.php?title=HTC_Supersonic&useskin=vector

6uPMAH said:
Different parts of your phone have their own embedded software that can and doses get upgraded. For example, when you get a major update from Sprint, either OTA (over the air) or donwloaded to your PC and run from there, it not only updates your operating system (Android) and all the other little apps, but frequently your cell receiver/transmitter (radio or baseband), 4G receiver/transmitter (WiMAX) get their own software updates as well. Custom ROM creators frequently exclude these from their packages, so you have to update them separately.
Nandroid is a backup functionality you have once the phone is rooted. It is available through RECOVERY. So if you boot your phone into the BOOTLOADER by holding down the VOL DOWN and powering up, you should be able to choose RECOVERY by using VOL UP and VOL DOWN keyes as arrows, and POWER button as SELECT (or ENTER). Once in RECOVERY mode, there are several options, including backup/restore. The backup IS the nandroid backup everyone mentions. It creates an image of your phone's current setup. If you mess things up later on and the phone system is damages, you can recover by restoring this image to your phone.
Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
so the primary point of the nandroid backup is to have the ability to go back to the stock ROM if i choose or even if something screw up while installing a new ROM?

Brutal-Force said:
I am surprised that no one has posted this yet.
Keep in mind, this is reference to the HTC Dream/G1 which is one of, if not the first offered Android Phone. This article explains what root is, how it was established and definition of terms. I hope this helps.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=513061
This is the informative link, which can answer a lot of questions. Just keep in mind the commands/button combos and such are different on the EVO, but in all respects is the same animal.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=543081
And then finally, the wiki with all of the answers for the HTC Subsonic/EVO
http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/index.php?title=HTC_Supersonic&useskin=vector
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
good looks! the terms are IMO the most important thing to get a hold of

R1pTheJacka said:
so the primary point of the nandroid backup is to have the ability to go back to the stock ROM if i choose or even if something screw up while installing a new ROM?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is Nandroid back up the same that Titanium pro back up does?
fachadick said:
Did you know that you can change the whole look of the phone just by changing the system font? And it's real easy too
Sent from my blah blah blah blah
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do you do this?
fachadick said:
If you're using rom manager, it will tell you at the top what recovery is currently installed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have 2.5.0.1. Is this the recovery that you would have to reboot in if something goes wrong and what does the numbers mean?
TIA!

