ADB-puuled CWM backup doesn't match its original size on phone?

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salxtai

Senior Member
Feb 28, 2011
60
1
Hi all,

I've decided to try and copy my nandroid backup that I made the other day (first ever since I've just rooted my phone) to my PC.

Long story short, I attempted to use Root explorer to cut and paste the backup's folder into a folder that is visible on my PC so I could get a copy onto my PC, and then cut and paste the nandroid back into its original folder (tedious, but I don't have enough space to have 2 copies of the nadroid on my phone at the same time). This, however, fails, and I can't see the backup folder in the folder that I can see on my PC despite it being visible in this same PC-visible folder via root explorer after its supposedly pasted it.



So I went via option 2, using ADB to pull the folder.

After another amount of research I found a path that does pull the folder (mnt/shell/emulated/clockworkmod/backup .... data/media/clockworkmod/backup = remote object doesn't exist error).

It appears to pull the folder successfully (an identically named folder appears in "platform tools" folder on my PC), however the size of this pulled folder is only ~500mb, and I'm certain the nandroid backup took up at least 3-4GB on my phone after it was created.

The pulled folder also doesn't show all the files that I can see within the nandroid backup's folder via root explorer.

I did notice the "read-only" checkbox of the pulled folder appears filled in, which I take it means not all files in the folder have read-only properties. Is it possible there are (still) hidden files within the pulled folder that would account for the difference in size and number of visible files compared to the original nandroid folder on the phone?



any clarificaion of this would be good - I'm keen to have a copy of my backup on my PC as a safeguard, but this scenario has baffled me despite an hr's worth of research :(
 

CalculatedRisk

Senior Member
Jan 20, 2013
578
97
I have experienced incomplete adb pulls also, and so I just stick to using MTP from within Windows. It's the only way for mention ensure a complete copy.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using XDA Free mobile app
 

salxtai

Senior Member
Feb 28, 2011
60
1
I have experienced incomplete adb pulls also, and so I just stick to using MTP from within Windows. It's the only way for mention ensure a complete copy.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using XDA Free mobile app

How are you doing this?

I use cwm and the backup folder isn't visible if I use mmtp (Windows file explorer etc), hence why I'm having to use other methods.
 

lopezk38

Senior Member
Apr 20, 2013
293
87
San Diego
How are you doing this?

I use cwm and the backup folder isn't visible if I use mmtp (Windows file explorer etc), hence why I'm having to use other methods.

It's possible that the computer and phone may be calculating file sizes differently. I would check the MD5 sums to see if they are the same on the computer and phone rather than guessing
 

salxtai

Senior Member
Feb 28, 2011
60
1
It's possible that the computer and phone may be calculating file sizes differently. I would check the MD5 sums to see if they are the same on the computer and phone rather than guessing

Apologies for my ignorance, but I've been searching how to do this via Google and I must be really dumb because I'm not following how to do md5 checks. Could you explain it please?
 

lopezk38

Senior Member
Apr 20, 2013
293
87
San Diego
Apologies for my ignorance, but I've been searching how to do this via Google and I must be really dumb because I'm not following how to do md5 checks. Could you explain it please?

For Windows you need to download a program to check MD5. Microsoft has one available here, although it is a command line operated program. There are other programs that have a GUI for checking MD5 if you don't want to bother with the command line.

On your phone, using your file explorer and long pressing the backup should give you the option somewhere to calculate MD5 sums (Probably in properties). I don't know if root explorer does, I've never used it before, but I use Solid Explorer which does give me the option to calculate MD5 in the properties menu
 

CalculatedRisk

Senior Member
Jan 20, 2013
578
97
I'm not sure why you're backup folder isn't visible, when I connect though USB, all my SD card folders are shown, including the CWM Folder.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using XDA Free mobile app
 

salxtai

Senior Member
Feb 28, 2011
60
1
For Windows you need to download a program to check MD5. Microsoft has one available here, although it is a command line operated program. There are other programs that have a GUI for checking MD5 if you don't want to bother with the command line.

On your phone, using your file explorer and long pressing the backup should give you the option somewhere to calculate MD5 sums (Probably in properties). I don't know if root explorer does, I've never used it before, but I use Solid Explorer which does give me the option to calculate MD5 in the properties menu


After a while of trying to work out the command line, I've think I've got it (but would like confirmation that this is correct).

- Pointed the fciv.exe command to the nandroid.md5 file located in the backup folder I had pulled from the phone via ADB

- using Solid explorer (root explorer also has this but I only worked this out after I worked out that I had look at the properties of the .md5 file itself w/in the explorer app, rather than the whole folder), I found the MD5 sum from within the backup folder

-- verdict: both numbers outputted by each source match.


Now my next question is, if I were to delete the backup on my phone, how do I go about putting it back into the "hidden" CWM backup folder where it came from later?
(seeing as I wasn't able to copy it using root explorer, and can't see the folder via MTP on my PC)
 

salxtai

Senior Member
Feb 28, 2011
60
1
I'm not sure why you're backup folder isn't visible, when I connect though USB, all my SD card folders are shown, including the CWM Folder.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using XDA Free mobile app

I have no idea either, and its really really annoying me.

Have you made some sort of permission changes to the folder/s themselves?
I have "show hidden folders" enabled under view options in windows explorer and have tried "show system folders", but that hasn't resovled it.
 

lopezk38

Senior Member
Apr 20, 2013
293
87
San Diego
After a while of trying to work out the command line, I've think I've got it (but would like confirmation that this is correct).

- Pointed the fciv.exe command to the nandroid.md5 file located in the backup folder I had pulled from the phone via ADB

- using Solid explorer (root explorer also has this but I only worked this out after I worked out that I had look at the properties of the .md5 file itself w/in the explorer app, rather than the whole folder), I found the MD5 sum from within the backup folder

-- verdict: both numbers outputted by each source match.


Now my next question is, if I were to delete the backup on my phone, how do I go about putting it back into the "hidden" CWM backup folder where it came from later?
(seeing as I wasn't able to copy it using root explorer, and can't see the folder via MTP on my PC)

You can use ADB push in recovery the folder. Just make sure you mount /data
 

CalculatedRisk

Senior Member
Jan 20, 2013
578
97
I do have those settings enabled in control panel, but aside from that I'm not sure what else could be there. In terms of USB settings, I have USB debugging enabled in developer options, and in the storage menu I have mtp selected, not the other one. I think that is all the USB settings that I have changed.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using XDA Free mobile app
 

lopezk38

Senior Member
Apr 20, 2013
293
87
San Diego
I have no idea either, and its really really annoying me.

Have you made some sort of permission changes to the folder/s themselves?
I have "show hidden folders" enabled under view options in windows explorer and have tried "show system folders", but that hasn't resovled it.

The CWM backup folder shouldn't be able to be accessed with MTP. Android only allows you to access your user's folder (You can only have multiple users on tablets, but the user based file structure is still there) through USB. User folders have a number attached to them to mark which user they are for, which is why you have that folder named 0 with all your stuff in it, because you are user #0. Since CWM backups are saved in a separate branch, Android does not make them available to USB for security reasons. lolcakes203 probably has a modified version of CWM (Or you can change the save directory in CWM? I haven't used CWM in forever), or he has TWRP which saves backups in your user folder so you can access them through USB
 

CalculatedRisk

Senior Member
Jan 20, 2013
578
97
Ahh yes I am using PhilZ CWM and that may be why I can see the backup.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using XDA Free mobile app