How to do a full backup including SD card - Galaxy S III Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I have an S3 with Omega v42/4.1.2 and a 64 gb SD card which is almost full (the SD card is tricked into thinking it is the main memory so that I can install all apps to that).
I would like to upgrade to Omega v46/4.2.2 but I want to capture an 100% backup of everything just in case.
Is that possible? (when I reboot into recovery and do backup it only spits out a 2-3GB file).

Before I give suggestions, i'd like you to answer a practical question if you'll indulge me.
If you were to backup a 64 GB sdcard via recovery, where would the backup go?
Its also worth pointing out that the "swap" you're using now cannot work on 4.2 roms at all.
Best bet is to titanium backup apps and app data, nandroid backup then copy everything from your removable card to pc.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 4

Good point. Just thought there is a way to dump it directly to the PC via usb.
So on 4.2 you can ONLY install apps to the phone memory and not trick it into thinking the card is the main memory?

Correct. You can use folder mount though
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 4

Related

Rooted/Custom Rom Running: Can I format the sd card?

Rooted and running bi-winning. My phone has been running fine and now all of a sudden it says I have no memory left and that my internal sd card is full. I don't know how that's possible because I just recently deleted a ton of music off of it.
Is it safe for me to format the internal sd card? I have backed up all my apps with titanium backup so I don't mind erasing all my stuff.
Also, it shows that I only have 353MB of available space on my external sd card? What stuff is safe to delete from there?
Thanks in advance. Any help is greatly appreciated.
Ariella19 said:
Rooted and running bi-winning. My phone has been running fine and now all of a sudden it says I have no memory left and that my internal sd card is full. I don't know how that's possible because I just recently deleted a ton of music off of it.
Is it safe for me to format the internal sd card? I have backed up all my apps with titanium backup so I don't mind erasing all my stuff.
Also, it shows that I only have 353MB of available space on my external sd card? What stuff is safe to delete from there?
Thanks in advance. Any help is greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think is fine if you do it from within the phone and not from the PC.
best bet is to copy the contents of your SD to your PC first before you format. Or at least the important ones like pictures/videos, music and the titanium backup folder.
Thanks for your replies. I've already backed up all my media files and the titanium folder. Also the update.zip folder.
If you did all that (including the PC backup) then you should be fine. I had to format my SD yesterday, now the trigger3.3 beta rom is running super clean and fast.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
GYM_RATttt612 said:
If you did all that (including the PC backup) then you should be fine. I had to format my SD yesterday, now the trigger3.3 beta rom is running super clean and fast.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome. I'm going to format and flash a new rom.
What in the heck do you have saved in there taking up all that space? LOL and how do you not know you have it in there? I think someone else has access to your phone and is saving their extra nudies of their girlfriends on your phone dood. FIND THEM!!! haha jk. Seriously tho i dunno what you got goin on but the external shouldn't have anything important on it unless you put it there like maybe nandroids or other backups so delete it all!
I secretly save my backups on my friends and families PC's but never their phones, LOL. Good luck!

Titanium Backup

if i upgrade to a different rom will titanium backup or w.e keep its backups?
Yes, but make sure you don't format the SD card. Please note restoring system data between different ROMs is not recommended at all!
Also, you might want to use the dropbox sync feature just in case the SD card fails.
So i cud just flash a diff rom without sd card in? N android n htc recomend cyanogen n support new roms they say just be carefull
Sent from my HTC Desire using xda premium
You can keep it in, just don't format it explicitly.
Once you wipe (everything except SD card) and install a new rom, you can download Titanium Backup from market and restore user (not system) apps. They should be there since the backups are on the SD card.

[Q] Restoring backup that has SD Swap?

