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[Q] My CWM 3.x.x.x backup doesn't work : SGS2

Hi,
I checked through many threads to see if anyone had a similar problem but couldn't find anything unfortunately.
Background :
I was running a Lite'ning ROM on my Samsung Galaxy S2. You're probably familiar with this ROM, but for those who aren't it gets flashed with ODIN and comes rooted and pre-installed with CWM.
I forget which version of Lite'ning ROM it was, but I am fairly certain it was pre-1.5 as the bundled CWM was definitely version 3.x.x.x (later versions I found had 4.x.x.x and 5.x.x.x).
I wanted to try a version of GalnetMIUI for something a bit different and hadn't changed ROMs in quite some time, so I booted into CWM 3.x.x.x (maybe 3.0.0.2?) and did a backup to the internal SD. This came in at around 1.4 GB and comprised of 4 files :
cache.img
data.img
nandroid.md5
system.img
I copied these to my PC too, just in case they somehow got erased from my phone.
Once I'd done this, I then copied the new ROM .zip file (latest version of GalnetMIUI) to the root of the internal SD, booted the phone into CWM, wiped user data and Dalvik cache, then proceeded to install it.
The problem :
I can't get my apps or data back. I was under the false impression that my Google account was automatically backing this up for me, and would restore everything once logged in as it had in the past (factory resets etc.). So once this didn't happen, I tried using CWM to revert back to how things were before installing the new ROM but although the restore appears to work I end up with issues.
I've tried a number of different ROMs and they either get stuck in 'boot loops' or a black screen after running through the restore procedure. I've tried restoring just data via the 'Advanced' option but this doesn't help.
I was under the impression that I'd be able to fully restore the ROM backup if I needed to, and have the phone running exactly how it was prior to messing around. It would seem this is not the case.
In desperation I tried flashing every Lite'ning ROM from version 1.0 to 4.2, restoring my backup each time but as mentioned I always get boot issues.
Have I lost my data? I hope not, as I had 'To Do' lists and all sorts of things that would cause problems if they were not retrievable. I realise this is a lack of knowledge and foresight on my part. I'm thinking now that I should have run Titanium Backup prior to this, and not assumed that CWM was going to provide a complete solution.
Hope all this makes sense and if any of you have the time to read through and offer advice it would be greatly appreciated. I am currently running a very pretty and slick GalnetMIUI without any of my data!
Thanks in advance.

download cwm 2.5.x.x its better

[email protected] said:
download cwm 2.5.x.x its better
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for that, I'll give it a go tonight after work. Am I right in thinking that if it doesn't work I can extract the individual files and insert them manually to get my app data back?

OK, so after hours of searching I'm still no wiser as to how to install CWM 2.5.1.2
I found a zip file that was apparently version 2.5.1.2 but when I tried to install it from inside CWM 5.0.2.6 (included with GalnetMIUI) it sometimes gives an error, sometimes it reboots CWM and sometimes it simply says it has successfully installed (it lies). No matter what it says or does, it doesn't seem to actually replace version 5.0.2.6 with the older one and every time I do the three-finger boot it loads up the latest version like nothing changed.
I'm just so lost. All I want to do is restore my old backup, get my data back and move on. Please someone help me before I go insane from all this research!
[EDIT] In case any more information is needed, my exact procedure for installing version 2.5.1.2 of CWM went like this :
Download 2.5.1.2 zip file
Copy zip file to root folder on internal SD
Boot into CWM 5.0.2.6
Select "install zip from sdcard"
Select "choose zip from sdcard"
Navigate to 2.5.1.2 zip file, select and confirm

Can anyone help me at all?
In particular I'd like to know how I can downgrade to CWM 2.5.1.2 or similar in order to give [email protected]'s suggestion a go.
Failing that, if anyone has any suggestions whatsoever about how I can get my backup data restored it would be greatly appreciated. After spending some time with MIUI - in particular the Galnet ICS build - I have nothing but praise, but I really have to get my data back!

