Database Develop

[Q] Rooting/ CM6 flash last check

As rooting has become so easy these days I am considering to try custom roms (as many hv done lately). I hv read alot since the root with unlocking the bootloader method came out. I am still on stock FRF91 and I'd like to keep my apps and data intact. CM6-RC3 has just released and I m so tempted to try!
Here is the proposed routine:
"Originally Posted by cicrockets"
0. Download the CM6-RC3 ROM with the gapps and put them on SD Card.
1. Plug in the power cable and root using the 1-click root.
2. Back up apps and data with Titanium Backup / MyBackupPro (which is better?)
3. Search for ROM Manager on Market and Install
4. Click the "Flash ClockworkMod Recovery" and wait until the progress bar is finished.
5. Reboot and do a Nandroid backup.
6. Open ROM Manager and "Install ROM from SD Card".
7. Add Zip:
i) update-cm-6.0.0-N1-RC3-signed.zip
ii) gapps-hdpi-20100814-signed.zip
8. When it prompts, choose to backup before flashing and give the backup a name like "Stock N1 Rooted". Also choose to clear data and dalvik-cache.
9. Wait. It'll reboot and go into the clockwork recovery and automatically queue and flash the two zips. Keep waiting until it reboots again.
At this point the phone should hv booted into CM6. Should I do the restore from the backup apps immediately? Or should I wait for 10-15min market sync?
My major concern will be the data. Is there any problem with the above routine? Please bear with me

Technically that is the way to do it. But some people say that they get issues when restoring titanium backups for certain apps and data. So keep that in mind.

Yeah I read about that too. They said it can be fixed by doing an advanced restore, right? Will u recommend MyBackUpPro instead?
Thanks!

[Q] Phone won't boot after Ultimate JB ROM Upgrade

Can anyone please help?
I just installed the Ultimate JB ROM XXLSA 4.1.2 v5 upgrade on top of v4.
All went perfectly well and I was able to enter all my setup and account details after the initial boot of the phone.
When I tried to re-install apps from Google Play, however, (Titanium Backup Pro, Quickboot) the phone hangs at the Samsung Splash screen and won't go any further. I re-tried the procedure 3 times but each time the result is the same.
Can anyone tell me what the problem could be? I followed all the instructions about wiping etc. correctly.
Trevor

v4 and v5 use completely different bases (LS7 and LSA).
I would save everything to my ext SD card.
Then goto Settings > Backup & Restore > Factory Reset (don't click on format external sd card).
Your phone will restart and do some crazy things. Then restart again.
When you get to the welcome page, or bootloop... take the battery out (its safe).
Then hold Vol Up, Home and Power (let go of Power after ~5-15sec) and goto recovery.
In recovery, wipe cache.
Then format data.
Then format system.
Then format cache.
Then wipe Dalvik cache.
Then install the v5 zip.
It shouldn't restart automatically, but it might, don't worry let it.
Now you should have a fully, fresh, clean install of v5.
Connect to your wifi, go through the start up.
Goto SuperSU and update binary.
Goto Play Store and install TiBu.
Open TiBu and grant it root access.
Close TiBu.
Connect phone to PC, then copy your TitaniumBackup folder into your sdcard directory.
Open TiBU and now, it will see your previous saves.
Restore your apps + data.
Presto! No bootlooping and no App FC !

