Android, Updates and Backups
I’ve got a n LG GW620. I chose this because it a) runs android and not some more stupid operating system b) it has a keyboard and c) it’s supported by an open project, namely OpenEtna, which among other things provides an updated operating system with a bash and a root-shell.
Now, I’m not the guy who stores anything on “The Cloud”. If there is anything out there that I deliberately store data on, it’s my own server, my own cloud.
So before upgrading I naturally decided to do a Backup, and of course I decided to use the software which advertised to Backup Everything. As it turned out, it doesn’t.
First off, the upgrade didn’t go very smoothly. After not having wiped cache and userdata, the Phone refused to continue at the “Welcome to GW620” screen. After wiping and flashing again, this worked.
Of course, all the settings were lost, and all the apps. So clearly, just put the backup-software onto the phone, and restore them. Turns out, the settings for going to the Android Market are lost as well, AND the friggin idiots only let you download the App from the Market! Thank you very much, you stupid twits. So make a backup of the apk-file onto your SD-card or harddisk before relying on it…
After having found some old version of “Backup Everything” which was thankfully downloadable with something other than the phone itself, I was able to restore “something” or “a bit”. SMS-archive, caller logs, access points, all there. Applications, Contacts, WLAN-credentials missing. It tried to reinstall some applications, but that mostly failed. At least it has a list of applications which you then can click on individually which opens a search on the Marketplace and install them.
The contacts I had to restore from an adressbook vcf from my harddisk (kaddressbook can export the addresses you choose to a vcf), but doubtless, some are missing. I only realized afterward that the android provides an “export contacts to SD-card” option by itself. But then, I didn’t expect “Backup Everything” not to backup everything.
I’m pretty sure some configuration-options of android itself, and also of applications are still wrong or missing. We’ll see.