Hi. I'm currently running Android 8.0.0, build 34.4.A.0.364 with the following modifications:
I'm using a US carrier (Ting), but I have the EE UK ROM flashed through flashtool in order to get the fingerprint sensor working.
I'm running a rooted kernel provided by YasuHamed
I have Magisk installed
I flashed TWRP to recovery
My phone works great as-is, but OTA updates fail. They get announced, but if I try to install it downloads successfully, appears to start installing successfully, but eventually just stops, then advertises that the update is available for download again.
So here's my question - how should I upgrade my phone? I know that the most thorough method is to use flashtool to wipe and then reflash the latest version, but re-installing and re-configuring everything, even with backups, is too time-consuming for that to be a regular process.
What are my options for upgrading without wiping my data and/or internal storage? Is there a way to obtain the OTA update files for standalone installation? Is there a way to flash the latest release through flasthtool without losing all of my data? Maybe I can "unroot" my phone, then install the OTA update? Any other options?
I'm obviously not only person to have this problem. How are others dealing with it, and what (generally) works best?
Thanks!
sirs
1.once the BOOT is UNLOCKED , OTA will always fail
2. the only way to update your xperias are now via flashtool
3. if you flash with below configuration, everthing will be wiped , under WIPE area if you don't TICK these boxes, flashtool will not reset your phone. it will just replace your necessary sin files with new ones. , however such flashing always results in higher batter drain (personal experience)
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4. if you have your TA.img, after rooting, lock you bootloader again and you will start reciving OTA. but after any major OTA, kernel will be updated and you will have to unlock your bootloader again to gain root access. , EveryTime when you relock and lock you bootloader device wipes everything. (so basically its a same thing whats happening to you now)
Thanks! I tried re-locking my bootloader in the past, but as you pointed out you lose root when doing that, which defeats the whole point of unlocking in the first place. So, that's not really an option.
I'll try using flashtool with the options you mentioned unchecked. Would it perhaps make sense to still wipe everything except userdata (and also disable the reset options under Misc TA)? or would that not buy much in terms of reliability?
nitro32 said:
Thanks! I tried re-locking my bootloader in the past, but as you pointed out you lose root when doing that, which defeats the whole point of unlocking in the first place. So, that's not really an option.
I'll try using flashtool with the options you mentioned unchecked. Would it perhaps make sense to still wipe everything except userdata (and also disable the reset options under Misc TA)? or would that not buy much in terms of reliability?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
under WIPE section
I always tick either ALL boxes , or NONE, because once i tried skipping one of the ticks under wipe and sony kept asking me password. sony stockrom itself locked out of the internal storage. I guess its Master Reset , or rese without reasons are the key triggers of wiping encrytion key also.
you may experiment combination of these ticks, keeping in mind that you may have to reflash, reset your deice from zero, hence take backups (always) (even if you are 100% sure of what you are doing, still take backup)
YasuHamed said:
under WIPE section
I always tick either ALL boxes , or NONE, because once i tried skipping one of the ticks under wipe and sony kept asking me password. sony stockrom itself locked out of the internal storage. I guess its Master Reset , or rese without reasons are the key triggers of wiping encrytion key also.
you may experiment combination of these ticks, keeping in mind that you may have to reflash, reset your deice from zero, hence take backups (always) (even if you are 100% sure of what you are doing, still take backup)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For Xperias, what's the best method to backup ALL app data (Play Store and unknown source apps) and all the other things not explicitly listed?
Xperia's own Backup tool? (the PC Companion backup vs on-device?)
Titanium?
No cloud for me btw... I'm also talking about app data like the data downloaded by games after their installation, because which games these days don't download additional data, and no, not just the download that may even happen via Play Store, but only as soon as you launch the app. (guess it's the dev's own server, however the app has been taken down ever since, so without a backup it will only keep looking for data that it can't fetch... tried with Titanium to transfer from an older Android device to my Xperia X)
Boy, really missing the beauty of a no-BS all-encompassing backup solution like on iOS, even though I fully expect that to be on very shaky legs as well...
