Database Develop

Backup EVERYTHING?

Okay, I have SEARCHED XDA & SEARCHED GOOGLE and read probably close to thousands of posts trying to find the answer... maybe I just missed it but I tried...
I am thinking of moving from CM 4.0.4 to JacHERO... (no commenct please about possible move from CM it has nothing to do with the recent C&D) but I am afraid to wipe SD CARD & start fresh with everything...
Does NANDROID backup everything? Meaning does it COMPLETELY backup not just the OS but all the partitions on the SDHC card? (i.e. FAT32 & ext2 & ext3)?? I dont think it does from what I can tell & have read...
What I want to be able to do is wipe everything clean, install HERO, clean, if I totally hate it or its too slow for me or what not, I want to be able to restore what I had running...
please no comments on how hero is better or how CM is better etc...

I would suggest you do a search for switchrom or switchrom.sh
That should be what you're looking for.
HTH

search for the Q&A section?
Nandroid backs up all you need that if you get a bootloop for some reason you can just restore it and your good...... next time post in the proper place
P.S.- why are you afraid of wiping your SD card that would be a lot easier?

Switchrom.sh or Bart
Switchrom is good, but doesnt backup the entire ext3 partition. If complete EXT3 backup is what you seek, see BART (Backup and Recovery Tool).
Have fun and read lots!

emilj said:
Okay, I have SEARCHED XDA & SEARCHED GOOGLE and read probably close to thousands of posts trying to find the answer... maybe I just missed it but I tried...
I am thinking of moving from CM 4.0.4 to JacHERO... (no commenct please about possible move from CM it has nothing to do with the recent C&D) but I am afraid to wipe SD CARD & start fresh with everything...
Does NANDROID backup everything? Meaning does it COMPLETELY backup not just the OS but all the partitions on the SDHC card? (i.e. FAT32 & ext2 & ext3)?? I dont think it does from what I can tell & have read...
What I want to be able to do is wipe everything clean, install HERO, clean, if I totally hate it or its too slow for me or what not, I want to be able to restore what I had running...
please no comments on how hero is better or how CM is better etc...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you want to back up your SDCARD, you need to plug it into your computer (can be through phone when phone is in "mount" mode) and run this command:
dd if=/dev/sdcarddevice | gzip -9 > /some/place/to/make/backup.gz
You can NOT make a backup of the sdcard from your phone OS since 1) phone internal storage is not nearly sufficient, 2) backing up the sdcard TO the sdcard is retarded and doesn't accomplish anything.
My suggestion;
first do a nandroid backup to backup the phone internal storage to the sdcard, then backup the sdcard. Then you have everything no matter what.

On more bit of complication...
I currently have fat32 & ext2 BUT no swap setup on my SDHC card....
I would need to wipe the card & re-partition it so that I can have swap.
BART looks like the key, but will it re-partition the sdhc card too?? It says BART backs up the ext partitions but doesnt say anything about the partitions...

This is not development related. Next time, please keep your questions within the Q&A forum. Moved.

lbcoder said:
If you want to back up your SDCARD, you need to plug it into your computer (can be through phone when phone is in "mount" mode) and run this command:
dd if=/dev/sdcarddevice | gzip -9 > /some/place/to/make/backup.gz
You can NOT make a backup of the sdcard from your phone OS since 1) phone internal storage is not nearly sufficient, 2) backing up the sdcard TO the sdcard is retarded and doesn't accomplish anything.
My suggestion;
first do a nandroid backup to backup the phone internal storage to the sdcard, then backup the sdcard. Then you have everything no matter what.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You read between the lines for me thank you... the point was to backup to a computer (obviously I cant backup 5gb to the remaining 3gb on my card )
I ran SU first & tried the command you gave me & I got this error:
dd: can't open '/dev/sdcarddevice': No such file or directory
Which makes sense if I am running it in "mounted" mode because the SD card is no longer visible to the OS.... right?

