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So, I have A HUGE problem. Apparently I massively misunderstood how the "superwipe" works, thinking it would erase all my apps, but not my personal files, like the file I had created and named "School", and stored all my papers, notes, and research files in. So, I made my nandroid of stock, and flashed Revolution, expecting that, like on my phones, the backups from MyBackup Pro, and other apps, and my personal files would be left untouched. It seems I was very, very wrong. Now I'm regretting not following my gut instinct and manually wiping to maintain those files, as well as not going the extra redundancy of copying them to my removable micro sd as well. Lesson learned. It boggles my mind more than a little that there isn't a clear explanation right on the front page with the rest of the warnings and disclaimers, that the superwipe would kill all your personal data as well as the necessary files to allow the flash.
That aside, and I know this is a long shot, but is there a way to recover that data? I've already flashed back to my stock nandroid, hoping that would somehow restore it, but no dice. Are there any other options here?
Thanks in advance for any help.
It's a long shot and I'm not sure if this will work on flash memory that has been formatted/overwritten, but you can try to connect your TF to your pc as mass storage device and run software such as http://www.jufsoft.com/badcopy/flash_drive_recovery.asp to retrieve this folder and files. Good luck!
To be fair right under the link it does say " This script will erase and format your data, system and cache partition using EXT4 file-system ---
--- Please note that the content of /data/media folder (internal virtual SD card) will be removed - do backup of necessary files! ---"
But yeah I agree, bigger font and capital letters say something like "THIS WILL DELETE EVERYTHING" would be more easier to understand
AFAIK recovery software won't work on it, due to the file system.
Sent from my customized HTC Desire using TTP
Hello! I don't speak english, sorry. But I have a trouble. Can I mount System, Data folders to my PC for recover files on it?
I execute Format Data, Format System in 4ext recovery and lose my Contacts. I know that contact's database placed in some file on System or Data partition. How to recover it?
P. S.: I have not install any firmware after formatting partitions to prevent damage my data...
Please, Help me!
You can use adb to access any files on those partitions, but as you've formatted the data partition, those files will not exist anymore.
If you could "mount" the partitions, they would now be empty. I don't think there's any way to recover the data unless you have a backup somewhere (Google account?).
If there is a way, it's not a question of mounting the partitions, but actually using data recovery techniques on the phone's internal memory.
Does anybody know if that's possible / feasible?
Edit: don't you have a nandroid backup you could restore from?
that:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1994705
might be possible solution, or a base (direction) do dig further...
I recently have been recovering, stupidly formated drive too,
got the data back (most of it anyway )
but the tree (folder structure )
was irrevertably gone, and part of a file names as well,
so, when you calm down, after getting data back,
you realise there is still a gigantic work ahead,
with bitting through thousands of files with names like:
< _ibc.so or _ops.png >, and guessing which belongs to what....
...but, if one strongly sets ones mind on accomplishing the task,
it is possible....
Edit: the link above, is just a beginning of the journey,
oft, one has to gather bits of several tutorials and [HOW TO]`s
and that is what i also, stongly recommend to do,
its because, these things are often non official- hundred percent
novice proof hardened methods,
each of them, had worked for somebody,
but there is no guarantees- that particular method`ll work for you...
Success:good:
Hey guys,
a nandroid backup is a really convenient method to backup your complete phone and restore everything or partially data. All partitions (/system, /data, /cache) were being backed up.
But what happens with the sdcard?
Before I flash/install a new rom, I always format my sdcard with my PC, hence I make sure, that it’s clean and has no remains from older roms.
On first boot, the android system creates a lot of folders contaning data, which both are modified during the daily use. For example the folder “DCIM” contains all the taken pictures and videos.
But what’s about these?
- .android_secure
- .dta
- .estrong
- and especially “Android” and subfolders
What happens, if I make a full nandroid of my phone, format my sdcard, so that all the folders and data, which were created while using the rom, were deleted. After that I restore the complete backup and boot up the phone.
My question is, how the restored system will react, if it notices, that these folders and their contents were not available?
- will they be recreated?
- does the system not boot
- after booting it will show some error messages?
- something else?
Thanks in advance!
