Cannot find apps on SDcard after flashing Custom ROM

Question

I just took the plunge and flashed my HTC Incredible 2 with stock ICS 4.0.4 to Psycho's CM 9.1.

I am happy so far but I don't know how to retrieve the apps I have saved on my SD card. Prior to performing a root, I used App2SD pro to move them. Now after rooting and flashing custom ROM they don't show up on SD card. I re-installed App2SD pro and still can't find them.

I know they are there because file manager says there is 14GB of used space. I could re-download everything but I would like to avoid that.

Any help for a noob would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

While there is some merit in the reply from Audiophile; apps on an SDCard should not be lost. I had a similar problem after rooting a Samsung Exhibit 4g (T-sgh759); and while I found this thread I continued digging. The solution required removing the battery, then restarting; and voila! everything was visible from the phone on the card again. (I used the suggestion from Scotty85 in this thread --> http://androidforums.com/rezound-all-things-root/517575-cant-see-sd-card-after-root-noob.html )

If that doesn't work, before you do anything that might write to the card... As it is an SD card, you can pop it out and see if it mounts on the computer. Do a search for *.APK (those should be the application files). Are any files visible? It is doubtful that installing a rom would format the SD card... however, if you can't see any files, many companies like Sandisk have free recovery software with the their higher end cards. Googling you could find a download link, and try recovering the files from the SD.

In my case, the files were visible when the card was mounted on the computer and not visible on the phone after rooting.

Titanium backup, ES Filemanager, and Root Toolbox Lite all work for copying files. Some care should be had before rooting, and installing roms that you have a complete backup; as some have found a false sense of security, revealed only when they try to restore and can't (see Jason Lewis' Cautionary Tale --> http://myblog-online.co.uk/2011/12/a-cautionary-tale-the-dangers-of-root-and-titanium-backup/ )

It is possible to make a complete backup without rooting; using ADB from the Android SDK (see --> http://www.howtogeek.com/125375/how-to-create-a-full-android-phone-or-tablet-backup-without-rooting-or-unlocking-your-device/ )

Good luck to anyone else who experiences this.

D

Answer 2

Sorry pal, I think your apps are down the drain. Apps2SD doesn't necessarily move the apps to the SD card so that if you plugin the sd card on any phone it would work automatically, your phone still has the data of what apps are installed.

If I'm correct at the assumption that you are now using a new ROM, your phone basically got reset. The best analogy I can think of is when you format a PC. When you install the OS, all the files in the drive are still there, but the System apps and files are all brand new.

What can you do in the future? I've heard good things about Titanium Backup, but personally I prefer Appmonster. It basically saves the APK file of an application installed so you can uninstall/install on your whim. Please do note that I've never used Titanium Backup, but from what I hear you can restore lots of things from that app: applications, SMS, Contacts. Not sure if it also saves the state of the apps and restores them to your phone though.

So I guess you need to download all your files again.

Update: I went to the Play Store and looked at the Apps2SD app and yeah, it works as I have outlined above. I looked at Titanium Backup too and it claims it can backup your apps and data. Here's where it hurts though: you need root access to use it. Basically, the ideal way would have been to root your phone first, use Titanium Backup, then install the new rom.