I am new to flashing and have noticed that TWRP takes up 6.23 GB of space. Do people normally move TWRP over to a backup hard drive, delete it, or is it important to keep it on my phone?
Thanks,
Its probably backups. Look in the TWRP folder with a root explorer and see what it is.
You should always have a stock backup. Keep that on computer in case something happens. But have at least one good backup on device. If its 6GB its probably 2-4 backups.
Related
Hi!
From what I have read it is already possible to do so. ADB offers some commands to backup your whole internal disk directly to PC. Also there is a way to do so via fastboot. Thats both very nice but I would like to go one step further. I put many trust in backups like cwm or twrp. currently I'm using TWRP on my N4. The tools works just fine!!
BUT. I have around 13.8 GB of capacity overall! One backup made by TWRP takes about 1.5 GB. But thats only because the compression works this well. To get it the backup process started I need to free about 2.8 GB. Thats over 30% of my storage. Another point is that to have a proper backup I have to copy the backup to another storage eg my PC. So I was thinking:
Why can't we made this superb backups (compatible to CWM and TWRP) directly to PC?
Please understand this thread as a question where I can find this app that will do this for me or whom I will have to pay for it to make it a reality! :laugh:
you can do a full Backup with this tool:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2171332
I have the 32GB wi-fi version of the Nexus 7. Over a couple of months of use (and changing ROMs a few times), the storage capacity was reading very low even though I only had a couple of apps loaded. I read about how this can be a problem with the Nexus 7 and you can do a full wipe to restore the correct storage capacity. The process recommended doing a backup and storing it on your PC. I did this and then did the full wipe. The device will not boot now (Google screen only). I can get it into recovery mode but I don't know how to get my backup image onto the device. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
P.S.
I have searched the help & troubleshooting forum for two days before posting this. This is a last resort!
i'm surprised searching for "how to restore nandroid backup" didn't yield any results..
you were probably low on space due to all the backups taking up space, each one can easily take up several GBs. you should have tried to move them to PC without full wipe. they're just stored in the sdcard partition, probably in "clockworkmod/backup" or "TWRP/backup" depending on the recovery.
anyway you did a full wipe and then didn't install or restore anything afterwards. so currently you have a blank tablet with nothing installed which is why it doesn't boot .
did you copy or move the backup to your PC? when you full wiped did you only wipe the system and data partitions. i hope you didn't wipe the sdcard partition either way.
- if you copied the backup, just go back into recovery, select "backup and restore" or similar, then click "restore" and select the latest backup.
- if you moved the backup, you obviously need to move it back . within recovery you'll need to mount the sdcard when connected to PC (under "mount" option or similar), then depending on which recovery you use, move the entire backup folder to the correct location e.g. /TWRP/BACKUP/ or clockworkmod/backup. then restore.
The memory wasn't tied up in backups (or anything else that showed in storage). I had removed all but basic apps (ROM Manager, GMAIL, etc) and only kept one backup. It was odd, the available space said 3.4GB but the graph above showing available storage indicated a LOT more! It's like they are reading totally different information. Where I am getting totally stuck at is the computer does not seem to recognize the device when it's connected so I can't get the backup back onto the device. I have installed the appropriate drivers on my PC but still nothing. I really appreciate any help you can give on this!
So the other day I restored my rooted phone back to stock everything and unrooted. I thought my photos were saved to my SD card so I didn't think about saving anything when I restored. But yesterday I went to upload a photo and they were all gone! Luckily I made a twrp backup before I restored but I have no idea how to find my photos in the backup. Can anybody help?
Hate to be the bearer of bad news but a twrp nandroid is not going to contain your photos. They're on a part of the sd card a nandroid doesn't backup. Did you have them backed up on Dropbox of anything?
jd1639 said:
Hate to be the bearer of bad news but a twrp nandroid is not going to contain your photos. They're on a part of the sd card a nandroid doesn't backup. Did you have them backed up on Dropbox of anything?
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I didn't have them saved anywhere.. Is there a tool that will allow me to still view the data from the saves?
white.noise said:
I didn't have them saved anywhere.. Is there a tool that will allow me to still view the data from the saves?
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You had them on your internal? Idk of any tool that can recover them. Someone very familiar with adb may be able to help on how to access the sd card but it won't be easy. There are, expensive, services that can recover them but they'd have to be very important to you.
