[How-To] Backup and Factory Restore Samsung Captivate

[ls377]

Thanks to DroidXcon for creating most of these instructions...and letting me steal them

Post #1 = Index
Post #2 = FAQ & Preperation
Post #3 = How to Backup contacts and apps
Post #4 = Instructions to wipe and restore your phone with Odin
Post #5 = How to Restore contacts and apps
Post #6 = Trouble Shooting
Post #7 = Instructions for 1010+ builds

 

[ls377]

FAQ

Q: Why do I need this?

[INFO]A: You can use this to completely remove evidence of rooting from your phone if you want to send it in for repair, or sell it. You can also use this is your phone has been infected by app-borne virus (I believe I just coined that term ).[/INFO]

Q: Will this wipe my phone of all data?

[INFO]A: Yes, this will wipe your phone completely and rewrite the partitions to a stock (the way you bought it) condition[/INFO].

Q: Will this wipe my SD card?

[INFO]A: NO, this will not wipe any data on your SD card, only system partitions of the phone itself. Unless you hit Master Clear (only on one-click), which there isn't really a need for.[/INFO]

Q: Does this void my warranty?

[INFO]A: No, in fact if you had a software change that would have have voided your warranty before this will bring you to a state that they will have never known an alteration was made [/INFO]

Q: I am currently running the latest software update, will this return me to this state?

[INFO]A: No, this will bring you back to Eclair 2.1.1 Firmware build JF6. BUT you will then be able to do an official Kies update to the latest released build.
[/INFO]
Q: Will i lose any apps or data during this process?

[INFO]A: You absolutely will, this is a full wipe of your system. But please refer to Post #2 where we will give you steps to take to back up your apps and data. Post #5 after you are done with the wipe and restore will give you the steps to restore the apps and data.
[/INFO]
Q: What is Odin?

[INFO]A: A Flashing program to download Kernels, firmware to Samsung mobile phones. Also used in recovering failed flashes, bricked phones or doing full system wipes and restores.[/INFO]

---

Preparations

1. Download and Install Samsung Drivers
Drivers

2. Go to Settings > Applications > Developement > Enable Debugging, then connect your phone to your PC, allow 2-3 minutes to configure drivers

 

[ls377]

[INFO]Backup Contacts

Backup to Gmail account (Recommended)
Step 1. From the Home screen, touch the menu button
Step 2. Touch settings
Step 3. Touch accounts & sync
Step 4. Touch the Gmail account of your choice under Manage accounts
Step 5. Touch Sync contacts

Export to SD card (Recommended)
Step 1. From the Home screen, touch contacts
Step 2. Touch menu
Step 3. Touch Import/Export
Step 4. Touch Export to SD card
Step 5. Touch ok to confirm export

Send namecard via
Step 1. From the Home screen, touch contacts
Step 2. Touch menu
Step 3. Touch Import/Export
Step 4. Touch send namecard via
Step 5. Touch Select all
Step 6. Touch send
Step 7. Touch destination of your choice[/INFO]

Data

There are many apps available on the market. A good one is MyBackup Pro, if you purchase you can use this without root. It can be found in the Android Market

 

[ls377]

BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING, check underneath your battery for your build number. It's a 4 digit number (10xx). If:
A. Your build is 1007 & under, continue on to the instructions.
B. Your build is 1008: you'll need either a jig to enter Download mode, or be familiar with adb (use "adb reboot download") You can make a cheap jig using THESE instructions.
C. Your build is 1010 & over: You'll need to use the instructions in post 7. One-click does bad things to these build numbers.
EDIT:There is conflicting reports about whether one-click will work for 1012 devices. If you have a jig, it's worth a try.


Don't have 3-button combo? Or just lazy like me . DroidXcon made an awesome script that you can use to get into download/recovery mode. Give it a try, and shoot him a thanks next time you see him.

DOWNLOAD

Make sure you have enough charge to do this before proceeding. The amount depends on your phone/battery, but to be safe, I would suggest 60% minimum.

[INFO]1. Download Odin One-click Application HERE and unzip it. You'll need the .exe file.

2. Disable any running antivirus (causes an interupt durning process resulting in bad flash)

3. Make sure to plug USB cable in the back of the computer, for most reliable connection (if using a desktop).

4. If your phone is plugged into your computer, unplug it now.

5. If your phone is not powered down, power it down now.

6. Launch ODIN on PC.

7. Remove battery, SIM, and micro SD from phone.

8. Re-insert the Battery. Boot into download mode by holding both Volume buttons and plugging in the USB. If you get a screen that says "downloading: do not turn off target" with a digging android, you're in download mode.

9. Your phone should show up in ODIN (the box will turn yellow w/ letters and numbers).

10. Click START, and let it finish.

DO NOT UNPLUG YOUR PHONE UNTIL IT FULLY BOOTS.

Your Captivate is now back to stock. You can now use Kies to update to Froyo.[/INFO]

 

[ls377]

Restoring Contacts

Backup to Gmail account (Recommended)

Step 1. From the Home screen, touch the menu button
Step 2. Touch settings
Step 3. Touch accounts & sync
Step 4. Touch the Gmail account of your choice under Manage accounts
Step 5. Touch Sync contacts

Import From SD card (Recommended)
Step 1. From the Home screen, touch contacts
Step 2. Touch menu
Step 3. Touch Import/Export
Step 4. Touch Import From SD card

Use whatever app you backed up with to restore other data.

