[Q] Restore files from Nandroid backup - Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hello,
I did a Nandroid backup (system, data, etc. using CWM) and a Titanium backup (user apps), wiped my phone, and installed a new ROM.
Q: Does a Nandroid backup include the /ProgramData/Language/ folder?
I'm trying to restore files I 'hid' using the Hide It Pro app. A developer blog post mentions that this folder is the 'vault location'. As a result, I'd like to find this folder and restore it if possible.
A Titanium Backup restore of the Hide It Pro app+data didn't of course work due to this. I'd like to avoid restoring everything from the Nandroid backup if possible and just restore the individual folder. I have of course tried looking through the folders and files to find it, to no avail.
Many thanks,
Chris
CM11 on Galaxy S3 i9300

I'd also like to know where (and if) the 'Download' folder is backed up to in a Nandroid backup.
Anyone with knowledge of the Android partitions structure and may know where to find these folders, your assistance would be much appreciated. I can't seem to find any of this on the net unfortunately.

ChrisLoz said:
I'd also like to know where (and if) the 'Download' folder is backed up to in a Nandroid backup.
Anyone with knowledge of the Android partitions structure and may know where to find these folders, your assistance would be much appreciated. I can't seem to find any of this on the net unfortunately.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have been using "Audio Manager" aka "Hide it Pro" for many months (maybe 2 years)
(DON'T THINK OF WEIRD HIDDEN THINGS !!! I use only encryption feature to encrypt my script files. :laugh::highfive
Hide it Pro stores its main locker in /sdcard/ProgramData/Android/.Language/.fr
and fake locker in /sdcard/ProgramData/Android/.Language/.xx (escape pin locker)
After new ROM they are not deleted if you did not format SD Card.
Reinstall "Hide it Pro" (any version) and set password like first time. But all old hidden files will be there.
(During new ROM install, Hide it Pro files are not harmed if SD Card is not formatted, just follow above method to get files back)
They are not deleted unless you format SD Card. (internal or external whatever you have)
Unfortunately Nandroid backup does not backup /sdcard.
So you Hide it Pro hidden files (top secret!!! ) and Download folder is not backed up in Nandroid.
If you have any other question, ask me. I know thoroughly about that app.
Press Thanks if helped.

hnkotnis said:
I have been using "Audio Manager" aka "Hide it Pro" for many months (maybe 2 years)
(DON'T THINK OF WEIRD HIDDEN THINGS !!! I use only encryption feature to encrypt my script files. :laugh::highfive
Hide it Pro stores its main locker in /sdcard/ProgramData/Android/.Language/.fr
and fake locker in /sdcard/ProgramData/Android/.Language/.xx (escape pin locker)
After new ROM they are not deleted if you did not format SD Card.
Reinstall "Hide it Pro" (any version) and set password like first time. But all old hidden files will be there.
(During new ROM install, Hide it Pro files are not harmed if SD Card is not formatted, just follow above method to get files back)
They are not deleted unless you format SD Card. (internal or external whatever you have)
Unfortunately Nandroid backup does not backup /sdcard.
So you Hide it Pro hidden files (top secret!!! ) and Download folder is not backed up in Nandroid.
If you have any other question, ask me. I know thoroughly about that app.
Press Thanks if helped.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, thanks for your reply.
It is to my understanding that /sdcard/ is the *internal* SD card, isn't it? ProgramData and Download are both folders on /sdcard/, which are currently empty due to the factory reset. I did not format my external SD card - the files on that still remain, but do not include either of these folders.
I have previously reinstalled Hide It Pro, the files did not reappear.
I would like to restore the two mentioned (internal) folders from my Nandroid backup.

