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Root Titanium Backup (please read)

slick_old

Android Enthusiast
Jan 25, 2010
277
10
Some people will click on this thread and think it's a waste of time because it states a well-known fact. However, it can't be taken for granted that everyone is not aware of the facts stated herein. Various threads in this forum have shown that some people have had issues with ROMs and many believe that Titanium Backup is the culprit. In fact, Titanium Backup could indeed be the problem IF you are using it in a way that may conflict with your rom and it really bothers me that people are missing out on some awesome roms because they believe they are buggy when, in fact, their misuse of Titanium is the root (no pun) of most of their problems. It is also bothersome that some people have begun to aim much undeserved derision towards Titanium when it's actually an awesome application.

When I was rooted, I always wiped everything before installing a new rom. Yes, this is a tad bit more time intensive b/c you have to set everything up again but it's worth it to me because I believe doing so increases your chances of having a stable rom (unless you're doing an update.zip to a new version of the same rom). After wiping, Titanium can be a very useful tool for restoring apps.

However - and this is the point of this long winded thread - you should ONLY restore APPS + APP DATA. DO NOT restore SYSTEM DATA as it may conflict with the ROM data, potentially leading to FC's, random reboots, and other nefarious issues. Like I said, I haven't been rooted for a while but if I remember correctly, you should use the "restore missing apps and app data" batch job and WA-LA. Your paid-for apps will show in the market, Google sync will take care of your contacts, all of your apps will be just as they were before you flashed and you'll be up and running in no time.

I think we should make this a sticky since so many people use Titanium and I've noticed a lot of new rooters lately.

Thank you and have a good day.
 
Every time I've had to do a nandroid restore to install a new ROM, I did everything manually. It's gotten to the point where each time I restore less and less than before because it's such a long process.

So, what exactly WONT be restored after a system wipe, ROM install and Titanium backup? I don't use Titanium (yet) but this thread has my interest.
 
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Every time I've had to do a nandroid restore to install a new ROM, I did everything manually. It's gotten to the point where each time I restore less and less than before because it's such a long process.

So, what exactly WONT be restored after a system wipe, ROM install and Titanium backup? I don't use Titanium (yet) but this thread has my interest.

All of your apps + app data will be restored with Titanium. Your contacts will be synced with your Google profile, so those will reappear automatically. Your paid apps will show in the market. I THINK you will lose your text message history but there is a way to restore this with Titanium (takes 2 seconds) but I forgot how to do it (like I said, I haven't been rooted for a while now). Personally, I don't care about call history but if there's a way to restore text history I'm sure there's a way to restore call history. Obviously, all of your SD card stuff (movies, MP3's, pictures, etc) will be the same as before. That's everything, right?
 
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Every time I've had to do a nandroid restore to install a new ROM, I did everything manually. It's gotten to the point where each time I restore less and less than before because it's such a long process.

So, what exactly WONT be restored after a system wipe, ROM install and Titanium backup? I don't use Titanium (yet) but this thread has my interest.

If you use Titanium to restore apps and app data (as stated by the OP the best way to restore to avoid problems), you system settings need to be reconfigured (not a big deal) and you will need to resetup your homescreens (make some screen shots to help you recreate a previous setup). Thats it!

Update: You beat me to it Slick :p
 
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Slick is right on with this post and I've flashed many many many ROMs. Titanium is not the problem...here are some tips:

1) Get the paid version...it's worth it! I can't emphasis that enough...just donate and get the license...don't question it...just do it! IT WILL SAVE YOU A TON OF TIME! When I flash a new ROM, I can have it COMPLETELY set up in about 15 minutes...everything installed...homescreen set...etc. Clear enough? :D

2) When you back up...BACKUP all user apps + system data...I'll explain why...
It is better to back up every possible thing on your phone vs. just apps. You can pull pieces of your system data back (like the data from Clock 2.1 so you don't have to set your alarms up all over again). Make sense?

4) When you need to do a batch restore (when using a new ROM most likely)..."Restore missing apps with data" just to avoid conflicts. Once that is done, you can "restore newer versions of user apps" but that is not always needed.

5) Here's how you restore the NECESSARY system settings (Things like Clock, Email, Home (or Helix, or Helix2, or Launcher, or Launcher2):

Note: If you back up the way I said...you will backup your home screens via whatever launcher you had installed. So if you were running Helix2 and you go to a new ROM and install Helix2 again, this will bring all your apps and widgets back...although your widgets will not work, you have to remove each widget and add it back...but at least you don't have to try and remember which icons you put where (the widgets, while not functional when restored, act as place holders so you know where you had them). Sorry...I'm trying not to make this confusing :D

To restore your POP3 email settings (who wants to set that shit up manually again??? Not me!): Open Titanium: Go to the "Backup/Restore" tab at the top of the screen > scroll to and select Email 2.1-update1 > a pop up will appear, just hit "Restore" on the most recent backup > it will ask you what you want to restore (probably just "Data Only" for email but some apps will give you the option of Data + App as well...just do Data if the app is installed.

