Can't restore from backup on a new phone - Tasker Tips & Tricks

Part 1... I am trying to move everything from my old Samsung to a new Motorola. I was easily able to do this previously when I got the Samsung new but now am struggling. I go to Settings --> Data --> Restore and it immediately says "Sorry no backed-up data available". Every set of instructions I have seen online says that I should have the opportunity to choose the file from somewhere on my computer. I am pretty sure that's what I did last time.
The 2nd part of this issue is that when I go to Internal Storage on my new phone, only 3 or 4 of the Application Folders are showing and Tasker is not one of them. Therefore, I can't move my backup file into the directory that Tasker is looking for it. On my Samsung, I can see the folders for all of my apps but not on the Motorola. I enabled Developer Options thinking that might be issue but it didn't work. I have also tried 4 different file manager apps and set all to "Show Hidden Files" but nothing.
So, if any of you know how to correct either part of this, please let me know. Thank you.

The second point explained the first problem. The backups are contained in the "/sdcard/Tasker/config/" directory, either under the folder user or auto depending on whether it was a user backup or a scheduled auto backup.
Is this the folder you're saying doesn't exist? If that's the case, I'd think there is something wrong with the install.
"Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment." - Will Rogers

still confused
I'm confused. My Samsung S6 Active doesn't take a SD card and my new Moto can take one but doesn't have one yet. So where are all of the application files?

check your /storage/emulated/0/Tasker/config on your old Samsung. If you have made a backup of of your Tasker data from within Tasker, it should be there. Copy it to the new one.
On your new phone, open Tasker, Data, Restore. You can then choose where to find the file.

alienyd said:
check your /storage/emulated/0/Tasker/config on your old Samsung. If you have made a backup of of your Tasker data from within Tasker, it should be there. Copy it to the new one.
On your new phone, open Tasker, Data, Restore. You can then choose where to find the file.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did all that as I mentioned in my OP. However, Tasker never gives me the opportunity to select file to restore. As soon as I select Restore, it immediately says "Sorry no backed-up data available".

StephenMN said:
I did all that as I mentioned in my OP. However, Tasker never gives me the opportunity to select file to restore. As soon as I select Restore, it immediately says "Sorry no backed-up data available".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is weird. I would suggest re-install.

StephenMN said:
I did all that as I mentioned in my OP. However, Tasker never gives me the opportunity to select file to restore. As soon as I select Restore, it immediately says "Sorry no backed-up data available".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Before you can do anything on your new phone, you need to copy over the backups from your old phone. The fact that you find only "only 3 or 4 of the Application Folders are showing" suggests to me you are in the wrong place.
The actual tasker apk is "/data/data/net.dinglisch.android.tasker". That location is different from where the working directory is.
I'm guessing you are in the "/storage/emulated/0/data" directory and need to go up a level and look for the "Tasker" folder there. The config files are in "/storage/emulated/0/Tasker/configs"
Please be specific as to the full path where you are looking. All of these paths could be different depending on what version of Android and what device you are using. So the path on your old phone may well be different than the path on the new phone. You need to find the base path for what passes for user data; often the sdcard, or an partition setup to emulate an sdcard.
**** Edit ****
NOTE: all of these paths are ROOT paths. If your device is not rooted, and you use a file explorer, the path is simply Tasker/configs
And if on a new device the folder doesn't exist, just create by copying the folder from the old device to new.
"Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment." - Will Rogers

SOLVED!!!!!!!!!!
alienyd said:
That is weird. I would suggest re-install.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was sure that this was the problem but I had same problem after re-installing. However, that suggestion did inspire me to figure it out. I first cleared all of the data and cache but that didn't do anything either. So, then, on a whim, I created a backup of nothing onto my new phone. Then, I went to Restore and it gave me the option to pick the file from other phone which was sitting in my Downloads folder. I guess that default directory doesn't get created until you backup your projects the first time. Since Tasker couldn't open its default file location, I was getting the error message.
Thanks for everyone's input.

