Best way to backup - Nexus 7 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

OK, so I managed to hose my N7 after doing a nandroid, filling up the SD card, and failed recovery...
No problem, when I get home I will just download the stock image, flash and start again from scratch. Hopefully most of it will get pulled back down from the google sync, but lost the sideloaded stuff I guess.
So this got me thinking. With the 3Gb issue of slowing the N7 to a crawl, how exactly can we do a CWM backup? For me the backup filled me up and I only had 650mb left. Then when I went to restore it started up and asked me to log into my google account, and showed no apps installed, yet I was still full up...
I did some searching about if you could nandroid to a USB drive.. seems not.
So what is the best method for a flash addict? Titanium backup to the cloud? Would be interesting to know what other people are doing and how they are doing it.. :laugh:

OK maybe a backup via adb is the best way:
Code:
adb backup –apk –shared –all –f /backup/mybackup.ab
Or using the toolkit?

Related

Formatted /System, Help!

Hey all,
I was trying to get OTA2 installed while retaining my root and long story short I ended up formatting my /system in CWM thinking it would rebuild the factory image. Now of coarse my system won't boot. For some reason I am also unable to mount /sdcard. Is there anyway I could restore my system?
Thanks for any help!
restore \system of your CWM backup
I don't have a CWM backup . I know, a real bonehead move. If anyone could help me out with a clean CWM backup I'd be willing to compensate.
Edit: BTW I have a 16gb US version of the TPT.
Is it even possible to flash someone else's CWM backup?
Could I use the full image that Lenovo took down, found here?
I don't suppose there's an nvflash image for this device...
While I'm not sure, it might be possible to use that full image. Certainly worth a try. You might try asking on that forum, if you haven't already.
Yes, It is possible to restore from someone else's backup. I, in the past have copied my backups to my pc when they were too much and If i needed them, I just copied them back to external_sd/clockworkmod/backup/ and voila, it would appear for restoration in CWM.
I may be wrong, I do not believe that region should have any effect but to be safe (since you already made one mistake ) restore your US version with a US backup. I have a UK version and I would have uploaded a backup for you if you couldn't find a US one but unfortunately, my tablet is at the lenovo repair centre, being treated for the dreaded micro usb port failure. Hope someone here can help with a backup.
Thanks for the advice!
I downloaded that full image, but I could not get it to flash in the traditional sense. I extracted it and copied the system directory to my system partition and the tablet actually boots now. However, wifi does not work, whenever I press any of the menu keys a red frame flashes around the screen, and I cannot go to the About section of the settings to try to download updates or anything, it just crashes. I am also unable to update to OTA1 via zip in CWM, it gives me:
Code:
assert failed: file_getprop("/system/build.prop", "ro.buildfingerprint") == "Lenovo/ThinkPadTablet/Indigo:3.1/ThinkPadTablet_A310_02/0024_0065_US:user/releasekeys" || file_getprop("/system/build.prop","ro.build.fingerprint") == "Lenovo/ThinkPadTablet/Indigo:3.1/ThinkPadTablet_A310_02/0037_0075_US:user/release-keys"
Since you still need a lot of help anyway why don't you try manually installing all of the updates up to OTA 0076. You have to have all the updates before it flashed first. Link here:
http://download.lenovo.com/slates/think/tablet1
The nandroid backup would have to be of a factory restore, correct? Otherwise, all accounts/settings, etc would be within the backup as well.
I wasn't planning on doing a factory restore any time soon, but if the CM9 ICS port releases is soon, I can make one then as I have the same model and region as you.
I'm just really busy at the moment due to school and I rely on my tablet for school!
That would be the only safe way to let someone have a backup.
toenail_flicker, Thanks for the suggestion, I'll start from the top of the list and work my way down.
obscure.detour, being a student also, I completely understand. Luckily I just bought a Livescribe pen to offset my need for my TPT for the moment .
In the mean time, in case anyone else would be willing, you could also take a backup of your current system, do a factory restore, take a backup of the clean rom, and than restore your original image.
Thanks!
LOL You make it sound easy, but for a CWM noob it's a dicey thing. Never restored anything. Perhaps someone with more confidence in CWM than me can pull it off for you.
I know letting someone have a backup that contains personal info my be tricky, but if you've got time (couple of hours) on your hands you can backup your current system, do a factory reset, and since a factory reset only affects data, it wont wipe your root or CWM. you can then make a CWM backup of the newly reset rom, copy it off the sd card and restore your earlier system which you backed up.
This would save the OP having to start installing the OTA updates one by one.
Like I said, my tablet is away for repairs, otherwise I would have helped him. Or, maybe that's a good thing cos its certain that my tablet's main board will be changed, thus its going to be a fresh android installation on it. when I receive it in a couple of days, if you're still in need, I'll try to reroot and install CWM so I can send you a backup.
Much appreciated darkhandsome18! Installing the OTA's failed . It looks like the image I found is actually a test build. Even the earliest patches do not recognize it as a viable base to install on.
Did you ever get someone's backup? If not I can make one for you today. I am on OTA2 though, were you updated before you wiped system?
Here is a CWM backup from my 32GB US TpT.
Extract the file onto your external sd card in the folder /clockworkmod/backup/
Reboot into CWR
Select Restore Backup and select my backup (You can use advanced backup to restore individual parts or just the normal restore to restore everything, which will be factory reset US OTA2 with root)
Hopefully everything will work properly and you will never format your system partition without a nandroid backup again.
I have it on my Dropbox for now but will delete it in a couple of days because it takes up a lot of space. Let me know once you have downloaded it.
If you don't have a Dropbox account then sign up here and we'll both get an extra 250MB of storage space.
jhankinson, thanks! I was not on OTA2, would that be a problem? Also, I'm having issues backing up my current setup, I got ICS running. CWR gives me "Error while backing up boot image". Any ideas?
I'd like to backup my current (semi-working) setup before attempting to restore yours. Thanks again for uploading that!
I finally got it to work by remounting my sdcard in rw using ADB in clockwork recovery. That backup seems to have worked flawlessly jhankinson, I can't thank you enough!
This is great news! I knew I couldn't help you, but so glad GodfatherIP was able to help you. He helped me a great deal, too, recently.
Who is GodfatherIP?

