I am running out of room on internal storage. - Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III

I hope someone can help me. I have a 16 gig GS3. When I plug it in to the computer It says I have 1.5gb free out of 11.9gb. This is after I deleted all but the rom I am using and most of my backups. I've tried using directorybind to move some apps but shadowgun was the only big one I had and I just deleted it. Also, if I check the properties on all the files in the sd card it comes to 8.5gb. That leaves 2gb of unseen files. If that is the OS then why do I only have 11.9gb available. I am kindof wondering if I am making a new partition everytime I flash one of these wonderful roms peope are making. Does anybody know how I can free up some space on here. I'm not storing anything on there and it wont be long before I have no room what so ever.

Nate Rules said:
This is after I deleted all but the rom I am using and most of my backups.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What recovery are you using? How exactly did you delete most of your backups?
If you're using some version of CWM 6, it stores the meat of your backup in the /sdcard/clockworkmod/blobs directory. If you delete the backups in the backup folder, the blobs it references won't be deleted. Reboot into recovery, backup and restore, and free up nandroid space. That will delete any blobs that aren't associated with a backup. See if that gets you your space back.
Oh, and never delete stuff in the blobs folder, at least not if you expect your backups to work.

lazarus2405 said:
What recovery are you using? How exactly did you delete most of your backups?
If you're using some version of CWM 6, it stores the meat of your backup in the /sdcard/clockworkmod/blobs directory. If you delete the backups in the backup folder, the blobs it references won't be deleted. Reboot into recovery, backup and restore, and free up nandroid space. That will delete any blobs that aren't associated with a backup. See if that gets you your space back.
Oh, and never delete stuff in the blobs folder, at least not if you expect your backups to work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, before I do this, let me make sure I understand you completely. I don't think I have done any restoring. So are all my backups stored in the blob? And a backup and a restore will take it down to one backup? Do I delete the blob and then do a new backup? I'm pretty sure this is my problem, because I was wondering why my backups were only about 20 megs.

lazarus2405 said:
What recovery are you using? How exactly did you delete most of your backups?
If you're using some version of CWM 6, it stores the meat of your backup in the /sdcard/clockworkmod/blobs directory. If you delete the backups in the backup folder, the blobs it references won't be deleted. Reboot into recovery, backup and restore, and free up nandroid space. That will delete any blobs that aren't associated with a backup. See if that gets you your space back.
Oh, and never delete stuff in the blobs folder, at least not if you expect your backups to work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry Lazarus, I reread your post and realized that free up nandroid space must be an option. I did it and it cleared up 3gb of space. So I have some breathing room. But that still leaves 7gb of stuff on my internal sdcard. Seems like alot when I am trying to minimize stuff on there. Also, I still feel like my partition is shrinking. I am pretty sure there was at least 13gb there a couple weeks ago and now there is 11.9gb.

Nate Rules said:
Ok, before I do this, let me make sure I understand you completely. I don't think I have done any restoring. So are all my backups stored in the blob? And a backup and a restore will take it down to one backup? Do I delete the blob and then do a new backup? I'm pretty sure this is my problem, because I was wondering why my backups were only about 20 megs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First, don't delete blobs. Bad stuff will happen.
When I said "reboot into recovery, backup and restore, and free up nandroid space", I meant in navigating the menus in CWR. When you get into recovery, select "Backup and Restore", then go to "Free Nandroid Space". If you already deleted the 20mb backup files you don't need, selecting that option will free the rest of the space. Also, any time you make a new backup, CWR will try to do the same thing before starting the backup. This way, you can selectively keep the backups you need and discard the ones you don't.
Again, don't delete any blobs and expect your backups to work. If for some reason you wanted to get rid of all your backups, you could delete the entire clockworkmod folder, and CWR will remake any directories it needs when you make your next backup. The downside of freeing space this way is you'd loose all of your backups, of course.
The reason this changed in CWM6 is to save space. Instead of backing up whole partitions in one huge file, it backs up each individual file into the blobs folder. If you back up often and much doesn't change much in between backups, CWR will only make another copy of files that actually changed. Smart, eh?

