Adb\fastboot for rookies

[crazythunder]

HOW TO USE ADB FOR ROOKIES--adb can be used on non rooted phones. but when i get to the part about nandroid backups, this is only for rooted phones.
ADB is used to interact with your device while in its regular state. You must go to Settings -> Applications -> Development, and check on
“USB Debugging” to have ADB function properly.

using adb, you can restore your phone using nandroid backups that you have previously made. you can also capture screenshots of your phone with ddms,an app within the sdk. with adb,the possibilities are endless. you can push apps and files to your phone from the pc. you can also run commands like moving your apps to the sdcard,which will save you from using the phones internal memory. let's get started. but before we do...i know this looks like alot of stuff and may seem intimidating. but trust me. just take your time,read carefully,and follow the directions,word for word. and it should work for you. one thing to note is this---i've had adb working flawlessly on my winmo machine. one day, it just would not work. no matter what i did. after doing a clean install of windows,i had it working flawlessly again. sometimes windows itself gets corrupted,and nothing you try will work. i make regular backups\system images with several programs. i just didn't have one to go back to the point i needed to this time. i highly suggest getting an imaging program for windows such as acronis true image or nti backup now. there are quite a few. even a few free ones online. once you get everything running good,make an image of c and make a bootable backup to dvd. you won't regret it,because,windows will get corrupted eventually.

NANDROID is included with JesusFreke's testkeys modded recovery image. If you have a JF ROM then you probably already have this recovery image and NANDROID. You must have the Engineering SPL or HardSPL to use FASTBOOT. links are provided below.
Fastboot.exe and AdbWinApi.dll are found in the "tools" folder of the SDK files.
Fastboot requires drivers to be loaded into your Windows Operating System. These drivers are in "usb_driver" folder of the SDK files.
the first thing you will need are the adb files. go here to download them to your
pc-- http://developer.android.com/sdk/dow...ows-1.5_r2.zip
this is the entire sdk,of which you'll not need the entire contents.i couldn't find just the adb download,but this will do. unzip it. now, go to the root of your c drive (double click "my computer",then dbl. click c). right click an empty area in the explorer window and select "new", then "folder".
right click the folder and select "rename". rename it to android. go back to the sdk folder you extracted. inside that is a
folder named tools. open the tools folder. holding the ctrl key on your keyboard, click each of these files...adb.exe,
adbwinapi.dll,and ddms.bat. right click one of them now that they are all highlighted and then select "copy". go to the
android folder you created. inside that folder,right click and select "paste.
next step--go download fastboot.exe from here-- http://android-roms.googlecode.com/f...boot-win32.zip
copy the fastboot file to the android folder you created.
You must have the Engineering SPL or HardSPL to use FASTBOOT. hardspl can be found here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/atta...6&d=1230965195. you'll need to register on xda's site to download it. rename it to update.zip and place it on your sdcard. you need to have your phone rooted to do this,and that's a whole nother topic. if you are rooted and still running the original spl from g1,power down your phone. Reboot the phone into recovery console(hold home and press power) and flash the update with Alt+S.

FASTBOOT requires drivers to be loaded into your Windows Operating System. These drivers are in "usb_driver" folder of the SDK. make sure your phone is in debug mode--settings>applications>development. plug the phone in to your pc. if you get a popup window saying new device found,point it to the usb drivers in the sdk folder and let it install the drivers. if not, right click "my computer" either from the desktop or the start menu. select "properties". click "hardware",then "device
manager".you should see a listing titled adb interface. double click it,then double click the secondary title-htc dream
composite adb interface. click driver to check the driver version. the latest driver version is 1.0.10.0. if you don't have
that, click "update driver". click "no,not at this time" to check windows update. next. check "install from a list or
specific location". next. click "don't search,i will choose the driver to install". next. now you will need to browse to the
usb drivers folder inside the android sdk folder. click on x86 if you're running 32bit windows,as most are. click amd64 if
you're running 64bit windows. let it install the drivers,then reboot windows.
If you don't see an "ADB Interface" category, then it's likely that windows loaded the USB Mass Storage driver for it automatically.
-In the device manager, go down to "Universal Serial Bus Controllers", & see if you have at least one "USB Mass Storage device". If you have multiple ones, you'll need to go through each to find the correct one.
-To find the correct one, right click on the USB Mass Storage device & click Properties. -Go to the Details tab.
-In the combo box at the top that says "Device Instance Id", bring up the pull down & choose "Compatible Ids".
-If that is the correct device, then you will see 3 entries:

• USB\Class_ff&SubClass_42&Prot_03
• USB\Class_ff&SubClass_42
• USB\Class_ff

Once you find the correct device, go to the driver tab, & click "Update Driver". Choose "No, not this time", then "Install from a list or specific location", then "Don't search, I will choose the driver to install", & then choose the same usb driver that you used to get adb to work.