Now your email is set up...easy...quick...done! Do that for your "System" apps and settings (bookmarks, SMS, Call Log, etc). You can use titanium to save yourself a lot of time, you just have to know how to use it.

Hopefully, I have explained everything clearly (It's difficult to explain this without "showing" you. if there is interest...I'll make a video and post it on YouTube.



Edit: Oh yeah I forgot to ask... Slick, are you rooted again? :D You go through the 12 steps for ROMoholics and then come back? lol
 
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All of your apps + app data will be restored with Titanium. Your contacts will be synced with your Google profile, so those will reappear automatically. Your paid apps will show in the market. I THINK you will lose your text message history but there is a way to restore this with Titanium (takes 2 seconds) but I forgot how to do it (like I said, I haven't been rooted for a while now). Personally, I don't care about call history but if there's a way to restore text history I'm sure there's a way to restore call history. Obviously, all of your SD card stuff (movies, MP3's, pictures, etc) will be the same as before. That's everything, right?

I use both Titanium Backup and MyBackUp Pro. So long as you do a data backup with MyBackUp Pro just before you wipe everything, selecting things like SMS, MMS and Call Log, it will restore those items flawlessly (I put the phone in Airplane Mode when I'm doing the backup and restore, however, because I've had a call or text message come in while I was performing these functions and it reset the phone and I had to start over).
 
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I use both Titanium Backup and MyBackUp Pro. So long as you do a data backup with MyBackUp Pro just before you wipe everything, selecting things like SMS, MMS and Call Log, it will restore those items flawlessly (I put the phone in Airplane Mode when I'm doing the backup and restore, however, because I've had a call or text message come in while I was performing these functions and it reset the phone and I had to start over).

I used to do this too but there wasn't a way to back up your pop3/imap settings with MyBackUp Pro...maybe there is now with updated versions (I quit using it completely so I can't say), but I got tired of doing it manually so I started doing it all through Titanium and although it seems like a lot, it is much simpler to have one app backing up/restoring everything IMO.
 
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I used to do this too but there wasn't a way to back up your pop3/imap settings with MyBackUp Pro...maybe there is now with updated versions (I quit using it completely so I can't say), but I got tired of doing it manually so I started doing it all through Titanium and although it seems like a lot, it is much simpler to have one app backing up/restoring everything IMO.

No, you're right -- the pop3/imap settings backup still isn't available in MyBackUp Pro. Where I've found MyBackUp pro most handy is when I've done something stupid and my latest ROM is acting all kinds of horrible, and I want to restore a previous nandroid backup and start over (but of course that backup wouldn't have all of my latest call log and text messages). In that case I use MyBackUp Pro to backup just those items and then do a restore of those after I've done my nandroid restore.
 
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No, you're right -- the pop3/imap settings backup still isn't available in MyBackUp Pro. Where I've found MyBackUp pro most handy is when I've done something stupid and my latest ROM is acting all kinds of horrible, and I want to restore a previous nandroid backup and start over (but of course that backup wouldn't have all of my latest call log and text messages). In that case I use MyBackUp Pro to backup just those items and then do a restore of those after I've done my nandroid restore.

Gotcha. That brings up a good idea for the next version of Titanium...just having the ability to "Batch" backup things like call log, bookmarks, SMS, call log, etc. I would get some utility out of that. I just end up doing a full "Batch" backup for everything...just so I don't miss something. It's not too bad to backup everything (about 4-5 minutes)...so I don't think I could call not having that option a complaint...but would be nice.
 
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Slick is right on with this post and I've flashed many many many ROMs. Titanium is not the problem...here are some tips:

1) Get the paid version...it's worth it! I can't emphasis that enough...just donate and get the license...don't question it...just do it! IT WILL SAVE YOU A TON OF TIME! When I flash a new ROM, I can have it COMPLETELY set up in about 15 minutes...everything installed...homescreen set...etc. Clear enough? :D

....


Edit: Oh yeah I forgot to ask... Slick, are you rooted again? :D You go through the 12 steps for ROMoholics and then come back? lol


Thanks for going into extra detail and covering things I didn't in my original post!

I'm still going to meetings. I've learned that I am and will always be a ROMoholic and I can't control my urges/thoughts but I can control my actions.:D

Just out of curiosity, what's the "rom of the moment". Is it Fab's ESE81 NexTheme?
 
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Thanks for going into extra detail and covering things I didn't in my original post!

I'm still going to meetings. I've learned that I am and will always be a ROMoholic and I can't control my urges/thoughts but I can control my actions.:D

Just out of curiosity, what's the "rom of the moment". Is it Fab's ESE81 NexTheme?