I currently have fat32 & ext2 BUT no swap setup on my SDHC card....
I would need to wipe the card & re-partition it so that I can have swap.
BART looks like the key, but will it re-partition the sdhc card too?? It says BART backs up the ext partitions but doesnt say anything about the partitions...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah Bart isnt the way to go to repartition your SDcard, if you have the 1.4 cyanogen recovery you can do the repartitioning from the recovery console, a basic search can provide you with many guides on how to do something like this, hope this helps

stefan.buddle said:
Yeah Bart isnt the way to go to repartition your SDcard, if you have the 1.4 cyanogen recovery you can do the repartitioning from the recovery console, a basic search can provide you with many guides on how to do something like this, hope this helps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay, I'm not totaly newb if I sound like it...
I can repartition my card no problem... I was looking for a backup tool that would restore ALL partitions & ALL data if I was to wipe the OS & wipe the card & start fresh...
Theoretically backup to a PC... I can load up a Linux build if I need to... the "DD" was a good idea... would this be a good solution to load up linux to a "DD" combined with a Nandroid backup? Again, would I have to repartition my card back to the way it was?

emilj said:
You read between the lines for me thank you... the point was to backup to a computer (obviously I cant backup 5gb to the remaining 3gb on my card )
I ran SU first & tried the command you gave me & I got this error:
dd: can't open '/dev/sdcarddevice': No such file or directory
Which makes sense if I am running it in "mounted" mode because the SD card is no longer visible to the OS.... right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
#1: you don't run this on your phone, you run it on your COMPUTER.
#1a: when you set your phone to "mount", it is not actually mounting. That is what happens on your computer (if you so choose), AFTER putting the phone into its mode where it is mountable and after the computer detects the device. They really should call it "mass storage mode" or something that isn't strictly incorrect.
#2: you need to use some brains in running a command.
#2a: DON'T EVER just do stuff you see online. *ALWAYS* research the commands and understand what they do before you run them. Otherwise you *WILL* eventually do something stupid, like "for FILE in /dev/sd?; do dd if=/dev/zero of=$FILE; done", which will wipe every single bit of information in all of your hard disks with zeros. In this case, the command I suggested will do no damage, but you didn't know that...
#2b: There is no such device as /dev/sdcarddevice. This is intended (following #2a) that you replace it with what makes sense ON YOUR SYSTEM, i.e. "sdcarddevice" is variable and will change depending on when/how you attached the device and what other devices are already there. Same with the /some/path/to/etc

lbcoder said:
#1: you don't run this on your phone, you run it on your COMPUTER.
#1a: when you set your phone to "mount", it is not actually mounting. That is what happens on your computer (if you so choose), AFTER putting the phone into its mode where it is mountable and after the computer detects the device. They really should call it "mass storage mode" or something that isn't strictly incorrect.
#2: you need to use some brains in running a command.
#2a: DON'T EVER just do stuff you see online. *ALWAYS* research the commands and understand what they do before you run them. Otherwise you *WILL* eventually do something stupid, like "for FILE in /dev/sd?; do dd if=/dev/zero of=$FILE; done", which will wipe every single bit of information in all of your hard disks with zeros. In this case, the command I suggested will do no damage, but you didn't know that...
#2b: There is no such device as /dev/sdcarddevice. This is intended (following #2a) that you replace it with what makes sense ON YOUR SYSTEM, i.e. "sdcarddevice" is variable and will change depending on when/how you attached the device and what other devices are already there. Same with the /some/path/to/etc
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Gee thanks... I thought you were giving me a command that I wasnt aware of...
So the bottom line is that I am still where I started, is there any way to backup the OS & all partitions to my computer that I can restore if necessary??

