Recovery/rom question

[zetterwing]

I have read a lot on this subject and I am looking for a simple confirmation that I haven't found yet. I have my device set up exactly how I like it currently. I would like to try out a few roms and see what they have to offer. I'm not concerned with bricking since I'm pretty sure I can follow the instructions to recover total stock with Odin. So here's the question...if i do a complete backup with clockwork now....then flash a new rom...want to revert to my current state..all I have to do is go into clockwork and flash the backup I created? And does this restore ALL apps and data? Or will I have to manually reload all the apps and such? Also...would I have to reroot? Is that simply dependent on the rom and/or kernel?

My thinking is that if I reload the backup it would return my phone to exactly the state it was in a the time of the backup including apps and data/settings. The main reason for asking is that I really love the way I have things set now and it took a bit of work to get it there. If I'm going to lose those settings I might just wait for the official froyo release because I like what I have now. I'm also aware that there are issues with custom roms that can cause headaches.

 

[caliskimmer]

Unfortunately, I think you lose all the settings, regardless if you backed up or not. If you want all your info back, you're going to have to use a previous save state with an older ROM.

 

[drake22]

I believe Clockworkmod (aka CWM) does store all of your Android settings and installed apps.

App settings (depending on the app) might be stored on the SD card, so to do a "full" backup you would need to first do a CWM backup and then copy all files from your SD card to your computer (make sure to copy hidden files and folders too).

To do a complete restore, clear cache, dalvik cache, and battery stats and format all partitions (except sd-ext unless you copied that to your computer separately) using CWM. Then copy everything from the stored SD card backup on your computer to the SD card. Lastly, do a CWM restore. I think that will restore your phone exactly as it was before except for your battery stats.

Please someone correct me if I am wrong, but I am 99% sure of this.

 

[caliskimmer]

I've never seen it done before, nor have I heard about it before this. Well, I hope you're right.

 

[dnathan13]

I have changed roms multiple times and had to revert back to my back ups. Each time all my apps and most of my settings are still intact within the backup. I also use Titanium backup just in case. Clockwork Recovery is set up to save all of your system, data, and everything.

 

[zetterwing]

Sounds like I have a safe solution then since I have both cwm backup and titanium. I'll have to dive in to a new rom here shortly and see how it works out. Thanks for the info

 

[drake22]

If you wanted to do it manually, I THINK that all of the apps are stored in
/data/app
/data/app-private
/system/app

I believe it is as simple as copying the contents of those folders to another backup folder and copying them back to restore.

 

[caliskimmer]

Sooo, should I get Titanium Backup then? I've used it before, but it wasn't too appealing. Maybe, I'll get it again.