Root [International] How to properly backup your android with CWM?

[SuperAndoid]

Hi guys,


So I got my phone rooted and CWM installed yesterday with the help from others on here. But now that it is rooted, it's not doing anything special in particular so I'm planning to flash my s3 with the Omega v5.2 ROM.

In preparation with flashing a custom ROM, I think it would be wise for me to make some sort of backup with the stock firmware. I tried to do a search but it didn't come up with any real tutorial about backing up with cwm and I wasn't gonna just go and "experiment" on my own.

So I'm just gonna write out what I have gathered from several sources and put them altogether. My only request is for the experts to go over the steps and verify if they are indeed correct because I never used cwm before.

1)Make sure you have an external SD card? or does it store in the phone memory? (please advise on this)
2)Get into CWM by pressing up + Power + Home
3)Once in CWM, scroll down to "backup and restore"
using the volumn keys to scroll and menu button to select
4)Then select "Backup"
5)Let the phone do its thing (will take a couple of minutes)
6) Once you see "Backup is complete" the process is done.
7) To free up space, move backup file to computer.

So in the event I do not like the custom ROM and would like to go back to my initial firmware, do I just do the same process stated above but instead of choosing Backup, I choose Restore? Or Do I need to do wipes before restoring to my stock firmware?

Please advise on the above steps and correct me if any of the above are incorrect so I can read up more on flashing with the custom ROMS before I actually do it, thanks in advance!

 

[Hadron]

I can't advise on getting into CWM as I don't have an S3, but personally I just "restore" when I want to restore a nand backup, have never bothered wiping first - the nandroid restore process formats the partitions it's restoring.

Personally I would back up the nandroid to PC, but would leave at least your most recent one on the phone, as that's much more convenient if you need to restore it.

 

[SUroot]

1)Make sure you have an external SD card? or does it store in the phone memory? (please advise on this)
2)Get into CWM by pressing up + Power + Home
3)Once in CWM, scroll down to "backup and restore"
using the volumn keys to scroll and menu button to select
4)Then select "Backup"
5)Let the phone do its thing (will take a couple of minutes)
6) Once you see "Backup is complete" the process is done.
7) To free up space, move backup file to computer.

1) I'm not sure. I have one on internal SD somehow and 2 on external.

2) Yes but rooting usually gives you an app called CWM manager that can boot into recovery from android too.

3) Yes but not using menu. using the big, central "Home" button

4) Yes

5) Yes, 5 minutes perhaps. SGS3 ROMs are big and it depends how much data you have

6) Yes

7) Yes

 

[SuperAndoid]

1) I'm not sure. I have one on internal SD somehow and 2 on external.

2) Yes but rooting usually gives you an app called CWM manager that can boot into recovery from android too.

3) Yes but not using menu. using the big, central "Home" button

4) Yes

5) Yes, 5 minutes perhaps. SGS3 ROMs are big and it depends how much data you have

6) Yes

7) Yes

Thanks for the checks. How about restoring the phone to stock using the backed up file? What's the process like for that?

 

[SUroot]

The same, except you use the restore option instead of backup. Browse to the backup you want (should be the earliest).

be aware though, this rom is rooted when you restore it as you cant backup before rooting.

 

[SuperAndoid]

The same, except you use the restore option instead of backup. Browse to the backup you want (should be the earliest).

be aware though, this rom is rooted when you restore it as you cant backup before rooting.

I read somewhere that in between custom ROM flashes, whenever you want to flash new ROMS, you should always do a full wipe. Does that apply here when going back to stock or simply restore it like how you put it?

 

[Hadron]

You wipe between ROM flashes because the system data are usually incompatible between different ROMs. But restoring the nandroid is different from a ROM flash: it replaces everything, ROM, user apps, system data, user data, the lot, with what was there when you took the backup. So no, no need to wipe.

 

[SuperAndoid]

You wipe between ROM flashes because the system data are usually incompatible between different ROMs. But restoring the nandroid is different from a ROM flash: it replaces everything, ROM, user apps, system data, user data, the lot, with what was there when you took the backup. So no, no need to wipe.

Ok thanks for the clarification!

 

[SuperAndoid]

The same, except you use the restore option instead of backup. Browse to the backup you want (should be the earliest).

be aware though, this rom is rooted when you restore it as you cant backup before rooting.

You mean if I flash to the new custom ROM for example the Omega ROM, I will need to get rooted and CWM again right to make a backup of that if I wanted it to?

Edit: Oh Nevermind

 

[Drorzr]

Where does the Samsung GNex store the CWM backup? I cant seem to find it in order to move it to PC. Found it, but it really is tiny and in the CWM folder. Will this get overwritten each time a new BU is made?

 

[Hadron]

They don't get overwritten. Should not be tiny. I'd expect them to be in a folder called clockworkmod/backup. The backup is a folder, not a file - should contain a set of img files and a file with the md5 sums.