[General Questions and Answers] jim-j:
Strange external storage path could be the problem

Delosari, my problems are because my tablet has internal and external SD cards, so I bet my solution will help you too. I have a Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus WiFi only tablet (aka a P6210 tablet) running stock ICS 4.0.4 with Titanium Backup Pro 6.0.0. Thanks primarily to the info I've found in this thread I've solved my problem with restoring TB (Titanium Backup) settings. Below I'll try to summarize what I read in this thread and then I'll describe the solution that works for my P6210. If you just want my fix skip to the second to last paragraph in this post.

Note that I've only been using TB for a few days. I write like I know what I'm talking about, but I'm not an authoritative source for TB info. Everything I write below is based simply on what I've read in this thread and my own TB observations/assumptions. Hopefully someone will correct me if I get anything wrong. I'm posting this to try to help others, but YMMV.

Before I can explain my solution you first have to understand how TB stores its settings. TB's primary configuration storage is in "/data/data/com.keramidas.TitaniumBackup"

The easiest way to wipe TB's config is to

Go to "Settings->Applications"

In the "Downloaded" list find "Titanium Backup" and tap it to pull up its app info screen

Tap the Clear data" button

Top the "OK" button to confirm you want to delete its data

The second easiest way to wipe TB's config is to uninstall and reinstall TB

If you're geek you can also wipe TB's config by removing these files:

rm /data/data/com.keramidas.TitaniumBackup/databases/*

rm /data/data/com.keramidas.TitaniumBackup/shared_prefs/*

In addtional to TB's internal configuration storage it also stores files in two locations on your external SD card ([EXTSDCARD]) here:

[EXTSDCARD]/TitaniumBackup

[EXTSDCARD]/data/com.keramidas.TitaniumBackup

TB uses your external SD card ([EXTSDCARD]) so that if your droid's internal memory is wiped your backups are still safe on your eternal SD card.

[EXTSDCARD]/TitaniumBackup is where TB stores your backups. I.e. all the apps and data it backs up are stored in this folder. Strangely enough TB does not back up its own config here. AFAIK it's not possible to backup TB's own settings via one of its normal backup jobs.

[EXTSDCARD]/data/com.keramidas.TitaniumBackup is where TB will back up its license file and optionally back up its settings.

To tell TB to back up its settings (preferences, labels, schedules, etc.) you must go to "MENU->Preferences" and check "Auto-sync TB settings". Unfortunately the description for "Auto-sync TB settings" is misleading. It states "If enabled, Titanium Backup will auto-backup its settings to your SD card, and then auto-restore them after a wipe." It sounds to me like you must enable "Auto-sync TB settings" for TB to auto-restore its settings, but that's not the case. "Auto-sync TB settings" only controls whether TB backs up its settings, it does NOT control whether TB restores it settings. Therefore if you've already backed up your TB settings and now want to restore them you should not enable "Auto-sync TB settings". All enabling "Auto-sync TB settings" does it tell TB to back up its config, possibly overwriting your current TB config backup.

Clear as mud? If you want to backup yoru TB settings you must enable "Auto-sync TB settings". After enabling "Auto-sync TB settings" if you look in "[EXTSDCARD]/data/com.keramidas.TitaniumBackup/settings" you should see your TB configuration backup files, something like this:

databases~custom

databases~filters

databases~schedules

databases~sysinfo

shared_prefs~com.keramidas.TitaniumBackup_preferences.xml

Note that these settings files are written immediately after any config change. The TB config backup has nothing to do with your other backup jobs.

So how and when does TB decide to restore its settings? Like the description for "Auto-sync TB settings" says, it will "auto-restore them after a wipe". So if you follow my instructions above to wipe TB's config and then run TB, all its settings will automatically be restored. I.e. it will behave like you never wiped its config. So if you really want to start TB with a clean slate you need to wipe its config and then move/rename/delete "[EXTSDCARD]/data/com.keramidas.TitaniumBackup/settings" before you run TB the first time after the wipe. In summary, the only way TB will restore its config is if its has no config (it's just been wiped or installed).

Only after I understood all the info above was I able to determine why my TB setting restore was failing. The root cause of my problem is the strange naming convention Samsung uses for its internal and external memory, which causes TB to set [EXTSDCARD] incorrectly. My internal memory tablet memory is at "/mnt/sdcard/". Most sane people and programs assume "/mnt/sdcard/" is my external SD card, but it's not. Instead my external SD card can be found at "/mnt/sdcard/extStorages/SdCard/".

When I run TB it incorrectly assumes "/mnt/sdcard/" is my external SD card and stores its files here:

/mnt/sdcard/TitaniumBackup

/mnt/sdcard/data/com.keramidas.TitaniumBackup

The "/mnt/sdcard/TitaniumBackup" backup folder is easy to fix. I simply made a new folder on my external SD card named "TitaniumBackup". In TB I then went to "MENU->Preferences" and set the "Backup folder location" to "/mnt/sdcard/extStorages/SdCard/TitaniumBackup".

Now my backup jobs store their data on my external SD card, but this does not help my "com.keramidas.TitaniumBackup" folder, it's still stuck on my internal memory. If I do a "Factory data reset" on my tablet its internal memory gets erased. After resetting my tablet I then install and run TB. During its first run TB has no config so it automatically trys to restore its settings from:

[EXTSDCARD]/data/com.keramidas.TitaniumBackup/settings

but in my case is trying to restore from my internal memory:

/mnt/sdcard/data/com.keramidas.TitaniumBackup/settings

Since my internal memory has just been wiped this directory doesn't exist and therefore TB can't restore its settings. Instead it starts with no config.

Now that you know why my TB settings restore is failing I can finally get to my solution.

The simplest fix for me is to manually copy "/mnt/sdcard/data/com.keramidas.TitaniumBackup" to my SD card before I factory reset my tablet. After a wipe of my tablet (or a new ROM install) I simply need to copy the "com.keramidas.TitaniumBackup" folder off of my SD card back to "/mnt/sdcard/data/" before I run TB the first time. Then TB will find my backup settings folder and automatically restore my settings.

TB is a nice program, I too am surprised that its biggest weakness is backing up its own config. I wonder why it doesn't just backup/restore its config like all the other apps it backs up? That would simplify (and demystify) this process a lot.