[GUIDE] How to properly backup your partitions using TWRP - Google Pixel XL Guides, News, & Discussion

Hi XDA, as most of you are aware, my phone's efs partition was corrupted through too many rom installations, I have recived a new Pixel XL as part of google's warranty and want to teach you how to properly backup your partitions using TWRP.
General steps (REQUIRED):
Download TWRP 3.2.0-0 image (link coming soon, for now just check any ROM forum)
fastboot boot it (fastboot boot *file path*)
Without Storage:
Skip the copying of /data/media steps and you will be fine!
With Storage:
Go into the file manager
navigate to /data/media
make a copy in /data
There should be a copied /data/media folder
click backup and refresh sizes, you will see that the data partition has increased significantly
backup all partitions ONE BY ONE (if one partition goes wrong, you don't have to erase everything)
Use a file transfer program (I use Air droid) to transfer this backup to your computer

Related

[Q] TWRP backup just erased everything in my /sdcard folder

I'm running stock/unrooted with my bootloader unlocked.
I wanted to try out the PA beta with the PIE navigation so I used adb fastboot to boot into TWRP 2.3.3.3 (not flashed, booted the image directly. I have no custom recovery flashed) to make a nandroid backup. This is the second one I've made with this method but this one went tits up. It reported success and I rebooted. All of my apps are in place and everything seems to be in order other than that my /sdcard folder was completely wiped. All my of pictures and everything. The only folders it contains are the ones the OS and apps are creating as they need them. I also have the /TWRP folder but it only contains .twrps and .version.
I get the same results from ES File Explorer. I went back in TWRP to use the built-in root file explorer to see if it was a permissions issue but it is not. The recovery file explorer shows the same results. The only folders under /sdcard are newly created by Android or by my apps.
Anyone have any idea what happened here and how I can prevent it from happening again?
EDIT: Oddly enough I just noticed if I go back into the TWRP backup screen it's reporting about 2GB less free space (approx backup size) than it did when I made the backup that apparently broke everything. I can't seem to find any backup actually stored though. The Restore option doesn't list any backups available to restore.
EDIT2: I found the backup. It is in /data/media/TWRP. /data/media/0 has the contents of the newly created /sdcard folder but none of my old data is anywhere to be found. Did TWRP writing this folder break my /sdcard folder somehow?

[Q] Trying to recover Snapchat folder

Hi,
I am using the following tutorial to recover my snapchat data folder from my phone. http://forum.xda-developers.com/gal...emory-data-recovery-yes-t1994705/post34185439. I have gotten to the part when I mount and format the VHD. When I use Recuva or Puran File Recovery I don't get the files I need. Is there a recovery software that searches for ALL files, specifically files that end in .nomedia?
Just to make sure I am mounting the right partition, everything from
/data/data/com.snapchat.android/cache/received_image_snaps
would be in /dev/block/mmcblk0p23 which is the userdata partition, is that correct?

[GUIDE] Decrypt your OnePlus One

So you thought that encrypting your OnePlus One was a good idea? So did I. I had so many issues after having encrypted my One that I simply wanted to get rid of it. After a lot of searching, I didn't come across a simple guide to decrypt it. And here I am
First thing first. Did you know that TWRP doesn't do a _full_ nandroid backup? It backs up everything _except_ /data/media. That was basically the reason why I'm writing this.
What you need:
An unlocked bootloader
TWRP recovery (I was using 2.8.6.1 but any version might just work)
An USB-OTG dongle with a memory stick that is large enough to hold all the data
A full battery
Here are the steps:
Go into TWRP recovery and make a backup. Be sure to select the usb_otg as the target location for your backup
Go into TWRPs terminal and make a backup of your /data/media folder. When starting the terminal, you will be asked in which folder you want to start. Navigate to "/data/media" and ckicl "select". I used tar to achieve this. Simply type in "tar cvpzf /usb_otg/datamedia.gz ." (Note: there is a dot a the end!) and it will create an archive with everything in it including permissions.
Now wipe your device. *scary* I know... Still in TWRP go to "Wipe", "Format Data" and type in "yes". This won't just wipe your data but also wipe the encryption
Since our device is basically empty, we just have to restore eveything. Let's start by restoring the nandroid backup
After the nandroid backup, let's restore /data/media. For this go back into TWRP terminal. Starting folder will be "/data/media" again. Type in "tar xvpzf /usb_otg/datamedia.gz ." (Note: there is a dot a the end!) to restore everything.
There you go... OnePlus One decrypted!
Simple and clear guide. Just what I was looking for. A couple of questions before I begin:
File size limit. Most USB drives are FAT32 (4GB file limit) so how do you split the tarball into <4GB files?
Will TWRP (or Android or whatever recognizes filesystems) recognize exFAT, NTFS or other filesystems that don't have file size limitations?
If you do split the tarball into smaller sizes, how do you restore them?
Thanks again for the guide and info

