Making an exact copy - Nexus 6 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hey everyone.
So a few days ago I unfortunately dropped my nexus 6, destroying the screen. It's fully blacked out with no sense of touch. That's what I get for not using a case right. Anyway, I am looking to order a new one very soon and I would like to be able to pick up exactly where I have left off. Because the phone is in completely working condition besides the screen (Proven by using airdroid, android control and adb, as well as my lightflow and everything acting normally) I was wondering what I need to do to be able to put everything onto my new phone. What I think I need to do is run a TWRP backup of system, data, and boot by using the command line, as seen here. After that, I believe I need to use the adb pull command. Once that is all done, can I simply put TWRP onto my new devices, restore the backup, use adb push to replace the contents of my /sdcard partition and boot up as if it were the old device? I think I have it figured out here but, I wanted to run it by the smart people of xda. A couple of notes, although I assume it is irrelevant, are that I am running the PureNexus Project ROM, Elementalx on 6.0.1 unlocked.
Thanks,
TriguyRN

And I'm sorry everyone, this was meant to be put in the Q and A section :/

triguyrn said:
And I'm sorry everyone, this was meant to be put in the Q and A section :/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You would be best advised not to do that. You could mess up your device alot to the point of bricking it. If you back up anything only back up the data partition as that is where your apps are.

zelendel said:
You would be best advised not to do that. You could mess up your device alot to the point of bricking it. If you back up anything only back up the data partition as that is where your apps are.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
agreed you can probably get away with a /data restore after reinstalling your rom but transplanting /system or boot partitions could easily go south. Best to reinstall purenexus with the zip.

zelendel said:
You would be best advised not to do that. You could mess up your device alot to the point of bricking it. If you back up anything only back up the data partition as that is where your apps are.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So if I understand this correctly, /data contains my appdata and that apps themselves, while /sdcard contains some extra documents etc. correct? Assuming yes, then I should back/restore up the data partition in TWRP and selectively movie around some folders from my /sdcard backup to my new device. Thank you for the advice and moving my thread.

triguyrn said:
So if I understand this correctly, /data contains my appdata and that apps themselves, while /sdcard contains some extra documents etc. correct? Assuming yes, then I should back/restore up the data partition in TWRP and selectively movie around some folders from my /sdcard backup to my new device. Thank you for the advice and moving my thread.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if you backup /data you'll have all your apps and internal storage files. /sdcard is just a shortcut pointing to /data/media/0 which is where your documents and whatnot are actually stored.

StykerB said:
if you backup /data you'll have all your apps and internal storage files. /sdcard is just a shortcut pointing to /data/media/0 which is where your documents and whatnot are actually stored.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is incorrect.
A TWRP backup of /data *does NOT* backup your internal storage. That's the reason that there's a different option.
Same way that if you wipe /data it doesn't erase your sdcard (internal storage, we don't have sdcards).
You are correct though, /data/media/0 is *technically* where the internal storage is located. However a /data backup will not back this up as it traditionally skips the /data/media directory completely to prevent crazy issues on devices without a true sdcard.
Think about it.
You have 32gb of device storage. Let's say you have a ton of music, movies, documents and such on your internal storage/sdcard totaling 15-20gb. Even with a full /system, /data, /boot backup... it averages about 3-5gb. There's no way that it's getting that level of compression and backing up the 15-20 gb of stored files you have.
On top of that, it would have to include the backed up backup in the backup since it was also on internal storage, casuing a cycle that would simply fill up the device before failing due to a lack of free space.
Realistically, the only way to backup the internal storage is by using a usb-otg device as the target. Or by manally copying everything from there off to a computer.