And what about those three boxes under the wipe section? For example, what does MASTER-RESET do?
Sorry for the many questions.
Glassed Silver said:
For Xperias, what's the best method to backup ALL app data (Play Store and unknown source apps) and all the other things not explicitly listed?
Xperia's own Backup tool? (the PC Companion backup vs on-device?)
Titanium?
No cloud for me btw... I'm also talking about app data like the data downloaded by games after their installation, because which games these days don't download additional data, and no, not just the download that may even happen via Play Store, but only as soon as you launch the app. (guess it's the dev's own server, however the app has been taken down ever since, so without a backup it will only keep looking for data that it can't fetch... tried with Titanium to transfer from an older Android device to my Xperia X)
Boy, really missing the beauty of a no-BS all-encompassing backup solution like on iOS, even though I fully expect that to be on very shaky legs as well...
And what about those three boxes under the wipe section? For example, what does MASTER-RESET do?
Sorry for the many questions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. I am not a GAMER but I believe for the games, A service called Google play Games saves Everything about your games saved. so even if you have different mobile, same google account you will start your game from same point which was left out on device 1 .
2. I have never tried iOS so I cannot comment on that but I would definitely add (from what i have seen on youtube videos and read online) that iOS has basic notion in mind which is let us make our users tension free and we will do EVERYTHING for them. now this notion for me means, someone taking my freedom away and controling my decicions, (irrespective of what noble cause behind) where ANDROID basically GIVE MORE CONTROL to me so when it does, it also expect me to know what this freedom means?. I will have to be detailed oriented and I must cover all bases manually. Backups, Rooting, Flashing on my terms, Flashing different roms with different launders, Cloud base options, gaining control over android paritions to alter core structure of device.etc. Android offers more for sure!
3. Master Reset will wipe your login credentials , apps, and encryption keys, hence when device boot, you will have to setup everything again
YasuHamed said:
1. I am not a GAMER but I believe for the games, A service called Google play Games saves Everything about your games saved. so even if you have different mobile, same google account you will start your game from same point which was left out on device 1 .
2. I have never tried iOS so I cannot comment on that but I would definitely add (from what i have seen on youtube videos and read online) that iOS has basic notion in mind which is let us make our users tension free and we will do EVERYTHING for them. now this notion for me means, someone taking my freedom away and controling my decicions, (irrespective of what noble cause behind) where ANDROID basically GIVE MORE CONTROL to me so when it does, it also expect me to know what this freedom means?. I will have to be detailed oriented and I must cover all bases manually. Backups, Rooting, Flashing on my terms, Flashing different roms with different launders, Cloud base options, gaining control over android paritions to alter core structure of device.etc. Android offers more for sure!
3. Master Reset will wipe your login credentials , apps, and encryption keys, hence when device boot, you will have to setup everything again
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With all due respect, but I think I failed to express myself properly to get it all across:
1) As I said, I'm not talking about cloud-solutions, I'm not talking about game progress, not all games are part of Google Play Games and other kinds of apps like to download data from third-party servers as well.
2 Why do you think I'm using both by now? because I want that control, but I also like simplicity to whatever extend I can get it. I don't want a forced way of Android telling me to use XYZ, I want a way I can choose and that way needs to fulfill certain criteria, such as a complete no BS backup solution that is incremental.
Just because I want control doesn't mean I'm stoked about DIYing everything, otherwise I might as well hire an intern and direct by orders. :laugh:
So all I can do is refer back to my questions. Hell forget I ever mentioned iOS. I'm too chatty anyways which often distracts from the actual point. Sorry for that.
3) Wow, well good that I asked it seems! So I leave ALL boxes unchecked, right? Both wipes and all resets? I surely don't want to retype a million passwords again for all the stuff where LastPass doesn't have my credentials stored (yet).
Thanks a lot for your time, really appreciated.
Hi. My understanding is that the most thorough way to backup an android phone is to do a nandroid backup. If you search google you'll find plenty of info about that. If you have TWRP flashed to your recovery partition, you can fairly easily kick off a nandroid backup directly from within TWRP, though TWRP seems to add some proprietary extensions that make recovery only possibly with TWRP.
That'll give you your all-encompassing backup.
The problem with nandroid is that it's, well, all-encompassing. If you restore, you revert back to that original state. You can't use it to backup your data before an upgrade, for example, then restore under the new version. I haven't found a great solution for that yet, but my current solution is oandbackup. This backs up APKs and data for all user (and system, if desired) applications. This can then be copied to an external SD card or to another computer or whatever, then used to restore your apps and data after wipe/reset or upgrade. I setup a couple scheduled jobs to backup all user data and newly installed apks nightly, then have a job in a separate sync program to copy that to my NAS. No cloud necessary.
The main caveat here is that, because oandbackup is app-centric, it does not include system preferences, accounts, SMS messages, etc. All of that will need to be manually reconfigured or backed up with another app. Recovery, therefore, still takes some time (hence my request about upgrading without requiring a full wipe), but all of your important data should be preserved with this method.
Definitely not recommending this as the best approach, but it works well enough for me and avoids any dependency on online services.. Interested in any other approaches people may wish to share.
Related
FYI - I just updated my T-Mobile SGS2. After the wipe and update, I'm unable to re-setup the application because I can't get another Serial and Activation Code from the SWTOR website.
Later I reloaded a custom ROM and tried to restore the app with Titanium, but I keep getting an "An unexpected error has occured."
So in short, if you are expecting an update for your phone, or load custom ROMs a lot, DO NOT USE THE ANDROID AUTHENTICATOR APP (until those awesome hackers find out what going on).
Fortunately I was rooted and able to restore a full system backup, to get the app back running correctly. But now I'm forced to run an older version of software on my phone.
Hopefully CS can help with a better solution or App.
I wrote down the key information I entered into the app when I set it up. I don't know if that will work later on though.
The other thing I have going for me... is that both my phone and tablet are configured for it. I did them both at the same time. That way, if one device is lost or stolen, or gets wiped, I can rely on the other.
khart1978 said:
FYI - I just updated my T-Mobile SGS2. After the wipe and update, I'm unable to re-setup the application because I can't get another Serial and Activation Code from the SWTOR website.
Later I reloaded a custom ROM and tried to restore the app with Titanium, but I keep getting an "An unexpected error has occured."
So in short, if you are expecting an update for your phone, or load custom ROMs a lot, DO NOT USE THE ANDROID AUTHENTICATOR APP (until those awesome hackers find out what going on).
Fortunately I was rooted and able to restore a full system backup, to get the app back running correctly. But now I'm forced to run an older version of software on my phone.
Hopefully CS can help with a better solution or App.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can't restore the data files from an different rom, delete the data files in titanium backup and the app should work again (you just have to configure it again)
Gesendet von meinem GT-I9100 mit Tapatalk
wooki said:
You can't restore the data files from an different rom, delete the data files in titanium backup and the app should work again (you just have to configure it again)
Gesendet von meinem GT-I9100 mit Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes but what ur not getting is that in order to set it up again u have to be able to log into ur account which u cant do without a security key
I havent checked yet, but i will soon. Is there a way to shut off the security key (temporarily, of course) so that we can just shut it off, load a rom, turn it back on and "re-marry" the app? Might not be great for nightly users, but I'd like to try some different roms without losing the ability to play my game.
Psionfenix said:
I havent checked yet, but i will soon. Is there a way to shut off the security key (temporarily, of course) so that we can just shut it off, load a rom, turn it back on and "re-marry" the app? Might not be great for nightly users, but I'd like to try some different roms without losing the ability to play my game.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only way to detach the security key atm is to phone support and have them remove it. I read somewhere that adding that functionality to the webpage is a high priority.
yeah. I got my ticket back about that. I went ahead and just ordered a standalone key. Not going to take the chance. haha
There must be a way to backup the application. Moving it to an emulator on my pc would be nice, but I couldn't do it...
