# [GUIDE] Make a nandroid backup. Do it...now! :)



## Redflea (Jun 7, 2011)

So you've got Android CM7 on your shiny new Touchpad, things are running great, you get a little cocky and decide to try a few tweaks, or a pre-release patch and wham, somethings wrong and you're unable to boot CM any more.

Or things just suddenly go south for no reason that you can see and you can't boot into CM.

Having a ClockworkMod Recovery "nandroid" backup available could save you from some very bad mojo in the cases above, and allow you to recovery without having to wipe data/factory reset (removes all your installed apps and app data), remove/reinstall CM, etc., if you get into a bind.

A nandroid backup contains *everything* in your current Android setup (not webOS, that is not included) - think of it as an image of your Android setup - operating system, apps & app data, settings, theme, etc.

So take a moment from your crazed fondling of your suddenly oh so sexy dual-booting, Android and webOS toting, totally terrific Touchpad, and boot into recovery (press and hold power button and select Reboot and then Recovery) and use the Backup option in ClockworkMod Recovery to make a backup of your current setup. Everything Android is backed up - apps, data, settings, kernel, so if you restore that backup later you'll have a complete "re-do" of your current setup.

Always make a new backup (or make sure you have a recent one you'd be OK falling back to) before you try any new tweaks or other changes that could destabilize your setup.

You can also rename and delete your backups to make them easier to use and keep them from using up too much space on your Touchpad. (Instructions below.)

You'll be glad you did this if something goes wrong, and you find you can still boot into Recovery and restore a backup to save your butt.

Happy CM-Touchpadding to all.

*How To*

Really easy to do...

1. Press and hold power key until power menu appears
2. Select Reboot
3. Select Recovery
- TP will reboot into recovery - looks something like this:










Use the volume buttons to navigate, and the Home button to select. The Power button backs you up one level in the menu.

4. Select "backup and restore"
5. Select "Backup"

Backup will proceed, wait patiently. When it's done:

6. Press the Power key to back up a level
7. Highlight the Reboot option and press the Home key to reboot back into CM7

Once you have a backup (aka "nandroid" or a "nandroid backup" in Android community speak), you can restore it using that same Backup and Restore menu - select Restore and you'll be able to select which of the nandroid backups you want to restore.

Here's a video tutorial shared by Beest12:



beest12 said:


> Found a Quick tutorial for people that might have problems with this.


*Managing your backups: *

Nandroid backups aren't small, so you should manage how many you keep if you're concerned about space on your TP. You can find them (and delete, backup to PC, and rename them) in the sdcard in the ClockworkMod>Backup folder, using the File Manager app, or any other file-browsing app. Renaming them after making them is a really good idea, so you know what each backup is & maybe why you made it. For example, Backup-b4-Alpha3. By default nandroid backups are named for date/time when created, e.g., 2011-10-18-22.44.13. I append a descriptor to the default backup name (2011-10-18-22.44.13-b4-Alpha3) so I get the date info and reason.

The Restore menu under "Backup and restore" allows you to restore a nandroid backup. The Advanced Restore menu allows you to restore specific parts of a backup (e.,g., just the kernel, or just data, etc.), but that's best left for users experienced w/ClockworkMod Recovery and Android in general.

You can always press the Power button (press and release, not long press) to back up one level. If you press the Power button at the top level the menu will disappear. Don't panic, press it again and the menu will reappear.

Backup before any significant change, backup when you things "just right" - you will be *very* glad you did someday...

*Backup programs for apps:*

Lastly, in addition to a nandroid backups, which back up everything, you can also backup your apps and app data using backup apps on the market. Two popular ones are:

- Titanium Backup: Probably the most renown of the backup apps, regularly updated, full of features, reliable, kind of the industry standard for app backup in Android.

- MyBackup Pro/Root: Another very nice backup app...the "Root" version is free, a little easier to use interface than Titanium, and also reliable and regularly updated.

These backup apps can allow you to backup/restore apps individually or in batches, and can help you quickly restore all your apps if you have to do a Wipe Data/Factory Reset in ClockworkMod Recovery. Both of the apps allow you to restore apps only, or apps + app data/settings. The latter is more risky, and can lead to boot loops and other problems, so know that if you restore apps+data you can have issues.


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## jakebites (Aug 27, 2011)

Redflea, always there with the good advice


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## hypermetalsonic (Aug 25, 2011)

Hell, why not... I'm getting ready to butcher my layout anyways


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## Colchiro (Aug 26, 2011)

I bet I've done about 12 so far.

You're almost a bigger nag than me.


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## Redflea (Jun 7, 2011)

I am channeling my mother I think.


