[Verizon] Nandroid backup size

[ggorin]

So I have made a couple Nandroid backups through CWM and I was going to pass it to my computer for safekeeping. When I went to delete old ones, I noticed that the size of the file seems very small, about 22 MB. I have over 130 apps on my phone and this seems extremely small, in particular when I read that most Nandroid backups are at least in the hundreds of MBs.


What could be happening in my case? I am checking via ES file explorer? Am I missing something?

I also wanted to know if using Dropbox or similiar could be a good idea to keep the Nandroid Backup files?

Help appreciated!!

Thanks!

 

[NSutherl]

I'm not sure why they would only be 22MB. You are right, they should be upwards of ~500MB. How long are the nandroids taking to complete?

I don't use dropbox to store because the file sizes are so large. It would take forever for them to upload, and I only have 3GB of dropbox space, so it would fill up pretty quick. I keep a few "milestone" nandroids on my phone in case of emergency, and keep the rest on my PC/external hard drive.

 

[ggorin]

The backups take quite a while, so I don't understand why the small size. What do you suggest?

 

[ggorin]

I don't think that CWM is backing up the apps, since it is not external storage, it's the only storage for the Galaxy Nexus. If that is the case, would that make sense in terms of the size? And if so, what kind of problem can I run into? I am backing all my apps with TB and have a copy on Dropbox.

 

[scary alien]

I'm betting that you are using ClockworkMod version 6.x, right?

This version creates a set of "blob" files (I think that's right--I tested CWM 6.x early-on but prefer the "regular" version) that represent portions of your filesystem that don't or haven't changed from Nandroid backup to Nandroid backup. This results in very small, very quick Nandroid backup directories.

Here's koush's G+ release posting of this:

https://plus.google.com/103583939320326217147/posts/SdyVzvxKkUh

Let me know if this explains things or not.

Cheers!

edit: also, check out this thread over on XDA: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1757146

 

[NSutherl]

I don't think that CWM is backing up the apps, since it is not external storage, it's the only storage for the Galaxy Nexus. If that is the case, would that make sense in terms of the size? And if so, what kind of problem can I run into? I am backing all my apps with TB and have a copy on Dropbox.

What version of CWM are you on?

EDIT: Ninja'd by SA.

 

[ggorin]

I actually have CWM 5.0.2.0, but I see those blob files, which I read about somewhere else. Have not read the threads you posted, but having this version of CWM explains my issue or not?

I am confused, but appreciate your help.

Will check the thread, but if you have any other ideas, please let me know.

Thanks!

 

[ggorin]

Edit to my last comment. I guess I do have the 6.x recovery. The version of CWM is 5.0.2.0. I suppose that answers the question...

Thanks again!

 

[kinfolk248]

wonder how i can get an older version of recovery back b/c i do like being able to physically move the backup and not have to rely on blobs or whatever...i kinda want old faithful back...

 

[scary alien]

wonder how i can get an older version of recovery back b/c i do like being able to physically move the backup and not have to rely on blobs or whatever...i kinda want old faithful back...

My Android Root Toolkit app (free in the Market; link should be in my signature in one of these posts) has several older versions available for flashing directly from the app.

Check it out .

 

[kinfolk248]

My Android Root Toolkit app (free in the Market; link should be in my signature in one of these posts) has several older versions available for flashing directly from the app.

Check it out .

oh wow, thanks a lot

one quick question tho, which one/how far back should i go with to give me the regular recovery with regular nandroids? u wouldnt happen to know off hand would you...?

 

[scary alien]

oh wow, thanks a lot

one quick question tho, which one/how far back should i go with to give me the regular recovery with regular nandroids? u wouldnt happen to know off hand would you...?

You should be able to use a non 6.x version of ClockworkMod (i. e., 5.x or before--but the more recent the better). TWRP versions won't work by the way since they use a .win suffix for their backups.

 

[kinfolk248]

You should be able to use a non 6.x version of ClockworkMod (i. e., 5.x or before--but the more recent the better). TWRP versions won't work by the way since they use a .win suffix for their backups.

Ok thanks a lot man, I flashed 5802, may stick with it for a while cus like I said I like being able to move my backups and not have to worry about blobs or whatever its called. And most ppl still use cmw anyway sooo, ya know...

 

[winkosmosis]

Is Nandroid, version 5 or 6, capable of backing up the empty sectors of an Android phone/tablet? IE raw sector copy like you can do on a PC with Easis and similar programs. I'm wondering because I want to back up the entire onboard flash memory for future data recovery.

 

[scary alien]

Is Nandroid, version 5 or 6, capable of backing up the empty sectors of an Android phone/tablet? IE raw sector copy like you can do on a PC with Easis and similar programs. I'm wondering because I want to back up the entire onboard flash memory for future data recovery.

No, the Nandroid backups, via whatever method the custom recovery chooses to use (ClockworkMod writes-out differently-named files from TWRP and packages them differently) backup used portions of a filesystem.

The filesystems on your device might also be of different types, so the custom recovery needs to use different utilities for backing-up and restoring.

In either case, you do end-up with a whole partition backup (there are partitions that are NOT backed-up since they don't or won't typically change).

Cheers!

 

[winkosmosis]

So is there any way to copy empty sectors aside from the dd command? The tablet isn't rooted so I can't use dd.

 

[scary alien]

So is there any way to copy empty sectors aside from the dd command? The tablet isn't rooted so I can't use dd.

The issue, like you allude to, is one of access--dd works for non-protected files and partitions, but if you don't have access (i.e. root privileges) to protected files, you can't copy with any utility.

The adb utility has some special privileges, but it's file-based and still requires that you have access to the files you're attempting to copy.