Database Develop

Nandroid: What Gets Restored?

Okay. I make regular Nandroid backups. I also brick my phone a lot since I like to play. I don't mind since I simple wipe and reload. However, last night I decided that I was going to try and put my many Nandroid backups to good use. The reason I haven't done so until now was that the process seemed too cumbersome and detailed. I always found it more straightforward, albeit more time consuming, to just reinstall my apps and change all my settings manually. It actually is surprisingly quick when you get used to it. Anyway, after quite some time, I finally managed to successfully configure and flash one of my Nandroid backups using the NNADROID Recovery GUI tool from this forum. To my surprise, it didn't seem to do much. I am not sure what was supposed to happen. I always assumed that all my settings and customizations would be there. While I didn't think my apps would (the Nandroid backup was too small to hold my files) I thought my app settings would and when I reinstalled an app it would contain all my settings. Nothing.
So my big question, after that lengthy background, is what exactly gets restored when you flash a Nandroid backup to your phone? Perhaps I am missing something. After an exhaustive search through these forums, all I've come up with was that Nandroid does a "complete restore" of your phone but no explanation of what that means. Perhaps I missed the post (for all you expert posters, I really look before I ask a question as this is my first ever question on a forum) that explains it. Perhaps one has never been written. Either way, can someone either point me in the right direction or explain what it is I am missing? I think it would benefit people who are new to the process. Personally, I am okay with my "system" however poor it may be. It works. But if there is an easier, more efficient method, I'm all ears.
Thanks.

Everything in the /system and /data I believe. YOu get back all contacts, SMS, app data..etc. IT DOES NOT backup your apps! or anything on your ext partition

I have /data/app, /data/data, /data/dalvik-cache moved to my SD card on an ext2 partition. From what you suggested, that will not be backed up. Is that correct?
I don't need apps restored. I also don't see the value in backing up contacts since this is done via sync anyway. I also use Backup for Root Users (BRU) which does a backup of my settings as well as SMS messages (I have about half a dozen apps to back up SMS messages and I don't really care that much about them). BRU backs up Alarms, Settings, Bookmarks, Shortcuts, Playlists, Data, SMS, Dictionary, Market DB, APN, Contacts/Calls and APKs. Not sure what else I need.
Also, the app data that was restored via Nandroid didn't seem to help me as the settings were not there when I reinstalled apps. It appears that Nandroid is less useful than it appears to be. With my "manual" method, I can essentially restore just about everything inside of 30 minutes, including apps (I use ADB to bulk install). So I am not exactly sure how I would benefit from Nandroid. There has to be something more that I am missing since the forum speaks of Nandroid like the Holy Grail.

It's just way more efficient. A click of two buttons and you have a stable ready to go backup of your entire phone minus anything on your ext partition. So you can easily switch between lets say..cyanogen and thedude's builds without having to wipe and flash or just plain flash.

While that sounds amazing, I am not sure what use it is without my ext partition. All my apps are on the partition and the Nandroid restore doesn't read them. I am assuming without the apps on SD it would be a very good thing. But it seems kind of useless otherwise. I don't want to drive everyone crazy especially since I am find with how I restore. I am just very interested in fully understanding the reasoning which doesn't seem to be coming through in your explanation. My Nandroid restore, which went smoothly, was completely useless to me.

Most people love the idea of an instant restore without hassle. It's useful you'll realize that sooner or later.
(Off topic: Fellow Brooklyner, *high five*) lol

Go Brooklyn. Damn straight.
I would LOVE to realize its usefulness. It takes two second to do a backup and about a minute to restore it. PLEASE explain what makes it so good. Someone needs to write up a detailed explanation of what it does and what gets restored. After my restore I basically has to redo all my settings anyway since the apps are on the SD. Not seeing it. I guess I'll just have to play some more to figure it out. I will have to wait until I brick my phone again (which should happen soon enough, LOL) to find out.

