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I'm just going out on a limb here so I thought I would ask some of the experts. It's been a long time since I flashed a rom on my TP and I just recently decided to try a new rom out. I didn't back up my contacts before I flashed and now I have an empty list (obviously). Please spare me the "should have could have" because I've already beat myself up over it for a few days now trying to search high and low for any backups I may have done. Unfortunately I can't find any. Is there any possible way to recover these contacts whether it be some kind of forensics software or paying someone or anything. Money is no object and I am in desperate need of my contacts to be restored.
I've also searched for possibilities that I may have backed them up on my storage card at one time, but from the looks of it there isn't really an easy way to back them up so I doubt I would have done that. Is there a way to check if I did that?
Any help would be greatly appreciated if help can be offered at all. Thank you for your time.
I am very sorry to say that after a ROM flash, it is not possible to recover things from internal memory. If it were on the storage card, it could have been (possibly) possible. I am really sorry to say that, as I've gone through the same thing a long time ago.
dwizzy130
Thank you for your response. I do appreciate the information even if it wasn't what I wanted to hear (lol). Do you happen to know the process of checking to see if any contacts were ever placed on the storage card or would they have appeared in my list after the flash?
apollumi said:
Thank you for your response. I do appreciate the information even if it wasn't what I wanted to hear (lol). Do you happen to know the process of checking to see if any contacts were ever placed on the storage card or would they have appeared in my list after the flash?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well here are two freeware file recovery programs (not tested by me) that I found that you could search your card for deleted stuff.
Just to be clear, these are for the PC, plug in the micro sd card with a card reader.
http://www.theabsolute.net/sware/dskinv.html
http://www.adrc.net/data_recovery_software/index.html
hope these help,
dwizzy130
dwizzy,
Thank you for your attempt in helping me recover my contacts. Unfortunately after countless hours of research I have determined that there is indeed no possible way to recover my contacts. I have no backup of them anywhere. I do appreciate the effort you provided and I will continue to make sure I take all precautions when doing a rom flash in the future. Have a great week!
Thanks,
Mick
I only have 1.4MB left on my internal SD.. And it is confusing as hell. I have all my music on my external SD. I tried cleaning out as much as possible (the things that i knew what they were, and i didn't need them anymore)
Idk what to do
I just copy all the important stuff to my cpu and format the card from the phone then put it all back
Vibrant - Bionix 1.3 - JAC's Xmod kernel- adb lag fix
Check your nandroids. If you backup alot you've probably got a crapload of old backups and they will end up rating alot of space. Delete what you don't need.
XDA Mobile
Docavelli said:
Check your nandroids. If you backup alot you've probably got a crapload of old backups and they will end up rating alot of space. Delete what you don't need.
XDA Mobile
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I already deleted all of them except my last one..
And what exactly does formatting the card do?
formatting the internal SD card will just erased everything.. I think..
The K-Zoo Kid said:
I only have 1.4MB left on my internal SD.. And it is confusing as hell. I have all my music on my external SD. I tried cleaning out as much as possible (the things that i knew what they were, and i didn't need them anymore)
Idk what to do
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's like this....The contents of your internal SD are....the contents of your internal SD. There's no real way for us to know what is in there. It will be different for you, me, and everyone else.
Music and video files eat tons of space fairly quickly, but since you say all your music is on your external...well it's hard to say what might be going on. You have SOMETHING eating nearly 14gb of space...
Time to get your learn on, browse through your phone's folders and see what's there. Best to do this from your PC...Best of luck
You can pretty much delete the entire contents, but I wouldn't delete the clockwork folder since it helps you recover. For some reason it doesn't like it when I delete the update.zip file thou either. Something about root and screwing around with LOL
+1 on the last two posts...
are you sure it's not 1.4GB? The 14GB internal SD is good enough for most. In fact I bet that most people with all the music and videos and other stuff still have a few GBs.
Definitely DO NOT get rid of your Clockwork folder and the update.zip. Those two will save you in a pinch. Now as for everything else, you can always re-flash a ROM and start from the beginning.
Good luck and keep an eye if that happens again. I'm not sure Samsung expected people to run out of space on the internal so quickly.