phillip623 said:
Is Nandroid back up the same that Titanium pro back up does?
How do you do this?
I have 2.5.0.1. Is this the recovery that you would have to reboot in if something goes wrong and what does the numbers mean?
TIA!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nandroid isn't the same thing as titanium, think of nandroid as an image, sort of like a disk image or a windows restore point. Once restored, it will take you back to exactly where you were at the time of the backup.
The numbers that you see in Rom Manager represent the recovery version. You currently have clockworkmod version 2.5.0.1 installed.
It's been spelled out above, and elsewhere through the forums, but I'm bored and I want to clean up this post anyway (I tried that new 8whatever keyboard again - still hate it. And before I cleaned it up, this post was three paragraphs of broken english), so here are some basic steps spelled out on what to do immediately after rooting, along with some terms.
The first thing you want to do once rooted is go into rom manager, and towards the bottom, hit the option that says "Flash Alternate Recovery". Once you do this, you'll notice at the top where it used to say Current Recovery: ClockworkMod 2.5.0.1 it will now say Current Recovery: Ra Recovery 1.8.0.
Now close out Rom Manager, and turn off the phone. Turn it back on while pressing down on the volume. The screen with the skateboarding Andy's will show up - this is the hboot screen. Among other things, this screen will tell you the version of hboot you're running, and whether you're S-ON or S-OFF. There may be a few different options listed here, but we're only interested in the one that says Recovery.
Select Recovery. The phone will reboot, and you should end up on a screen with green text. At the top it will say Android System Recovery, and all the way at the bottom, it will say Build : RA-evo-v1.8.0 From here select Backup/Restore. There are a few options, but note the two important ones - Nand backup, and Nand restore. Select Nand backup. It will ask if you're sure, so say yes. It will take awhile and the bottom of the screen will fill with dots. When it's done select Return then Reboot System Now. Congratulations, You just performed your first Nand Backup using Amon Ra recovery.
When you can, mount your phone as a drive, and go into folder inside the nandroid folder on your sdcard. You'll see a folder with today's date. Copy it somewhere safe on your computer. If you're interested, you can look in that folder and note the wimax.img file - this is where you're backing up the infamous RSA Keys (I'm not explaining what that is here, just know that you REALLY want to have this backed up, and kept somewhere safe). once the copying is done, unmount as a drive, and disconnect from your computer. Congratulations, now it's playtime.
Use either Titaniaum Backup or MyBackup Pro to back up all of your apps and data. Mybackup Pro will also backup call logs and text messages and things like that - I'm pretty sure Titanium does also, but I'm not sure. Your contacts should be backed up to google for easy restoration later.
Head over to the dev section and find a ROM that appeals to you. You can go with completely stock rooted if you want (which is essentially where you are now, but stock rooted would have the latest OTA updates when they come out), or stock with some tweaks to Sense, or non Sense at all (the most popular of these is CM, which rebuilds Froyo from the ground up.) Sense refers the stock launcher called Rosie, as well as some buried functionality in the phone - for example the mail, calendar, and dialer apps look and act different between Fresh and CM roms. Sense is a UI developed by HTC to go over what is commonly referred to as vanilla android/AOSP. AOSP stands for Android Open Source Project and is what google released on the n1, CM is an AOSP rom. Also, you're looking for a Deodexed rom (as opposed to odexed) so you can theme it later if you want.
Once you find a rom you like, download it to the root of your sd card (you may want to download it on your computer and move it to your sdcard). Refer to the above to get back into recovery, but this time instead of selecting Backup/Restore, select Wipe. Select Wipe data/factory Reset and let it do its things, then select Wipe cache, and let it do it's thing, then select Wipe Dalvic-cache, and let it do it's thing. What you've just done is erased all of the personal and superfluous data that was in the phone - you want to make sure that when you load the new rom, you're loading it on an empty slate, and that there's nothing of your old data left that could possibly corrupt something in the new rom. Some people say to wipe all of those options 2 or even 3 times each - I don't buy that though. Also, don't worry about the other wipe options you had there. Not needed now.
So once you've wiped, hit return, and select Flash zip from sdcard. It will pull up a list of .zip files found on the root of your sdcard. select the rom you just downloaded, and let it install. This may take a while. Don't freak. Once it's done, select Reboot system now. This will take a while too, maybe even a few minutes. Don't freak. Once it eventually boots up, restore all of your stuff with either Titanium or MyBackup Pro. Congratulations, You just flashed your first rom.
Now head over to the themes and apps section. Find a theme that interests you. Make sure its compatible with your rom (either sense or cm) and download it. Flash this the same way you flashed your rom, but you may or may not need to wipe first. Always refer to the op of those threads for specific instructions.
Finally and most importantly - head over to the thread in my sig and find a new font you like. All the cool kids are doing it. When you find one you like, copy it to your sdcard and flash it the same way you've been flashing everything else. You don't need to wipe anything for those though.
Tips;
1: never forget to wipe. As a rule, when flashing roms, you'll be wiping what people refer to as all three - that means wipe data/factory reset, wipe cache, and wipe dalvic cache. When flashing kernels or themes, you'll generally just be wiping cache and dalvic cache. Again though, always refer to the instructions in the op in which you found whatever it is your flashing.
2: if you'll be flashing both themes and roms, and possibly kernels, never flash in the same recovery session. So rom first, full reboot, then kernel, full reboot, then theme, full reboot. In that order, wiping and rewiping as needed.
3: give you're rom at least a few days before you give up on it, most need time to settle into your phone so to speak, and need a few battery cycles to get to peak performance, which brings up to
4: You should wipe your battery stats whenever you flash a new rom. Remember you saw that option under Wipe back in recovery? Well now you get to use it. I posed the link and process above in the thread.
5: At this point most people use Amon Ra instead of clockworkmod because there seems to be uncertainty as to weather or not clockworkmod correctly wipes. ONLY Amon Ra backs up the wimax.img, clockwork does not.
6: rom manager is a graphical front end for clockworkmod. A lot of people still use it to flash, becasue it's so easy to use, it can be used to download roms directly in the app, and doesn't require the zip file to be on the root of the sdcard - it van be anywhere on the card. Don't forget though, you can download the rom through the app if you want, but still switch to amon ra to flash it.
7: you cannot restore a nand backup you make with amon ra with clockwork, and you cannot restore a nand backup you make with clockwork with amonra.
8: on the off chance you need to change your hboot version for any reason, you can only restore nand backups with the same hboot version that they were backed up with. NOTE, were talking about hboot here, not recovery.
Damn, that was a lot of of text. Sorry about that.

