Need help fixing my dualboot android / windows tablet (Neo Shift N81) - Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I bought this tablet thinking it would be the best of both worlds. But the partition used for Android was rather small (4GB), and got full pretty quickly. It would seem like such a hassle to resize the partition used for Windows (21gb) because they were arranged like this in disk management: 64mb-16mb-16mb-etc-1gb partition for who knows what-4gb partition for Android-more 64mb partitions-windows partition-500mb recovery partition. Now I thought I'd use my 64gb micro SD and divide it into two partitions, one being an EXT2 of 20gb for apps. I'd need to use the app LINK2SD to move the apps, but lo and behold, Android was not rooted. (I kind of assumed it was)
So I tried to root the android portion of this tablet, using information from this page
(http://forum.xda-developers.com/andr...p-cwm-t2975096), selecting T4 as the trigger. It didn't show the option to install a package and I ended up selecting "recovery" instead. It rebooted into the tablet's own recovery mode, where I didn't do anything. Prior to rebooting, I got the screen to select either OS, but Windows was gone. Now what? I also tried the Kingo program via my laptop prior to the method mentioned on the link above, but it kept getting stuck at 23% and 10%, idk if that may have done something. Anyways, now when I try to force boot to Windows (by selecting "boot to windows" after pressing the power button), but all I keep getting is this command prompt-like environment. Is my windows partition lost or something? Please help.

Anybody? Help

Related

playing god with LG wine smart (looking for assistance with reviving)

Here we go!
~no recovery ~no fastboot ~no download [rooted android 4.4]
I bought an lg wine smart 2014 (LG-D486) for nostalgia's sake. The device doesn't come with much storage space so i used a partitioned micro sd card to expand the storage.
I had it up and running perfectly with Link2sd keeping the internal storage free. One day i tried to put the system files on the sdcard through link2sd.
Again everything worked fine, a little slow but i think that was because of the partitions being a little too large.
to speed things up i thought why not try a swap partition. This is where the **** hit the fan.
I was able to reformat the sdcard to have fat32/ext2/swap partitions. The phone was running great after all the setup was finished in link2sd and swapper2.
I just finished receiving a call from a friend and the phone froze up. I removed the battery and tried to start my device back up. NOTHING. no boot logo. no vibration. nothing.
---------
when i connect it to a computer (windows) i get notification to reformat the device and two folders are readable {image/verinfo}
(with linux Reader i can see 35 android partitions)
When connected to a linux computer (ubuntu) i can see about 13 android partitions.
--------------
I've tried flashing the official .kdz file but because it won't go into download mode the updater just crashes.
I've tried unzipping the .kdz and pushing sbl1.img, aboot.img, rpm.img, tz.img, laf.img, boot.img. straight to the partitions but still no reaction.
I have another fully functional wine smart device and was wondering if there was a way to push its partitions to this device?!
all i really need is a way to get download mode working again; from there i can just factory reset the device!
i know it's a long shot but id thought id ask here before giving up.
Were you able to fix it? I've another WIne here, bootlooping....

Onda obook10 factory reset bootloop - Request for system dump

I recently ordered an Onda obook10 dual booting tablet (Android 5.1 +Win10) from GearBest, and received it a week (and a half) ago. It is the V5 version (9th and 10th digits of S/N). Booted into Android at first, swiped around a little, and then left it alone for when I was free. Day before, I booted into Windows, and seeing that an account was already set up, hit the factory reset option (Options: remove all personal files, normal wipe (not thorough)). It rebooted, said it was resetting, then got stuck at 5% for a half hour. I then did a hard reboot, and it starting resetting again. I repeated this a few times, with different waiting periods, but it always got stuck at 5%. I wanted to see what was going on, so I opened the OS selector menu and tried to boot into Android, but that put the device into a bootloop, and it's stayed that way since. I downloaded the recovery WinPE from their website, and tried running it; all went well until the last step (installing the install.wim file), which succeeded, but when the batch file tried to set the boot options/flags, it threw an error about not being able to access D:, and failed. Tried making the recovery USB and installing multiple times, but it failed every time. I then tried Gandalf's WinPE image, which booted, and tried using imagex to install the .wim file to C: manually, as detailed here. This failed too.