I just copied the contents of my internal card to my computer and it said there the only 620mb. WTF?? Im going to format it and report back.
so my panos and just them not any picture are just gone outta my albums no other picture at all and its not like i dont have room on my sd card...im on cm9 2.1 and i really want them iv been looking around and seeing if they are in a cash folder or something but no luck. anyone have ideas about what happen to them? its not like my pocket is smart enough to just del my pano pictures and no others....please help me out
ruthlessbeatle said:
I hope somebody can help me. I'm excited, because Joker got the camera working in CM9 0.2.0, so I installed it, but now I can't find any of my pictures!
I tend to take a lot of panoramic pictures, so many that I have this cute little nickname for them. I call them "panos". Isn't that cute? Anyway, I know they take up a lot of space, but I've got plenty of room on my SD card.
I can't understand where they might have gone. My photos are pretty important to me (I take pictures of really cool things like my **** when I'm using the toilet [which is why I use panoramic mode], and my sister when she's in the shower), so I'd really like to get them back.
I've looked all through my SD card, even through directories that look like maybe they're just cache directories, but I can't find my photos for the life of me.
I thought maybe I "pocket deleted" them, but surely I wouldn't have accidentally deleted all of them in my pocket, would I have?
Please help me. I'm not sure I can catch my sister in the shower again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First of all, if you're running 0.2.0, I recommend upgrading to 0.3.3. It's really tits. But if that's what you're running, and you didn't edit vold.fstab, then you might not be seeing your SD card at all. Or, if you are running a new version, or you did edit your vold.fstab, but you have "Use internal storage" checked under Settings->Advanced, then your SD card is mounted at /emmc, and your internal memory is what's mounted at /sdcard.
So in either case, you may be looking at the contents of internal memory instead of your SD card, so what you expect to be there isn't.
If you took them with the stock camera, your pictures will be in /sdcard/DCIM/Camera as long as that's where your SD card is mounted.
Oh, and don't worry about those pics of your sister. I've got better ones I can send you.
P Daddy said:
First of all, if you're running 0.2.0, I recommend upgrading to 0.3.3. It's really tits. But if that's what you're running, and you didn't edit vold.fstab, then you might not be seeing your SD card at all. Or, if you are running a new version, or you did edit your vold.fstab, but you have "Use internal storage" checked under Settings->Advanced, then your SD card is mounted at /emmc, and your internal memory is what's mounted at /sdcard.
So in either case, you may be looking at the contents of internal memory instead of your SD card, so what you expect to be there isn't.
If you took them with the stock camera, your pictures will be in /sdcard/DCIM/Camera as long as that's where your SD card is mounted.
Oh, and don't worry about those pics of your sister. I've got better ones I can send you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hahahaha about that sister thing did that come from the cm9 thread? yea im on 3.1 i think i just hit the wrong key. i just thought of this should i just mt on my compter and look there? i did look thru emmc with no luck but i always have my sd card mounted
Hello everyone, I seem to keep having an issue with my desktop (no sure if that is the right word to describe the main pages where you icons and widgets are) icons will change to images of the android guy. It seems to happen randomly and frequently when I reboot my phone. It never happened on stock but I am currently running Team Perfection's Objection #2 with its RC1. I have flashed it twice and still have the same problem. Both times I flashed, I did a clean install. I flashed the dalviek cache, wiped the partition, fixed permissions...... This issue has also come when I tried Goldie 5 rom also. So far to remedy the problem, I delete all the icons and then I add the shortcuts back. Not a deal breaker, just annoying and I am curious as to why. I have tried searching on the web and in the forums here but having no luck. I think it may be the way I'm typing in the search. Any help or suggestions will be much appreciated. I have included a screenshot of my issue.
p.s. this is my first question post so please tell me if I need and how to improve my posting skills.
Go into settings/applications, and move the apps from sdcard to phone.
Sent from my phone using xda premium app
+1
They will show like this when the OS has lost connection with your sd card. You can.go thru setting unmount and then remount your sd card and they should show up. Not to be a doomsayer, but there is a possibility that your sd card is getting ready to go out on you. Mine exhibited the same thing and then died 2 weeks later.