You should be able to downgrade through ROM manager. Go to "All Clockwork Mod Recoveries" and just flash one that is not 5.x.x. Any backup not made with version 5 will not work with the new version So if you can flash one that is version 2, 3 or 4 you should be good to go. If that doesn't work you can fastboot flash it. There are guides on how to do that.

Wait.....did you mount /system before installing the CWM zip ?
Sent from my GT-S5830 using XDA App

Sorry for the delayed reply, for some reason I didn't get an email notification that my thread had been updated.
lowandbehold said:
You should be able to downgrade through ROM manager. Go to "All Clockwork Mod Recoveries" and just flash one that is not 5.x.x. Any backup not made with version 5 will not work with the new version So if you can flash one that is version 2, 3 or 4 you should be good to go. If that doesn't work you can fastboot flash it. There are guides on how to do that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For some reason, when I select "All ClockworkMod Recoveries" the only two options are 4.0.1.4 and v4.0.1.4. I'll have to look into "fastboot" flashing as I've never heard of that.
By the way, if I boot into CWM via ROM Manager the version that loads is 4.0.1.5, but if I perform the three-button combo when switching my device on I get version 5.0.2.6.
EmoBoiix3 said:
Wait.....did you mount /system before installing the CWM zip ?
Sent from my GT-S5830 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't, is that something I should try?
Edit - Just tried this and at first it rebooted CWM and the version number hadn't changed. Doing this again yielded me the following error with no change in version number :
Code:
E:Error in /sdcard/CM V 2.5.1.2_update.zip
(Status 0)
Installation aborted.

I found out that I can extract the contents of my backed up .img files using unyaffs.exe.
Unless I'm doing something wrong, it would appear that my backup is corrupt somehow. When trying to extract data.img, it processes for a while and does bring back a lot of files but I also get the following :
Code:
read image file
: Bad file descriptor
read image file
: Bad file descriptor
data.img is around 1.2GB but the files I extract only amount to around 190MB.
It would appear that I don't have my contacts database in there which is annoying as for some reason there were quite a few that didn't get synced to Google's servers.

[Q] Corrupted recovery in Uniporn

First, my apologies for 1) starting a new thread regarding a question that's been asked many times, and 2) making this so long. But I've tried all the possible solutions I could find, so far to no avail.
I've been running Emancipation, and decided to upgrade to Uniporn when b38 was released. No problem running the aroma installer, and no surprises after the installation when reboot hung at Samsung logo. But when I rebooted into recovery, the screen was distorted and most illegible.
I quickly found Nunhugger's instructions to Odin ICS Recovery. Not so easy on a Mac though. I tracked down the Mac port of Odin, but couldn't get it to recognize the phone. Eventually, I figured out how to install the Mac version of Heimdall, and used that to flash the zImage file extracted from the infuseICSrecovery.tar file. The Heimdall flash appeared to be successful, but it didn't fix the Recovery corruption.
I could still click through Recovery (though couldn't see what I was selecting) and was eventually able to choose to to reflash Uniporn through trial-and-error counting the number of various combinations of clicks. But got an error that the file was corrupted (don't remember exact wording of error message).
Of course I had backed everything up in recovery before trying all this, so I tried to recover from there. Uh oh, same error message. Nandroid files were corrupted, too.
Eventually, I was able to return to Emancipation after copying the file to my external card, and installing from there. Recovery was back to normal, and everything appeared to be working normally.
Confident that I hadn't bricked my phone, I tried installing Uniporn again. Again recovery was in its messed-up state. Since aroma wouldn't work at all in the corrupted recovery, I've been sticking with the non-aroma Uniporn installer. Working from my external card, I finally got it installed successfully. Yay!
Recovery is mostly usable now but still not right. Here are some things I've tried already based on answers I found in the Uniporn dev thread: 1) Flashed zImage file extracted from Nunhugger's infuseICSrecovery.tar file with Heimdall on Mac; 2) Flashed Entropy's UniKernelZip from Recovery; 3) Flashed boot.img file extracted from UnikernelZip.zip with SGS Kernel Flasher; 4) Flashed zImage file extracted from Nunhugger's infuseICSrecovery.tar file with SGS Kernel Flasher; 5) Upgraded to Uniporn b39; 6) Repeated steps 2 through 4 while running b39.
Here is a piece of information that may be relevant: While running Emancipation, I often got an error message that my sd card was unexpectedly removed. Or an error message that it was blank or in an unsupported format. Thinking that the problem was with my external sd, I would shut down, pop open the battery and sd card, clean the contacts, put everything back together and reboot. Everything would work for a while until I got one of those messages again. Thinking it may be a software issue was one of my main reasons to upgrade to Uniporn. Except that I later realized that it must be the INTERNAL sd card that was unexpectedly unmounting, since the phone wouldn't run apps from the sd card and apps are on the internal card not the external. Maybe hardware problems after all? Maybe that's why installers and nandroid restore wouldn't run from internal card?
Attached images are 1) colorful snow that flashes on the screen for a half-second or so between Samsung logo and Uniporn startup animation; 2) What recovery currently looks like. Recovery was less legible actually before flashing Entropy's kernel, and returns to less legible version after flashing infuseICSrecovery.
Does anyone have any ideas at all how to fix this? Thanks for your help!

