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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.

Any app for saving pictures?

I'm thinking of changing my rom and I've read that when I do that I'll lose the pictures I took with the camera. Is there an app that you can use to save those and change roms? Thanks for any replies..
Sent from everywhere and nowhere all at the same time...

When flashing a new ROM the contence of your SD card should not be affected. If you want to be really anal about it, just plug your phone to a pc, mount and transfer the pictures your self. They will be located in the folder named " DCIM".
Sent from my One X using xda premium

MrMiami81 said:
I'm thinking of changing my rom and I've read that when I do that I'll lose the pictures I took with the camera. Is there an app that you can use to save those and change roms? Thanks for any replies..
Sent from everywhere and nowhere all at the same time...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could sync it with a dropbox... 5 gigs should be a good amount for photos

oksimoron said:
When flashing a new ROM the contence of your SD card should not be affected. If you want to be really anal about it, just plug your phone to a pc, mount and transfer the pictures your self. They will be located in the folder named " DCIM".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"Should not be affected" with "should" being the key word here. The SD contents are not supposed to be touched when flashing a ROM. But in reality, they can be. Many folks, including myself have had random instances of various files, or the entire internal SD being wiped or corrupted when flashing things from recovery. Nobody has been able to figure out why, or fix it. Might be recovery, but it happens with both CWM and TWRP (with TWRP being the recommended recovery, of course), so might be a bug with the phone itself.
In any case, I would urge you to backup anything you consider irreplaceable prior to flashing anything from recovery. This includes photos and videos you've taken, and your Titanium Backup folder, and anything else not easily replaced.
I've had the file corruption problem happen at least 3 times. I flash ROMs occasionally, but not a flash addict. So for me, I'd say the issue with files being corrupted has happened as much 20% (maybe more) of the times I flash something. So I'd say at least for my phone, backing up before flashing is far from being "anal". Yeah, its a bit of a pain to have to backup things every time you want to flash something. But better than crying about losing pics or other files if/when they are lost.

automatic uploading to my dropbox via dropbox app ftw

Yup, I can vouch for dropbox as well.

[Q] Internal storage FULL? (from roms, how do I fix?)

Hello, I have been installing a great deal of roms on my phone and every time I do I see less and less internal storage left. Now I am left with just around 1 GB. I would go in and delete everything on the phone from the computer but I think that would be a very bad idea, can you help me increase my storage?
(I do not have any pictures/videos/music on the phone and clockworks is installed on the internal storage with 2-3 backups)

pclever1 said:
Hello, I have been installing a great deal of roms on my phone and every time I do I see less and less internal storage left. Now I am left with just around 1 GB. I would go in and delete everything on the phone from the computer but I think that would be a very bad idea, can you help me increase my storage?
(I do not have any pictures/videos/music on the phone and clockworks is installed on the internal storage with 2-3 backups)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You probably have the zip files of the ROMs themselves. Delete those off the phone and just store them on a computer unless you need them.

Sccrluk9 said:
You probably have the zip files of the ROMs themselves. Delete those off the phone and just store them on a computer unless you need them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a few but that isnt the problem (~1.5gb)

The play store has a useful app called DiskUsage
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.diskusage
which will give you a graphical representation of what's using space.

Clockworks
x-y-no said:
The play store has a useful app called DiskUsage
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.diskusage
which will give you a graphical representation of what's using space.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
THank you very much, this app is great. It shows that CW has 7gbs on my phone. Can i SAFELY delete the blobs folder(and keep backups)?

pclever1 said:
THank you very much, this app is great. It shows that CW has 7gbs on my phone. Can i SAFELY delete the blobs folder(and keep backups)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. The blobs folder holds all data for the backups. Delete backups not needed and blobs folder should decrease at the same time. Blobs was to save space. A normal backup is 2-2.5 GB. Most backup to external sd card to avoid this problem.

^ what he said, just use CWM Recovery to do the deleting of the backups(or ROM manager if that's what you're using) That way corresponding blobs get deleted too.

One question I have about deleting the backups is once I delete the backups I had on my phone, before I formatted my SD to FAT32, the blobs folder never disappears even though I have deleted all of my backups off on my phones internal storage. Is that normal? The blobs folder also stayed the same size even after the backups had been deleted.
Sent by one of my many Anthromorphic Personifications

shangrila500 said:
One question I have about deleting the backups is once I delete the backups I had on my phone, before I formatted my SD to FAT32, the blobs folder never disappears even though I have deleted all of my backups off on my phones internal storage. Is that normal? The blobs folder also stayed the same size even after the backups had been deleted.
Sent by one of my many Anthromorphic Personifications
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you delete them thru recovery or a file manager? If thru a file manager then that's why.

