TWRP Recovery – Explored and Explained!

What is recovery?

Recovery is small piece of software that runs in the recovery partition on your device.

It is possible to boot into this partition, enabling you to power on and access the files on your phone without loading the Android OS. Because Android isn’t loaded the Android system files are not placed in memory, which means they can be accessed, edited and replaced.

When you install a system update on your device, booting into recovery is part of the process. Every device has a stock recovery installed for this reason, but it has no user-accessible functions.

What is TWRP?

TeamWin Recovery Project or in short; TWRP, initiated in 2011, is an Android Custom Recovery with full touch UI. This Recovery brought in and created a new trend of Touch-based recoveries. It adds customization support and  enormous other amazing features to the AOSP recovery code which makes it one of the best Android Custom Recoveries available till date. The GUI on other hand is fully XML based, so you can modify each and every aspect of this recovery according to your desires, provided that you have appropriate knowledge of XML and Android.

Why choose TWRP over others?

As mention earlier TWRP was the first to bring in the concept of touch-based UI on recoveries, which in turn defines its uniqueness. Since the early days, this recovery has evolved more than any other recoveries available, bringing in huge changes in the code and UI. If you choose TWRP, you’re assured to be updated regularly with more and more features accompanied by stability.

Now, this is when we begin to explore this marvelous recovery. Starting off from the main menu of the recovery

TWRP vs ClockworkMod Recovery: which to choose

The two main stock recovery systems for Android are TWRP and ClockworkMod (CWM).

In most instances you won’t need to make a choice between them; the rooting method you choose for your device will be based on the use of either one or the other.

TWRP and CWM have similar feature sets, and there’s little practical difference between them. They do have different user interfaces and are not compatible with one another. A Nandroid backup made on one cannot be restored using the other.

Exploring the Main Menu

As soon as you boot your Android into the latest build of TWRP, the following menu will serve you, known as the main menu.

The main menu consists of 8 tabs (Install, Wipe, Backup, Restore, Mount, Settings, Advanced & Reboot), each having its own sub-tabs and functions. Let us now begin with the first tab on the screen.

Install

The Install tab is simple and make its role in flashing files (ROMs/Kernels/Mods). Another thing that is unique here, is that you can add a queue of files and the same will be flashed in the respective order.

Now, lets get to know how simply this works.

1. Press on the “Install” tab.
2. Browse and choose the file that you desire to flash.
3. Press on Add more zips if you desire to flash another zip(s).
4. Swipe the round button present on the bottom of the screen to initiate the flashing process.

Wipe

This tab serves the function of wiping the partitions on your device. Wipe-able partitions include System, Data, Cache, Dalvik Cache, Internal Storage and USB-OTG (if any). Wiping the partitions is necessary as a pre-flashing process and is different for Installing ROMs/Kernels/Mods and updating them. So, before you set yourself for opening this menu, make sure to know what you’re doing.

Advise: Backup your storage as sometimes when you’re in haste, you might mistakenly wipe it and lose all the data on your storage.

Here, I’m gonna mention some basic wiping steps for Installing ROMs/Kernels. Note that these are universal for every ROM and Kernel, until and unless the developer himself states some specific steps.

Wiping before Installing a Custom ROM:

1. Press on “Wipe” tab.
2. Press on “Advanced Wipe”.
3. Select the partitions: Dalvik Cache, System, Data & Cache.
4. Swipe the round button present on the bottom of the screen to initiate the wiping process.

Wiping before Installing a Custom Kernel:

1. Press on “Wipe” tab.
2. Press on “Advanced Wipe”.
3. Select the partitions: Dalvik Cache & Cache.
4. Swipe the round button present on the bottom of the screen to initiate the wiping process

Backup

The Backup tab holds a very important and useful function. Situations might arise when you accidentally Install a wrong (corrupted/damaged) or may be un-desirable ROM/Kernel/Mod. Post these situations, we find ourselves stuck. So, the Backup option gives us an helping hand to come out. This option is also well known as Nandroid Backup, but is now certainly referred to as a common term; Backup.

TWRP offers some unique privileges in the Backup option too. A user can simply select the partitions that he/she might want to backup viz Boot (Kernel & Ram-disk), Recovery (Present Recovery), System (Firmware files), Data(User Apps and Information) & Cache (Dalvik Cache and Cache).

To Backup your current ROM, simply follow these steps:

1. Press on “Backup” tab.
2. Select the partitions you want to backup (Usually, ROM backup includes System, Data, Cache & Boot).
3. Swipe the round button present on the bottom of the screen to initiate the backup process.

Apart from backing up, you can also Set Backup Name (set a specific name for your backup), Enable compression and Skip md5 generation during backup.

Restore

The Restore option in simple words, restores the Backup. A backup made with the Backup tab is to be restored from this tab. This option also allows you to delete a previous backup and even enable md5 verification.