Thanks for going to all the trouble to write all that out.
I followed the instructions to the letter but no, same result I'm afraid: it worked fine but as soon as I installed Titanium and granted root access, it asked me to choose to restore the original phone ID which I did. The phone rebooted but then wouldn't go past the "Samsung Galaxy Note Gt-N7000" screen.
I have no choice but to restore from my Nandroid backup. This is really p****ng me off but at least I can restore v4 easily.
Thanks again
Trevor
Kangal said:
v4 and v5 use completely different bases (LS7 and LSA).
I would save everything to my ext SD card.
Then goto Settings > Backup & Restore > Factory Reset (don't click on format external sd card).
Your phone will restart and do some crazy things. Then restart again.
When you get to the welcome page, or bootloop... take the battery out (its safe).
Then hold Vol Up, Home and Power (let go of Power after ~5-15sec) and goto recovery.
In recovery, wipe cache.
Then format data.
Then format system.
Then format cache.
Then wipe Dalvik cache.
Then install the v5 zip.
It shouldn't restart automatically, but it might, don't worry let it.
Now you should have a fully, fresh, clean install of v5.
Connect to your wifi, go through the start up.
Goto SuperSU and update binary.
Goto Play Store and install TiBu.
Open TiBu and grant it root access.
Close TiBu.
Connect phone to PC, then copy your TitaniumBackup folder into your sdcard directory.
Open TiBU and now, it will see your previous saves.
Restore your apps + data.
Presto! No bootlooping and no App FC !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Mystery solved - well partly. Turns out Titanium Backup Pro was causing it on my phone for some reason. This was naturally the first app I wanted to install so I could restore apps one by one from the Nandroid backup. I tried Quickboot too which also caused the same problem so because TB and then QB did the same thing I assumed every app was going to cause trouble. Shouldn't jump to conclusions, I know.
I have JB Ultimate XXSLA v5 installed and am restoring my apps one at a time from Google Play and making new Nandroid backups as I go along.
And now I just tried installing TB free version - the phone boots normally! Then I installed the TB Pro version and again the phone boots normally. When TB was the first app I installed after the ROM upgrade it hung up the phone every time on 6 attempts. I'll try re-installing Quickboot now and see what happens. Conclusion: I must have been doing something in the wrong sequence but can's see what.
Many thanks for your help.
Trevor
sacentre said:
Thanks for going to all the trouble to write all that out.
I followed the instructions to the letter but no, same result I'm afraid: it worked fine but as soon as I installed Titanium and granted root access, it asked me to choose to restore the original phone ID which I did. The phone rebooted but then wouldn't go past the "Samsung Galaxy Note Gt-N7000" screen.
I have no choice but to restore from my Nandroid backup. This is really p****ng me off but at least I can restore v4 easily.
Thanks again
Trevor
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Gateway of customization - Ultimate guide EFS/Root/Flashing ROM/Toolbox

Proposed Thread Index :
1.Root & Custom Recovery
2.Make backup of your data
3.How to Install custom ROM
4.Toolbox - Various useful tools for our device.
5.-9. Will be used as per needs.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How to root
So first step in world of customization is ROOT access on your device. and first post we have dedicated for instruction about how to root SGN4 and flash custom recovery. Guide will get updated as we gets more stuff to flash. Right now legend @Chainfire came as usual with privilege to root our device.
Here is Original thread for getting root access on SGN4. Big Thanks to @Chainfire
http://forum.xda-developers.com/note-4/orig-development/sm-n910-cf-auto-root-t2897428 - This method is for users still have stock recovery.
If you are already have custom recovery then simply flashing SuperSu zip enough to root your device.
Make EFS Backup
http://forum.xda-developers.com/note-4/orig-development/efs-imei-backup-tool-t2902811
.