StephenMN said:
I was sure that this was the problem but I had same problem after re-installing. However, that suggestion did inspire me to figure it out. I first cleared all of the data and cache but that didn't do anything either. So, then, on a whim, I created a backup of nothing onto my new phone. Then, I went to Restore and it gave me the option to pick the file from other phone which was sitting in my Downloads folder. I guess that default directory doesn't get created until you backup your projects the first time. Since Tasker couldn't open its default file location, I was getting the error message.
Thanks for everyone's input.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
great to know you solved it.
I'm guessing, there might be a bug in Tasker, which occurs when you try to restore a backup BUT the default config folder is empty. Tasker decides just to throw up an error without even letting you choose any folder.
This is just my guess...

This was the solution to my problem as well! Before sending my Galaxy S7 Edge in for repair, I backed up Tasker, then restored my device to factory settings. After the return of my phone and reinstalling all apps, attempting to restore the previous Tasker backup resulted in only a "restore from Android cloud" option. I could see the xml backup that I had stored on my SD card (.../sdcard/Tasker/configs/user/backup.xml) but Tasker would not provide an option for a local restore. Finally, after performing a backup (of an empty Tasker setup) to the desired location, Tasker would then allow me to restore from the SD card. Now all is well but it certainly was frustrating spending so much time trying to get Tasker to perform a simple restore of a file that was in the expected location.

Thank you
StephenMN said:
I was sure that this was the problem but I had same problem after re-installing. However, that suggestion did inspire me to figure it out. I first cleared all of the data and cache but that didn't do anything either. So, then, on a whim, I created a backup of nothing onto my new phone. Then, I went to Restore and it gave me the option to pick the file from other phone which was sitting in my Downloads folder. I guess that default directory doesn't get created until you backup your projects the first time. Since Tasker couldn't open its default file location, I was getting the error message.
Thanks for everyone's input.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Logged in just to thank you. this has been bugging me for a couple of phones, but I usually just give up and manually copied my profiles over. this just saved me a lot of tapping!

Related

[Q] Stock ROM (SBF) Available for Droid 4?

