I would like to try my hand at a quick How To. I could not find any specific nandroid "How To" threads when I was trying to learn about nandroids, but instead had to figure it out through an occasional post in a thread to an off subject question asked usually by a different person than the OP!
What is a nandroid? You hear people mention you should make a nandroid of your current rom before you try a new rom or kernel or just to have a back up in general. This is good advice and could save you a lot of frustration if something goes wrong. A nandroid basically takes an image of everything you have and makes a restorable copy of it. Yes, this includes text messages, contacts, screen layouts, backgrounds, installed apps, app data, etc. It is an EXACT copy of your device at the time the nandroid is made. Keep in mind that this means any changes you make after the nandroid will not be saved should you have to restore your EVO.
A couple of things first:
1. This is for root users only! If you are unrooted, this won't help. Come back after you are rooted.......
2. It is important that you have enough room on your sd card. Each nandroid takes up 300+mb. My largest back up is 397mb, but I don't have a ton of apps or pictures. The more stuff, the bigger the nandroid file will be.
3. There are multiple ways to do this. I will explain the steps to create a nandroid using Clockworkmod Recovery, Amon RA Recovery and Rom Manager. Rom Manager is going to be the easiest for most people. (Not that the others are diffcult!)
4. nandroids made by Amon RA Recovery can not be recovered with Clockworkmod Recovery nor can nandroids made by Clockworkmod Recovery be recovered with Amon RA Recovery. Rom Manager uses Clockworkmod Recovery (same dev) and the rules apply as above.
5. Make sure your battery is reasonably charged or your EVO is plugged in. If your EVO is plugged into a computer make sure Charge Only is the connection type.
Creating a nandroid with Rom Manager
Rom Manager is an app available in the Market. It does a whole lot more than just allow you to make a nandroid, but I am only going to talk about this particular function. The app is free but there is a paid version if you wish to support the dev (clockwork mod).
1. Open Rom Manager and select "Backup Current ROM"
1a. Current Amon RA Users If you are using Amon RA as your recovery than a window will pop up prompting you to install Clockwork Mod Recovery first. Click install and and confirm your phone model. A window will pop up saying it was succesful, click "OK". Select "Backup Current ROM" again to launch. You can use ROM Manager to change back to Amon RA at any point after you have backed up if you that is what you prefer.
2. You should now have a window prompting you to give your backup a name. You can use the default name if you wish, but I would recommend naming it something you will recognize. I name mine based on ROM, kernel and date of backup.
3. Hit "OK" and let the magic begin! Your phone will reboot itself and flash the white EVO screen, followed by a black screen with scrolling text and a progress bar at the bottom. Let it sit and do its thing, should only take a few minutes. Once the backup is complete the phone will reboot as normal.
Congratulations, you have made a nandroid! How do I restore it you ask? Good question.....
Restoring a nandroid with Rom Manager
1. Open Rom Manager and select "Manage and Restore Backups"
2. Depending on how many backups you have made using Clockworkmod Recovery or ROM Manager, you should see them all here.
3. Select the nandroid you wish to restore and a window will pop up giving you the option to Restore, Rename or Delete. Pretty self explanatory, select "Rename" if you want to call it Fred, or "Restore" if you wish to restore your device..
4. Another window will pop up asking if you are sure you want to restore. If you are, select "OK".
5. Your device will reboot and you will see the white EVO screen followed by a black screen with a little android by a box. You will start to see text scrolling as files are restored and a progress bar at the bottom.
6. Your device will reboot when it is finished and you will be back in a known good state.
Creating a nandroid with Clockworkmod Recovery
1. Power down your device.
2. Hold down the decrease volume button on the side of your EVO, and while holding it down push the power button, continuing to hold the volume down button.