Slick your already rooting again? You seemed so sure you were going to stay stock. Another back to the dark side
 
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Slick your already rooting again? You seemed so sure you were going to stay stock. Another back to the dark side


No, I haven't rooted yet but I've been on the root forums every day. I really am happy with the 2.1 update (especially since the Clockwork Mod/Launcher 2 works well on my phone) but I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss some of the cool features rooting allows.

One thing's for sure...I do have a lot more free time on my hands and my relationship with my girlfriend has improved a tad bit since I've been unrooted (I just hope she never sees my gallery... a lot of "long-press, save picture" goodies in there :eek:).
 
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No, I haven't rooted yet but I've been on the root forums every day. I really am happy with the 2.1 update (especially since the Clockwork Mod/Launcher 2 works well on my phone) but I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss some of the cool features rooting allows.

One thing's for sure...I do have a lot more free time on my hands and my relationship with my girlfriend has improved a tad bit since I've been unrooted (I just hope she never sees my gallery... a lot of "long-press, save picture" goodies in there :eek:).

Haha...I'm a bastard but here goes!

You should consider rooting again and picking up Fab's ROM. It seems to be every bit as stable as stock, but it's themed nicely (unlike stock), and with P3Droid's 1.2GHz (you could go slower)...this ROM FLIES! Just a thought...imagine how much quicker you could get things on your phone done with the faster clock...you could have EVEN more time to spend with her. :D:D:D Seriously, it is basically the stock 2.1 with all the things fixed that make stock...well, suck. The grey notification bar is a deal breaker for me now...I can't go back! lol

I'd be a bad guy to have around at an AA meeting right? "You know, these meetings wouldn't be so boring if we had a drink or two before going inside!" Haha!!!

What is the "long press" thing about in gallery? I must have missed something.
 
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Well, there is a way to use the +system data successfully with just about every ROM I have tried in hte past few days. This is a hack I have worked out for myself, and YMMV depending upon what ROM you backed up from and what ROM you are restoring to.

When making the backup, obviously you should use the +system batch run so as t ograb everything you currently have on the phone. The restoring is the tricky part.

You have to go in and manually figure out what data you want restored to your phone, not just leave everything selected. It is pretty easy to see which things you can and cannot restore if you use a little common sense.

Restoring, for example, the Account and Sync Settings 2.1 update1 is useless if I have just restored an older ROM that does not have the system built on the 2.1 update 1 framework. Likewise, restoring anything Contacts or Calendar related is useless, unless for some *odd* reason you have disabled Google Account synchronization. However, items like [SMS/MMS/APN] Dialer Storage and [DESKTOP] Home 2.1-update 1 are necessary for me b/c it restores the SMS and the desktop settings - crucial for me. Of course, if you used an alternate launcher in your previous ROM from the one you are using now, YMMV again.

I think that the main reason people are having problems is that they are trying to let he software make an all or nothing choice when it comes to restoring, and anyone will tell you - if you're gonna do that then you're placing your faith in a program that has no ability to intelligently make choices if the situation changes (in this case the situation would be each application).

A good method I use is to use the batch +system and restore DATA ONLY so all my data stuff gets restored, and then I use the missing apps batch to restore the apps I want that did not come from he market (SlydeMe Market, Mange Droid, etc.) and finally use hte +System batch one more time to add missing apps that I definitely want that are compatible with my current ROM.

HTH
 
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No, I haven't rooted yet but I've been on the root forums every day. I really am happy with the 2.1 update (especially since the Clockwork Mod/Launcher 2 works well on my phone) but I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss some of the cool features rooting allows.

One thing's for sure...I do have a lot more free time on my hands and my relationship with my girlfriend has improved a tad bit since I've been unrooted (I just hope she never sees my gallery... a lot of "long-press, save picture" goodies in there :eek:).

Man you must have had the addiction worse than me if it was effecting your relationship. If I started ignoring my wife for my phone she would drop it in the toilet
 
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Gotcha. That brings up a good idea for the next version of Titanium...just having the ability to "Batch" backup things like call log, bookmarks, SMS, call log, etc. I would get some utility out of that. I just end up doing a full "Batch" backup for everything...just so I don't miss something. It's not too bad to backup everything (about 4-5 minutes)...so I don't think I could call not having that option a complaint...but would be nice.

I sent Joel an email last night asking about a batch for just settings, as well as to notify him that if you have an unlock pattern set, and you restore all your settings +system, then it restores the new unlock *screen* but any pattern you input unlocks the phone - - and in settings no actual pattern is registered.
 
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Haha...I'm a bastard but here goes!