ChrisLoz said:
Hi, thanks for your reply.
I have already reinstalled Hide It Pro, the files did not reappear.
It is to my understanding that /sdcard/ is the *internal* SD card, isn't it? ProgramData and Download are both folders on /sdcard/, which are currently empty due to the factory reset. I did not format my external SD card - the files on that still remain, but do not include either of these folders.
I would like to restore these two internal SD card folders from my Nandroid backup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Depending on device's CWM (this varies with device) backed up folders change.
Copy CWM Backup to your PC and open that folder. You will see some/all following files. ext4 and rfs different based on ROM.
boot.img
data.rfs.tar
system.rfs.tar
.android_secure.tar
cache.rfs.tar
If there is sdcard.vfat.tar you are lucky. Internal SD Card is backed up. (unfortunately this is not for 99% CWM)
Otherwise I am afraid data is lost.
In case of data loss, try there to apps (require root) which can recover deleted photos. (I don't know about internal card, but I have tested them on external card.)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=fahrbot.apps.undelete
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.defianttech.diskdigger
Press Thanks if helped.

hnkotnis said:
Depending on device's CWM (this varies with device) backed up folders change.
Copy CWM Backup to your PC and open that folder. You will see some/all following files. ext4 and rfs different based on ROM.
boot.img
data.rfs.tar
system.rfs.tar
.android_secure.tar
cache.rfs.tar
If there is sdcard.vfat.tar you are lucky. Internal SD Card is backed up. (unfortunately this is not for 99% CWM)
Otherwise I am afraid data is lost.
In case of data loss, try there to apps (require root) which can recover deleted photos. (I don't know about internal card, but I have tested them on external card.)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=fahrbot.apps.undelete
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.defianttech.diskdigger
Press Thanks if helped.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah I see. Thank you.
I have already moved the backup to my PC, I'll check to see if that file is there tomorrow but I don't recall it being unfortunately. I had presumed Nandroid backed up everything, so it's quite an annoyance if I have lost everything from /sdcard/, but it's nothing too important thankfully.
Thank you for the link to the data loss recovery apps, I will give those a try if needed.

ChrisLoz said:
Ah I see. Thank you.
I have already moved the backup to my PC, I'll check to see if that file is there tomorrow but I don't recall it being unfortunately. I had presumed Nandroid backed up everything, so it's quite an annoyance if I have lost everything from /sdcard/, but it's nothing too important thankfully.
Thank you for the link to the data loss recovery apps, I will give those a try if needed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use these data recovery apps as soon as possible, because if the storage space where previous data was is overwritten, then data recovery is not possible.
Press Thanks if helped.

hnkotnis said:
Use these data recovery apps as soon as possible, because if the storage space where previous data was is overwritten, then data recovery is not possible.
Press Thanks if helped.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Neither worked unfortunately.
I'll give this method a go: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2143188

hnkotnis said:
Use these data recovery apps as soon as possible, because if the storage space where previous data was is overwritten, then data recovery is not possible.
Press Thanks if helped.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm trying to follow this guide to recover the 'sdcard' folder.
[GUIDE] Internal Memory Data Recovery - Yes We Can!
It's aimed at Galaxy Nexus, so I'm trying to change it for S3.
I've installed all the software and apps: BusyBox, Cygwin, Netcat, ADB (Android SDK + Java JDK), VHD Tool, Recuva, etc.
The internal 'sdcard' folder doesn't appear to be a partition, so when it comes to the first command main step:
5. Open a Cygwin terminal and enter (This assumes your BusyBox installation is at [/system/bin/busybox]. It may be at [/system/xbin/busybox]):
Code:
adb forward tcp:5555 tcp:5555
adb shell
/system/bin/busybox nc -l -p 5555 -e /system/bin/busybox dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p12
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
...I don't know what to enter.
Any assistance would be appreciated!
Edit: Continued in this thread - http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s3/help/recover-files-sdcard-t2704117/

Sometimes files could be lost after you hide them with Hide It Pro. You may see this guide: Recover data in Hide It Pro
Good Luck.

Related

[Q] Flashed from stock to CM10.1, data gone...or is it?