aaronratner said:
Go Brooklyn. Damn straight.
I would LOVE to realize its usefulness. It takes two second to do a backup and about a minute to restore it. PLEASE explain what makes it so good. Someone needs to write up a detailed explanation of what it does and what gets restored. After my restore I basically has to redo all my settings anyway since the apps are on the SD. Not seeing it. I guess I'll just have to play some more to figure it out. I will have to wait until I brick my phone again (which should happen soon enough, LOL) to find out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=459830&highlight=infernix You can look at that. Entire thread on nandroid. Honestly whether you think its useful or not is based on personal preference. It's possible to backup the ext partition by just doing a simple "adb pull /system/sd" and a simple "adb pull /data/data" will backup all your app data but nandroid is just more efficient. Read through the first couple of pages and last couple of pages in that thread and you'll have a better understanding of why we consider it our holy grail. Cheers

Since you say Nandroid doesn't back-up apps. but Back-up for Root users does then would the apps. that I back-up using BRU show as installed in Market/My downloads if I wipe?, or would I have to redownload them from Market...the reason why I ask this is because I paid for two apps. on my old Gmail account and was able to switch them to my new one but I'll lose them or basically have to buy them again if I wipe.

I use ASTRO to back up my apps. I don't think it shows up in the Market unless you backup Market data. I use aTrackDog to track updates to my files. When I reinstall apps, I do it via ADB or a file manager like ASTRO or Linda. I have the APKs backed up (even the paid ones, go ROOT!). The Market seems very forgetful when you wipe. I have to do another build anyway since my phone just crashed. Which brings me to an off topic question regarding apps to SD for which I will open a new thread. My phone keeps crashing and I think it's my apps to SD method.

_Kyros_ said:
Since you say Nandroid doesn't back-up apps. but Back-up for Root users does then would the apps. that I back-up using BRU show as installed in Market/My downloads if I wipe?, or would I have to redownload them from Market...the reason why I ask this is because I paid for two apps. on my old Gmail account and was able to switch them to my new one but I'll lose them or basically have to buy them again if I wipe.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The purchased apps will stay but any free apps will not, unless you backup and push your market.db back

You can backup your market.db. Backup for Root Users lets you do this

alritewhadeva said:
The purchased apps will stay but any free apps will not, unless you backup and push your market.db back
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know the purchased apps will stay but the problem is I didn't purchase them from the Gmail account that I'm on now I purchased them from my original Gmail account so if I wipe they might still show up in Market/My downloads but I'll have to purchase them again so that's why I asked if you use BRU will they reinstalled them and show in Market/My download as installed or will I have to reinstall them myself from Market/My download if they show up?

If you install them using BRU they won't show on market under my downloads

I saw this and looked because I've wondered myself. I recently managed my first backup restoration and it took a few tries. To combat the losing apps on your ext partition I found (yes, through hours of research ... honest) the easiest solution is to use one card for one firmware and switch cards if I want to flash or use another. That way I have all the apps for that particular firmware. It isn't the ideal solution but cards are cheap enough to do it.

Like the solution, sort of
Dyonas, I like your solution. By keeping two SD cards it solves a lot of issues. However, so far I have not been given a detailed response of what exactly happens with a Nandroid backup. Let's assume that I have two identical SD cards with identical partitions and something goes wrong when I do something with the phone. If I do a Nadroid restore and put in the "stable" SD card (remember, for arguments sake, they are identical in every which way minus the last minute corruption), would that essentially restore it to like new? If I didn't have identical SD cards, what exactly would be restored (I understand apps do not get restored)?
Again, I am fine with my method of restoring but I think this would be a tremendous help for the community as a whole if someone could actually say what it is that happens with the restore. I will continue with my nightly Nandroid backups just in case I need them (which has happened once). But simply saying Nandroid is "amazing" or a "must" doesn't explain anything.
Thanks all.

