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ClockWorkMod Backup Questions

Hello all,
Coming from a Thunderbolt I was very comfortable with ClockworkMod Recovery, I backed up and flashed often through recovery.
On this VZW S3 upon rooting and installing CWMR standard version 5.8.something my backups were only going to the internal SD card and the dates were never right, always saying 1970. The file size seemed about right (1.5 gb) and there were the normal dozen of so in the backup directory.
Out of desire to backup to my external I card I tried the new EZ Recovery app which installed CWMR 6.0.1.0 I believe, the non touch version. This version would backup to the external SD card, but still had the wrong date name for the backup folder. When I browsed that folder it was only 30mb but there was another folder called blobs that was about 1.5 to 2gb.
Is this how version 6 works? I don't have much confidence that this is a good nandroid backup and that I could restore off of it.
Looking for confirmation that this is how it is to work with version 6 and/or any tips or alternatives you can offer. I want to be able to backup and restore off of my external SD card.
Thanks in advance!

wonderrx said:
Hello all,
Coming from a Thunderbolt I was very comfortable with ClockworkMod Recovery, I backed up and flashed often through recovery.
On this VZW S3 upon rooting and installing CWMR standard version 5.8.something my backups were only going to the internal SD card and the dates were never right, always saying 1970. The file size seemed about right (1.5 gb) and there were the normal dozen of so in the backup directory.
Out of desire to backup to my external I card I tried the new EZ Recovery app which installed CWMR 6.0.1.0 I believe, the non touch version. This version would backup to the external SD card, but still had the wrong date name for the backup folder. When I browsed that folder it was only 30mb but there was another folder called blobs that was about 1.5 to 2gb.
Is this how version 6 works? I don't have much confidence that this is a good nandroid backup and that I could restore off of it.
Looking for confirmation that this is how it is to work with version 6 and/or any tips or alternatives you can offer. I want to be able to backup and restore off of my external SD card.
Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is indeed how version 6 works. As for the dats, those are sadly messed up in general I haven't seen a fix for that, but i also haven't searched for one because i know which ones are my latest and don't keep many of them anyways. As for it not backing up on 5.8 its because you have to have your SD formatted as FAT32 and exFAT (again not sure if 6.0.1.0 changes that because i formatted mine) But i did successfully backup and restore on version 6 and it worked perfectly.

Neverendingxsin said:
That is indeed how version 6 works. As for the dats, those are sadly messed up in general I haven't seen a fix for that, but i also haven't searched for one because i know which ones are my latest and don't keep many of them anyways. As for it not backing up on 5.8 its because you have to have your SD formatted as FAT32 and exFAT (again not sure if 6.0.1.0 changes that because i formatted mine) But i did successfully backup and restore on version 6 and it worked perfectly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks Never,
I wiped the card when I first had issues backing up on 5.8. Formatted it with the phone but it still wouldn't give me the backup options. How can you check the formatting?
Wonder how multiple backups work in version 6, does it dump it together in the blobs? Or is is some more intelligent non duplication way of storing multiple backups?
Thanks again!

wonderrx said:
Thanks Never,
I wiped the card when I first had issues backing up on 5.8. Formatted it with the phone but it still wouldn't give me the backup options. How can you check the formatting?
Wonder how multiple backups work in version 6, does it dump it together in the blobs? Or is is some more intelligent non duplication way of storing multiple backups?
Thanks again!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I formatted mine on the computer just to make sure it worked. So no idea how to check it from the phone sorry.
As for multiple backups, i've got a few backups and it always restores fine, so im assuming its got a way of knowing what goes with what.
And your welcome

Are you trying too back up through rom manager? I've given up on that. I do not have an external card, am rooted, using the latest non touch cwr. I usually boot into recovery manually or through rom manager and backup from there. Have the same issues with dates and large size. But happy to report that I go back and forth between cm10, stock, and synergy rom regularly with no problems. Also remember kexec boots 3 times, it's not a bootloop.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium

loveubuntu said:
Are you trying too back up through rom manager? I've given up on that. I do not have an external card, am rooted, using the latest non touch cwr. I usually boot into recovery manually or through rom manager and backup from there. Have the same issues with dates and large size. But happy to report that I go back and forth between cm10, stock, and synergy rom regularly with no problems. Also remember kexec boots 3 times, it's not a bootloop.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I boot into recovery and backup there, if I do it through Rom Manager I get no choice to backup to external SD at all, but I can in version 6 thru recovery.
Glad to hear it works OK.
What flavor of CM10 are you running and can you give me a link to the one you are using? Does Google Now with the cool voice search work well on CM10? Been dragging my feet! Might be ready to take the plunge.

