Database Users

[Q] Inconsistancies accessing Device Storage from windows

I've just noticed this today and wondered if anyone else has see this?
There seems to be an inconsistancy between the tablet and the view of the Device Storage when connected to windows via micro usb port.
For instance. I connect the tablet to windows with micro usb cable and I view files under "Device Storage" which is the contents of the internal sdcard from /mnt/sdcard.
I also start up an adb shell and cd to the /mnt/sdcard directory. As expected, both show the same files. And if I create a file or folder in the windows exporer view, the file or folder shows up in the adb shell view as well.. great..
However, If I create a file or folder using the adb shell, it does not get reflected to the windows explorer view (until the tablet is rebooted). Likewise, if I create file in the explorer view and then delete it in adb shell, it stays around in the explorer view. Also, if I delete a file in the explorer view, it stays around in the adb shell view.
Anyone know what's going on here and why it doesn't stay in sync? Is the windows explorer view using some kind of cache view?
Thanks

Euclid's Brother said:
I've just noticed this today and wondered if anyone else has see this?
There seems to be an inconsistancy between the tablet and the view of the Device Storage when connected to windows via micro usb port.
For instance. I connect the tablet to windows with micro usb cable and I view files under "Device Storage" which is the contents of the internal sdcard from /mnt/sdcard.
I also start up an adb shell and cd to the /mnt/sdcard directory. As expected, both show the same files. And if I create a file or folder in the windows exporer view, the file or folder shows up in the adb shell view as well.. great..
However, If I create a file or folder using the adb shell, it does not get reflected to the windows explorer view (until the tablet is rebooted). Likewise, if I create file in the explorer view and then delete it in adb shell, it stays around in the explorer view. Also, if I delete a file in the explorer view, it stays around in the adb shell view.
Anyone know what's going on here and why it doesn't stay in sync? Is the windows explorer view using some kind of cache view?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have had 100% of the same thing happen on my A500. I often find that my files are in the wrong location and I still cannot get the external SD to read from the computer.
I have another problem concerning these issues maybe you could help with. I may have either flashed an update without the proper files to go before it; or I have have forgotton to wipe something. Nonetheless, my A500 wouldn't boot. When I did some research, I went to this site {http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showthread.php?p=2127076#post2127076} because it seemed in my eyes to have pertinent information. I got the update.zip to install and my A500 booted again! However, I could not get to stop two because my insternal SD card was wiped somehow and when I get to the main screen, do the circular unlock, the launcer, and many other programs repeatedly force close, so much so that I cannot do ANYTHING. How would you approach this, and is there a way for me to get into CWM. I have a recent nandroid backup that what 100% functional, and I would hope the MD5 sums would still match....
Any help/advice is greatly appreciated!

ibrooks.. try the instruction in post#1 of thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1132760
That will wipe the data, which I believe is causing all your force closes.
Once that is done, then you can root with gingerbreak.
After that, you can continue the instructions from that thread you referenced. But instead, I would suggest flashing the official 3.1 from http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1159443
Edit: The official 3.1 is not pre-rooted, you'll need to do the 3.1 root app if you want root access back.

Euclid's Brother said:
ibrooks.. try the instruction in post#1 of thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1132760
That will wipe the data, which I believe is causing all your force closes.
Once that is done, then you can root with gingerbreak.
After that, you can continue the instructions from that thread you referenced. But instead, I would suggest flashing the official 3.1 that's pre-rooted from http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1159443
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
uh... it's not pre-root...it's stock and will need "iconiaroot" to root
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=15456928&postcount=5

UnicornKaz said:
uh... it's not pre-root...it's stock and will need "iconiaroot" to root
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=15456928&postcount=5
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks.. I guess I was thinking about the leaked version that was released with pre-root. i've updated my post.

I've had that problem happen when I was trying to downgrade from the leaked 3.1. I was getting frustrating trying to flash different ROMs and the about kept showing the same version over and over again. Finally I realised that the files were just being copied to the device storage instead of the SD card. Taking the card out and copying the files directly did the trick.
Sent from my A500 using XDA Premium App

Great! Nice to know that I'm not cRaZy! I was having quite a time last night trying to copy files back and forth from the tablet, only to have them not show up where I knew they were in Windows explorer when connected via usb,.

Cannot see twrp back up files. Please help.