[Q] Any way to do a full offline backup?

I just noticed that the current clockworkmod for the Nexus 4 generates backups that only include images for boot and recovery.
Is there any way to get a full backup of everything on the device, which can be restored to return the phone to exactly the same state it was in? Having all files in formats that can be restored via fastboot would be ideal (just reflash boot/recovery/system/userdata).
Typically the solution is to dump all of this to the sd card, but since this phone doesn't have an sd card it would probably make sense to just send it over adb to be written to a PC (which is how I believe nandroid used to work when I first started using it on my G1).
If nothing exists I guess I can probably just whip up a script that runs over adb from an insecure recovery.
Why not just use titanium/etc? Well, I do, and that would be my solution for restoring individual apps/etc. However, if I want to mess with an experimental ROM for a few hours I'd rather just do a full image of the whole device and then restore it when I'm done. If I have image files I can restore via fastboot then I know that the phone is restored to the exact state it was in when I started.
I just use TWRP once a month or anytime I make critical changes to my system. (aka NANDROID backup) And also Titanium Backup Pro for individuality of app storage.
Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2
Hate to self-reply, but the other reason I don't like Titanium is that it isn't atomic. Time passes between the first and last backup, so the phone might not be restored to a consistent state. It is better than nothing, and it is as good as you can do for an online backup without converting the phone to something like btrfs, but I'd really prefer an atomic backup, which is best done offline unless the OS is designed for it.
chinchillables said:
I just use TWRP once a month or anytime I make critical changes to my system. (aka NANDROID backup) And also Titanium Backup Pro for individuality of app storage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Believe it or not I hadn't heard of TWRP. That seems to work better - I'll see if I prefer it to clockworkmod - if nothing else I'll just boot it from fastboot for backups.
I also use Ti Backup Pro for individual apps. I think that there is a place for both.

[Q] Titanium Backup Extract from Nandroid no longer working on 4.2?

