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Root Best backup to use before rooting?

darkcyber

darkcyber

Android Expert
I am getting ready to pull the trigger and root my X and wanted to know what the best backup software is to use to make a complete image of my X (installed apps and all) as it is now so I can get it exactly back to where it is now, before rooting, if something happens.
 
Aggie12 said:
There is no way to make a complete image of your system right now without root.
Click to expand...

Ahhh, so have to root first. Ok, then what is the best complete backup once I root? Again, that will get me back to the point of right after I rooted with all my installed apps and stuff?
 
You want recovery to make an image of your phone. Also you should have a program like Titanium for backing up the files and data on your phone.

Also, I like to use Rom Manager to manage (create, rename, delete) my backups. You have to have recovery working before using RM tho since it uses recovery. Make sure you don't use any spaces in the file name tho.
 
here a list of what I would do.
Root with Z4
Download Droid X bootstrapper. Go to app and hit the top button "bootstrap recovery" grant it superuser permission and then it will say success.
From here you have 2 options:
1.)hit the bottom button to reboot into recovery.
It will reboot into a screen with green words and such. To navigate use the volume rockers and select by fully depressing the camera button.
Scroll down to backup and restore, select it, and then select backup. It will take about 5 minutes to complete. You can find your backup located at sdcard/clockworkmod/backup/'date of backup' which you can rename as long as there aren't any spaces or ()'s.

2. A different way to backup is download Rom manager. Open it and click the top most button "flash clockworkmod" after that scroll down to backup current rom, give it a name and it will reboot and do its thing. The backup will be in the same place as before.
 
Thanks for the all the information. If I only learned one thing from doing a lot of reading about rooting, it is keep good backups, and that is what I am trying to do. Get everything backed up before I get really deep into this.

Thanks again!
 
Aggie12 said:
here a list of what I would do.
Root with Z4
Download Droid X bootstrapper. Go to app and hit the top button "bootstrap recovery" grant it superuser permission and then it will say success.
From here you have 2 options:
1.)hit the bottom button to reboot into recovery.
It will reboot into a screen with green words and such. To navigate use the volume rockers and select by fully depressing the camera button.
Scroll down to backup and restore, select it, and then select backup. It will take about 5 minutes to complete. You can find your backup located at sdcard/clockworkmod/backup/'date of backup' which you can rename as long as there aren't any spaces or ()'s.

2. A different way to backup is download Rom manager. Open it and click the top most button "flash clockworkmod" after that scroll down to backup current rom, give it a name and it will reboot and do its thing. The backup will be in the same place as before.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the details, that really helps! :)
 
No problem man! If you have any more questions about this process or any other things, lmk. I like helping people get rid of the motorola off their phone. :p
 
I do have one more question right now. Once I get my X rooted is there anything else particular I need to load (i.e. a specific ROM or something) to get the 3G HotSpot working? I mean besides installing the "Wireless Tethering" app.
 
darkcyber said:
I do have one more question right now. Once I get my X rooted is there anything else particular I need to load (i.e. a specific ROM or something) to get the 3G HotSpot working? I mean besides installing the "Wireless Tethering" app.
Click to expand...

Nothing else, once you get the app you can tether your phone with ease.
 
If whatever you're tethering can support an ad-hoc connection then yeah you're fine. But if you have a device that can't connect to wireless tether you need this app that supports infrastructure.
 
Thanks for the tip on wireless tethering.

Now another question about the backups. Is there any kind of backup I need to run before I actually do the root, besides my normal backups I'm doing with Lookout? Or just wait and do the major backups with Recovery and/or Titanium?

Let me say, I really appreciate the GREAT help I have received in here. It is a breath of fresh air to be in a forum and actually be able to ask questions without getting flamed to death about just searching or Googling for yourself.

I LOVE THIS FORUM!!!
 
TBH I wouldn't worry too much. Rooting is a very low risk process that is hard to mess up. The Z4 method is a one-click thing. If it takes more than five minutes Force stop it in settings.manage applications, reboot and try it again. Or if you're really patient just let it go it will go eventually but some people have said that they've waited upwards of 40 minutes and that's just insane.