Hello. I was wondering if anyone has restored a backup of their phone which was using the sd swap. If so, could you share whether you're using CWM or TWRP and post screenshot of files in your backup?
Thnx!
grimloktt said:
Hello. I was wondering if anyone has restored a backup of their phone which was using the sd swap. If so, could you share whether you're using CWM or TWRP and post screenshot of files in your backup?
Thnx!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have with Jedi 14. Restored while trying to get JBSmooth to do some things with loading Sammy Apps. Eventually because I could not get some functions to work because of the swap, went back and turned it off. ( also pictures that i was taking while on swap for some reason would be corrupted) My opinion i'd just leave the cards the way they are. Which sucks since i have a 32gb class 10 card and figured it would run way faster then stock memory.
dragonstalker said:
I have with Jedi 14. Restored while trying to get JBSmooth to do some things with loading Sammy Apps. Eventually because I could not get some functions to work because of the swap, went back and turned it off. ( also pictures that i was taking while on swap for some reason would be corrupted) My opinion i'd just leave the cards the way they are. Which sucks since i have a 32gb class 10 card and figured it would run way faster then stock memory.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So, it sounds like you restored from sd swap back to non sd swap? Forgive my wording but I'm trying to see if anyone restored a sd swap backup? So from sd swap or from regular to sd swap? I'm wondering if it's possible.
Sent from my GT-N8013 using Tapatalk 2
grimloktt said:
So, it sounds like you restored from sd swap back to non sd swap? Forgive my wording but I'm trying to see if anyone restored a sd swap backup? So from sd swap or from regular to sd swap? I'm wondering if it's possible.
Sent from my GT-N8013 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes you can go from a swapped installation to a normal installation. When you re-flash another rom, the data is untouched. meaning all of your pictures stay, all of your downloads stay, everything stays. The only difference is how the rom treats each storage system.
eboodnero said:
Yes you can go from a swapped installation to a normal installation. When you re-flash another rom, the data is untouched. meaning all of your pictures stay, all of your downloads stay, everything stays. The only difference is how the rom treats each storage system.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your response but I was asking about going from either a sd swap or regular operating system and had success restoring a previous back-up of an sd swap? So, in the end after the restore is complete, you're running a sd swap configuration.
Bottom line: I'm running sd swap and am wondering if I ever had to restore a backup that I made (an sd swap running backup) could I successfully restore to a still sd swapped running system? Is it possible?
Is this clear as mud? :cyclops:
grimloktt said:
Thank you for your response but I was asking about going from either a sd swap or regular operating system and had success restoring a previous back-up of an sd swap? So, in the end after the restore is complete, you're running a sd swap configuration.
Bottom line: I'm running sd swap and am wondering if I ever had to restore a backup that I made (an sd swap running backup) could I successfully restore to a still sd swapped running system? Is it possible?
Is this clear as mud? :cyclops:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha a bit cumbersome to read but that's ok. What I was explaining is that the sd card swap changes nothing other than the way the Rom views it's storage devices. If the Rom is changed, so will it's sd swap configuration.
Meaning that if you have an sd card swap configuration for your current rom, and you restore a nand backup that you made, from a different rom with an sd swap configuration, nothing will change.
If you go from an sd swapped rom to a backup of a regular rom, you will no longer have that swapped configuration, because, again, that configuration is exclusive to the rom it came with.
The answer to your bottom line question is yes. You will still have your sd card swap after you backup.
Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2
eboodnero said:
The answer to your bottom line question is yes. You will still have your sd card swap after you backup.
Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thnx. With the nandroid backup utilities designed prior to sd swap functionality, I just wasn't sure whether everything would work the same as regular configuration, i.e. sd swapped configuration would correctly back-up and correctly restore--if needed.
Thnx!
grimloktt said:
Thnx. With the nandroid backup utilities designed prior to sd swap functionality, I just wasn't sure whether everything would work the same as regular configuration, i.e. sd swapped configuration would correctly back-up and correctly restore--if needed.
Thnx!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Anytime! Just understand that a nandroid backup is like taking a snapshot of your rom and all of the configurations and settings and apps etc...the sd swap is just like any other configuration, in that it is part of the snapshot taken by the recovery manager in the form of a nandroid backup.
Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2