@@RON
Hi
Greeting
Nandroid only backups phone memory
It does not backup sdcard
And their is no need to format sd card everytime before flashing Rom (i haven't formated my sd card even once ) every thing works f9
Even if u remove all the file from sdcard which u mentaion then the phone recreate these file againg and causes no problem
Basically a Rom has to do nothing with the sdcard the phone runs completely even without sdcard . Sd card is just an expansion of memory to phones
And you do whatever with it , it does not affect the way your Rom runs
Sent from my HTC Sensation XE with Beats Audio Z715e using xda premium
@@RON said:
Hey guys,
a nandroid backup is a really convenient method to backup your complete phone and restore everything or partially data. All partitions (/system, /data, /cache) were being backed up.
But what happens with the sdcard?
Before I flash/install a new rom, I always format my sdcard with my PC, hence I make sure, that it’s clean and has no remains from older roms.
On first boot, the android system creates a lot of folders contaning data, which both are modified during the daily use. For example the folder “DCIM” contains all the taken pictures and videos.
But what’s about these?
- .android_secure
- .dta
- .estrong
- and especially “Android” and subfolders
What happens, if I make a full nandroid of my phone, format my sdcard, so that all the folders and data, which were created while using the rom, were deleted. After that I restore the complete backup and boot up the phone.
My question is, how the restored system will react, if it notices, that these folders and their contents were not available?
- will they be recreated?
- does the system not boot
- after booting it will show some error messages?
- something else?
Thanks in advance!
@@RON
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When making a nandroid backup, system, data, boot and cache partitions are saved. Also, the android_secure from the SDcard is saved. As for the other folders, they are not kept. EStrongs is the guys who make ES File Explorer, and I believe this folder has something to do with the app. I don't know about the other folders, but they are not required for running the ROM. If they are missing, they will be recreated.
I believe I answered some of your questions above, but I'll answer the rest here:
-As I said, the restore won't create the folders, but the ROM might create them. At least one of the folders you listed is of an app, and there are many more apps that create folders on your SDCard, that's just cache or some data, which is not a problem to restore.
-The system will boot. That's the idea of a nandroid backup (if those folders were required, they would have been backed up)
-It will not show error messages, it will resume just like when you made the backuo.
-Something Else? You name it. There is no need to format your SDCard every time you flash a ROM, as usually it doesn't create problems. It can get a bit messy, but besides that, it's fine to keep it the way it is.
astar26 said:
When making a nandroid backup, system, data, boot and cache partitions are saved. Also, the android_secure from the SDcard is saved. As for the other folders, they are not kept. EStrongs is the guys who make ES File Explorer, and I believe this folder has something to do with the app. I don't know about the other folders, but they are not required for running the ROM. If they are missing, they will be recreated.
I believe I answered some of your questions above, but I'll answer the rest here:
-As I said, the restore won't create the folders, but the ROM might create them. At least one of the folders you listed is of an app, and there are many more apps that create folders on your SDCard, that's just cache or some data, which is not a problem to restore.
-The system will boot. That's the idea of a nandroid backup (if those folders were required, they would have been backed up)
-It will not show error messages, it will resume just like when you made the backuo.
-Something Else? You name it. There is no need to format your SDCard every time you flash a ROM, as usually it doesn't create problems. It can get a bit messy, but besides that, it's fine to keep it the way it is.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, you're right!
I clicked through the folders on my sdcard and the most directories are named "cache" etc. Only some exceptions for e.g. whatsapp message database or downloaded maps for htc locations ...etc.
So it seems, that the android system and the installed apps create folders for their use. If a nandroid will be created, the last mentioned folder should be backed up, too ... but manually. Thus the first mentioned folders (.data ...) are unnecessary.
You said, that there is no need to format the sdcard everytime a new rom will be flashed. I think it is, because every new rom deserves a clean sdcard, which has no remains from older roms. So the rom can expand themself and have a great feeling
No joke, in my opinion it will be the better way, if there are no possible complications with older existing files.
@@RON said:
Yeah, you're right!
I clicked through the folders on my sdcard and the most directories are named "cache" etc. Only some exceptions for e.g. whatsapp message database or downloaded maps for htc locations ...etc.
So it seems, that the android system and the installed apps create folders for their use. If a nandroid will be created, the last mentioned folder should be backed up, too ... but manually. Thus the first mentioned folders (.data ...) are unnecessary.
You said, that there is no need to format the sdcard everytime a new rom will be flashed. I think it is, because every new rom deserves a clean sdcard, which has no remains from older roms. So the rom can expand themself and have a great feeling
No joke, in my opinion it will be the better way, if there are no possible complications with older existing files.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What needs to be cleaned is cleaned when you wipe the phone. Anyway, formatting the SDCard is your choice. Files of apps that are not installed just won't be used. I like your idea of starting fresh, but it's quite a hassle to format and rearrange the SD every time I flash a ROM.