I can't stand the Touchwiz crappy so cm10 was the only choice for me. Apparently the sms/mms not working but it does not effect me since I use Google voice. Very smooth. Google DROID hive forum and look for it there. It's by dhacker.
Google now working great.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium

loveubuntu said:
I can't stand the Touchwiz crappy so cm10 was the only choice for me. Apparently the sms/mms not working but it does not effect me since I use Google voice. Very smooth. Google DROID hive forum and look for it there. It's by dhacker.
Google now working great.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cool, I'll keep watching the development, sms bugs are a deal breaker for me and I have a tab open watching the Droid Hive forum already!

wonderrx said:
Hello all,
Coming from a Thunderbolt I was very comfortable with ClockworkMod Recovery, I backed up and flashed often through recovery.
On this VZW S3 upon rooting and installing CWMR standard version 5.8.something my backups were only going to the internal SD card and the dates were never right, always saying 1970. The file size seemed about right (1.5 gb) and there were the normal dozen of so in the backup directory.
Out of desire to backup to my external I card I tried the new EZ Recovery app which installed CWMR 6.0.1.0 I believe, the non touch version. This version would backup to the external SD card, but still had the wrong date name for the backup folder. When I browsed that folder it was only 30mb but there was another folder called blobs that was about 1.5 to 2gb.
Is this how version 6 works? I don't have much confidence that this is a good nandroid backup and that I could restore off of it.
Looking for confirmation that this is how it is to work with version 6 and/or any tips or alternatives you can offer. I want to be able to backup and restore off of my external SD card.
Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was wondering if there is somewhere or someone here in the forums that can clarify how these new back-up files work. I like to back-up my back-ups on drop-box, but now that it is creating all these files do I need to move all of these created files together or just the file with the date and time stamp? I want to flash a new rom but want to make sure my current is backed up correctly on my dropbox before doing so.
Any direction is appreciated Thanks

Phone formats to sd card to extFat. Fat32 must be done on PC. No recovery supports extFat. Kexec no longer supported by anyone once bootloader was unlocked. Haven't used Clockwork since TBolt days so don't know how Blob files affect Dropbox backup.

There is an option in CWM to turn off the blobs. I prefer to have backups that are stand-alone, so I personally turn this off.
In CWM Recovery 6.0.1.2:
backup and restore > choose backup format > tar
The two options are "dup (default)" and "tar". The "dup" option gives you the blobs folder. The idea is that it saves space when you have multiple backups. The "tar" option seems to work just like you are used to - one folder per backup.

Where does the sms folder goes?? I forgot to back up my sms using smsbackup and restore but then i was able to make a backup on cwm i like to restore my back up but when i hit restore it says md5 mismatch.. but since i was able to make a backup on cwm where i can find the right folder for sms.. cause i would like to copy it on my current rom folder so i can restore it
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium

Recovery Wars Showdown

Scott originally said he liked TWRP better than CWM, so I posted this in his thread (sorry Scott, didn't mean to clutter)....
Ok so here are my concerns... I've always used CWM since my last phone (orig droid inc) so I have been using it on this phone. When I first rooted and installed it I made a backup of my stock rom (on ext SD card) and after I installed this ROM I made a backup of it before installing KCM and dirty tweaks (on internal SD card) (I wanted to see if there was a difference in speed saving to ext vs internal and it seemed internal was faster). At the time I didn't know about blobs and didn't know that I couldn't just move my backup from internal to external (at least I'm assuming I can't), and I like it better when the backups are more portable. Does TWRP have more portable backups than CWM?
Also, is there a way to convert CWM backups to TWRP or would I have to load my backups with CWM then use EZ Recovery to flash TWRP and then re-save them as TWRP? Or would it just be better to keep those 2 backups as CWM (since I can just use EZR to reflash CWM) and just use TWRP for new ones?
Finally, what about Kinda Crap Mods... Since using it, i'm kind of liking it but it doesn't seem to be supported with TWRP, right? But then again I guess I could just use EZ Recovery to flash CWM to install KCM and then flash back to TWRP and there shouldn't be any issues right?
Haha sorry it's so long but I think it's useful info
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any answers to my questions above?
So what do you guys like/dislike about TWRP/CWM? Which one works better for you and why? I know it's all a matter of opinion and preference but examples would help others decide which one they want to try.

If you want 100% (for the most part) stability - use CWM.
If you want to play with the newest, easier to navigate recovery, which has been reported to not wipe properly - use TWRP.
I exclusively used TWRP on my Nex. On my S3, I have little bits of other nandroids creeping into my restores - if that makes sense. For example, restoring a TW backup after running CM -- I would find CM apps in my app drawer. Additionally, my phone was running like poo. Went to restore a different backup, only to find they were all corrupted.
That ended my dance with TWRP on the S3. Just MY results....
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

I am used to CWM so I don't really think its that difficult to navigate. The only thing that is new for me are these silly blobs... As stated above I did a backup to internal SD and a backup to external SD to see which one is faster, but now I just want to have both of them on my external but with these blobs i'm not sure if that is possible is it?