that's about it for installing files. now let's see if we can get adb running. this is the recommended method. 1.right click "my computer". click "advanced",then "environment variables" Click "New" under System Variables and add the following:
Variable: adb
Value: C:\name of sdk folder\tools 2. my method. right click "my computer". click
"advanced",then "environment variables". in "system variables", look for one titled "path".delete it. i did this on my pc
with no after effects. above,under "user variables for username", click "new". for variable name,title it path. for variable
value,type this c:\android. now,when you open command prompt, it will automatically point to the folder containing
adb,eliminating the need to change to the directory from command prompt.
make sure phone is in usb debug mode and plug it in to your pc. open command prompt from the start menu>all
programs>accessories>command prompt. type in adb remount. if you see "daemon started successfully" or "remount succeeded",

you're golden! now type adb shell and hit enter. if you see a # sign,you're golden again!. if not,try typing su then enter.
always hit enter after all commands. if you don't see a # after typing su, we have a problem. if all is well, let's move on
to fastboot(restoring your phone).
unmount your phone from the pc using the icon in the tray next to your clock (safely remove hardware).unplug from pc. power down your phone. hold the home button while pressing power to enter recovery mode. press alt+b to perform a nandroid backup of your phone. this will be saved directly to your sdcard. press home+back to reboot when it is done. now, plug your phone into your pc and mount the sdcard. in your sdcard,you'll see a nandroid folder. inside that is a folder named something like HT840GZ28567. inside this folder you'll find a folder that is dated similar to this 20090523-1629 (that's may 23rd 2009,my latest backup). you'll need 3 files inside of this folder--boot.img,system.img,and data.img. copy these 3 files to the android folder in your c drive. unmount your phone from the pc and unplug it. power down your phone. hold camera and press power to start into bootloader\fastboot mode. depending on which spl you have,you might have to hit the back button to get to the fastboot screen. make sure it say's fastboot on your phone screen. now,plug the phone into your pc. open up command prompt on your pc. to do a complete system restore on your phone, type the following into command prompt,hitting enter after each command.
Type cd C:\android
then enter the following commands:
fastboot flash system system.img
it will say Sending, then writing and say OKAY if it was successful
then type
fastboot flash userdata data.img
wait for the second OKAY and type
fastboot flash boot boot.img
wait for the second OKAY and type
fastboot reboot
Your phone should now be restored exactly as you had it when it was backed up.
if you just want to restore your data\apps, just do the fastboot flash userdata data.img command.
that's about it for fastboot.

using ddms from the sdk. with ddms.bat, you can take screenshots of your phone. simply go to the android folder and double click the ddms.bat file. you should see a command prompt window open,and then the ddms app will appear. hopefully. if it does, click the htc device listed to highlight it. obviously the phone needs to be plugged in to pc. click device at the top,then screen capture. you can also use the file explorer from the device menu to push\pull files from\to your phone. enjoy! anyone finding any errors in my tutorial, please inform me asap. thanks.

UPDATE....
NANDROID NOW COMES IN GUI FORM!!!
ALL CREDIT FOR THIS GOES OUT TO "XDA user: Nicksen782" http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=512319
THANK HIM FOR HIS EFFORTS!!!

Nandroid, created through the efforts of Infernix and Brainaid, is a great tool for backing up your phone. The NANDROID backup process itself is easy to use; however, some folks are not so sure about how to restore these backups back to their phone.
Solution: Nandroid Restore and Nandroid Restore GUI
What it does:
Automates the FASTBOOT portion of the restore.
Nandroid Restore will use FASTBOOT to wipe and then restore the boot, system, userdata and recovery partitions from your phone.
When these tasks are completed, the script then reboots your phone.
What you should expect:
You should end up with a clean restore and all of your data just as you had it when you made your NANDROID backup. EASY!
Directions:
Get your phone into the Secondary Boot Loader (SPL):
Plug your phone into your computer with the USB cable
Take your NANDROID backup off of your SD card and place it in a directory on your PC with a copy of both fastboot.exe and AdbWinApi.dll.
Enter the Secondary Boot Loader (SPL) of your phone by powering down your phone and then powering it back up while holding both the <END> button and the <CAMERA> button.
Restore using NANDrest.bat from the command line:
On your PC, drop to a command prompt and navigate to the directory that you placed your NANDROID backup and fastboot.exe files.
Execute the program "nandrest.bat".
(It is also possible to simpily run this script from the folder without using the command prompt. We all have our preferences after all.)
Restore using Nandroid Restore GUI: (GUI written courtesy of XDA user Markazeh)
Make sure that the 4 Nandroid Restore GUI files are in the same folder as your NANDROID backups.
The GUI will make sure that all required files are in their proper place.(the *.img files and Nandrest scripts.)
get nandroid restore gui here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=512319

[DrVeronica]

very nice!

[crazythunder]

thank you. not trying to compete with whoever wrote the xda tut. just thought i could make it a little more simplistic.

[Sheed6992]

nice i will be sure to do this as soon as i get my phone

[deserttopping]

thanks. this might be helpful for me. briefly:

i have adb & the usb driver installed. adb finds my device when i mount it, but when i use bootloader (engineering), i get "waiting for device..." in adb. it just hangs.

[crazythunder]

Originally Posted by deserttopping

thanks. this might be helpful for me. briefly:

i have adb & the usb driver installed. adb finds my device when i mount it, but when i use bootloader (engineering), i get "waiting for device..." in adb. it just hangs.

is your phone plugged in to pc when you enter bootloader? it shouldn't be. is usb debugging enabled? do you have the latest usb drivers from 1.5 sdk? try closing the command prompt window. go to device manager and point adb interface to the 1.5 drivers while you're in fastboot mode,with phone plugged in. then try the fastboot commands again. i'm running the 1.33 spl, so i can't say about the engineering spl. i was running hardspl prior and it worked. i'm guessing,no, i know it works with engineering. i've read it on xda.

[deserttopping]

usb debugging is enabled. don't have 1.5 usb drivers, but i had this problem before 1.5, and i just gave up.

i'll dump all my current sdk stuff from my comp and start from scratch w/ your instructions. thanks.

[Toby4059]

I don't see the option to create a nandroid backup...

[crazythunder]

Originally Posted by Toby4059

I don't see the option to create a nandroid backup...

27 lines up from bottom of the post.

[Toby4059]

Originally Posted by crazythunder

27 lines up from bottom of the post.

what does that mean?