aaronratner said:
Dyonas, I like your solution. By keeping two SD cards it solves a lot of issues. However, so far I have not been given a detailed response of what exactly happens with a Nandroid backup. Let's assume that I have two identical SD cards with identical partitions and something goes wrong when I do something with the phone. If I do a Nadroid restore and put in the "stable" SD card (remember, for arguments sake, they are identical in every which way minus the last minute corruption), would that essentially restore it to like new? If I didn't have identical SD cards, what exactly would be restored (I understand apps do not get restored)?
Again, I am fine with my method of restoring but I think this would be a tremendous help for the community as a whole if someone could actually say what it is that happens with the restore. I will continue with my nightly Nandroid backups just in case I need them (which has happened once). But simply saying Nandroid is "amazing" or a "must" doesn't explain anything.
Thanks all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nandroid backups are stored onto your sdcard. They don't change anything on your phone. The backup stays there until you want to use it. When you do use it to restore it restores you're phone to the exact way it was when you did the backup. It doesn't matter where the nandroid backup is unless you are using cyanogen's 1.4 image and are recovering from the recovery menu. In that case you would have to move the nandroid folder to your other sdcard. Hope I answered your question Look in dream android development for the switchrom.sh script. Backups everything included ext partition and you can easily restore it from recovery console.

Tells the how, but not the what [SOLVED]
I fully understand how to backup and restore. But you said what everybody else use saying that it restores your phone to the way it was when you backed up the phone. But what exactly is restored is the question. Data? Cache? Apps? Settings? Etc. I know apps seen't but is the app data. The one nandroid restore that I performed did not seem to help me much in terms of my settings and app data. However, I have my methods using several programs and will continue my nightly nandroid backups until I figure it all out. Thanks. I will mark this as solved. If someone cares to write a detailed post on this they can just start a new thread.

aaronratner said:
I fully understand how to backup and restore. But you said what everybody else use saying that it restores your phone to the way it was when you backed up the phone. But what exactly is restored is the question. Data? Cache? Apps? Settings? Etc. I know apps seen't but is the app data. The one nandroid restore that I performed did not seem to help me much in terms of my settings and app data. However, I have my methods using several programs and will continue my nightly nandroid backups until I figure it all out. Thanks. I will mark this as solved. If someone cares to write a detailed post on this they can just start a new thread.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
EVERYTHING except apps. App data, everything on your /system. Everything except apps. Your app data won't restore unless the apps are already installed. It's that simple. Don't know why its so hard to understand.

[SOLVED]
Okay. That makes sense. I was wondering why my app data wasn't restored after a restore. But according to what you said the app needs to be installed first (which doesn't make too much sense). All I know is that I did a nandroid restore and it did not restore some of my settings which were definitely in the backup. It's no big deal. I will run a few restores to test for myself. I just didn't like the answer that every kept giving which was "everything" which explains nothing. But i am pretty sure I understand it now and one or two restores should give me a complete picture.

[Q] How can i make a FULL backup without USB?

I have had some trouble with my phone since dropping it.
Now sometimes it does not turn on and it took me an hour or so trying to turn it on, (it made the vibrate sound but nothing on screen at all).
And my pc/laptop does not recognize the phone when i plug it via USB although the charge icon changes :S
the last backup i made was many months ago with pc companion.
Is there a way i can make a backup of all messages/numbers ect..
I am planning on getting the exact same phone tomorrow so would like to just swap it all over.
Thanks

Have you installed Clockwork Mod and can access to it? It has a backup option.
By the way, if you can't use USB how do you plan to move the backup from the phone to the PC in order to move it to the new phone?

If you just want to backup contacts, messages, call log, calendar. You can use "Super Backup" from play store. No root needed.
To backup apps, you can use "AppMonster".
Sent from my LT30p using Tapatalk

chrisr9191 said:
Is there a way i can make a backup of all messages/numbers ect..
I am planning on getting the exact same phone tomorrow so would like to just swap it all over.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stock Backup and Restore app does the job, just remember to choose the SD card as the backup storage. You can choose what to backup, including third-party apps and their settings.
---------- Post added at 03:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:44 PM ----------
Krauser Kahn said:
By the way, if you can't use USB how do you plan to move the backup from the phone to the PC in order to move it to the new phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you know you could swap SD cards between devices?