3. When you see the white bootlaoder screen your next step may vary. If you have a PC36IMG file on your sd card then the bootloader will run through this first. When it asks if you want to update select "No" by pushing the volume down button once. After that it will ask if you want to reboot. Again select "No" by pushing the volume down button once. You will then be at the bootloader screen where you can select FASTBOOT, RECOVERY, CLEAR STORAGE, SIMLOCK or HBOOT USB. If you do not have a PC36IMG file on your sd card then this is the first screen you will see!
4. Select "RECOVERY" by pushing the volume up or down buttons to scroll through the selections. Once highlighted push the power button to confirm the selection.
5.You will see the white EVO screen followed by a black screen with green text. Using the volume buttons, scroll down to "nandroid" and push the power button once to confirm your selection.
6. "Backup" highlights by default, push the power button once to confuirm the selection and start the nandroid backup. (NOTE: You will not have the opportunity to name the nandroid at this point. It will be the default name based on time and date..
7. The white box with our little android friend will come back up, with the scrolling text and the progress bar. It will take a couple of minutes for the nandroid to complete, once finished the screen will return to the first menu.
8. The "reboot system now" selection will be highlighted by default, push the power button to confirm the selection and your EVO will reboot.
Restoring a nandroid with Clockworkmod Recovery
1. Power down your device.
2. Hold down the decrease volume button on the side of your EVO, and while holding it down push the power button, continuing to hold the volume down button.
3. When you see the white bootlaoder screen your next step may vary. If you have a PC36IMG file on your sd card then the bootloader will run through this first. When it asks if you want to update select "No" by pushing the volume down button once. After that it will ask if you want to reboot. Again select "No" by pushing the volume down button once. You will then be at the bootloader screen where you can select FASTBOOT, RECOVERY, CLEAR STORAGE, SIMLOCK or HBOOT USB. If you do not have a PC36IMG file on your sd card then this is the first screen you will see!
4. Select "RECOVERY" by pushing the volume up or down buttons to scroll through the selections. Once highlighted push the power button to confirm the selection.
5.You will see the white EVO screen followed by a black screen with green text. Using the volume buttons, scroll down to "nandroid" and push the power button once to confirm the selection.
6. Scroll down to "Restore" using the volume down button, push the power button once to confirm the selection.
7. Using the volume buttons scroll to the nandroid you wish to restore. Once highlighted push the power button to confirm the selection
8. At the "confirm restore" screen scroll down to "Yes - Restore" and push the power button to confirm the selection.
9. The white box with our little android friend will come back up, with the scrolling text and the progress bar. It will take a couple of minutes for the nandroid to restore, once finished the screen will return to the first menu.
8. The "reboot system now" selection will be highlighted by default, push the power button to confirm the selection and your EVO will reboot into your restored system.
Using Amon RA Recovery
1. Power down your device.
2. Hold down the decrease volume button on the side of your EVO, and while holding it down push the power button, continuing to hold the volume down button.
3. When you see the white bootlaoder screen your next step may vary. If you have a PC36IMG file on your sd card then the bootloader will run through this first. When it asks if you want to update select "No" by pushing the volume down button once. After that it will ask if you want to reboot. Again select "No" by pushing the volume down button once. You will then be at the bootloader screen where you can select FASTBOOT, RECOVERY, CLEAR STORAGE, SIMLOCK or HBOOT USB. If you do not have a PC36IMG file on your sd card then this is the first screen you will see!
4. Select "RECOVERY" by pushing the volume up or down buttons to scroll through the selections. Once highlighted push the power button to confirm the selection.
5.You will see the white EVO screen followed by a black screen with green text. Using the volume buttons, scroll down to "Backup/Restore" and push the power button once to confirm your selection.
6. Scroll down using the volume keys to "Nand backup" and push the power button once to confirm the selection.
7. There will be some small text at the bottom of the screen asking to confirm that you would like to creat a nandroid backup. Confirm this by pressing the power button one time.
8. There will now be a line that says "Performing backup" with dots progressing from it. This is Amon RA's version of a status bar. The nandroid will take several minutes to create and will return to the previous screen when complete.