I recently switched over to team win recovery from cwm. I do like the ui and functionality way better then cwm. The problem I'm having is that I cannot access my back up files from my PC via USB. When I use the file browser that is built into twrp I can see the back up files in the twrp folder. When I plug my tablet into my PC via USB and open the twrp folder it is empty. Also when I open the twrp folder in es file browser it is empty there too. I would like to store the back up on my PC rather then on my tablet. Am I missing something? I was having this same problem with titanium with backed up apps so I upgraded to the paid version and uploaded my back ups to Google drive. After that I looked in the titanium back up folder again on my PC and all the sudden the files were there when before they were not. Its very frustrating. Please help.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Xparent Green Tapatalk 2

I had this same problem with TWRP when I started using it a couple of days ago. I'm not rooted, just unlocked and using fastboot to load the recovery image temporarily to do backups. And when I went looking for the backup files to move to my computer, I couldn't find them. It turns out to be a permissions issue, with TWRP creating the files/directories owned and visible only to root. Not a problem if backing up to a FAT formatted sdcard, but it is a problem with the Nexus 7 since it honors permissions and ownership of all files on the "sdcard".
Two fixes that I know of, though I have only used one so far:
1) After you do the backup, open up the psuedo terminal in TWRP and manually change the permissions or owner of the files recursively. Just set the starting directory in TWRP to "/sdcard/TWRP" and do "chown -R media_rw.media_rw BACKUPS" to change the owner, or do "chmod -R og+rw BACKUPS" to change the permissions. You really only have to do one of those, and I went with the owner change. I was then able to see the backup when connected to my computer, copy the files off, and then delete them to avoid taking up space on the tablet.
2) Although I haven't tried it yet, supposedly you can backup and restore directly to/from a USB thumb drive connected via OTG cable. This would be the easiest method for me, since I want backup and restore capability but without actually storing anything on the Nexus 7. I'm going to try it with a backup tomorrow, but I read about someone doing just that thing for the same reasons in a comment on reddit.
Hopefully that answers your question and gives you a way around it.

Just wanted to bump and let you know that the permissions issue seems to be properly resolved in the 2.2.1.5 version of TWRP. If you update then you shouldn't have to go through any crap to get at the backups.
Additionally, I tried doing a backup to a USB drive and it worked perfectly, so if you prefer that route it is definitely an option. Just make sure that you have the USB drive connected before you boot into TWRP, otherwise it doesn't notice the drive.

mtrs said:
I had this same problem with TWRP when I started using it a couple of days ago. I'm not rooted, just unlocked and using fastboot to load the recovery image temporarily to do backups. And when I went looking for the backup files to move to my computer, I couldn't find them. It turns out to be a permissions issue, with TWRP creating the files/directories owned and visible only to root. Not a problem if backing up to a FAT formatted sdcard, but it is a problem with the Nexus 7 since it honors permissions and ownership of all files on the "sdcard".
Two fixes that I know of, though I have only used one so far:
1) After you do the backup, open up the psuedo terminal in TWRP and manually change the permissions or owner of the files recursively. Just set the starting directory in TWRP to "/sdcard/TWRP" and do "chown -R media_rw.media_rw BACKUPS" to change the owner, or do "chmod -R og+rw BACKUPS" to change the permissions. You really only have to do one of those, and I went with the owner change. I was then able to see the backup when connected to my computer, copy the files off, and then delete them to avoid taking up space on the tablet.
2) Although I haven't tried it yet, supposedly you can backup and restore directly to/from a USB thumb drive connected via OTG cable. This would be the easiest method for me, since I want backup and restore capability but without actually storing anything on the Nexus 7. I'm going to try it with a backup tomorrow, but I read about someone doing just that thing for the same reasons in a comment on reddit.
Hopefully that answers your question and gives you a way around it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for the tip. I went everywhere yesterday...
Best buy, radio shack, staples etc looking for an otg cable and had no luck. I'm going to order one online today. I will give the other techniques a try today though. I'm not familiar with pseudo terminal but I'm gonna dig in anyway. That's the best thing about these gadgets for me is hacking in and figuring out. Thanks again for your help!
mtrs said:
Just wanted to bump and let you know that the permissions issue seems to be properly resolved in the 2.2.1.5 version of TWRP. If you update then you shouldn't have to go through any crap to get at the backups.
Additionally, I tried doing a backup to a USB drive and it worked perfectly, so if you prefer that route it is definitely an option. Just make sure that you have the USB drive connected before you boot into TWRP, otherwise it doesn't notice the drive.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I first started out with twrp I flashed 2.2.1.2 via adw. That was before I knew about the goo option in the play store. I've since upgraded to 2.2.1.5 and still having the same issue.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Xparent Green Tapatalk 2