Related

Help with Nandroid

Hey all,
I've been searching everywhere in google as well as in XDA with no success. I am trying to do a full Nandroid backup (just like people are advising you to do when changing roms).
I currently have Clockwork 3.0.0 and am Rooted on stock. When I go into recovery, the only thing I have in regards to backup is just "backup" and no "Nandroid Backup" like people are saying all over the forums. Do I have to install something specific? I am puzzled! Is nandroid a method of backing up or the name of a program?
Also, when I backed up using Clockword >> Backup I found its only around 300mb so I assume it doesnt backup your SD content (i.e. pictures and videos + programs) as well? Is there a way to do a FULL image with literally everything?
Any help will be appreciated!
Hi...well backup sounds about right. Don't worry about whether it says nandroid or not. Mind doesn't. Just go ahead and do the backup.
And as for the SD card...well no need to worry there either because the SD contents do not get wiped out anyway, so there's no need for it to be backed up in the sameway.
Hope that helps.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
When I'm looking at the development section, it says that it will "WIPE ALL YOUR DATA". Doesn't this suggest I should also backup my pictures + videos?
Thanks for the help!
The only thing that wipes all your data and sdcard is a fastboot oem unlock, and it sounds like you're already past there. Flashing new roms and choosing "wipe data" in clockwork recovery does not touch your sdcard at all.
It's always a good idea to backup your photos and videos just in case. It only takes a few minutes and better to waste a few minutes than lose a precious irreplaceable video of the kid's first steps.
Nothing should wipe your sdcard other than the fastboot oem unlock, but that doesn't mean it can't be wiped by mistake. I just responded in another thread where the guy accidentally formatted his sdcard. Everything gone.
Better safe than sorry, in my opinion.
haha i agree, will Titanium Pro backup my photos/videos aswell (as you've commented on the other thread) or it just backs up apps ?
co0kie said:
haha i agree, will Titanium Pro backup my photos/videos aswell (as you've commented on the other thread) or it just backs up apps ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It will only backup apps/data on the internal rom space, not on the sdcard; so no, it won't take care of your photos/videos.
Mount the phone via USB, select mount USB storage, then drag and drop the folders with your photos/videos to your computer harddrive.
Camera photos and vids are kept in the /dcim folder if you use stock. Some 3rd party camera apps may put them someplace else.
I usually just make a full copy of the sdcard at one point, then use rsync periodically to keep it current.
distortedloop said:
It will only backup apps/data on the internal rom space, not on the sdcard; so no, it won't take care of your photos/videos.
Mount the phone via USB, select mount USB storage, then drag and drop the folders with your photos/videos to your computer harddrive.
Camera photos and vids are kept in the /dcim folder if you use stock. Some 3rd party camera apps may put them someplace else.
I usually just make a full copy of the sdcard at one point, then use rsync periodically to keep it current.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So I guess this is one adv. of keeping apps on internal rom space.
Making a copy of the sdcard and resyncing it periodically sounds like a good idea IMO, what programe do you use to resync the sdcard?
thanks,
co0kie said:
So I guess this is one adv. of keeping apps on internal rom space.
Making a copy of the sdcard and resyncing it periodically sounds like a good idea IMO, what programe do you use to resync the sdcard?
thanks,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Titanium will backup apps and data that are on the sdcard if you put them there with the apps2sd feature. It's smart that way. I'm talking about the apps that store settings and stuff (like Titanium itself, Launcher Pro, ADW, the gym log apps I've used, lots of games, etc) that put user data on the sdcard outside of the protected or apps2sd storage area on the sdcard.
I don't use an app for rsync, I just use the rsync command from the terminal on my Mac.
There's a couple of rsync apps on the Market. Someone mentioned using an app to rsync in one of the threads on here not too long ago. Here's an appbrain link to a search on the term rsync, it only shows two apps.
What if I move the app using Gingerbread feature to "move to sd", will it still know to back them up?
/is that what u meant in the beginning by feature of apps2sd? not sure cause there is an actuall program that does this
co0kie said:
What if I move the app using Gingerbread feature to "move to sd", will it still know to back them up?
/is that what u meant in the beginning by feature of apps2sd? not sure cause there is an actuall program that does this
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, that's what I meant. It also covers just about all of the various apps to the sdcard hacks that various rom makers have implemented over the last year or two; certainly the popular ones like cyanogen and darktremor's versions.
If you get Titanium Pro, pay for the license. It will enable batch restore where all your apps can be restored at once without user intervention, otherwise I believe you have to okay each one individually.
I just bought it and performed a batch back up thank you!
Now, assuming i have already perfomed a backup and now if i move the app2sd, will it know to update it next time?
Then, when i jump to the next ROM, all i have to do is batch restore?
co0kie said:
I just bought it and performed a batch back up thank you!
Now, assuming i have already perfomed a backup and now if i move the app2sd, will it know to update it next time?
Then, when i jump to the next ROM, all i have to do is batch restore?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you move the app to the sd, the restore will put the app back in its location where it was during the backup. Just run a batch backup of all changed applications after moving anything around.
After you flash a new rom, just run a batch restore: apps and data only, usually not a good idea to restore system settings across different roms.