9. The "Return" selection will be highlighted by default, push the power button to confirm the selection then the "Reboot system now" will be highlighted, press the power button once to confirm the selection and your EVO will reboot.
Restoring a nandroid with Amon RA Recovery
1. Power down your device.
2. Hold down the decrease volume button on the side of your EVO, and while holding it down push the power button, continuing to hold the volume down button.
3. When you see the white bootlaoder screen your next step may vary. If you have a PC36IMG file on your sd card then the bootloader will run through this first. When it asks if you want to update select "No" by pushing the volume down button once. After that it will ask if you want to reboot. Again select "No" by pushing the volume down button once. You will then be at the bootloader screen where you can select FASTBOOT, RECOVERY, CLEAR STORAGE, SIMLOCK or HBOOT USB. If you do not have a PC36IMG file on your sd card then this is the first screen you will see!
4. Select "RECOVERY" by pushing the volume up or down buttons to scroll through the selections. Once highlighted push the power button to confirm the selection.
5.You will see the white EVO screen followed by a black screen with green text. Using the volume buttons, scroll down to "Backup/Restore" and push the power button once to confirm your selection.
6. Scroll down using the volume keys to "Nand restore" and push the power button once to confirm the selection.
7. Use the volume down button to scroll down to the system folder and push the power button once to confirm the selection
8. Use the volume buttons to scroll to the nandroid you wish to restore. Select the power button to confirm the selection.
7. There will be some small text at the bottom of the screen asking to confirm that you would like to restore the previously selected nandroid backup. Confirm this by pressing the power button one time.
8. There will now be a line that says "Restoring" with dots progressing from it. This is Amon RA's version of a status bar. The nandroid will take several minutes to restore and will return to the previous screen when complete.
9. The "Return" selection will be highlighted by default, push the power button to confirm the selection then the "Reboot system now" will be highlighted, press the power button once to confirm the selection and your EVO will reboot.
You should now be able to create and restore a nandroid using any of the above methods. I hope this guide helps somebody out there!
What is a nandroid? You hear people mention you should make a nandroid of your current rom before you try a new rom or kernel or just to have a back up in general. This is good advice and could save you a lot of frustration if something goes wrong. A nandroid basically takes an image of everything you have and makes a restorable copy of it. Yes, this includes text messages, contacts, screen layouts, backgrounds, installed apps, app data, etc. It is an EXACT copy of your device at the time the nandroid is made. Keep in mind that this means any changes you make after the nandroid will not be saved should you have to restore your EVO.
A couple of things first:
1. This is for root users only! If you are unrooted, this won't help. Come back after you are rooted.......
2. It is important that you have enough room on your sd card. Each nandroid takes up 300+mb. My largest back up is 397mb, but I don't have a ton of apps or pictures. The more stuff, the bigger the nandroid file will be.
3. There are multiple ways to do this. I will explain the steps to create a nandroid using Clockworkmod Recovery, Amon RA Recovery and Rom Manager. Rom Manager is going to be the easiest for most people. (Not that the others are diffcult!)
4. nandroids made by Amon RA Recovery can not be recovered with Clockworkmod Recovery nor can nandroids made by Clockworkmod Recovery be recovered with Amon RA Recovery. Rom Manager uses Clockworkmod Recovery (same dev) and the rules apply as above.
5. Make sure your battery is reasonably charged or your EVO is plugged in. If your EVO is plugged into a computer make sure Charge Only is the connection type.
Creating a nandroid with Rom Manager
Rom Manager is an app available in the Market. It does a whole lot more than just allow you to make a nandroid, but I am only going to talk about this particular function. The app is free but there is a paid version if you wish to support the dev (clockwork mod).