norcal61 said:
When I first started out with twrp I flashed 2.2.1.2 via adw. That was before I knew about the goo option in the play store. I've since upgraded to 2.2.1.5 and still having the same issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think that it only works with newly created files. So your existing backups will still have the wrong permissions, but new ones will be correct.
It's the old permissions on directory structure that will mess you up though. If you delete the "/sdcard/TWRP/BACKUPS" directory through TWRP, you will lose your existing backups, but then the next backup that you do should recreate the full directory path with the correct permissions on all of the files and directories. After that you shouldn't have any trouble accessing the backups. I tested that on mine just to be sure that it worked and it did fine for me.
If you don't want to lose your existing backups then just do the owner/permissions change that I mentioned before and you will have access to the old backups as well as having the new ones created with the correct permissions from the start.

mtrs said:
I think that it only works with newly created files. So your existing backups will still have the wrong permissions, but new ones will be correct.
It's the old permissions on directory structure that will mess you up though. If you delete the "/sdcard/TWRP/BACKUPS" directory through TWRP, you will lose your existing backups, but then the next backup that you do should recreate the full directory path with the correct permissions on all of the files and directories. After that you shouldn't have any trouble accessing the backups. I tested that on mine just to be sure that it worked and it did fine for me.
If you don't want to lose your existing backups then just do the owner/permissions change that I mentioned before and you will have access to the old backups as well as having the new ones created with the correct permissions from the start.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cool, that totally makes sense. Can't believe I didn't try that all ready. I will definitely make a new back up with the latest version of twrp. I'm running the same ROM and kernel as the back up that I currently have stored. Gonna give it a shot right now and let you know how it works.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Xparent Green Tapatalk 2

mtrs said:
I think that it only works with newly created files. So your existing backups will still have the wrong permissions, but new ones will be correct.
It's the old permissions on directory structure that will mess you up though. If you delete the "/sdcard/TWRP/BACKUPS" directory through TWRP, you will lose your existing backups, but then the next backup that you do should recreate the full directory path with the correct permissions on all of the files and directories. After that you shouldn't have any trouble accessing the backups. I tested that on mine just to be sure that it worked and it did fine for me.
If you don't want to lose your existing backups then just do the owner/permissions change that I mentioned before and you will have access to the old backups as well as having the new ones created with the correct permissions from the start.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No luck. That's weird. I deleted the folder SD/twrp/backups containing the back up, did another back up and still not visible on my PC or in es file browser.

norcal61 said:
No luck. That's weird. I deleted the folder SD/twrp/backups containing the back up, did another back up and still not visible on my PC or in es file browser.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm, you may have to delete "/sdcard/TWRP" as well, and just let it recreate everything. I might have changed the permissions on it already on mine, which is why it worked for me just deleting BACKUPS. I'll double-check that when I get back home and make sure.

mtrs said:
Hmm, you may have to delete "/sdcard/TWRP" as well, and just let it recreate everything. I might have changed the permissions on it already on mine, which is why it worked for me just deleting BACKUPS. I'll double-check that when I get back home and make sure.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It worked! I deleted the twrp folder all together and it worked like a charm. I'm now able to see and move the backups to my PC. Thank you very much for your help. It is greatly appreciated!
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Xparent Green Tapatalk 2

Some path is :
/data/media/TWRP/BACKUPS/
You need copy to /sdcard/TWRP/BACKUPS and connect to pc will see it.

trungdtdev said:
Some path is :
/data/media/TWRP/BACKUPS/
You need copy to /sdcard/TWRP/BACKUPS and connect to pc will see it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the same issue and tried searching for "TWRP" to locate every instance of that folder. Turns out that I had previous backups in:
/mnt/shell/emulated/TWRP/BACKUPS/
I am happy to report that I was able to delete several past and hidden backups and recovered over 9gb of space!

[Q] Where are nandroid backups stored on Nexus 4??

I used ROM Manager to 'Backup Current ROM'. It seems like I saved a couple nandroid backups successfully but I can't find where they saved so I can transfer them to my computer. I checked internalstorage/clockworkmod/ but there is no "backup" folder present, only 3 small files called .nomedia, .salted_hash, and .settings.
When I go in ROM Manager and go to "Manager and Restore Backups" I can see three dated backups listed, where are those?
I just want to successfully perform a nandroid backup and move it to my computer. I have tinkered with this device twice and lost data both times because of unsuccessful backups to my computer (totally my fault). Still getting used to Android.

right under the "Backup Current ROM" option in ROM Manager you can see it says mnt/shell/clockwordmod/backup
It's where CWM stores backups, you cannot see the folder from computer. But you can pull it via adb or copy it to sdcard using a root explorer then move to computer
Sent from my Nexus 4 in a Faraday cage