Noob friendly guide to clean install ROM.
Ok friend here posting some steps to clean Install ROM and how to keep device ready to clean install ROM with minimal risk of loosing data with keeping data restore handy.
I have devided this guide in Three sctions.
If you are first time flashing custom ROM then first part of this guide is not much helpful to you. Move to section 2 (installing ROM) as well read post#2
1.Pre Flashing - How to keep device ready to clean install ROM/Wipe
2.Installing ROM
3.Post flashing data restore.
1.Pre Flashing preparation and data backup management.(for rooted device)
Here for this I do prefer titanium with schedule backup to keep my data protected on daily basis and describing below how do I prefer to manage it.
Ok let's start with schedule backup with titanium. This step will secure you to keep your data backup everyday without your interference.
- Install Titanium backup from play store (features mentioned here best managed with Pro version only)
- Now open titanium application and select click to edit filter as shown in screenshot below
-In next screen select create label. see image below
-Now give this filter a desired label like here i gave data only in below screenshot. After this select add/remove elements in same screen. This is very inportnt step and you have to decide what elements you requires to backup daily. In my case giving you some examples like
contact storage ( look for contac storage green color to make contact backup), Messages (yellow colored) to make backup of SMS. like this. You can select your desired application data to make backup according your needs. But I strongly recommend to make backup od these two only from system application part. Though another important app is Launcher which can helpful to restore your launcher setting (Homescreen) for that you need to select TouchWiz home (red color). Also note that when you restore red color backup, select only to restore data only. we will discuss again in restoring section. Ok you can also select third party elements which changes data frequently. in my case I don't use stock launcher so selecting third party launcher so whenever i do change my homescreen setting, i need not to worry about it. Anyway it's enough to make clear what you have to select here is only application which data frequently get changes.
Once you finish this setup you will see your filter in nect screen
-Now come to main screen and select Schedule. See image below
-Now here you can see two pre defined rule here on ths page. see image below
-Select first rule by tapping on edit on first rule. Now next screen is very important and you will find three tables. Here in below screenshot as I shown select first tab to "Backup new user app and New version" This will ake backup of all user app which backup is not present. Also it will make re backup if you update application version.
second tab is keep no filtering so all user app will backup and third tab should setup to 'Any' so it can make backup without any power condition.
Also in lower part select desired day and time when to make backup. You can select daily or on selected day. I prefer to do during our sleeping time so it can do silently.
-Now click on edit button of second rule. This is for backup of all app and data for which you have created lebel.
Now on first table select 'All user App + System data" and in next table (filter) select label which you have created earlier. So this will make backup of only stuff which you have selected in add/removal elements while creating label. Also recommended to keep 'Any' under power condition of third table.
Same as before here defined your prefered time to make backup. Keep considerable time between first and second rule so app will remain free at time od backup of second rule.
-Ok most of setup is now finished and select menu key - preference from titanium app and Check mark 'Auto-Sync TB setting' This will save setting on SD card and when you install Titanium next time all above made setting will be retrived autometically.
-I prefer to keep titanium backup folder on Ext SD because many times you may needs to wipe IntSD too. Also prefereable to make periodic manual backup of titanium backup folder to PC from Ext SD card. you can set loaction from Menu - preernce - Backup folder location.
-also recommended to keep multiple copy of backup by selecting Number of backup under menu-preference. This is important when one backup failed then old to that backup may be useful
So this is all about keep device ready to make backup of your device anytime on daily basis. Though you can manually run scheduled backup by selecting 'RUN' in schedule-rule just before flashing ROM to assure latest settings are being backup already.
2.Flashing ROM
1.Flash your desired CWM/TWRP if you are still on stock recovery. - READ POST #2 FOR DETAIL ABOUT FLASHING RECOVERY.
Note that your device not required to be rooted to flash custom ROM. Just having CWM/TWRP (what is recommended by your ROM developer)
2.Download and copy ROM file to your SD card (Int/Ext)
(Here I am showing example of Philz recovery and some option may be different in case of you are using other recovery)
3.Reboot to recovery and select wipe data (for clean installation) (see image)
4.Select Install zip and then select zip from SD (where you copied) (see image)
5.Now wait here and don't immediately confirm by pressing 'yes' but wait till it finish md5 check. (see image) MUST READ
Once it finish md5, compare it with below provided md5 sum and select yes only if it matches. If it doesn't match that means your download is corrupted and needs to redownload.
Ok Next important thing to mentione here is management of bootloop
So many users experiences bootloop after flashing ROM, even after clean install. This is most of due to corrupt data and common issue on kitkat based ROM.
Here recommended steps in case you get bootloop.
1.Make sure you have checked MD5. I have desribed here how to check md5 on device above wit Philz recovery. I strongly recommend to check MD5 on device because sometime file can be corrupted while transffering from PCto device. In case you are using other recovery then you can use root explorer from play store to check MD5. Open root explorer - navigate to ROM file - Long press and select properties. Vait for some time while it finish calculating MD5 and once it matches with one provided on ROM thread.
2.Use recovery which is recommended by developer of ROM.
3.Before flashing ROM wipe data and then install ROM.
4.If still issue then you can try flashing stock recovery and then wipe data with stock recovery. NOTE that wiping data with stock recovery will erase all data from Int SD too.
5.Even after this issue persist then last final way is to flash stock ROM with Odin and then wipe data using stock recovery. After that follow install instruction as said above.
Now After successful flashing ROM last step is to restore data
3.Post flashing Restoring data.
1. First complete setup wizard and wait till you get homescreen. Now here wait for your device to become cool. On first boot after clean install media scanner will scan all drive and Index srvice also will run that will make device quite hot. and this depends on data on your device (5 to 30min) Don't intall anything during this period and wait till device gets cool. (This waiting period is optional but still recommended to prevent any unwanted issue)
2.Now reboot device and add your google account. If you have cloud backup for your contacts then let sync to finish and as soon as you add google account your contacts will be restored autometically. Ifyou don't want to sync contact data then immdiately open account-google and select 'Cancel sync' now you can manually select each option which you want to select if you needs selected data to sync only.
3.In case you don't sync contacts with google server then now time to restore from backup you made by other way. Apart from titanim other way to backup contacts is from contact application itself. for that you needs to make bachup before wiping device by
Contact - menu -Impoort/Export - export (SD/ExtSd)
If you have make backup this way then now restore it by doing this in reverse. Contact-men-Import/Export-Import (from where you created backup)
In case you have created backup by titanium then
Open titanium app - look for contact storage (green color) and select it - restore -data only. Remeber this step you have to do after adding google account only otherwise you can't see contacts.
Next is restore SMS
Open titanium - look for Messages (Yellow color) - select - restore -data only
Now reboot device and check contacts and messages are restored correcly
4.Restore rest of app and data.
For this open titanium - menu - batch action - Select "Restore missing app with data" option Here very important thing on next screen is to keep selected two option a.App + data and b.Exclude System apk. This option a will restore all your app including data like game level (may not with few app), credential of app, settings/preferences of app etc and option b will prevent any junk file of preveios ROM to inject.
After confirming of these two options now check list of app which going to restore. Have a look again and deselect any app you don't needs as well an app you don't know what is it (sometimes old ROM junk can be seen here)
Once restore process start, keep patience and let it finsh. During this time device getting hot is normal. and once restore finish, simply reboot device and open application whih requires to give auto notification. Also open applications manually which require root permission. Remember some application can't work unless you manually open it once after titanium restore.
Also to remind that if you find lots of application causing force closes after restoring titanium then may e your ROM is not fixed for it and you needs to Install TB restore fix from play store and needs to apply fix. Also to note you needs to do it everytime you restore titanium data.
OK friends I think lots for now and will update if I find anything missin here. Thiugh it's long to read but I can assure once you do it, you will never worry about wiping device. and it's one time investment to keep device clean
All the best and happy flahing !