i would recommend reading this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=790427
i have only been in the android world for about 3 months now, and was able to root and flash custom roms with ease within a few weeks of getting my evo. its really not hard at all once you understand the process.
as far as what rom to flash, that depends on the user. different rom have different features. if i were you, i would recommend reading the specs on each rom before flashing. some may have features missing, such as 4G, full camera support and such. And usually all that info is provided in the thread along with the rom. so, pay attention to that.
as for me, the goal for rooting was to do certain things that was only possible with root. such as, Nandroid backup, ShootMe, Wifi Tether and to disable some of the Sprint apps. so, i am using a stocked rooted rom. it is what it says. the same stock rom as the factory but rooted.
a lot of ppl use various custom roms to get better battery life. battery life on stock roms have improved quiet a bit lately. at least in the past 3 months, i have noticed a big improvement. hope this helps answer some questions.
and remember to always do a nandroid backup. i also use My Backup Pro to backup my Call Logs, SMS & MMS.

few questions about flashing ROMs..
1. i still have to backup all my contacts,apps,etc, i have titanium backup pro and if i back them all up how do i get them back once the new ROM is flashed?
2. I know im supposed to do a nandroid backup but do i need those special recovery images first? (AmonRA/Clockwork)
3. What's the purpose of ROM M...anager in all of this?

ok, so titanium pro will backup everything, even how your homescreen is set up.
the nandroid is for if there is a problem, or if you want to go back. ALWAYS HAVE AT LEAST ONE BACKUP MADE WITH AMON AT ALL TIMES OR YOU COULD PERMANENTLY LOSE 4G (FOREVER, NO FIX EVER)
rom manager can control clockwork recovery while booted up in a touch screen interface. it removes the need to use the annoying volume keys. doesnt work with amon.
i would highly reccomend amon to you. it is just that much better, but doesnt work with rom manager. volume keys arent that hard anyways. use amon.
ONCE AGAIN, ALWAYS HAVE AT LEAST ONE AMON BAKCUP AT ALL TIMES, AND ALWAYS BACKUP BEFORE DOING ANYTHING EVEN SLIGHTLY CONSIDERED MODDING. SERIOUSLY, TAKE 4 MINUTES OUT OF YOUR DAY TO WATCH DOTS APPEAR, AND SAVE YOURSELF 200 DOLLARS OR HOURS OF SETTING STUFF BACK UP. SERIOUSLY. DO IT.

Thanks for the detailed and informative post! This should be in the question and answer thread. I'm finally able to change my font and onto ROMS. I'll reply back once I'm on a normal keyboard.

R1pTheJacka said:
few questions about flashing ROMs..
1. i still have to backup all my contacts,apps,etc, i have titanium backup pro and if i back them all up how do i get them back once the new ROM is flashed?
2. I know im supposed to do a nandroid backup but do i need those special recovery images first? (AmonRA/Clockwork)
3. What's the purpose of ROM M...anager in all of this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. all your contacts are backup-ed on your google account. when you sign on to the google account after you flash a new rom, the contacts will be automatically downloaded to the phone. so, no further work needed to be done there. i use My Backup Pro to backup my SMS/MMS and Call logs. I think it is very similar to Titanium. Basically you use the program to backup the stuff you need onto your SD Card. Then, once you have flashed your new rom, you install Titanium or the My Backup Pro and use the Restore feature to restore what you need. As far as Apps go, I found that it was better to use App Brain, since that keeps a log of all the apps install on the phone, its usually a breeze to re-install all of them through that.
2. Amon RA & Clockwork perform the same function. you use either to flash custom roms, perform nandroid backups, etc. so, once you root your phone, you will need to install one of these.
3. ROM Manager.. does what the name says it does. you can change the rom on your phone using that utility app. But i think the Amon Ra/Clockwork Recovery method is the preferred way of changing out roms.