[Q] What does nandroid backup contain?

Before people start coming in to flame me for using the search button, please let me clarify that i have looked into several threads on xda and none of them provided me with a clear cut answer of what i wanted to know.
I understand first of all is that nandroid backup is a complete image of what is on the phone which should include stuff like settings, sms, call logs, data etc. What i have not found, however, if they keep other files that are lying around in the phone. For example, most of my Nexus S consists of videos and music (7-10GB) and in separate folders that are not tied to any apps in particular. Hence, if they are included in nandroid backup i would not have sufficient storage to do so (reminder that Nexus S has 16 GB)
I have "accidentally" posted on the galaxy S forum of xda and someone pointed out that it backs up apps and data from the internal SD. As far as i know this is slightly different with Nexus S because i observed that most apps are already installed in the "external" SD portion of the data.
Overall, i'm just a little confused. Can anyone clarify this?
It is just apps and data. The sd card is i believe split so that it doesnt touch your music, videos, and images. It just takes care of the main system stuff like apps and settings. Hoped i helped
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA Premium App
But aren't most apps on the nexus S installed on the sd card section of the storage? At least they are under Settings->Application settings->Manage applications->USB Storage
For example my Gameloft games would be almost 1 GB in size so would that be backed up as well. I will end up with gigantic nandroid backups.
A nAnroid backup includes
.android_source - apps2sd information/apps stored on /sdcard
boot - boot image
cache - cache files stored on /cache
data - apps, dalvik other stuff on /data
recovery - recovery image
system - system apps, frameworks modules etc on /system
nadroid.md5 - md5 information
nandroids do not include anything on the /sdcard other than .android_source.
how to do it? by using CWM?? am i wrong or correct??
ciwek90 said:
how to do it? by using CWM?? am i wrong or correct??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Correct.
Flash ClockworkMod.
(You might have to rename /etc/install-recovery.sh to get it to stick.)
Boot into fastboot (volumeUp+ power).
Recovery - Backup and Restore - Backup.
Maximilian Mary said:
Correct.
Flash ClockworkMod.
(You might have to rename /etc/install-recovery.sh to get it to stick.)
Boot into fastboot (volumeUp+ power).
Recovery - Backup and Restore - Backup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome! but if i want to flash custom rom and i do backup first then i flash new custom rom, so i can get back all my apps by restoring nandroid backup is it? or nandroid backup is only for when things went wrong? i confuse...
ciwek90 said:
Awesome! but if i want to flash custom rom and i do backup first then i flash new custom rom, so i can get back all my apps by restoring nandroid backup is it? or nandroid backup is only for when things went wrong? i confuse...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nandroid is basically all or nothing. There is an advanced restore which can restore only the partitions you want (like system or data), but it probably won't play nicely with a custom rom. Your best best is to use titanium backup for user apps & data, and perhaps some select system data like texts, bookmarks, and wifi settings. Check out the batch backup/restore options for user apps & data.
ciwek90 said:
Awesome! but if i want to flash custom rom and i do backup first then i flash new custom rom, so i can get back all my apps by restoring nandroid backup is it? or nandroid backup is only for when things went wrong? i confuse...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nandroid backup backs up everything including the rom... so NO you can't restore apps with it.
To just save apks/apps you use eg Titanium Backup.
NOW i know it! Thank you so much @Maximilian Mary and @rentaric for helping me!
Nandroid = for backup/restore previous rom
Titanium = for backup/restore data & apps
Thanks again!
rentaric said:
Nandroid backup backs up everything including the rom... so NO you can't restore apps with it.
To just save apks/apps you use eg Titanium Backup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bro, does nandroid backup include the IMEI also?
heyimCHOLO said:
Bro, does nandroid backup include the IMEI also?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some recoveries have this option buy many don't, just boot to your recovery and see if it is listed as an option, if not, then no
Your apps will still be on your sd card because your just restoring your operating system that you had with all of it settings it will show all of your apps you had but if you deleted it from the sd card when you try opening it it would say app not installed. Nandroid backup saves everything in settings and operating system apps will be on sd card. Some apps can be included in nandroid it just depends where they are located when back up is saved.

