Hi,
I'm using a Fire HD 10. It developed a hardware fault (charger is wonky, so only charges if you wedge something under it), so Amazon have sent a replacement.
I've used the Amazon backup and restore functionality, but this only seems to re-install the apps on the new device (along with some settings), but doesn't actually migrate any data over (e.g. game progress, saved worlds in Minecraft/Terraria etc...).
I've looked online and tried several things, all without any success:
Firstly, I tried copying the contents of various key folders (such as the app specific content of /Android/Data/... and /Android/obb). I copied these from the old device to my computer, then back onto the new device, rebooted, and nothing. I've done some research and copied a few of the ...../com.amazon..... folders (only some selected one) and again, nothing. Of note, there is no /games folder on the device
Secondly I connected the first device to my computer, and used adb backup and restore. This also had no success. A complete backup would always hang (when including the -shared option) - apparently this is a known bug on some versions of Android. The command that backed up the most was "adb backup -f backup.ab -apk -all -system" - I've tried with and without encrypting the backup. The backup and subsequent restore processes complete without error, but no data is migrated.
Finally, I've contacted Amazon, who have frankly been of no help at all!
I'm on the point of giving up and shipping it all back, getting a refund and getting something else entirely. As I'm considering a return, I don't want to root the device.
Can anyone think of any last ditch attempts to help save this? Personally even if you can, I can't believe Amazon are making it this hard!!
Thanks in advance,
Related
My battery died whilst some apps were updating and ever since I have been getting a lot of crashes and various other problems.
So I'm thinking of doing a factory reset but I have a couple of questions:
I have used the nexus root toolkit to make backups before but can anyone tell me if this backs up game data such as progress and in particular, in-app purchases?
Does restoring from this backup restore app settings or just put the apps back on?
shaneydroid said:
My battery died whilst some apps were updating and ever since I have been getting a lot of crashes and various other problems.
So I'm thinking of doing a factory reset but I have a couple of questions:
I have used the nexus root toolkit to make backups before but can anyone tell me if this backs up game data such as progress and in particular, in-app purchases?
Does restoring from this backup restore app settings or just put the apps back on?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Although it back ups the apps etc I had a few issues using the backup tool it was telling me to install apps and that info was missing etc. So the best thing to do is plug your unit into an PC and drag the file data (Android/data) onto your desktop, this way once you have factory reset and done your back up you can drag that file back onto your device and you will have all game progress saved. If you have an emulator installed some of the Memory cards are hidden in the file system meaning you will have to find them in FPse or whatever you use and back them up as well, to be honest I just use root browser and email them to myself :good:
Ugh! Pretty gutted now.
Decided to cover all bases. Did a regular backup using the toolkit. Did another backup with all the shared data using the toolkit and manually copied the data to my computer as suggested above.
After the factory reset I restored the full backup with shared data. Although some games have retained settings, some haven't and NONE have any of the in-app purchase stuff.
So copied back all the data I copied to PC and still nothing.
As an example, Bad Piggies HD. My son bought a load of in-app stuff after the PIN was reset (without my knowledge) and none of the stuff is there and all levels are locked again.
<EDIT>
Tsk! I've now discovered that the restore has only restored about half my apps, let alone settings!
With Titanium Backup, when you backup your apps and other files it creates a folder full of files that only it can read. When I flashed Jasmine, I copied those files to my computer and then flashed, then redownloaded Titanium Backup and moved those files as well as the license back into the correct folders. Is this the correct way to use TB, or is there a route that I am missing? It worked fine, just not sure if it is the recommended way of use or not.
More or less.
The folder is usually in the /sdcard area which is NOT wiped by custom recovery (default) "factory reset", so I'm not sure there is any reason to back it up and restore it. If you are using the default wiping method in TWRP, the (internal, psuedo-) /sdcard folder is not wiped.
But there's no harm in a PC backup. A backup that goes unused can just be deleted some time down the road; disk space is cheap & it's there in a disaster. The same can not be said for not making backups.