In the future, set up Dropbox. It's free for a fair amount of storage and it's automatic. Take a pic and it'll upload.
TWRP does not backup photos in DCIM folder in internal memory
jd1639 said:
Hate to be the bearer of bad news but a twrp nandroid is not going to contain your photos. They're on a part of the sd card a nandroid doesn't backup. Did you have them backed up on Dropbox of anything?
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Click to collapse
Thanks jd. I found this thread because I was doing a search for what TWRP actually backs up. I did a search as I also had noticed that no photos show up in the DCIM folder after a TWRP 'restore' operation, which looked like TWRP doesn't backup photos contained in the internal DCIM folder. This came as a bit of a surprise to me, and was wondering if something prevents TWRP from backing up the photos.
TWRP is definitely a very good backup utility, but I think that some kind of pop-up message (with a don't show again checkbox option) would be nice to warn users that TWRP doesn't backup the DCIM photos. I'm thinking that if the utility has the option to backup data + system + boot, then it should backup the valuable user data - which includes photos in internal memory (- that would be expected).
I'm running stock rooted ICS ROM, and I use TWRP to backup data+boot+system, and I also use KIES to do a backup as well. The TWRP restore gets all the apps back (and most things), and the KIES restore gets back the photos. A nice combo.
kennyTSV said:
Thanks jd. I found this thread because I was doing a search for what TWRP actually backs up. I did a search as I also had noticed that no photos show up in the DCIM folder after a TWRP 'restore' operation, which looked like TWRP doesn't backup photos contained in the internal DCIM folder. This came as a bit of a surprise to me, and was wondering if something prevents TWRP from backing up the photos.
TWRP is definitely a very good backup utility, but I think that some kind of pop-up message (with a don't show again checkbox option) would be nice to warn users that TWRP doesn't backup the DCIM photos. I'm thinking that if the utility has the option to backup data + system + boot, then it should backup the valuable user data - which includes photos in internal memory (- that would be expected).
I'm running stock rooted ICS ROM, and I use TWRP to backup data+boot+system, and I also use KIES to do a backup as well. The TWRP restore gets all the apps back (and most things), and the KIES restore gets back the photos. A nice combo.
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I think it makes sense to not back up the internal user storage. It's the same way it wouldn't back up an external SD, and plus then if it tried to back up all of it then it would add a few more gigs to the backup size and it probably wouldn't fit for many people. Not to mention that making a backup of something on itself is not the greatest idea in the first place (all the others are at least backups of different partitions). Makes more sense to just regularly pull off files to PC before doing flashing and modifying.
DeadlySin9 said:
I think it makes sense to not back up the internal user storage. It's the same way it wouldn't back up an external SD, and plus then if it tried to back up all of it then it would add a few more gigs to the backup size and it probably wouldn't fit for many people. Not to mention that making a backup of something on itself is not the greatest idea in the first place (all the others are at least backups of different partitions). Makes more sense to just regularly pull off files to PC before doing flashing and modifying.
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Thanks deadlysin. I know where you're coming from there....know what you mean. I don't mind it if TWRP doesn't backup all user data in internal memory after now having understood what TWRP defines as 'data' in it's 'DATA + system + boot' backup. I now use a combo of TWRP and KIES for backing up. The TWRP does a nice job of preserving most things - apps, call logs, contacts, messages etc, and KIES does the photos, as well as contacts and messages (but KIES seems to have a problem with backing up call logs, but TWRP can handle call logs which is great).
I fully understand the extra memory that a TWRP backup would take (in some cases) if TWRP did have an option for backing up the internal storage DCIM data too. But I reckon that it would be terrific to have such an option where 'data + system + boot' creates a complete image of internal storage information. The reason for this is because I was looking for a utility that would provide a fairly 'complete' one-shot backup of the user environment (photos, logs, messages, contacts, apps etc etc). But for TWRP, it looks like the definition of 'data' at the moment is 'data MINUS photos and possibly some other internal storage things'. This is ok though - since the most important thing is to just understand which user/personal data is not included in a TWRP 'data + system + boot' backup. On the net, I saw a TWRP page that had contents saying 'what to back up?', and on that page, I think that adding extra information like 'which user information/data does TWRP NOT backup?' would be handy. Anyway, the TWRP software is really good. Highly recommended.
kennyTSV said:
I did a search as I also had noticed that no photos show up in the DCIM folder after a TWRP 'restore' operation, which looked like TWRP doesn't backup photos contained in the internal DCIM folder. This came as a bit of a surprise to me, and was wondering if something prevents TWRP from backing up the photos.