KyraOfFire said:
right under the "Backup Current ROM" option in ROM Manager you can see it says mnt/shell/clockwordmod/backup
It's where CWM stores backups, you cannot see the folder from computer. But you can pull it via adb or copy it to sdcard using a root explorer then move to computer
Sent from my Nexus 4 in a Faraday cage
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How exactly do I pull via adb?

provided you know how to use adb
adb pull "mnt/shell/emulated/clockwordmod" "C:/CWMbackups"
if you're not familiar with adb, well... go to the general section then read
Sent from my Nexus 4 in a Faraday cage

I'm having the same problem but I'm using TWRP. Is it possible to make TWRP store my backups in /data/media/0/TWRP instead? This is quite a mess to go through just to be able to make a copy of the backup on my PC...

Like the other guy said, just use root Explorer and copy the back ups, then past them in the faux sd card. This is the simplest way to do it. ADB can be challenging for the novice.
[email protected] via Nexus4

Don't know why...but my nandroid backups are in /mnt/shell/emulated/clockworkmod/backup

GretaLewd said:
Don't know why...but my nandroid backups are in /mnt/shell/emulated/clockworkmod/backup
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Out of interest does anyone know why my backups are put there, I backed up using TWRP and it puts the backups there, but in recovery it looks to the sdcard/twrp folder so doesnt find the backups

same here. i've already browsed everything using file explorer but still cant find my cwm nandroid backup

Hi, i done the adb pull..
Later on if i wish to copy back to phone, do i need
to use adb push ? Thanks.

KyraOfFire said:
right under the "Backup Current ROM" option in ROM Manager you can see it says mnt/shell/clockwordmod/backup
It's where CWM stores backups, you cannot see the folder from computer. But you can pull it via adb or copy it to sdcard using a root explorer then move to computer
Sent from my Nexus 4 in a Faraday cage
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks man

nsg86 said:
Hi, i done the adb pull..
Later on if i wish to copy back to phone, do i need
to use adb push ? Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You should be able to just drag and drop anywhere on the sdcard folder.
On another note why do I have to do an image verification every time I leave a comment?

Backup to computer

I have a rooted nexus 7 and I know how to do a nandroid backup and a Titanium Pro Backup for the apps. But all these would be useless if the tablet is lost or stolen. So, what does one need to copy to a separate computer to be able to restore in case of disaster?
I imagine copying the nandroid and Titanium backups should be the minimum (assuming I can find where these files are located in the nexus..... ), but what else should be copied to a different computer? Are the nandroid and Titanium backups alone enough to restore everything or do I need to copy more of the root, sdcard, other folders, etc?
Appreciate advice from the experts.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

I make regular backups of my devices by just running:
adb pull /data/media
That pulls in all nandroids, titanium backups, pictures/videos, etc

AW: Backup to computer
I would backup all apps+data using titanium and then
Code:
adb pull /sdcard/
for all your music etc
Sent from my Nexus 7 running Android 4.2.2

I had the same "problem" and so I am currently writing a Java application which enables a remote backup, i.e. you can either backup whole images of the different partitions, or backup filesystems as tar files. Some days ago I wrote a small blog entry. The sources you can find on my GitHub account, but I can also provide some binaries.

Thank you all. But I am a newbie and come from the windows world and the device I would backup to is a windows laptop. So where do I enter the adb command?
Can I manually copy the sdcard contents to a folder in the windows laptop? If so, should this manual usb file copy to the laptop include the root?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

AndDiSa said:
I had the same "problem" and so I am currently writing a Java application which enables a remote backup, i.e. you can either backup whole images of the different partitions, or backup filesystems as tar files. Some days ago I wrote a small blog entry. The sources you can find on my GitHub account, but I can also provide some binaries.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I read your blog entry and you are talking exactly about what I need. But because I am a newbie from the windows world the rest is over my head.
I have TWRP on my Nexus, so the OTG nandroid sounds simpler for me. I have read elsewhere that nandroid backups copied manually to a windows device via usb frequently fail when used to restore. Is that why you are uncomfortable with the TWRP OTG nandroid?
Thanks.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

Anderson2 said:
Thank you all. But I am a newbie and come from the windows world and the device I would backup to is a windows laptop. So where do I enter the adb command?
Can I manually copy the sdcard contents to a folder in the windows laptop? If so, should this manual usb file copy to the laptop include the root?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can't manually copy over 'root'
You can use windows, you know windows has a command prompt too right?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus

I have Titanium Backup upload the backups to Dropbox after they run on a scheduled basis. I occasionally copy nandroids over but those aren't as important.
Sent from my SGH-I777 using xda premium

korockinout13 said:
I have Titanium Backup upload the backups to Dropbox after they run on a scheduled basis.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This
Then copy contents of /sdcard to your computer using any method you are comfortable with. If you have the drivers installed your device will show up as a storage device in my Computer.
Note 2 - Nexus 7 - Charge - Player 5.0 - Fascinate
Read twice, flash once

Pirateghost said:
You can't manually copy over 'root'
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aha! I didn't know I could not manually copy root. That explains things. I had assumed that if I was rooted and mounted root I could manually copy and paste it. Now I understand.
Thank you.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

Another 'cannot find TWRP backup' thread

I apologize for what I hope only 'appears' to be a redundant question.
I created a full system backup from TWRP recovery yesterday, in preparation of flashing another radio (.33). I usually always go right in and move it to dropbox to keep my N4's storage as clean as possible. However, I waited until today, and alas, it's not there. The internal storage on my phone, as Windows reports, has indeed gone down about 2.5GB, which seems accurate from the size TWRP reported the backup would be.
Btw, I've made numerous backups with TWRP. I'm perfectly comfortable with it. I know where they are kept (well, until this one). But there's no 'backup' folder in my TWRP folder.
When I did the backup, it always requires me to use internal storage. I'm assuming it sees the N4's sdcard as internal.
Any idea what I'm missing here?
I opened my N4 in Windows Explorer, highlighted everything in the internal storage folder, and it only added up to 6.4GB. Windows reports that there is only 2GB free of 12.9GB.

wvcadle said:
I apologize for what I hope only 'appears' to be a redundant question.
I created a full system backup from TWRP recovery yesterday, in preparation of flashing another radio (.33). I usually always go right in and move it to dropbox to keep my N4's storage as clean as possible. However, I waited until today, and alas, it's not there. The internal storage on my phone, as Windows reports, has indeed gone down about 2.5GB, which seems accurate from the size TWRP reported the backup would be.
Btw, I've made numerous backups with TWRP. I'm perfectly comfortable with it. I know where they are kept (well, until this one). But there's no 'backup' folder in my TWRP folder.
When I did the backup, it always requires me to use internal storage. I'm assuming it sees the N4's sdcard as internal.
Any idea what I'm missing here?
I opened my N4 in Windows Explorer, highlighted everything in the internal storage folder, and it only added up to 6.4GB. Windows reports that there is only 2GB free of 12.9GB.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
use a file explorer on your device to make sure that its in the twrp folder, instead of looking using windows. i bet its there and windows is having issues.

I actually have ES File Explorer installed and looked there first. Only after I didn't find it did I look in Windows. Of course if I had tried Windows first, I would have come to the same conclusion.

Ok, I've found the problem. For some reason, it's in /data/media/twrp/backups. Weird, because /data/media is the 'real' location of /sdcard, right? The reference to it isn't showing in /sdcard/twrp..., but it's in the above referenced location.
So, no problem I thought. I'd just cut/paste it into the /sdcard/twrp folder, but can't because it says there's not enough room.
I'm not good at using a command prompt to move the file from it's current location to my computer.
Any suggestions?

wvcadle said:
Ok, I've found the problem. For some reason, it's in /data/media/twrp/backups. Weird, because /data/media is the 'real' location of /sdcard, right? The reference to it isn't showing in /sdcard/twrp..., but it's in the above referenced location.
So, no problem I thought. I'd just cut/paste it into the /sdcard/twrp folder, but can't because it says there's not enough room.
I'm not good at using a command prompt to move the file from it's current location to my computer.
Any suggestions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that makes sense.
cant you upload it to dropbox from /data/media/? i dont really know the command line well, so i cant help you there.

wvcadle said:
Ok, I've found the problem. For some reason, it's in /data/media/twrp/backups. Weird, because /data/media is the 'real' location of /sdcard, right? The reference to it isn't showing in /sdcard/twrp..., but it's in the above referenced location.
So, no problem I thought. I'd just cut/paste it into the /sdcard/twrp folder, but can't because it says there's not enough room.
I'm not good at using a command prompt to move the file from it's current location to my computer.
Any suggestions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try "cp -r /data/media/twrp/backups/* /sdcard/twrp/"
If it still says not enough room, try "mv -r /data/media/twrp/backups/* /sdcard/twrp"
Otherwise use adb on your computer. "adb pull /data/media/twrp/backups/"