Restoring a backup is quite easy:

1. Press on “Restore” tab.
2. Press on the backup you want to restore.
3. Swipe the round button present on the bottom of the screen to initiate the restore process

Mount

It certainly is essential to mount partitions while flashing some specific files. Mount-able partitions includes: System, Data, Cache, Internal Memory, SD-card and USB-OTG (if any).

To mount a partition:

1. Press on “Mount” tab.
2. Select the partitions to mount.

Settings

This tab holds all the settings related to the recovery subsystem.

The following come under this tab:

1. zip file signature verification (Enable flashing only if the zip file is signed properly).
2. Use rm -rf  instead of formatting (Option enables manual rm -rf command to wipe instead of automatic formatting)
3. Skip md5 generation during backup (disables the generation of md5 sum during backup process)
4. Enable md5 verification of backup files (enables restore of backup, only if md5 sum verifies)
5. Use military time (Use the time format followed by Military/Army)
6. Simulate actions for theme testing (enables modification of actions during theme testing)
7. Time Zone (Set time zone according to your country)
8. Screen (Enable/disable/set screen timeout)
9. Restore defaults (Restores all the settings to their default value)

Advanced

It provides all the advance functions of the TWRP recovery.

Advanced functions include:

1. Copy Log to SD (Transfers the error log generated to the SD card)
2. Fix permissions (Fixes the permissions of the System files to fix errors)
3. File Manager (In-built recovery file manager to manage files on Internal and External memory)
4. Terminal Command (In-built terminal emulator to execute commands)
5. Reload Theme (Reloads the theme from TWRP/theme, necessary when applying a new theme)
6. ADB sideload (Initiates sideload over ADB to flash zips)

Reboot

This menu lists ways to reboot the device to various locations. You can reboot your device into the following modes just with a simple gesture. You can perform the following actions within the Reboot menu:

• System (Boot your device normally into the OS)
• Power Off (Powers down your device completely)
• Recovery (Reboots into the recovery mode)
• Bootloader (Reboots the device into bootloader/fastboot mode)

To reboot:

1. Press on “Reboot” tab.
2. Press on the desire button where you’re willing to boot.
3. Swipe the round button present on the bottom of the screen to initiate the rebooting process.

That’s all about TWRP, that every user needs to know and understand. Every function that this recovery offers is unique, which in turn  makes itself the one-of-the-kind in its line. Are you having trouble while Installing this recovery on your device? Or you’re curious to enquire about something? Feel free to comment and let me know.

Make a Nandroid backup

A Nandroid backup is essential if you’re hacking your phone. With a Nandroid backup you can restore your device to its previous state, undoing any attempted or failed hacks.

If you don’t like a ROM you have flashed, or if your device fails to boot after flashing something, restoring the Nandroid backup is the quickest way of getting your device running normally again.

To create a Nandroid backup tap the Backup option and choose the partitions to include. In most cases you should choose System, Data and Boot.

Don’t tick the Skip MD5 generation option, as this ensures the integrity of your backups and guards against errors when restoring them.

Swipe the slider to begin the backup process. It may take a while to complete, especially if you have got a lot of data that you are backing up.

Don’t attempt to interrupt the process until it is complete.

Restore a Nandroid backup

To restore a Nandroid backup tap the Restore button from the home screen and choose the backup from those listed. Swipe to begin the restore procedure.

Mount partitions

In most cases you won’t need to use the mount feature. This option enables you to mount specific partitions so that they can be accessed via ADB through a desktop.

It is a niche feature with specific use cases. If you need it, simply tap on the partitions you need to mount.

TWRP Settings

Many of the Settings in TWRP are self-explanatory. We recommend using Zip file signature verification—this adds a layer of security to your flash able zips—as well as MD5 verification, to ensure that your backups are not corrupted.

Advanced options in TWRP

There are a few options in the Advanced section of TWRP that are of use.

Fix permissions

Fix permissions can be used if you’re encountering a large number of app problems, such as frequent crashes (and we mean frequent—it won’t solve the occasional app force close).

Fixing permissions only takes a couple of minutes to complete, and there are no downsides to doing it.

ADB Sideload

ADB Sideload enables you to connect your phone to your desktop and sideload apps over ADB, which is available through the Android SDK. A common use of this is if you’re replacing a system file with a tweaked version.

File Manager

The File Manager, as its name implies, is a tool for accessing the files stored on your Android device.

Wrap up

TWRP is a powerful tool that gives you full control over the insides of your phone without needing to boot into Android.

It can be used to flash custom ROMs or minor app mods, as well as to create and manage backups. Understanding how TWRP works and what you can do with it will make you far more confident when attempting Android hacks of various kinds. It’s also worth keeping the software updated as new features, and an extra layer of user friendliness are added on a regular basis.