Must backing up data from phones be this hard?
Discussion
My phone is rammed with photos and vids that I want to copy off. They are all backed up on Google Photos so in theory I can just delete them, but I would like a local copy on my Synology NAS
I have been thwarted at every opportunity!
1. copying the files back down from the cloud onto my NAS. I can't see the photos in a filer window to copy. I could create a folder in google drive to do it in Google Photos apparently, but then the files are there twice (60GB of photos and I only have 12GB free).
2. copy off the phone:
a) no uSD card in my phone so can't just copy them directly off that.
b) Synology OS doesn't support MTP/PTP so I can't just copy direct from the phone.
c) WiFi will clearly be woefully slow - DSFile app is currently backing them all up but my WiFi is now at a standstill and it will likely take days.
d) using a PC to copy the files from phone to uSD card via USB, then plugging the uSD card into the NAS and copy the files off. Still takes forever and I am putting my faith in Windows Explorer (took 15 minutes to work out it was going to take 7.5 hours!)
Really, is this where we are?
have I missed something obvious?
I have been thwarted at every opportunity!
1. copying the files back down from the cloud onto my NAS. I can't see the photos in a filer window to copy. I could create a folder in google drive to do it in Google Photos apparently, but then the files are there twice (60GB of photos and I only have 12GB free).
2. copy off the phone:
a) no uSD card in my phone so can't just copy them directly off that.
b) Synology OS doesn't support MTP/PTP so I can't just copy direct from the phone.
c) WiFi will clearly be woefully slow - DSFile app is currently backing them all up but my WiFi is now at a standstill and it will likely take days.
d) using a PC to copy the files from phone to uSD card via USB, then plugging the uSD card into the NAS and copy the files off. Still takes forever and I am putting my faith in Windows Explorer (took 15 minutes to work out it was going to take 7.5 hours!)
Really, is this where we are?
have I missed something obvious?Create a dropbox account, install the app, you only get 2Gb free, 1TB for £7.99 per month so you could either stay free and sync 2Gb chunks, or pay for 1 month and copy the lot?
Open the app on the phone, let it sync, which will then sync back to your computer (copy retained in Dropbox's cloud also).
Open the app on the phone, let it sync, which will then sync back to your computer (copy retained in Dropbox's cloud also).
Tycho said:
Can't you just go to the Google Photos page and download the whole lot from there? They'll zip up the files and you can download them in chunks. Then just unzip them on your PC and sync to the NAS.
If there's a way I can't find it. Have I missed something?Dropbox is a possibility, still can;t understand how uploading and downloading can be quicker than directly copying photos local->local!
I've got an older Synology NAS, and I've got it set up to automatically sync to my Google photos and download them to the NAS. Can't remember how I did it, but looking around it looks like I might have used Cloud Sync.
.Adam. said:
I've got an older Synology NAS, and I've got it set up to automatically sync to my Google photos and download them to the NAS. Can't remember how I did it, but looking around it looks like I might have used Cloud Sync.
Yeah I do something similar with Dropbox on a QNAP, then it doesnt matter how long it takes, it just syncs in the background.NiceCupOfTea said:
Tycho said:
Can't you just go to the Google Photos page and download the whole lot from there? They'll zip up the files and you can download them in chunks. Then just unzip them on your PC and sync to the NAS.
If there's a way I can't find it. Have I missed something?Dropbox is a possibility, still can;t understand how uploading and downloading can be quicker than directly copying photos local->local!
https://takeout.google.com/settings/takeout
This will take you to a page where you can download all your Google data. It will give you an option to take all out but just click "select none" at the top and then click the Google Photos button. You will then get the option to download all albums or selected ones. You will then select format for the archive, size and destination. You can choose Dropbox, Onedrive etc or email. It will take a bit of time to get it ready for email but you will then get a link to the individual zip files you can download.
Am I missing something?
Just go to https://photos.google.com select what you want to download, click download, then delete them from your phone.
Just go to https://photos.google.com select what you want to download, click download, then delete them from your phone.
Thanks for the suggestions guys, am trying to work through them.
Just tried the google takeout suggestion - will take forever as I have about 80GB of photos in total. Also for some reason it claims that not everything has been included for some reason - but doesn't tell me why or what. Downloaded the first of 40 odd archives and it seems that all the metadata for each picture is stored in a separate json file, so it's not going to be a direct copy of what is stored on my phone
Seriously, all I want to do is copy the files from my phone which I have physically in my hand, to my NAS, which is physically next to me. Absolute madness.
Why is it so hard to copy the files directly via USB from the phone?
Just tried the google takeout suggestion - will take forever as I have about 80GB of photos in total. Also for some reason it claims that not everything has been included for some reason - but doesn't tell me why or what.
Downloaded the first of 40 odd archives and it seems that all the metadata for each picture is stored in a separate json file, so it's not going to be a direct copy of what is stored on my phoneSeriously, all I want to do is copy the files from my phone which I have physically in my hand, to my NAS, which is physically next to me. Absolute madness.
Why is it so hard to copy the files directly via USB from the phone?
OnePlus 3T (Android)
Synology 216
In theory it should work, but it's something like 60GB of photos/vids (2+ years worth). In theory Windows explorer should do it but it just doesn't seem to be able to cope with that much data.
Wondering about using a file explorer app with an ftp plugin to upload it directly to my NAS.
Next phone will definitely have an uSD card slot.
Synology 216
In theory it should work, but it's something like 60GB of photos/vids (2+ years worth). In theory Windows explorer should do it but it just doesn't seem to be able to cope with that much data.
Wondering about using a file explorer app with an ftp plugin to upload it directly to my NAS.
Next phone will definitely have an uSD card slot.
It is what it is. Unfortunately you've to work with what your network allows, and what you have. It's a one-off situation, but you've a large amount of data to move about, so it's going to take time.
FWIW, I just backed up my February pics from Google Photos this morning. 274 photos, a mix of phone and DSLR shots.
You just need to consider what way you want to backup things in the future, and plan accordingly.
Right now, you've a mountain of stuff to move and limited resources to do so, but it's only a once-off if you plan accordingly.
FWIW, I just backed up my February pics from Google Photos this morning. 274 photos, a mix of phone and DSLR shots.
- It took a few seconds to click and drag over the entire month of February and click Download
- It took 6-7 minutes for the photos to be zipped up and downloaded, totalling 1.1GB in a ZIP file. It worked away in the background whilst I did other stuff.
- I had set the download location to the folder on my NAS so it saved there automatically.
- It took another 20 seconds or so to open the ZIP file and carry out random checks on its contents, and that all 274 photos were there.
You just need to consider what way you want to backup things in the future, and plan accordingly.
Right now, you've a mountain of stuff to move and limited resources to do so, but it's only a once-off if you plan accordingly.
Yeah I know. I wasn't too worried as I knew it was all backed up on Google Photos.
Is there anything I can use that's more reliable than Windows Explorer to copy the files? I had loads of trouble when I first got the phone trying to copy over 40GB of music and gave up in the end as it kept crashing out. I suppose Linux command line would be a better bet if I had it and was au fait with it - but anything that will run natively in Windows, or that I can run on my Synology NAS that will pull the files across?
Is there anything I can use that's more reliable than Windows Explorer to copy the files? I had loads of trouble when I first got the phone trying to copy over 40GB of music and gave up in the end as it kept crashing out. I suppose Linux command line would be a better bet if I had it and was au fait with it - but anything that will run natively in Windows, or that I can run on my Synology NAS that will pull the files across?
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