# Help -> Titanium Backup to USB OTG Flash Drive



## dsManning

Hello, I recently picked up a 16GB thumb drive to offload some of my backups from my Nexus7. I successfully made a Rom backup using TWRP to the external storage and have transfered a few files via Root Explorer to the Flash Drive.

The point I am trying to make, is that I can read/write to the card both in TWRP and Root Explorer.

When I opened Titanium Backup (TiBu) I go to preferences, then to Backup Folder Location. I then realize that the system needs to find a backup folder already in place to "Use the current folder". Back to Root Explorer where I transfer my TitaniumBackup folder from /storage/emulated/0/ to /storage/usbotg/

After this and back in TiBu, I find my new location (on the usb) and "Use current folder". Seems to me like I should be all good, so I start a small backup. I receive an error about insufficient space. I know there are still about 12GB free. When I return to Backup Folder Location in TiBu, I realize there is a red flag under the 2 info bubbles saying "This folder is not writable".

I feel that I'm going crazy. I've scoured Titanium Track's website for support, Googled all over the place, and checked a few forums, but I can't seem to get any answers. Please point out my stupid mistake!!!!!

Thanks


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## Sandman007

Y don't you just try backing up to your N7 and then copying to your flash drive

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


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## dsManning

Sandman007 said:


> Y don't you just try backing up to your N7 and then copying to your flash drive
> 
> Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


Because I would rather solve this.... Transferring the files after the fact negates the purpose of me trying to free up space in the first place. Also, 'your way' would take up more than twice the time.


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## thefever

Had the same issue. Had to format USB drive (in my case), and then transfer my Tibu folder back to the USB

Sent from my Nexus 7


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## Dagr

I'm having this same issue as well... not really sure when it cropped up (I successfully did this a while back with a different SD card). Now, no matter what I do, TiBu sees the usb stick as read only. : ( I was using the OTG support built in to my ROM, and have also been using Stick mount. I've tried reformatting the stick to FAT32, NTFS, and exFat... all with no success. (I even downloaded the separate exFat support file for stick mount).

I can read and write to the stick just fine using various file system apps, but TiBu apparently isn't asking for the correct permission from Android. Recently I've tried modifying the permissions XML in the system to add a group to the WRITE_SD_EXTERNAL permission, but that didn't work either. (Are USB disks handled differently than SD cards when mounted in the Android system)?

Anyway, would love to figure this out... I use nearly all my space on my devices, so saving to USB with an OTG cable is the ideal solution for me.


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## Dagr

Well... after messing with StickMount a bit (and doing a few unmount/remounts), I was able to get this working again. The trick for me was that I had to point TiBU to the mnt/usbStorage/ directory rather than sdcard/usbStorage or any of the other mount points where you can access the external media.

Now my problem is speed... good god, it takes soooo long to backup to the usb stick I can't do it on a single freaking charge of the battery!!! The USB device I'm using apparently drains the crap out of the battery on my GNex. Lovely. Bah...


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## dsManning

Thanks for your input, but this method still does not work for me. This folder not writeable error when pointing to usbstorage from /mnt/ or /storage/ or /usbdisk.


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## Dagr

dsManning said:


> Thanks for your input, but this method still does not work for me. This folder not writeable error when pointing to usbstorage from /mnt/ or /storage/ or /usbdisk.


Darn... sorry its not working for you still.







I literally do have to unmount/mount, try TiBu, close TiBu, unmount/mount using StickMount several times before it works sometimes (but then for me I think that is simply because of a conflict between StickMount and the built in OTG support of the ROM that I'm using (which does not work and has the same read only problems you've outline above).


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