Develop Bugs

[Q] can't restore a nandroid backup...need help

hey guys.
i've gone through a lot of searching and still no solution. PLEASE READ THIS SO YOU DONT RECOMMEND SOMETHING I ALREADY TRIED!
i tried to restore a nand backup from yesterday and i'm getting "run nandroid-mobile.sh restore from adb!"
battery is fully charged. sd card is there and all the files are there. i already fixed the md5sum and still get the same issue.
it seems it's not a problem with the backup itself because i can't backup or restore, or even use the ms-usb toggle. for every command i get the error to do it in adb?
i only had that one backup and i really dont want to start from scratch! nothing has happened to have corrupted the backup, so i'm strongly holding to the view that its not corrupted, something else happened.
everything was working fine. i tried changing a file in framework-res.apk, that put me into a bootloop. so i wiped data/cache/dalvik like always and went to restore and bam...error...
any ideas guys? need to fix this ASAP.
EDIT: i just reflashed amonra recovery to make sure it wasnt messed. was able to make a backup (of what i dont know, phone is wiped) and restore it....ms-usb toggle worked now....but still get the .sh error when trying to restore my backup. damn!
EDIT 2: got it working. after reflashing amonra i was able to do a backup (of the empty phone)...i had changed the name of the folder for my backup (no spaces though) and it looks like this was throwing amonra off. i renamed the folder to match the structure of the backup i had just made and was able to restore!
thanks me!

[Q] What information from Nandroid is stored in 'boot'?

After successfully S-Off'ing my desire I had problems booting the phone after restoring my nandroid backup. A full restore would result in bootloops.
I originally thought this was because the custom Oxygen table I had applied was too small, but on trying others, I had the same result.
In recovery, under advance restore options, I only restored the following elements of the nandroid backup:
sd-ext
system
data
cache
I didn't restore 'boot'.
This prevented the boot-loops and I seem to have my phone functioning as before with nothing missing...
So, my question is, what data was in 'boot' and did I need it?!
If anyone cares to tell me why the full nandroid caused these issues, then please do!
Finally, if the above is answered, I assume I'm ok to flash the custom Oxygen hboot and restore all again other than 'boot'? Users were checking the 'size' of their nandroid backups, but I could work out how to do this?
Thanks in advance.

Data stored in '/boot' is used help in the process of loading the Android OS when you turn on your phone. The '/boot' partition is used to set up all the other partitions (i.e. /data, /cache, /system...). S-OFF just suspends a security feature and puts a new S-OFFed bootloader(this is not in /boot). You have to do a FULL WIPE after performing the S-OFF before doing the full restore.
If you flashed the custom Oxygen HBOOT, then you have to install a new ROM that will fit inside the '/data' or '/system' partition (can't remember which one exactly...I think it's /system). Restoring your previous ROM will cause problems as it may not be able to fit in.
As for checking the size of the nandroid backups, connect the phone to a PC and mount it as the USB Drive. Go into the SD card and under your recovery folder (which will be named as 'ClockworkMod' or to the one you are using) you'll be able to find all your backups. Check their properties....

Appreciate the info, thank you. I think I only flashed a new ROM after my nandroid restore failed... I'll have another go and install fresh ROM straight after the custom hboot.
Thanks again.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA Premium App

No worries...

This was extremely valuable info. It restored back to the Backup with out a hitch. Thanks alot. Dude you Rock! Very clever!

root, flash, backup file moving help

Hey quick question,
so I make a backup of my system for flashing. Then I move the backup onto a folder to my computer same with my titanium backup folder. So when I wipe and flash a new rom, I have all of my files for my system backup and my titanium backup on my phone. After I restore all of my apps after flashing the new rom, can I move the backup files and leave them on the computer as well as the system backup to save space? Is there anyway that I can still restore the system if it gets stuck in a bootloop - (besides flashing a new stock one)?
basically I want to store the system backup and the titanium backup on my computer so they are safe and because they take up about 4 gb of space on my phone.
I tried to be clear but let me know if I should further explain
Thanks

I wouldn't backup system apps with titanium, because they can vary from rom to rom. As long as you properly wipe your phone before flashing, you shouldn't get bootloops(can still happen). If you get a bootloop, try pulling the battery 1st. If your phone still bootloops, you have to use download mode and ODIN to flash stock ROM.
sent from somewhere

right which I have done before. I just want to know that if my phone does get stuck somewhere (has happened before, and I had to flash a stock rom and lost everything - lost backup) Would I be able to move my system restore and titanium backup files from my computer to my phone to be able to recover?
Basically store backups on computer, then if something happens, be able to transfer them back to phone
Thanks for the help

Generally it's good to leave backups someplace where they won't get easily corrupted or lost. Since the S3 has a microsd slot, sure, keep them on your computer and move them over if necessary.
My SOP is to keep the current backup on the microsd, and store the backups on my computer. Then if I need to reflash/nandroid back, they're there, and if my microsd is corrupted I have a known good backup.