[Q] Missing Storage Space

Hey everyone,
I just got a Verizon Galaxy S4 and have been playing around with rooting and ROMS. I just did a clean restore to factory settings, but it shows I only have 3GB of space available. Misc files is using 6.57gb, downloads 116kb, audio 152kb, pictures 5mb, and application 349mb. It seems like I am missing 8gb. Any ideas of what I should do?
Thanks,
andrx471
FIXED
Hey everyone,
I fixed the problem. I flashed to a stock Verizon S4 image, then did a factory reset. I had done one or the other, but not both. I guess this raises the question, why am I losing 6GB of space when I root my phone?
Thanks again,
andrx471
andrx471 said:
Hey everyone,
I just got a Verizon Galaxy S4 and have been playing around with rooting and ROMS. I just did a clean restore to factory settings, but it shows I only have 3GB of space available. Misc files is using 6.57gb, downloads 116kb, audio 152kb, pictures 5mb, and application 349mb. It seems like I am missing 8gb. Any ideas of what I should do?
Thanks,
andrx471
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have a custom recovery? If so, when you make a backup with CWM it will be several gigs and will be in a hidden directory. I had the same issue with only one backup of the stock rom. I had to place my backups on the external card and now I have a few more gigs on the internal card. Remember that CWM will not work on an external card over 32 gig. I had to sell my 64 and buy a 32 for that reason.
skiddingus said:
Do you have a custom recovery? If so, when you make a backup with CWM it will be several gigs and will be in a hidden directory. I had the same issue with only one backup of the stock rom. I had to place my backups on the external card and now I have a few more gigs on the internal card. Remember that CWM will not work on an external card over 32 gig. I had to sell my 64 and buy a 32 for that reason.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for getting back to me skiddingus. I have a 32GB SD card coming in the mail today, so hopefully there wont be anymore issues with storage. I do have a couple questions before I do this, though.
1. I see some people using CWM and others using TWRP. Are there any advantages to one or the other. or is it just a matter of preference?
2. When I make a backup or install a new ROM using either CWM or TWRP, are there specific options I should be selecting to backup or install a new ROM to my SD card?
Thanks a lot for your help!
skiddingus said:
Do you have a custom recovery? If so, when you make a backup with CWM it will be several gigs and will be in a hidden directory. I had the same issue with only one backup of the stock rom. I had to place my backups on the external card and now I have a few more gigs on the internal card. Remember that CWM will not work on an external card over 32 gig. I had to sell my 64 and buy a 32 for that reason.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi skiddingus,
Any chance you could share your method for navigating to/accessing that hidden directory? I made backups and now my phone memory is almost all chewed up. I also did a backup (or two if the chunk of memory that's been eaten up is any indication) on the SD Card and would like to clear up that space as well.
I've been using TWRP for a while now, but unless it's been changed, all CWM backups were stored under a directory called Clockworkmod."
Redflea said:
I've been using TWRP for a while now, but unless it's been changed, all CWM backups were stored under a directory called Clockworkmod."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cool, thanks for the confirmation. I was able to find that one, seemed the logical place for CWM backups to live, and I erased the contents after making sure I had a reserve copy on my laptop and a stock backup as well. However, I'm still seeing an abundance of used space and no explanation for where it's gone just by looking at the directory names. I do recognize that "miscellaneous files" is also where "System Memory" lies, taking up just under 6.4 Gb.
Any other thoughts?
See attached pic for reference.
onearmsysiphus said:
Hi skiddingus,
Any chance you could share your method for navigating to/accessing that hidden directory? I made backups and now my phone memory is almost all chewed up. I also did a backup (or two if the chunk of memory that's been eaten up is any indication) on the SD Card and would like to clear up that space as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I never did find the directory that CWM stores the backups. On Android 4.2 and up I believe it stores them in a secure hidden directory. I used the applications to delete the backups. I installed ROMmanager and used its "manage backups" option to clear my CWM backups. I used TWRP to clear its backups as well. I currently use CWM for my backups and I backup to and external sd card (32gb or less of course). My internal card has neary 7gb free and shows a total space of 9.62Gb. I have almost 2gb of apps.
andrx471 said:
Thanks for getting back to me skiddingus. I have a 32GB SD card coming in the mail today, so hopefully there wont be anymore issues with storage. I do have a couple questions before I do this, though.
1. I see some people using CWM and others using TWRP. Are there any advantages to one or the other. or is it just a matter of preference?
2. When I make a backup or install a new ROM using either CWM or TWRP, are there specific options I should be selecting to backup or install a new ROM to my SD card?