Hi guys.
I just flashed my SGSIII from Stock 4.1.2 to the latest CM10.1 nightly using CWM.
These are the steps, in chronical order, i went through:
Root device
Install CWM
Titanium Backup my apps and app data
EFS Backup
several other manual backups such as sms backup, dcim folder, whatsapp images etc.
Nandroid Backup using the CWM
Transfer all backup files to my MAC, as i don't have an external SD, just in case
Flash CM10.1, Flash Gapps, Wipe Data/factory reset, wipe davlik cache
Everything works fine, therefore copy TB Backup form Mac to device and restore it.
First of all: I didn't expect "wipe data/factory reset" to delete my complete internal storage (in the past being reffered to as sdcard0) containing all my user data like photos etc. But in fact it did! Nowhere to be found right now, which doesn't really matter as i did backup the most important stuff. But anyway...
And here comes the strange thing:
My system tells me that i have 11,35gigs of storage overall but only 6gigs can be used? The internal storage is literally empty. I don't have any files on it except my TB Backup data which is about 450-500mb. Another stange thing is that these 4 or 5 gigs of data which cannot be found anywhere (except DiskUsage) just happen to be as much data as i had on my phone before the whole flashing process.
So, I gotta ask myself: Could this be my old data? If yes, where is it to be found?
Another hint: I used the DiskUsage app to scan my internal storage. It shows me "system data" with a size of a little over 4gigs. What is that? Is this my old - but unaccessible - data?
I wanted to post a screenshot here, but I am not alowed as a new user. So here is my link 0cn[DOT]de[SLASH]ug5c
I'd be very appreciative if you could help me somehow. And yes, I did perform a search before asking, but couldn't find anything. :good:
/sdcard used to mount to /data/media/ but now its /data/media/0 so android is looking here for your data.
Basically all your 11.35 GB is in /data anyway so it accounts for /data/app, data/data (where apks are and app data) but also /data/media (now /data/media/0)
So using a file manager, look for stuff in /data/media and /data/media/0.
In data/media you should only have:
0
obb
Legacy
Often you'll find a clockworkmod folder here due to a backup
Factory reset from stock recovery / android wipes /sdcard. But clockworkmod recovery (and others) do not
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
Thank you so much!
Indeed, a copy of my whole old data is in /data/media, so it's full with a bunch of folders, containing my old stuff including the CM.zip and the Gapps.zip etc.
According to your post, this is not right? Should I move the data somewhere?
Is there a good reason why they changed the filesystem and the folder structure in 4.2.x so massively?
And again, thanks!
domemvs said:
Thank you so much!
Indeed, a copy of my whole old data is in /data/media, so it's full with a bunch of folders, containing my old stuff including the CM.zip and the Gapps.zip etc.
According to your post, this is not right? Should I move the data somewhere?
Is there a good reason why they changed the filesystem and the folder structure in 4.2.x so massively?
And again, thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
first of all, it's not a copy, those are the original files. you can move it to /data/media/0 to be able to access it from the ROM.
the reason for the change is the multiple users feature. /0 is internal SD for the first user, /1 is for the second, and so on
Glebun said:
first of all, it's not a copy, those are the original files. you can move it to /data/media/0 to be able to access it from the ROM.
the reason for the change is the multiple users feature. /0 is internal SD for the first user, /1 is for the second, and so on
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This makes a lot of sense! Thanks for clarification.
One last question
Strangely enough I found my whole old data here as well: /mnt/shell/emulated
Is there a reasonable explanation for this as well?