I ... may have bricked my Droid 4. I won't go into details unless somebody asks, but I don't think it's necessary. I AM able to get to the recovery mode though, I just have nothing to recover from.... I misplaced my back-up.
So, I need SOMETHING to flash my phone to. 4.0/2.0/I don't care, I just need any rom/SBF to make this bad boy boot again. Anybody have anything?
I saw and downloaded the first thing that shows up when you google "droid-4-system-dump-wallpapers-ringtones.html" (link doesn't work because I'm new) But, I was unable to make anything of it.... What do I do?
Just to help others avoid the same fate can you please let us all know what you did?
zeroibis said:
Just to help others avoid the same fate can you please let us all know what you did?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, in hindsight it was kind of dumb. I rooted it, and began to remove all of the VZW sponsored apps. Once I did that, it cleared out a lot of memory (storage AND ram) but seemed to come with the downside of preventing my "settings" activity opening up. As in, whenever I hit "menu" then "Settings" from the main launcher, it would force close behind the scenes (logcat showed the stack trace for the settings activity).
I spent the next day trying to fix that issue, copying "settings.apk" from that link I mentioned earlier to my root director, but that didn't fix it. So, I went and tried copying entire folders over. This is the embarrassing part... I hit a 'delete' button on the "system/apps" folder, got about 30 force close windows, and am now stuck in a bootloop.
Doing the "power + both volume buttons" still gives me the recovery menu, but I don't have anything to recover to, as I was stupid and didn't think to make a backup.
Dwebtron said:
Well, in hindsight it was kind of dumb. I rooted it, and began to remove all of the VZW sponsored apps. Once I did that, it cleared out a lot of memory (storage AND ram) but seemed to come with the downside of preventing my "settings" activity opening up. As in, whenever I hit "menu" then "Settings" from the main launcher, it would force close behind the scenes (logcat showed the stack trace for the settings activity).
I spent the next day trying to fix that issue, copying "settings.apk" from that link I mentioned earlier to my root director, but that didn't fix it. So, I went and tried copying entire folders over. This is the embarrassing part... I hit a 'delete' button on the "system/apps" folder, got about 30 force close windows, and am now stuck in a bootloop.
Doing the "power + both volume buttons" still gives me the recovery menu, but I don't have anything to recover to, as I was stupid and didn't think to make a backup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No files are floating around at this time. You really screwed yourself over on this one. Go back to Verizon and beg. You chose to void your warranty.
Dwebtron said:
Well, in hindsight it was kind of dumb. I rooted it, and began to remove all of the VZW sponsored apps. Once I did that, it cleared out a lot of memory (storage AND ram) but seemed to come with the downside of preventing my "settings" activity opening up. As in, whenever I hit "menu" then "Settings" from the main launcher, it would force close behind the scenes (logcat showed the stack trace for the settings activity).
I spent the next day trying to fix that issue, copying "settings.apk" from that link I mentioned earlier to my root director, but that didn't fix it. So, I went and tried copying entire folders over. This is the embarrassing part... I hit a 'delete' button on the "system/apps" folder, got about 30 force close windows, and am now stuck in a bootloop.
Doing the "power + both volume buttons" still gives me the recovery menu, but I don't have anything to recover to, as I was stupid and didn't think to make a backup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm curious about this too - I deleted a bunch of vzw garbage. I did make a copy of of everything with titanium backup first but when I tried re-installing one of them it just hung while another re-installed fine.
I had a similar issue with one app - I had to go into /system/app and change it form RO to RW. Once Read/Write was enabled, Titanium was able to restore the app.
I have been playing it safe and only freezing the apps, not deleting them. I have had no FC or any odd behavior. I figured with an allocated 3 gb to applications, at this time gaining an extra 100MB of storage space is superfluous...especially with no SBF available.
As mentioned above, try going to the VZW store and getting an exchange. I'm certain an .sbf will be released at some point but it could be weeks/months before that happens.
And for future reference/anyone else reading this thread...never delete system apps! Just freeze them. Yes they will still be taking up space, but they won't be using any memory and they won't show up in your launcher so it's basically the same thing...except with freezing it is 100% reversible and will still allow you to receive updates.
Can someone upload these files from D4:
/system/build.prop