1. Open Rom Manager and select "Backup Current ROM"
1a. Current Amon RA Users If you are using Amon RA as your recovery than a window will pop up prompting you to install Clockwork Mod Recovery first. Click install and and confirm your phone model. A window will pop up saying it was succesful, click "OK". Select "Backup Current ROM" again to launch. You can use ROM Manager to change back to Amon RA at any point after you have backed up if you that is what you prefer.
2. You should now have a window prompting you to give your backup a name. You can use the default name if you wish, but I would recommend naming it something you will recognize. I name mine based on ROM, kernel and date of backup.
3. Hit "OK" and let the magic begin! Your phone will reboot itself and flash the white EVO screen, followed by a black screen with scrolling text and a progress bar at the bottom. Let it sit and do its thing, should only take a few minutes. Once the backup is complete the phone will reboot as normal.
Congratulations, you have made a nandroid! How do I restore it you ask? Good question.....
Restoring a nandroid with Rom Manager
1. Open Rom Manager and select "Manage and Restore Backups"
2. Depending on how many backups you have made using Clockworkmod Recovery or ROM Manager, you should see them all here.
3. Select the nandroid you wish to restore and a window will pop up giving you the option to Restore, Rename or Delete. Pretty self explanatory, select "Rename" if you want to call it Fred, or "Restore" if you wish to restore your device..
4. Another window will pop up asking if you are sure you want to restore. If you are, select "OK".
5. Your device will reboot and you will see the white EVO screen followed by a black screen with a little android by a box. You will start to see text scrolling as files are restored and a progress bar at the bottom.
6. Your device will reboot when it is finished and you will be back in a known good state.
Creating a nandroid with Clockworkmod Recovery
1. Power down your device.
2. Hold down the decrease volume button on the side of your EVO, and while holding it down push the power button, continuing to hold the volume down button.
3. When you see the white bootlaoder screen your next step may vary. If you have a PC36IMG file on your sd card then the bootloader will run through this first. When it asks if you want to update select "No" by pushing the volume down button once. After that it will ask if you want to reboot. Again select "No" by pushing the volume down button once. You will then be at the bootloader screen where you can select FASTBOOT, RECOVERY, CLEAR STORAGE, SIMLOCK or HBOOT USB. If you do not have a PC36IMG file on your sd card then this is the first screen you will see!
4. Select "RECOVERY" by pushing the volume up or down buttons to scroll through the selections. Once highlighted push the power button to confirm the selection.
5.You will see the white EVO screen followed by a black screen with green text. Using the volume buttons, scroll down to "nandroid" and push the power button once to confirm your selection.
6. "Backup" highlights by default, push the power button once to confuirm the selection and start the nandroid backup. (NOTE: You will not have the opportunity to name the nandroid at this point. It will be the default name based on time and date..
7. The white box with our little android friend will come back up, with the scrolling text and the progress bar. It will take a couple of minutes for the nandroid to complete, once finished the screen will return to the first menu.
8. The "reboot system now" selection will be highlighted by default, push the power button to confirm the selection and your EVO will reboot.
Restoring a nandroid with Clockworkmod Recovery
1. Power down your device.
2. Hold down the decrease volume button on the side of your EVO, and while holding it down push the power button, continuing to hold the volume down button.
3. When you see the white bootlaoder screen your next step may vary. If you have a PC36IMG file on your sd card then the bootloader will run through this first. When it asks if you want to update select "No" by pushing the volume down button once. After that it will ask if you want to reboot. Again select "No" by pushing the volume down button once. You will then be at the bootloader screen where you can select FASTBOOT, RECOVERY, CLEAR STORAGE, SIMLOCK or HBOOT USB. If you do not have a PC36IMG file on your sd card then this is the first screen you will see!
4. Select "RECOVERY" by pushing the volume up or down buttons to scroll through the selections. Once highlighted push the power button to confirm the selection.
5.You will see the white EVO screen followed by a black screen with green text. Using the volume buttons, scroll down to "nandroid" and push the power button once to confirm the selection.