Related

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

[Q] Delete system apps and use free memory for other apps

I searched the forums for quite a while but couldn't find an answer to this question, so here I go:
Is it possible to use the space freed up by deleting system apps (like Motonav) for installing own Apps (e.g. memory hogs like Swype or the Flash Player)?
Not 100% sure but I just downloaded titanium backup from the market backed up those unwanted apps then uninstalled. That should free up space for what you want be careful what you uninstall though.
Sent from my SGH-T959V using XDA App
Eiertschik said:
I searched the forums for quite a while but couldn't find an answer to this question, so here I go:
Is it possible to use the space freed up by deleting system apps (like Motonav) for installing own Apps (e.g. memory hogs like Swype or the Flash Player)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
THe partition where those system apps are installed is not the same partition where apps you download are installed, so, if you free some space there, it won't affect free space at all.
But, you can move applications from /data/app to /system/app (if you mount /system/app as read/write), just move them and reboot the phone, but, before moving, please make sure that there is enough free space on /system by typing on adb shell or a terminal emulator:
df /system
If there is enough space, just go ahead, move the apk to /system and save some space in /data, BUT, and there is always a BUT... Any updates to that application will occupy space in /data again, so, everytime the APP is updated, you should delete the old APK in /system, move the new apk from /data to /system and reboot.
I'm pretty sure that Titanium Backup has this kind of functionality built in, not sure if it is pro only or if it works in the free version, but, since it did not work well the first time I've tried, I just do it manually.
P.s.: It is highly recommended that, before moving thing in or out the /system folder, you do a full NANDROID BACKUP, so you can just revert back to working condition if something go wrong (i.e.: if you delete something essential, perhaps you won't be able to load Titanium Backup and restore that back).
Sure, I added a lot of apps in system/app partition
For example I added GoSMS and GoLauncher, deleting mms and adwlauncher.
I made it because they are the most-used apps so it's better running them from internal memory rather than ext2 partition, plus I can boot the phone without SD.
The only problem, as HinotoriBR said, is that when you update an app you should move it from data/app to system/app, delete the old app version (newly installed will have a different name) and reboot.
yosif yackson said:
Not 100% sure but I just downloaded titanium backup from the market backed up those unwanted apps then uninstalled. That should free up space for what you want be careful what you uninstall though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're right, that DOES free up space on /system partition, but it's not enough to use the free space for other apps
HinotoriBR said:
THe partition where those system apps are installed is not the same partition where apps you download are installed, so, if you free some space there, it won't affect free space at all.
But, you can move applications from /data/app to /system/app (if you mount /system/app as read/write), just move them and reboot the phone, but, before moving, please make sure that there is enough free space on /system by typing on adb shell or a terminal emulator:
df /system
If there is enough space, just go ahead, move the apk to /system and save some space in /data, BUT, and there is always a BUT... Any updates to that application will occupy space in /data again, so, everytime the APP is updated, you should delete the old APK in /system, move the new apk from /data to /system and reboot.
[...]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I installed Swype and moved com.swype.android.inputmethod-1.apk to /system/app using Root Explorer and it still worked without rebooting the phone.
Maybe because input methods are always active in the background so it didn't notice the moving?
I restarted anyway (because otherwise it doesn't update the free memory information in Settings) and et voila: more than 10MB extra space.
Now Swype is still listed in the "All Apps" tab of app management but with a mere 2MB.
I guess that's user settings, dalvik cache and other stuff - so I better not move it...
One last question:
How much free space should remain on /system partition?
Is it also used to cache stuff or can I fill it all the way to the top?
downloadman said:
Sure, I added a lot of apps in system/app partition
For example I added GoSMS and GoLauncher, deleting mms and adwlauncher.
I made it because they are the most-used apps so it's better running them from internal memory rather than ext2 partition, plus I can boot the phone without SD.
[...]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Since I'm not using an ext2 partition on my SD card it should make no difference if an app is in /system or /data when it comes to performance, shouldn't it?
THANKS TO EVERYONE
Eiertschik said:
Since I'm not using an ext2 partition on my SD card it should make no difference if an app is in /system or /data when it comes to performance, shouldn't it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I suppose you're right. Or maybe SD speed is faster than internal memory, who knows... but surely reading internal memory uses less battery power than reading microsd.
An ext2 partition is really useful if you install a lot of apps.
As my SD card is only Class2 (was bundled with the phone) I doubt it would be faster than internal memory.
Up to now I was able to install all the apps I really needed without an ext2 partition - so I think the /system-trick will give me more space than I really need
But thanks anyway - I'll get back to it when I'm keen enough to use custom roms and ext partitions
Eiertschik said:
One last question:
