Imaging a Nexus 7

[whs]

The wife bought me a Nexus 7. I am completely lost in this world of Android.

One of the first things I want to do is to image it - just in case I brick it. I learned that Nandroid makes a complete image but I have no idea how to go about it. It was suggested that I use the wugs nexus root toolkit, but what are the steps.

If anybody has done that before I would appreciate some guidance.

 

[Parman]

I would suggest you look at xda.com its have a lot of good info on there.

 

[whs]

Thanks for the tip. But that is all too high level and not specific for the problem at hand.

 

[Parman]

There should be links in the nexus 7 development forum to root your device.
Once its rooted you will boot it in recovery mode and make a backup.

I have never use a nexus 7 so I can't tell you the exact steps.

If I get to my computer before you figure it out I will looked it up for you.

 

[Everlong]

To get to Nandroid, you need to flash a custom recovery. To flash a custom recovery you need to unlock the bootloader of the device.

I prefer doing it myself. While the all-in-one toolkits can do it easily, I prefer knowing what I'm actually doing instead of letting a program just flash what it wants willy nilly.

In a nutshell, you need to get adb and fastboot programs on to your PC here: http://dottech.org/downloads/adb_fastboot_and_other_tools.zip

Just extract them to a folder of your choice, C:\Android, for example. You then need to set the PATH variable to this folder for command prompt.

When this is done, you should be able to use the fastboot and adb command in command prompt. Test this by just typing "fastboot" without quotes, and it should show you all the options.

Power off the device, then hold the power button to power back on, but hold the volume down key as well. You should boot in to the bootloader. Go to fastboot with the device connected to the PC. In command prompt, type "fastboot oem unlock" without quotes. I'm not sure if this wipes all data, or not, on the Nexus 7, so may have to do some research.

When that is done, you can then flash a custom recovery. Go here, and download the Touch Recovery for the Nexus 7 (6.0.1.9). Put the .img file on your C:\ and open command prompt again. If your device has booted back up, type "adb reboot bootloader", so you get back in to the bootloader. Type "fastboot flash recovery C:\recovery.img" (recovery.img being then name of your recovery). It should flash the recovery. Once it's flashed, in fastboot on the device, go to the hboot option, then go to the recovery option, and you should be in recovery. You can then use the backup/restore options. Backup will do a full backup of your device and store it on the sdcard in clockworkmod/backups.

If you can't use the adb or fastboot commands, go to the developer settings on the device and enable usb development.

This is only for some guidance, I'd research everything yourself until you're comfortable with what you are doing. You can't brick the device doing any of this. You can only brick your device completely if you start flashing bootloaders etc, but be careful nonetheless.

 

[whs]

This is extremely useful information. Thank you very much. But what a complicated way of doing things. It would be nice if the Android developers put a standard app in - like on the iPad.

The Nexus 7 does not have an SD card. So I plan to attach a large stick or a 60GB SSD via OTG.

 

[Parman]

Infomation about rooting, installing custom roms, etc. will be found here. Nexus 7 development page

A few toolkits that does everything for you.

[Google Nexus 7 TOOLKIT V3.2.0] Drivers, Backup, Unlock, Root, CWM, Flash + MUCH MORE

the 2nd post has a lot of information.

[Toolkit] Wug's Nexus Root Toolkit v1.5.5 [Updated 11/04/12]

I have not read through all the post or researched deeply into rooting your nexus 7. I can not promise that the links above will work. Please read through them and use your best judgement.

 

[whs]

Thank you Casey. That's a lot of useful info. My head starts spinning.

 

[Parman]

Take your time there is no need to rush into it. I spent days reading into everything before I rooted my GSII.

 

[Everlong]

This is extremely useful information. Thank you very much. But what a complicated way of doing things. It would be nice if the Android developers put a standard app in - like on the iPad.

The Nexus 7 does not have an SD card. So I plan to attach a large stick or a 60GB SSD via OTG.

By sd card, I meant just connecting the USB cable and using the storage on there.

The partition is named /sdcard, so I was referring to that, I should have made myself clearer, sorry, as it can get awfully confusing with Android.


Just be aware that while you have your device unlocked, and while you have a custom recovery flashed, you won't receive over-the-air updates to your device.

I did a bit of a search, and I found this: http://www.androidcentral.com/how-i-back-my-stock-unrooted-galaxy-nexus

I wasn't aware this was possible, but it's more suited for your needs. All you have to do now is unlock the bootloader, by typing "fastboot oem unlock" as described in my other post. Then you boot directly in to the .img file without flashing it, so your original recovery stays on the device, so you receive updates as normal.

 

[whs]

Thank you Harrison, That is very useful information. Regarding the SD card I read somewhere that one can store the image on a virtual SD card inside the storage. Since I have 32GB, that might be the solution. I can always copy it later to an external device (if I ever find the app that can do that). But right now I have no clue how to define and use that virual CD.

 

[Everlong]

Thank you Harrison, That is very useful information. Regarding the SD card I read somewhere that one can store the image on a virtual SD card inside the storage. Since I have 32GB, that might be the solution. I can always copy it later to an external device (if I ever find the app that can do that). But right now I have no clue how to define and use that virual CD.

You can store it where every you like. Once the backup is complete, reboot the device, connect the Nexus 7 to your PC, and then go to My Computer>Nexus 7>Internal Storage>clockworkmod>Backup, the backup will be in this folder, and you can store it else where.

If you backup the whole clockworkmod folder, when you need to restore this, just put this back on to the device, and then re-do the steps stated earlier, but choose restore and it should find the backup to restore.

 

[whs]

Very good. Sounds easy enough. Thanks

Now I need some time to get on with it. I am still in the very basic steps - e.g. trying to arrange my desktop. Rooting will be next.

I think I'll get myself a Bluetooth keyboard. This on-screen keyboard is too finagle.

 

[Pedroc1999]

keep in mind that if you buy a microsd or any external card you will not be able to install apps on it, unless you use directory bind

 

[whs]

The N7 has no micro SD card slot. And I have a 32GB model so I guess I have enough room for the apps.

 

[Maguscreed]

I use titanium back up util for imaging. There are all kinds of rom managers for dealing with jailbreak.

One thing really worth noting. Adblock plus is available for android now and it even blocks ads inside of the free apps. So it's a really good thing to have.

 

[whs]

Thanks for all the inputs. Keep the suggestions coming. With Android I can use all the help I can get.