I have had to reflash the eMMc on my N900 2 times in a little over a month of owning it.

The first time was a pain since I had not backed up anything onto my PC or memory card.
The second time this morning was a lot less painful since I had backup on my memory card. It took about 20mins to restore contacts/ calendars/ apps/ settings all back to pre-reflash state.

I will try to backup to the memory card using Backup app and exporting contacts:
1. before installing any new app,
2. before powering down (if i can help it) or
3. once a week
whichever comes first. Is there any other way?

The question is what is YOUR backup routine? How often? When? and importantly HOW do you backup all the data on your N900?

I back up once a month as standard, and also sync my memory card with my PC monthly.

I also do adhoc back ups whenever installing new applications.

$ cat > rsync.exclude
/dev/
/proc/
/sys/
^D
$ sudo gainroot (or ssh in as root)
# rsync -avz -e 'ssh -p <external IP port>' --exclude-from='rsync.exclude' / <me>@<external IP>:thepath/to/n900/backup/

Generally daily, then gets picked up by Mac Time Machine for backup.

I also use the built-in Backup once a week or so, to the removable card

Be careful with rm as there are non-relative symlinks in the N900.

Does anyone if the inbuilt backup tool can backup to an external local, eg on local lan if connected to it via wifi?

My N900 wont be here till end of week but am keen to get a working backup sorted asap just in case I have to reflash as I may flash it with the newest firmware that includes the new update.

Also be keen to know where alot of the settings are so these areas can be backed up.

Thanks

Scott

The inbuilt backup can only back up to the eMMC (/home/user/MyDocs/backup) or the microSD card, if installed (/media/mmc1/backup).

It should take care of backing up application settings (if they store them in /home/user anyway), and the standard system settings.

EDIT: This should cover all the settings, but some apps (like angry birds) do store them elsewhere. The backup also deals with calendar, contacts, and a list of installed applications.

Is there anything this will backup not backed up by the stock Backup app+ Contacts Export?

Yes, this will backup absolutely everything, including eMMC and microSD. Restoring will not be as straightforward as from the backup app though.

Hi,

I manage to package rdiff-backup based on the debian packages
if there is someone interested

I package them on the latest maemo sdk.

It is only needed rdiff-backup. The other packages are optional to install ( I need them as in the build are a dependency ) or unless acls or extended atributes are enabled.