How much free space should remain on /system partition?
Is it also used to cache stuff or can I fill it all the way to the top?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Since partition is mounted as read only usually, it means that partition is not used to cache or store any app data. All data and cache of /system applications goes to /data (which, as you observed, still has some space being used by the moved application). So, you should be able to fill /system (or get close to fill it) and have no issues.
If you don't use any modded rom, you can use Androidiani Open Recovery and use some space that is left for OTA transfers to store cache data (there is a specific partition with 100+ MB of free space used just for that, to store a firmware upgrade received OTA), it is known as "Memhack" and free up more space. As far as I know, many mods as CM7 already have this "Memhack" built-in.
HinotoriBR said:
Since partition is mounted as read only usually, it means that partition is not used to cache or store any app data.[...]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe that was too obvious for me to figure out
HinotoriBR said:
[...]
If you don't use any modded rom, you can use Androidiani Open Recovery and use some space that is left for OTA transfers to store cache data (there is a specific partition with 100+ MB of free space used just for that, to store a firmware upgrade received OTA), it is known as "Memhack" and free up more space. As far as I know, many mods as CM7 already have this "Memhack" built-in.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I already use AOR to root my 2.2.1 stock ROM.
This memhack sounds very interesting... might consider it because I don't really expect any further Milestone update from Motorola.
Sounds more reliable than an ext2 partition on SD card - since I don't really trust my card...
If I do this Memhack and for whatever reason Moto will release an update - will I still be able to do it using a PC?
Eiertschik said:
Maybe that was too obvious for me to figure out
I already use AOR to root my 2.2.1 stock ROM.
This memhack sounds very interesting... might consider it because I don't really expect any further Milestone update from Motorola.
Sounds more reliable than an ext2 partition on SD card - since I don't really trust my card...
If I do this Memhack and for whatever reason Moto will release an update - will I still be able to do it using a PC?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The memhack will move the cache from the /data partition to that specific partition for OTA upgrades. So, as your cache grows larger, your /data (free internal memory) will not decrease. This saves internal memory space that would otherwise be used for cache (not sure if application data is moved there too).
As soon as you start hacking the stock rom, it is not recommended to try to update directly the phone, if Motorola ever releases a newer version, recommended steps:
- Titanium Backup all your Apps/Data
- Flash a stock SBF (2.0/2.1/2.2, doesn't matter) in your phone, wipe all data/cache
- Use Motorola Software Update to upgrade the software to the new revision
- Afterwards, as soon as update is done and phone boots, you can flash vulnerable recovery and then through Open Recovery or Androidiani Open Recovery hack the hell out of your phone again (ie.: root, memhack, overclock, etc)
- As soon as you get root, use Titanium Backup to restore your Apps/Data
Or, you could always wait for someone to release a Nandroid Backup of the new rom, as is usual in the Android Development section, and simply use that Nandroid Backup (alway Titanium Backup your apps/data b4), wipe everything after update, and then use Titanium Backup to restore your Apps/Data
HinotoriBR said:
P.s.: It is highly recommended that, before moving thing in or out the /system folder, you do a full NANDROID BACKUP, so you can just revert back to working condition if something go wrong (i.e.: if you delete something essential, perhaps you won't be able to load Titanium Backup and restore that back).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wish I read that 5 minutes ago... lol !
skribzy said:
I wish I read that 5 minutes ago... lol !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Being a Motorola phone, you can always find the SBF related to your phone and use RSDLite to flash it. Milestone, to enter boot mode and then use RSDLite to send a SBF ( http://and-developers.com/sbf:milestone , if you are a Droid user, probably there is somewhere else to find it, if you are milestone user, try to use a version close to whatever you had), just power it down, hold dpad up, and with dpad up pressed you power the phone. You will see some writting about the boot loader, your phone is ready to be connected in our PC and you can flash it using RSD Lite.
HinotoriBR said:
Being a Motorola phone, you can always find the SBF related to your phone and use RSDLite to flash it. Milestone, to enter boot mode and then use RSDLite to send a SBF ( http://and-developers.com/sbf:milestone , if you are a Droid user, probably there is somewhere else to find it, if you are milestone user, try to use a version close to whatever you had), just power it down, hold dpad up, and with dpad up pressed you power the phone. You will see some writting about the boot loader, your phone is ready to be connected in our PC and you can flash it using RSD Lite.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea, cheers, it was a school boy error! I was thinking to myself must do a nandroid before I start tinkering and totally forgot! All back to normal and backed up now
I was seeing if I could swap out the stock dialer with dialer one in system/apps... Milestone didnt seem to like it at all! I assume apps like dialer one are dependant on the existance of core apps. I did manage to get rid of the 3D gallery and replace it with quickpic.
Theres loads in system/apps that I simply dont need like 'LiveWallpapersPicker.apk' which I assume I can just get rid of - I will give it a go and see what comes crashing down!
S