Warning: since you are newish to this stuff this behavior is VERY different in stock recoveries - the stock recovery version of "factory reset" wipes out EVERYTHING. In that case it would be mandatory that you backup the entire /sdcard if you want to save things. It's a little bit unfortunate that Android named this type of procedure "Factory Reset" instead of something more accurate, which would be something like "User Data Wipe", as it leads new rooters to erroneously conclude that random modifications to the /system and boot partitions can be un-done using something called "factory reset". NOT TRUE AT ALL; IT'S JUST FOR WIPING USER DATA.
Different apps use different strategies for "Pro" version licensing. If they stick with the Google Play ("market") best-practice recommendations, there shouldn't be any need to manipulate license files, so long as the app is downloaded from the Play Store with the same google login that was used to originally purchase the app. But I can't say for sure if that's the mechanism with TiBu.
I use TiBu kind of sparingly - typically only for market apps I am interested in, and even in those cases I usually download the app from the market and restore only the data from TiBu (to avoid missing market registration bugs, etc). Folks on small data plans might have different ideas about it because of data usage issues (and timeliness of restore procedures). I don't use TiBu for things like backup of data stores for launcher apps, ROM frameworks (e.g. "Settings"). There probably is some degree of compatibility from ROM to ROM with those items, but it is certainly not guaranteed. (Things like word dictionaries & dialer blacklists fall into this category - it would be nice if they were guaranteed to be compatible, but there is no way to know in advance. You sort of have to experimentally determine whether you have broken anything.)
Alternatively, you could keep a copy of the TiBu .apk file in your SD card somewhere. That would allow you to do whatever restores you like without connecting to the Google Play market. Just copy it to /data/app using TWRP after flashing/wiping and then on first boot it will be ready to do your restores.*
* in TWRP via Advanced -> Terminal
This requires getting comfortable with a minimum number of Unix command line commands, e.g. "cd", "cp", "ls", "pwd", etc.
I did download it from the store, but had previously read that the license would need to be moved in a thread not on this website. When I redownloaded it from the store, it automatically added the license back, so I ended up not needing it.
I only use TB to backup things like my offline games I want my scores saved, or apps that it logs me back into when it loads it back (Facebook, Reddit, Messenger, Twitch, Twitter, etc).
What I was looking to do was just keep the files for the backups of those apps on my SD card (or whatever is the recommended method), rather than stored to the phones internal memory since it gets wiped during the reset.
Your internal /sdcard should not be getting wiped by TWRP's default wipe method (which is used for installing ROMs for instance). You would have to go into the Advanced Wipe submenu for that to happen. A stock recovery "factory reset" would nuke the "internal" /sdcard though.
That said, there is nothing wrong with having backups off the device - especially for people that remain on a locked bootloader and do not have a (independent boot) custom recovery.
TiBu has a place in its settings where you can choose to place it's backups on the external sdcard if you want to do that. Then they would be safe from any type of factory reset, and could be retrieved if the phone suddenly died.
Hi all, been trying to solve this problem for a while, can't seem to figure it out.
Yesterday, when my phone died and I charged and turned it back on, the recents and home buttons wouldn't work, in addition to my notifications not showing and the quick settings drawer not coming down. This seems to be a problem others have ran into. Here's what I've tried so far:
clearing dalvik cache and regular cache
updating my ROM (I use AICP)
restoring an old backup of AICP
starting my phone in safe mode (all errors persist)
using ADB to attempt to get into the SetupWizardTestActivity as advised here
The error I get from this:
Code:
adb shell am start -n com.google.android.setupwizard/.SetupWizardTestActivity
Starting: Intent { cmp=com.google.android.setupwizard/.SetupWizardTestActivity }
java.lang.SecurityException: Permission Denial: starting Intent { flg=0x10000000 cmp=com.google.android.setupwizard/.SetupWizardTestActivity } from null (pid=12048, uid=2000) not exported from uid 10072
at android.os.Parcel.readException(Parcel.java:1684)
at android.os.Parcel.readException(Parcel.java:1637)
at android.app.ActivityManagerProxy.startActivityAsUser(ActivityManagerNative.java:3160)
at com.android.commands.am.Am.runStart(Am.java:643)
at com.android.commands.am.Am.onRun(Am.java:394)
at com.android.internal.os.BaseCommand.run(BaseCommand.java:51)
at com.android.commands.am.Am.main(Am.java:124)
at com.android.internal.os.RuntimeInit.nativeFinishInit(Native Method)
at com.android.internal.os.RuntimeInit.main(RuntimeInit.java:264)
I also tried switching from my user to a Guest user, but it won't allow me to go into the Users. At this point, I decided to take a backup on my laptop and factory reset, but after plugging my phone into my laptop, I realized I can't change the USB connection type from charging to mass storage (or whatever it is) to access the files on my laptop since I can't see notifications. This lead me to Developer Options, where I get the message "Developer options are not available for this user."