Backing up CWM6 backups

I have CWM 6.0.1.0 as my recovery and I have a good number of backups saved on my sdcard spanning a number of different roms (mostly cm10 official nightlies). I understand that the newer CWM backs up roms using a different method than before. When I look in my Clockworkmod directory on the sdcard, I see a BLOBS folder and a BACKUP folder. The latter contains the backups, but they are very small in size. So do I understand correctly that the bulk of the backup information is in the BLOBS folder?
Assuming that's true, how do we safely:
1) Delete individual backup? If I delete a backup from the BACKUP folder, how will it know what to delete from the BLOBS folder? Do we have to actually delete the backup from within recovery in order for it to delete the proper BLOBS info? Or can I delete an individual backup from the BACKUP folder from Root Explorer? If I do that, won't the BLOBS folder continue to grow in size with outdated information?
2) Back up the CWM backups to my PC? I assume I have to back up the entire BLOBS folder to my PC, right? And then I can just back up individual backups from the BACKUP folder, right? But I would need BOTH the individual backup and the entire BLOBS folder back on my phone to restore a backup, right? If so, then I revert back to question 1 and ask how to I pare down the BLOBS folder without messing up individual backups?
Thanks!
You can delete backups from Rom Manager or if using the newest version of cwm you can delete it from recovery. As far as backing it up. I just deleted all but the one(s) wanted and copy the cwm folder to my computer. Hope that helps.
ren274u said:
You can delete backups from Rom Manager or if using the newest version of cwm you can delete it from recovery. As far as backing it up. I just deleted all but the one(s) wanted and copy the cwm folder to my computer. Hope that helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So we have to delete old backups using Rom Manger or from within Recovery? I delete some of them from Root Explorer, so does that mean the Blogs info will still retain old data. Or will it know to clear that space simply because the old backup files are missing?
Travisimo said:
So we have to delete old backups using Rom Manger or from within Recovery? I delete some of them from Root Explorer, so does that mean the Blogs info will still retain old data. Or will it know to clear that space simply because the old backup files are missing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure how the blog info works. I just assumed if you delete from cwm it knows whats the data incorporated with the specific backup and it deletes it with it.
Wow, I tried copying the Clockworkmod folder to my PC via USB and it took over an hour just to index and then it just stopped and failed. I imagine because there are so many individual files in the Blobs folder that it causes Windows indexing to crash. I deleted all the old backups I didn't need, did the free up space thing in CWM and it's still impossible to copy to my PC. I have 3 backups left (from different roms), so I supposed the Blobs folder is going to be pretty large.
So I can see how this backup method works out good on the phone itself because it makes backups easier and faster. But trying to back them up to PC is ridiculous. The old way where I could just copy over an individual backup was much easier.
Isn't there a better way? Someone suggested zipping the Blobs folder up on the device first and then copying to PC, but zipping the Blobs folder is taking forever as well...