Cosmo D from outer space!
I came to rock the human race!
I can't seem to thank either of your guys posts. I just wanted to say thanks for both suggestions. Totally makes sense, kicking my self for not thinking of it. This is why I love this site and flashing roms. Thanks to both of you again!
Mad383Max said:
+1
They will show like this when the OS has lost connection with your sd card. You can.go thru setting unmount and then remount your sd card and they should show up. Not to be a doomsayer, but there is a possibility that your sd card is getting ready to go out on you. Mine exhibited the same thing and then died 2 weeks later.
Cosmo D from outer space!
I came to rock the human race!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please dont say that! This has been happening to me too, and I figured it was because the apps were on the SD card....so if the card dies, I will loose everything wont i?
Unmounting the SD card and remounting didn't work but moving the apps back to the phone worked. I may invest in a new sd card with a higher class. I am currently using a san disk 4 class. I want to keep my apps on the sd card because the partition seem so small on the phone and I find it easier for backing up purposes.
itsnowornever said:
Please dont say that! This has been happening to me too, and I figured it was because the apps were on the SD card....so if the card dies, I will loose everything wont i?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not saying it is absolutely going to happen, but that is what happened to me. New card, no crazy icons.
Would at least back up everything important from the sd card.
Cosmo D from outer space!
I came to rock the human race!
This has happened to me as well. I just go into app manager and clear the ram then all my icons return.
itsnowornever said:
Please dont say that! This has been happening to me too, and I figured it was because the apps were on the SD card....so if the card dies, I will loose everything wont i?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I mean its possible. I learned from loosing over 500 pictures and videos how important it is to back up SD cards. There are many apps that can back it up for you. I personally use Google+ for backing up pictures and videos only when connected to a charger.
When my SD crapped out, it put my phone into a boot loop, which made me panic since I was an avid flasher on my atrix. Not sure every SD card acts that way. Of course, once removed, phone booted up normally
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using XDA
ILuvRice said:
Unmounting the SD card and remounting didn't work but moving the apps back to the phone worked. I may invest in a new sd card with a higher class. I am currently using a san disk 4 class. I want to keep my apps on the sd card because the partition seem so small on the phone and I find it easier for backing up purposes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This phone has almost 2GB of storage memory for apps. And that is about the most I have seen for about any phone. So if you are using it up you must have alot of apps. Maybe too many as the phone is having issues keeping them alll in memory. Had similiar issues to this on previous phones when they were simply over loaded.
Also, I don't believe it is your SD card going bad. The phone doesn't save/move apps to your external (physical) sd card. It saves them to the built in internal/usb memory which is about 11GB. Even the EA/Gameloft extra downloads are saved on the internal/usb memory. You can connect your phone to your computer and see this. However when you unmout the external sd card the apps disappear. So how the 2 are linked is unknown to me. But that link may be the issue.
Got a 32 gb card just to be safe. I need a larger card anyway so I'll throw this older one on my camera. LOL
Thanks for saving me time
rsfinsrq said:
This has happened to me as well. I just go into app manager and clear the ram then all my icons return.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the simple but effective tip. Don't know why I spend hours reading the non-geek forums, xda is the only one that has real, expert answers. Rather than "well if u press vol sideways and spin around three times while chanting gnusmas " or something like that.
Alright guys, I noticed today that my Titanium Backups aren't on my mount/extsd storage, and I tried to change the backup location under preferences, but it wouldn't allow me. While checking my sd card I noticed the only file stored on it is my pictures? I tried downloading apps to sd in an attempt to move titanium backup, and that's when I realized I have a serious issue I believe. I was given a message when apps to sd opened that said, "this device does not have a real primary external storage, or the primary external storage is emulated"? Whatever the hell that means by emulated I don't know? The sd card was working in the last phone I used it in.
Biggest problem is that I'm rooted, so I can't return it under warranty! At least I can't to my knowledge. I'm in serious need of some help here, I purchased the phone at the T mobile retail store, so I don't know if I can sneak it past them somehow, or if I should maybe just (it hurts to say it) brick it on purpose, and pull the old" it just shut off and wouldn't turn back on" routine?