And yeah I remember what it was like when I joined this forum. It's definitely my favorite. We were all n00bs once! I remember when I first held my mom's OG droid I had no clue. at all. lol

Just make sure you have everything backed up through google as well. settings.accounts.your gmail and make sure all three items have synced recently.
 
Aggie12 said:
TBH I wouldn't worry too much. Rooting is a very low risk process that is hard to mess up. The Z4 method is a one-click thing. If it takes more than five minutes Force stop it in settings.manage applications, reboot and try it again. Or if you're really patient just let it go it will go eventually but some people have said that they've waited upwards of 40 minutes and that's just insane.

And yeah I remember what it was like when I joined this forum. It's definitely my favorite. We were all n00bs once! I remember when I first held my mom's OG droid I had no clue. at all. lol

Just make sure you have everything backed up through google as well. settings.accounts.your gmail and make sure all three items have synced recently.
Click to expand...

Thanks again! Just making double sure I have everything backed up before hand...just in case something does go wrong.

Is there any particular ROM that is safe to start with for a complete newbie or just any of them?
 
If you like Blur I would try out Apex. The support on this forum with Fab is well fabulous. If you're not too crazy about blur I would recommend either Liberty or Fission. That's just my opinion though. I'm currently running Liberty but once you're rooted make a nandroid backup the way I described earlier and then go find your ROM! Make sure you follow directions when flashing ROMs. Failure to do so may result in force closes and/or bootloops. Most bootloops can be fixed by a data wipe in the stock recovery menu (home+power) if you can't get to the clockworkrecovery menu.

I'd say give Liberty a go for a few days and if you don't like it try out Apex :)
 
Ok, got it rooted, then installed Wireless Tethering just to make sure the root took and got this message when I started Wireless Tethering:

No Access Control!

Sorry, but your kernel does not have all necessary features for the Access Control feature of this application. Access Control will be disabled.

Got past that and Wireless Tethering seems to be working (smiling)

Grabbed Droid X Bootstrap from the Market and running it right now (smiling again)

Downloading the FREE version of Rom Manager right now. Will it do what I need or do I need the Pro (paid) version?

Going to play some with it tomorrow...late and bed night now.

THANKS AGAIN FOR ALL THE HELP!
 
I am now rooted and all is well. I assume the ROM I am using now is just the stock Verizon one, so before I start trying different ROM's, I had another question. The backup I made with Droid X Bootstrap and with ROM Manager, that will get me back to my stock ROM and installed apps if I don't like a certain ROM? Or is there a way to just backup the stock ROM and replace it?
 
Yes, that's why you made a recovery backup, to get you back to the exact setup you had when you made that backup. That image is a snapshot of your phone on the day you made it.
 
^+1 It'll be JUST like you left it. I use this backup to go back to when flashing different ROMs. I know usually a data wipe will take care of it but I do it just for added caution.
 
So I am now rooted download bootstrap did a backup and now on Apex rom. If I need to go back to stock all I need to do is restore recovery backup and use z4root to unroot? Then why use SBF.
 
Thanks for the help so far. I have made triple backups of everything so far. I used Droid X Bootstrap, ROM Manager, and Titanium Free. So, hopefully I am covered with backups :D

I didn't have time to test out any ROM's today, that will come tomorrow. So, all I have to do is download these ROM's and then use ROM Manager to install them?

And is the FREE version of ROM Manager all I need or do I need the paid version?

Can ROM's be pulled down OTA or do I need to be connected to my pc? Just needed to know to whether to carry my data to pc cable to the office tomorrow or not...play with it in my down time :)

If you install a third party ROM and don't like it can you load your stock ROM back on like you load a third party ROM or must you restore from a complete backup?
 
What I do when flashing ROMs:
I find the ROM I want online through a forum and download it to my computer. I thoroughly read the install instructions. Then transfer it to my phone via the USB cable. The computer seems to download faster sometimes. (You can still download it straight to your phone though through the browser it may just take longer.) I put the ROM's .zip file on the root of my sd card. Go into Droid X Bootstrapper and boot into recovery. From here most ROMs require a data wipe and a cache wipe. See each ROMs install guide for individual details. Reboot after install. If I get stuck in a bootloop I get into recovery (stock recovery is fine if you can't get to CWM recovery) and wipe data/cache again. then reboot and re setup my gmail account and wait for stuff to sync.
 
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