Brian Gove said:
Did you delete them thru recovery or a file manager? If thru a file manager then that's why.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad you got that one. I haven't used CWM/Rom Manager since the Tbolt. TWRP rocks. :laugh:

I may have deleted a few backups through a file manager when I first started flashing the many ROMs I have gone through.is there a way to tell if there are still blobs saved that I don't need. My last few deletes have been through CWM would that of got rid of the unnecessary blobs. Also how do I get the backups to save to ext.SD and not the internal SD.

mikeman45 said:
I may have deleted a few backups through a file manager when I first started flashing the many ROMs I have gone through.is there a way to tell if there are still blobs saved that I don't need. My last few deletes have been through CWM would that of got rid of the unnecessary blobs. Also how do I get the backups to save to ext.SD and not the internal SD.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not 100% sure if the recent deletes thru cwm would've made all the necessary deletes of the unused blobs.
In CWM there's an option to save backups to the extsd.... you have to do it manually thru recovery. I believe all apps like ROM manager and Goo only let you select the internal.

pclever1 said:
Hello, I have been installing a great deal of roms on my phone and every time I do I see less and less internal storage left. Now I am left with just around 1 GB. I would go in and delete everything on the phone from the computer but I think that would be a very bad idea, can you help me increase my storage?
(I do not have any pictures/videos/music on the phone and clockworks is installed on the internal storage with 2-3 backups)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
^ happened to me - was Picasa sync grabbing my 50GB of photos even though as you said "I do not have any pictures on the phone..."

pclever1 said:
Hello, I have been installing a great deal of roms on my phone and every time I do I see less and less internal storage left. Now I am left with just around 1 GB. I would go in and delete everything on the phone from the computer but I think that would be a very bad idea, can you help me increase my storage?
(I do not have any pictures/videos/music on the phone and clockworks is installed on the internal storage with 2-3 backups)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been having the same problem. I started deleting old backups using a file manager first, then found this post and deleted the rest of my backups directly from CWM.
I found that the "Free unused backup data" option under the backup and restore menu helped get rid of the blob files that were left over from the first deletes i made using a file manager. (freed up around 6gb of space total)

[Q] SD Card folder deletes itself

All I did was plug it into my pc, copy a music album into the music folder, unplug it, and the whole sd card folder vanishes. I tried going into the TWRP recovery and then trying to look for the files using the file manager but no, everything is gone. My phone settings are alright though.
Now I'm a beginner to Android, does the TWRP folder that was located in the sd card folder contain important files? That folder is gone too. Basically I want to know, apart from the media and photos lost, are there any important files there that is essential to my rooted phone now or when I need to unroot/flash custom ROM/etc?

Quickfire said:
All I did was plug it into my pc, copy a music album into the music folder, unplug it, and the whole sd card folder vanishes. I tried going into the TWRP recovery and then trying to look for the files using the file manager but no, everything is gone. My phone settings are alright though.
Now I'm a beginner to Android, does the TWRP folder that was located in the sd card folder contain important files? That folder is gone too. Basically I want to know, apart from the media and photos lost, are there any important files there that is essential to my rooted phone now or when I need to unroot/flash custom ROM/etc?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting....... The TWRP folder most likely doesn't contain anything important otherwise you wouldn't be able to get into your custom recovery. The only thing that the TWRP folder contains is if you check "show hidden files" you will see a .twrps file. If you need to unroot and flash the stock firmware it will not be necessary. I would reflash the latest TWRP onto the phone just to be sure, you just never know about technology.

mistahseller said:
Interesting....... The TWRP folder most likely doesn't contain anything important otherwise you wouldn't be able to get into your custom recovery. The only thing that the TWRP folder contains is if you check "show hidden files" you will see a .twrps file. If you need to unroot and flash the stock firmware it will not be necessary. I would reflash the latest TWRP onto the phone just to be sure, you just never know about technology.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. Will reflashing TWRP wipe the data and settings from my phone?
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Quickfire said:
Thanks. Will reflashing TWRP wipe the data and settings from my phone?
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No this only replaces the recovery. The only way you can wipe your entire sd card is by going into TWRP---> advanced wipe and selecting internal storage or by going to "format data" and typing yes. This erases everything.
I find it strangely odd that just copying music from the phone to the computer took everything off the SD card I have never heard of this before. Don't be offended when I say this but you didn't select cut instead of copy did you? It will be ok though.
Good luck. While you might consider yourself a beginner, you have gotten this far so I wouldn't consider you that, far above what most owners of their phones are. If it turns on they are happy but we here at XDA don't think that is good enough.