[Q] Questions about rooting/custom ROMS from a new user

Hi i have a t999 samsung s3 (not rooted). I am quite new to this whole rooting/development scene. I really want to try out 4.2.2.
Some questions i have are:
- After i root my phone and put a custom rom does it wipe my phone or does it leave all the data on (apps, personal settings and what not)? If yes, is there a way to backup everything and restore it after i have put on a custom rom so that everything i had is back to normal?
- Also which rom has good battery life? I have heard some roms are really good on the battery life compared to the stock version.
Thanks a lot for the help

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seifer699 said:
Hi i have a t999 samsung s3 (not rooted). I am quite new to this whole rooting/development scene. I really want to try out 4.2.2.
Some questions i have are:
- After i root my phone and put a custom rom does it wipe my phone or does it leave all the data on (apps, personal settings and what not)? If yes, is there a way to backup everything and restore it after i have put on a custom rom so that everything i had is back to normal?
- Also which rom has good battery life? I have heard some roms are really good on the battery life compared to the stock version.
Thanks a lot for the help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
your data will be deleted. you can backup apps with AppMonster Free or Titanium Backup from Play Store.
a good and stable 4.2.2 rom is http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2176988

pluginre said:
your data will be deleted. you can backup apps with AppMonster Free or Titanium Backup from Play Store.
a good and stable 4.2.2 rom is http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2176988
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
^This^
To add to that, battery.... Depends... On several factors including, but not limited to ROM, kernal, use, temp, this that, your pretty neighbor who's running out side. So, your best bet is to and see what will work better for you.
However, since you're new to this, there's somethings I want to say before you start:
-Make sure you have a T-Mobile phone before rooting and flashing using methods and ROMs here.
-Beware of possible lost IMEI when flashing. It's completely random. Go ahead and make a backup of your IMEI: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1801997
- If you go from a 4.2 ROM back to a 4.1, you could randomly break your GPS. If that happens: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2211690

So just wanted to add a couple of things more concise.
Yes you will lose your data when you originally root your phone, however there are benefits to rooting and data in the long run. I highly recommend purchasing titanium backup pro. This will allow you to always have backups of your apps and data stored on the phone. It also allows for cloud storage so lets say your sd card and phone suddenly get fried, no worries once you get your new phone and root it install titanium from the play store and then restore your data from cloud storage.
As far as battery life goes this is dependent on what ROM you choose and what kernel. If you aren't familiar with kernels the less techie way to describe them is they kind of dictate what speeds your phone will run at (this is a very one sided description). Some kernels are designed to be overclocked, so what that means is your going to get faster speeds, the downside to that is faster speeds mean more heat generating of your processor because it needs more energy. More energy means more battery usage, which means a faster dying battery. Some kernels on the other hand are designed to actually be underclocked, which means longer battery. Then there are even kernels that underclock when the phone is asleep and know to overclock when its running a game or something. Long story short on battery, it really depends.
And as far as you rooting your phone, take the time to learn about the process first. Watch multiple you tube videos from different methods. At this point the phone has been out long enough everything is scripted basically so you just pick the right choice and your phone gets rooted, but it is still imperative you familiarize yourself with the process. Words such as adb, recovery, terminal emulator, odin, your going to want to know. Finally if you have any questions ask. Some people will be like www.google.com, but most of us all remember we were there once and needed help also.

I rooted my s3 last weekend. Quite easy, first time I ever rooted. Currently running Wicked 9.1 absolutely love it
Once rooted, download Rom manager and titanium backup. Titanium saves all your data when you flash new Roms
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app

thank you all for the insight
i ended up rooting my t999. but when i go into recovery i still see stock recovery not clockworkmod. does anyone know why this happens?
also in titanium backup which backup do i need to do so everything will be exactly the same when i restore after i flash custom rom?

I had that issue.
Download ROM manager from the playstore. Then download clockworkmod from it. Then from the app go into clockworkmod.
Once there, if I'm not mistaken, reboot. It'll ask you something and hit yes. Basically what's happening is when you try to activate CWM the phone isn't letting it register but this option will override that and you'll be good to go.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
---------- Post added at 03:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:40 PM ----------
For titanium, I back up all user apps and data. When you flash a new rom, only recover apps you've downloaded. Select one by one just to make sure you don't download any system apps.
System apps with a custom rom can brick your device.
When you download a new rom, always read the opening posts for instructions and make sure it's a rom meant for your device.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app

seifer699 said:
thank you all for the insight
i ended up rooting my t999. but when i go into recovery i still see stock recovery not clockworkmod. does anyone know why this happens?
also in titanium backup which backup do i need to do so everything will be exactly the same when i restore after i flash custom rom?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A couple of quick questions.
1. What rooting method did you use. I ask this because I would refrain from using CWM. CWM used to be the standard, in fact I have always used it until rooting my s3 last week. A lot of the developers are now using TWM recovery. I don't know the reasons behind it or if it will matter but it seems like twm may be more friendly with the s3. One huge benefit of twm recovery is that it is touch screen by default which is a lot easier to use. To get the touchscreen version of CWM you either have to pay for it, or no how to flash it manually usinig adb (this will probably be somewhat confusing for you but there are step by step instructions for it).
2. As far as titanium back up goes. Ill give you a quick run down of how it functions. For starters the basic and simplest way to make a backup is press the menu sofkey, batch options, then under backup just click on 'run' to the left of backup all user apps. From here the defualt is all apps will be selected. if you want all your apps backuped just hit the green check mark at the top right. If there is an app you don't want just uncheck it then hit the check mark in the top right.
As far as recovery of apps goes do the same thing (menu, batch options) but this time go down to restore and restore all aps with data (or missing apps with data depending which option you need).
Now for system apps, I do not recommend you using the batch operations for saving system apps. The truth is you never really want to restore system apps onto a new ROM. There are certain system apps that usually can be restored onto a different ROM or os version such as bluetooth pairings, your sms messages, and wifi passwords. Even restoring these can cause problems so what you want to do is restore them individually, restart the phone, and then make sure everything is working as it should be. Send me a private message if you want and Ill go into detail how to go about doing this.

Flashing ROMs question

I want to flash a custom rom, had one before pie came out, is there a way to keep all my shiz on the phone? Like music etc, and flash factory image and then a custom rom? Basically, if i wipe data and cache is that going to take my music, pics etc out? I know it's a dumb question, but with no external storage it's quite the ordeal to put all the music back on! And flashing isn't like it used to be, way more complicated these days haha.

Zooandbio4me said:
I want to flash a custom rom, had one before pie came out, is there a way to keep all my shiz on the phone? Like music etc, and flash factory image and then a custom rom? Basically, if i wipe data and cache is that going to take my music, pics etc out? I know it's a dumb question, but with no external storage it's quite the ordeal to put all the music back on! And flashing isn't like it used to be, way more complicated these days haha.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Short answer, yes. Doing a twrp factory reset doesn't wipe your internal storage before you flash a rom. You can fastboot the factory image with the -w removed from the flash-all.bat script, which also doesn't wipe data. So, you should be fine. However, always backup all your "shiz" on your pc before you start. Just in case ya know!

Zooandbio4me said:
I want to flash a custom rom, had one before pie came out, is there a way to keep all my shiz on the phone? Like music etc, and flash factory image and then a custom rom? Basically, if i wipe data and cache is that going to take my music, pics etc out? I know it's a dumb question, but with no external storage it's quite the ordeal to put all the music back on! And flashing isn't like it used to be, way more complicated these days haha.
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Click to collapse
short answer, no, but I wished there was a way. I remember the days when smartphones had external sd cards where I could store my personal files in the sd card while flashing the rom into the internal 'sd card.'
Even though you can remove the -w when flashing, I've noticed many times from personal experience that there will be problem ... either the rom won't boot up or the apps will constantly crash or other issues. The only time you can remove -w when flashing (based on my experience) is when you are dirty flashing a version upgrade of the same rom ...

Anyone else care to weigh in?

Do exactly what Badger50 says. EXACTLY!

https://forum.xda-developers.com/pixel-2-xl/development/tool-deuces-bootloop-recovery-flashing-t3704761 Use the script from the link to flash any stock rom without wiping internal. This is much easier than editing in -w. This is in my opinion the safest way to flash stock firmware. After that just root and flash your rom through twrp. I'm shocked nobody mentioned the script already. It is a God send for this device. It can even recover the phone from a bricked state with internal data in tact. If ever you run into a non bootable state when flashing roms(mainly due to firmware date vs rom date) just flash stock again using the script.

Zooandbio4me said:
Anyone else care to weigh in?
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Why couldn't you make a nandroid TWRP backup, move the backup files to an external source (flashdrive or computer/external hdd), wipe everything, install custom ROM, then move backup files back to Pixel 2 XL (keeping in mind TWRP's folder structure; /sdcard/TWRP/BACKUPS/serial#/backupcreationdate/), and run the TWRP Restore option (only the "Data" partition need be restored)???
Word of warning, TWRP normally doesn't backup the internal sd files (where your pictures and music files reside); but there is a convoluted way to include those files in the backup -- it'll just take a couple extra steps at the backup phase and restore phase. Let me know and I'll lay the directions out for you (and/or refer you to where I learned of the method...).