Msg, relay done...
Sent from my SGH-I717, Black Star.

Flash GB bootloaders.... Use caution.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using xda premium

Your issue is bootloaders and I do not think more. This will get rid of the distortion on recovery, but I cannot speak for possible sd corruption or bad flash issues that happen. Lets fix the color distortion first.
Assuming you can use Odin, go here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1613523
and read the directions. Download this for Odin or find the one for Mac you used if that is what you are doing:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/16149362/Odin3 v1.7.zip
then go to the FAQ in that thread and look at #1. There is a tar file for you to download and put in the pda slot. Do it and flash the file.
When all is done with SUCCESS, reboot your phone and come back and report any further issues. Recovery should be readable.
BTW, ICS recovery is to help when stuckin a bootloop from flashing and ICS rom. It fixes nothing else, including the distortion.

[Q] Bricked Galaxy S3 with no backup

I rooted my S3, changed one file, and am now stuck in the startup screen. I've looked on the forums but I'd like to confirm what my recovery options are.
(1) Since I have no backup*, can I recover from a factory recovery for my model and still keep some of my data, apps and customizations?
It's a N American SIII (Rogers Wireless Samsung SGH-I747M). I can boot successfully into both Odin and CWM Recovery (Clockwork 5.5). BusyBox installed. I do not have a functioning MicroSD.
*I only did one thing:
renamed framework-res.apk to framework-res.apk2 to test permissions. Errors and crash ensued, then I restarted and here I am.
That apk file is part of a fix which is circulating that corrects a bug in the North American models' battery reporting, which requires replacing the apk with a slightly modified version. I thought trying a file rename was a safe small test, prior to backing up. The name "framework" should have tipped me off probably.
(2) Is factory recovery my best option? I would love to get in and just name the file back. But I can't get in.
(3) Was some automatic backup made that I overlooked? Rooting and the learning curve took so many steps I can't remember myself.
(4) Can I just restore the /system directory perhaps?
Yep, relative noob here. Hope my question is placed correctly and I haven't missed another post with the answers I need, if not pls advise.

Copied question to a better thread
It's now in the Android Q&A, see:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=28256764
Just getting used to the forum here.

NEVER FEAR find a ROM that you want to install and flash it using Odin or copy it to SD card and flash using clockwork mod And no there is no secret backup BTW once you get your phone working again make a backup then Go to where its stored And label it ALWAYS backup as soon as you root your phone

If you can manage, push a similar framework (taken from someone else) using adb...
Typed using a small touchscreen

How?
jezus101 said:
NEVER FEAR find a ROM that you want to install and flash it using Odin or copy it to SD card and flash using clockwork mod And no there is no secret backup BTW once you get your phone working again make a backup then Go to where its stored And label it ALWAYS backup as soon as you root your phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can flash a ROM using Clockwork instead of Odin? I totally missed that memo! Tips please
I found that Clockwork required the file to be in the internal SD folder -- I couldn't access the External SD card under any circumstance. There was no way to get a file to the internal file system without a functioning ROM. This is still confusing me. Maybe I had the wrong version of Clockwork or was doing it wrong. Not for lack of trying.