/system/default.prop
Freeze Apps
SGMD1 said:
As mentioned above, try going to the VZW store and getting an exchange. I'm certain an .sbf will be released at some point but it could be weeks/months before that happens.
And for future reference/anyone else reading this thread...never delete system apps! Just freeze them. Yes they will still be taking up space, but they won't be using any memory and they won't show up in your launcher so it's basically the same thing...except with freezing it is 100% reversible and will still allow you to receive updates.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What is the best way to freeze apps? I know you can do this with Titanium Backup. Do you need the pro version in order to do this? Are there other apps out there that also allow you to freeze apps?
kwyrt said:
What is the best way to freeze apps? I know you can do this with Titanium Backup. Do you need the pro version in order to do this? Are there other apps out there that also allow you to freeze apps?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You do need the Pro version of Titanium Backup to freeze apps I believe. There are free apps that will do it (i.e. Bloatware Killer) but I am not really familiar with them.
Skrilax_CZ said:
Can someone upload these files from D4:
/system/build.prop
/system/default.prop
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://db.tt/LymDelkf
That zip contains the 2 files you asked for. Anything else you need just ask and I can pull it for you. I havent done a dd of all the partitons yet but will be doing that as soon as I can.
cellzealot said:
That zip contains the 2 files you asked for. Anything else you need just ask and I can pull it for you. I havent done a dd of all the partitons yet but will be doing that as soon as I can.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The link that I was referring to in the first post SHOULD have every file from the D4.
I meant if he needed any of the other partitions besides the system.
I wanted to give him exactly what he asked for because he is avery sharp guy who may help us out with this device.
Unfortunately I did the same (though not as bad...I just can't open any of my contacts). I changed the permissions for /system/apps but I still am hanging at restoring in Titanium Backup. Are there any other directories that should have changed permissions to get some of these apps restored?
Also, lesson learned....freeze no uninstall
mattlgroff said:
No files are floating around at this time. You really screwed yourself over on this one. Go back to Verizon and beg. You chose to void your warranty.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah so what? Why do people feel the need to post condescending comments for no reason? Its because of mistakes and screwups that the community progresses. There will be files floating around by the weekend, I'm sure.
I'm in the same boat... I bricked by droid 4... now waiting for a sbf file... someone said go to vzw and beg... has anyone ever tried that, after bricking your phone? what did you say? and did it work?
I'm just trying to figure out how to get vzw to replace this phone.
---------- Post added at 09:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:56 PM ----------
reigndropz said:
Yeah so what? Why do people feel the need to post condescending comments for no reason? Its because of mistakes and screwups that the community progresses. There will be files floating around by the weekend, I'm sure.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The files will be released by the weekend? YAY... how do you know?
Also what does it take/what has to be done for someone to release these sbf files?
jgardner said:
Unfortunately I did the same (though not as bad...I just can't open any of my contacts). I changed the permissions for /system/apps but I still am hanging at restoring in Titanium Backup. Are there any other directories that should have changed permissions to get some of these apps restored?
Also, lesson learned....freeze no uninstall
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's the only path I had to change. Do you recall if you happened to have moved an app to a different path (perhaps to the sd-card) then removed it?
Are there multiple apps you are trying to restore? If so, have you tried restoring them one at a time?
im going to wait for the sbf files before any major modifications to my phone, then we can all start the fun
i just froze apps to prevent them from running, im not worried about space since i put in a 32GB SD card
I think it's very wise to wait for the firmware to be released, but it's worth noting that the term SBF is a mistaken reference to the old format for firmware files and that all dual core Motorolas have fastboot support now and RSD Lite has been modified to support this and uses xml.zip files that are sets of signed images rather than the Single Binary File(SBF).
This is a very important distinction to be made as the new format and boot menu provide many more options for controlling the flash process for the end user and it is ultimately much safer and more flexible.

