[dmighty]

I have a Jailbroken 1.1.2 IPHONE and wanted to know what files to backup in case i have to do a restore for whatever reason. I would hate to have to reinstalled all the apps i have installed

So if i have to do a restore which files/directory should i backup so i can just copy these files back to the phone and be in the same state i was in before the restore or atleast close to it

Thanks

[avnyc11]

Using windows vista, make sure that hidden files and folders are visible, then go to my computer> c drive (if thats what you use)> users (documents and settings)> the folder of your name> app data (which is hidden)> roaming> apple computer> and the file you want is called mobilesync.

[dmighty]

Ok i found that directory, now what.
Are you saying the iphone is already backed up when sync?
i can use those files to restore my phone to its current state if need by

HOW? The total size of that directory is 11.5 MB
can you please elaborate

Thanks

[avnyc11]

That file stores the settings and preferences you have on your iphone such as your safari bookmarks, the cities you check the weather in, the notes you write, your recent calls list, contact photo id's, and other stuff of that nature. Your music, video, and photos on the other hand are not stored in this file and are not backed up by apple. So if you restore your iphone it will use mobilesync to place your settings back on, then use itunes to re add your music, video and photos. Under the defaut itunes music folder location, there is a file called itunes, that saves all the changes you've made to your songs on itunes such as start and stop times, rating, etc. As long as you have your music, video, and photos backed up on an external HD, those two files I mentioned above will make your restored iphone like it was before.

[b-ballstyle]

Where are located the contact list, the safaries bookmarks and sms messages ???

[outlawz85]

how crazy is that i was just gonna ask that same question...

But to ask another question how do i know if the backup is up to date do i plug it in and sync something or does it automatically back it up when its plugged in ???

[avnyc11]

contact list, safari bookmarks, and sms messages are all stored in that file mobilesync, and return to the iphone upon backup.
if you open itunes, and go to preferences, on windows, there should be a tab called syncing that tells you the last time you've synced. however i do believe the backup takes place before the syncing occurs, so you may need to hit the sync button again and go trhough a second sync to have a true up to date backup.

[iammeuru]

Dmighty, I feel you... I've been trying to find the answer to this myself. I'm beggining to think that the answer might be using a *nix based command called rsync, which our phones have... It's executable through the terminal (ssh would be easier). I believe you (if in windows) need to install samba (iPhone side), which I've already done, and then mount a windows share, and use rsync to copy everything over...

I don't know the exact syntax of rsync, but I remember it being straight-forward. I also know this is using a lot of space on your comp; as much as everything on your iPhone, so that means all your music and video would go up (unless you pass along to rsync to exclude their paths), which could just be restored with iTunes.

I'm sure there are easier, more gui interactive ways of doing this, but I've never bothered using any programs other than windows networking and iTunes to modify the file structure of my phone, except for whatever I downloaded to jailbreak it, but I never used any of those utils after the initial jailbreak/samba install.

Also, if you've got samba installed, you could just have it serve up your root directory tree, so you can access the whole iPhone as a windows share, which would allow you to copy it all over as a windows networked share and skip the rsync...

Either way, now that I've written a book as food for thought, I hope this inspired someone to figure it out and correct whatever parts I was mistaken on, and write a guide; unless that's already been done, in which case, I'm wasting my words.

GL

[dmighty]

Originally Posted by iammeuru

Dmighty, I feel you... I've been trying to find the answer to this myself. I'm beggining to think that the answer might be using a *nix based command called rsync, which our phones have... It's executable through the terminal (ssh would be easier). I believe you (if in windows) need to install samba (iPhone side), which I've already done, and then mount a windows share, and use rsync to copy everything over...

I don't know the exact syntax of rsync, but I remember it being straight-forward. I also know this is using a lot of space on your comp; as much as everything on your iPhone, so that means all your music and video would go up (unless you pass along to rsync to exclude their paths), which could just be restored with iTunes.

I'm sure there are easier, more gui interactive ways of doing this, but I've never bothered using any programs other than windows networking and iTunes to modify the file structure of my phone, except for whatever I downloaded to jailbreak it, but I never used any of those utils after the initial jailbreak/samba install.

Also, if you've got samba installed, you could just have it serve up your root directory tree, so you can access the whole iPhone as a windows share, which would allow you to copy it all over as a windows networked share and skip the rsync...

Either way, now that I've written a book as food for thought, I hope this inspired someone to figure it out and correct whatever parts I was mistaken on, and write a guide; unless that's already been done, in which case, I'm wasting my words.

GL

I noticed that while SSH into the phone with WINSCP there is a syncronize option while works pretty well. As you stated another alternative is SAMBA and i like the idea of being able to mount my IPHONE as a network drive to access files.... I think i am going to go this route.

I found some instructions which involved modifying files, etc.. is that neccesary even after installing samba from installer ?