So then I tried to make an activity in Nova for the SetupTestActivity as detailed here, but the closest thing I can find in there is under Settings about activating the cellular service, and when I try to use that I just get "Permission denied" error.
After all of this, I looked into backing up my device via ADB using this command:
Code:
adb backup -apk -shared -all
It tells me to unlock my device to confirm the backup operation, but there is nothing shown on my device indicating a confirmation.
Then I went into my file manager (I use Xplore) and it indicates that my device is not rooted. I don't know how that could've happened, although I have not tried re-rooting it to see if that helps. Any suggestions or do I just have to do a factory reset and lose all my data?
markgnarza said:
... Any suggestions or do I just have to do a factory reset and lose all my data?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why not use TWRP to create a newer backup? You can also use TWRP's MTP to move anything off the phone you want. Then flash a full Google image with flash-all.bat. You can try it without the -w switch first if you like. I doubt it's a hardware issue, but stranger things have happened, and returning to stock briefly will let you know right away.
v12xke said:
Why not use TWRP to create a newer backup? You can also use TWRP's MTP to move anything off the phone you want. Then flash a full Google image with flash-all.bat. You can try it without the -w switch first if you like. I doubt it's a hardware issue, but stranger things have happened, and returning to stock briefly will let you know right away.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I ended up uploading my Titanium backups/other files I wanted to keep to Google Drive and factory resetting, but now the setup wizard keeps crashing. Think I'm gonna try a full wipe and flash of AICP again to see if that does it.
markgnarza said:
I ended up uploading my Titanium backups/other files I wanted to keep to Google Drive and factory resetting, but now the setup wizard keeps crashing. Think I'm gonna try a full wipe and flash of AICP again to see if that does it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay, hope that works for ya. Nowadays with Google backup for market apps and TiBu for everything else, it doesn't take long (less than one hour) to completely wipe, clean install, and restore everything back the way it was. Especially if you have a good internet connection. I use my Solid Explorer to zip the TiBu folder into a single file and transfer that off to my PC. Try that next time and see if it saves you some time. My TiBu zip files are well over 1GB, so I don't u/l them to the cloud. Curious if you have TWRP why you did not have MTP file transfer from recovery to laptop?
v12xke said:
Okay, hope that works for ya. Nowadays with Google backup for market apps and TiBu for everything else, it doesn't take long (less than one hour) to completely wipe, clean install, and restore everything back the way it was. Especially if you have a good internet connection. I use my Solid Explorer to zip the TiBu folder into a single file and transfer that off to my PC. Try that next time and see if it saves you some time. My TiBu zip files are well over 1GB, so I don't u/l them to the cloud. Curious if you have TWRP why you did not have MTP file transfer from recovery to laptop?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It worked! And all my Titanium backups + photos are still intact on my phone? Seems strange to me. I hadn't thought of zipping my TiBu folder, good idea!
As for using TWRP to transfer to laptop, I'm not sure how that process works! I'll look around in TWRP once I'm done restoring everything to see what you mean, good to keep in mind for the future. Thanks for the help!
My honor got the same problem... I know they were working but now they don't.. what should i do??
I assume this is possible. Usually I would do this with TWRP (which you can do), but this method does not require root necessarily.
I want a backup I can restore in case things go sideways.
I managed to do this. Here are the basic instructions.
Have developer options available, select USB debugging. On PC, install minimal adb and fastboot, install essential drivers. Connect phone to PC, select transfer files MTP under USB connected options in notifications. If USB debugging prompt prompts up on phone, check alway allow and ok.
Run cmd.exe as admin and navigate to you ADB install directory. Type "adb root" if rooted or just "adb" if not. ADB should start.
Type adb backup -system -apk -shared -all -f C:\filenameyouchoose.ab
On the phone, type a password for encryption if wanted and touch Back Up My Data.