Gasai Yuno said:
Did you know you could swap SD cards between devices?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Obviously, but I wrongly assumed that he couldn't boot on Android and was stuck at boot (that happened to me a while ago) , if it's not the case then there wouldn't be any problems if he owns a MicroSD.

Krauser Kahn said:
Have you installed Clockwork Mod and can access to it? It has a backup option.
By the way, if you can't use USB how do you plan to move the backup from the phone to the PC in order to move it to the new phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The phone is all stock
Usb is not detected by my pc
duke_dreadmoore said:
If you just want to backup contacts, messages, call log, calendar. You can use "Super Backup" from play store. No root needed.
To backup apps, you can use "AppMonster".
Sent from my LT30p using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Managed to backup using an app, gave me 3 files in .xml format ??? and my contact list
Gasai Yuno said:
Stock Backup and Restore app does the job, just remember to choose the SD card as the backup storage. You can choose what to backup, including third-party apps and their settings.
---------- Post added at 03:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:44 PM ----------
Did you know you could swap SD cards between devices?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The SD card is not recognized at all neither (sd card still works fine, its just detected by my phone)
Krauser Kahn said:
Obviously, but I wrongly assumed that he couldn't boot on Android and was stuck at boot (that happened to me a while ago) , if it's not the case then there wouldn't be any problems if he owns a MicroSD.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The phone is currently on, but if it's turned off it will not start again for hours, takes ages trying to get it to turn on.
Update on this:
Managed to transfer ALL my pics and vids (contacts.sms and convos) via a file manager over wireless (took hours lol)
What do you guys suggest i now do with this phone? what would need replacing? or be causing the SD card and usb not to work? (it charges via USB, but i have to plug in and unplug a few times)

Managed to backup using an app, gave me 3 files in .xml format ??? and my contact list
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Restore using that same app again

Can't find cwm backup ANYWHERE

First of al I'm not talking about our device but my friends S4 Mini LTE!
But the S4 mini community is not that active, really..
So I was going to flash Liquid Smooth for him (he was running stock rom, no root), so made backup for safety but the backup took 3gb space and that was all he had left.
I used this one (CWM) http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2364980
I stopt after step 6, only wanted CWM recovery because Liquid Smooth would give root automaticly.. I did everything right!
- CWM worked properly
- Made backup (didn't know it would be 3gb)
- Rebooted, phone says not enough memory
- Can't find the backup. Really NOWHERE, trust me.
- CWM was not installed anymore when I again booted in recovery.
So the problem is that cwm is not installed anymore? If I flash md5. again with odin to get cwm will I find the nandroid backup?
I really need to solve this, it's my friends phone soo..
I made backup for safety, but now the backup is the problem because it's so big and can't be found.
Thanks
Again I know this is not s4 mini section but it's pretty dead over there, or our device section is extremely alive

coffeecore said:
First of al I'm not talking about our device but my friends S4 Mini LTE!
But the S4 mini community is not that active, really..
So I was going to flash Liquid Smooth for him (he was running stock rom, no root), so made backup for safety but the backup took 3gb space and that was all he had left.
I used this one (CWM) http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2364980
I stopt after step 6, only wanted CWM recovery because Liquid Smooth would give root automaticly.. I did everything right!
- CWM worked properly
- Made backup (didn't know it would be 3gb)
- Rebooted, phone says not enough memory
- Can't find the backup. Really NOWHERE, trust me.
- CWM was not installed anymore when I again booted in recovery.
So the problem is that cwm is not installed anymore? If I flash md5. again with odin to get cwm will I find the nandroid backup?
I really need to solve this, it's my friends phone soo..
I made backup for safety, but now the backup is the problem because it's so big and can't be found.
Thanks
Again I know this is not s4 mini section but it's pretty dead over there, or our device section is extremely alive
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Probably nowhere, maybe it deleted files after there was not enough space. CWM make folder in root of exnternal/internal memory called clockworkmod. If it is not present, then there is no backup.

shut_down said:
Probably nowhere, maybe it deleted files after there was not enough space. CWM make folder in root of exnternal/internal memory called clockworkmod. If it is not present, then there is no backup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But space is fully
So there must be something..
And backup was succesfully completed.

