[Q] Question Regarding CWM? - Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hey.
My Galaxy S2 is acting up again with bootloop, and I can't access what's on the device. I can get into CWM and I've successfully backed up my current ROM. Now my question is: does CWM back up everything? Like app data and everything? I've got an app that has tons of notes on it that I really need and I'll be distraught if they're gone as it'll take me a good 12 hours of work to get them all back. So if I flash back to stock, then flash the backup will it be exactly like it was left with the notes intact? Thanks for any replies. They're much appreciated.

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Thought it was backed up. Apparently not. It's saying something about not finding SD-ext and then something about MD5sum or something? Any help please?

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Skellyyy said:
Thought it was backed up. Apparently not. It's saying something about not finding SD-ext and then something about MD5sum or something? Any help please?
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CWM backups everything. literally everything. Try going into Restore from Internal SD card instead of external SD card. It might show up there. No need to reflash anything, just restore the backup and everything should be back to normal. Only the data you backed up will come back btw.

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Even after flashing a new rom you can still restore the data.There is an app called nandroid browser which will allow you to browse cwm backup files just like normal files, you can use that app to restore specific data of any app you want.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium

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Thanks a lot guys. Getting worried about this though, CWM doesn't seem to want to backup for me. It keeps failing on all-sorts of things, just a moment ago I tried and said
"Error while backing up boot image!SD Card Space free: 13200MB"
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But just before that it says:
SD Card Space Free: 0MB
There may not be enough space to complete backup... continuing...
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I can't quite understand it though. Why is it even saying no sd-ext? I've got a 16GB SD card for music and videos inside the phone.

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After that it let me attempt the backup and once complete (sort of) it says:
Backing up cache...
No sd-ext found. Skipping backup of sd-ext.
Generating md5 sum.,,
Error while generating md5 sum!
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Click to collapse
Is there anything I can do?

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Not expert enough but for note app, use programs like 'Evernote' which store all of your notes in the cloud. You can get'em back anytime you want.

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pHraiL^ said:
Not expert enough but for note app, use programs like 'Evernote' which store all of your notes in the cloud. You can get'em back anytime you want.
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Not very useful now is it?
I've got them up-to date to about 2 weeks ago via dropbox but there's still a lot I need from then-on.

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Skellyyy said:
Thought it was backed up. Apparently not. It's saying something about not finding SD-ext and then something about MD5sum or something? Any help please?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if you did back up of the ROM from CWM to resolve you bootloop issue then it is wrong...you have first resolve bootloop issue and make back up..
1) the ext-sd which you are talking about is not your external SD card...it is an additional partittion which is made for system data on your external SD. when a rom is backed up from CWM this partition also is backed up. if you are not made such partition on your external SD, the process simply skip saying no ext-sd available, this is not an error, it is not really meant that you have no External SD, this action is the second last one before creating the MD5 during back up process.
2) after the completion of the backing up of all the data it automaticaly create a MD5 checksum file of your back-up files. this is the final action during the backing up. if you get an error while creating MD5 cheksum file your back will be there in your SD card, but you cant use that for restoring from CWM. since MD5 is not created properly, it will show the error MD5 checksum mismatching or something like that.
just flash any other kernel like latest siyah kernel and try CWM back-up is working properly till the end.
Try wiping Cache and Dalvik cache for getting rid of the bootlloop.
if you are not at all able to solve boot loop isntall a new rom, you can install your applications from CWM backup using some applications, like Titaniim back up if you have donated. no matter it is not created the MD5 properly.

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zaheedahmed said:
if you did back up of the ROM from CWM to resolve you bootloop issue then it is wrong...you have first resolve bootloop issue and make back up..
1) the ext-sd which you are talking about is not your external SD card...it is an additional partittion which is made for system data on your external SD. when a rom is backed up from CWM this partition also is backed up. if you are not made such partition on your external SD, the process simply skip saying no ext-sd available, this is not an error, it is not really meant that you have no External SD, this action is the second last one before creating the MD5 during back up process.
2) after the completion of the backing up of all the data it automaticaly create a MD5 checksum file of your back-up files. this is the final action during the backing up. if you get an error while creating MD5 cheksum file your back will be there in your SD card, but you cant use that for restoring from CWM. since MD5 is not created properly, it will show the error MD5 checksum mismatching or something like that.
just flash any other kernel like latest siyah kernel and try CWM back-up is working properly till the end.
Try wiping Cache and Dalvik cache for getting rid of the bootlloop.
if you are not at all able to solve boot loop isntall a new rom, you can install your applications from CWM backup using some applications, like Titaniim back up if you have donated. no matter it is not created the MD5 properly.
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Click to collapse
Thanks for that. But won't installing a new ROM erase app data? Which is the whole point of the thread really, I can't extract the data which is needed.
Trying to charge it here, and the phone is getting ridiculously hot, so much so that I can't actually hold it for more then a few seconds. Do you think this could all just be a battery issue? I had one previously like this, bootlooping also, but previously without a power source, the phone would not turn on at all. This time it will. I'm just very confused.