You should consider rooting again and picking up Fab's ROM. It seems to be every bit as stable as stock, but it's themed nicely (unlike stock), and with P3Droid's 1.2GHz (you could go slower)...this ROM FLIES! Just a thought...imagine how much quicker you could get things on your phone done with the faster clock...you could have EVEN more time to spend with her. :D:D:D Seriously, it is basically the stock 2.1 with all the things fixed that make stock...well, suck. The grey notification bar is a deal breaker for me now...I can't go back! lol

I'd be a bad guy to have around at an AA meeting right? "You know, these meetings wouldn't be so boring if we had a drink or two before going inside!" Haha!!!

What is the "long press" thing about in gallery? I must have missed something.

Son of a gun. Look at this s**t. Right before I unrooted, I was using Fab's NexTheme (ESE53 based, of course) and I LOVED it. In particular, the custom theme is what made that ROM so cool and I swear that thing was BUGLESS (like you said, it was like being stock). The stock look is SOOOO boring, which is one of the few things I don't like about being unrooted. But are you saying that Fab's newest ROM has a grey notification bar.? Does it use Launcher2? Five-column Launcher2?!?!? UBR YOU SUMMABITCH, YOU'VE TEMPTED ME WITH MY DRUG OF CHOICE!!! AND I WAS DOING SO WELL!!!

What is the "long press" thing about in gallery? I must have missed something.

If you happen to be on a particular website lookin' at pictures of purty ladies, you can long-press pictures and save them to your gallery. Of course, you already knew this but I was unclear in my original post.

That's it, it is official UBR is an enabler... how do you think I got started? It is all his fault, him and his whole "Oh come on it is just a little taste, it never hurt nobody..."

:p

UBR is like those kids at school your mom told you to stay away from...what a bad influence...or should I say good influence since rooting/rom'ing is soooo goooooooooooood...

"I can't control my thoughts/urges, but I can control my actions..."

REPEAT
 
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John...You're killing me! :D YMMV...I got that one. WTF is HTH? :eek:
Good post though! I never thought to do it that way but you're making a lot of sense!

That's it, it is official UBR is an enabler... how do you think I got started? It is all his fault, him and his whole "Oh come on it is just a little taste, it never hurt nobody..."

:p

Be a grown up and take responsibility for your own actions! Unless your happy with everything and in that case...send all the credit my way! :D

Thank you so much URB! I did not know you could restore your e-mail settings. Wow, that saves time. I never restored any System settings because I didn't want to mess anything up.

However, since I'm Cyan .6 (I think), I can do a backup of everything, and just restore everything if I do a moderate update.

Thank you!

No problem. See Johnlgalt's post above as he has a similar but probably better (more efficient) way of restoring everything.
 
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Son of a gun. Look at this s**t. Right before I unrooted, I was using Fab's NexTheme (ESE53 based, of course) and I LOVED it. In particular, the custom theme is what made that ROM so cool and I swear that thing was BUGLESS (like you said, it was like being stock). The stock look is SOOOO boring, which is one of the few things I don't like about being unrooted. But are you saying that Fab's newest ROM has a grey notification bar.? Does it use Launcher2? Five-column Launcher2?!?!? UBR YOU SUMMABITCH, YOU'VE TEMPTED ME WITH MY DRUG OF CHOICE!!! AND I WAS DOING SO WELL!!!

LMAO! :D No, his newest ROM (second release of the ESE81 build) is completely themed with NexTheme 2.0! It's really nice. I was saying that the grey notification bar (you know...the one you have :p) would drive me nuts! The black is soooooo nice...you know you want it...it will take the pain away! :D

If you happen to be on a particular website lookin' at pictures of purty ladies, you can long-press pictures and save them to your gallery. Of course, you already knew this but I was unclear in my original post.

Does purty = naked? lol I though you were talking about long pressing on something inside of gallery...I'm with you now.


UBR is like those kids at school your mom told you to stay away from...what a bad influence...or should I say good influence since rooting/rom'ing is soooo goooooooooooood...

"I can't control my thoughts/urges, but I can control my actions..."

REPEAT

Oh yeah, I'm trouble...stay away from me! J/K...I'm a 29 year old guy that can't put down his F'ing phone! :D Maybe I should go back to stock....nah!
 
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John...You're killing me! :D YMMV...I got that one. WTF is HTH? :eek:
Good post though! I never thought to do it that way but you're making a lot of sense!

Hope This Helps ==> HTH

Glad you enjoy my posts not just for the amusement value of learning new acronyms lol...

Seriously, though, I am gonna try to keep bugging Joel about making a settings only options - after all, in his writeup on his website, he succinctly explains what I did above, it's just a much more terse explanation than what I gave.

Eventually, I hope that he will have a batch for restoring importing things like SMS and desktop settings separate completely out and will make a tutorial on it - else, I may have to work on it in 2 weeks and figure out what restores where and what is compatible where and do my own little writeup for successfully using TiBu for aps....

Oh, yeah, I told him about my little shortening of the name to TiBu also lol....
 
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