Please guys, any and all advice will be much appreciated!
Before doing anything drastic, have you thought about maybe reformatting the SD card first? If that doesn't work then try another SD card (they do go bad you know). It sounds like something that should be easy to fix. Whatever you do please don't brick it on purpose. It's not anyone's fault that your device is now acting up after rooting it. At least do them a solid and ODIN back to stock, then try to return it if that's the case.
Hi,
You should read this thread. It should shed some light on your external SD card problem and provide a couple of methods to get around it.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1672507
Glasairmell
Paging Dr B said:
Before doing anything drastic, have you thought about maybe reformatting the SD card first? If that doesn't work then try another SD card (they do go bad you know). It sounds like something that should be easy to fix. Whatever you do please don't brick it on purpose. It's not anyone's fault that your device is now acting up after rooting it. At least do them a solid and ODIN back to stock, then try to return it if that's the case.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I did format it to no avail, and I'm headed home soon where I'll try a different sd card. I don't want to brick the device, and I've had to unroot and return a phone before because of a hardware issue with the screen that wasn't my fault. The problem with doing that in this situation is that I don't believe there's a way to unroot it and go back to the stock recovery or reset the binary flash counter. As far as you saying it's not anyone's fault, it sure is my friend and it's not mine! I had a Galaxy s4g that wouldn't read an sd card two days after I got it & I had to return it. So, as far as being no one's fault, not true... It would be Samsungs fault, and rooting it had nothing to do with it. If I broke a device because of my own foolishness or stupidity, I would ABSOLUTELY NEVER try to exchange it! The entire basis of my spirituality is based on karma and I would suck it up & pay for my mistake but maintain my peace of mind. This however, I am not at fault for, and I shouldn't be responsible for faulty hardware just because I obtained root access.
This is a good read on the external SD card permission problems on the Samsung S3
http://www.chainfire.eu/articles/113/Is_Google_blocking_apps_writing_to_SD_cards_/
and this is one way to get around it.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1410262
Glasairmell said:
This is a good read on the external SD card permission problems on the Samsung S3
http://www.chainfire.eu/articles/113/Is_Google_blocking_apps_writing_to_SD_cards_/
and this is one way to get around it.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1410262
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay I've read the links and this is very odd??? I need to hear from someone with the gs3 that they've also discover that they're phone recognizes & reads the sd card, but will not allow apps to write to it. PLEASE, someone check this and help me out here!
I REALLY NEED TO FIGURE OUT IF ALL Gs3's DO THIS, OR IF I NEED TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO RETURN TO STOCK & EXCHANGE IT?
Sorry for the frustration, but I just spent a heck of a lot of money here, and this is a very aggravating problem....
My TB backs up to the ext SD. I had the same problem you did. Too bad I can't actually remember what I did. :crying:
When you go into TB and try to select storage location...nothing comes up but the internal?
I think I manually moved the TB folder from the internal to the external...then went back into TB to select the location...then selected the Detect button...and it came up with a list of folders that I could choose.
It went something like that. Hope that sheds some light...(sorry I cant remember exactly)
FYI...the ext SD folder is under mnt/extSD...or something like that.
I forget to mention something else guys. I am able to copy & paste my Titanium Backups as well as any other files to the sd card. So, the phone recognizes it, and it will write to external sd if I manually copy things there, but it will not allow any third party apps to write to external sd? I also cannot move apps to the sd card? This is a HUGE pain in the ass! I bought the 16gb model because that's all the retailer I my area had, so the sd card is a necessity for me. If I'm downloading torrents or other large files this could be a problem. I'm really wondering if this isn't just my phone?
It'd be great if someone here with the skills could port this mod for us.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1433436
It basically makes the phone think that the external is the internal...and all files downloaded from the browsers or whatever app that doesn't allow sd access...to go directly to external.
SiNJiN76 said:
My TB backs up to the ext SD. I had the same problem you did. Too bad I can't actually remember what I did. :crying:
When you go into TB and try to select storage location...nothing comes up but the internal?
I think I manually moved the TB folder from the internal to the external...then went back into TB to select the location...then selected the Detect button...and it came up with a list of folders that I could choose.