It's nice to have it clean without many directories (Imust say that I managed to reach such a situation with my own documents, with directories I created myself and have no idea what they are for. But I guess that's what you get when you don't clean your "room" for a couple of years.
As the tilte is saying, whenever there's less than 100 mb of internal storgare the performance just dies. Even scrolling is laggy. I've used multiple ROMs (CM 11, 10.1, 9/SlimKat/SlimSaber/BeanStalk) but no luck. I've also used Greenify and it hasn't helped. I only install the apps I really need : Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Shazam, Hangouts, Youtube, Viber. That's it ! I even uninstall wallpapers and ringtones, plus all the apps that could be moved to the SD card are moved.
Does anyone have any suggestions ? Maybe increasing the internal storage on KitKat ? Or are there any tweaks I'm not aware of ?
Thanks in advance.
First backup your SD card. And then create external partition type ext4, using TWRP recovery and only TWRP (If you use any other tools, you will not be able to backup sd-ext using TWRP, and this is from my experience).
Next, get Link2SD app, and create mount scripts, reboot, set Auto linking checked and (also App, Library, and Dalvik checked). And link App, Library, and Dalvik files to sd-ext. If you paid for Link2SD+, you will be able to link internal data too. A warning though, keep important apps that starts up with android on internal memory such as launchers to prevent lag. Depending on what class your SD card, you might not notice any lag at all. I still have the 16GB that came with the phone, and it is not really fast, it is laggy but not much.
I know I will be lashed for saying this, but get Lucky Patcher (use it for legal stuff only, lol) and ODEX all your system files. Custom roms are unoptimized due to the need to have resource hooks and hacking the system files or debugging them. Creating Optimized dexs, they will occupy less memory and become faster. You will notice a significant improvement in speed.
Currently, I have SlimKat 4.4.4, 2.5GB sd-ext ext4 partition (~1.5GB used) and have 204MB free on internal. And around 143-145 apps installed ranging from few hundreds of KBs to tens of MBs. And the system is snappy.
Another warning if you use Titanium Backup, if you batch restore many apps at once, Link2SD might not be able to catch up linking apps as soon as Titanium Backup finish restoring the apps with data, causing memory go low or Titanium Backup freeze. A solution to this, only restore chunks of 10 or 15 apps at once, and wait till Link2SD done linking all of the apps.
After you are satisfied with the results, go to TWRP and backup EVERYTHING including sd-ext. EXCEPT "EFS" partition (if it does show up), which you might get bad IMEI number if you restore EFS again. You can enable compression to the backup, which helpfully compressed the ~2300MB files to ~1300MB for me.
Good luck. :good:
Thanks mate ! Gonna try ASAP !
Rebel_X said:
First backup your SD card. And then create external partition type ext4, using TWRP recovery and only TWRP (If you use any other tools, you will not be able to backup sd-ext using TWRP, and this is from my experience)....
Good luck. :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First, thanks for writing this. Now, just a quick question, did you have had problems with apps disappearing after a update?
This begin happening like a month or so ago. After an app auto-update, it disappear, and I have to recreate the mount script on Link2SD and reboot for it to appear again. Now I disable auto-update, android only notify me of updates. Then I remove the links of the app to update on Link2SD, then update the app, and then I create the links again.
I have my device set up exactly how I like it, but I'm thinking about erasing my phone and starting up again.
llinkll said:
First, thanks for writing this. Now, just a quick question, did you have had problems with apps disappearing after a update?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe this happened to me long time ago when I used an older version of Link2SD. The newer version promised that it fixed Apps disappearing after booting. But, if that happens to you, you can fix this easily by "Relink all app files" from Link2SD to find any unlinked apps that are supposed to be linked and then reboot or soft reboot from Link2SD. Or you can "Clear 2nd Partition" and/or Dalvik cache to delete the apps that disappeared and reinstall them again. But an answer to your question, I didn't have any apps disappear on me when I started clean.
Also, for anyone deciding on ODEXing system files. Choose a ROM that have enough free space in system partition to do so. Some roms have less than 8MB in system partition (CM11!) which can cause problems when doing so. SlimKat 4.4.4 is really slim, you have over 40MB free in system partition. If you want to keep the ROM you are using, you can free more space in system partition by converting the Keyboard app to a user app, that is another 40MBs free (and if you did that, you have to reselect the Keyboard from Language input in settings, by un-ticking/re-ticking the checkbox, also don't link the Keyboard app to 2nd partition, it can cause lag). I noticed if you have less than 5MB in system partition, the performance of the phone suffers greatly.