This is for users who first time ever flashing custom ROM.
First you should know difference between stock recovery and custom recovery at least visual difference. So if you don't know how stock recovery looks then first put device in recovery this way
Turn off device. Press Vol UP + Home + Power simultaneously. once you see samsing logo on screen just release power button and keep holding other two. Soon you will see some menu on screen. Note down options available and this is stock recovery. Now move On
1.First make backup of your contacts and SMS. you can do it without having device rooted too. For contacts you can sync with google account OR making backup locally from contact app-menu-Import/Export-Export to (USB/Rxt SD) I recommend ExtSD if you have ext SD card because sometime you needs to wipe IntSD card and may you lose data from IntSD (USB storage) For SM you can use samsung account OR offline with third party app like SMS Backup/Restore
2. Remember that for Installing custom ROM you don't needs to have device rooted. Just only having custom recovery (CWM/TWRP) is enough.
Here is guide to flash custom recovery.
First download tar OR tar.md5 format recovery. If you don't know where to get then seek help from ROM thread which you want to flash and get download link of recovery recommended by respective ROM developer.
Once you get custom recovery in tar format, you needs odin. Also make sure you have installed Kies OR Samsung USB drivers on your PC. I prefer samsung driver only.
Remember you don't connect device to PC while flashing with any extension cable. Simply use single cable to connect device with PC. If it is desktop machine then choose one from backside (direct connects to MoBo
Also make sure your machine's firewall is Off and also turn off antivirus if any you have installed on machine.
Now you are ready to go.
3.Turn off your device. Once it turn off completely, press three button Vol Down + Home + Power to put device in download mode.
Now you will see warning screen and press Volume up to continue
After this you will see green android logo and text Downloading...
4.Open Odin from PC and select PDA (On new version of Odin it will be AP) and navigate to custom recovery which you have downloaded in tar/tar.md5 version. See image below for No3
5.Connect your device to PC and soon ID:COM tab will be turn to different color once device is detected. (see No 1 in above Image)
6. Keep selected Auto reboot and Reset time as shown in Image above
7. Now click on start button (no5 in image above)
8.It will take few seconds to finish process and you will see Pass/RESET msg on first tab of Odin. Now you can disconnect device and it will auto reboot.
9.Turn off device and put device in recovery as said very first on this post. If your recovery is changed from first look of stock recovery then you have successfully finished first task. Now move to post 1 above and part 2 Installing ROM section to continue to flash custom ROM.
10.If even after flashing custom recovery you recovery not changes and same as stcok look you have before flashing then follow this.
11. Follow steps 3 to 5 above and after this uncheck Auto reboot option (no 2 in above image) and finish steps 7.
12. Now this time your device won't reboot auto but when you see Pass/REST msg simply disconnect devie and put device in recovery manually bu Vol UP + Home +Power (as said initially)
13.Now you should have custom recovery. and you are ready to proceed for Flashing custom ROM. Head toward post #1 avove section 2 (Installing ROM)
GoofLuck.