Presto, now all that's left is to wait. The -apk is to back up apps and -shared is to backup internal SD card data. Change those if you don't want that data backed up.
The command to restore the backup is adb restore C:\filenameyouchoose.ab
Full XDA guide here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-nexus/general/guide-phone-backup-unlock-root-t1420351
Thanks! I'm attempting this procedure for the first time. I am at the place where I am supposed to enter a password to encrypt my backup. The "Back Up My Data" button does nothing. I've tapped all over and around it. The "Do Not Backup" button works just fine and it cancels the operation instantly. My adb session ends. If I tap all over the "Back Up My Data" eventually the operation times out. What could I possibly be doing wrong? Has anyone ever seen this behavior before? (It's super hard to troubleshoot problems with no feedback or error codes.)
I set a desktop backup password in developer options. It still wouldn't go. Then I rebooted and it worked after a fresh boot. Not sure why. I hope that is helpful to someone.
Grep_The_Truth said:
Thanks! I'm attempting this procedure for the first time. I am at the place where I am supposed to enter a password to encrypt my backup. The "Back Up My Data" button does nothing. I've tapped all over and around it. The "Do Not Backup" button works just fine and it cancels the operation instantly. My adb session ends. If I tap all over the "Back Up My Data" eventually the operation times out. What could I possibly be doing wrong? Has anyone ever seen this behavior before? (It's super hard to troubleshoot problems with no feedback or error codes.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh, while I was typing out the message, seems you already solved it.
Previous message: I had similar issue when I was trying to install apps using apk(s) files. It turned out to be the app Twilight app which didn't allow me to click install button except cancel: "The prompt for screen overlay detected is presented when an installed application is allowed to Draw over other apps is running in the background" See if your issue has something to do with an app.
Charkatak said:
...It turned out to be the app Twilight app...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Brilliant! That was it. Jolly good show, sir!
File size of backup
Just wondering if anyone gets vastly different file sizes when they do a complete backup? The first time i tried this i got a backup file of about 600mb. I did it again with a different file name to the same folder and it was double the size. The third time i tried it was back to the original smaller size. My fear is that this is not a reliable means for complete backup. Is there any way of seeing whats inside this backup?
I have stumbled upon this command and my question is, is this as powerful as a nandroid backup? Since we don't have permanent TWRP (Yet?), I feel really unsafe while messing with the phone (The whole A/B thing which I still need to get used to doesn't help either) and considering the times nandroid backup saved my device I could really use something equally powerful to fall back on.
I tried the ADB backup and it took a while and generated a ~10GB file for me, but restoring to a new phone didn't work. No errors or anything, it just went real fast and didn't seem to do anything. I didn't care to try to investigate it because I just needed to get my new phone up and send the broken one back.
I ended up using TWRP from the boot partition (obviously not backing up boot), then installing twrp on boot on the new phone and restoring the system and data, next copying the sdcard contents to the computer using adb pull and adb push onto the new phone, finally flashing the correct boot.img, and I was back up and running on a replacement phone right where I left off on the old one. ...
One caveat is if your old phone is on a different firmware you have to update the new phone to match before all this.
Hi guys,
I need an advice on a backup program or app that allows me to full backup my device without root.
I would like to backup the image of the phone because I have to full wipe it.
Some tips?
Any kind of image backup (presumably with TWRP) only works with an unlocked bootloader....as you don't have root I assume you also have your bootloader locked.
What you can do is use a tool like Swift Backup (or the standard Google backup/restore mechanism) which will backup and restore some of the data on you phone including installed apps, but no app data itself. Many apps allow for export/import of their data, so this may be a solution - but requires a bit of footwork to go through all the apps and do export/import of data manually. For me this approach (using the standard Google/Android mechanism) has worked quite nicely the times I had a non-rooted phone.
You can try with ADB backup/restore (maybe with help of an app called Helium Backup that creates a UI for the commandline-interaction of the ADB commands), but you need to connect the phone to a PC for this to work. From my experience ADB backup is a little quirky, not always backing up and restoring all data depending on some unclear characteristics of the apps concerned (and on top many apps don't allow data backup via ADB at all!). For me reliability in the backup/restore mechanism is crucial, so I've quit using ADB backup at all
Thanks!!!