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Click to collapse
Same problem with CWM, no photos in the backup. I also thought first that something was preventing CWM to backup everything. And everywhere it reads that this backup would be a nandroid backup and therefore an exact copy of the contents. So this obviously is not correct - looks like a lot of people are copying statements without knowing or proofing.
The folder /sdcard/0 (which actually is /data/media ) is the part which you are allowed to see without root permissions and here is all the data like photos, media, downloads and so on which you created or copied there.
THIS is the way to get this important folder - at least it worked with CWM 6.0.4.7:
Enter recovery mode. Connect Phone to PC. ADB should be already installed. Create an empty folder and change directory to there within command shell. Type in
adb pull /sdcard/0
and voilá, you will have a copy of all the missed data.
I used GooManager to install TWRP on my phone. I'm still stock and rooted. I noticed that TWRP was using over 4GB's of storage on my phone. Is there a way I can remove it without starting having to reinstall everything on the phone?
AnaMayShun said:
I used GooManager to install TWRP on my phone. I'm still stock and rooted. I noticed that TWRP was using over 4GB's of storage on my phone. Is there a way I can remove it without starting having to reinstall everything on the phone?
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Click to collapse
Just pull down the stock recovery in a .zip form (search these forums) for your firmware and flash it with TWRP.
But I'd guess the reason it has a big footprint is that you did a nandroid backup, right? If so, you can move that backup off your phone to a PC, etc and free up the space. That way you'd still have it if you needed it. Or just get a bigger SD card and don't worry about it. I have a 32gb card and am happy to have a nandroid backup there, in case I need it.
jejb said:
Just pull down the stock recovery in a .zip form (search these forums) for your firmware and flash it with TWRP.
But I'd guess the reason it has a big footprint is that you did a nandroid backup, right? If so, you can move that backup off your phone to a PC, etc and free up the space. That way you'd still have it if you needed it. Or just get a bigger SD card and don't worry about it. I have a 32gb card and am happy to have a nandroid backup there, in case I need it.
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So I can move the nandroid file to my SD card? The TWRP is taking space on my phone and now i'm under 1GB of free space and I try to save things on my SD card.
I got it transferred. I didn't see the option to back up to my SD Card before. Thanks for all your help.
Cool, glad you got it figured out.
Hello all,
Firstly, please bear with me if my question seems simple... I have flashed a couple of roms without problems, have recovered a bricked mobile and have generally messed around without too many disasters - unless you count the many hours spent setting-up my mobile after re-flashing... and this is the point... I will give a background and then questions will follow...
background:
I have finally found the rom for me (Albe 95 v2 btw - highly recommended, the guy did a truly grand job) and since I reckon that sooner or later I will become "restless" again and want to re-flash or mess around, I would like to make a back-up of my complete system... not app-by-app but do the backup in such a way that I get a single .zip file at the end of it all, and no matter how badly I might mess things up further down the road I can always return to my current status with in a flash (sorry for the poor pun)...
should be easy, right? well I've tried following some simple steps with clockwork mod (basically trying some of the functions in the backup directory, where there is an option that says something that amounts to "make a zip") and just now for the second time I've had a failure... after seemingly working and copying files for some 5-10 minutes it suddenly stops, says there was an error, and that's it... time to exit cwm and reboot... and that's when the real problems begin...
upon exiting CWM, i get a weird message (something about maybe losing root, and having to fix it before exiting)... after exiting (I selected the option to "fix it" btw) upon reboot the mobile works fine (rooted and all) except one detail - the sim card doesn't receive signal anymore... this happened just the same way first time round and I want to know what I´m doing wrong.. I did read some guides about making a backup and they seem easy enough when I read them, but then this happens...
so question #1 - can somebody point me to a newbie-friendly, step-by-step, idiot-proof guide for how to reach my holy grail in the form of a zip file?