[HOWTO] [L/M/N] Move /data to external SD the hard way

Hello, in this thread I'll show you how to move the /data partition to your microSD card in order to increase the storage space, and bypass the speed limits of our poor eMMC memory.
Disclaimer:
I'm not responsible for any data loss or any other kind of problems. Follow the tutorial and everything will be fine. In case of problems, reflash the boot.img of your ROM or reflash the whole ROM and you'll reboot to Android using the usual /data partition.
Pros:
more storage space
slightly shorter app loading times
Cons:
you cannot eject your SD card from your phone when it is turned on
Requirements:
a computer
some kind of adapter to put the microSD into the computer
a 16 GB (or higher), class 10 (or better) microSD
Any recent L (untested), M (tested) or N (tested) ROM and TWRP 3
these two zips: https://www.androidfilehost.com/?w=files&flid=113749
Step 0: prepare the SD card
using your computer, shrink the only partition you have on your SD card and leave at least 6 or 7 GB of unallocated space. Be sure not to shrink too much the first partiton (which will continue to be used as a normal storage partition) because you'll have to store a nandroid backup in it! This is why I recommend you to use a 32 GB SD card. Then create a new partition using the unallocated space. If you're using Windows or OS X, create a fat32 partition, if you're using Linux, create an ext4 partition.
Step 1: patch the recovery and backup, then restore
In the AFH folder I posted in the requirements you'll find two zips. Download them and reboot to recovery, then take a nandroid backup of your /data partition and store it on your SD card (TWRP will automatically use the first partition of the SD card, the one with all your current content). Now flash twrp_fstab_patcher.zip. Power off your phone and then turn it on and boot into TWRP. Now go to Wipe > Advanced Wipe > select Data > Change Filesystem > choose ext4 or f2fs (as you prefer). Confirm and check that the Data partition has been formatted to the chosen filesystem. Restore the backup you've made.
Step 2: migrate the data of the internal storage
Reboot to Android and using a file manager that lists both of your SD card's partitions (FX works for me) and copy all the content of your internal storage (photos, music, app data etc.) to *2nd_sdcard_partition*/media/0.
Step 3: patch the kernel
Now you're ready for the last step. Flash kernel_fstab_patcher.zip and reboot. The end!
Warning: you need to reflash kernel_fstab_patcher.zip after you change/update ROM/kernel otherwise your phone will use the "old" data partition! Similarly, you must flash twrp_recovery_patcher.zip each time you update TWRP 3 (this doesn't happen very often).
Well, I hope I put all the needed info in this thread, I'll keep it updated with my latest suggestions etc. If you have got problems, report them. If you find something that doesn't make any sense in this post, tell me. Enjoy!

Data recovery internal storage - how to create image with dd of /storage/emulate/0

Hello!
Unfortunately I have deleted internal storage in TWRP recovery.
Now I want to try to restore the files using Testdisk / Photorec.
The directory of interest is: /storage/emulated/0/DCIM
Is this directory located on a specific partition?
If yes, which partition?
And can I create an image of this partition with dd?

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