3

Not the SD Card that downloads, folders, gallery, etc. goes to. I mean the data/data internal memory of the Android device, where game saves, factory apps, etc. goes to.

As much as I'd love to root my device to access storage, I am afraid of the risks associated with it, like bricking. It's a Lenovo Ideatab S2109A-F and have found no simple low risk ways of rooting it and no one click root apps support it. It runs ICS 4.0.4.

But anyways now I'm turning to a pc method. We have a Windows Vista Compaq Presario computer, though its internet network card is dead and can't read our wireless router so I must tether to connect it to download whatever drivers I need for the pc to access internal memory. I don't plan to do anything with the storage itself for risk of damaging my device, I only intend to back up a few save game files to a pc folder so I don't lose them, just in case the tablet needs reset for any reason. Don't wanna lose my files and I cannot back them up if I can't access internal storage.

So step by step, what do I have to do and what files to download in order for the pc to read files from my Android internal data? Any alternative solutions would help too and if you know an easy low risk way to root this particular tablet, I'll give it a go. I tried looking up ways and tried, but nothing helped me.

Izzy
  • 91,166
  • 73
  • 343
  • 943
Brittany
  • 33
  • 1
  • 1
  • 5

2 Answers2

4

It's /storage/emulated/0/, like if you have downloaded a movie then:

adb pull /storage/emulated/0/Downloads/moiveName /Volume/yourVolumeName
iBug
  • 7,747
  • 8
  • 44
  • 83
Suraj Sirohi
  • 41
  • 1
3

Directly accessing /data/data/* is not possible without root – neither on device, nor remotely from your PC.

But your question rather is a XY problem: what you really want to do is "to back up a few save game files to a pc folder so I don't lose them, just in case the tablet needs reset for any reason". And for that, you've even put a tag that already answers your question: . Follow up to its tag-wiki for some general hints (e.g. how to install a minimal version of it). Then see the tag-wiki and scan it for "ADB" (also check the linked questions there).

Basically, what you want to do is to adb backup the relevant apps. Such an ADB-Backup always includes the app's data, and optionally the .apk of the app as well:

# adb backup -f <file_name> [-[no]apk] <package_name>
adb backup -f myApp.ab -apk com.foobar.app

The only thing you need to figure first for this is the package name of the app you want to backup. Easiest way of doing that is checking its page on PlayStore, where the package name is part of the URL (id=<package_name). Alternatively, e.g. the app AppInspector can help you find the package name.

If you later need to restore that, adb restore <file name> is all you need to call.

Community
  • 1
Izzy
  • 91,166
  • 73
  • 343
  • 943
  • Yeah I knew it had to involve adb but I just wasn't sure on how to use it because I had a program called qtadb but it wouldn't work for me so I must have missed something. I'll have to reinstall what I need step by step so I can backup my save games but if it doesn't work I may be forced to root my device,if I can find a simple low risk way of doing it. – Brittany Jul 02 '15 at 06:52
  • If you're on Windows, you might wish to look at Droid Explorer (Ryan, it's dev, is active here on the site), which allows you easy access also to backups. It's most useful on a rooted device, though (not sure if that's a requirement: I have no Windows, so I can't use it). Also worth a look: my ADB page ;) – Izzy Jul 02 '15 at 06:58
  • I think Droid Explorer is for root only. I looked at the page and it mentioned root but didn't say it would work for unrooted devices. I'll retry qtADB because I don't think I had adb or SDK installed on the pc, just figured out I need SDK installed too. If it doesn't work I'll try others, and I may try Helium as well, I found it on the app store. – Brittany Jul 02 '15 at 07:41
  • Brittany, you do not need the full SDK, see: Is there a minimal installation of ADB? 90% of SDK is complete overkill (and not even used) unless you're a developer. That's why it's called "Software *Development* Kit" ;) As for Helium: I thought about that as well, but you were asking to access from your PC ;) – Izzy Jul 02 '15 at 09:45
  • Yes, I did install the minimum sdk. Got adb, aapt, etc. And trying to use qtadb now. If it doesn't work I'll have to learn to use the adb in command prompt. (Not really good with certain codes) And yes, was gonna try Helium, but non rooted also has to install Helium to PC so I assume Helium will let me backup save to the pc to store it. And yes I did want a way to access my storage from the pc but you informed me I can't unless I root, which I would love to but bricking scares me. So I'll have to rely on adb and apps related to/uses adb to pull my saves to store on pc. – Brittany Jul 02 '15 at 10:03
  • Damn.....finally gt qtadb to open but it says I don't have aapt.exe but I do. It's with adb.exe in Android folder. I don't know what's wrong. Edit: Opening aapt.exe came up with this message saying C:\Program Files.android\aapt.exe is not a valid Win32 application. Yeah I'm new to these android/windows programs so I'm not sure why aapt is having a problem. – Brittany Jul 02 '15 at 10:06
  • Can't help you with Windows (all the windows I have are for light and fresh air only), sorry. Wouldn't there be the error message, I'd suspect the PATH variable must be updated. Where did you pick your ADB stuff from? You could try the archives from here for a replacement. – Izzy Jul 02 '15 at 10:26
  • Looking at different sites about adb, plus your links. Also gotta different aapt.exe and it works so qtadb opened. But it comes up blank, no apps on the list. http://techchasse.blogspot.com/2011/03/qtadb-is-adb-android-debug-bridge-for.html But I just found this, and it says I must have a rooted device with dropbox to use this. If only they told me on the download page. I'll test helium out and hope it lets me backup to pc, but Helium will work from the tablet and send to the pc, rather than a pc app pulling it from the tablet. Otherwise I'll use adb itself and hope it works. – Brittany Jul 02 '15 at 10:59
  • Brittany, the way which definitely works is command line – as described in my answer. Requires no root, though some apps might have "opted out" of it (a dev can define his app as "no_backup"). – Izzy Jul 02 '15 at 11:22
  • 1
    Dang I hope not or all hell will break loose. Developers shouldn't take away the option for us to backup apps, or we'd lose all our data if the device dies or needs factory reset. Then we'd have to start all over. But anyways I'll be using the command line later on, heading to bed. Helium needs adb but I figured out it needs another driver that doesn't support Lenovo devices. I gotta learn the adb codes and commands though, plus the program filename of the app. ^^; Thanks for your help so far! – Brittany Jul 02 '15 at 11:40
  • Tell them! Some at least only opt-out the .apk of their paid apps (to protect it against piracy), but allow for the data. Btw, to get you started with ADB, you might wish to see my article ADB for end-users. – Izzy Jul 02 '15 at 11:45
  • I got it, package name in url was com.tinyco.realms. Reread your first post as ref to remember the code. So it's adb backup -f tiny_castle -noapk com.tinyco.realms Thanks for the help! Just checked the file but it's an encrypted mess and I didn't put a password for encryption though. – Brittany Jul 03 '15 at 08:15
  • Sure it is. See: Is there a way to look inside and modify an adb backup created file? / How do you extract an App's data from a full backup made through “adb backup”? (taken from our backup tag-wiki). // PS: Don't forget to "accept" (click the check-mark next to it) and/or "upvote" (click the up-arrow) the answer if it solved your issue :) – Izzy Jul 03 '15 at 14:52
  • Thanks for your help! I figured out the adb now. Still wonder though why the backup data is encrypted when I didn't encrypt it though, but it's no problem. I'll find a way to decrypt it. I wanna be able to read what my data is too. – Brittany Jul 04 '15 at 10:45
  • Just follow above links for that. If you were using Linux, I'd refer you to my Adebar framework, which contains an ab2tar converter. Not sure how to do that on Windows – as my only windows are for light and fresh air (uh, today for "hot air" as well) … – Izzy Jul 04 '15 at 12:58