[q] help! Can't clear phone data

Ok, long story short, I have 113MB of 'system data' in my /datadata folder (66% full), and I want it gone.
But I can't get rid of it... I've tried a full clean install, I've tried manually formatting /datadata from CWM, and I've also tried formatting boot, cache, data, datadata, and system from CWM followed by a fresh install (Kang 12/17).
My wife has the same phone and ROM and she only has 26% full in /datadata. I can't - for the life of me - figure out how to completely clean /datadata.
One thing I noticed in terminal emulator is that the data in /data and /datadata is about equal to what is listed in /system. However, formatting /system did not clear it out.
Please help as this is driving me insane!
Isn't datadata based on your apps? Like dalvik? I think ur wife just has less apps.
mbc663 said:
Isn't datadata based on your apps? Like dalvik? I think ur wife just has less apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought so to, but even with no apps (nothing but what comes with the ROM) I have 3x what she has... and she has what comes with the ROM plus all her other apps.
If it does have to do exclusively with the apps, I'm more than willing to do everything step by step to figure out which app(s) cause my issue, but in order to do that I need to be able to clear the folder of everything except what true system data is necessary and start from square 1.
/datadata is apps settings and data. A little more info might help...
b-eock said:
/datadata is apps settings and data. A little more info might help...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What kind of info do you need, and I'll try and supply it. I'm trying to do a clean install so that all of those app settings and data are starting from scratch. Factory resets didn't do it, formatting the folders through CWM didn't do it...
I must be missing something... but I can't figure out what it is.
Some basic background:
Most recently on the 12/17 Kang (CM7.2 RC0) with the glitch v13 (2.6.35.13) kernel and Gapps 08/28
For the just completed testing I only flashed Gapps (08/28) and the 12/17 Kang so I could see if anything I did worked on clearing /datadata.
Other than that, the only modification I've done to my phone is the modem is KG3 i9000.
Have u tried Titanium Backup Pro app ??
4-2ndtwin said:
Have u tried Titanium Backup Pro app ??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't... I have the free version currently. Would the pro version do all of this stuff?
The free version should do for deleting data and removing apps.
Sent by XDA Premium App
I'll go out out on a limb here but try backing up your sd card and formatting it?
mbc663 said:
I'll go out out on a limb here but try backing up your sd card and formatting it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had thought of that too... once formatted and I reinstall the ROM and stuff, is it easy enough to just copy those folders back on the phone? That was the one thing I was worried about... and thus I hadn't tried yet.
Formatting always makes me nervous
Are you encountering any issues with it being that full? Or is this just to satisfy your ocd?
theyurtingyeti said:
I had thought of that too... once formatted and I reinstall the ROM and stuff, is it easy enough to just copy those folders back on the phone? That was the one thing I was worried about... and thus I hadn't tried yet.
Formatting always makes me nervous
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As simple as dragging and dropping files. Also nice to start fresh every once in a while to clear out junk from old apps.
I'm getting ready to format my SDcard and start all over... but if I format my SD card, I'll no longer have my ROM zips there to flash. I put the ROMs on my external SD card (emmc), but in CWM I can't mount emmc to make sure they are there to flash when I format my SDCard...
How do I get my ROM flashed again once I format my SD card?
EDIT:
Doing more research it appears that I should be able to format my SD card w/o losing my ROM as long as I leave my boot and system folders alone.
So, if I format /data, /datadata, and /sdcard I should be able to reboot and see if it worked
studacris said:
Are you encountering any issues with it being that full? Or is this just to satisfy your ocd?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am encountering issues with it being that full. I have like 70 apps with approx 38MB of data taken up... combined with the large amount of 'system data' in the /datadata partition I'm running into the issues when that folder gets to 90% capacity.
It's at the point that I can't install new apps that save any data at all or I will have to constantly shuffle which apps can save their data. Doing research I found that the 172MB cap shouldn't be an issue unless you are hording apps... I have a small number of apps with a small amount of data, so things should be better
Thanks for all the suggestions...
But so far nothing has worked.
I formatted the SD card along with data and datadata and rebooted the phone.
My /datadata folder was still listed at 66% full. So formatting nearly everything still couldn't clear this folder.
I'm still boggled why the other captivate started with 8MB system data and I start with 113MB, both on a clean install...
Perhaps my only hope is to clear stuff out again and flash ICS and hope that something is different enough that this 'problem' goes away...
An additional thought
Would I be able to delete the /datadata folder through Root Explorer, reboot into recovery and reflash the ROM?
I would assume the ROM will repartition the phone correctly. System data can't exist in a folder that doesn't exist - right?

CWM mounting options question

Hi. First of all thanks guys for the CWM and instructions. Everything went smooth, and I'm already after my first backup, but I would appriciate a small clarification for me.
When I do "mount", does it mean that I tick the things I want to find it's way in this backup? If so, I have following question:
What does
1. eccm
2. sdcard
3. USB Storage
mean?
Many places call each differently, and it's worse that it changes when we talk in CWM terminology, so I would appriciate some clarification.
Also, I don't have "ext-sd" option in my mounting options, which some tutorials give, and I wanted to ask about that as well.
As for technical details. I have rooted phone, with Open Rom 2.3.6. The things I have in my backup directory I made are:
boot.img
recovery.img
system.ext4.tar
data.ext4.tar
.android_secure.vfat.tar
cache.ext4.tar
nandroid.md5
I chose everything but USB Storage, going with my gut. Was I correct?
cheers
Lucas
Man I thing this link is useful:http://www.addictivetips.com/mobile...-and-how-to-use-it-on-android-complete-guide/
umarian said:
Man I thing this link is useful:http://www.addictivetips.com/mobile...-and-how-to-use-it-on-android-complete-guide/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the link and good reading. I learned much from it.
However, in the guide there, the terms used are still sdcard as the INTERNAL card. So while I know now what USB Storage in mounting option means, I still don't know, and there is no explanation in the guide in that linke, what these 2 reffer to:
What does
1. eccm
2. sdcard
cheers
emmc is your internal sdcard. Normally, it is mounted to /sdcard.
sdcard is your external micro sd card. In Android, it is mounted to /sdcard/external_sd.
wintel_mac said:
emmc is your internal sdcard. Normally, it is mounted to /sdcard.
sdcard is your external micro sd card. In Android, it is mounted to /sdcard/external_sd.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awsome, thanks a lot for clarification.
One follow up question. If I mount the sdcard, so my external card, it won't backup the content of ext sd card as well into my backup? What I mean is, I don't want to break something, by trying to make a backup that includes over 20GB of stuff on my external memory card.
Also, I looked over polish forum of android, and someone told me, that there is no need to mount/unmount stuff as the backup that is made, is made all the time the same, no matter the mounting options. Strange a bit. Is it true what he said?
cheers
Lucas
Don't know exactly how it is implemented for your device (9000, I'm on 9001) but external SD cards are normally never backed up (which would not make any sense at all btw, since you might even backup the backup you're doing at that moment^^).
When you take a look at the structure of an CWM backup folder, you realize that also your internal sd card is not backed up (aside from .asec).
And yes, it is not ncecessary to mount anything for backup or restore purposes. CWM does what is necessary to perform the desired actions.
wintel_mac said:
Don't know exactly how it is implemented for your device (9000, I'm on 9001) but external SD cards are normally never backed up (which would not make any sense at all btw, since you might even backup the backup you're doing at that moment^^).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm on i9001 as well
When you take a look at the structure of an CWM backup folder, you realize that also your internal sd card is not backed up (aside from .asec).
And yes, it is not ncecessary to mount anything for backup or restore purposes. CWM does what is necessary to perform the desired actions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see...
But if that is the case, what's the point of mounting the eccm as well as sdcard if they are not backed up to begin with?
cheers
You can connect over adb to the phone and perform varous actions. And it makes no sense to mount every partition you may need with commands such as
"mount -o rw /dev/block/mmcblk0p15 /system" as you would have to remember where each file system resides.
So you can do it with few keypresses on the phone.
Moreover, there are some custom update-zips that do not do the mounting for you, so it would be necessary to apply them, too.
wintel_mac said:
You can connect over adb to the phone and perform varous actions. And it makes no sense to mount every partition you may need with commands such as
"mount -o rw /dev/block/mmcblk0p15 /system" as you would have to remember where each file system resides.
So you can do it with few keypresses on the phone.
Moreover, there are some custom update-zips that do not do the mounting for you, so it would be necessary to apply them, too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think I know what you mean. You are saying that there are other actions that require mounting, not backup in this case, and it's much easier to do it automaticly through cwm, rather than doing it manualy with linux lingo.
Thanks for the explanations.
Just one clarrification at the end. When I do backup with CWM, do I need to do any mounting, or it's done automaticly now and it mounts everything it needs to, to do backup?
cheers
Lucas
wintel_mac said:
And yes, it is not ncecessary to mount anything for backup or restore purposes. CWM does what is necessary to perform the desired actions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As I wrote before
wintel_mac said:
As I wrote before
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awsome. Thank you wintel_mac so much, for very detailed answers.
cheers
The topic can be closed.

Sony Xperia ZR – Mount ExternalSD2InternalSD

Hi,
This is my first android device, so am pretty much a newbie for android.
Have created this mod to mount external SD card partition as internal partition.
I took pointers from a lot of threads on xda forums to get this working, so I feel bound to share it.
Note: Have only tested it with Android 4.1.
(I'm not responsible for any Damage to your phone. Use at your own risk.)
Note: This will likely result in data loss. Backup!
Required :
1. Root Access
2. init.d support click here
3. Root Browser click here
4. SManager click here
5. An sd card (duh!) (with class 10 SD cards preferable)
6. Some way to partition your SD Card (like MiniTool Partition Manager)
Install instructions:
1. Create two ‘fat32’ partitions on SD card(EDIT: PS: both partitions should be Primary). Your first partition will be mounted as normal extSd card, and your second partition will be mounted as internal SD Card for your apps. (I partitioned my 64GB(10^9 bytes) sd card with ~16 GB 1st partition and ~42 GB 2nd partition)
2. Copy and paste “mountSd” to etc/init.d folder. (If you don’t have such a folder, means you lack init.d support. click here and follow instructions to enable it) This script creates another mount point called ‘sdcard2’ and mounts current internal sd card there. It also tries to mount second partition to ‘sdcard0’ location, but seems to fail some times (as fat32 is not natively supported linux partition it seems, but could be wrong), so step 3 is required.
3. Copy ‘mountSdFailSafe.txt’ to your phone’s ‘/data’ folder. Now with ‘SManager’, register this file as script with ‘su’ and ‘boot’ selected. (click and hold script -> in context menu click ‘Open As..’ -> ‘Script/Executable’ -> Is Script = true, select ‘su’ and ‘boot’ buttons)
4. Restart.
This should do it. Once restarted, second partition will be shown as internal memory.
Note:
You will lose all app data and other app related customizations. You may be able to restore it by simply copy pasting ‘Android’ folder from ‘/storage/sdcard2’ to ‘/storage/sdcard0’. This has not been tested by me but should work theoretically (as I started with a blank phone, and so did not need to back up my app data). Or you could use Titanium Backup.
Some Issues that occur due to this mod:
I have been using this mod since the past 2 weeks, and the phone is quite stable with this mod.
The only issue I have faced is that when connected to PC (Windows 8) through USB, ‘My Computer’ keeps crashing unless and until you disconnect the phone. Otherwise it seems to be working fine. To circumvent this issue I have been using Samba to share files between PC and my phone.
Please share how it works out for you guys.
Other Notes:
I tried to get this working with ext4 partition, which has a +ves that it will not require step ‘3’ of install instructions and supports file sizes >4GB, but there are loads of permission issues happening, which I could not solve.
(Thought of setting “set GID” bit and then finding and adding all users to root group but failed. Also tried to set owner group ‘sdcard_rw’ without much success. May be someone who knows linux better may know how to solve this, Could not find much help on the forums as it seems others are facing a similar problem see more)
Thanks to:
For basic idea (PS: do not use the given method exactly as you will end up in a boot loop. For some reason, ‘sdcard1’ mount point has to be mounted by system only and can’t be mounted any other way, it seems.)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2180733
Edit:
Simplified installation if you do not care for easy accessibility to your orig internal memory:
Use this video tutorial by ashwin123:
The only exceptions are that, you need to partition your card,
and you have to use the file 'mountSdFailSafe.txt' instead of the file in the package mentioned by him.
Nice
Waiting for someone to test it n confirm it successfully works
Still here
N!geR -> E!ch0
NisJ said:
Hi,
This is my first android device, so am pretty much a newbie for android.
Have created this mod to mount external SD card partition as internal partition.
I took pointers from a lot of threads on xda forums to get this working, so I feel bound to share it.
Note: Have only tested it with Android 4.1.
(I'm not responsible for any Damage to your phone. Use at your own risk.)
Note: This will likely result in data loss. Backup!
Required :
1. Root Access
2. init.d support click here
3. Root Browser click here
4. SManager click here
5. An sd card (duh!) (with class 10 SD cards preferable)
6. Some way to partition your SD Card (like MiniTool Partition Manager)
Install instructions:
1. Create two ‘fat32’ partitions on SD card. Your first partition will be mounted as normal extSd card, and your second partition will be mounted as internal SD Card for your apps. (I partitioned my 64GB(10^9 bytes) sd card with ~16 GB 1st partition and ~42 GB 2nd partition)
2. Copy and paste “mountSd” to etc/init.d folder. (If you don’t have such a folder, means you lack init.d support. click here and follow instructions to enable it) This script creates another mount point called ‘sdcard2’ and mounts current internal sd card there. It also tries to mount second partition to ‘sdcard0’ location, but seems to fail some times (as fat32 is not natively supported linux partition it seems, but could be wrong), so step 3 is required.
3. Copy ‘mountSdFailSafe.txt’ to your phone’s ‘/data’ folder. Now with ‘SManager’, register this file as script with ‘su’ and ‘boot’ selected. (click and hold script -> in context menu click ‘Open As..’ -> ‘Script/Executable’ -> Is Script = true, select ‘su’ and ‘boot’ buttons)
4. Restart.
This should do it. Once restarted, second partition will be shown as internal memory.
Note:
You will lose all app data and other app related customizations. You may be able to restore it by simply copy pasting ‘Android’ folder from ‘/storage/sdcard2’ to ‘/storage/sdcard0’. This has not been tested by me but should work theoretically (as I started with a blank phone, and so did not need to back up my app data). Or you could use Titanium Backup.
Some Issues that occur due to this mod:
I have been using this mod since the past 2 weeks, and the phone is quite stable with this mod.
The only issue I have faced is that when connected to PC (Windows 8) through USB, ‘My Computer’ keeps crashing unless and until you disconnect the phone. Otherwise it seems to be working fine. To circumvent this issue I have been using Samba to share files between PC and my phone.
Please share how it works out for you guys.
Other Notes:
I tried to get this working with ext4 partition, which has a +ves that it will not require step ‘3’ of install instructions and supports file sizes >4GB, but there are loads of permission issues happening, which I could not solve.
(Thought of setting “set GID” bit and then finding and adding all users to root group but failed. Also tried to set owner group ‘sdcard_rw’ without much success. May be someone who knows linux better may know how to solve this, Could not find much help on the forums as it seems others are facing a similar problem see more)
Thanks to:
For basic idea (PS: do not use the given method exactly as you will end up in a boot loop. For some reason, ‘sdcard1’ mount point has to be mounted by system only and can’t be mounted any other way, it seems.)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2180733
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Am interested to try this but before I do, just wanted to check when you say data is lost, is it due to the lost of the original /data partition? Or just due to the sd card's partition?
What's the outcome when this is done, I mean do we have two data partitions one from the original phone's memory and another with the sdcard? And in the settings menu, will we get to choose to send apps over to sd? Thanks
grim_ripper said:
Am interested to try this but before I do, just wanted to check when you say data is lost, is it due to the lost of the original /data partition? Or just due to the sd card's partition?
What's the outcome when this is done, I mean do we have two data partitions one from the original phone's memory and another with the sdcard? And in the settings menu, will we get to choose to send apps over to sd? Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your application data will be lost in a way, as orig internal sd card will be mounted to 'sdcard2' mount point(newly created). All your app data will be installed to your memory card's second partition, which is now the new internal sdcard. To access your orig data, you will have to go to it through a file manager, and apps or media scanner will not be able to access this memory any more.
The scripts provided will not format your internal memory.
Still apk files, dalvik cache etc, will still take up your original internal memory's space.
Partitioning your sd card will probably format it as well unless you take special precaution (ie. through shrink volume).
Hope it makes sense...?
NisJ said:
Your application data will be lost in a way, as orig internal sd card will be mounted to 'sdcard2' mount point(newly created). All your app data will be installed to your memory card's second partition, which is now the new internal sdcard. To access your orig data, you will have to go to it through a file manager, and apps or media scanner will not be able to access this memory any more.
The scripts provided will not format your internal memory.
Still apk files, dalvik cache etc, will still take up your original internal memory's space.
Partitioning your sd card will probably format it as well unless you take special precaution (ie. through shrink volume).
Hope it makes sense...?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It makes sense, just am confused on how the system will still recognize the original storage when the sd card's storage is supposingly replacing it. Could you post a screen shot of your storage from settings?
grim_ripper said:
It makes sense, just am confused on how the system will still recognize the original storage when the sd card's storage is supposingly replacing it. Could you post a screen shot of your storage from settings?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here you go....
PS: third image shows that internal storage is still accessible, just not to apps. Only apk files, and other android files go there go there. sdcard2 in 4th image is newly created mount point for your orig internal storage, but is ignored by most of the apps...
NisJ said:
Here you go....
PS: third image shows that internal storage is still accessible, just not to apps. Only apk files, and other android files go there go there. sdcard2 in 4th image is newly created mount point for your orig internal storage, but is ignored by most of the apps...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can u do a tutorial video how to install this script bro?
Cuz the installation steps r bit complicated
Still here
N!geR -> E!ch0
NisJ said:
Here you go....
PS: third image shows that internal storage is still accessible, just not to apps. Only apk files, and other android files go there go there. sdcard2 in 4th image is newly created mount point for your orig internal storage, but is ignored by most of the apps...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Phone keeps rebooting now, couldn't copy it to /etc/init.d
I think it has something to do with having data running in the background, now I don't know what to do with my phone
EDIT: Ok, manage to recover from the reboot state, had to deny root access to my file explorer. I think the reboot was caused when I set permission to write for /system. Anyway, everytime I keep trying to copy to /etc/init.d, I get a permission denied so am not sure what I should do now.
grim_ripper said:
Phone keeps rebooting now, couldn't copy it to /etc/init.d
I think it has something to do with having data running in the background, now I don't know what to do with my phone
EDIT: Ok, manage to recover from the reboot state, had to deny root access to my file explorer. I think the reboot was caused when I set permission to write for /system. Anyway, everytime I keep trying to copy to /etc/init.d, I get a permission denied so am not sure what I should do now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When ever you copy something to init.d it will reboot, or does it go into boot loop?
To check if it worked correctly, see if new mount point storage/sdcard2 was created..
EDIT: If it worked correctly, then you could move to next step.
else you could also skip it, and goto the next step of SManager, but in that case you will lose access to your original internal storage as it wont be mounted to sdcard2.
E!ch0 said:
Can u do a tutorial video how to install this script bro?
Cuz the installation steps r bit complicated
Still here
N!geR -> E!ch0
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Creating a video will take time at least til sat... prob more.
Will see if I can create a simplified install instructions once i reach home.
NisJ said:
When ever you copy something to init.d it will reboot, or does it go into boot loop?
To check if it worked correctly, see if new mount point storage/sdcard2 was created..
EDIT: If it worked correctly, then you could move to next step.
else you could also skip it, and goto the next step of SManager, but in that case you will lose access to your original internal storage as it wont be mounted to sdcard2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What happens is that everytime I try to mount /system as writable, it reboots and hence I can't copy either files to their designated location
EDIT: Also, now everytime I reboot, there's a popup that says USB connectivity has stopped, and if I go under settings->storage, settings fc. I'm thinking this has something to do with two partitions on the sd card so I hope it all goes away when this works or I revert back to as it was.