6. Scroll down to "Restore" using the volume down button, push the power button once to confirm the selection.
7. Using the volume buttons scroll to the nandroid you wish to restore. Once highlighted push the power button to confirm the selection
8. At the "confirm restore" screen scroll down to "Yes - Restore" and push the power button to confirm the selection.
9. The white box with our little android friend will come back up, with the scrolling text and the progress bar. It will take a couple of minutes for the nandroid to restore, once finished the screen will return to the first menu.
8. The "reboot system now" selection will be highlighted by default, push the power button to confirm the selection and your EVO will reboot into your restored system.
Using Amon RA Recovery
1. Power down your device.
2. Hold down the decrease volume button on the side of your EVO, and while holding it down push the power button, continuing to hold the volume down button.
3. When you see the white bootlaoder screen your next step may vary. If you have a PC36IMG file on your sd card then the bootloader will run through this first. When it asks if you want to update select "No" by pushing the volume down button once. After that it will ask if you want to reboot. Again select "No" by pushing the volume down button once. You will then be at the bootloader screen where you can select FASTBOOT, RECOVERY, CLEAR STORAGE, SIMLOCK or HBOOT USB. If you do not have a PC36IMG file on your sd card then this is the first screen you will see!
4. Select "RECOVERY" by pushing the volume up or down buttons to scroll through the selections. Once highlighted push the power button to confirm the selection.
5.You will see the white EVO screen followed by a black screen with green text. Using the volume buttons, scroll down to "Backup/Restore" and push the power button once to confirm your selection.
6. Scroll down using the volume keys to "Nand backup" and push the power button once to confirm the selection.
7. There will be some small text at the bottom of the screen asking to confirm that you would like to creat a nandroid backup. Confirm this by pressing the power button one time.
8. There will now be a line that says "Performing backup" with dots progressing from it. This is Amon RA's version of a status bar. The nandroid will take several minutes to create and will return to the previous screen when complete.
9. The "Return" selection will be highlighted by default, push the power button to confirm the selection then the "Reboot system now" will be highlighted, press the power button once to confirm the selection and your EVO will reboot.
Restoring a nandroid with Amon RA Recovery
1. Power down your device.
2. Hold down the decrease volume button on the side of your EVO, and while holding it down push the power button, continuing to hold the volume down button.
3. When you see the white bootlaoder screen your next step may vary. If you have a PC36IMG file on your sd card then the bootloader will run through this first. When it asks if you want to update select "No" by pushing the volume down button once. After that it will ask if you want to reboot. Again select "No" by pushing the volume down button once. You will then be at the bootloader screen where you can select FASTBOOT, RECOVERY, CLEAR STORAGE, SIMLOCK or HBOOT USB. If you do not have a PC36IMG file on your sd card then this is the first screen you will see!
4. Select "RECOVERY" by pushing the volume up or down buttons to scroll through the selections. Once highlighted push the power button to confirm the selection.
5.You will see the white EVO screen followed by a black screen with green text. Using the volume buttons, scroll down to "Backup/Restore" and push the power button once to confirm your selection.
6. Scroll down using the volume keys to "Nand restore" and push the power button once to confirm the selection.
7. Use the volume down button to scroll down to the system folder and push the power button once to confirm the selection
8. Use the volume buttons to scroll to the nandroid you wish to restore. Select the power button to confirm the selection.
7. There will be some small text at the bottom of the screen asking to confirm that you would like to restore the previously selected nandroid backup. Confirm this by pressing the power button one time.
8. There will now be a line that says "Restoring" with dots progressing from it. This is Amon RA's version of a status bar. The nandroid will take several minutes to restore and will return to the previous screen when complete.
9. The "Return" selection will be highlighted by default, push the power button to confirm the selection then the "Reboot system now" will be highlighted, press the power button once to confirm the selection and your EVO will reboot.
You should now be able to create and restore a nandroid using any of the above methods. I hope this guide helps somebody out there!
