I recently backed up my sd card and noticed that there is just a hell of a lot of crap there I would love to get rid of as much as I can because I am sure my nearly filled 16gb card would benefit from several gigs of extra space.
Anyway, here is what want to do. Copy the folders involved with clockwork (or nandroid) bapckup. After all the important files are safely backed up, format the card and copy the backup files back to the phone. Then just do a simple restore and the SD card SHOULD be as pristine as possible with my apps restored. I am basing this purely on assumption, but it seems to make sense.
If I am going under the proper assumptions and this will work, are there any pitfalls I should be ready for? What folders am I looking for? Just the clockwork folder? Do I need to get any of the system folders like .android-secure or any of those important looking ones?
Thanks for the help.
stinkbud said:
I recently backed up my sd card and noticed that there is just a hell of a lot of crap there I would love to get rid of as much as I can because I am sure my nearly filled 16gb card would benefit from several gigs of extra space.
Anyway, here is what want to do. Copy the folders involved with clockwork (or nandroid) bapckup. After all the important files are safely backed up, format the card and copy the backup files back to the phone. Then just do a simple restore and the SD card SHOULD be as pristine as possible with my apps restored. I am basing this purely on assumption, but it seems to make sense.
If I am going under the proper assumptions and this will work, are there any pitfalls I should be ready for? What folders am I looking for? Just the clockwork folder? Do I need to get any of the system folders like .android-secure or any of those important looking ones?
Thanks for the help.
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I have done the exact thing several times when partitioning my SD card. Should work fine.
Well, I'd dump CWM for Amon Ra, first, then copy your files to your computer, like you said.
Then use the format option in Settings to format your card, reboot, and you'll have just the needed files on there.
Then copy back the stuff you know you need.
Related
If I plan on buying a 16gb card do I need to copy the files from the stock 8gb over to it or not?
Also, a simple question that probably has a simple answer but just to be safe. It won't mess up root/unlocked nand if I do, right? And it won't mess up apps that are currently installed?
you do not need to copy any files over, and it will not cause any problems with apps so long as you are not using app2sd on an ext partition.
Also, it will not mess with root so long as you have flashed a custom recovery during nand unlock.
elegantai said:
you do not need to copy any files over, and it will not cause any problems with apps so long as you are not using app2sd on an ext partition.
Also, it will not mess with root so long as you have flashed a custom recovery during nand unlock.
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Thank you for clearing that up!
If you have programs that save data on to the SD card then you actually would need to copy them to your new SD card or the data just won't be there.
A few games come to mind, some of my office docs as well as content from dropbox, my RSS news feed configurations, as well as any pictures or videos taken using the evo. If your phone is bone stock though, then no there isn't anything you need to copy over it'll work with an empty card.
I have so much junk on my SD card from deleted apps, ROM downloads, original root zips. I want to format the card to get rid of the junk. I realize that it will wipe out some current data. I can reinstall that on a selected basis. What would be the proper way... Format? Re-Download and flash ROM.
Im running CM6 RC1 with Nightlys
Thanks in advance
I would just back up the data that you know you'd want (maybe pictures, or folders of certain apps) then just format the SD card. I'm not sure if there's "mission-critical" stuff in there nowadays, since Froyo lets you use the SD card a lot more (to store apps among other things), that would be up to you I think.
But you shouldn't have to flash the ROM again. I'm waiting until 32GB micro SD cards are cheaper then I'm just going to change my 8 with that.
EVOfla said:
I have so much junk on my SD card from deleted apps, ROM downloads, original root zips. I want to format the card to get rid of the junk. I realize that it will wipe out some current data. I can reinstall that on a selected basis. What would be the proper way... Format? Re-Download and flash ROM.
Im running CM6 RC1 with Nightlys
Thanks in advance
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I thought this would be a great idea the first time i looked at my sd card and realized it was halfway full after 1 day with my evo, so i backed up my photos and videos and music formatted it and installed a rooted rom, the only problem is, that flashing a rom full (rooted or unrooted, I tried both) none of the folders on the sd card get recreated, which causes a problem when taking your fist few pics, and it then lumps all photos and videos into the same folder, kinda creates a messier sdcard than I had originally anticipated, wished i had imaged the card first so i could put everything back where it belonged, even if it was just a blank folder, but thats just my 2 cents
So I have created 2 nandroid backups, and a titanium backup, and now my SD card has no more room on it. I used SwifTP to copy the backups onto my computer. Just to be sure, so I dont F anything up: Is it ok to delete the OLD nandroid backup file? If so, can I do this just by selecting it in Astro, and hitting delete?
Yes, you can delete from Astro if you are 100% certain you are in the right file path, and have the correct file.
You can also delete it from within ROM Manager in the manage/restore backups section - long press what you want to delete, follow prompts.
Unrelated but useful:
A good practice is to every so often copy your SD card contents to your PC so you'll have them, just in case. Maybe every other week or something like that. Why? SD cards do & will fail, and when yours does, you'll have a semi-recent backup of the card.
A full or nearly full SD may make it wonky when you flash a ROM, so maybe consider taking some things off the SD if you can, so the flashing has room to stretch out.