mistahseller said:
No this only replaces the recovery. The only way you can wipe your entire sd card is by going into TWRP---> advanced wipe and selecting internal storage or by going to "format data" and typing yes. This erases everything.
I find it strangely odd that just copying music from the phone to the computer took everything off the SD card I have never heard of this before. Don't be offended when I say this but you didn't select cut instead of copy did you? It will be ok though.
Good luck. While you might consider yourself a beginner, you have gotten this far so I wouldn't consider you that, far above what most owners of their phones are. If it turns on they are happy but we here at XDA don't think that is good enough.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. Actually I copied an album INTO the phone storage. I did not cut or delete anything from the phone. Guess it's one of the mysteries of the universe why it happened.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[Q] [HELP] Deleted storage/emulated and now all my photos disappeared

I seem to be having the same problem as this except(android.stackexchange.com/questions/61531/removed-storage-emulated-0-file-and-lost-access-to-all-files) there was never a solution. I tried remaking the folders and restarting the phone but that didn't work.
Can anybody help me out?

Soooo you wiped internal storage? Pictures are gone... Best bet is to try Disk Digger or some similar app and see if it works. Also make a backup next time before you do whatever you tried to do as to avoid this situation in the future.

RoyJ said:
Soooo you wiped internal storage? Pictures are gone... Best bet is to try Disk Digger or some similar app and see if it works.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was thinking that I only wiped the symlink to the files. I will try to see if it helps. Thanks for the tip.
RoyJ said:
Also make a backup next time before you do whatever you tried to do as to avoid this situation in the future.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was going to, except to make a nandroid backup or backup in general using custom recovery I need to go have more than half of my sdcard be free space (since it back it up to the internal sdcard) and I only had like 500-600 MB free I know you can move nandroid backups to the computer to free up space, but I do not know if I could backup straight to computer since N5 has no space.

victorymobile said:
I was thinking that I only wiped the symlink to the files. I will try to see if it helps. Thanks for the tip.
I was going to, except to make a nandroid backup or backup in general using custom recovery I need to go have more than half of my sdcard be free space (since it back it up to the internal sdcard) and I only had like 500-600 MB free I know you can move nandroid backups to the computer to free up space, but I do not know if I could backup straight to computer since N5 has no space.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A nandroid wouldn't have helped. It doesn't backup pictures,etc. Use drop box or something or back them up on your pc frequently.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app

jd1639 said:
A nandroid wouldn't have helped. It doesn't backup pictures,etc. Use drop box or something or back them up on your pc frequently.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From my understanding, a nandroid backs up everything on the selected partition. So /system would save your ROM and its settings, etc. Normally on a phone with a SD card it won't back that up, but the N5 only has internal memory. Backing up /data won't save pictures and videos you took?

RoyJ said:
From my understanding, a nandroid backs up everything on the selected partition. So /system would save your ROM and its settings, etc. Normally on a phone with a SD card it won't back that up, but the N5 only has internal memory. Backing up /data won't save pictures and videos you took?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nope. It just backs up the system partition; data, apps and settings; and boot, kernel
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app

That's odd. I could have sworn after I accidentally wiped my internal storage I had my pictures back after restoring a nandroid. Still have them all.
OP, any luck with disk digger? I just deleted a folder of useless memes I made with an app and used disk digger and restored them. This is the one I used
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.defianttech.diskdigger

RoyJ said:
OP, any luck with disk digger? I just deleted a folder of useless memes I made with an app and used disk digger and restored them. This is the one I used
play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.defianttech.diskdigger
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Running it right now! It has found 6876 files and counting, and they seem to be full size! Thank you so much! That app is awesome.
And thanks guys, going to go back up my files after it's done
EDIT: Shame the file structure is not preserved

victorymobile said:
EDIT: Shame the file structure is not preserved
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not possible..
You're scanning the drive for actual files on the drive that no longer exist in the filesystem. Think of the file system as a database that tells the OS where the files are. When you delete a file, it doesn't really get deleted. Just the database entry about it.
The files exist whether there is a database entry in the file system or not but if you think about it, unlike files , the folders don't really exist on the disk.. When you create a folder, it doesn't really create a folder on the disk. It just reflects the "location" in the database. Folders don't exist on the disk so they cannot be restored. Restoring the files just adds new entries to the file system. It cannot find the deleted entries and reconnect them with the actual files
Hope this clarifies what you're seeing
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk