[Q] Flash Stock without wiping Userland - Vibrant Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Is this possible?
I messed up, used tab-complete too quickly & didn't realize I was flashing a JI6 Lockscreen on my stock ROM. High-five me I'm "soft" bricked.
The phone will turn on, make the gay as hell TMO startup sound and just sit there @ Vibrant screen.
I was wondering if there is a way to just flash the OS area instead of wiping the whole dang thing. I took a whole truckload of pics and have a pile of notes I would like to get off the device.
I had it Clockwork'ed but I can't seem to get to it when I hit "Update packages", I managed to ADB pull one file but I don't see any of the other files I have created.
Soooooooooooooo...in short, is there a way to only flash the OS and not mess with the user-data that is already on the phone? I assume that the user-land data is stored in /sdcard, correct? Is there a way to not wipe the user-land area/partition at all?
I searched all over the Vibrant Q/A thread an multiple other threads already too.
No, I can not use superuser mode, it says no permission, neither can I use mount/unmount, same reason, no permissions...

Related

[Q] No Copy Protected Apps After One Click Root

I'm a total noob here and to Android...well to all of this really. I've searched the forums (I swear) to find an answer elsewhere, but found only solutions based on the EVO or Experia, and neither was exactly the issue I'm facing. Here's what I did:
1.) Had total stock phone that got sluggish and lagging after installing JI5 through Kies.
2.) Factory Reset and One Click Root. Phone was noticeably snappier still with the JI5 obviously, so the reset helped that.
3.) Used Rom Manager app to make a backup
4.) Using Titanium Backup removed some of the bloatware (got sick of Slacker Radio and TelNav randomly running when I never opened either once)
5.) Went about re-downloading apps lost in the factory reset and noticed the NY Times app isn't even in the market anymore? Read in another forum about it being copy protected (even though it's free!) and therefore wont show up in the market on a rooted phone. Ugh...
6.) Start reading and trying to learn about kernals and custom Roms, Odin, and flashing...and "holy crap, I'm in way over my head".
7.) Unrooted, and still no apps.
Now I just want to get back to where I was before Installing JI5, have access to the whole market, and be able to get the JI6 OTA update. I've read the "Easiest way back to stock" thread but not sure that's going to fix the copy protected apps problem, and I'm worried that's going to screw up my GPS again (though,to be fair, it isn't that good now), and not sure what that does to my ability to get to JI6.
Guys, I know these questions are long, probably annoying, and possibly redundant. I've learned my lesson, I wanna get back to the shallow end of the pool! Can anyone help get me there?
"all the Dude ever wanted was his rug back."
After more reading, would flashing Bionix 1.7 fix all of this?
first, check to make sure your phone can enter download mode by connecting the usb cable to the phone and computer and pressing all three buttons until it resets. release the power button when you see the vibrant logo.
if you see a little yellow robot shoveling **** you're in.
if it doesn't. search around the forums for info about Hardware locked phones.
if it does:
download Odin
download stock JFD
use odin to flash JFD with repartition checked and the 512 pit file.
then use odin to flash JI6 with repartition UNCHECKED and the 512 pit file.
then you should be at stock and everything should work as if you never touched it and just updated.
note this will erase your system and data (your settings and stuff).
more info by searching the forums for any of those items.
Worked perfect! Thanks for your help!

JI6 + oclf + Voodoo = Death [ANSWERED]

I seem to be at a bit of a cross road here, hopefully posting this story can give me some direction, as I see people with similar problems elsewhere, but not on XDA.
After getting the JI6 upgrade on stock, it took out OCLF, when i did it update, none of the setting where available. So when I redid OCLF, i could not up to the new OCLF and could not undo the old one. However voodoo5 was available, and seeing the reports on that voodoo5 was the bees knees. So I ran it (stupidly. It went though the motions, heard the voice prompts saying the steps, and said it was Completed. I knew the first boot up took some- what I would get is
Stuck on Black Vibrant screen, would hear T-Mo boot up sound, but would never progress after 20 - 30 minutes
Reading the Forum, (Use that search button) using the steps specifically in this post: [TUTORIAL][ROM] How to fix your phone and apply the update --- to achieve what i heard that had success stories with using Odin to restore to restore JI6 update after this kind of error. Well here is where I am at:
I can get into recover mode and boot loader
I get Vibrant, Tmobile screen, hear the tmobile tone, and then see the galaxy S screen
I then get an all black screen where the buttons on the bottom (home, back etc) light up, and will turn off when i touch them and then come back on
And that's it. I get nothing, a big blank screen. And I am unsure where to go... any advice would be helpful on how to get a full recovery. No longer worried about my data, just want to get my phone back up and running by any means.
buggzero said:
I seem to be at a bit of a cross road here, hopefully posting this story can give me some direction, as I see people with similar problems elsewhere, but not on XDA.
After getting the JI6 upgrade on stock, it took out OCLF, when i did it update, none of the setting where available. So when I redid OCLF, i could not up to the new OCLF and could not undo the old one. However voodoo5 was available, and seeing the reports on that voodoo5 was the bees knees. So I ran it (stupidly. It went though the motions, heard the voice prompts saying the steps, and said it was Completed. I knew the first boot up took some- what I would get is
Stuck on Black Vibrant screen, would hear T-Mo boot up sound, but would never progress after 20 - 30 minutes
Reading the Forum, (Use that search button) using the steps specifically in this post: [TUTORIAL][ROM] How to fix your phone and apply the update --- to achieve what i heard that had success stories with using Odin to restore to restore JI6 update after this kind of error. Well here is where I am at:
I can get into recover mode and boot loader
I get Vibrant, Tmobile screen, hear the tmobile tone, and then see the galaxy S screen
I then get an all black screen where the buttons on the bottom (home, back etc) light up, and will turn off when i touch them and then come back on
And that's it. I get nothing, a big blank screen. And I am unsure where to go... any advice would be helpful on how to get a full recovery. No longer worried about my data, just want to get my phone back up and running by any means.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did You Flash Something Before Disabling Voodoo? 2 Fixes to Help You Out.
So you forgot to disable the voodoo lagfix before you flashed a new rom and now you're getting an error, similar to the one posted below. Even Odin won't allow you to flash back to stock. Well, pay close attention and with some luck, you'll be good as rain...or something like that.
Fix 1:
1. Download Eugenes 'Froyo that does not brick' file.
2. Extract the files.
3. Open Odin, plug in your phone, then put it into download mode.
4. load the PIT file in appropriate area.
5. load the .tar file in the PDA area.
6. DO NOT check 're-partition'.
7. Click start, let it finish. Your phone will load and reboot into stock recovery. It will error out again. DONT panic! This is what's supposed to happen.
8. Now, pull your battery.
9. Download the 'True stock 2.1 firmware for the vibrant'.
10. Extract the files.
11. Once again, open Odin, plug in your phone, put into download mode.
12. Load the PIT file into the appropriate area and the .tar in the PDA area.
13. THIS TIME you want to check the 're-partition' box.
14. Now click start, let it finish, and this time your phone will load up just fine! BAM!
Fix 2: (use only if you know how to use adb commands)
1. Place the 'disable-lagfix' file in your sdk>tools directory
2. Get into clockwork recovery like you normally would
3. Follow these adb commands to push the 'disable-lagfix' file to you sdcard>voodoo
adb push disable-lagfix /sdcard/voodoo
4. File should now be on your sdcard in your voodoo folder.
5. Reboot phone and with luck, you should hear Linda the robot telling you your file system is being converted back to rfs.
6. Because your system directory has already been wiped, you'll still get a black screen when you reboot, but your file system is back to rfs. Just pull the battery, and reflash whatever rom you want. Then reboot again.
ANNNDD THE TRUUUUTHHH SHALL SET YOU FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Thank you AMD. Following "Fix 1" Method, worked flawlessly!
Now, just to clarify, this put the phone completely back to stock? It has undone the ext2, voodoo and hoodoo nonsence? I just want to know where I stand, becuase now that I am wiped clean, there is obvious no worry of loosing data now lol. Might as well put a nice custom rom, rather than fiddiling with fixes to the stock right now.
Also, I am not yet familiar with ADB, but will read the sticky Bible thread, do you recomend that method over the 1st one? I did not install clockwork recovery, is that a perferred pre-loader to prevent these kind of issues?
buggzero said:
ANNNDD THE TRUUUUTHHH SHALL SET YOU FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Thank you AMD. Following "Fix 1" Method, worked flawlessly!
Now, just to clarify, this put the phone completely back to stock? It has undone the ext2, voodoo and hoodoo nonsence? I just want to know where I stand, becuase now that I am wiped clean, there is obvious no worry of loosing data now lol. Might as well put a nice custom rom, rather than fiddiling with fixes to the stock right now.
Also, I am not yet familiar with ADB, but will read the sticky Bible thread, do you recomend that method over the 1st one? I did not install clockwork recovery, is that a perferred pre-loader to prevent these kind of issues?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your welcome and yes, you're completely back to stock and everything is gone. So you should be set. No, both methods work well and do the same. I know adb but still prefer the first method, works all the time is something goes wrong with voodoo or any lagfix.
I wouldn't say it's preferred to prevent those issues because you may still have them either way but its nice to have. You can make a backup with it so if anything goes wrong you have something to fall back on. Just makes things simpler.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Seeing some of your other posts in the bionix fusion rom, which is what I ended up flashing to, it seems that the issue you had mentioned is that even if your moving between voodoo compatible roms, voodoo needs to be removed before.
This can be done within the handset with rom manager, using the voodoodisable.zip?
Cause ya, didn't quite understand that part till it happened. Feel pretty dumb when there is post after post of "PPL DUN FKN READ"
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
buggzero said:
Seeing some of your other posts in the bionix fusion rom, which is what I ended up flashing to, it seems that the issue you had mentioned is that even if your moving between voodoo compatible roms, voodoo needs to be removed before.
This can be done within the handset with rom manager, using the voodoodisable.zip?
Cause ya, didn't quite understand that part till it happened. Feel pretty dumb when there is post after post of "PPL DUN FKN READ"
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's simple to disable voodoo. When you have voodoo installed you should have a voodoo folder in your internal SD card, if you don't them make one. Put a file called disable-lagfix in there with no extensions. A blank file with that name. Reboot and you'll hear the.process going through of removing voodoo. Then you can flash what ever you like without any problems. If you want voodoo back delete the disable-lagfix file or rename it to enable-lagfix. Simple.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
thx for ur sharing...
i hv the same problem, it's fixed now...

[Q] Stuck in boot cycle...not a wcdma problem

I Have restorted to being the noob that signs up to ask a question...The other day I was driving (pre-root) and I look down to notice my phone had power cycled on its own. I thought it would come back one, boy I was wrong....
It spiralled into endless boot cycle. It would at first reboot get to the 4g screen and then back to the htc...over and over. I was able to get into Hboot, and atempt to do a factory reset that didnt help because it became a endless reboot that way as well.
Now before any of you say "why dont you warranty replace the phone" Im a VZW agent, alas we dont have a warranty on our phones when it comes to our concessions lines...
Now, at that point I said enough is enough and I delved into the world of rooting. I self taught everything within a few hours. I had my phone unlocked and ready to go. I picked Ineffabile (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1420513) to use as a rom, I followed the procedure to a T it installed correctly, but then when it came back on everything seemed to work fine...for about 5 minutes and then it happened agian a power cycle all over again. and again...and again. It now comes on works for about 5mins and then reboots.
Im at a complete loss at this point I have gone back into the SD card and deleted the ph98 file etc.... I just dont know what to do. I need this phone to work.
Any help is appreciated Thank you so much!
I know you said it's not the wcdma problem but will your phone stay booted with the back cover off?
Else I'd ruu back to stock. Could try the different radios and see if it helps.
If you want to try the older radios and are on the OTA you'll have to hexedit you mainver. There's a guide if you look.
older radios? Im still new to this so I applogize...
A couple weeks ago there was an OTA (over the air update) that updated the radios - what controls the calls part of your phone and can affect reception and other stuff, I don't know everything it does. So if you wanted to try the older ones there's a thread somewhere, I think by con247, that has the older ones.
Here's a couple guides to help you get familiar with rooting stuff:
http://androidforums.com/evo-3d-all-things-root/389787-beginners-guide-rooting-android-devices.html
http://androidforums.com/evo-4g-all-things-root/129648-quick-intro-rooting-those-new-rooting.html
You can try flashing the kernel again. Sometimes bootlooping is a kernel issue, although it doesn't seem to be the cause of your situation.
How about insurance? Do you have that? Can you still get it?
feralicious said:
A couple weeks ago there was an OTA (over the air update) that updated the radios - what controls the calls part of your phone and can affect reception and other stuff, I don't know everything it does. So if you wanted to try the older ones there's a thread somewhere, I think by con247, that has the older ones.
You can try flashing the kernel again. Sometimes bootlooping is a kernel issue, although it doesn't seem to be the cause of your situation.
How about insurance? Do you have that? Can you still get it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I dont have insurance =/ and cant get it either. Im trying to find the radios, and what kernal should I be flashing? because I cannot find the one that should match the rom im using.
What I dont understand is why the phone powers on, works for a few moments like nothing is wrong what so ever. Then freezes and reboots.
Oh, there's a new way of packing a ROM with a script that then installs the kernel so I guess it's all together now on Ineffabilis. Here's a link to the MikMik forum where they still have the stock rooted kernel as a separate download:
http://themikmik.com/showthread.php...-Beats-Tweaks-2-01-605-11&p=164906#post164906
Just take off the part of the name before PH98IMG.zip, put it on your external sd card. Do a battery pull, then reboot into bootloader by holding volume down + power. It will flash it and I think reboot. Then delete the PHzip file after that.
Don't know if it will help...
Oh... when you flashed Ineffabilis, did you restore any data from a backup? If yes, try flashing again and not restoring any data, just set up everything again manually. Also, if you restored any data from another phone's backup that could have caused problems. Basically you don't want to restore data from a different ROM.
feralicious said:
Oh, there's a new way of packing a ROM with a script that then installs the kernel so I guess it's all together now on Ineffabilis. Here's a link to the MikMik forum where they still have the stock rooted kernel as a separate download:
Just take off the part of the name before PH98IMG.zip, put it on your external sd card. Do a battery pull, then reboot into bootloader by holding volume down + power. It will flash it and I think reboot. Then delete the PHzip file after that.
Don't know if it will help...
Oh... when you flashed Ineffabilis, did you restore any data from a backup? If yes, try flashing again and not restoring any data, just set up everything again manually. Also, if you restored any data from another phone's backup that could have caused problems. Basically you don't want to restore data from a different ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is a clean SD card, and I didnt create a backup because I couldnt get the phone past Hboot when it was doing boot cycles previous to the root. I re-ruu'd right now. And im starting from scratch. I used clockwork before, Im trying amon ra now.

Boot Loop Fix without factory reset (data erase)...Completely Stock Atrix

All the boot loop problems I searched for are all rooted/flashed/etc.
My sisters Atrix is stock on 2.2, getting continues boot loop all of sudden this morning. Battery pulls are no help.
Is there anyway I can fix this without a factory reset?
Probably the same chance Poland has winning the Euro 2012...
Not sure if possible.
Won't go in safe mode. Tried clearing the cache partition. Nothing helped.
If I could get into safe mode I'm sure I could fix it, phone has not been messed around with so probably some stupid app caused this.
Very frustrating.
KingKuba13 said:
Safe mode
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The hell are you talking about? This isn't Windows! The only way an app could mess with the system would be if it had root. And if you're completely stock, you won't have that.
nerfman100 said:
The hell are you talking about? This isn't Windows! The only way an app could mess with the system would be if it had root. And if you're completely stock, you won't have that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can't a rogue/virus/malware app mess with the system?
What could be causing this if its stock?
I'm more familiar with windows/ms dos.
Well, my money would be on Poland vs your Atrix,...
Anyway, what MIGHT work is to save the /data partition then follow the various instructions to reflash from square one (and end up with as close as you can get to what it was), then restore /data and pray. You might need (or want) to put an unlocked bootloader and real recovery on while you are doing all this. You should not need to touch /sdcard.so just leave hi, alone.
Start here for some suggestions on what is going on.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1690842
Also, there are some good stickies in the General Atrix area.
You will really need to understamd what you are doing here, and not just follow a recipie. So spend some time understanding how fastboot and recovery work.
P.S., if you have an external sdcard in, pull that and see if it helps.
EDIT: If there is something super important on it, I would get somebody who knows what they are doing to extract iy for you.
exwannabe said:
Well, my money would be on Poland vs your Atrix,...
Anyway, what MIGHT work is to save the /data partition then follow the various instructions to reflash from square one (and end up with as close as you can get to what it was), then restore /data and pray. You might need (or want) to put an unlocked bootloader and real recovery on while you are doing all this. You should not need to touch /sdcard.so just leave hi, alone.
Start here for some suggestions on what is going on.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1690842
Also, there are some good stickies in the General Atrix area.
You will really need to understamd what you are doing here, and not just follow a recipie. So spend some time understanding how fastboot and recovery work.
P.S., if you have an external sdcard in, pull that and see if it helps.
EDIT: If there is something super important on it, I would get somebody who knows what they are doing to extract iy for you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't want to mess around with it too much since its my sisters phone. There's some important things on there but I guess life can go on without them.
If I do factory reset and update it to GB, is there anyway to choose 2.3.4 instead of 2.3.6 without rooting it. Read too many complaints about 2.3.6....
Why won't it let me into safe mode? Hold both volume buttons down after dualcore logo when the motorola animation starts right....
Did factory reset, phone working again.
There's no blur widgets and lot less icons on the phone than originally bought brand new, contacts came back eventually but for some reason all Google Plus profiles were added to contacts, never had that before.
Surprisingly all my pics and videos are still there which is nice.
Probably take me a week to get it even to close to tip top shape as before. :\
Wished I remember all the little tweaks I did for the last year.

[Q] Encryption prevents custom ROMs being used

OK so let me start off with, great site. I have read a ton of information.
First: Siyah 4.3.3 (Latest) Kernel which now has been put to AJK v1.48s
ROM; SHOstock3 v2.5.9
PreMod Settings: SGS2 AT&T SGH-i777. Started with GB > AT&T OTA (KIES) 4.0.3 > AT&T OTA WIFI 4.0.4 (caused huge freaking headaches with battery, charging, turn off the phone loop, battery draining, etc.)
Issues:
Original Issue posted in this thread (viewing Single Post) http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=39350619&postcount=18
Creepy offered something to try. That never worked as all I was able to do was download mode or stare at the Samsung Galaxy S2 Splash Screen. Well, I took to his download repository and other links and used his One-Click Recovery to stock GB Rom to make part of my phone usable, using this link here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=18859438&postcount=199
While it is Gingerbread at least my phone is usable. I want to try his STOCK ICS method but that mentions the eMMC super-brick bug.
So this is what I have tried so far. I have tried installing Siyah 4.3.3 nomswap for my kernel using Mobil-Odin Lite. That works but it never reboots or actually says finished. What it does do is stay at the wicked purple splash with the yin yang symbol. I left it like that last night until I woke up this morning and it never changed. So I rebooted the phone and the Kernel is on there. I reboot into recovery so that I can install SHOstock3 v2.5.9. That goes off flawlessly except here the last few times it won't reboot when I go to the GO BACK. It sticks and doesn't do anything. Rebooting shows the SHOstock3 Engine Boot Animation. Once it stops it goes to ask me for the encryption password. Well I put in my password (was the same one to the unlock screen) and it reboots and you see the nifty Samsung animation logo and then goes to the Samsung Galaxy S2 Animation Logo and then just stays there. It really pisses me off.
So after all that I finally put a new Kernel on there,AJK 1,48s. Pretty cool it loads up and then reboots. Well AJK shows up after the light-blue bar fills up and then goes black and the 4 touch sensitive row keys are lit up for a bit before going dark but the phone is still on. So I rebooted to recovery (CWM now with the Kernel) fixed tweaks, went to advanced and saw all sorts of options. Tried clearing caches for ROM 2 and restarting,no effect. I removed ROM 2 and went through reboot and nothing. Restored ROM 2 and nothing. Re installed SHOstock3 v2.5.9. Did the same thing after install and not backing out when I hit GO BACK. Rebooted, same scenario that happened before with requiring password. Entering password does the same thing with a reboot and then staying on Samsung Splash Screen. If I Don't enter the password and reboot,same thing happens. So after being irritated and pissed off I ran Creepy's One-Click Fix again and paid attention to the phone and noticed it mentioned not being able to access the AT&T section or partition or something like that. So while part of my phone works under normal circumstances I want to figure out how to remove that encryption part of the phone and get full access (even though full memory and space are shown under Windows 7 and the files on the phone). The password I put on there isn't taking and I don't know if using PC methods for removing encryption (which could take awhile I know) needs to be employed (and if so which methods) or if that part is just screwed and I can't put on any other kernels or custom ROMs. Perhaps tell me where I messed up. Should I try swapping the ROMs from Advanced setting in CWM Recovery? Can I try a different ROM (kernel didn't seem to help)? I have done several factory resets dalvik cache wipes cache wipes formats,etc. and it is still there. I can say that before the whole encryption debacle (even though I was encrypted I did get in my phone after encrypting it) my pin unlock for my SIM wouldn't work and I actually SIM locked my phone. Had to go to AT&T and get a new SIM and was up and running. I put a 4 digit pin lock for the SIM (it let me do it) and when I went to unlock it after a reboot, it wanted an 8 pin for the PUK and wouldn't take what I put. I tried to change the PIN but to no avail. Once that happened I guess it snowballed. Any help is appreciated. I have searched and tried some things that looked to match my issue but none have totally helped. I do have ADB set up on my wife's laptop which I use to restore my phone to GB Stock ROM. I haven't been able to reboot the phone into Bootloader to do any fastboot commands as when I tried to do it the commands just sent the phone into normal reboot (though adb reboot recovery does boot to recovery). I Haven't tried booting to the bootloader using the new Kernel though so I will wait for confirmation or additional information before I try. Thanks guys.
Eagle
Couple of comments. Siyah 4.3.3 (and ajk) kernels are for 4.x ICS and JB so that explains why your stock Gingerbread system would not flash after you installed it. If you flash back to stock Gingerbread again, and then flash a custom kernel, use a kernel that is compatible with Gingerbread if you want to boot the system.
After doing a little research, it seems that a wipe data/factory reset will not clear the encryption, but a format data will. This information is not from a Samsung forum; it's from the Droid DNA forum. I'm thinking that the same thing may apply to the I777. See the thread here.
It might be worth a try anyway. Flash stock plus root Gingerbread, install mobile odin or mobile odin lite, and use it to flash Siyah 2.6.14. Boot into recovery and go to the Mounts and Storage section. There you can format data, (and all the other partitions, separately.)
creepyncrawly said:
Couple of comments. Siyah 4.3.3 (and ajk) kernels are for 4.x ICS and JB so that explains why your stock Gingerbread system would not flash after you installed it. If you flash back to stock Gingerbread again, and then flash a custom kernel, use a kernel that is compatible with Gingerbread if you want to boot the system.
After doing a little research, it seems that a wipe data/factory reset will not clear the encryption, but a format data will. This information is not from a Samsung forum; it's from the Droid DNA forum. I'm thinking that the same thing may apply to the I777. See the thread here.
It might be worth a try anyway. Flash stock plus root Gingerbread, install mobile odin or mobile odin lite, and use it to flash Siyah 2.6.14. Boot into recovery and go to the Mounts and Storage section. There you can format data, (and all the other partitions, separately.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you so much creepy. I will give that a try later and see how it goes. I hope the information I gave actually gives enough info. I know folks usually want enough. Ill post back my findings.
Eagle
quick follow up and what I tried
creepyncrawly said:
Couple of comments. Siyah 4.3.3 (and ajk) kernels are for 4.x ICS and JB so that explains why your stock Gingerbread system would not flash after you installed it. If you flash back to stock Gingerbread again, and then flash a custom kernel, use a kernel that is compatible with Gingerbread if you want to boot the system.
After doing a little research, it seems that a wipe data/factory reset will not clear the encryption, but a format data will. This information is not from a Samsung forum; it's from the Droid DNA forum. I'm thinking that the same thing may apply to the I777. See the thread here.
It might be worth a try anyway. Flash stock plus root Gingerbread, install mobile odin or mobile odin lite, and use it to flash Siyah 2.6.14. Boot into recovery and go to the Mounts and Storage section. There you can format data, (and all the other partitions, separately.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey Creepy, I have a quick follow up and want to tell you what I have tried.
So I had already used Kies to move to AT&T v 4.0.4 ICS on my phone when I read your post. Rather than flashback again to GB I went ahead and put Siyah 4.3.3 on my phone. Went great, rebooted and installed quick and everything. Well I rebooted into recovery and went to mounts and storage and formatted the data and all that there and even formatted the secondrom data and all that. Did it a couple times to make sure everything was clean and good to go. Even put AJKs kernel on there after I ran the cleanrom script and it went flawlessly. I did factory resets and wipes and all that and installed SHOstock3 v2.5.9 and started up great. Well it got past the animation and the damn Password for encryption popped up. Well I put the wrong password in and it rebooted without the SAMSUNG screen and went through the boot ani and back to the password for encryption screen. I put the right password in, it reboots and you see the Samsung logo flash quickly and then it sticks on the Samsung Galaxy S2 Splash screen. I don't know what is holding it up from going forward unless when I messed up the first go around and it deleted everything if it didn't take out the bootload command or what have you. So I don't know if this idea will work but I am going to flashback to GB and put the siyah version on there that you linked and see if that will work.
One tihng, when Iencrypted the device the first go round, I onlydid the used data and area not the whole thing. Is this affecting it somehow? Any other ideas to try? I figured a full data format would remove the encryption but it never pops up saying all encryption will be removed. What I need is access to that area of the phone if I could just mount it on the computer. Is it possible after formatting the data, or before, that I should mount internal USB, DATA, etc and try another format/wipe or at least mount them to see if they can be used? Thanks for the help. For anyone else viewing this post (which actually is a lot) any help or ideas are appreciated. I am thinking I may need to format everything and get ahold of Samsung to see if they will reset my phone for me. I just wonder if the PIN lock on my SIM card that got locked when it wouldn't take my PIN didn't mess something up as well.
Eagle
WarEagleUS said:
Hey Creepy, I have a quick follow up and want to tell you what I have tried.
So I had already used Kies to move to AT&T v 4.0.4 ICS on my phone when I read your post. Rather than flashback again to GB I went ahead and put Siyah 4.3.3 on my phone. Went great, rebooted and installed quick and everything. Well I rebooted into recovery and went to mounts and storage and formatted the data and all that there and even formatted the secondrom data and all that. Did it a couple times to make sure everything was clean and good to go. Even put AJKs kernel on there after I ran the cleanrom script and it went flawlessly. I did factory resets and wipes and all that and installed SHOstock3 v2.5.9 and started up great. Well it got past the animation and the damn Password for encryption popped up. Well I put the wrong password in and it rebooted without the SAMSUNG screen and went through the boot ani and back to the password for encryption screen. I put the right password in, it reboots and you see the Samsung logo flash quickly and then it sticks on the Samsung Galaxy S2 Splash screen. I don't know what is holding it up from going forward unless when I messed up the first go around and it deleted everything if it didn't take out the bootload command or what have you. So I don't know if this idea will work but I am going to flashback to GB and put the siyah version on there that you linked and see if that will work.
One tihng, when Iencrypted the device the first go round, I onlydid the used data and area not the whole thing. Is this affecting it somehow? Any other ideas to try? I figured a full data format would remove the encryption but it never pops up saying all encryption will be removed. What I need is access to that area of the phone if I could just mount it on the computer. Is it possible after formatting the data, or before, that I should mount internal USB, DATA, etc and try another format/wipe or at least mount them to see if they can be used? Thanks for the help. For anyone else viewing this post (which actually is a lot) any help or ideas are appreciated. I am thinking I may need to format everything and get ahold of Samsung to see if they will reset my phone for me. I just wonder if the PIN lock on my SIM card that got locked when it wouldn't take my PIN didn't mess something up as well.
Eagle
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Should I try TWRP instead of CWM and if so where should I grab it from?
Status Update
So this is what I have tried so far as of this moment.
I reflashed using your Stock + Root Gingerbread ROM.
Wiped DATA and everything in recovery menu several times.
Used Kernel Wipe and ROM Nuke for extra cleaning power.