Insufficient storage available SGS3 Rooted even with space

Hi all,
I have come to a conclusion that I need more suggestions than most posted threads that have similar issues. I am past the basic tests, but I am sure there are more options.
The issue: I cannot install any new APK's either from Google Play or even via ADB. I am getting the common "Insufficient storage available" error. I assume all installed files land in /data/app first which is on the internal storage. So I have attached some screenshots below that prove that everything should be working fine given there is a lot of free space left.
Also, other things I have done are:
- Wipe dalvik cache and /cache
- Fix Root permissions
- copy /system/xbin/busybox to /system/bin (cannot update busybox since I cannot install or overwrite due to this error)
- Check both /storage/sdcard0 and /storage/sdcard1 have enough space.
1- you should ask the moderator to move it to S3 Q&A
2- I've also encountered this kind of issue in the past. If you are using Philz recovery:
backup all files on sd + nandroid backup to sd1, do 'wipe to install a new rom', mount&storage->format system, format data and sdcard (it will delete your previous rom and all files on internal sd, so don't forget to copy a new one to your external sd, and be careful not to format sdcard1)
Now you can restore your nandroid backup (don't forget to copy backed-up files to sd afterwards) or to install a freash one
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk
Try an app called Diskusage ... maybe it helps.
sergiomc22 said:
Try an app called Diskusage ... maybe it helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hard to install any new APK's / apps since I get this message every single time.
Nothing worse than someone saying why don't you try... app; don't think they understand your dilemma. Can you install an. Apk from phone or ext men?
Can you install things if you remove your ext sd?

[Q] Data Recovery from sick galaxy s3

My partner's phone has suddenly decided of its own accord that it wants to reformat the internal memory, presumably due to some sort of unrecoverable data corruption. The message that came up informing us of that was something along the lines of "Phone memory is damaged. The data partition is damaged, you should restore your phone to factory settings. Doing so will delete all your data" and then a single button saying "Restore phone to factory settings". (I say something along the lines because that is a translation from the actual Spanish message that comes up)
So, she has a bunch of data that she would prefer not to lose (mostly backed up, but some apps not, and photos missing for last month or so of our daughter - usual story).
So I have been hunting around to see if it would be possible, and mostly what I have found isn't too optimistic. I did however find the following link that did seem somewhat promising:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1994705
So it is for the Nexus and the title refers to internal data, but then also refers to SD cards, but the process does seem to refer to internal data. I have a bunch of questions about the process in the context of an S3:
1. Anyone think this process is transferable to the S3? If so what is the equivalent data partition name? For the Nexus it appears to be /dev/block/mmcblk0p12. Would that be the same for the S3?
2. I am going to have to root this device first unfortunately (meaning I am going to have to write to the internal memory ahead of doing the RAW dump, obviously not ideal, but I see no way round it). Is the process described here (root only option):
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2046439
appropriate, or am I going to need to somehow find out what version my partner was on (not 100% sure but I think it was 4.1.2) and adjust accordingly?
3. Do I have to have a fully working version before I can install busybox, or is that something that can be put in place using CWM?
4. Likewise do I have to have a fully working version before I can get ADB working or can I get ADB to work with CWM? I have found a couple of threads that suggest ADB works natively with CWM and others that suggest not.
5. I know how to turn on USB debugging if I can get into setttings of a normal Android system, but how do I do that without a working version, can that be done via CWM?
I guess basically I want to know what would be the minimal set of steps that I can run through to get Busybox installed on the phone, (presumably rooted) and talking ADB to my PC. I say minimal set of steps becuase the less writing I do, the more data might be salvagable.
I am surprised that there isn't some bootstrap version that can't just pull off the existing data and allow you to manipulate it elsewhere (which is what the process I have put the link to seems to do) but it seems much more involved than just a bootstrap.
Be gentle with me - I am just a noob!
bobalucci said:
So, she has a bunch of data that she would prefer not to lose (mostly backed up, but some apps not, and photos missing for last month or so of our daughter - usual story).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if its only that I would do it a bit more simpler:
for app data: make a nandroid backup and after the reformat you can use nandroid manager to restore your apps and their data (if you simply restore the damaged data partition as a nandroid backup the problem could accur again). but maybe if the apps and data are damaged because of the damaged data partition they could maybe not be restored.
for photos etc. you can flash philz touch and then follow the steps in the main thread of philz touch on how to put the aroma.zip onto an external sd card (just search for aroma in the thread, you'll find it). aroma is like a file browser with root priviliges which can be executed through recovery. with that you can copy your photos onto the external sd card
btw. I am not sure if the standard factory reset wipes the internal sd cards data. if you only format your data partition photos etc. shouldn't be affected (for example through philz recovery you can just format data partition).
Data Recovery from sick galaxy s3 (installing custom recovery)
Thanks for that... that makes sense... any way I can get the custom recovery onto the phone without having already reformatted the data partition? All the methods I have seen for installing a custom recovery require normal access to the phone... and I don't have that at the moment - just to a screen that tells me that it will reformat the data partition - and I don't want to do that if I can avoid it - as it will modify the data I am trying to save.
Darkened_Sky said:
if its only that I would do it a bit more simpler:
for app data: make a nandroid backup and after the reformat you can use nandroid manager to restore your apps and their data (if you simply restore the damaged data partition as a nandroid backup the problem could accur again). but maybe if the apps and data are damaged because of the damaged data partition they could maybe not be restored.
for photos etc. you can flash philz touch and then follow the steps in the main thread of philz touch on how to put the aroma.zip onto an external sd card (just search for aroma in the thread, you'll find it). aroma is like a file browser with root priviliges which can be executed through recovery. with that you can copy your photos onto the external sd card
btw. I am not sure if the standard factory reset wipes the internal sd cards data. if you only format your data partition photos etc. shouldn't be affected (for example through philz recovery you can just format data partition).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Data recovery sticky ???
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2344125