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Hey doc great to see u in note 4 section....well I am gonna ditch htc one m8 and go for note 4 as soon as it's launched in india and will wait for ur roms any idea when it will be available

No confirm date but probably Oct as per rumour.

So u also planning to get one

Of course, ASAP.
Sent from my SM-N900 using xda premium

Wow....Welcome doc....so nice to see you here!
For your welcome I have dedicated all of my 8 thanks to you
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda premium

Mod Edit
Good work , as usual.
Thread stickied
malybru
Forum Moderator

Can you make a bloatware app list when you have time of course?

Yeah will make but it will be useless until we get dump file of rom. N4 having newest os so lot changes will be there. I am planning this time to make separate debloating Tool specially for N4 instead of included in my rom.
Sent from my SM-N900 using xda premium

Count me in...

Thanks for this thread useful.
Good work my brother

Full image backup without unlocking bootloader?

Hi,
Pls pardon my noob questions...
I just gotten my 3T about a week now and after spending over 3 days setting up everything from scratch (eg installing numerous apps and configuring them one by one, setup emails, sms, contacts, icons packs, settings, etc) and finally gotten the phone to a state where I am very satisfied, a question dawn on me - How can I do a full image backup so that if anything happens, I can do a full image recovery and get back the "perfect" state?
After doing so much reading, it seemed the full image backup is called a "nandroid" backup and I need to first unlock the bootloader and flash TWRP in-order to perform this backup. But my predicament is, if I proceed to unlock bootloader, then all my configurations, setups and data will be wiped. So it became a chicken and egg scenario.
And the 2nd problem is that, worst comes to worst I decide to bite the bullet and proceed with unlocking and flashing TWRP, when booting into TWRP can I select "read only" and not agree with modified system since I have no intention to root. Will this cause boot loop problem if it is "read only"?
Can "read only" state in TWRP allows me to perform nandroid backup and restoration later on?
May I skip the next step of flashing anti dm verity file / root? I don't really want to go root since I am very happy with stock OOS at the moment.
So the big question is, is there anyway out there in the universe where I can do as close as possible to a nandroid backup without going bootloader unlocking route as that is not an option for me as I can't afford to have all the data, settings and configurations wiped. I heard about Helium app which can backup app data but that's about it. Everything else has to be setup from scratch.