Badger50 said:
Short answer, yes. Doing a twrp factory reset doesn't wipe your internal storage before you flash a rom. You can fastboot the factory image with the -w removed from the flash-all.bat script, which also doesn't wipe data. So, you should be fine. However, always backup all your "shiz" on your pc before you start. Just in case ya know!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't agree more with the advice to back up... Badger50 knows first hand as well as many of us that even the simplest procedure can go sideways in the blink of an eye. Both him and I for instance had failures while upgrading to Pie while others never missed a beat.
I personally keep a zipped up copy of my TIBU folder on my pc along with a backup of my sms, call log, calendars, Nova data, photos, music, downloads dir.
All in all its about 30 gigs that I periodical back up overnight when needed. Yes it's an overkill but I can basically reproduce my setup if it goes south. That and I'm a lunatic that has pretty much had the same setup and desktop for the last 4 phones. Lol

CyberpodS2 said:
...
I personally keep a zipped up copy of my TIBU folder on my pc along with a backup of my sms, call log, calendars, Nova data, photos, music, downloads dir.
...
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Click to collapse
The SMS, call log, calendars, and photos, aren't they included in the automatic Google backup?

CyberpodS2 said:
I can't agree more with the advice to back up... Badger50 knows first hand as well as many of us that even the simplest procedure can go sideways in the blink of an eye. Both him and I for instance had failures while upgrading to Pie while others never missed a beat.
I personally keep a zipped up copy of my TIBU folder on my pc along with a backup of my sms, call log, calendars, Nova data, photos, music, downloads dir.
All in all its about 30 gigs that I periodical back up overnight when needed. Yes it's an overkill but I can basically reproduce my setup if it goes south. That and I'm a lunatic that has pretty much had the same setup and desktop for the last 4 phones. Lol
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Click to collapse
Yes! +1 on this post!
Since I update the monthly security updates by flashing the Full Factory images and have to connect the phone to a computer anyways, I make sure to create a nandroid TWRP backup (a special method that will also include the internal sd folders/files as well as the /data partition), and after -- while the phone is connected to the computer to run the fastboot, adb, and flash-all commands -- I copy the TWRP backup folder to the computer while at things. I also make sure to not delete the previous 3 months; just in case. So, that's two TWRP backups at any given time; one, residing in the phone, just in case it is direly needed and I can't get home and access the computer soon enough, and then another copy safe in an external location. I would do a whole TB backup, compressed, and zipped folder or an adb backup method, but I find that the nandroid backups perfectly do the trick; and, in certain cases, TB can access certain nandroid data as well. I used to do this with FlashFire and my S5 as well...
Seriously, -- especially, as I've found with this device -- you can't be too careful! It is a lot safer with the "bootloader" now -- I recall long in the past that any type of flashing and the words "stock image" was last resort rescue -- but one can't get too complacent and develop a false sense of security (speaking from experience of unintentionally but manually formatting all partitions including the bootloader which caused a pure-brick experience and had no way of accessing the phone's internals at that point).
TL;DR Make backups...NOW! If you don't have at least two currently, then RIGHT NOW! Google has given us so many "outs" and rescue potential with the bootloader access, we only have ourselves to blame by not going about it as smart as possible and neglecting to make enough backups -- especially when doing things like "flashing" or modifying any partition -- for recovery, custom ROMS, theme or launcher type modifications, or any other modifications. Being able to revert back to the stock state with minimal hassle is a "Godsend"!
*note: as you can tell, I don't think it's overkill...

Nikos2k said:
The SMS, call log, calendars, and photos, aren't they included in the automatic Google backup?
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Click to collapse
I use an app called Super Backup Pro. It uploads the backups to gmail or Drive. Either way it's much faster to restore stuff than waiting on the Google stuff. Also, I never let google restore apps. I know what I can and can't restore data on with TIBU. 90% I can. The other stuff mostly doesn't need local data anyway.
That and my internet blows chunks out here in the boonies...

CyberpodS2 said:
I use an app called Super Backup Pro. It uploads the backups to gmail or Drive. Either way it's much faster to restore stuff than waiting on the Google stuff. Also, I never let google restore apps. I know what I can and can't restore data on with TIBU. 90% I can. The other stuff mostly doesn't need local data anyway.
That and my internet blows chunks out here in the boonies...
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Click to collapse
Damn chunk blowing internet! I hate them things! :laugh:

Ok so I think I've got it, nandroid/twrp backup, flash Ota then rom of choice. Any 9.0 roms that have the active edge feature? Seems like they're all based off aosp which I understand does not have this and most other features.