Restore S-Planner

Hello,
I have made a backup of my calendar with "easy backup" from the Play Store and installed a custom rom. Therefore I made a full wipe - unfortunately I lost the backup.
I have stored both, the internal SDCard and the external SDCard to my Computer and still have this data.
Is there any possibility to restore my calendar entries with the given data?
Thank you very much
GerhardK90 said:
Hello,
I have made a backup of my calendar with "easy backup" from the Play Store and installed a custom rom. Therefore I made a full wipe - unfortunately I lost the backup.
I have stored both, the internal SDCard and the external SDCard to my Computer and still have this data.
Is there any possibility to restore my calendar entries with the given data?
Thank you very much
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just move the Easy Backup data folder back to your device and reinstall the app. As long as the folder is in the right spot, the app should recognize and restore your data. It's a good idea to sign into an account for the Calendar stuff so it gets stored in a cloud service, thus making this transition easier.
Thank you for your reply!
ahh I think I werent exact enough in my explaination. The problem is, that I made the backup of the internal and external SDCard first and then downloaded the backup tool of which I thought it would make the backup on the external SDCard. Unfortunately the tool stored the backup file on the internal SDCard. So the problem is, that my current backup does not hold the files of the backuptool.
GerhardK90 said:
Thank you for your reply!
ahh I think I werent exact enough in my explaination. The problem is, that I made the backup of the internal and external SDCard first and then downloaded the backup tool of which I thought it would make the backup on the external SDCard. Unfortunately the tool stored the backup file on the internal SDCard. So the problem is, that my current backup does not hold the files of the backuptool.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah, I see. Gonna be out of luck then unless you
A) Had signed up with a Samsung account and it had synced before wiping
B) Have a nandroid backup of your previous rom to restore (if you don't - shame on you! lol)
If it was saved to your internal storage, then I'm not sure why it still wouldn't be there unless you intentionally wiped it in recovery. Factory data resets in a custom recovery do not touch the partition of your internal storage that you save your app data and media to.
Edit: App data in this sense is what the apps store on your internal storage partition that the phone sees as /sdcard/, which is /data/media not the regular app data stored in /data/data such as like settings and preferences, which does get wiped in a reset.
es0tericcha0s said:
Ah, I see. Gonna be out of luck then unless you
A) Had signed up with a Samsung account and it had synced before wiping
B) Have a nandroid backup of your previous rom to restore (if you don't - shame on you! lol)
If it was saved to your internal storage, then I'm not sure why it still wouldn't be there unless you intentionally wiped it in recovery. Factory data resets in a custom recovery do not touch the partition of your internal storage that you save your app data and media to.
Edit: App data in this sense is what the apps store on your internal storage partition that the phone sees as /sdcard/, which is /data/media not the regular app data stored in /data/data such as like settings and preferences, which does get wiped in a reset.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
:S I do not understand that actually, because somewhere S-Planner has to save the entries - or not? So I think if I backup anything from the internal/external storage I should also have backed up the database with the entries or not ?