Zegnalabel said:
Hi,
Pls pardon my noob questions...
I just gotten my 3T about a week now and after spending over 3 days setting up everything from scratch (eg installing numerous apps and configuring them one by one, setup emails, sms, contacts, icons packs, settings, etc) and finally gotten the phone to a state where I am very satisfied, a question dawn on me - How can I do a full image backup so that if anything happens, I can do a full image recovery and get back the "perfect" state?
After doing so much reading, it seemed the full image backup is called a "nandroid" backup and I need to first unlock the bootloader and flash TWRP in-order to perform this backup. But my predicament is, if I proceed to unlock bootloader, then all my configurations, setups and data will be wiped. So it became a chicken and egg scenario.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, a Nandroid backup is what you want, and yes, you need an unlocked bootloader for that, and yes, you need to wipe your data to do that. That's why it's highly recommended that unlocking your bootloader is the first thing you do as soon as you get your phone (though that's obviously too late for you). To help ease the pain, you can do an adb backup as described at http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1678239. This will preserve most but not all of your stuff, and doesn't need an unlocked bootloader. Once you do that, you can unlock the bootloader, restore the adb backup, then take a nandroid backup.
Zegnalabel said:
And the 2nd problem is that, worst comes to worst I decide to bite the bullet and proceed with unlocking and flashing TWRP, when booting into TWRP can I select "read only" and not agree with modified system since I have no intention to root. Will this cause boot loop problem if it is "read only"?
Can "read only" state in TWRP allows me to perform nandroid backup and restoration later on?
May I skip the next step of flashing anti dm verity file / root? I don't really want to go root since I am very happy with stock OOS at the moment.
So the big question is, is there anyway out there in the universe where I can do as close as possible to a nandroid backup without going bootloader unlocking route as that is not an option for me as I can't afford to have all the data, settings and configurations wiped. I heard about Helium app which can backup app data but that's about it. Everything else has to be setup from scratch.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, you should mount /system read-only. You don't need to root or disable dm-verity as long as you do that. (By the way, Helium is pretty much just a nice wrapper around adb backup.)

josephcsible said:
Yes, a Nandroid backup is what you want, and yes, you need an unlocked bootloader for that, and yes, you need to wipe your data to do that. That's why it's highly recommended that unlocking your bootloader is the first thing you do as soon as you get your phone (though that's obviously too late for you). To help ease the pain, you can do an adb backup as described at http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1678239. This will preserve most but not all of your stuff, and doesn't need an unlocked bootloader. Once you do that, you can unlock the bootloader, restore the adb backup, then take a nandroid backup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Many thanks Joseph for your advice! I really appreciate it! You're totally right, I'll do an adb backup followed by bootloader unlocking and TWRP installation. :good:
Yes, you should mount /system read-only. You don't need to root or disable dm-verity as long as you do that. (By the way, Helium is pretty much just a nice wrapper around adb backup.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
May I further check with you what are the limitation bring about when choosing "read only" when first enter TWRP? As in won't be able to flash ROM, flash supersu, etc thereafter?
Once again, thanks for your help, Joseph!

Zegnalabel said:
May I further check with you what are the limitation bring about when choosing "read only" when first enter TWRP? As in won't be able to flash ROM, flash supersu, etc thereafter?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All it means is that you won't be able to modify /system with file manager or the shell. Flashable zips almost all contain code that remounts /system read-write (as the TWRP screen warns you about). Also, you can always change your mind and make it read-write later (though the reverse is not true; once you mount it read-write, putting it back to read-only doesn't fix anything unless you reflash the ROM).