b11aze said:
right which I have done before. I just want to know that if my phone does get stuck somewhere (has happened before, and I had to flash a stock rom and lost everything - lost backup) Would I be able to move my system restore and titanium backup files from my computer to my phone to be able to recover?
Basically store backups on computer, then if something happens, be able to transfer them back to phone
Thanks for the help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As long as you can get into your custom recovery after anything happens, backups will work. Make sure to backup system, data, and boot. If not and you have to flash using ODIN, like starting from scratch, you may have issues such as md5 mismatches.
sent from somewhere

ok I was just looking to see if it was possible or not to transfer backups from computer to phone if the phone cant turn on ie. stuck in download mode or recovery mode.

What is the Best Backup AND Restore Method?

Since upgrading from my Pixel, I've had the hardest time finding a reliable full system backup and restore method. Here's what I've tried so far:
TWRP backup and restore - the backup procedure works great, but I have not once been able to successfully boot back to the operating system after restoring. Usually get caught in some form of boot loop and I'm forced to wipe and start over.
ADB backup and restore - the backup command only works 50% of the time and the restore procedure hangs and fails each time I've tried.
Titanium backup and restore - great solution for apps and data, but requires more setup after the restore process than I'd prefer. Also, I can't seem to figure out how to backup directly to my Google Drive to avoid losing the backups during a wipe.
So, do you guys have any recommendations on a reliable full system backup and restore method?

Really, nothing?

PuffDaddy_d said:
Since upgrading from my Pixel, I've had the hardest time finding a reliable full system backup and restore method. Here's what I've tried so far:
TWRP backup and restore - the backup procedure works great, but I have not once been able to successfully boot back to the operating system after restoring. Usually get caught in some form of boot loop and I'm forced to wipe and start over.
ADB backup and restore - the backup command only works 50% of the time and the restore procedure hangs and fails each time I've tried.
Titanium backup and restore - great solution for apps and data, but requires more setup after the restore process than I'd prefer. Also, I can't seem to figure out how to backup directly to my Google Drive to avoid losing the backups during a wipe.
So, do you guys have any recommendations on a reliable full system backup and restore method?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After restoring the backup in twrp if it doesn't boot reflash what ever room the backup was on, ie. Stock, scorpion and so on. I had to reflash the stock img after I did a twrp restore and it booted back up with everything still there. Just make sure you get rid of the -w in the flash all.

I bought a USB-C drive (SanDisk 256GB Ultra Dual Drive USB Type-C FOR $53) from Amazon which connects directly to phone USB-c port. I am able to save backups from both TWRP and Titanium here and recover from it as well. One thing that I did notice like you said, when recovering from a TWRP backup, sometimes it boot loops. (It did this when trying to go back to stock from Scorpion OS). When it bootlooped, I flashed Magisk afterwards and that fixed the bootloop. Then it booted up properly. All the apps were there. I also save my Titanium backups to the USB drive and recover any apps from there (If/when needed). I keep the Titanium backup updated by running it every few days to update any apps that may have updated info. I recommend getting this drive, its fast and has a huge capacity. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XC1WGQR/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Eudeferrer said:
I bought a USB-C drive (SanDisk 256GB Ultra Dual Drive USB Type-C FOR $53) from Amazon which connects directly to phone USB-c port. I am able to save backups from both TWRP and Titanium here and recover from it as well. One thing that I did notice like you said, when recovering from a TWRP backup, sometimes it boot loops. (It did this when trying to go back to stock from Scorpion OS). When it bootlooped, I flashed Magisk afterwards and that fixed the bootloop. Then it booted up properly. All the apps were there. I also save my Titanium backups to the USB drive and recover any apps from there (If/when needed). I keep the Titanium backup updated by running it every few days to update any apps that may have updated info. I recommend getting this drive, its fast and has a huge capacity. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XC1WGQR/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Another reason why I miss expandable storage slots...

Qfil .bin Restoring Error. Need a little help to restore all my partitions

Hello guys,
I have a question, yesterday I made a copy of all the partitions of the phone, one by one ... in qfil, using the partition manager.
The thing is, I wanted to test things and save my setup before formatting.
When I finished testing things, I started flashing the partitions one by one again. When I finished, I turned on the phone and I got a screen that said:
"Could not decrypt (or something like that), memory will be erased." Then it started to format data alone. And the Rom appeared at boot with nothing of mine configured, nothing of the backup, just like a factory reset.
Can someone help me to know what has happened? Do I need to flash the dm-verity-forceencrytp when restoring with qfil?
All I want is to restore my backup of .bin files
Before restoring, I flashed the base kdz of my backup. I do not understand that it could have gone wrong, or it could have gone wrong, and the backup is done by another method, other than backing up each of the partitions.

have you found any solution for this ?. I have the same problem.