...all this brings me to question #2:
after installing the new rom, there is some 3Gb left of memory... after a day or so of using, theres about 700mb left... I formatted the SD card and wanted clockworkmod to backup directly onto the sd_card... is there an option for this? there is simply no way I will ever be able to free up space on the internal memory alone...
question #3 - where does all that space disappear??? and speaking of space disappearing, after clockworkmod did its partial backup, the internal storage was reduced from some 700mb to under 300... now even if the phone is strictly speaking working, I cannot so much as update an application, or download a new one... unfortunately this is where my ignorance shows, as I understand that the internal storage is split in two sections, but I have no idea how (if?) I can access the "main" one, where CWM is presumably writing its files and which I guess by now is chock-full... what can I do here? where does CWM hide its backups (and yes, I´ve searched around and read somewhere that its supposed to be in a directory such as Data/Media/clockworckmod, but I cannot find it... and I can see the hidden files...
in fact, out of 9Gb of internal storage, the directories & fiels I can see amount to a pitiful 1,3Gb, and yet if I check space available in system settings I get 300 Gb!!! that means I have a good 7,4 Gb of storage unaccounted for! that's not even considering that total space of internal card is 9gb, not the 16gb that it should be... in other words, I can account for almost exactly 10% of my internal storage... what the hell????? either my internal memory is made of dark matter or I need a charitable colleague on this board to explain to me what is going on... or maybe suggest a link that you learned from back in the day when you were a newbie...
that's it... for now... sorry for the extremely long post, but I am frustrated, as I have to flash this bugger, again...
Thank you in advance for any help, info, and advice...
P.
1. Not in a zip file. The backup feature in ClockworkMod and all other custom recoveries is what we call a nandroid backup. They generally are backed up and restored using the appropriate functions, and not via a flashable zip file.
2. On the Galaxy S4, the internal storage is labeled "sdcard0". Thus ClockworkMod apparently thinks it's a MicroSD card. Looking at another device running a current version of CWM, it doesn't appear that you can select the location. If you want to be sure the backup is made on the MicroSD card, change your recovery to TWRP 2.8.4.0. You can select where the backup goes on that recovery.
3. You likely made multiple backups with ClockworkMod. An odd thing, at least the the copy of ClockworkMod on my tablet, is that if you delete backups, the space itself is still allocated to the backups that no longer exist. To free up this space, in the backup and restore menu is an option to "free unused backup data". Horribly misnamed, if you select this option you should see your space return. In addition, keep in mind that Android stores hidden files and folders on the internal storage. If you download large games, you may find yourself running out of space as the game stores parts of itself on the internal storage in a hidden directory.
Once you get your space back, switch your recovery to TWRP so you can select the MicroSD card.
Thanks for your answer strephon.... but now i need to understand the next steps and to avoid a re-re-reinstall, i would like to ask what version of TWRP should i use?
I have Rashr to help me get this recovery app but i have a list of options to choos from and none seems correct...
if i run Phone Info, it tells me the following:
- device type: jflte
- Product name: kltexx
...but on rashr none of the TWRP versions seem applicable... the closest would be jfltexx (ver 2.8.5.0 )... there is also a ver 2.8.4.0 but also in this case only for jfltexx... is this what i'm after?
Please note that CWM and Philz both have jflte versions... maybe i should try Philz? Does it let me do nandroid backup on my Sd card?
Again, thanks in advance
You probably will have better luck using the TWRP Manager app, but the version you want is 2.8.4.0, for jfltexx. Philz is a derivative of ClockworkMod, but I don't know if it has the same limitations.
Thank you man... got twrp and ran the backup. Looks like just what i was after...
Much obliged ?
...now that i've managed to get the backup done i would like to make sure about one point :
This will work if i mess install a new rom and for whatever reason i want to revert to my backed up rom... but what if i brick my mobile?
Thats happened to me before and i downloaded a rom which I flashed using Odin and with the phone in download mode... is there a way i can merge these files in a zip (or whatever format )that i can then flash with Odin?
If you brick and need Odin, you won't be able to use these files in it. However, if you have to install a ROM via Odin, you can afterward install the recovery and restore from the nandroid backup. The backup would then restore the S4 back to the state it was in when the backup was made.
...but is there no way of doing that in one step only? I mean just as someone prepared that rom to be flashed via odin can i not create one myself? There's gotta be a way. ...
platypus78 said:
...but is there no way of doing that in one step only? I mean just as someone prepared that rom to be flashed via odin can i not create one myself? There's gotta be a way. ...
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Click to collapse
What you want is not possible.
You won't brick your phone, it's almost impossible.
If a situation like you describe emerges, then just flash a custom recovery trough Odin and restore the backup.
Damn that sucks ?
But at least its cleared so thanks for that...