The path is /sdcard/clockworkmod/backup/2011-01-....yada yada date and time of backup
Thanks for the advice about the full card, I didnt know that.
What I usually do since I still have the OEM card is just leave one backup in there and save the rest to my PC. I then delete them off the SD card to save room. If I ever need to go back to other backups, I can just pull it off my PC without having them all cluttering up my SD card.
You can use rom manager to delete your unneeded backups also
hEaTLoE said:
What I usually do since I still have the OEM card is just leave one backup in there and save the rest to my PC. I then delete them off the SD card to save room. If I ever need to go back to other backups, I can just pull it off my PC without having them all cluttering up my SD card.
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That's pretty much what I do. Then I looked in my Nandroid folder on my computer... it was 30+ GB! Figured I really only need the last few or so. Im always going through and cleaning out my SD card. Between all the roms and apps, lots of junk can be collected.
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App
Wow, only 9.25gb here!
+1 for using Rom Manager
bomber889 said:
You can use rom manager to delete your unneeded backups also
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This is the safest method, prevents you from accidentally deleting files from wrong directory. Plus, try to name your backups (NO SPACES!), it makes it all easier.
P.S: My Nandroid folder on my PC is 15GB, on my SD is 600MB (OEM 2GB Card)
When I save a Titanium Backup.zip, is that backing everything including the programs and data NOT on the SD card? In otherwords, if I want to make a back up of just the sd card contents if I want to change/upgrade my card, do I just copy the entire sd card to my PC and after formatting the new card just copy everything back? If I use the Titanium Backup.zip won't that wipe over everything and not just the sd card right?
rando991 said:
When I save a Titanium Backup.zip, is that backing everything including the programs and data NOT on the SD card? In otherwords, if I want to make a back up of just the sd card contents if I want to change/upgrade my card, do I just copy the entire sd card to my PC and after formatting the new card just copy everything back? If I use the Titanium Backup.zip won't that wipe over everything and not just the sd card right?
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Are you talking about creating an 'update.zip' from Titanium Backup? Assuming this is what you're referring to, though I've never done it, I think all it does is enables you to install TB from CWM directly. I wish most ROMs would just include TB, but since not everyone uses it I understand why they don't.
I don't think this makes a backup of anything really, but I could be wrong. If you want to back everything up, that's where you can nandroid. If you want to backup everything on your SD card, then the steps you stated about copying to a PC are probably your best bet.
Just backup your sd card on a PC, format the new card in the phone (for best compatibility). Then restore everything back onto it from the PC.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
Yeah, it starts out as an "Update.zip" but I choose the "Titanium Backup.zip" option. Huh! I did't know that it was only making a backup of Titanium Backup.
rando991 said:
Yeah, it starts out as an "Update.zip" but I choose the "Titanium Backup.zip" option. Huh! I did't know that it was only making a backup of Titanium Backup.
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I'm not 100% on that, but based on what I read in that option, that's what it sounds like to me. The purpose would be a way for you to restore all your apps if you're lacking a data connection when you flash something new or wipe anything. Chances are slim, but I reckon they're there. If you don't have a data connection, there is no way to download TB and use it to restore anything else...
EDIT: I guess one way to find out would be to make that zip and see how big the file is. If it's only a few megs, then it's just TB. If it's more than that, like over 80ish, then you know it's quite a bit more than just the one app.
Do any of y'all do anything to keep your internal and external storage nice and tidy?
I go in there thru my PC and delete folders and files I don't use. Sometimes they are loaded down with cache files and whatnot, and it can be thousands of them! I have found that it takes a while to process (delete) those thousands of files through my PC, so who knows what they can do to the little Snapdragon.
I have also used CCleaner to wipe the free space on both the internal and SD storage as well. I thought maybe I felt a difference, but who knows if it was placebo or what. I figured they would benefit from a nice clean slate as far as blank space goes, as well as help the nandroid backup process.
Anyone else do anything or have advice on maintaining our storage so that it is responsive and reliable?
DustinBooyah said:
Do any of y'all do anything to keep your internal and external storage nice and tidy?
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I have used the market app "SD Maid" before. It might be something to look into.
DustinBooyah said:
I figured they would benefit from a nice clean slate as far as blank space goes, as well as help the nandroid backup process
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I doubt this helps the nandroid process at all. I don't think SD or EMMC contents get backed up by a nandroid (I could be wrong though)
I clear usless stuff off of my storage on a regular basis, just for my own sanity and ease of finding stuff. The emmc is not to bad at gathering garbage but the sd is full of it every time i look. There is always burstlyimagecache folders and folders left behind by apps i have uninstalled. I usually just copy the stuff i want / need to my pc and then format it fat32, and then copy the good files back. Sometimes im lazy though and i will just use the multiselect option in root explorer, and go on a deleting spree. I use sdmaid although im not sure why they named it that, as it hardly touches the sdcard at all. It mostly clears app caches which some are on the sd but most are on the /data partirion. Cleaning up the storage wont affect nandroids as they are not backed up. However having a cleaner sd with more space can make I/O times faster therfore very slightly speeding up the nandroid writing to the sd.