So something like imaging the sdcard like winhex, and a nandroid or switchrom should be fine. I'll be trying this soon. I need to learn more about the ins and outs first. Please let me know what you find or how u get this to work for u. With dd or whatever. Thanks.

you are making this WAY too complicated, make a nandroid, use BART, move the files over to your computer by dragging and dropping. then do whatever horror you want to do to your phone. if it messes up, then make your partitions again using parted in the recovery console. restore the contents of your sdcard from your computer to your sdcard, restore your nandroid. ta-da
it is not hard to backup your ext3, it is even simpler to backup your fat32. stop over thinking all of this and search a little next time.

You fail, please try again

Yeah makes sence now that I think about it, partitioning the sdcard was pretty ez. I'm just gonna repartition to include a swap and keep that setup for everything and BART the rest. Sometimes I just don't see the answers right away until they are pointed out to me lol sry .....I failed again.

Opps, some how ended up in this topic by mistake

New sd card, i need help.

I just bought a new SD card, 4 GB, class 4. And my old one was only 2 GB, not sure what class. And i'm not sure what steps i need to do to get everything i had on my old one and get everything to be the same as before without any problems.
My sd card is partitioned and has linux swap with ext 2 converted to ext 3.
Phone is rooted and running MLIGN-Hero 2.5.5 and i think my apps are on my sd card, but not 100% sure.
And also i'm using Amon Ra's Custom Recovery v1.2.2 and used that to partition my sd card.

Do a nandroid back-up. After you do that, on your PC, copy the nandroid folder from your SD to your desktop. Then, format and partition your new 4 gig SD. I would make the ext3 and linux-swap partition the same size as you had them on the 2 gig SD. Finally, copy the nandroid folder on your PC desktop to the 4 gig SD, put it in the phone, boot into recovery, and run a nandroid restore. Everything should be good.
Just incase you need it...
Code:
parted /dev/block/mmcblk0
mkpartfs primary fat32 0 xxxx
mkpartfs primary ext3 xxxx yyyy
mkpartfs primary linux-swap yyyy zzzz
quit
upgrade_fs
reboot (or) reboot recovery

thanks, i really appreciate it. i'll try it out now. i'll make another quick reply when i'm done to say if everything worked out fine.

BlackElvis79 said:
Do a nandroid back-up. After you do that, on your PC, copy the nandroid folder from your SD to your desktop. Then, format and partition your new 4 gig SD. I would make the ext3 and linux-swap partition the same size as you had them on the 2 gig SD. Finally, copy the nandroid folder on your PC desktop to the 4 gig SD, put it in the phone, boot into recovery, and run a nandroid restore. Everything should be good.
Just incase you need it...
Code:
parted /dev/block/mmcblk0
mkpartfs primary fat32 0 xxxx
mkpartfs primary ext3 xxxx yyyy
mkpartfs primary linux-swap yyyy zzzz
quit
upgrade_fs
reboot (or) reboot recovery
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok this is weird, when i go to to the nandroid backup it says "Error : Backup not performed!"
EDIT: nvm i fixed it. i just had to reboot.
EDIT: nvm again, it worked for a little while then the same error message showed up again.

didnt work, i got stuck in a boot loop at the hero loading screen, im just gonna use my old one for now then ill have to go back to the store and trade in the 4 gb sdcard for a new one and try again.

wtf?!?! now none of my apps work! as soon as i open it and then try to click on something inside the app i get a force close (the one where it doesnt have the option to "wait")

nvm i just did a nandroid restore from my old sdcard.

sumtime nandroid can't finish if there is not enough room left on the card

maek_it_happen said:
sumtime nandroid can't finish if there is not enough room left on the card
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hmm... makes sense. i'll try and remove some stuff from my old sd card then backup again.

I don't believe nandroid backs up your SD also. Just internal flash. So you'll need to find another way, I believe you can do this through adb

Basket Lotioner said:
I don't believe nandroid backs up your SD also. Just internal flash. So you'll need to find another way, I believe you can do this through adb
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sorry for being a noob here but what is adb again? i completely forgot.

Here

Basket Lotioner said:
Here
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks but umm... i think i'll just stick to my 2 GB sdcard, lol. way too confusing stuff and way too much to read and understand. i'm a major noob when it comes to android and i know i would screw alot of stuff up with that, i always do. thanks for the help anyways though.