EDIT 2: So I managed to get all the files to the appropriate place using terminal and managed to get the script to run at boot. Alas, the phone doesn't detect my sdcard at all now and still throws the USB connectivity error at boot. Once I removed the sdcard, everything works alright. Also, I figured the solution to the reboot (haven't tested it yet as I wanted to resolve my sdcard first):
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2317432
EDIT 3: Got the reboot solve, but the sdcard can't be read and I tried plugging it into my other phone, the first partition is only read. I can't get minitool to even find the 2nd partition. I am thinking I need to get a card reader to plug it into my laptop. Anyway, I went through your script and open the log file it used, says that there's an invalid argument for mount. Any idea?
Final Edit: Got it working! I had to re-partition my sdcard and made both partitions primary so maybe you might want to add that in OP as MiniTool by default selected the 2nd partition as logical
grim_ripper said:
What happens is that everytime I try to mount /system as writable, it reboots and hence I can't copy either files to their designated location
EDIT: Also, now everytime I reboot, there's a popup that says USB connectivity has stopped, and if I go under settings->storage, settings fc. I'm thinking this has something to do with two partitions on the sd card so I hope it all goes away when this works or I revert back to as it was.
EDIT 2: So I managed to get all the files to the appropriate place using terminal and managed to get the script to run at boot. Alas, the phone doesn't detect my sdcard at all now and still throws the USB connectivity error at boot. Once I removed the sdcard, everything works alright. Also, I figured the solution to the reboot (haven't tested it yet as I wanted to resolve my sdcard first):
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2317432
EDIT 3: Got the reboot solve, but the sdcard can't be read and I tried plugging it into my other phone, the first partition is only read. I can't get minitool to even find the 2nd partition. I am thinking I need to get a card reader to plug it into my laptop. Anyway, I went through your script and open the log file it used, says that there's an invalid argument for mount. Any idea?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why are you trying to mount /system as rw?
for getting init.d support you just have to download the apk from mentioned thread and install it, and then fallow instruction in app.
you can mount root as rw with the foll command if you want, and that is exactly what is done in he scripts as well if you will check:
Code:
mount -o remount,rw /
also to check if partition is created on sd card, type the command:
Code:
blkid
and see if
Code:
/dev/block/vold/179:34
is listed
if not post the output and i'll see what i can do.
grim_ripper said:
Final Edit: Got it working! I had to re-partition my sdcard and made both partitions primary so maybe you might want to add that in OP as MiniTool by default selected the 2nd partition as logical
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
EDIT: Correct, you need both the partitions to be primary. got out of my mind when posting the tutorial.
NisJ said:
Why are you trying to mount /system as rw?
for getting init.d support you just have to download the apk from mentioned thread and install it, and then fallow instruction in app.
you can mount root as rw with the foll command if you want, and that is exactly what is done in he scripts as well if you will check:
Code:
mount -o remount,rw /
also to check if partition is created on sd card, type the command:
Code:
blkid
and see if
Code:
/dev/block/vold/179:34
is listed
if not post the output and i'll see what i can do.
EDIT: Correct, you need both the partitions to be primary. got out of my mind when posting the tutorial.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For whatever reason, my /etc folder is actually a link from /system/etc
Could you post a way to revert back? I think my apps are acting all funny now and just want to revert back to before. Thanks!
grim_ripper said:
Could you post a way to revert back? I think my apps are acting all funny now and just want to revert back to before. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The apps are behaving funny because you have lost their data as I had warned in the original post.
To fix do either of the foll:
1. reinstall app, and start fresh.
or
2. restore from Titanium backup if you had created...
or
3. copy paste 'Android' folder from sdcard2 if it is created to 'sdcard0'
To remove and revert, just delete the files from int.d, and stop scheduling it in SManger.
Note: to un schedule it from smanager, you first have to remove memory card, un schedule and then put in your memory card (this is coz when phone boots up, it is in standard way, with 8gb internal but, after script is executed SManager looses its data too.
How complicated will it be to make this compatible with 4.2.2?
grim_ripper said:
How complicated will it be to make this compatible with 4.2.2?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ideally should be possible, unless something has changed majorly, but I haven't tried it, as am waiting for OTA update. If it is not forth coming in 2-3 weeks, may be tempted to flash nordic rom and try.
NisJ said:
Ideally should be possible, unless something has changed majorly, but I haven't tried it, as am waiting for OTA update. If it is not forth coming in 2-3 weeks, may be tempted to flash nordic rom and try.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did try but nothing happened, am guessing it has permission issues or something on those lines
grim_ripper said:
I did try but nothing happened, am guessing it has permission issues or something on those lines
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could you be more specific? Like system restarts etc...
Else in terminal try out what I Gave in post no 12 and give me what the output is for both the commands in the terminal.
Note: execute them with super user credentials.
Thanks
NisJ said:
Could you be more specific? Like system restarts etc...
Else in terminal try out what I Gave in post no 12 and give me what the output is for both the commands in the terminal.
Note: execute them with super user credentials.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
on the 4.2.2 update, it doesnt recognize the second partition even if it is formatted to primary and set to active. there r definitely some updates done in that field and plus i cant get the init.d rights on the phone as the test.log file is absent in the data folder..no matter what i do i just cant get it straight with the present procedure. please try it on 4.2 and there r more frequent updates on the nordiac then the local version. so i decided to flash it rather than waiting for ota update

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