From using Link2SD to view storage information, you will notice that Data partition and Cache partition are the same (I could be wrong here, but that what it seems to be). So it is important to have more free space in the Data partition.
Rebel_X said:
First backup your SD card. And then create external partition type ext4, using TWRP recovery and only TWRP (If you use any other tools, you will not be able to backup sd-ext using TWRP, and this is from my experience).
Next, get Link2SD app, and create mount scripts, reboot, set Auto linking checked and (also App, Library, and Dalvik checked). And link App, Library, and Dalvik files to sd-ext. If you paid for Link2SD+, you will be able to link internal data too. A warning though, keep important apps that starts up with android on internal memory such as launchers to prevent lag. Depending on what class your SD card, you might not notice any lag at all. I still have the 16GB that came with the phone, and it is not really fast, it is laggy but not much.
I know I will be lashed for saying this, but get Lucky Patcher (use it for legal stuff only, lol) and ODEX all your system files. Custom roms are unoptimized due to the need to have resource hooks and hacking the system files or debugging them. Creating Optimized dexs, they will occupy less memory and become faster. You will notice a significant improvement in speed.
Currently, I have SlimKat 4.4.4, 2.5GB sd-ext ext4 partition (~1.5GB used) and have 204MB free on internal. And around 143-145 apps installed ranging from few hundreds of KBs to tens of MBs. And the system is snappy.
Another warning if you use Titanium Backup, if you batch restore many apps at once, Link2SD might not be able to catch up linking apps as soon as Titanium Backup finish restoring the apps with data, causing memory go low or Titanium Backup freeze. A solution to this, only restore chunks of 10 or 15 apps at once, and wait till Link2SD done linking all of the apps.
After you are satisfied with the results, go to TWRP and backup EVERYTHING including sd-ext. EXCEPT "EFS" partition (if it does show up), which you might get bad IMEI number if you restore EFS again. You can enable compression to the backup, which helpfully compressed the ~2300MB files to ~1300MB for me.
Good luck. :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
dude? what if uninstall my lucky patcher? is the odex file still there?
DerPuGNa said:
dude? what if uninstall my lucky patcher? is the odex file still there?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think that will affect ODEX files at all.
LoL, every time I read your username I read it as "Danganronpa" (Japanese word for bullet time) as the great Anime show (an adaptation of the PSP game). Please don't take that offensively :good:
Thanks !!!! Gonna report back with the performance !
Intial thoughts : *Very* good.
I've always used Samsung devices (last device was GS5) so I'm trying to understand the internal partitions on newer versions of android. I don't mean the dual slot stuff either.. just the normal partitions like /system
So with my GS5 of I went into TWRP and factory reset. That wiped all user data from the phone. Apps, settings, downloads, pics, etc..
It seems that's not how it works anymore. Just looking for a basic layout of the folder structure and what is stored on each partition
Where is my user data stored? Are my downloaded apps, settings, pics, downloads (everything I put on the phone) stored in one partition? If so where
When I factory reset in recovery what partitions is that wiping
At this point the only thing I know is /system which is where the actual OS itself is stored.
Any explanation would be appreciated!!
aholeinthewor1d said:
I've always used Samsung devices (last device was GS5) so I'm trying to understand the internal partitions on newer versions of android. I don't mean the dual slot stuff either.. just the normal partitions like /system
So with my GS5 of I went into TWRP and factory reset. That wiped all user data from the phone. Apps, settings, downloads, pics, etc..
It seems that's not how it works anymore. Just looking for a basic layout of the folder structure and what is stored on each partition
Where is my user data stored? Are my downloaded apps, settings, pics, downloads (everything I put on the phone) stored in one partition? If so where
When I factory reset in recovery what partitions is that wiping
At this point the only thing I know is /system which is where the actual OS itself is stored.
Any explanation would be appreciated!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
/data
/data/app
/data/user
/data/media...
You can see all these folders and what they contain via something like Root Explorer. Then install an app or modify its settings, you'll easily see its date/time properties get changed.
Or you can use ES Explorer, every time a new folder gets created, ES notifies you. After a while, it gets annoying but it's good to be able to observe in the beginning.