Extract CWM nandroid backup

Hey all,
I used CWM to make a nandroid backup. I am trying to extract data from it specifically the sdcard/DCIM where all my pictures are. I tried to just perform a restore of the nandroid backup but it fails the md5 checksum. Been there done that, got the t-shirt and I just can't fix the md5 checksum. So my next option is to just extract the sdcard/DCIM from the nandroid backup. I looked in system.ext4.tar and its not in there. Also checked data.ext4.tar and its not in there. Only other place it could be is in boot.img or recovery.img. Let me know if I am wrong about this! Anyways, I tried using unyaffs.exe and the command code "unyaffs.exe recovery.img" to extract and I get a "bad image file" error. I tried with all my backups even the ones I know work and they all give me the error so all my backups can't be bad so something either I am doing wrong or unyaffs.exe does not support newer versions of .img?
As of right now I am out of options. Does anyone have any ideas as to how I can extract/recover my sdcard/DCIM folder from my CWM nandroid backup?
Thanks!
JDubbed said:
Hey all,
I used CWM to make a nandroid backup. I am trying to extract data from it specifically the sdcard/DCIM where all my pictures are. I tried to just perform a restore of the nandroid backup but it fails the md5 checksum. Been there done that, got the t-shirt and I just can't fix the md5 checksum. So my next option is to just extract the sdcard/DCIM from the nandroid backup. I looked in system.ext4.tar and its not in there. Also checked data.ext4.tar and its not in there. Only other place it could be is in boot.img or recovery.img. Let me know if I am wrong about this! Anyways, I tried using unyaffs.exe and the command code "unyaffs.exe recovery.img" to extract and I get a "bad image file" error. I tried with all my backups even the ones I know work and they all give me the error so all my backups can't be bad so something either I am doing wrong or unyaffs.exe does not support newer versions of .img?
As of right now I am out of options. Does anyone have any ideas as to how I can extract/recover my sdcard/DCIM folder from my CWM nandroid backup?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A nandroid backup will never have your internal data backed up in it. It backs up your system and the data incorperated with apps and and all that stuff. Pictures, music, video, etc. does NOT get backed up every time you do a backup (thank God!). That stuff is ALWAYS still there unless you do a wipe data/factory reset on the phone. I'm sure someone else will chime in here but I'm almost 100% positive I'm right. If you are looking for your pictures just boot your phone and hook it up USB to your computer. Open up the drive on your computer and look in the DCIM folder, your pics will all be there.
copene said:
A nandroid backup will never have your internal data backed up in it. It backs up your system and the data incorperated with apps and and all that stuff. Pictures, music, video, etc. does NOT get backed up every time you do a backup (thank God!). That stuff is ALWAYS still there unless you do a wipe data/factory reset on the phone. I'm sure someone else will chime in here but I'm almost 100% positive I'm right. If you are looking for your pictures just boot your phone and hook it up USB to your computer. Open up the drive on your computer and look in the DCIM folder, your pics will all be there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for that. Unfortunately my phone came back from Samsung after a storm fried my phone and they wiped my phone crystal clean. I thought that was one of the points of a nandroid backup was that it also backed up or at least gave you the option of backing up your personal files like music, pictures and so forth. I was under the impression this whole time that my files were safe in my nandroid backups now I cannot believe all my irreplaceable pictures are gone. Years of pictures lost. Maybe a recovery software could bring it back?
Nope they gone bro let it go if it fried the phone and SD card
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2
Suggestion...
From here on out... I would install Google+ and instant upload that stuff or PicasaTool or something... That is what I do... I have them set as private unless I want to share it. It's the best form of picture backup, unless you plug your phone into your computer on a daily basis and transfer them...
I would go for the instant upload method in the future... does pics and videos....
Sorry man... they are gone...Factory doesn't mess with that stuff... If your phone got fried, its a different board inside and the internal SD is on the "motherboard" of the phone...
It also doesnt hurt to just backup your memory card(s) files to your pc every so often, via good 'ol fashioned drag and drop.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda premium
onealvideo said:
From here on out... I would install Google+ and instant upload that stuff or PicasaTool or something... That is what I do... I have them set as private unless I want to share it. It's the best form of picture backup, unless you plug your phone into your computer on a daily basis and transfer them...
I would go for the instant upload method in the future... does pics and videos....
Sorry man... they are gone...Factory doesn't mess with that stuff... If your phone got fried, its a different board inside and the internal SD is on the "motherboard" of the phone...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. Another option is Dropbox, which you can also set to automatically upload pictures. Then, they sync with the Dropbox folder on your desktop.
If nanbackup backed up your SD card every time, people would run out of space in no time. Especially if you keep more than one backup handy. This is why I would encourage OP to use an external SD and be sure to physically take it out of the phone before wiping, flashing, anything like that. Multiple redundant backups, bro.
Thanks for the replies. Yeah I am just going to let it go. Probably a new internal SD card anyways like suggested. I still think there should at least be an OPTION in CWM to backup full internal SD card and make it default no. I have a 32GB card and having 1 to 2 concurrent FULL SD and nandroid backups wouldn't dent it. But it is what it is.
Since I want everything backed up not just pictures and videos I think the infamous old fashion drag and drop method is the best option. I'll store the data on my PC HDD or something for safe keeping.
If anyone discovers an app that not only backs up nandroid but complete internal SD or selectable internal SD folders as well please post it here. Between Titanium Backup and CWM it still does not backup everything. Maybe a 3rd app is needed to cover my ass with internal SD data or an all-in-one backup tool is yet to be created.
:good:
If you ask sk8tr I am sure he would try to integrate it....
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda app-developers app