AnThNeE said:
thanks but umm... i think i'll just stick to my 2 GB sdcard, lol. way too confusing stuff and way too much to read and understand. i'm a major noob when it comes to android and i know i would screw alot of stuff up with that, i always do. thanks for the help anyways though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
u could jus use nandroid and back up for root users , format and partition ur new card using amon then just restore the nandroid and back up !

maek_it_happen said:
u could jus use nandroid and back up for root users , format and partition ur new card using amon then just restore the nandroid and back up !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well, i wish it was that easy. i think my new sdcard is broken anyways, when i did it the first time, i got stuck in a boot loop. then i went back to recovery, got rid of my ext 3 i think or something like that, and then i put it in my computer and formatted it, and then did it all over again, and then this time my apps didnt work, actually, wait i think i know what you mean... hmmm.... brb i'm gonna try what you basically said. sorry for all the typing, i have a habit of over typing things, lol.

well, ran in to a major problem. now everytime i try to do anything i get an error saying to run _________ (<--whatever it says) via console. so is my sdcard broken? cause i really dont feel like going out and buying a anew one.

maek_it_happen said:
sumtime nandroid can't finish if there is not enough room left on the card
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
how much room does nandroid need?

Question about nandroid backups

So I switch between multiple roms every few days...would i be able to store a few backups on my sd and just flash between them whenever i feel like it? i use the same partition for all of them so re-partitioning seems a little redundant
advice? thank youuuu

Yes they store on your sd card but they're listed by date and time backed in a format similar to 525101345 so 5-25-10 at 13:45
You could defiantly do it but would need to remember what is what.

can i just rename them or would that screw it up somehow?

i wouldnt recommend it

that's why I use bart - the name is always defaultrom. Once I bart something, I'll go in and rename it to something more descriptive. Then if I need it, I just rename it defaultrom and boom... back in business.
It's more of a pain, but I think bart is more stable and it feels more comprehensive than nandroid + ext.

Or use the switchrom script which is available at the commandline on most roms. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=541183

greensnow said:
can i just rename them or would that screw it up somehow?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I rename nandroids all the time and have never had a problem

Nandroid question

Is there a way to make a nandroid that gets directly dumped onto my computer rather than my sd card?

overthinkingme said:
Is there a way to make a nandroid that gets directly dumped onto my computer rather than my sd card?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No.. just make a nandroid backup. Then mount the sdcard to your computer and navigate to Nandroid > ht25blahblah > and you should see the file. Just copy it to anywhere on your computer and delete it from your phone. I always leave atleast 1 or 2 nandroids on my phone of different roms and a backup up of my current just in case.

little OT, but i still have the first nandroid i ever did when rooting became available for the hero. seems so long ago.....

[Q] n00by mcn00berson question about nandroid, sd-ext and upgrading memory card

So, I want a 32GB card. Right now I'm running a Cyanogen nightly with Darktremor A2EXT with a 2GB partition. Could I just take these steps, or maybe I'm missing a few:
- Nandroid
- Copy all contents of FAT32 partition to my PC
- Swap cards
- Partition EXT4 in recovery
- Copy FAT32 from PC to the new card
- Restore SD-EXT from the nandroid I just made that's now on the 32GB card
- Reboot
- ???
- Profit
Would I maybe be better off backing up/restoring through Titanium? I've searched around, but not a lot of the threads I found specifically address A2EXT. I know to the experts, this question is probably downright hilarious, I'm thinking it doesn't hurt to just ask before I mess something up, lol.

I see no problem, that should work just fine. I would use your initial method but still make a titanium backup just in case, there's no harm in having a redundancy plan

Hollow.Droid said:
that shouldn't work just fine
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you meant "should"?

danger-rat said:
I think you meant "should"?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup, I did indeed. Note to self, don't reply to forums while watching tele