Reinstalled the Kernel AJK and SHOstock3 ROM
Haven't installed any themes though I had Johns Blue and Villians Poison Base Theme (I believe that is what it is) on there when this all went down. Should I put them back on there?
Password still pops up. So what it looks like is that unless I stick with the unencrypted portion of the phone, I am screwed with any custom ROMs as the correct password has the phone restart and then stick at the Samsung Galaxy S2 Splash Screen. Apparently I still cannot access that area of the phones memory to wipe it at all no matter what I do. I need to access it somehow. Really driving me crazy and thinking I may need to talk with AT&T(as Samsung told me to earlier this morning lol) and see what they can do.
One thing I do notice is when I use your stock root program it actually removes the encryption or decrypts the section of the phone for the stock ROM to go on the phone which is cool.
Eagle
Any other things to try from anyone is greatly appreciated.
Been away all day. Sorry, I can't offer any other suggestions, but I have no experience with encryption. As you said, what you need to know is where the encryption is stored in memory so you can wipe or format that and restore it to original. If you can get to the right person, probably not level 1 tech support, then maybe you can find out. Somebody somewhere knows the answer to this.
would restoring my original EFS before this whole process help or is the encryption section totally blocked off?
WarEagleUS said:
would restoring my original EFS before this whole process help or is the encryption section totally blocked off?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have no idea whether the encryption is stored there. What kind of efs backup did you take?
creepyncrawly said:
Been away all day. Sorry, I can't offer any other suggestions, but I have no experience with encryption. As you said, what you need to know is where the encryption is stored in memory so you can wipe or format that and restore it to original. If you can get to the right person, probably not level 1 tech support, then maybe you can find out. Somebody somewhere knows the answer to this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thx bro. yeah I need to run some forensic tools and see if I can mount the whole phone system on my PC and run the tools.
creepyncrawly said:
I have no idea whether the encryption is stored there. What kind of efs backup did you take?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
a full efs backup. I made two or three actuakky using advanced efs, nitrality, and recovery.
WarEagleUS said:
a full efs backup. I made two or three actuakky using advanced efs, nitrality, and recovery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A little research indicates that there is quite a bit of stuff stored in efs besides carrier specific data. So maybe encryption could be in there. Of those tools, nitrality for sure and maybe advanced efs should be able to restore the entire efs partition. If you are comfortable with the risk - a damaged efs would render the phone useless - then you might try this to see if it clears up the encryption issue. BTW, you should learn how to back up the efs partition yourself using terminal and linux commands.
creepyncrawly said:
A little research indicates that there is quite a bit of stuff stored in efs besides carrier specific data. So maybe encryption could be in there. Of those tools, nitrality for sure and maybe advanced efs should be able to restore the entire efs partition. If you are comfortable with the risk - a damaged efs would render the phone useless - then you might try this to see if it clears up the encryption issue. BTW, you should learn how to back up the efs partition yourself using terminal and linux commands.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I should have used ADB to do that from the get go. I should have used the wife's laptop like I started to instead of my WIN 8 machine has it seems to be finicky with Android SDK (the portion at least needed to run ADB). Linux commands really aren't much different than terminal and I have done both. I was actually trying to get fastboot commands to work but my bootloader wasn't cooperating and for the life of me I couldn't find how to unlock it. I may try restoring that EFS. If nothing else I would love to be able to format that EFS and replace it with my original copy though as you said a damaged EFS may actually cause issues (who knows if it is damaged). I do know that I am fixing to chat with AT&T support. I hope I don't have to drive down to Hoover, AL to the repair facility. I would rather them send me a phone and send this one back. I am on stock 4.0.4 ICS from AT&T and any root that may be on there (though I doubt there is now) I can remove and what not
Thanks for the advice and insight Creepy. I know you tried like hell to get me an answer but in doing research on here with other problems I found out some useful information going forward my friend.
Eagle
Well, looks like I will be getting a special early upgrade and the wife will as well. I will be keeping this phone, however, to mess with this and see if I cannot get this problem fixed. Thanks Creepy so much. I appreciate your research and help more than you know. If possible I would love to keep this thread open for a while just in case I figure this out and fix the issue. It may take me a week or so but I will get back to messing with it again.
A side note. You don't need the whole sdk to get adb. You can download just the files you need from my signature.
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