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I am running Cyanogenmod 9.1 on my Samsung Galaxy SII, and would like to upgrade to version 10.1. Is there a way to do this upgrade without wiping all my apps and settings from my phone?

If not, is there a good backup strategy (what should I backup, and how) for relatively easy restoration after upgrading the Cyanogenmod rom?

Thank you.

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  • Thanks for all three answers so far, I plan to try it with Titanium Backup and will report back. Thanks!
    – hpy
    Feb 15, 2013 at 15:49

3 Answers 3

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Here's some advice for moving between any two Android ROMs that will serve you well:

  • First, do a full nandroid backup if you're not feeling completely confident. You can do this in CWM Recovery, or via ADB (Android Debug Bridge). This will create an "image" of your entire device.
  • Now that you're safe from screwing anything up beyond repair, go ahead and use TitaniumBackup to backup all your system settings and your user apps (I usually don't backup system apps as this might cause problems). Backups will be saved on your /sdcard/ and will not disappear when you wipe.
  • (Before this step, make sure you have the ROM zip files on your sdcard, otherwise you'll have to add them via ADB) Go into CWM Recovery and wipe your device (cache and data). Remember, /sdcard/ is still fine. Now install your shiny new ROM.
  • When you've booted your new ROM, install TitaniumBackup first of all. It will recognize that there's already TitaniumBackup files on the sdcard (from before), and you'll be able to batch install your apps and restore system settings.

Some advice on restoring backups: be conservative. Start by restoring apps without user data, as old data may break the app. If somethings missing and it annoys you, restore that app only with data. Same goes for restoring system settings, deselect everything and just restore what you really want (usually just WiFi hotspots for me).

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    I followed your instructions and they worked. Thank you everyone for your answers and comments!
    – hpy
    Feb 17, 2013 at 1:16
  • Glad to hear you found it informative, if anything is unclear feel free to edit it as I'm marking it "community wiki" now.
    – pzkpfw
    Feb 17, 2013 at 8:43
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First of all, do a nandroid backup from recovery to have a backup of your current phone.

Since you're upgrading not only from a Cyanogenmod release but also an Android release, it is recomended to do a full wipe (/cache, /system and /data) to avoid boot loops and general problems with the upgrade.

If you want to backup all your data, despite doing the nandroid, you can use Titanium Backup, as it will let you backup your apps, data and also some system information (accounts, call log, sms, wifi settings, ...). Just take some care as some system information might not work if you restore it directly when upgrading from ICS to JB. User applications and its data files should be safe to restore.

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  • It is not recommended to back-up apps from CM9, and load it to CM10. This can cause problems.
    – geffchang
    Feb 15, 2013 at 12:00
  • User apps shouldn't be a problem if they're supported in JB. Also you can redownload the app from Play Store and use Titanium Backup to restore its data.
    – Peter
    Feb 15, 2013 at 12:26
  • geffchang: incorrect. Even if you were correct, updates would show up instantly via the Google play store. It's primarily not about backing upp your apps, it's about not having to install them again manually.
    – pzkpfw
    Feb 15, 2013 at 13:11
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Upgrading from CM9 to CM10.1 usually requires a FRESH install. I had to do it this way too. It's not recommended to use Titanium Backup because of possible issues. Read the WARNING at the bottom.

Here are the steps recommended by DonAndroid.

  1. Download the CyanogenMod 10.1 ROM for your device.

  2. Copy the downloaded zip file on root of your SD card.

  3. Boot your device into custom Recovery mode.

  4. Perform a NANDROID Backup from Recovery.

  5. Now wipe the data by selecting “wipe data/factory reset”.

  6. Also wipe the cache partition from “wipe cache partition” option.

  7. Select install zip from sdcard > choose zip from sdcard.

  8. Select the CyanogenMod 10.1 zip file to kick off the installation.

  9. After installation is complete, select “reboot system now”.

Your phone will now reboot to update CM9 to CM10.1.

WARNING

# CM 10.1 is based on Android 4.2.1. Any and all proprietary applications that you have installed outside of CM should be updated to their 4.2.1 counterparts. Do not use the 4.1 versions of proprietary applications, else you will experience difficulties.

# Finally, we always advise that you create a backup before any update. Do note, however, that due to Android 4.2 changes to support multi-user mode, your backups will automatically be transferred to /sdcard/0/[backup folder]. Remember this when attempting to restore 10.0.
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  • It annoys me how people still say "wipe data, then cache". The "wipe data/factory reset" has wiped the cache partition as a part of that forever, just look at the prompt right in front of you. Also, your answer does not adress backing up settings and apps at all, just making a nandroid backup.
    – pzkpfw
    Feb 15, 2013 at 13:13

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