[Q] Questions regarding compressed recovery img and data on note 4

Hey Everyone,
I am new to XDA forums,(have used it for troubleshooting in the past but just registered today)
I am also new to android and linux, personally i don't use my phone for anything other than calls or games(i mostly do pc's), however my wife does a lot, she has written her own code, does mods, etc...., and we are both stumped. I am asking this on her behalf, due to a terminal illness she has lost the ability to do several things. On April 30th the lollipop update was pushed to her Note 4 (T-mobile US branded) and it wiped out all of her app data as well as her entire SD card. My question is in 2 parts one regarding the TWRP backup for this phone, and another regarding recovering the SD data from this phone(please let me know if i need to break this out into multiple sections of the site).
We have a TWRP backup that was compressed and loaded onto her cloud storage on 4/27/15, and we are unable to figure out how to get TWRP to recognize it without giving an error about the binary code or just not working period. Here is what we have tried(On advice not just from other XDA posts but various android forums as well)
Using TWRP(7zip for unpacking and repacking)
1. Downloaded the TWRP back up into windows
2. Renamed all files of the back up to be .tar, with the exception of boot which was converted to .img
3. Added Meta-Inf file from what was suppose to be stock ROM( she was not running a custom on this phone)
4. Re-archived everything back into Zip and sideloaded.
result : Error in binary code
Using Odin
1. Converted recovery (file only from backup) to md5 using Cygwin
2. Flashed using Odin
Result: Gained back a few programs but no app data or text histories
We have also tried varying versions of this, i.e. converting extra files or renaming extra files and receive the same issue. I am wondering if it is just an issue with the cloud stored compressed backup(or more likely i dont know what im doing)?
Second question comes from above, I was able to recovery all of the data from the SD card(everything was stored here, app data, recovery files, imgs, everything). When recovering the data it split everything up so all the sub peices of each recovery file are spread out is there a way to combine the individual file parts that were recovered from the SD card into functional android files again?
As i mentioned before i have never really dealt with this type of thing before but i want to try and fix this for her as between the 2 issues she has lost 5 years of data.
Thank you so much for your responses.
Hi, what you need to do is put the backup back into the exact same form it was before, an uncompressed, unzipped folder, then put it into the exact directory where TWRP puts backups when it makes them, and then in TWRP choose the option to restore. If you put the backup in the correct directory, TWRP will see it and allow you to choose it to restore it. Basically you just wanna put the backup back where it was before and then restore it in TWRP.
I wasn't sure if you had done this or not. If you have the backup folder with all the contents in their original form, it should work. I've even moved a backup from one phone onto another phone, exact same model of course, and then restored that backup onto the new phone!
I've never converted a backup into another form to be flashed another way, like Odin or as a zip in TWRP. Although I guess it could be possible it seems like it could be pretty messy.
Also if the TWRP backup was for a kit at build it will not restore on the lollipop baseband. You will need to Odin back to the kitkat NK4 build them you should be able to take the data.
Sent from my SM-N910T using XDA Free mobile app
ShrekOpher said:
Also if the TWRP backup was for a kit at build it will not restore on the lollipop baseband. You will need to Odin back to the kitkat NK4 build them you should be able to take the data.
Sent from my SM-N910T using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
YrrchSebor said:
Hi, what you need to do is put the backup back into the exact same form it was before, an uncompressed, unzipped folder, then put it into the exact directory where TWRP puts backups when it makes them, and then in TWRP choose the option to restore. If you put the backup in the correct directory, TWRP will see it and allow you to choose it to restore it. Basically you just wanna put the backup back where it was before and then restore it in TWRP.
I wasn't sure if you had done this or not. If you have the backup folder with all the contents in their original form, it should work. I've even moved a backup from one phone onto another phone, exact same model of course, and then restored that backup onto the new phone!
I've never converted a backup into another form to be flashed another way, like Odin or as a zip in TWRP. Although I guess it could be possible it seems like it could be pretty messy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you both for the suggestions i will give them a try shortly and i will provide an update on how things go.
Yeah, if you put the backup folder in the right directory, which is either internal or external sdxard/TWRP/BACKUPS/serial #/, you could restore just the data at least and it ought to be mostly ok. You ,might need to clear data in an app here or there if they force close.... or if it's too much then yeah, Odin back to KitKat and restore the desired components of the backup.
YrrchSebor said:
Yeah, if you put the backup folder in the right directory, which is either internal or external sdxard/TWRP/BACKUPS/serial #/, you could restore just the data at least and it ought to be mostly ok. You ,might need to clear data in an app here or there if they force close.... or if it's too much then yeah, Odin back to KitKat and restore the desired components of the backup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for this, i double checked we had it in the right directory, but it still failed. At first it said something about a missing md5, but i tried again and i was able to get the log for the failure though. (attached below)
Hmm, I looked at the logs trying to make sure you chose to Restore in TWRP and not Install. If so it's possible the backup could have gotten altered or corrupted in the transferring back and forth. If you get it intact as it was, it SHOULD work, but I'm but sure what else to do at the moment. I hope you get it working
Sorry for the delay
Hey Everyone,
Sorry for the delay its been a long week, bad thing after bad thing kept happening. I was able to try your suggestions and i put together some additional information in hope this might help us try and figure it out.
*I must figure out how to recover, texts, contacts, call locks. My default texting app was google messenger.
So I figured I would start with the phone
I am using a Samsung SM-910T on 4.4.4 (build *ANK4) It was pretty Vanilla -> rooted, but running the stock ROM
1. The phone was set to do a full internal backup nightly using the online nandroid backup (by H3r3T1L)
2. Backups were set to be in TWRP backup format and to save to an external SD card, then to compress before being uploaded to google drive
3. Backups were set to delete from SD card after the upload was finished.
What happened
1. When stock 5.0.1 firmware OTA came out i was trying to dismiss the notification but apparently hit "accept" by mistake, causing the system to crash.
2. While restoring the phone, i attempted to download the most recent backup from the google drive and flash the zip to restore my data.
3. This Zip would not install, and i noticed all of the backups uploaded had the same anomally-a few of the files were 0 bytes
4. I downgraded the phone to ANK4 based on the above recommendation but it has made no difference.
5. I still get updated binary error and each time i flash the zip, my OS gets wiped.
6. I have tried instructions to just unzip and flash , to put zips in twrp backup folder, to build new file with meta-inf, etc. and nothing seems to work.
When the SD card got deleted I was able to retrieve some data from the deleted SD card, but don't know where the text messages are located or how to combine them back into a usable format. Or at the very least be able to extract the SMS/MMS history.
I hope this extra information helps. In any way im am desperate to try and fix this for my wife.
I believe you can use Titanium Backup to extract files from a TWRP image. If you can't extract anything from the backup it's either corrupted, in the wrong place, or in the wrong form - that is due to the compression decompression not being compatible (all zip programs are not equal). Best of luck.
BTW, you must restore TWRP files not install them.
Sent from my SM-N910T using XDA Free mobile app