It went something like that. Hope that sheds some light...(sorry I cant remember exactly)
FYI...the ext SD folder is under mnt/extSD...or something like that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry nothing! THANK YOU! I was like 3/4 of the way to that idea, I had already copied the file, but I was just thinking maybe if I deleted the internal file, maybe now it will follow the one I copied to the mount/extsdstorage? I can't thank you enough for just confirming that this isn't a problem specific to my model. I think that this problem should be explained to everyone & stickied. This is a seriously confusing situation. Ppl who don't root or come to XDA won't have any idea why they're music, videos, or anything from third party apps aren't going to their sd cards? Some ppl may not even realize it? I don't know if it's been mentioned in another thread here yet, but I couldn't find anything in our forums about it, and I've been trying to figure out what was going on all day. I still don't understand what the hell it meant about emulated storage?
SiNJiN76 said:
It'd be great if someone here with the skills could port this mod for us.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1433436
It basically makes the phone think that the external is the internal...and all files downloaded from the browsers or whatever app that doesn't allow sd access...to go directly to external.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is this already a widely recognized problem and I'm just late to the freaking party or what? Because I do follow threads, search the forums, and read, and I've never heard of this before... I hope they have this error fixed in roms.
I REALLY NEED TO FIGURE OUT IF ALL Gs3's DO THIS,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All stock Samsung Galaxies S3 do this. Google in their infinite wisdom is locking down apps so they can not write to an external card that can infect other devices.
Problem is we all want more control with our external cards and there are a lot of unhappy campers with this new "feature". Gamers are especially concerned because they can not install their games to the external card to free up more space.
This is a real strong reason to buy the 32gb model and not the 16gb. One could take the stance that they are forcing us to pay a higher premium for our storage when we purchase the phone.
As I said you can do the work around with directory bind until:
1. A dev comes up with a a patch
2. You install a custom Rom like Cm9 that has patched out this security policy.
Never mind... Now that I'm using better keywords to describe the problem, and searching outside of just the US variants forum, I'm finding threads... I feel like an idiot now! Some folks are talking as if this is better? I don't see it though. I did a nandroid after root, and it only left me with around 8gb or so with my apps installed. I know its faster memory than an sd card, but it's kind of a pain. I hope I never need to download anything bigger than 8gb... Doubtful ill need my phone for anything that big though.
Sorry for freaking out and making a big deal out of this issue, but I thought my device was defective, and I wasn't using good search terms. I should have been able to figure this out without cluttering things with a two Page thread.
Glasairmell said:
All stock Samsung Galaxies S3 do this. Google in their infinite wisdom is locking down apps so they can not write to an external card that can infect other devices.
Problem is we all want more control with our external cards and there are a lot of unhappy campers with this new "feature". Gamers are especially concerned because they can not install their games to the external card to free up more space.
This is a real strong reason to buy the 32gb model and not the 16gb. One could take the stance that they are forcing us to pay a higher premium for our storage when we purchase the phone.
As I said you can do the work around with directory bind until:
1. A dev comes up with a a patch
2. You install a custom Rom like Cm9 that has patched out this security policy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I really wish I could take it back and pay the difference for the 32gb, but with being rooted its really not feasible. I was browsing XDA on my phone also, and I didn't even catch the link in your first post, I was only reading the links I your second post, lol. I really feel like a dummy here since my question was almost immediately answered. Also, the browser can act a little wonky sometimes on XDA. As soon as I made it home to my desktop, I was looking over the thread & knocking my forehead against the screen!
Yeah...but if someone could modify that script for our phones...(I personally use it on my Transformer...and til this day...has been perfect.) :angel:
Sorry for freaking out and making a big deal out of this issue,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually you are bringing up a valid concern and one of the first to do it in this section of the US version of the S3, my hat off to you!
It would be good idea to have a stickied thread in general that addresses this. That way ppl will be well aware of how to work around it. And yes, a patch for this would be great, because some may prefer things this way, and alot will prefer the previous standards. I for one don't like this one bit!
Put a stock rom on it and go into the store. Tell them you're having issues, they can order one on their end and send it out to you.
I would know. I worked there.