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## CMartins (Sep 24, 2011)

Thanks for the advice man. I'm new to android and didn't even know about that feature lol

Cheers


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## danisawesome (Oct 3, 2011)

This is really great and fundamental advice! I don't know how many times I have had weird crap happen on my phone, but always have had a recent(ish) backup to resort to in the worst situations. Don't be lazy; just set it to backup and go make a sandwich or something of the like. Also, get familiar with CWM while you're there so that, when the worst case scenario does happen and you need to restore, you'll know exactly what to do.


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## dark_angel (Sep 2, 2011)

Very good advice! Really appreciate it. Thanks a 000' 000


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## mikeric (Aug 5, 2011)

Good advice, a lot of people with this seem to be new to android. I'm gonna go make mine now


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## jstafford1 (Aug 26, 2011)

First rule of ROMming....make a backup.

LLR00717


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## dark_angel (Sep 2, 2011)

Redflea said:


> I am channeling my mother I think.


Channeling Mother is wonderful but
Channeling Mother In Law is ............................................. ?????? LOL


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## Redflea (Jun 7, 2011)

Now I'll be too scared to sleep all night...


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## scifan (Aug 22, 2011)

Preach on brutha... been preaching backups in IRC for days... (everytime I help someone get it loaded on their box, I also make a point of showing them WHERE they can make a full backup... (they may not do it, but I show em where...)... (same as you can lead a horse to water...)


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## Redflea (Jun 7, 2011)

Bumping...if you're thinking about trying Alpha 2.1 (or any new release/patch) it's always a good idea to take a quick backup first.


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## funb0b (Sep 2, 2011)

I'm a complete noob, how is this done. Step by step guide would help me and other noobs

Cheers


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## scrizz (Jun 21, 2011)

make sure you tell them about the kernel.


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## Redflea (Jun 7, 2011)

funb0b said:


> I'm a complete noob, how is this done. Step by step guide would help me and other noobs
> 
> Cheers


Added to the OP!


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## Redflea (Jun 7, 2011)

scrizz said:


> make sure you tell them about the kernel.


Evil, evil man...leave us not scare the civilians... ;-)


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## Redflea (Jun 7, 2011)

Just saw another user who got into a boot loop and would really have benefited from having a recent backup...









Do it now...if you haven't backed up in the last week or two, and you have data/apps/configurations you value, it's time.


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## Phryxus (Oct 18, 2011)

Nandroid is the savior.. perfect when you are stupid and mess something up


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## Toly (Jul 28, 2011)

If you rename the backup.
Does that effect the MD5 not matching? I had that be4 on my android device(phone)


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## Redflea (Jun 7, 2011)

It won't if the hash is computed from file contents, not file name + contents, and I believe that the nandroid hash is from file contents.

ROM Manager (not yet compatible w/the Touchpad) even provides a rename option for backup files, so renaming is not an issue...


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## 4uonly (Oct 27, 2011)

WIll the system be stored back to the previous backup, wiping off the current sate?


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## redundant409 (Oct 2, 2011)

4uonly said:


> WIll the system be stored back to the previous backup, wiping off the current sate?


If you choose to restore, then yes


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## washere (Sep 26, 2011)

Thanks Redflea


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## TokiHacker (Sep 12, 2011)

great suggestion


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## andytseng (Oct 13, 2011)

Installed a bunch of junk trying to make my touchpad look like ics and got stuck in a boot loop. Good thing I had a backup!

Sent from my HP Touchpad using Tapatalk


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## Phryxus (Oct 18, 2011)

4uonly said:


> WIll the system be stored back to the previous backup, wiping off the current sate?


If for some reason it didn't, you can manually wipe your device in CWM before the restore.

For MD5s, yes I have renamed a backup folder post-backup, and it restored just fine. I have not tried renaming individual files.. and would not recommend it because CWM will not know they exist, I presume.


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## xflip87 (Oct 2, 2011)

hey guys,
I've done a backup, but i'm curious to know if there is any way to delete my previous ones I've made. I don't really know how much space its taking, but I've only got the 16GB version and I'm worried about it taking up a chunk of it.
thanks


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## Redflea (Jun 7, 2011)

xflip87 said:


> hey guys,
> I've done a backup, but i'm curious to know if there is any way to delete my previous ones I've made. I don't really know how much space its taking, but I've only got the 16GB version and I'm worried about it taking up a chunk of it.
> thanks


It's in the OP. Use any file manager to navigate to /clockworkmod/backup to see your backups. Delete, rename copy to your heart's content.