Really need to find/delete it, it's my friends phone.
Is there other way than searching file, for example doing such thing it will be removed but he still has his photo's/music.

coffeecore said:
Really need to find/delete it, it's my friends phone.
Is there other way than searching file, for example doing such thing it will be removed but he still has his photo's/music.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try it on PC. And put hidden files to be shown. I have no idea where it could be. Maybe it is in different place on S4 mini.
Or make backup of stuff he uses, format and put them back on the phone.

shut_down said:
Try it on PC. And put hidden files to be shown. I have no idea where it could be. Maybe it is in different place on S4 mini.
Or make backup of stuff he uses, format and put them back on the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have litterly searched everywhere, nowhere to find..
Think last option is to indeed to make backup from apps and format /system, right?

coffeecore said:
Have litterly searched everywhere, nowhere to find..
Think last option is to indeed to make backup from apps and format /system, right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not system, backup is not there. Format sd card, the one you said it is full - and it has no apps it has data (music, pictures etc...). System has nothing to do with CWM nandroid backup.

shut_down said:
Not system, backup is not there. Format sd card, the one you said it is full - and it has no apps it has data (music, pictures etc...). System has nothing to do with CWM nandroid backup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry sorry, I meant sdcard.. Thanks for your help, really appreciate it!

And what if I restore backup, backup won't be deleted afterwards, right?

coffeecore said:
And what if I restore backup, backup won't be deleted afterwards, right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What afterwards?

coffeecore said:
And what if I restore backup, backup won't be deleted afterwards, right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It will remain in phone, it will not self destroy. If that is what you ask.

Apps Failing to Update Due to "Insufficient Storage Space"

Hey all,
I have a 32 gig Verizon Developer Edition Moto X with an unlocked bootloader. I am currently running the stock ROM but this issue has persisted across multiple ROMs. Dropbox and Google Translate will not update, giving a "Insufficient Storage Available" error message. I have over 3 gigs available on my internal storage and went through and un-installed a bunch of apps I don't use, to the point of uninstalling twice as many megs-worth of apps as what DB and GTrans require. What the hell could be causing this?
I tried uninstalling Dropbox to see if I could get it re-installed without issue, but now it just flat out won't install due to supposed storage space issues. Has anyone else experienced this? Googling the issue doesn't return any results, but I can't be the only person experiencing this can I?
Thanks.

I_EAT_BABIES said:
Hey all,
I have a 32 gig Verizon Developer Edition Moto X with an unlocked bootloader. I am currently running the stock ROM but this issue has persisted across multiple ROMs. Dropbox and Google Translate will not update, giving a "Insufficient Storage Available" error message. I have over 3 gigs available on my internal storage and went through and un-installed a bunch of apps I don't use, to the point of uninstalling twice as many megs-worth of apps as what DB and GTrans require. What the hell could be causing this?
I tried uninstalling Dropbox to see if I could get it re-installed without issue, but now it just flat out won't install due to supposed storage space issues. Has anyone else experienced this? Googling the issue doesn't return any results, but I can't be the only person experiencing this can I?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What recovery are you using? I recomend Philz. If you find no better solution. Backup all partitions then test the restore. Just restore what you just backed up. Then wipe data & data media. Then restore again.
---------- Post added at 10:41 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:36 AM ----------
aviwdoowks said:
What recovery are you using? I recomend Philz. If you find no better solution. Backup all partitions then test the restore. Just restore what you just backed up. Then wipe data & data media. Then restore again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh
You will need to save your SD contents to whatever. OTG, android file xfer, windows. Then restore that too.
---------- Post added at 10:46 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:41 AM ----------
Do the SD backup first!
---------- Post added at 10:56 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:46 AM ----------
With Philz you can include data/media in your custom backup. In which case save/mount to OTG!