Easy way to keep one's personal data when flasing a new ROM

Most of the time when one flashes a new ROM one has to do a data wipe (factory reset), and it erases all one's personal files like movies, music, pictures etc, quite annoying to say the least.
I found a way to avoid this, and it's pretty simple:
1-in CWM go to mount,
2-mount both data and system,
3-format them both.
This will perform the factory reset without erasing our precious files (the installed apks will be gone though, but no biggie if you backed up them with Titanium).
Then you can wipe cache + dalvik and flash your new ROM.
I used this method to go from ICS to CM 10.1, from CM 10.1 to Paranoid Android, and finally back to ICS, without loosing a single kb of my files.
Edit:
I have a p6210, no idea whether it works on other models or not. I guess it does but who knows...
Give it a try if you feel like it, but don't forget to make a back up before in case it goes wrong.
After flashing, your files won't be in the mnt/sdcard anymore but in a newly created folder in mnt/sdcard/0, or, depending the rom you are using, in storage/sdcard/0.
Or, some roms may create a file called legacy and stock everything there, or sometimes your files may be stocked before the sdcard folder, search for either /0 or /legacy.
Use a root browser and have a look, your files are still in your device (have a look as well at your storage in general settings, it will show how many gbs are in your tab).
Once you have found your files all what you have to do is to move them back where they belong, ie the /sdcard folder, it takes 10 seconds.

unclefab said:
Most of the time when one flashes a new ROM one has to do a data wipe (factory reset), and it erases all one's personal files like music, pictures etc, quite annoying to say the least.
I found a way to avoid this, and it's pretty simple:
1-in CWM go to mount,
2-mount both data and system,
3-format them both.
This will perform the factory reset without erasing our precious files.
Then you can wipe cache + dalvik and flash your new ROM.
I used this method to go from ICS to CM 10.1, from CM 10.1 to Paranoid Android, and finally back to ICS, without loosing a single kb of my files.
Give it a try if you feel like it...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not cool man.Fu** lah.I lost everything.Around 7 GB of files.Fu** lah.I have no backup.I thought it would work.I was going from cm10.1 to cm10.What am I going to do?

Re: Easy way to keep one's personal data after flasing a new ROM
ALWAYS create a backup before erasing/flashing ANYTHING!! It's always as a precaution, to avoid losing something that you don't want to. And it only takes like 5 seconds literally. I lost some stuff when I unlocked the bootloader on my nexus10 by factory resetting, and I must say I didn't have a smile on my face. But it happened, u live n learn. I'm afraid if u wiped without making a nandroid backup your probably out of luck. Unless your skilled in using forensics techniques to try to recover it. Can't think of any options tho.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

Balaram12 said:
Not cool man.Fu** lah.I lost everything.Around 7 GB of files.Fu** lah.I have no backup.I thought it would work.I was going from cm10.1 to cm10.What am I going to do?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What did you do?
Did you follow the exact procedure?
I flashed again some roms today and it worked again.
But one thing is that the files are not in the mnt/sdcard anymore but in a newly created folder in mnt/sdcard/0, or, depending the rom you are using, in storage/sdcard/0.
Or, some roms may create a file called legacy and stock everything there, or sometimes your files may be stocked before the sdcard folder, search for either /0 or /legacy.
Use a root browser and have a look, your files are still in your device (have a look as well at your storage in general settings, it will show how many gbs are in your tab).
Once you have found your files all what you have to do is to move them back where they belong, ie the /sdcard folder, it takes 10 seconds.
This said, meishkov is right, one should allways have a back up in case anything goes wrong, I should have mentioned it in the OP but I forgot, my bad...
Edit:
OP edited.

Oh well, noone tried?
Would be nice to hear some reports...
Balaram, it would be fair from you to detail a bit what happened and to tell if you found back your files.
Anyway, this method worked for me and I thought that it might have interested some people here, roms flashers and devs alike, but if that s not the case then no worries.
If someone feels that I should erase the whole thread just tell me and I ll do it...