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## oswade (Oct 19, 2011)

Also perfect for transferring your config to another touchpad. My cousing bought my family 2 touchpads, a 16gb with a slightly yellow tinged screen (didnt notice until i compared the devices) and a 32gb with a perfect screen. Unfortunately I didn't know either of the differences between the two when setting up the first touchpad. Luckily all that was needed was to do a nandroid backup and then restore it on the other device (and factory reset the first). Now I have the GBs and the better screen, Purrrfect


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## beest12 (Oct 9, 2011)

Found a Quick tutorial for people that might have problems with this.


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## KathyForDummies (Oct 25, 2011)

Very thankful for Amon Ra and Nandroid backups, just sayin!!

Sent from my PC36100 using RootzWiki Forums


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## Charax (Oct 14, 2011)

Ah, so this is what people mean by nandroid backups, many many thanks for the step-by-step.

This only backs up android though, right? Not WebOS, so its not really like a HD image. Good to know the backups can be moved to PC


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## funb0b (Sep 2, 2011)

Thanks Redflea (-:


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## Redflea (Jun 7, 2011)

Charax said:


> Ah, so this is what people mean by nandroid backups, many many thanks for the step-by-step.
> 
> This only backs up android though, right? Not WebOS, so its not really like a HD image. Good to know the backups can be moved to PC


Yeah, that's right, it's an Android feature, and creates an image of only the Android side of things, hence the name, nandroid backup.


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## Redflea (Jun 7, 2011)

funb0b said:


> Thanks Redflea (-:


No problem, just passing on what others shared with me when I was new to Android.


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## ilive12 (Aug 30, 2011)

probably a good idea, but im butchering my install on gingerbread once ICS comes out anyway, and you can always reinstall android. I will definitely do this with ICS builds, as i would actually care about stuff i have with those.

But yeah nandroid is extremely important especially if androids your only OS. I cant count the amount of times it saved my phones life.


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## Redflea (Jun 7, 2011)

ilive12 said:


> probably a good idea, but im butchering my install on gingerbread once ICS comes out anyway, and you can always reinstall android. I will definitely do this with ICS builds, as i would actually care about stuff i have with those.
> 
> But yeah nandroid is extremely important especially if androids your only OS. I cant count the amount of times it saved my phones life.


I'd suggest that given we're likely months away from the ICS port, that a nandroid still makes sense.







Or at least use Titanium or My backup Root/Pro to back up apps...reinstalling all the apps from the Market isn't my favorite evening activity.


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## Redflea (Jun 7, 2011)

beest12 said:


> Found a Quick tutorial for people that might have problems with this.


Added this to the OP, thanks for posting it!


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## funtoy (Oct 31, 2011)

What folders backup actually back up? If I have audio/video/ebooks on the partition, will they be saved?


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## Redflea (Jun 7, 2011)

funtoy said:


> What folders backup actually back up? If I have audio/video/ebooks on the partition, will they be saved?


No, it won't back up that data, just the OS, apps, apps settings/data (as in emails, calendar data, etc.). ClockworkMod Recovery only backs up what it might directly touch, and it doesn't touch files you copy to your SD card.

You should back up stored data like that to your hard drive.


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## viper3two (Sep 7, 2011)

Thanks Redflea.
I nearly bricked my TP tonight, and thanks to this thread that I read a few weeks ago, this has saved me HOURS of work trying to get it back the way it was.


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## Redflea (Jun 7, 2011)

viper3two said:


> Thanks Redflea.
> I nearly bricked my TP tonight, and thanks to this thread that I read a few weeks ago, this has saved me HOURS of work trying to get it back the way it was.


Cool! Love to hear happy endings.


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## KathyForDummies (Oct 25, 2011)

scifan said:


> Preach on brutha... been preaching backups in IRC for days... (everytime I help someone get it loaded on their box, I also make a point of showing them WHERE they can make a full backup... (they may not do it, but I show em where...)... (same as you can lead a horse to water...)


Nandroid backup has saved my life, more that once!!!

Sent from my Super Evo 4G using RootzWiki Forums


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## dspcap (Oct 13, 2011)

I did a nandroid backup today to play with a few different things. When I went to restore, I got a message about a MD5 mismatch. Kind of surprised me as I had just completed the backup. I just flashed over the current rom and all is fixed, but any ideas why I can't do a restore?


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## abemusmax (Nov 23, 2011)

oswade said:


> Also perfect for transferring your config to another touchpad. My cousing bought my family 2 touchpads, a 16gb with a slightly yellow tinged screen (didnt notice until i compared the devices) and a 32gb with a perfect screen. Unfortunately I didn't know either of the differences between the two when setting up the first touchpad. Luckily all that was needed was to do a nandroid backup and then restore it on the other device (and factory reset the first). Now I have the GBs and the better screen, Purrrfect


So how did you fix the yellow tinge? lol My 32gb TP that I just got has that :/ and I'm transferring from a 16gb. Any help would be appreciated!


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