Zooandbio4me said:
Ok so I think I've got it, nandroid/twrp backup, flash Ota then rom of choice. Any 9.0 roms that have the active edge feature? Seems like they're all based off aosp which I understand does not have this and most other features.
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Click to collapse
Active edge is indeed not implemented in custom roms, as it is not part of aosp
(however it is said that DU team managed to reverse engineer it so maybe we will see it in future versions of custom roms)
All other features of stock rom (and numerous other features that stock rom lacks) are included

Zooandbio4me said:
Ok so I think I've got it, nandroid/twrp backup, flash Ota then rom of choice. Any 9.0 roms that have the active edge feature? Seems like they're all based off aosp which I understand does not have this and most other features.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
DUs latest RC has active edge working. You can set it to trigger things like flashlight, camera, assistant etc.

General Comparing backup solutions

Just wondering what everyone else is using for backups (apps, app data, internal storage, sms/mms, etc.), particularly if you're switching between ROMs or anything else that involves wiping periodically. I love experimenting with custom ROMs but I hate the wipe/restore that goes with it, and I almost always lose data when I soft-brick. I also often lose data when intentionally wiping to flash a different ROM and my app data fails to restore. Anyone have a flawless solution for always staying backed up (preferably on a schedule) and always restoring successfully?
Things I've tried:
* Migrate: Earlier versions had restoration problems, but these days it's more reliable. I do a full backup before any intentional upgrade or ROM flash, then copy to a computer manually, and it usually restores successfully
* SwiftBackup: Limited options, but the nightly schedule keeps most of my data backed up to the cloud and has restored successfully about 95% of the time
* Titanium Backup: Was beyond perfect, but discontinued
* OAndXBackup: Seemed like an okay replacement for TiBu but the only time I tried to restore it failed
* AlphaBackup: Flexible manual backups but limited auto backup options. Haven't tried to restore
What else is out there? I especially miss the options for TiBu where I could back up everything once a week and then backup "apps with modified data" nightly. Nothing else I've found has that specific option.

Powerful, efficient, configurable, scheduled https://github.com/VR-25/migrator

miravision said:
Powerful, efficient, configurable, scheduled https://github.com/VR-25/migrator
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Looks great! I'll definitely give it a try. As a Linux person I love that the help section is written like a man page. How's actual real-world success in restoration?

I have searched on github for a zip to install, but nowhere to be found, so no magisk installable zip.
Then I saw that there is an issue that after using the app for a backup it breaks every app on the device.
So this is both not installable nor stable.

I may have used Titanium since Android 7, until Android 12 Titanium is still running well

zxc123ygy said:
I may have used Titanium since Android 7, until Android 12 Titanium is still running well
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TiBu development was stopped at least a couple of years ago and I've had all sorts of issues since Android 10. App freezes when it encounters certain apps, it can't handle split apks, restored apps tend to crash, etc. Glad it's working for you, but that hasn't been my experience the last couple of years.

Titanium still has some usefulness, but is definitely outdated!

terlynn4 said:
Just wondering what everyone else is using for backups (apps, app data, internal storage, sms/mms, etc.), particularly if you're switching between ROMs or anything else that involves wiping periodically. I love experimenting with custom ROMs but I hate the wipe/restore that goes with it, and I almost always lose data when I soft-brick. I also often lose data when intentionally wiping to flash a different ROM and my app data fails to restore. Anyone have a flawless solution for always staying backed up (preferably on a schedule) and always restoring successfully?
Things I've tried:
* Migrate: Earlier versions had restoration problems, but these days it's more reliable. I do a full backup before any intentional upgrade or ROM flash, then copy to a computer manually, and it usually restores successfully
* SwiftBackup: Limited options, but the nightly schedule keeps most of my data backed up to the cloud and has restored successfully about 95% of the time
* Titanium Backup: Was beyond perfect, but discontinued
* OAndXBackup: Seemed like an okay replacement for TiBu but the only time I tried to restore it failed
* AlphaBackup: Flexible manual backups but limited auto backup options. Haven't tried to restore
What else is out there? I especially miss the options for TiBu where I could back up everything once a week and then backup "apps with modified data" nightly. Nothing else I've found has that specific option.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How come nobody's mentioned custom recoveries and their backup options? TWRP has some solid backup options, though I will mention it's far from perfect.

razercortex said:
How come nobody's mentioned custom recoveries and their backup options? TWRP has some solid backup options, though I will mention it's far from perfect.
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Click to collapse
I'm not familiar with the options in TWRP other than making a full nandroid or partition backup (which is huge since I keep a lot of data on my phone). Are there other options? Does it have a way to back up apps and app data? I also assume TWRP doesn't support Android 12 on this device yet?