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Skellyyy said:
Thanks for that. But won't installing a new ROM erase app data? Which is the whole point of the thread really, I can't extract the data which is needed.
Trying to charge it here, and the phone is getting ridiculously hot, so much so that I can't actually hold it for more then a few seconds. Do you think this could all just be a battery issue? I had one previously like this, bootlooping also, but previously without a power source, the phone would not turn on at all. This time it will. I'm just very confused.
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Installing a new rom doesn't erase data app since all your data is in /data. It will only erase data if you wipe data/factory reset. I suggest you wipe cache, wipe dalvik cache, format /system and flash your rom and flash gapps (if gapps not included in rom). This way, your internal apps data is always safe
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2 Beta-5

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Skellyyy said:
Thanks for that. But won't installing a new ROM erase app data? Which is the whole point of the thread really, I can't extract the data which is needed.
Trying to charge it here, and the phone is getting ridiculously hot, so much so that I can't actually hold it for more then a few seconds. Do you think this could all just be a battery issue? I had one previously like this, bootlooping also, but previously without a power source, the phone would not turn on at all. This time it will. I'm just very confused.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes it will erase your apps and data...if you are flashing a wipe ROM, but if you have a non wipe rom of your current ROM flashing of that wont erase...
you have made a back up which the process reached till MD5 check sum....that means that back should be there in your SD card from which you can restore your applications..
you go to recovery again and go to mout and storage and mout USB storage after connecting to the PC...check are you able to access the SD card and check clockworkmode folder and the backup file....if it is there then copy paste to PC.
if you are able to access SD Card then you can download another kernel or rom and paste on the SD card for flashing from CWM.
before flashing another ROM you can try changing your Kernel,
on which firmware are you currently?

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Hey guys - I'm back. I've had to use my girlfriends old Samsung Genio for a few days. Worst days of my life to say the least.
I need my SII back. A few days ago it wouldn't charge at all (hence not being able to get to CWM). But it seems to be doing just fine now. Although I've still got the same boot-loop. I've mounted the SD card, and found the backups - they contain these files:
boot.img
data.ext4.tar
recovery.img
system.ext4.tar
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Click to collapse
Are these all the necessary files to restore? I'm very wary.
Also, if I do flash a different ROM, how will that have the data from my previous ROM if the new ROM doesn't have the apps?
If I do end up restoring, will that restore everything? I mean settings, SMS, app preferences, widgets, app data (Twitter drafts especially) and stuff like that?
Just want to be safe before I go and ruin things.

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Btw could all this be due to the lack of free space on the phone? Seems like there is no space whatsoever. Finder is claiming there is 'Zero bytes' available. Surely that can't be good.

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Bump. I really don't know what I should be doing.

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Skellyyy said:
Hey guys - I'm back. I've had to use my girlfriends old Samsung Genio for a few days. Worst days of my life to say the least.
I need my SII back. A few days ago it wouldn't charge at all (hence not being able to get to CWM). But it seems to be doing just fine now. Although I've still got the same boot-loop. I've mounted the SD card, and found the backups - they contain these files:
Are these all the necessary files to restore? I'm very wary.
Also, if I do flash a different ROM, how will that have the data from my previous ROM if the new ROM doesn't have the apps?
If I do end up restoring, will that restore everything? I mean settings, SMS, app preferences, widgets, app data (Twitter drafts especially) and stuff like that?
Just want to be safe before I go and ruin things.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A full cwm backup contains of:
- .android_secure.vfat.tar
- boot.img
- cache.ext4.tar
- data.ext4.tar
- nandroid.md5
- system.ext4.tar
If you do a full cwm backup, all youre data (Apps, Contacts, Sms, Settings and so on) will be safed
After restoring a cwm backup you will get exactly that system, which you had before flashing, bricking or whatever.
Gesendet von meinem GT-I9100 mit Tapatalk

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Dr.MacHack said:
A full cwm backup contains of:
- .android_secure.vfat.tar
- boot.img
- cache.ext4.tar
- data.ext4.tar
- nandroid.md5
- system.ext4.tar
If you do a full cwm backup, all youre data (Apps, Contacts, Sms, Settings and so on) will be safed
After restoring a cwm backup you will get exactly that system, which you had before flashing, bricking or whatever.
Gesendet von meinem GT-I9100 mit Tapatalk
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Thanks for that! But do you know if I'd be able to fully restore even if I don't have all of the files? It seems that there is two missing from the CWM folder for me.

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Skellyyy said:
Thanks for that! But do you know if I'd be able to fully restore even if I don't have all of the files? It seems that there is two missing from the CWM folder for me.
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Yes I think it should work for you
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