I'm at my wits' end, honestly. I have no idea what else to try. There's another WinPE file available for download, but it's dated only a couple of weeks after the one I already have, so I'm hesitant to download it if there's any other option (I have very low bandwidth, it would take me at least two days). Also, it's hosted on Baidu, and the download times out after about an hour, and cannot resume. If anyone could give me any ideas, or point me towards a guide I haven't found yet (I've read all the relevant ones I could find on the Onda forums, but please post them anyway if you think they would be helpful), that would be great.
What would be perfect is if someone could upload, or point me toward a system dump/partition clone of at least the Windows partition and boot partition; I have the tools needed to flash those.
Thanks in advance.
EDIT: I managed to fix this a while ago, and have put the procedure somewhere in this thread, but since people keep popping up every now and then asking for it, I'm going to put this here so it's easier to find. Copied from later in the thread, here, and modified to be more general:
This uses slightly modified commands from the Onda firmware install script, and will result in a COMPLETE WIPE and reinstall of Windows - all the files on the Windows partition will be lost. This SHOULD work for anyone whose Android is working but Windows isn't, but I can't guarantee that. I can't even guarantee that this will work (though I am pretty sure it will) - I have not tested it completely. If you can, you should make a backup of anything files on the internal storage, just in case. As always, read the whole procedure before starting.
NOTE: If your Android isn't working, you need to install that first - get the Android file from the Onda Baidu page (look for the one for OBOOK 10 (not SE), with the appropriate V1, V2, V3, V5, or V7 code - you can find your code by checking the serial no. on the back of your device, the 9th and 10th characters), and follow the instructions in the document included in the zip - they are pretty straightforward, but you'll have to use Google Translate, as they're in Chinese. This MUST be done before the Windows procedure, because the Android installer wipes the entire disk.
If you want, you can make the procedure easier for yourself and save all the commands below to a text file, put it in the root folder of the USB before booting, and open it in Notepad by using:
Code:
notepad D:\textfile.txt
Or whatever name you give it. That way, you can copy paste them all easily.
Boot into the Windows installer, and when the command window appears, press Ctrl-C. After a few seconds, it will ask you if you want to terminate batch job, type 'y' and press enter. You now have a command prompt to work with.
You have to delete your Windows partitions first. The below partition numbers should be correct, but you should make sure first by running "list partition" and checking if it corresponds with the last 3 partitions, which should be your Windows partitions - their sizes are usually 128 MB, 35 GB, and around 800-1024 MB, and their types are Reserved, Primary, and Recovery (DO NOT delete the Primary partition at the beginning of the disk). DO NOT delete the Unknown partitions - those are Android's.
Code:
diskpart
sel disk 0
sel partition 14
delete partition
sel partition 13
delete partition
sel partition 12
delete partition
Your Windows partitions are now completely gone, so you'll have to recreate them first.
Change directory to the images folder.
Code:
cd D:\images
Get filesizes of .wim files to create partitions accordingly:
Code:
for %I in (Install.wim) do set INSTALL_SIZE=%~zI
set /a INSTALL_SIZE_MB=%INSTALL_SIZE:~0,-6%
for %I in (Winre.wim) do set RE_SIZE=%~zI
set /a RE_SIZE_MB=%RE_SIZE:~0,-6%
if %RE_SIZE_MB% LSS 430 (set /a RE_SIZE_MB=480
) else (
if %RE_SIZE_MB% GEQ 430 (
if %RE_SIZE_MB% LSS 680 (
set /a RE_SIZE_MB=%RE_SIZE_MB%+320
) else (
set /a RE_SIZE_MB=%RE_SIZE_MB%+1024
)
) )
Make sure to preserve all the spaces and brackets in the above code.