Does TWRP back up internal data? How to restore?

Hi guys,
I wanted to update my Custom Android and did a TWRP backup before.
It required to do a factory reset and format data which I did.
After finishing everything up and installing the new ROM, I saw that all pictures stored in /storage/emulated/0/Pictures are gone.
There were all Screenshots and saved Snapchat files. Fortunately, the Camera pictures were saved on the SD-Card which I didn't formatted.
Since I am not able to undo "format data" (or can I somehow??), how am I getting to the path above? I tried Nandroid Manager and were able to load the backup but it seems that this path was not included in the backup...
I thought everything internal will be saved in a TWRP backup?
Does anyone know how to get on those files or are they completely gone?
I'm on a LG G3, bumped stock Rom (Lollipop 5.0), and TWRP 2.8.5.0.
Thanks!!
Are you able to find the path /storage in your backup?
popthosegaskets said:
Are you able to find the path /storage in your backup?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No I was unable to find it but it is very unclear and confusing to find paths anyway...
jwsp1 said:
Hi guys,
I wanted to update my Custom Android and did a TWRP backup before.
It required to do a factory reset and format data which I did.
After finishing everything up and installing the new ROM, I saw that all pictures stored in /storage/emulated/0/Pictures are gone.
There were all Screenshots and saved Snapchat files. Fortunately, the Camera pictures were saved on the SD-Card which I didn't formatted.
Since I am not able to undo "format data" (or can I somehow??), how am I getting to the path above? I tried Nandroid Manager and were able to load the backup but it seems that this path was not included in the backup...
I thought everything internal will be saved in a TWRP backup?
Does anyone know how to get on those files or are they completely gone?
I'm on a LG G3, bumped stock Rom (Lollipop 5.0), and TWRP 2.8.5.0.
Thanks!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
TWRP only backups system+data+cache. So if you have formated your internal storage even after backing up with TWRP that means you have deleted your content's forever.
Luckily you can take them back.
If you are rooted, then there's a app named DiskDigger. This app can recover deleted files from selected storage media. Below is the play store link for the app.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.defianttech.diskdigger&hl=en
Hope it helped you
hitman-xda said:
TWRP only backups system+data+cache. So if you have formated your internal storage even after backing up with TWRP that means you have deleted your content's forever.
Luckily you can take them back.
If you are rooted, then there's a app named DiskDigger. This app can recover deleted files from selected storage media. Below is the play store link for the app.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.defianttech.diskdigger&hl=en
Hope it helped you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately, it didn't work... I just found the pictures I took by myself in the Camera folder which were not affected and are there anyway but the deleted files (especially screenshots and snapchat photos) can't be found...
Any other option I could try?
Thanks so much for your help!!
jwsp1 said:
Unfortunately, it didn't work... I just found the pictures I took by myself in the Camera folder which were not affected and are there anyway but the deleted files (especially screenshots and snapchat photos) can't be found...
Any other option I could try?
Thanks so much for your help!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe you should try other apps similar to DiskDigger. It might help you.
I know a computer software for recovery but it'll not on internal storage as internal storage is ext2 format.
No solution found; thread closed.
hitman-xda said:
Maybe you should try other apps similar to DiskDigger. It might help you.
I know a computer software for recovery but it'll not on internal storage as internal storage is ext2 format.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your answer.
I tried a lot of software but none of it worked. I believe that the data was already overwritten - so permanently erased.
I decided to give up; but I learned that you should have recent backups of your phone and that twrp is not a full backup of data.
Thanks for your help!!

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