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Hi folks,

I am toying with the idea of "rooting" my HTC legend and adding Cyanogen but I am greatly concerned about losing data from my apps that I have accumulated over the past year, in particularly diary entries from my private diary.

Has someone done this before and is there a "how to" section in this forum I have not yet found?

Love to hear from you.

Cheers
 
I’ve never rooted, so don’t have Cyanogen, but I doubt if that matters in this case. I also don’t know what you’re using for a diary app, but I presume it’s saving your entries on your SD card. Check that before you proceed.

Then make a copy of your entire SD card on your PC before you root. Better still (I think), unmount and remove the card from the droid before you go adventuring.
 
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Visit your device's All Things Root subforum for the most specific advice, esp on how to root. The sticky post All Things Root Guide in that forum should have some pointers.

Once you have rooted, to avoid data loss when changing ROM:

* any apps that can export or backup their data to SD, do so. This includes contacts unless you sync those with Google.

* install Titanium Backup and back up all user apps and data - you can back up system data if you like, but must not restore system settings on a different ROM.

* back up messages separately. I use SMS Backup+, but there are other options in the market. This is because message storage is mixed in the system data, so should not be restored from Ti Backup to a different ROM.

* take a nandroid backup (ie. a backup made from recovery) before wiping and flashing. Not only does this let you recover if something goes wrong in the install, but if you forget to back something up you can restore then back it up again (eg. take a nandroid of Cyanogen, restore original nandroid, back up what you missed, restore cyanogen nandroid, restore backup).

And remember that you need to install Google apps as an extra with CM - that catches a lot of people! :)

If you have not rooted or found guides yet some of that will make no sense. Don't worry, just don't try to do this until it does. Your device's root forum should contain explanations.
 
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I am currently using Cyanogen and I do love it. However you will need to be willing to root your phone to be able to flash the rom. But please do a lot of research before you decide to root your phone as it can be risky if not done properly. Plus, rooting your phone will void your warranty.
Please also ensure you are using the right method to root your phone as different phones(CDMA vs GSM)/models/carriers have different ways of rooting. Some of them are very easy to root, some of them, like the Wildfire S, are more difficult.
As Hadron has advised, go to the device's All Things Root subforum for the most specific advice. They will be able to help you better. If, like Zuben mentioned, the threads are too old or if no one is there to answer your questions, I suggest you do to the XDA forums.

If you every decide to root and use Cyanogen, keep in mind that this particular ROM does not support Google apps. So once you are ready to flash the ROM, make sure you have also downloaded the gapps (Available in ROM manager) and flash first the ROM and then the gapps, or you will end up with a phone without Market/Play store and therefore will not be able to download any apps.

Sorry I can't really help you on how to root the HTC legend as I currently don't have it. :)
 
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I've used the XDA forums. I've also used the Cyanogen Forums.

The wiki for rooting and installing Cyanogen is the best explanation and how to I've seen so far. Complete, and in understandable English. Someone must have taken a good tech writing course. Here's an example - they have it by phone. I used GSM Nexus S.

http://wiki.cyanogenmod.com/wiki/HTC_Dream:_Rooting

XDA is OK - those that post how-tos do know the subject. Drawback is a lot post from their phones and are either in a hurry, assume you know what they are referring to with no link, and they use texting shorthand. Makes it impossible to read sometimes.

I will say - there is more info on how to do almost anything with Android than I've found with Ubuntu.
 
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