Enter diskpart, run the following:
Code:
sel disk 0
create partition msr size=128
create partition primary
shrink minimum=%RE_SIZE_MB%
format quick fs=ntfs label="Windows"
assign letter="W"
create partition primary
format quick fs=ntfs label="Recovery"
assign letter="R"
set id="de94bba4-06d1-4d40-a16a-bfd50179d6ac"
gpt attributes=0x8000000000000001
You should now have 14 partitions when you do "list partition".
Exit diskpart.
Now for the actual installation:
Code:
md w:\recycler
md R:\recovery\windowsre
DISM /Apply-Image /ImageFile:"D:\images\Install.wim" /ApplyDir:w: /Index:1 /Compact /ScratchDir:w:\recycler
xcopy D:\images\Winre.wim r:\recovery\windowsre /y
Create boot entry:
Code:
bcdboot w:\WINDOWS
If that doesn't work, then:
w:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\BCDBOOT w:\WINDOWS
Set recovery environment:
Code:
w:\windows\system32\reagentc.exe /SetREImage /Path R:\recovery\windowsre /target w:\windows
And that's it! You should have both OSes operational now.
Update: I've managed to fix this problem. However, since the procedure is lengthy, and there doesn't seem to be anybody who needs a solution, I'm not going to the trouble of typing it out. If anyone does need to know how to save it, post here, and I'd be happy to help out.
EDIT: I've put the guide in the first post.
Flashing Help
SirVer said:
Update: I've managed to fix this problem. However, since the procedure is lengthy, and there doesn't seem to be anybody who needs a solution, I'm not going to the trouble of typing it out. If anyone does need to know how to save it, post here, and I'd be happy to help out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have an Onda Obook 10 and have a problem with aandroid side of it. The system UI crashes, all google apps have stopped.
I have the Rom for it but have no clue how to install it.
I have gone into recovery mode and cleared cache and done a factory reset but the errors still happen in Android. The Windows 10 side of things work fine.
Have you any advice or help you can offer,
Regards
Jon
[email protected] said:
I have an Onda Obook 10 and have a problem with aandroid side of it. The system UI crashes, all google apps have stopped.
I have the Rom for it but have no clue how to install it.
I have gone into recovery mode and cleared cache and done a factory reset but the errors still happen in Android. The Windows 10 side of things work fine.
Have you any advice or help you can offer,
Regards
Jon
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Inside the ROM zip, there should be a Word document with instructions in Chinese on how to flash the ROM. It should basically say something like this:
1. Extract zip contents, put them in a USB drive.
2. Plug it in, and with a keyboard attached, hold down ESC and power on the device to enter BIOS.
3. Enter the Boot Manager, and select Internal EFI.
4. It should automatically start applying the ROM after a few seconds.
Be warned that this may wipe your Windows partition - this happened to me, but that may be because my partition table was somewhat messed up. Either way, be sure to take a disk image or backup of your MSR, C drive, and recovery partition (probably the last 3 partitions on the disk).
Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk
Widows swith icon
SirVer said:
Inside the ROM zip, there should be a Word document with instructions in Chinese on how to flash the ROM. It should basically say something like this:
1. Extract zip contents, put them in a USB drive.
2. Plug it in, and with a keyboard attached, hold down ESC and power on the device to enter BIOS.
3. Enter the Boot Manager, and select Internal EFI.
4. It should automatically start applying the ROM after a few seconds.
Be warned that this may wipe your Windows partition - this happened to me, but that may be because my partition table was somewhat messed up. Either way, be sure to take a disk image or backup of your MSR, C drive, and recovery partition (probably the last 3 partitions on the disk).
Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Reinstalled android thanks for your help. the only thing missing is the icon to switch to windows. I think the partition is still there but there was an icon for switching but don't know where it's gone.
Any advice would be helpful.