Many thanks Joseph for your sound advice.
After taking some time to read through all the links and sub-links getting to know the varied means of backups available, I have decided that my backup strategy will be as follows since non of the methods offer comprehensive backup and a mixed of the lots will be required to get as fool-proof as possible, before embarking on a data wiping journey with bootloader unlocking.
(i) I first perform a backup using google native backup and restore function under setting no matter how limited it is, to be use as a safety net.
(ii) Next, adb backup. The limitation with adb backup is that since Android 6.0, it obeys AndroidManifest.xml and will not backup data of those apps which has android:allowBackup set to false. The challenge is, I will be held in the dark which app falls into this category when performing adb backup and won't know until after I had done the actual restoration. Its like a blackbox you won't know what you gonna face until the aftermath had hit. Therefore to get around this, I'll be using Helium app (a wrapper around adb backup) instead of the actual adb backup since both methods refer to AndroidManifest.xml when deciding which app data it can or cannot backup. And Helium shows exactly which app it can backup vs that which it can't. Good info there for a start.
After installing Helium and activating it via PC client, I found out it does backup:
A) SMS and call logs
B) User dictionary
C) Accounts
D) Bunch of apps and their data
List of apps and data it can't backup:
1) Contacts
2) browser bookmarks
3) Calender
4) System settings
5) APNs
6) Homescreen shortcuts
7) Widgets
8) Alarms
9) Photos
10) Music
11) Videos
12) MMS
13) Google AUTHENTICATOR!!! - I have over 15 profiles that I'll have to re-setup one by one... what a nightmare.
14) Line
15) Whatsapp
16) wechat
17) Signal
18) Nova launcher - luckily its setting can be exported and backup via the app's functionality.
19) QQMusic - all my thousands of songs! - even if I back this up manually using ES explorer the app's internal linkage between playlist to songs will be broken. Will have to re-download all the songs to repair linkage and this means wasting another month of subscription fees for songs re-download. This is one of the most problematic app but it has DTS plagin which makes your music sound fantastic even with cheap earpiece, so I am putting up with it.
20) Skype - not much chat in there so that's fine to start over.
(iii) After backing up the limited stuff using Helium, I shall proceed to use another app to backup (1) to (12). And that app will be "MyBackup" (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rerware.android.MyBackup&hl=en). The app developer confirmed in its app's features that (1) to (12) are supported. Note "MyBackup" does not backup any app data at all when device is not rooted therefore step one using Helium is still necessary.
(iv) Next, to circumvent the limitation with failure to backup app & data for (13) to (20), my initial thought were to patch each app's manifest using this method (https://forum.xda-developers.com/an...g/guide-how-to-enable-adb-backup-app-t3495117). But then, as I studied further, I realized another chicken and egg scenario. That is, the decompiling, editing, recompiling and signing of the patched apk would need to take place first before using the app and not after. So in another word this method with each newly patched app will not seemlessly replace the existing app but rather the existing app will first have to be uninstall before the patched app can be installed, and that very act would mean losing existing data altogether.
To install on android the patched apk, you must first uninstall your previous version, and this is because the key used to sign the apk is different. If you try to install one app itself with a different signing key, you will get this error: [INSTALL_FAILED_ALREADY_EXISTS] [Unquote]
Given this ****ty situation, I guess I am still hesitant and not ready to move forward with bootloader unlocking. Sigh...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Oneplus 3T Restore Issue after Pie Update - HELP