Thanks a lot for your help!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey Andrx,
UNtil Skiddingus gets back to you, I can offer some semi-n00b impressions:
1. I've used both CWM and TWRP through my process of backing up the stock system, rooting, flashing Synergy ROM, and then de-bloating, and I can say that from a purely subjective perspective, I prefer TWRP. Mostly bc of the GUI - it's a little easier to navigate IMO. From what I understand, they basically do the same thing when it comes to recovery and flashing. I'm sure there are some technical differences that more experienced users can explain, but for a base user like me, TWRP seems to take care of my needs
2. AFAIK, If you're using TWRP, the partitions that are preselected when you choose the "Backup" tab - Boot, System, and Data - are all you need to choose for a backup of your current system. However, I think you may be either using the terms incorrectly or have an incorrect impression of how to flash a ROM. From what I understand, a custom ROM is not flashed (installed) to your SD card. You can designate your SD card as a place to store your backups of said roms or your stock ROM, but flashing a ROM sends that to your phone's internal storage to take up space in "System Memory".
Hope this helps clarify a bit, and my apologies in advance if I've botched any of this explanation. Senior members, please correct anythign I've said that may lead Andrx astray.
Cheers!
---------- Post added at 09:28 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:24 AM ----------
skiddingus said:
I never did find the directory that CWM stores the backups. On Android 4.2 and up I believe it stores them in a secure hidden directory. I used the applications to delete the backups. I installed ROMmanager and used its "manage backups" option to clear my CWM backups. I used TWRP to clear its backups as well. I currently use CWM for my backups and I backup to and external sd card (32gb or less of course). My internal card has neary 7gb free and shows a total space of 9.62Gb. I have almost 2gb of apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome, this is definitely helpful. I'll work with those apps to clear it up and report back. Thank you!!
---------- Post added at 10:03 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:28 AM ----------
skiddingus said:
I never did find the directory that CWM stores the backups. On Android 4.2 and up I believe it stores them in a secure hidden directory. I used the applications to delete the backups. I installed ROMmanager and used its "manage backups" option to clear my CWM backups. I used TWRP to clear its backups as well. I currently use CWM for my backups and I backup to and external sd card (32gb or less of course). My internal card has neary 7gb free and shows a total space of 9.62Gb. I have almost 2gb of apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So!! Using TWRP, I chose: "Advanced" --> "File Manager" and then navigate to /data/media/clockworkmod/backup/xxxxweirddaterangexxx
Then press "Select" (from within the "xxxweirddaterangexxx" directory) and deleted an un-needed backup file that seemed to be almost 3GB in size.
REMEMBER TO STORE YOUR BACKUP ELSEWHERE IF YOU WANT TO KEEP A COPY.
Once I did this, my phone storage showed 7.1 GB available, whereas before it showed 4.3. W00t.
Thanks again for your help skiddingus!!
skiddingus said:
Do you have a custom recovery? If so, when you make a backup with CWM it will be several gigs and will be in a hidden directory. I had the same issue with only one backup of the stock rom. I had to place my backups on the external card and now I have a few more gigs on the internal card. Remember that CWM will not work on an external card over 32 gig. I had to sell my 64 and buy a 32 for that reason.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OH No! This explains why I can not NANDROID with CWM to my 64 GB SD card.
I have a 64 GB SD card in my newly purchased S4. Is there any work around for this or hope of an update to fix this limitation?
swieder711 said:
OH No! This explains why I can not NANDROID with CWM to my G4 GB SD card.
I have a 64 GB SD card in my newly purchased S4. Is there any work around for this or hope of an update to fix this limitation?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not that I have found. I think I remember reading somewhere that it is a licensing issue with the ex-fat support. CWM does not want to pay for it. Is this correct anyone?
Does Team Win have the same issue?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
I switched from cwm to twrp and can create a nandroid on my 64gb card.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
cwm to twrp
swieder711 said:
OH No! This explains why I can not NANDROID with CWM to my 64 GB SD card.
I have a 64 GB SD card in my newly purchased S4. Is there any work around for this or hope of an update to fix this limitation?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes there is. I have a SanDisk 64gb micro SD card and when I purchased it for my note 2 I had the same problem. What I did is format it to fat32 instead of ex fat using ease us partition the free version here's the link
http://www.partition-tool.com/personal.htm after doing that i have had no problems it works in CWM just fine and for all other tasks in my note 2 and my s4. I tried a different program before I found easeus and it seemed to work but every time I did it after it my backups would just disappear.
Sent from my SCH-I545 using xda app-developers app