I've used Clockwork recovery since my OG Droid days, and its never failed me so i've always stuck with it. Never had any major issues with it or any issues at all while using it.
But you have to realize a lot of the 'issues' people post are user error and not the recovery itself. i am NOT calling out anybody, but its true, most errors are user errors, how else could something work perfectly fine for 999 people and only mess up for 1 person.

I used this touch based cwm on my gnex and loved it, it uses Swype gestures and the dev has ported it to the sgs3.
http://rootzwiki.com/index.php?/topic/32975-Touch-Based-ClockworkMod-Recovery

Neverendingxsin said:
I've used Clockwork recovery since my OG Droid days, and its never failed me so i've always stuck with it. Never had any major issues with it or any issues at all while using it.
But you have to realize a lot of the 'issues' people post are user error and not the recovery itself. i am NOT calling out anybody, but its true, most errors are user errors, how else could something work perfectly fine for 999 people and only mess up for 1 person.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1. Have always used cwm an has always done the job.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

In Clockwork 6.0.1.2 you can change the backup format to tar to eliminate the "blobs".
Backup and Restore > choose backup format
Not sure about lower versions.

grin0048 said:
In Clockwork 6.0.1.2 you can change the backup format to tar to eliminate the "blobs".
Backup and Restore > choose backup format
Not sure about lower versions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What are the blobs even for?
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

SlimSnoopOS said:
What are the blobs even for?
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the blobs folder is where 99% of your data is stored. the reason its stored there is so when you make more than one backup it won't backup data that it already has. Its a way to save space, so instead of having a bunch of huge backups, it'll only backup data that has either changed or was never there. Just don't EVER mess with the blobs folder.

Neverendingxsin said:
the blobs folder is where 99% of your data is stored. the reason its stored there is so when you make more than one backup it won't backup data that it already has. Its a way to save space, so instead of having a bunch of huge backups, it'll only backup data that has either changed or was never there. Just don't EVER mess with the blobs folder.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aight, here's a couple more questions:
1) Why doesn't CWM 6.x properly date the backups? All mine end with the year 1970. My last device, Droid Incredible, dated CWM backups properly. Is renaming them fine in relation to the blobs?
2) Should I only delete backups via CWM since they would theoretically delete the blob files corresponding to them?
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

SlimSnoopOS said:
Aight, here's a couple more questions:
1) Why doesn't CWM 6.x properly date the backups? All mine end with the year 1970. My last device, Droid Incredible, dated CWM backups properly. Is renaming them fine in relation to the blobs?
2) Should I only delete backups via CWM since they would theoretically delete the blob files corresponding to them?
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Absolutely yes on #2. That's what I came in here to say.
CWM hasn't dated a backup correctly in who knows how long. Lol.
And I know scrosler loves TWRP (and we all love scrosler and CleanROM) but I've seen other devs mention the same kind of thing I said about TWRP -- as well as other users.
I personally prefer TWRP, so the fact that I'm recommending CWM means I don't use the former for a reason.
Finally, don't worry about moving backups. Just restore the ones you have on internal, make a new backup to external, then delete the internal one from recovery. Bye blobs, hello sdcard.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

TWRP is a faster and easier recovery, the only bug I have encountered is the faster of my backup being incorrect unless I set a name. I perfer the touch and simplicity of TWRP.
Sent from my Cocaine White S3.

Is a CWM Backup Moveable?

I haven't seen this asked before, and I need some help with this one.
My CWM backup is taking up nearly 2gb on my 8gb p3113 tab. I need that space back to install something (its a big game). Can I zip that up and move it off my internal SD? Can I move it as is to my ExtSD? Will CWM be able to find it if I compress it or move it? (I haven't had to restore a backup yet (knock on wood)).
Thank you for the help in advance, I am so tired of being out of space when I haven't installed much except some essentials.

Yes, infact not sure what version of CWM you have but some actually let you save them to the external (like safestraps older version before they went TWRP on the RAZR lets you choose where to save it when you go to make it.)to begin with, aside from that just cut and paste it from the internal to the external sd, don't "zip" it tho because you won't be able to restore it if its zipped.

You don't even have to leave it on the device. You can take it and put it on the thumb drive and leave it in your desk drawer, and then if you end up needing that back up 2 months from now you can reload it onto the external SD card.