Blobs subfolder in CWM folder?

What theeeeeee... I've seen this folder and wow it eats up my space since i installed JB. What is this thing for? I googled it and knew that its part of backup etc. Can i delete this? 1/4 of my sd card is this. Haha. Before in GB only the backup folder is inside the CWM folder.
It's part of cwm backup. You can safely delete it, but then u won't be able to restore ur backups.
Just kidding. Don't delete.
Sent from my GT-I9003 using xda premium
marshygeek said:
What theeeeeee... I've seen this folder and wow it eats up my space since i installed JB. What is this thing for? I googled it and knew that its part of backup etc. Can i delete this? 1/4 of my sd card is this. Haha. Before in GB only the backup folder is inside the CWM folder.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=29799329
"your lips move, but I cannot hear what you're saying..."
Update:
I deleted it. But i have my back up in my desktop. Everything's fine. Maybe i should put it back if i wish to back up my current rom? Then remove again after backup is made. Should i also put it back when i need to restore? Or only in backing up?
You should always have it on the ext card, in case you take multiple backups.
These blob folders are a part of all backups that you have. If you just mess up 1 folder inside this blob folder, none of your backups might work.
Is that so.. Hmm. Maybe i should just put it there when i restore something. Is backed up files from Titanium Backup affected in this Blobs? or just my Rom?
CWM backups and Titanium Backup are totally different things. Those 2 are unrelated in all sense.

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