For some reason my phone got totally hosed up this evening. Everything was fine and I turned the screen off, I then immediately tried to turn it back on and nothing happened. So I hard rebooted (hold down power) and the phone never went past the boot screen. Tried wiping cache, which got it past the boot screen, then it went through the upgrading apps process, then when that was done it got stuck at "starting apps". It seemed like the System UI would not start. I left it for 5-10 mins and it never booted into my launcher.
So at that point, I decided to do a nandroid backup, then wipe my phone completely, and reinstall AOKP. That got me back into the phone, but my plan was to use the "Extract from Nandroid" feature built into Titanium Backup Pro to restore my apps and data from my nandroid backup. When I tried this, TB saw my nandroid backup, but selecting it brought up an empty apps list. I have successfully used this feature in the past without any issue - though I am not sure if I have used it since Android 4.2 was released.
So, I decided, let me see if I can browse my nandroid manually via Root Explorer. I navigated to the clockworkmod directory on my sdcard, where nandroid backups have usually been kept and it was also empty! So, I launched ROM Manager and sure enough it sees my nandroid there as well. Then I noticed the fine print:
In Android 4.2, backups are placed in secure directory, inaccessible to other apps. Backups can be pulled with ADB or by using ROM Manager Backup Download Server
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So, I am currently in the process of using the Download Server to download my backup to my PC. My question is, is there a way to get Titanium to read this zip file I am downloading and extract apps/data out of it like I used to do? Do I just copy the zip back to the /sdcard/clockworkmod directory?
If anyone has already been through this on 4.2 I would appreciate the advice. Thanks! :good:
Hi,
I had a similar problem on my N7 tb wasn't displaying anything from my twrp backups, try appextractor 2 beta from the play store. Worked for me took a few mins to process my back up but then displayed everything perfectly.
Hope this helps
SD.
Same problem... appextractor cannot find anything
This is because nandroids are now saved in a secure file. I'm pretty sure it's /mount/shell/clockworkmod. There's some apps on the play store like cwm backup manager that allow you to make copies to your pc.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
mustangtim49 said:
This is because nandroids are now saved in a secure file. I'm pretty sure it's /mount/shell/clockworkmod. There's some apps on the play store like cwm backup manager that allow you to make copies to your pc.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am dealing with the same problem right now...
The reason for your problem is probably that you made your backup with CMW 6 and not 5. Neither Appextractor nor Titanium Backup can currently work with the new backups it seems.
I would greatly appreciate any ideas/solutions!
So basically Titanium is useless with 4.2.2?
texaslittleangel said:
So basically Titanium is useless with 4.2.2?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Never had a problem with Titanium and 4.2.2 ever.