Regards
Jon
[email protected] said:
Hi Reinstalled android thanks for your help. the only thing missing is the icon to switch to windows. I think the partition is still there but there was an icon for switching but don't know where it's gone.
Any advice would be helpful.
Regards
Jon
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is the partition still there, or is that just free space you're seeing? For me, the partition was gone, with unallocated space in its place. If the partition is still there, then your job is relatively simple.
1. Make a WinPE recovery drive from another Windows machine, or just use a custom one (like Gandalf's WinPE, Google it).
2. Boot into it from the BIOS menu.
3. Load a command prompt.
4. Type "diskpart" (no quotes). Wait until you get a prompt like: DISKPART>
5. Enter the following commands:
a. select disk 0
b. list partition
c. select partition xx (where xx is the number of the Windows partition. If it's not labelled, it'll be the one about 36 gigs in size.
d. assign letter=c
e. exit
6. Now just run "bcdboot C:\Windows"
7. Reboot, and you should see Windows in your BIOS menu once more, and the button should pop up on Android as well.
If the Windows partition is not there, and it's just free space, things become more complicated. You'll need to get your hands on the Windows installer image. There is an older version on the Onda website (December 2015) that should do the job - or rather, there's a link to their Baidu account. You can find the more recent version in their account as well. The issue is that Baidu doesn't allow you to download files that large without installing their crapware. I got around it by registering an account and some URL-fu, but it's a PITA, especially if you have a slow connection. There's a Yandex mirror somewhere, but I'm not at home, so I don't have the link right now. I'll post it when I get back. EDIT: Here it is.
After you get the files, DON'T install it; it might wipe your Android install (did for me). There's an issue in their install script that made the command that hides the Android partitions from getting deleted not work. What I did was terminate the automatic install, and selectively apply the relevant portions of the script manually. You could probably do the same, but it could take you a while; took me two days and a bunch of background reading. If you're used to messing with Windows installs though, it'd probably be a cakewalk for you. I'd prepare some instructions for you, or even try and write a script myself using that one as a base, but I have exams right now, and I wouldn't have time for at least a week. If you haven't figured it out by then, just ask, and I'll do it.
Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk
I have resetted my obook 10, it lock on 30% of restore for 2 hours, so i power off tablet. Now when i power on tablet it loop on Onda logo. If i power tablet with Power + Vol- I enter in Q2S menu and select Android that work fine.... I want restore Windows, If I power tablet with Power + down botton I don't enter in bios settings.... How can I fix problem?
Frezza said:
I have resetted my obook 10, it lock on 30% of restore for 2 hours, so i power off tablet. Now when i power on tablet it loop on Onda logo. If i power tablet with Power + Vol- I enter in Q2S menu and select Android that work fine.... I want restore Windows, If I power tablet with Power + down botton I don't enter in bios settings.... How can I fix problem?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can enter the BIOS menu by connecting a keyboard and holding down ESC while booting up.
Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk
Help
Hi
I have the Gandalf ISO file but need to understand from where do I go from the bios..like boot into the file?
regards
Jon
[email protected] said:
Hi
I have the Gandalf ISO file but need to understand from where do I go from the bios..like boot into the file?
regards
Jon
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't remember exactly what it's called, but I think it was the second menu entry - Boot <Something>. In that menu, you should see your USB drive USB EFI device or something like that listed - it might also show the manufacturer name (it showed my USB as a Sandisk). If you don't see it, you may have made a mistake when making the bootable USB - try it again while reading the instructions on Gandalf's site carefully. If you used Rufus to make the bootable, maybe try Unetbootin this time - it worked fine for me.
P.S. In case you meant boot into the file - you can't. You have to write it to a USB drive first. Instructions are on the same site you downloaded it from.
Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk
Can I install Windows 7 by Gandalf on this Tablet?