So, quick explanation. Pie update showed up on my OP3T and I have an unlocked bootloader, TWRP 3.3.0-1 and Magisk 18.1 on OOS 5.0.8 (Oreo). Additionally I had a second user account and a Work Profile on my main account.
After reading on the decryption issues (and against my better judgement), I decided that maybe it could work through System Updates since it detected root and was going to install the full package. Big mistake. Got a "Decryption unsuccessful" and sadness.
I had of course taken a full TWRP backup to be safe.
I'm going to put the detailed explanation below (hidden) because it's quite long.
Now in more details. Along with the TWRP back up, I had an oandbackup -backup- of all apps (main and secondary account, but not work) and manually copied all internal storage files on my PC. After the "Decryption unsuccessful" message, I pressed the "Reset Phone" button (probably a stupid decision) thinking I'm good since I have a backup. Phone rebooted, with TWRP replaced (as expected), and I'm in the new OS. Played around a bit in Pie [added my account, registered a fingerprint and PIN, connected to WiFi and checked a few apps] and then I thought, "ok, time to go back", and then it happened.
I rebooted the device and it asked for password to boot (which was the PIN I added in the OS), and then rebooted again in Fastboot to flash TWRP again in order to restore the backup.
TWRP flashed successfully and I copied over my backup. Restored System, Data and Boot, wiped Dalvik & Cache, rebooted, shows the Oneplus logo, gets stuck for a bit and then goes to Fastboot. Ok...probably messed up somewhere, let's try again. Same thing.
I guess the notion that I had the TWRP backup made me feel safe, because I continued to experiment.
After a full 24hours awake trying to restore my phone to its previous state, I have the following:
Restoring System, Data and Boot results in the device booting and showing the Oneplus logo and then after a few seconds, going to Fastboot.
Restoring EFS, Recovery and/or Cache makes no apparent difference.
Restoring Data and Boot, but System Image instead of System makes the device boot and start a lengthy process (possibly of encrypting the entire Data partition) lasting about 2hours, during which the device becomes hot enough (~45C / ~113F) that holding it for more than a couple of seconds is very uncomfortable. After it finishes the lockscreen has my wallpaper, app notifications (like VPN) show up and the second account is there, however my old PINs for either accounts don't work and the Data partition can no longer be accessed in TWRP
Code:
Data successfully decrypted, new block device: '/dev/block/dm-0'
Updating partition details...
...done
[COLOR="red"]Unable to mount storage[/COLOR]
Successfully decrypted with default password.
Updating partition details...
...done
[COLOR="red"]Unable to mount storage
Failed to mount '/data' (No such file or directory)[/COLOR]
Full SELinux support is present.
[COLOR="Red"]Unable to mount /data/media/TWRP/.twrps[/COLOR]
MTP Enabled
When Data is inaccessible in TWRP, only formatting it can bring it back (empty, of course). And then it needs to be formated to F2FS again as well (Oneplus uses F2FS for the Data partition).
Flashing the Oxygen OS 5.0.8 zip file after restoring System works the same as restoring with System Image.
The closest I've come to restoring my device to how it was before is either:
Restoring System, Data and Boot , in which case booting ends up in Fastboot.
OR
Restoring Data and Boot, and System Image, and then not being able to login (plus, no access to Data from TWRP).
I have literally no idea what else to do. If anyone has any idea or suggestion, it would be greatly appreciated.
I'd rather wait for some suggestions before trying to flash other zip files that deal with encryption, since I never had to do that when I first rooted with Magisk.
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How the device is supposed to be:
Bootloader unlocked
TWRP Recovery 3.3.0-1
OxygenOS 5.0.8 (Oreo)
Magisk 18.1
Main user account
Secondary user account
Work Profile (with Shelter) on Main user account
What I have available:
Full TWRP backup of all partitions [Data, System, Cache. System Image, EFS, Recovery, Boot]
oandbackup backups of Main & Secondary user accounts (apps and APKs)
Manual file backup of Main user account's Internal Storage
All OxygenOS Oreo zip files that Oneplus was releasing over time
TWRP images (3.2.1-0 and up)
Stock OxygenOS recovery (they used to have it available)
Magisk Installer/Uninstaller/Manager APK
Time on my hands
Sleep deprivation points
Enough will to live