aviwdoowks said:
What recovery are you using? I recomend Philz. If you find no better solution. Backup all partitions then test the restore. Just restore what you just backed up. Then wipe data & data media. Then restore again.
---------- Post added at 10:41 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:36 AM ----------
Oh
You will need to save your SD contents to whatever. OTG, android file xfer, windows. Then restore that too.
---------- Post added at 10:46 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:41 AM ----------
Do the SD backup first!
---------- Post added at 10:56 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:46 AM ----------
With Philz you can include data/media in your custom backup. In which case save/mount to OTG!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK I am beyond confused by all the edits haha. Could you consolidate your advice a bit?
Currently I am using TWRP. Thanks for the help.

I_EAT_BABIES said:
OK I am beyond confused by all the edits haha. Could you consolidate your advice a bit?
Currently I am using TWRP. Thanks for the help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try backing up your SD contents first. Then flash Philz (.zip) from your twrp. You can flash them as needed, back & forth, just reboot recovery.
Philz will do twrp format backup too.
Make a full backup with Philz as custom as you like. Test out your backup. Just restore what you backed up.
You then want to format data & data media.
Then restore.
You could make a Philz custom bu that includes SD (data/media) too but put it on otg. It will self mount when the OTG cable in present.

aviwdoowks said:
Try backing up your SD contents first. Then flash Philz (.zip) from your twrp. You can flash them as needed, back & forth, just reboot recovery.
Philz will do twrp format backup too.
Make a full backup with Philz as custom as you like. Test out your backup. Just restore what you backed up.
You then want to format data & data media.
Then restore.
You could make a Philz custom bu that includes SD (data/media) too but put it on otg. It will self mount when the OTG cable in present.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i'm super confused at the level of effort you're explaining based on the problem at hand. The error is two-fold; you have stale files from old/failed installs and/or you're out of memory.
Keep in mind that Android uses your available space for RAM, so if you have memory intensive applications, there's a possibility of running in to this issue.
Easiest of course is to delete your videos/pics - they take the most amount of space.
Also check this tutorial:
http://www.digitalreborn.com/fix-error-insufficient-storage-google-play-error/

how to back up complete system to computer?

I have an LG G2 VS98039A (5.0.2) So obviously I have no flash drive.
I want to install Blisspop.
I have rooted, installed SU, TWRP, bought and installed the paid version of Titanium Backup (probably a mistake).
I want to have a complete backup to fall back on if I mess up my ROM install. It appears that if I go at if backwards (connecting to computer with USB then opening up the phone files on my PC) that many of the folders are empty.
I do not want to use the cloud.
Surely I am missing some obvious thing? Please help me, I'm not computer illiterate but I haven't messed around with phone modding since my old blackberry back in 2009.
Thanks in advance!

Do you know how to make a nandroid? Create one then copy it to your computer. That's your backup.
I have a USB OTG adapter that I plug a USB drive into. That connects to the phone as external storage. I create a nandroid there.
Titanium Backup still has it's uses. It was more valuable years ago but I use it to freeze those Verizon apps I can't uninstall. It's also good at uninstalling system apps. Anyway good luck.
Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk
---------- Post added at 10:41 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:38 PM ----------
moonpie28 said:
Do you know how to make a nandroid? Create one then copy it to your computer. That's your backup.
I have a USB OTG adapter that I plug a USB drive into. That connects to the phone as external storage. I create a nandroid there.
Titanium Backup still has it's uses. It was more valuable years ago but I use it to freeze those Verizon apps I can't uninstall. It's also good at uninstalling system apps. Anyway good luck.
Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
PS a nandroid is created in TWRP. To get you started...
Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk

Thanks, I just got a flash drive. I appreciate your help.