What do I need to back up my Meizu MX4 before I start installing onto it?

happyzenith

Hi,

I'm not 100% sure what I'm doing. I've currently got a Meizu MX4 with 15.04 (OTA-15). I'm having all sorts of issues with it ... so I want to start installing using MDT but was wondering what I need to back up first to ensure that I don't loose anything like photos, phone numbers, text messages (or anything else I didn't realise I needed).

Anyone got any advice?
Thanks,
Naomi

advocatux

@happyzenith, how are you backing up your phone until now? or never did it?

Anyway you can back it up with ADB or ssh. MDT has that possibility too but maybe you want a copy before try that tool.

In short you need to copy /home/phablet to back up everything except the apps.

Alan Pope did a tool too https://github.com/popey/buds

Do you know how to use any of those tools? If the answer is no, ask here and we'll try to help you.

hans1977se

@happyzenith You can also use rsync as written in step 4 in the wiki.
https://wiki.ubports.com/wiki/How-to-flash-existing-ubuntu-touch-devices-with-Ubports-images

advocatux

@hans1977se that's right. I forgot to mention it

happyzenith

@advocatux I have always just copied the phone numbers and photos onto an external hard drive ... but wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything. I've tried to use MDT but I have an error when it says "No device connected, cannot continue". I've connected my phone to the computer using a cable - have I done it wrong? I've copied what I've got in the terminal below.

Meizu MX4 - arale

Ubuntu:

[1] Install Ubuntu
[2] Install OpenStore

[3] Back Up your UBports device

[4] Screencast

Android:

[5] Install Cyanogenmod 13
[6] Install Cyanogenmod 13 without Gapps

[7] Back Up your Android device

[0] Back to menu

Enter option: 3

UBports (tiny) Backup

This module will make a simple backup or restore of the user data in your UBports device. It is currently in alpha stage and no liability is taken for lost data.
NOTE: Currently it is not possible to make a backup of installed Apps, we hope to provide this on a later stage...

The things You will need:

For backup to SD cards:
An SD card inserted in your phone

OR

For backup to remote PCs or servers:
the DNS name or IP address of a backup server that can be used with scp/rsync
your username on this server
(optional) a path to the remote directory, which will be used to store the backup: $HOME/<optional_folder>/ubports_backup/<device_id> - enable advanced mode for this to work.

The script will create its own SSH key pair which will be then also pushed to the device. Currently we only support one username and one backup server!

Currently the following settings are configured:

Backup/Restore to/from SD card
Device currently connected:
Current backup path: /media/phablet/<SDCARD_NAME>/ubports_backup/

[1] Switch backup target

[2] Change backup server

[3] Change username

[4] Backup device

[5] Restore device

[9] Switch to advanced mode

[0] Back to main MDT menu

Enter option: 4
No device connected, cannot continue!
Press a key to continue...

I also don't know how to copy /home/phablet like you suggested. Can I get to this on the file manager?

I haven't tried any of the other ways yet.

Thanks!
Naomi

wgarcia

@happyzenith If you get "Device not connected" something you can try is different cables. There is also different ways of installling the m-d-t tool (directly from github or with the snap), and both should be tried. There is also a specific Telegram group to get support with that tool:
https://t.me/joinchat/AAAAAAiC4TTYHRddjUbpXg

advocatux

@happyzenith, to access the phone to copy /home/phablet first you need to set in the phone in developer mode.

To allow MDT to do its magic you need to unlock the phone.

If you have ADB installed in you computer is very easy to do something like this from your computer:

adb pull /home/phablet/ /home/your_user/whatever_directory_you_want/

You need to do this from the command line. When connecting the phone to the computer don't use a file manager, just use the command line.

Maybe this guide can help you with what you can do with ADB https://developer.android.com/studio/command-line/adb.html

happyzenith

Thanks! All sorted and ready to go

advocatux

@happyzenith fantastic!

wgarcia

@happyzenith Congratulations and welcome to the uBports ship!