[Q] Recovery question

I rooted my device with wug's toolkit and was running TWRP. The OTA came out so i flashed back to stock, unrooted to update to JWR66Y. Now i rooted the device again and also have TWRP. Before i flashed back to stock i backed everything up with titanium backup, i created an android backup with the toolkit and i also created a nandroid backup with the toolkit. I then restored my nandroid backup with the toolkit and the OTA was not applied anymore and i was back to square one. my mistake.... what do i have to do to put everything back the way it was without it reverting back to JWR66V? I am sorta new to this and have a good general knowledge of what is going on and i just need to know what direction to go in.
thanks
I am now rooted with TWRP again... Back to stock with none of my apps but I am up to date with the OTA. Still dont know what direction to go in to restore everything as it was and keep the JWR66Y update.
If you just restore the data partition, that should give you your user apps and app data back but im unsure how well it will work restoring 4.2 data to a 4.3 os
Sent from my LG-P768 using xda app-developers app
donk165 said:
If you just restore the data partition, that should give you your user apps and app data back but im unsure how well it will work restoring 4.2 data to a 4.3 os
Sent from my LG-P768 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok thanks alot.
I was on 4.3 JWR66V before i flashed stock and updated to JWR66Y. Should i use wug's toolkit to restore (just data, not system) or do it through titanium backup?
flyers27 said:
Ok thanks alot.
I was on 4.3 JWR66V before i flashed stock and updated to JWR66Y. Should i use wug's toolkit to restore (just data, not system) or do it through titanium backup?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Id say try using the toolkit first, if it doesnt work, wipe data partition and then try using titanium backup. Another good tool is nandroid manager, i use that to restore apps and data from a CWM nandroid backup. If you put the nandroid backup from the toolkit onto your tab and then use nandroid manager and see if it will read the backup.
Good luck!
donk165 said:
Id say try using the toolkit first, if it doesnt work, wipe data partition and then try using titanium backup. Another good tool is nandroid manager, i use that to restore apps and data from a CWM nandroid backup. If you put the nandroid backup from the toolkit onto your tab and then use nandroid manager and see if it will read the backup.
Good luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok, i just recovered only the data from my nandroid backup with the toolkit and it seemed like everything was ok at first. I tried a few games and they worked until i tried ones that i had saved game data and realized my saved games were not saved. Also the games i had with obb files previously did not work because the obb files were gone. Another thing... all my apk's on the internal card are not there, yet the games are working. I then took the titanium backup folder that i copied to my computer with the backup and put it on the internal card and loaded titanium backup. It did not recognize the folder and it showed that i did not have anything backed up at all.
now what to do?
Update: I clicked on the batch button on titanium backup and was able to try and restore my apps and data. It did not put the apk's back on the internal card or allow me to play my saved games.... I also tried just to restore the Andoid backup using the tookit and that didnt bring anything back either.
I flashed the stock recovery and unrooted with the toolkit to undo everything i just did. I then rooted the device and added TWRP using the toolkit. Now i am rooted with none of my previous apps or saved games, but i am updated to JWR66Y.
Hopefully someone can help me restore all my apps and saved games because what ive done isnt working.
I really dont want to put all the apk's and reinstall all my games and apps back on my nexus. Someone must have some insight please.
thanks
flyers27 said:
I really dont want to put all the apk's and reinstall all my games and apps back on my nexus. Someone must have some insight please.
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, flyers27...
Sorry to read about your difficulties restoring you tablet back to it's pre-4.3 glory.
Unfortunately, there are no easy shortcuts to getting all your apps back the way they where. You're going to have to use Titanium... your NANDROIDs from 4.2.2 won't really help you...
If you have Titanium backups of your apps on your Nexus 7 (by default they're located in /storage/emulated/0/TitaniumBackup), then it's just a case of going through each listed app backup and selecting either (from the Backup/Restore tab) Restore App only or Restore App+Data.
Personally, I only ever use Batch for backing up apps, preferring a more discretionary approach to the apps I restore, and whether or not I choose to restore a given apps associated data. It is, I grant, a bit of a slog, but it's not a task that's going to crop up everyday... it's just a once-in-while-sort-of-thing.
----------------------------------------------------------
Up until Jellybean 4.3 was released a few weeks ago, I'd been happily running a Jellybean 4.2.2 based custom ROM/Kernel combo for six months or so, and I knew if I wanted to avail myself of Jellybean 4.3, I had to wipe the metaphorical slate clean and begin anew.
Here is what I did...
----------------------------------------------------------
1). Performed a NANDROID backup of my (then) 4.2.2 based Custom ROM/Kernel combo. This was more for insurance sake, so should anything go wrong, I could easily get a working system back, relatively quickly. But if everything went according to plan (which it did), that NANDROID backup would be essentially redundant (which it was).
2). Performed a full Titanium backup of all my 150+ user installed apps.
3). Copied EVERYTHING off of my Nexus 7, to my laptop. (NANDROIDs, Titanium backups, Videos, Music, Documents, Images, etc., et.al.)
4). Fastboot flashed Jellybean 4.3 (build JWR66V). Which, also wiped the tablet.
5). Fastboot flashed TWRP and Rooted.
6). Copied EVERYHING (except the NANDROID), back to my Nexus 7. (Titanium backups, Videos, Music, Documents, Images, etc., et.al.)
7). Set about the business of selectively restoring my Titanium backed-up apps.
----------------------------------------------------------
I had the whole thing done in slightly less than 2 hours. Upgraded from 4.2.2 custom to 4.3 stock... and rooted.
Sometimes there are no easy ways; you've just gotta bite the bullet, and get it done. And none of this is technically difficult, it's just a bit tedious.
In your case, it shouldn't take that long... if you have your Titanium backups on your Nexus 7, just restore what you want FOR NOW... and perhaps maybe come back to those less urgent apps at a later date. Not everything has to be restored immediately. The difference between TWRP/CWM NANDROIDS and Titanium, is the former is Monolithic (the restore is all or nothing), but the latter is Granular (you can cherry pick from Titanium).
Anyway... just my thoughts. Hope it helps.
Rgrds,
Ged.
GedBlake said:
Hi, flyers27...
Sorry to read about your difficulties restoring you tablet back to it's pre-4.3 glory.
Unfortunately, there are no easy shortcuts to getting all your apps back the way they where. You're going to have to use Titanium... your NANDROIDs from 4.2.2 won't really help you...
If you have Titanium backups of your apps on your Nexus 7 (by default they're located in /storage/emulated/0/TitaniumBackup), then it's just a case of going through each listed app backup and selecting either (from the Backup/Restore tab) Restore App only or Restore App+Data.
Personally, I only ever use Batch for backing up apps, preferring a more discretionary approach to the apps I restore, and whether or not I choose to restore a given apps associated data. It is, I grant, a bit of a slog, but it's not a task that's going to crop up everyday... it's just a once-in-while-sort-of-thing.
----------------------------------------------------------
Up until Jellybean 4.3 was released a few weeks ago, I'd been happily running a Jellybean 4.2.2 based custom ROM/Kernel combo for six months or so, and I knew if I wanted to avail myself of Jellybean 4.3, I had to wipe the metaphorical slate clean and begin anew.
Here is what I did...
----------------------------------------------------------
1). Performed a NANDROID backup of my (then) 4.2.2 based Custom ROM/Kernel combo. This was more for insurance sake, so should anything go wrong, I could easily get a working system back, relatively quickly. But if everything went according to plan (which it did), that NANDROID backup would be essentially redundant (which it was).
2). Performed a full Titanium backup of all my 150+ user installed apps.
3). Copied EVERYTHING off of my Nexus 7, to my laptop. (NANDROIDs, Titanium backups, Videos, Music, Documents, Images, etc., et.al.)
4). Fastboot flashed Jellybean 4.3 (build JWR66V). Which, also wiped the tablet.
5). Fastboot flashed TWRP and Rooted.
6). Copied EVERYHING (except the NANDROID), back to my Nexus 7. (Titanium backups, Videos, Music, Documents, Images, etc., et.al.)
7). Set about the business of selectively restoring my Titanium backed-up apps.
----------------------------------------------------------
I had the whole thing done in slightly less than 2 hours. Upgraded from 4.2.2 custom to 4.3 stock... and rooted.
Sometimes there are no easy ways; you've just gotta bite the bullet, and get it done. And none of this is technically difficult, it's just a bit tedious.
In your case, it shouldn't take that long... if you have your Titanium backups on your Nexus 7, just restore what you want FOR NOW... and perhaps maybe come back to those less urgent apps at a later date. Not everything has to be restored immediately. The difference between TWRP/CWM NANDROIDS and Titanium, is the former is Monolithic (the restore is all or nothing), but the latter is Granular (you can cherry pick from Titanium).
Anyway... just my thoughts. Hope it helps.
Rgrds,
Ged.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thank you very much, i will try what you said.