It should work regardless of the Android version, but I'll stop myself from making assumptions.
Some custom recoveries like OrangeFox have app specific backup, though it's quite unstable. So a full nandroid backup may be your best bet. Try compression, it may reduce the backup size.

TWRP isn't available for 12 yet that I'm aware of. The last update that went official stated in the changelog that the recent update should make it easier to port it for A12. Flashing/booting it on an A12 rob will send you straight back to bootloader.

Titanium is indeed old, discontinued and had a terrible UX, but still works (Android 11).
Swift Backup has matured a lot, I believe is the complete replacement for Titanium.

razercortex said:
How come nobody's mentioned custom recoveries and their backup options? TWRP has some solid backup options, though I will mention it's far from perfect.
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Click to collapse
Because twrp cannot use my external USB flash card, it's unusable. I have to make a full backup on internal data and then export that, but how could I ever restore if needed?
I wished twrp would work, had that half of my life on my phones, but not on this one until this works. Twrp on oneplus9 I'm seeing too much problems atm.

Bright.Light said:
Because twrp cannot use my external USB flash card, it's unusable. I have to make a full backup on internal data and then export that, but how could I ever restore if needed?
I wished twrp would work, had that half of my life on my phones, but not on this one until this works. Twrp on oneplus9 I'm seeing too much problems atm.
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Ah I see. Thank you for clarifying.

Question What do you do without twrp?

I miss the old days with twrp. If I wanted to try another rom, no problem, use twrp to do a full backup. Try the rom. If I don't like it then twrp puts it back on the system and everything just worked perfectly.
I've tried programs like swift backup and titanium backup but they never do a proper full backup. It always says couldn't restore this or that. Permissions are screwed up a lot of the time. Cache or apps malfunction. It isn't smooth and has caused me to stop using roms, kernels or taking big chances with programs that could break the system.
What can I do to complete a proper backup of the full os and then easy restore if I screw something up similar to the way twrp used too?

I asked the same question when I acquired my p6p - answer is there is no simple way to test roms on this device. Saving/restoring roms is a convoluted, human error prone process - imho testing roms isn't worth the risk/effort.
My next next device will have twrp support.

icanrule said:
I miss the old days with twrp. If I wanted to try another rom, no problem, use twrp to do a full backup. Try the rom. If I don't like it then twrp puts it back on the system and everything just worked perfectly.
I've tried programs like swift backup and titanium backup but they never do a proper full backup. It always says couldn't restore this or that. Permissions are screwed up a lot of the time. Cache or apps malfunction. It isn't smooth and has caused me to stop using roms, kernels or taking big chances with programs that could break the system.
What can I do to complete a proper backup of the full os and then easy restore if I screw something up similar to the way twrp used too?
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Click to collapse
Omg, this!! I pretty much just asked the same thing, there has to be a better option other than Swift Backup. I currently use Swift to backup all apps, etc. Then flash new ROM to try out, restore with Swift, then have to manually reset everything else up. Its time consuming but does get the job done. I haven't had any stability issues thus far, but like I said this can't be our best option... Come on it's 2023 the custom ROM scene has come a far way to have this being the best we can do lol. But then again this is coming from someone that has little knowledge of how things work on the system level.

Lineage os has its own recovery, but I'm not sure you can back up with it. I use swift with my openssh server gets the job done, but I agree it's a pain having to login again etc.

I miss TWRP too. I even treated the title as "What do you do **with** TWRP?" and took it for granted that TWRP for the latest Pixel phones is ready.

bush911 said:
I miss TWRP too. I even treated the title as "What do you do **with** TWRP?" and took it for granted that TWRP for the latest Pixel phones is ready.
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what new phone brands do have twrp nowadays tho?

Stumbled upon this thread: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...tom-rom-migration-tool.3862763/#post-78060823
Looks promising. I tested on 1 app like it suggests, and had no issues.