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Want a simple, complete one-step backup

D

Diffuse

Lurker
I left Apple after five years of iPhones because I wanted to see what I'd been missing on Android. So far, so good, except for backup and restore.

I want a program that allows me to backup the entire 16gb internal storage on my Samsung Galaxy S4. So, in the event I lose the phone or it gets stolen or dumped in a river of boiling lava, or any catastrophe, all I have to do is buy another phone and restore the lot in one go.

I do not want to root my S4. I do not want to have to install ADB or SDK or any other three-letter acronyms that will make things faster, smarter, higher, etc. (yes, I've spent the last week going in circles trying to figure out how to root the phone so I could use Titanium Pro. I'm over it. Simple is now what I want).

One other thing. My primary computer is a Mac.

In a perfect world my Galaxy S4 would plug in via USB to the Mac and back up to the Mac.
I do have the luxury of 50GB of DropBox real estate, and am happy to go cloud backup if that's the best option.

Everything else about Android has been exciting. This is doing my head in. It can't be that hard, can it?
 
Chanchan05, Tried Helium, aka Carbon. Fail.
Cant seem to make the Android app talk to the laptop. I installed the relevant parts of Helium on the phone and the laptop, but the phone just stalls at the screen saying something like "waiting for Helium computer program to connect".
Are you saying you've got Helium working on a Galaxy S4 and a Mac?
Next?
 
Nope I don't use a Mac, but its the only one I can think of currently. So you mean to say you turned on the Mac Program, then turned on Helium on the phone, then followed the prompts?
 
Yep, all those prompts that make you switch USB debug mode on, then camera mode then start the laptop program. The phone just stays on that prompt, saying it's waiting for the laptop.

Even Kies wont connect to the phone. Just says ...connecting... and never connects.
 
When you connect the phone to your Mac, does it ever appear as a media device or a camera device? Sounds like you still don't have the proper drivers installed for your phone to be seen on the computer.
 
chanchan05 said:
When you connect the phone to your Mac, does it ever appear as a media device or a camera device? Sounds like you still don't have the proper drivers installed for your phone to be seen on the computer.
Click to expand...

I have no experience with mac laptops, but I also think that you will need to install the drivers for your phone first.
 
Check the page of Helium. There should be a link there. On Kies for Windows, there is a menu for 'update drivers'. Try to look for it.
 
"Update drivers" is a Windows thing - I have never seen such a message on a Mac. I've no experience of Helium (my phone's too old) or Samsung software, but software I've used with a Mac and android (or linux and android) has not required separate driver installation, even though the PC equivalent has. This includes adb, which is the main user if usb debugging.

So my guess would be that it would be a matter of getting the phone in the right mode. However, I'd have guessed that would just be usb debugging. If you've installed adb on your Mac (a stand-alone install on a Mac) you could check whether usb debugging is working.

Or you could ask the Helium developer whether it's known to work with the S4. Probably best to specify your S4's software version in that case.

If Kies also doesn't talk to it that is a bit fishy. Do you know that the usb lead works for data transfer? I once bought one which wouldn't work for anything except charging.
 
Random suggestion: one site I found on using Helium with the Note 2 included the phrase 'You may need to set your USB Connection Mode to "PTP"'. Don't know whether you've tried that (not an option on my old phone), but if not it may be worth a shot.

The dev's website (ClockworkMod Carbon - Carbon is the original name for Helium) includes a support email address if not.
 
Thanks Hadron, all this talk of installing drivers had me wondering. I've not had to install drivers for anything Mac in years.

The mini-usb cable (the one supplied with the phone) works for data. When I set the S4's USB PC connection to PTP the phone appears in OSX's Image Capture program, and allows me to import photos to the laptop.

However, setting it to PTP means Kies cannot see the phone.

The minute I put the phone back in MTP mode Kies senses it and starts 'connecting...', and the circle spins to indicate it's busy. But it never gets past this 'connecting...' stage to actually connect.

Not sure if it's worth mentioning that iSyncr has similar connecting issues. But getting my music across is not as time critical to me because I'm waiting on a replacement SD card for the Sandisk 64GB one I bought that I later found out has performance issues with the S4.

I never had these kinds of problems with the iPhone, but I'm sure I'll find a way through this eventually. I do wonder if these problems are the price to be paid for enjoying Android's extra flexibility. Apple's closed environment does allow greater quality control.

Anyway, back to issue #1. Getting my S4 to talk to my Macbook Pro laptop for the purposes of a complete backup. Sounds like I have no alternative but to persevere with Helium/Carbon and see if the creators will help me get connected.
 
I just remembered, is your phone locked? As in PIN, Password or Pattern protected? You should unlock it when you connect. In my case, Kies can't see my phone if its locked.
 
Nope, no pin, password or pattern. just a swipe to open. And that doesn't seem to make any difference whether the phone is at the home screen or not.
 
Well, Googling around, it seems problems connecting the S4 to a Mac started with the last OSX update. Have you updated your Mac? Some people are reporting success in connecting to Kies via wireless (connecting to same hotspot). Maybe you can try that? Not sure if backup would work on that connection though.
 
Hmm, okay guys. Thanks for trying to help. I'll pursue the Carbon Helium angle and see how it goes. Feel naked without a backup.

Re this Mac OSX and S4 communication issue. I've been reading a lot about this too. That's gonna make it that much harder for Samsung to steal iPhone users accustomed to a relatively pain-free syncing and backup existence. Especially those with Mac desktops and laptops like me.
 
I think it's Apple putting more locks on their garden's wall. You know what they say about Apple, they'll try to lock you into their ecosystem.
 
You probably would get more support if this post was in the S4 section, I am sure there are other Mac users there that might just be able to help you out with this issue. If you want this post move there just let us know, cheers.
 
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