TWRP backups

So I tried my first Nandroid backup today using TWRP and a howtogeek - "How to Back Up and Restore Your Android Phone with TWRP" guide I found off a quick google search.
Basically TWRP, backup(boot,system,data), reboot to android, shut down, twrp-restore then reboot.
When I would reboot after TWRP-restore, it shows the typical bootloader corrupt error msg.
Shuts down again, shows the bootloader msg, then goes into TWRP, asks for my decrypt password, then begins to run an openrecovery script (I think?) of some sort. I then go to reboot my phone again, bang factory reset mode.
I hope I'm not alone here.:cyclops: I'd just really love to be able to backup/image my phone entirely so I can try out a few custom roms, and for general knowledge sake.
thanks!:silly:

mark7807 said:
So I tried my first Nandroid backup today using TWRP and a howtogeek - "How to Back Up and Restore Your Android Phone with TWRP" guide I found off a quick google search.
Basically TWRP, backup(boot,system,data), reboot to android, shut down, twrp-restore then reboot.
When I would reboot after TWRP-restore, it shows the typical bootloader corrupt error msg.
Shuts down again, shows the bootloader msg, then goes into TWRP, asks for my decrypt password, then begins to run an openrecovery script (I think?) of some sort. I then go to reboot my phone again, bang factory reset mode.
I hope I'm not alone here.:cyclops: I'd just really love to be able to backup/image my phone entirely so I can try out a few custom roms, and for general knowledge sake.
thanks!:silly:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What version of TWRP have you been using? I understand, RC2 has issues with properly restoring a backup. (RC is release candidate and is not considered fully stable, however, works well enough to flash custom roms and such).
The partitions on the pixel are set up in a more complex way than previously seen on many android phones, which is why there's no perfectly stable version of TWRP yet. You could try using RC1 to see if you get better luck backing up and restoring, however, you should assume that you may run into other issues and be prepared to deal with them should they arise.

exad said:
What version of TWRP have you been using? I understand, RC2 has issues with properly restoring a backup. (RC is release candidate and is not considered fully stable, however, works well enough to flash custom roms and such).
The partitions on the pixel are set up in a more complex way than previously seen on many android phones, which is why there's no perfectly stable version of TWRP yet. You could try using RC1 to see if you get better luck backing up and restoring, however, you should assume that you may run into other issues and be prepared to deal with them should they arise.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm running 3.1.0-0RC2 so maybe I'll try RC1. Normally I'd just go off and try everything but unfortunately I'm not in a situation I can simply play with my Pixel and potentially brick it leaving me without a phone for who knows how long.
I don't think there would be any harm with playing with RC1 but I'll research a little bit more into it and see what I can find out first. I heard the partitions are split for redundancy(?) for firmware upgrades and dual-booting. That's something all else on it's own as I've REALLY wanted to get my phone ultimately on a Multi-Rom setup but it seems way too complicated for me at the moment to try on my own even though I'm generally good with this stuff..
Thanks exad for the insight. Any other help is greatly appreciated.

mark7807 said:
I'm running 3.1.0-0RC2 so maybe I'll try RC1. Normally I'd just go off and try everything but unfortunately I'm not in a situation I can simply play with my Pixel and potentially brick it leaving me without a phone for who knows how long.
I don't think there would be any harm with playing with RC1 but I'll research a little bit more into it and see what I can find out first. I heard the partitions are split for redundancy(?) for firmware upgrades and dual-booting. That's something all else on it's own as I've REALLY wanted to get my phone ultimately on a Multi-Rom setup but it seems way too complicated for me at the moment to try on my own even though I'm generally good with this stuff..
Thanks exad for the insight. Any other help is greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would say use RC1 too. I've used it and never had a problem with it other than the occasional failure to decrypt which is no big deal. Just reboot back into recovery. I would add though, instead of backing up system, backup system image. Also vendor image. If you back up system instead of system image you'll more than likely run into battery drain problems. I'm not sure what causes it but it'll cut your battery life down to only several hours. Using system image doesn't cause that problem.
If you should happen to accidentally backup system instead of system image it's not a huge deal to fix it though. If you're on stock just download the factory image that you are currently on, extract the system.img file and flash it using fastboot. If you're on a custom rom, a dirty flash of the rom will fix it.