Can't move TWRP folder off phone

I recently unlocked my bootloader using sunshine and installed TWRP. After rebooting into recovery, I immediately made a backup of my phone. When I plug my phone in, I can see the TWRP folder, but it shows as empty. None of my file explorers can see anything, either. TWRP, however, is able to see it when I go into the file manager. I can't get ADB to see the device when hooked up to my computer while in TWRP. MTP also doesn't work. Chmod 755 and 777 doesn't do anything. I was able to initially copy the TWRP folder into the downloads folder in the TWRP file manager, but now it just hangs there if I try to move it again.
How do I get access to my backup?
evanft said:
I recently unlocked my bootloader using sunshine and installed TWRP. After rebooting into recovery, I immediately made a backup of my phone. When I plug my phone in, I can see the TWRP folder, but it shows as empty. None of my file explorers can see anything, either. TWRP, however, is able to see it when I go into the file manager. I can't get ADB to see the device when hooked up to my computer while in TWRP. MTP also doesn't work.
How do I get access to my backup?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://forum.xda-developers.com/droid-turbo/help/twrp-backup-file-location-t3259060
6Binford said:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/droid-turbo/help/twrp-backup-file-location-t3259060
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately, there aren't any solutions in that thread.
evanft said:
Unfortunately, there aren't any solutions in that thread.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are two solutions in the first 4 posts:
ruledrbrt1 suggests http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=64048593&postcount=2
And GeoFX has the great : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=64049328&postcount=5
Both work on my phone so they should work on yours too.
Have you given file explorer root privileges?
josephpalozzi said:
There are two solutions in the first 4 posts:
ruledrbrt1 suggests http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=64048593&postcount=2
And GeoFX has the great : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=64049328&postcount=5
Both work on my phone so they should work on yours too.
Have you given file explorer root privileges?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't even see GeoFX's post for some reason. That looks like it worked. Thanks!
TWRP and NAND Backups
I had the same question, and found the previous thread too. So what's the difference between these 2 locations?
/data/media/0/TWRP
and
/sdcard/TWRP
From my point of view, they are duplicates - same data in both folders, just duplicated into separate partitions. If this is true, then my 7.5 GB NAND backup, is really taking up 15GB of memory. Can that be true? I'm doubting it, but you never know.
I started to dive into this, because I was also wondering if NAND backups made copies of my media or not (photos, music, etc). After digging into it a bit, it looks like it does NOT make a backup of anything in the root folder "/data/media" in order to prevent it from non-stop backing up in a loop (you can't back up the location your backing up to, at the same time). This is also noted on github: https://github.com/TeamWin/Team-Win-Recovery-Project/issues/276 Logically, this would make sense since I currently have 25 GB of data in my /sdcard/ location. That's one helluva compression if you were able to get this down to 7.5GB! So I'm guessing this isn't included, which is also why I'm guessing that these are really the same. /sdcard/ must be a shortcut to the /data/media/0/ location, that's my best understanding.
So my original question still stands. What's the reason for these 2 locations, and is there a difference?
This also brings up the next question, what's the best way to make an all-encompassing backup? NAND + Titanium Backup + copy all the contents of your /sdcard/ over to your computer (or OTG drive)?
Florestan2 said:
I had the same question, and found the previous thread too. So what's the difference between these 2 locations?
/data/media/0/TWRP
and
/sdcard/TWRP
From my point of view, they are duplicates - same data in both folders, just duplicated into separate partitions. If this is true, then my 7.5 GB NAND backup, is really taking up 15GB of memory. Can that be true? I'm doubting it, but you never know.
I started to dive into this, because I was also wondering if NAND backups made copies of my media or not (photos, music, etc). After digging into it a bit, it looks like it does NOT make a backup of anything in the root folder "/data/media" in order to prevent it from non-stop backing up in a loop (you can't back up the location your backing up to, at the same time). This is also noted on github: https://github.com/TeamWin/Team-Win-Recovery-Project/issues/276 Logically, this would make sense since I currently have 25 GB of data in my /sdcard/ location. That's one helluva compression if you were able to get this down to 7.5GB! So I'm guessing this isn't included, which is also why I'm guessing that these are really the same. /sdcard/ must be a shortcut to the /data/media/0/ location, that's my best understanding.
So my original question still stands. What's the reason for these 2 locations, and is there a difference?
This also brings up the next question, what's the best way to make an all-encompassing backup? NAND + Titanium Backup + copy all the contents of your /sdcard/ over to your computer (or OTG drive)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The way I understand it, and I might be wrong, is that before Android 4.0 (or maybe 5.0), the partition containing user data was called /sdcard and apps were stored in a separate partition. The partition where apps went was significantly smaller, which could result in people running out of space for apps while still having a ton of free user data. To remedy this, the newer version of android places apps and user data in the same partition (called media). The /sdcard that you see is a symlink (shortcut) to this new partition, and is included so that older apps that were designed to expect the /sdcard partition to be there will still work.