Frezza said:
Can I install Windows 7 by Gandalf on this Tablet?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Install? Maybe, but you wouldn't have any of the necessary drivers, so touch and WiFi and stuff wouldn't work. However, you can download the drivers and try installing them, which might work, though it probably won't since they're made for Windows 10.
Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk
If there is this problem i install windows 10, I download img from link in last post, then i make a usb bootable ( with rufus) with img, then how can I start installation without delete android in other partition?
Frezza said:
If there is this problem i install windows 10, I download img from link in last post, then i make a usb bootable ( with rufus) with img, then how can I start installation without delete android in other partition?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Depending on certain things, you may be able to just run the installer without doing anything extra. Are you able to boot into Android? Open a CMD window, and run the following commands:
1. diskpart
2. sel disk 0
3. list partition
Post the output of these here. A screenshot will also be OK.
Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk
Hi Have the same problem i'll follow your instructions
I download part1 and 2 from windows 10 folder.
My android install work perfect !
betsesv said:
Hi Have the same problem i'll follow your instructions
I download part1 and 2 from windows 10 folder.
My android install work perfect !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When you extract that, you'll get a bunch of files and a DOC in Chinese explaining the procedure to make the recovery disk. Once you've made that, a WARNING before you boot into it: it will automatically open a CMD and start a delay counter, after which it will start the install automatically. Since this might break the Android side, you'll have to cancel it with Control-C in that delay period, which will give you a normal CMD to work with. You can use this to run the commands from my last post. If you want to be extra safe, also download a different WinPE recovery file (like Gandalf - actually you should download this anyway, it has some useful tools you might need later on), and boot into that instead. Depending on the output of those commands, you may be able to just run the automatic installer without worries.
Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk
obook20 crashed
hello all,
my obook10 is in black screen with word shell>> on it. it crashed from android, how i can restore it ? please help!!!
alexander137 said:
hello all,
my obook10 is in black screen with word shell>> on it. it crashed from android, how i can restore it ? please help!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are probably in the internal EFI shell. Power off, connect a keyboard, and hold Fn+ESC while turning it on. This will get you the BIOS menu. Select Boot Manager. Normally, you'll see Android and Windows entries, and you could select one of them to boot, but in your case, you might only see Internal EFI Shell. If this is the case, follow the instructions from my earlier posts, and post the output of those commands. Depending on the result, it might be an easy fix, or a difficult fix. Hopefully, neither of you needs the difficult one, but if you do, I'll try and make a guide when I get time. In the meantime, post the output of the commands.
Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk
SirVer said:
You are probably in the internal EFI shell. Power off, connect a keyboard, and hold Fn+ESC while turning it on. This will get you the BIOS menu. Select Boot Manager. Normally, you'll see Android and Windows entries, and you could select one of them to boot, but in your case, you might only see Internal EFI Shell. If this is the case, follow the instructions from my earlier posts, and post the output of those commands. Depending on the result, it might be an easy fix, or a difficult fix. Hopefully, neither of you needs the difficult one, but if you do, I'll try and make a guide when I get time. In the meantime, post the output of the commands.
Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thank you!! but i can't shutdown it, when i press powerbutton onda make new line with 'shell>>' , and powerbutton with volume down also don't reboot it. may be i do somthing wrong....
alexander137 said:
thank you!! but i can't shutdown it, when i press powerbutton onda make new line with 'shell>>' , and powerbutton with volume down also don't reboot it. may be i do somthing wrong....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just press it down for a long time, at least 10 seconds, that'll do it. For some reason it takes a really long time to force shutdown. If that doesn't work, then there might be an issue with your hardware. Also try typing the "exit" command - it should put you into the BIOS menu directly.
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No boot Android after reducing Windows Partition

Hello.
On a Chuwi Hi12 dualboot tablet, loaded on Windows 10, I reduced the partition "Windows", by telling me that it was the first stage to pass place of Windows (that I use little) to Android (which misses it).
I used EASUS. The manipulation was made well, in the sense that Windows always works and when I have well a free place on the memory.