mark7807 said:
I'm running 3.1.0-0RC2 so maybe I'll try RC1. Normally I'd just go off and try everything but unfortunately I'm not in a situation I can simply play with my Pixel and potentially brick it leaving me without a phone for who knows how long.
I don't think there would be any harm with playing with RC1 but I'll research a little bit more into it and see what I can find out first. I heard the partitions are split for redundancy(?) for firmware upgrades and dual-booting. That's something all else on it's own as I've REALLY wanted to get my phone ultimately on a Multi-Rom setup but it seems way too complicated for me at the moment to try on my own even though I'm generally good with this stuff..
Thanks exad for the insight. Any other help is greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
RC1 and backup system image, vendor image, data and boot.

robocuff said:
I would say use RC1 too. I've used it and never had a problem with it other than the occasional failure to decrypt which is no big deal. Just reboot back into recovery. I would add though, instead of backing up system, backup system image. Also vendor image. If you back up system instead of system image you'll more than likely run into battery drain problems. I'm not sure what causes it but it'll cut your battery life down to only several hours. Using system image doesn't cause that problem.
If you should happen to accidentally backup system instead of system image it's not a huge deal to fix it though. If you're on stock just download the factory image that you are currently on, extract the system.img file and flash it using fastboot. If you're on a custom rom, a dirty flash of the rom will fix it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
TheBurgh said:
RC1 and backup system image, vendor image, data and boot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks again guys,
I ran a
fastboot boot twrp.zip to boot to what I thought was like a "live cd" version of twrp
with the rc1 .img and .zip in the sdcard directory I installed the .zip
booted my phone and it forces to recovery everytime now.
did I upset something?
I mean at this point, I could factory reset the google pixel all from the very beginning of time. boot/system the whole shabang, but I think this could be a good lesson from me if I could boot back to system out of this..
Okay. I have RC1 on here and have backed up to USB. I'm extremely tired and going to bed. I'll report back on how the restore goes. THANK YOU ALL!!!

mark7807 said:
Thanks again guys,
I ran a
fastboot boot twrp.zip to boot to what I thought was like a "live cd" version of twrp
with the rc1 .img and .zip in the sdcard directory I installed the .zip
booted my phone and it forces to recovery everytime now.
did I upset something?
I mean at this point, I could factory reset the google pixel all from the very beginning of time. boot/system the whole shabang, but I think this could be a good lesson from me if I could boot back to system out of this..
Okay. I have RC1 on here and have backed up to USB. I'm extremely tired and going to bed. I'll report back on how the restore goes. THANK YOU ALL!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay so, I stayed up a little late and tried a restore. I got this error near the end of the restore "extractTarFork() process ended with error: 255" in which resulted in corruption of files and a failed restore. Was I supposed to unmount data? Is there any reason I can't backup all partitions?

mark7807 said:
Okay so, I stayed up a little late and tried a restore. I got this error near the end of the restore "extractTarFork() process ended with error: 255" in which resulted in corruption of files and a failed restore. Was I supposed to unmount data? Is there any reason I can't backup all partitions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure where to direct you at this point. I have always used RC1 and backed up system image, vendor image, data and boot and never had a problem restoring. Someone with better knowledge will come around.

TheBurgh said:
Not sure where to direct you at this point. I have always used RC1 and backed up system image, vendor image, data and boot and never had a problem restoring. Someone with better knowledge will come around.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah very strange I did exactly what you told me to do as well. Any changes to partitions I backup if my phone is rooted by chance??

mark7807 said:
Yeah very strange I did exactly what you told me to do as well. Any changes to partitions I backup if my phone is rooted by chance??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not that I am aware of. Mine is rooted and backups have been smooth sailing.