[Q] How to get data off phone in recovery mode

I tried to install the 4.4 Android update on my Nexus 4 but upon reboot my phone started at the "four circles" screen. I thought it was installing correctly so I let my phone sit while plugged in, but when I checked back in four hours it was still stuck. Every time I reboot it gets stuck at the same screen.
I can access Recovery Mode but I don't have any backups for the system before I tried to install this update (really bad planning on my part, I know). After searching on Google it appears the only solution is a factory reset and installing files found on this website, but before I do that I want to pull my data off my phone. When I connect my phone to my computer via USB it doesn't show up at all under Computer.
I have the following programs installed that I think are relevant:
Team Win Recovery Project
SuperSU
Titanium Backup (with paid key)
I've tried scouring Google for days but I must not be using the right key words because I can't find anything relevant to my specific issue. I've found mention of "ADB Sideload" but I don't understand how that factors in-- I haven't found anything in simple enough terms for me to understand (I'm extremely un-knowledgable of phone-related tech talk).
Please help! Thank you!
Google adb backup xda
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app
jd1639 said:
Google adb backup xda
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From what I'm reading after Googling "adb backup" you need your phone to be able to start up. My phone can't start up, it can only go in to recovery mode. Also, when I backed up my files with TWRP and restored it, it also restored the faulty installation of Android 4.4. As far as I'm reading on adb backup it will backup everything the same way, so it will also reinstall the faulty installation of Android 4.4, in my understanding.
Is that right? Or is there something I'm missing where the adb backup file can be modified while on a computer where the old system files (for the phone) can be removed so it only restores the data? Also, I've read that the adb backup does not save any SMS messages, will it still save the SMS backup files I have through Titanium Backup?
Nexus4Noob said:
From what I'm reading after Googling "adb backup" you need your phone to be able to start up. My phone can't start up, it can only go in to recovery mode. Also, when I backed up my files with TWRP and restored it, it also restored the faulty installation of Android 4.4. As far as I'm reading on adb backup it will backup everything the same way, so it will also reinstall the faulty installation of Android 4.4, in my understanding.
Is that right? Or is there something I'm missing where the adb backup file can be modified while on a computer where the old system files (for the phone) can be removed so it only restores the data? Also, I've read that the adb backup does not save any SMS messages, will it still save the SMS backup files I have through Titanium Backup?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1021625

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