 

[ls377]

Troubleshooting

Before posting your issue, always try:
1. Another USB port
2. A different USB cable
3. If possible, another computer

 

[ls377]

ODIN FOR 1010+ BUILDS

[INFO]1. Download the zip folder from here.

2. Unzip the contents, and save them somewhere easy to find.

3. Open the Odin3 1.7 .exe file.

4. Click PIT. Navigate to the .pit file you downloaded, and click open.

5. Click PDA. Navigate to the I897UCJH2.tar file, and click open.

6. Remove battery, SIM, and micro SD from phone.

7. Re-insert the Battery. Boot into download mode by holding both Volume buttons and plugging in the USB. If you get a screen that says "downloading: do not turn off target" with a digging android, you're in download mode.

8. Your phone should show up in ODIN (the box will turn yellow w/ letters and numbers).

9. Your screen should now look like this. If it doesn't, unplug your phone, and do it again.

10. If everything looks good, the hit start. DO NOT UNPLUG IT. When it finishes, Odin will say PASS in green. You can then unplug, and your phone will reboot.[/INFO]

 

[The Rambler]

Help - I bricked my phone!

I was trying to put the latest version of cognition on my Captivate and now when I boot the phone it stays on the ATT logo and nothing else. I put the new cognition file in my sd card and then used rom manager to install it. It started to down load but then it said something like "line 12 failed to load" then it got stuck on the logo. Is there anything that I can do?!? Any help would be appreciated.

 

[pittsm]

use odin to flash back to stock.

 

[ls377]

http://forum.androidcentral.com/t-captivate-rooting-roms-hacks/65656-how-backup-factory-restore-samsung-captivate.html

 

[pittsm]

my build number is 1012 and these instructions work fine on my phone. but you say it won't. Thoughts?

 

[ls377]

my build number is 1012 and these instructions work fine on my phone. but you say it won't. Thoughts?

I've heard conflicting reports as to whether it will work on 1012 or not, so I took the safe route. This is meant for any user, not just those who root, to restore their device, and I'd rather have them go through some extra trouble for no reason instead of trying it and soft bricking and having no idea what to do.

Thanks for bring this up though. I'll add a note in the post.

 

[quick49]

Unable to Restore Using My Backup

After discovering that my Samsung Captivate had a hardware problem preventing it from attaching to my PC using USB, I was provided a replacement phone. I backed up my Apps and Media data with My Backup from the defective phone. I successfully connected the replacement phone to my pc via USB connection and upgraded it from Froyo 2.1 to 2.2. When I tried to Restore my Apps and Media data using My Backup, the program began restoring. When the progress bar reached 4/100, a window popped up saying "Done" and restart the phone. When I restarted the phone, I found that none of my App's or Media data had been restored. After trying this several times with the same results, I contacted the developer and received an email stating my phone needed to rooted for "Restore" to work, even though Backup worked with my phone which was not rooted. I tried unsuccessfully to root my 2.2 phone and finally, gave up and manually re-installed all of my APP's and transferred my Media files using a microSD card. I was able to verify that a APP and Media backup file was online. So, the purpose of this post is to state that I was able to backup my APP and Media data with My Backup, but I was unable to Restore my APP and Media data to an "unrooted" phone.

 

[ls377]

After discovering that my Samsung Captivate had a hardware problem preventing it from attaching to my PC using USB, I was provided a replacement phone. I backed up my Apps and Media data with My Backup from the defective phone. I successfully connected the replacement phone to my pc via USB connection and upgraded it from Froyo 2.1 to 2.2. When I tried to Restore my Apps and Media data using My Backup, the program began restoring. When the progress bar reached 4/100, a window popped up saying "Done" and restart the phone. When I restarted the phone, I found that none of my App's or Media data had been restored. After trying this several times with the same results, I contacted the developer and received an email stating my phone needed to rooted for "Restore" to work, even though Backup worked with my phone which was not rooted. I tried unsuccessfully to root my 2.2 phone and finally, gave up and manually re-installed all of my APP's and transferred my Media files using a microSD card. I was able to verify that a APP and Media backup file was online. So, the purpose of this post is to state that I was able to backup my APP and Media data with My Backup, but I was unable to Restore my APP and Media data to an "unrooted" phone.

I don't personally use MyBackup (I borrowed the backup/restore portions from someone else), but it makes sense that it needs root to reinstall apps on the Captivate (because of the sideloading removal). Media, however, should have restored. Is it just music and pictures?

 

[The Rambler]

My computer is not seeing my phone . Does that mean it is completely fried?

 

[ls377]

Can you get into download mode?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using Tapatalk

 

[The Rambler]

No, every time I hold the power and up/down volume buttons together phone goes dark and then the ATT logo comes back on... That is all it can do

 

[ls377]

If the att logo comes up, then theres still hope.

What build number is your phone?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using Tapatalk

 

[quick49]

The My Backup App backs up App and Media data as a combined unit and not separately. Therefore, when I was unable to Restore the App data, I was also unable to restore the Media data. However, the use of the microSD card was a good solution.

 

[s2h2golf]

No, every time I hold the power and up/down volume buttons together phone goes dark and then the ATT logo comes back on... That is all it can do

Are you letting go of the power button when the ATT logo comes up? As soon as it comes up, you need to let go of the power button, but continue to hold the up/down volume buttons, otherwise it will keep booting the phone over and over.