But if it's a CWM6 backup make sure you get the whole ClockworkMod folder, not just the backup.
Posted from my Galaxy Tab with CM10

MultipleMonomials said:
But if it's a CWM6 backup make sure you get the whole ClockworkMod folder, not just the backup.
Posted from my Galaxy Tab with CM10
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you explain this? I copied the CWM folder from root/SD, is there more that needs to be moved?
Also as a secondary question, does it matter if I updated my CWM (using Rom Manager) from an older 6.x to a newer 6.x? Should I make a new backup?

FlynnErik said:
Can you explain this? I copied the CWM folder from root/SD, is there more that needs to be moved?
Also as a secondary question, does it matter if I updated my CWM (using Rom Manager) from an older 6.x to a newer 6.x? Should I make a new backup?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No there is nothing else needed to be moved.
And please can you tell me what is size of your cwm backup...

Droidlover123 said:
No there is nothing else needed to be moved.
And please can you tell me what is size of your cwm backup...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is currently 1.9G in size.
Does the newer CWM make a smaller/bigger backup? Or were you just curious for another reason?

FlynnErik said:
It is currently 1.9G in size.
Does the newer CWM make a smaller/bigger backup? Or were you just curious for another reason?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No i was just curious to know.
So this means that cwm only backups operating system not apps installed on it???
That's why size is only 1.9gb

[Q] CWM Backups

So Ive Searched around the forums, and bing with no luck..
Here's my questions -
What is the difference or significance of " Create image zip " in CWM versus just making a backup ?
Is one of the other a "Nandroid backup", or both ?
Sorry to ask what's probably a silly question, but I've been wondering about this. Luckily, So far, I haven't had to restore any backups. I've not done alot of flashing and this is partly why. I'm not sure if my backups are exactly what I would need if I ran into any sort of problems.
Any responses would be appreciated, Thanks.

From what I can understand from Google searching, I think that an image.zip simply saves a copy of the system you're running. This means non of your personal data will be backed up. It's meant for development use, so once a kernel or rom is set up correctly, it can be saved and shared among the community simply for rom tweaking purposes.
An actual backup saves an image of the system partition along with the data partitions. It differs because your personal data is saved along with your current rom system image.
Making a nandroid is using the backup option, and that's exactly what you need. If you have any problems you simply have to restore the backup and everything comes back the exact way it was when you backed it up. Sometimes I flash a kernel that doesn't play nice with my phone, and using nandroid restores have saved me tons of time getting things back to normal.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

BadUsername said:
From what I can understand from Google searching, I think that an image.zip simply saves a copy of the system you're running. This means non of your personal data will be backed up. It's meant for development use, so once a kernel or rom is set up correctly, it can be saved and shared among the community simply for rom tweaking purposes.
An actual backup saves an image of the system partition along with the data partitions. It differs because your personal data is saved along with your current rom system image.
Making a nandroid is using the backup option, and that's exactly what you need. If you have any problems you simply have to restore the backup and everything comes back the exact way it was when you backed it up. Sometimes I flash a kernel that doesn't play nice with my phone, and using nandroid restores have saved me tons of time getting things back to normal.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So creating an image zip would potentially backup everything other than the /data partition then ? I sort of remember making a backup both ways, and the zip was somewhat smaller - so that would make sense.

cjmcsw87 said:
So creating an image zip would potentially backup everything other than the /data partition then ? I sort of remember making a backup both ways, and the zip was somewhat smaller - so that would make sense.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's basically it, however there are some partitions that don't get touched anyway such as your recovery partition.
I would expect your full backup to be larger, how much larger depends on all the app data you have. Anyways, I wouldn't flash an image.zip in any kind of restore attempt.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

Thanks for the response that answers my questions.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

download nandroids backups

so... was wondering if it was possible to download a nandroid backup to a computer for storage, in case i want to go back to a rom after a while?

goldsmitht said:
so... was wondering if it was possible to download a nandroid backup to a computer for storage, in case i want to go back to a rom after a while?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you having trouble just copying the entire respective custom recovery folder onto your computer? I do monthly TWRP backups and just copy the entire folder onto my computer and delete older ones as I do so. Just did that last night actually.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 4

SlimSnoopOS said:
Are you having trouble just copying the entire respective custom recovery folder onto your computer? I do monthly TWRP backups and just copy the entire folder onto my computer and delete older ones as I do so. Just did that last night actually.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So if I decide that I want to go back, just copy the backup off my computer back to my fone, I not the backups folder (using twrp) and alls well? Thanks!
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

goldsmitht said:
So if I decide that I want to go back, just copy the backup off my computer back to my fone, I not the backups folder (using twrp) and alls well? Thanks!
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea, I've been doing this for a solid 2.5 years going back to my last device. With TWRP, all I transfer over is the actual backup file since the file path does not change. With CWM, I used to copy over the entire CWM folder as it contained the blogs and backups in different folders. Best of luck my friend!
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