Database Users

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!

Restore from 4.2 back to 4.1 with nandroid backup

How because cwm say there are no back up but with file explorer I can see backup in clock work mod folder
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

In the clockworkmod/backup folder do you see your backup?

jefferson9 said:
In the clockworkmod/backup do you see your backup?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I went to 4.2 paranoid rom, it moved everything to a sub folder "/0"
I had to plug my nexus 7 into my computer and move everything back to /sdcard/

tracerit said:
When I went to 4.2 paranoid rom, it moved everything to a sub folder "/0"
I had to plug my nexus 7 into my computer and move everything back to /sdcard/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's the way to do it unless you have twrp cause there's a file explorer in twrp recovery. If you're using twrp you can use the file manager in advanced settings.

couldn't find directory... No files found?

Trying to restore a NAND in CWM but it says "couldn't find directory, no files found" when I click "restore"
So i did a backup, and it shows up when I then hit "restore" in sdcard/clockworkmod/backup (listed at top of recovery screen) but when I boot and look on my sdcard, it shows the old backups I made in the folder listed, not the one I just made. I can't find the one I just made, even though if I reboot into recovery, it still shows it (the latest) and only it.
Any idea where the newest one is, and why I cant restore the older ones?

Are you running CWM 6.0.1.9?
Also, take a look at http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1991657.

I am running v6.0.1.9 and the link you posted seems to say that this should be an issue resolved with this version. Though it did tell where to find the new backup.
It lists some adb commands to move the old backups to the new directory, can I just do that in rootexplorer with copy/paste?

TheAtheistReverend said:
I am running v6.0.1.9 and the link you posted seems to say that this should be an issue resolved with this version. Though it did tell where to find the new backup.
It lists some adb commands to move the old backups to the new directory, can I just do that in rootexplorer with copy/paste?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't see why you couldn't move the files with rootexplorer. Give it a try!

They moved fine
They are seen by recovery, and now I just switched to TeamWin recovery. We'll see if that sees them too.
Are we confident that wiping doesn't clear this location? I'm a little worried that a factory reset or something might wipe the data folder

TheAtheistReverend said:
They moved fine
They are seen by recovery, and now I just switched to TeamWin recovery. We'll see if that sees them too.
Are we confident that wiping doesn't clear this location? I'm a little worried that a factory reset or something might wipe the data folder
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please read the following
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=34794673

If you are worried about losing the backups, copy them to your pc or onto OTG storage. I use cwm and my backups are now in /data/media/clockwork. If you activate multi-user, I think they go to /data/media/0/clockwork, but I can't test. Not sure about the TW recovery.

scott_doyland said:
Please read the following
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=34794673
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Confusing But the info is there. I don't like how complicated it ahs gotten to wipe, restore, recover, and flash. It used to be so simple...:silly:

[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?

[Q] CWM touch issues...

Hi!
So, I flashed the official cwm touch 6.0.3.3 from http://www.clockworkmod.com/rommanager, for Nexus 4.
When I perform a backup, it successfully completes.
However, when I boot back into system, the /sdcard/clockworkmod directory is empty.
When I try an adb pull, it's still empty.
But, when I reboot into cwm touch recovery, it clearly shows an available backup, in the same directory (/sdcard/clockworkmod/backup)
And, an adb pull, while in recovery works perfectly.
Any reason why it's not showing up, when I've booted up into Android?
Thanks!

arvindch said:
Hi!
So, I flashed the official cwm touch 6.0.3.3 from http://www.clockworkmod.com/rommanager, for Nexus 4.
When I perform a backup, it successfully completes.
However, when I boot back into system, the /sdcard/clockworkmod directory is empty.
When I try an adb pull, it's still empty.
But, when I reboot into cwm touch recovery, it clearly shows an available backup, in the same directory (/sdcard/clockworkmod/backup)
And, an adb pull, while in recovery works perfectly.
Any reason why it's not showing up, when I've booted up into Android?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
/data/media/clockworkmod/backup
And there it is!

abaaaabbbb63 said:
/data/media/clockworkmod/backup
And there it is!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks!
Why is the directory listing different on System boot?

arvindch said:
Thanks!
Why is the directory listing different on System boot?
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Click to collapse
To protect the backup from accidental deletion.

abaaaabbbb63 said:
To protect the backup from accidental deletion.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK... But, it makes accessing the backup, to copy it to my PC, confusing...
How does this directory listing change work? symlink?
Also, what does the make .img file option, in backup&restore do?
When I tap on it, it just resets the page...

arvindch said:
OK... But, it makes accessing the backup, to copy it to my PC, confusing...
How does this directory listing change work? symlink?
Also, what does the make .img file option, in backup&restore do?
When I tap on it, it just resets the page...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, vanilla JB uses a lot of symlinks.
I have no ideea about the make img.

abaaaabbbb63 said:
Yes, vanilla JB uses a lot of symlinks.
I have no ideea about the make img.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh..
Yeah, it's a weird option.