Confused about ipod firmware upgrade

[pixxelpusher]

Hi, i have a jailbroken 4.2.1 iPod touch 4 that i jail broke when i first got it at the start of the year and i was thinking of upgrading the firmware on it, but everything i have read has left me confused on how i actually do that. What i would like to do is upgrade to a newer firmware but have my iPod stay exactly how it is (all apps, all info contained in apps, my folders, my dock, the way it looks, saved games etc). I just want everything to stay how it is. I have a lot of apple apps, games, and cydia apps / customisations on it that i don't want to loose, or have to re-setup. Will "rejailbraking" to a newer firmware delete everything that i have? How do i get around this? Can someone help me out? Thanks

[Mes]

My recommendation, stay put. The latest fully jailbreak is 4.3.3 and add little over 4.2.1. SHSH blobs are required to restore to any non-current iOS.

In addition, content is lost during a restore. It can be retrieved with an iTunes restore from backup, but not Cydia app/tweaks.

Wait for 5.0 and a good reason to upgrade

[pixxelpusher]

Hi, thanks for your reply. I guess i don't really need to upgrade, just thought it would be good to be running the latest. You say that content can be "retrieved with an iTunes restore from backup" however i've never been able to do this? Just as a test i had a translator app that i don't really use anymore, but was full of some recent translations. I had this backed up in iTunes and deleted it from my iPod. I then tried to sync my iPod again but the app wouldn't go back on. So then i copied it manually to my iPod, but when i started it up all the translations i had made were deleted. Am i missing something with how the backup's are supposed to work?

[Mes]

When a new restored device is found, iTunes asks: Restore from backup? Same question when right-clicking on device. App Store apps data is saved and usually restored.

It's not perfect ... most of the time it works

[droop4]

Yes. When you sync the device, it creates a backup. When u upgrade then u can restore (it asks you if u want to. That will restore all your apple/apple stuff, however Cydia stuff CANNOT be restored. You'd have to re jailbreak and download all your cydia apps/tweaks

[Poseidon79]

Upgrading to a new firmware for the sole purpose of just having the "latest and greatest" firmware is not a good reason lol. More often than not a new firmware comes out for no other reason than to close a jailbreak vulnerability and add absolutely no additional features. IMO it's worth upgrading every 6 months or so. Once to go from 3.X to 4.X and then one more upgrade later in the year if Apple pushed out any major bug fixes or optimizations.

[pixxelpusher]

When a new restored device is found, iTunes asks: Restore from backup?

Ok, i think i now understand how it all works. I think i will stay away from upgrading until the new OS has arrived. But just so i'm clear, the backup that iTunes makes of my jailbroken iPod only works if i fully restore the device, but not on a "app" level? So what if i accidentally delete an app or it gets corrupted? is there no way of restoring it per app? Also, has no one come up with a way yet to run jailbroken updates the same way you update your pc / mac? so it just changes the system info it needs but leaves user settings alone?

[Mes]

A 'restore from backup' restores all data. It has no options to restore individual apps data. PKGBackup provides an alternative for AppStore and Cydia data files. You may find this meets your needs.

[pixxelpusher]

Ok, have been reading more about it here: iPhone and iPod touch: About backups. Thanks, i will give PKGBackup a look, would be great if there was a solution to "proper backups" of idevices kind of like Time Machine offers.