What backup method do you use?

I ask because I am a bit stuck... Originally, on my Pixel 2, I would use TWRP nandroid backups. Now that I've upgraded to the P5, I no longer have that option *for the time being (God, I hope they eventually pickup support for Android 11)...
I attempted do my "Plan B" and backup via TitaniumBackup, which I'm able in making the backup successfully (everything but the "media storage" for some reason...), but when I try to copy the TitaniumBackup folder to an external hard drive, I can't get passed "Unspecified error". I've attempted to debug the issue by using different cords and USB ports with no luck. I even went as far as attempting to copy and send it using the app SuperBeam to trying an "adb pull" command -- in which it comes back at me with a "Permission denied" for whatever reason.
So I'm a bit overwhelmed at this vital and supposedly basic thing (backing things up) and am seeking help and/or other methods of backing my Pixel 5 up. Ideally, the backup will be as good as a nandroid backup. I'm a bit anxious and apprehensive because I don't like applying the monthly update without backing things up first -- flashing of any sort makes me cautious in backing things up. But I am prepped and ready and am eager to apply the new update and the new Magisk.
In any case, I thank you for reading the post and thank you in advanced for any/all suggestions...
I use plan B but I use an app called DriveSync to sync the backups to my Google Drive.
IlyaKol said:
I use plan B but I use an app called DriveSync to sync the backups to my Google Drive.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the suggestion...
I would consider it but I don't have enough space on my Google Drive to hold a full system backup -- which comes out to over 6 GB....
I use SwiftBackup for apps, call logs and texts.
simplepinoi177 said:
I ask because I am a bit stuck... Originally, on my Pixel 2, I would use TWRP nandroid backups. Now that I've upgraded to the P5, I no longer have that option *for the time being (God, I hope they eventually pickup support for Android 11)...
I attempted do my "Plan B" and backup via TitaniumBackup, which I'm able in making the backup successfully (everything but the "media storage" for some reason...), but when I try to copy the TitaniumBackup folder to an external hard drive, I can't get passed "Unspecified error". I've attempted to debug the issue by using different cords and USB ports with no luck. I even went as far as attempting to copy and send it using the app SuperBeam to trying an "adb pull" command -- in which it comes back at me with a "Permission denied" for whatever reason.
So I'm a bit overwhelmed at this vital and supposedly basic thing (backing things up) and am seeking help and/or other methods of backing my Pixel 5 up. Ideally, the backup will be as good as a nandroid backup. I'm a bit anxious and apprehensive because I don't like applying the monthly update without backing things up first -- flashing of any sort makes me cautious in backing things up. But I am prepped and ready and am eager to apply the new update and the new Magisk.
In any case, I thank you for reading the post and thank you in advanced for any/all suggestions...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm in the same boat as you, Titanium Backup has trouble backing up media storage and I also get the same unspecified error trying to copy the backup. I'm glad I'm not the only one but I hope this gets fixed and we get TWRP soon as well.
I just use the Google backup option, works for me.
ulxerker said:
I just use the Google backup option, works for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for the suggestion...
rickysidhu_ said:
I use SwiftBackup for apps, call logs and texts.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll look into SwiftBackup...does it require root (meaning it can take ALL the data from apps)?
JimSmith94 said:
I'm in the same boat as you, Titanium Backup has trouble backing up media storage and I also get the same unspecified error trying to copy the backup. I'm glad I'm not the only one but I hope this gets fixed and we get TWRP soon as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm...now you got me thinking...I'm glad I'm not the only one as well...
Still, it's unfortunate that it remains to be seen by us to be an effective viable option for backing things up...
One idea I've been tinkering with in my mind is using the adb backup method... does anyone know the full syntax command to achieve that? Is it as good as a nandroid-type backup?
simplepinoi177 said:
I'll look into SwiftBackup...does it require root (meaning it can take ALL the data from apps)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes it requires root and backs everything up.
rickysidhu_ said:
Yes it requires root and backs everything up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for clarifying that for me...
simplepinoi177 said:
I ask because I am a bit stuck... Originally, on my Pixel 2, I would use TWRP nandroid backups. Now that I've upgraded to the P5, I no longer have that option *for the time being (God, I hope they eventually pickup support for Android 11)...
I attempted do my "Plan B" and backup via TitaniumBackup, which I'm able in making the backup successfully (everything but the "media storage" for some reason...), but when I try to copy the TitaniumBackup folder to an external hard drive, I can't get passed "Unspecified error". I've attempted to debug the issue by using different cords and USB ports with no luck. I even went as far as attempting to copy and send it using the app SuperBeam to trying an "adb pull" command -- in which it comes back at me with a "Permission denied" for whatever reason.
So I'm a bit overwhelmed at this vital and supposedly basic thing (backing things up) and am seeking help and/or other methods of backing my Pixel 5 up. Ideally, the backup will be as good as a nandroid backup. I'm a bit anxious and apprehensive because I don't like applying the monthly update without backing things up first -- flashing of any sort makes me cautious in backing things up. But I am prepped and ready and am eager to apply the new update and the new Magisk.
In any case, I thank you for reading the post and thank you in advanced for any/all suggestions...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@simplepinoi177 I use Migrate app it is green and has a sideways v on it, it requires root but it backs up everything including passwords for apps, wifi, app settings and phone settings.
elong7681 said:
@simplepinoi177 I use Migrate app it is green and has a sideways v on it, it requires root but it backs up everything including passwords for apps, wifi, app settings and phone settings.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the suggestion. I'll seriously consider it.
I actually was in need of a viable backup & restore method as my phone crapped out when I tried to root it after flashing the Full Factory image. I got stuck in a bootloop and no amount of flashing the Full Factory image repaired the issue and I ended up having to wipe the device to get it up and running. Unfortunately the "adb backup" method didn't really work out and I have to set everything up from scratch...
Hopefully this Migrate app will allow me to copy its backup data to my external hard drive -- which is what I had planned for Titanium Backup -- so I can apply it even if I have to wipe my device...
I use G Cloud to backup texts/photos/videos/docs/call logs and rely on Google for everything else.