Need to FORMAT SD card

I already have apps on my SD card that I had moved over in the past but any other apps I move now become corrupted and useless. I'm hoping that formating the card will fix this issue. Can I just copy all contents from the card over to my pc then copy them back on after the format? Should everything work correctly? I have 6gigs of spotify music and other big data files. Hope someone answers Thanks!
Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk
Help?
Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk
Are you on a custom ROM?
Which version of Androrid are u using
cyaclone said:
Are you on a custom ROM?
Which version of Androrid are u using
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm on lollipop with klte root. Man I messed up. I transfered all the contents from my sd over to my pc to format it and when I switched everything back over the folders came up as all empty. And I can't seem to recreate a folder called .android_secure. My storage info shows that about 9gigs of space are being used on the sd but the folders show nothing. 6gigs were of pure spotify offline music. This is not a good day. Tons of pics were there too.
Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk
I have done the same. In MM was concerned that my SD data would be gone. Made the transfer to the PC of everything. After seeing what MM did to my SD, I formatted the SD again and transferred from the PC to the SD and all was fine. If you want that info back and it is still on the PC, then just do the same. In my case after the format, all was as before.
I lost everything on the card. Dammit. I want to just do a complete hard reset of my phone. If I do a backup with kies will I be able to add all my apps and settings back on my phone afterwards with a recovery of the backup?
Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk
passport619 said:
I lost everything on the card. Dammit. I want to just do a complete hard reset of my phone. If I do a backup with kies will I be able to add all my apps and settings back on my phone afterwards with a recovery of the backup?
Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I recommend using Kies and Another Backup Solution as I've had problems with Kies backups in the past, causing me to lose saved texts, contacts, memos, settings, etc.
I personally recommend using Helium backup from ClockworkMod, a quick search through google play should get it for ya.
Happy resetting! :3
EDIT: Just realized this thread is old... you've probably already reset the phone. Sorry I didn't pay attention to the date stamp..
It's almost scary that you would have responded to this thread right now. I am going through the exact same mess again. I tried applying a fix to make the external card detectable by other apps which were not detecting it. Well after doing that none of my apps or data on the card show up or work. The files are there if I explore root folder though. How do I regain the pathway to the card? Through my USB on pc it does not show the external but it does if I use sd card reader with the sd card by itself. Last time I copied everything from the card to my pc then formatted. It all became a senseless mess when I tried returning everything to the card. Lost everything. I tried backing up with kies before but it did not give option to backup sd card. Please help is an understatement. I just checked the sd card for errors using Windows tools but no errors popped up.
Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk
passport619 said:
It's almost scary that you would have responded to this thread right now. I am going through the exact same mess again. I tried applying a fix to make the external card detectable by other apps which were not detecting it. Well after doing that none of my apps or data on the card show up or work. The files are there if I explore root folder though. How do I regain the pathway to the card? Through my USB on pc it does not show the external but it does if I use sd card reader with the sd card by itself. Last time I copied everything from the card to my pc then formatted. It all became a senseless mess when I tried returning everything to the card. Lost everything. I tried backing up with kies before but it did not give option to backup sd card. Please help is an understatement. I just checked the sd card for errors using Windows tools but no errors popped up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The reason for this occurrence (as well as how to fix it) depend on how the fix was applied.
Please describe the nature of the fix as specifically as you can. Things like where you found it, what it does, how you installed it, as well as if this is the same SD card, will help the most.
Edit: if you could also include the file system that's on the card that would be great too.
Thank you for responding. I'm not sure what the file system on the card would be but I've attached a screenshot of what I did. The name of the app is there.
Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk
passport619 said:
Thank you for responding. I'm not sure what the file system on the card would be but I've attached a screenshot of what I did. The name of the app is there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I found the app in question in the play store, and was unable to track down exactly what it does, so we can't get anything out of that.
To get the file system that's on the card all you have to do is put it in a Windows PC and look at the drive properties.
At this point the best thing to do would be to back up everything on the card to a computer.

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