My phone is dead. Can rescue app data from the SD card?

[garybeck]

My phone died (LG Optimus V)

I am going to get a new phone. I am wondering about some of the app data on the SD card of the old phone.

My phone was rooted and I had almost all my apps set up with symbolic links and moved to the SD card.

Does that mean I could possibly get some of the app data back? I'm not worried about the actual apps... I can just reinstall them on the new phone, from Google Play. But the data that went with some of the apps, I'd really like to try to get back.

If I get a new phone, and install one of the apps I had before on the old phone while the SD card is in place, is there any hope I would get the data back for that app?

There are just a couple apps I had on the dead phone, that I'd really like to get the data back from.

Thanks
gary in Vermont

 

[Hadron]

Exactly what method did you use to move/link apps to sd? Most only move the apks, or apk + dalvik, but leave the app data on sd.

There are "data2sd" scripts which move everything, but they are less common.

 

[garybeck]

Exactly what method did you use to move/link apps to sd? Most only move the apks, or apk + dalvik, but leave the app data on sd.

There are "data2sd" scripts which move everything, but they are less common.

I used Link2SD. it moves the app to the SD card and creates a symbolic link on the internal memory that fools the phone into thinking its still on the internal. only works when the phone is rooted. when you move an app to the card, there are some options on what to move. I usually moved everything.

here's a screenshot I got from google play that shows the options when creating a symbolic link

https://lh5.ggpht.com/_hQBIbTfVdMqo7BH8sS4JbLxYyQ40ALgn4xK29BO775rkWblwWpeuqgM2WA9NZs2748=h900-rw

I can't say for sure which apps I had checked which boxes, but most of them I remember checking all the boxes.

thanks

 

[Hadron]

Yeah, I'm afraid that none of those will move app data. The apk is just the app installer, the dalvik cache and library are elements of the installed app.

If that's what you used then I'm afraid your data are gone unless you made a backup. If you used Titanium Backup (or something similar) then you'll have a copy of the apps plus data on your sd card. If you made a backup using a custom recovery (a "nandroid" backup) then depending on which recovery you used Titanium Backup Pro may be able to retrieve the data from the backup (you wouldn't want to try restoring a nandroid backup onto a different phone model - bad things would happen, if it allowed you to do it - but Titanium Pro can extract stuff from backups made with some recoveries).

If you don't have any backup, I'm afraid all you can do is make backups in future (and then back them up elsewhere, in case you lose the phone or the card fails).