Lost Data Files After Update

After the update last night, all my folders with data files (files I created, documents, shortcuts, etc.) are gone. My program files are OK. I have searched and cannot find a way to get them back. I believe I have backed them up somewhere like Google cloud or the Samsung option. But I can find no way to restore them. So, I am lost...
did you update via Odin or OTA ?
3mel said:
did you update via Odin or OTA ?
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Click to collapse
Sorry, I'm not sure what those mean. The update happens overnight oh, so if OTA means over-the-air it would be that way
3mel said:
did you update via Odin or OTA ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm getting the feeling that night ended up in a developers forum. Maybe this was not the right place.
ADKRKV said:
I'm getting the feeling that night ended up in a developers forum. Maybe this was not the right place.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this is the exact right place to ask.
if you have backups made the check the settings menu or use the search to look for backup restore
Thanks for the replies. I think I know the problem. I found one of the back-ups on OneDrive. It restored all programs and settings. It did not restore data files. I believe that is because they were not backed up, my bad. I can't seem to find a back-up on Google, so I must not have done that. At least I didn't lose anything critical, just a lot of shortcuts and websites I bookmarked.
ADKRKV said:
Thanks for the replies. I think I know the problem. I found one of the back-ups on OneDrive. It restored all programs and settings. It did not restore data files. I believe that is because they were not backed up, my bad. I can't seem to find a back-up on Google, so I must not have done that. At least I didn't lose anything critical, just a lot of shortcuts and websites I bookmarked.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
oh right, I understand you more clearly now. I don't think you can backup app data in such a way. the only method that can do this without root is by ADB which has to be done one app at a time. some apps can be backed up by copying there folders from /storage/emulated/0/Android/data or /Android/media but even then that might not be everything you need for a full backup.
any folders apps create outside of the Android folder can be copied to external memory and copied back later. I have to do this to guarantee that my messaging apps will have all the media I've previously downloaded.
I downloaded a program called GoodLock which saves the items on your home screen and supposedly back them up. I don't know if that just means the icons or it backs up the data. I hope I never have to find out

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