Other partitions, EXT3, are always there, and nothing strange under Windows. But I cannot any more booter on Android: logo Chuwi one moment then black screen.
I can switch off and reload Windows.
It seems that the table of the partitions or one of the partitions which interest Android was modified.
Attempt to reinstall Android. Using ROM of Hackerjac (http: // forum.chuwi.com / forum.php typeid%26typeid%3D6). With Phone flash Tool Intel with flash-no-erase.json, config Recover).
Many failures (fragility driver USB? Reinstalled). At the end and at best: failure repeated on the installation of the bootloader, with message on the tablet " Failed to get partition bootloader2: Not found ". Rather clear but disappointing: the partition is not recreated?
Thus I am there to try to understand what is made by flash, and how have a gpt.bin which corresponds to a chosen distribution (editor of gpt.bin).
Thank you for your help.

Remix OS for PC not opening any apps, and not responsive

Hello,
I'm having an odd issue with Remix OS for PC, and wanted to see if anyone else experienced this and hopefully found a resolution. Please see the bottom of the thread for info on my PC setup. My laptop is definitely more than powerful enough to handle remix, and it used to run fine, but now I seem to have the following issues after not booting into Remix for a while:
***Wifi does not automatically connect, it only connects if I click the wifi icon in the tray (then it connects to my network automatically)
***Nearly all apps will not open, including the Settings app. I'll click on an icon on the desktop, and the icon lights up, registering my click, but the app never opens and the icon stays lit as if something froze. However, I can still "swipe" from the left desktop to the right one, and vice versa.
***When attempting to install an app (Eventually, without any rhyme or reason that I've noticed, I can open the Play Store and maybe the settings app), the app hangs on Installing after it downloads. I've tried waiting a good 20 minutes, but I know the apps install much quicker on this laptop, and I've tried this with small apps.
***Similarly to the above, clicking the Remix OS menu button does nothing as well.
With those symptoms in mind, it seems like there's something holding the system back, but the actual GUI performance is fine. For example, there's no lag or hesitation when an app finally eventually opens or when I click around through the Settings app (when it finally opens). It doesn't seem to only be with graphic intensive apps either, as I tried a simple text/memo app and when that one eventually opens, the desktop background is black and the app window is black with only a menu near the top.
My attempts to fix it
So far, I've tried running an e2fsck -f data.img command to repair the data.img file. It didn't appear to report any issues and the problem did not go away. I've rebooted the thing about a billion times, no luck! Getting into the Settings app is hit or miss and I haven't really had any idea of what setting might help, and installing third party apps appears to not be an option either.
The only other option I could think of would be to backup my data.img and reinstall the OS, and then restore the data.img file, but this seems like it will restore the problem with it. Also, I haven't experienced any problems in Windows, so I don't think there is any issue with the drive. Sorry for such a long thread, just wanted to be detailed!
Any ideas are much appreciated!
My PC: Lenovo Ideapad y510p
Windows OS: Windows 10 64-Bit
Remix OS for PC: 3.0.207 dual booted with the above Windows 10 installation
Hard Drive: 500GB SSD drive
RAM: 16GB
I don't have any of those issues. My issues are a bit different...
I can't seem to find a copy of RemixOS 3.xx that actually has "true" root access. I know there is a method you can use to remount the volume as r/w, but since I am running it from a flash drive, I apparently cannot access any of the system files in Windows with hidden files and folders visible. And, after first boot the USB drive running the OS will somehow end up with a corrupted "REMIXOSDATA" partition.
Good luck on your quest.
ViolentNeurosis said:
I don't have any of those issues. My issues are a bit different...
I can't seem to find a copy of RemixOS 3.xx that actually has "true" root access. I know there is a method you can use to remount the volume as r/w, but since I am running it from a flash drive, I apparently cannot access any of the system files in Windows with hidden files and folders visible. And, after first boot the USB drive running the OS will somehow end up with a corrupted "REMIXOSDATA" partition.