I recently attempted creating a nandroid backup via TWRP on my rooted Pixel and I'm consistently getting an error: 'cannot create [path]\backup file" message from TWRP. Is there a permission issue that I've overlooked here or does anyone have any thoughts as to why my rooted Pixel would be denying TWRP authority to create the backup?
Thanks

What version of twrp ?
I only use rc1, never seen this.

Yep- RC1. I'm thinking it's in 'read only' mode or something because as soon as it attempts to create the folder/file- no-go.

pstgh said:
Yep- RC1. I'm thinking it's in 'read only' mode or something because as soon as it attempts to create the folder/file- no-go.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When you boot into TWRP did it ask for your unlock PIN? If it doesn't/didn't, either keep rebooting into recovery or turn the phone off and go back into recovery until TWRP does ask for your encryption PIN. Sometimes TWRP doesn't ask, and without the PIN being entered, it can't write to the internal storage.
If you click "Install" in TWRP and see a bunch of gobbledygook it's because the internal storage is still encrypted so TWRP can't do anything with it.
You could probably use USB OTG through the USB-C connector, though, to do a backup to it, if you need to.

Tried it again and it worked flawlessly.... it seems sort of buggy in that sometimes it presents the 'pattern' security lock that I use and sometimes it doesn't. After booting up in the bootloader and fastbooting the TWRP boot image slowly and methodically, the security pattern came up and all is perfect- thanks.
---------- Post added at 08:37 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:36 PM ----------
Now I'm wondering how to best move that backup folder (or a copy of it) over to Google Drive? I have root explorer, but not sure if it is capable of mounting to Google Drive.. any thoughts on best practices here would be appreciated.
Thanks

pstgh said:
Tried it again and it worked flawlessly.... it seems sort of buggy in that sometimes it presents the 'pattern' security lock that I use and sometimes it doesn't. After booting up in the bootloader and fastbooting the TWRP boot image slowly and methodically, the security pattern came up and all is perfect- thanks.
---------- Post added at 08:37 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:36 PM ----------
Now I'm wondering how to best move that backup folder (or a copy of it) over to Google Drive? I have root explorer, but not sure if it is capable of mounting to Google Drive.. any thoughts on best practices here would be appreciated.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't confirm since I've yet to do a successful backup but... Flashify Pro version looks like an option???
also
Anyone know when TWRP 3.1.0-0 will be out for Pixel? Looks like it addresses boot slots which off first glance seems like quite a fundamental feature no?

Thanks... I'm thinking I'll just adb pull the file over to my desktop... not sure.

pstgh said:
Thanks... I'm thinking I'll just adb pull the file over to my desktop... not sure.
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Root Explorer does have support for Google Drive. In Root Explorer touch the plus sign in the lower right corner and in the menu that opens choose Google Drive tab.

Can get Root Explorer to connect to Google Drive, but when I select all of the backup files from my Pixel's TWRP backup folder, my only choices are to cut or copy them- so I tried both and then RE creates this little clipboard icon that you presumably click on to paste them once you've opened the proper GD folder.... so I tried that and in both cases (cut and copy) it says 'fail'.... ? Thoughts? I've given RE permission to manage folders and files in GD.

pstgh said:
Can get Root Explorer to connect to Google Drive, but when I select all of the backup files from my Pixel's TWRP backup folder, my only choices are to cut or copy them- so I tried both and then RE creates this little clipboard icon that you presumably click on to paste them once you've opened the proper GD folder.... so I tried that and in both cases (cut and copy) it says 'fail'.... ? Thoughts? I've given RE permission to manage folders and files in GD.
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It sounds like you've got the right idea. Cut will move the files, copy will do just that. You choose one of the two and browse to the Google Drive tab, find the folder you want to use and then use the little clipboard thing to transfer the files to that folder. If that's what you're doing, the only thing I can think of right off the top of my head would be that you don't have enough space left on Google Drive for the size of the files you're trying to transfer. Try a picture or something and see if it takes that. If so, I'd suspect lack of Drive space is the reason it fails.