Good luck on your quest.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for the response! In reading the issue you're having, I'm wondering Remix OS for PC, in its current state, is more susceptible to corruption issues in under some circumstances rather than others. When I first installed it, I installed the 64-bit version and I kept having issues where I'd boot it up and it suddenly would not start. I found somewhere on a forum where someone recommended to just use the 32-bit version and the issue went away for a long time, until I had the issue described in my original post. I'm wondering if it just isn't stable enough yet to be run from a flash drive, as it seems to me like it has issues with being easily corrupted.
This brings me to my next comment, I was able to fix my issue! I tried a couple things that didn't work, reinstalling Remix and then choosing YES to erase the entire virtual drive, then copying a backup of my original data.img back into the directory so I don't have to reinstall everything. This didn't fix the issue, so instead I downloaded the 64-bit version and installed it, but this time I chose NO on the prompt to erase my data.
Upon booting into Remix, it gave the standard Android message about optimizing apps and is now running good. I wish I did this workflow with the 32-bit version, as I'm wondering if it would have worked. I suspect I'll experience the same issues I originally experienced with the 64-bit version.
Anyway, I hope this may shed any light on how you can try to resolve your issue. Good luck!

[Q] Recover Data From Formatted Internal Storage Raw Dump?

Before I start, I'm aware there are great data recovery guides on this forum and elsewhere. Unfortunately, I was unable to find one pertaining to Nougat and my specific circumstances. Thank you for bearing with me.
How the Data Was Wiped
I ran "fastboot format userdata" to fix a "Decryption Unsuccessful" error message after going from LineageOS 14.1 to 15 on a Xiaomi Mi 5 Pro. Because I was in a hurry to get my phone back online, I foolishly assumed the wipe would leave /data/media intact, just like TWRP, without making sure of it. I know the assumption was wishful thinking at best and I can see the irony in then spending the rest of the day trying to undo the damage.
How the Data Was Dumped
Immediately after finishing the fastboot format, I booted back into TWRP 3.1.1-0 where I discovered the extent of the data loss. Since I hadn't flashed a ROM and didn't want to write anything else to my /data partition, I did a "adb pull /dev/block/sda14 sda14.img" on my computer over USB with my phone still in recovery. With a 128GB phone, the process took a whopping 8102.059s to finish.
How I attempted to Recover Data
I let both R-Studio 8.3 and UFS File Explorer Professional Recovery 5.23.4 scan through my dump to no avail. All they found were meaningless, small files, mostly in a .txt or .so format. I also attempted to mount the image using DiskInternals Linux Reader 2.6, but PhotoRec didn't recognise the volume.
Where do I go From Here?
Christian Weiske wrote about his attempt at recovering photos from a Galaxy S5 mini, running Marshmallow. He noted that data he pulled in Windows was broken using various commands until he tried "adb exec-out". Does the problem lie in my pulled data also being broken/incomplete, or is "fastboot format" actually capable of completely destroying more than 100GB worth of data in mere seconds on TRIM-enabled devices? If I am to do a second /data dump using a different method, I would have to do it directly to my computer as my phone doesn't have a microSD slot. I should add that, to the best of my memory, I never encrypted the storage, as I went directly from CyanogenMod to LineageOS using the experimental migration build.
To anyone who chimes in, if only to tell me that I should suck it up and stick to whatever data I have backed up and move on, I'll be most appreciative! Even more so if anyone can shed some light on modern-day Android data recovery/wiping and limitations.
I'm going thru a recovery process myself. Using a few guides. First I completed a raw dump of the whole phone w/out installing any os over the phone. I'm about to check that and see if testdisk can find something via https://roubert.name/joakim/androidfilerecovery/
In the background, I have another dump going on from https://forum.xda-developers.com/ga...de-internal-memory-data-recovery-yes-t1994705 guide. Hopefully, something comes up.

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