Sanraith said:
There must be a way to backup the application. Moving it to an emulator on my pc would be nice, but I couldn't do it...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any news about this?
Successfully Restored Authenticator
I know this post is old, but I've seen several similar posts concerning the same issue, and the resolution was calling Customer Support and having it removed. Anyway, I've restored the app successfully several times today. Last week, I contacted Titanium Track (Titanium Backup Support), and one of the suggestions they gave me led to an answer. "If you leave the app installed and just switch between the ROMs without a wipe, does the same problem happen or not?".
It indeed did continue to function. I then tried a "factory reset" and restoring the app, which led to the dreaded "unexpected error occurred". My next step involved, restoring all system app data/rebooting...and then the authenticator functioned. After a couple of hours, I narrowed down the 2nd app that needs to be restored. Under Titanium Backup it's - [SETTINGS/BLUETOOTH...-> "Settings Storage". By exploring this data using Titanium Backup, I saw one variable that I believe is the cause of the issue. "Android_ID".
Sorry, I can't post the link but this is from "adrynalyne" on Android Forums - "Warning. Do Not Share Nandroid Backups".
Even if your apps aren't there, and no personal information has been entered on a fresh wipe.
If someone asks for a stock Nandroid backup, kindly tell them to get lost
contagous and I learned the hard way. I sent him a completely tweaked and clean nandroid, with none of my personal info or anything like that. He has been using it and it works great.
Until AppBrain fast web installer is used. See, it IDs your device by the Android_ID, which is unique to every phone, or is supposed to be.
Nandroid backups will record this device ID, and clone it onto another device. Well, when contagous installs an app using the web installer, I get it. Without a prompt or nothing.
While I can do the same thing, and it was fun sending him pron apps and sexy men wallpapers, it has a real potential for a security nitemare. I trust contagous, but let this serve as a warning to everyone. Its also not so simple as installing another ROM and factory reset. So far as I can tell, as long as you stay on the same build OS, you will keep the same ID. The only thing that changed my ID to something else was going back to 2.1.
So friends, don't let friends share nandroids. If you do, play it smart, and delete all but the system and boot images and recalculate the md5.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe that the Star Wars: The Old Republic Security Key app is looking at the Android_ID key for a match, and then bombing out. This is only a theory from my experience. But I would suggest to anyone that's willing to try it to attempt to restore both the SWORSK and Settings Storage "SETTINGS/BLUETOOTH", rebooting, and see what happens. Of course, make a NANDROID backup before trying this!
Cbjohns said:
I know this post is old, but I've seen several similar posts concerning the same issue, and the resolution was calling Customer Support and having it removed. Anyway, I've restored the app successfully several times today. Last week, I contacted Titanium Track (Titanium Backup Support), and one of the suggestions they gave me led to an answer. "If you leave the app installed and just switch between the ROMs without a wipe, does the same problem happen or not?".
It indeed did continue to function. I then tried a "factory reset" and restoring the app, which led to the dreaded "unexpected error occurred". My next step involved, restoring all system app data/rebooting...and then the authenticator functioned. After a couple of hours, I narrowed down the 2nd app that needs to be restored. Under Titanium Backup it's - [SETTINGS/BLUETOOTH...-> "Settings Storage". By exploring this data using Titanium Backup, I saw one variable that I believe is the cause of the issue. "Android_ID".
Sorry, I can't post the link but this is from "adrynalyne" on Android Forums - "Warning. Do Not Share Nandroid Backups".
I believe that the Star Wars: The Old Republic Security Key app is looking at the Android_ID key for a match, and then bombing out. This is only a theory from my experience. But I would suggest to anyone that's willing to try it to attempt to restore both the SWORSK and Settings Storage "SETTINGS/BLUETOOTH", rebooting, and see what happens. Of course, make a NANDROID backup before trying this!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some good news. I requested for the ability to restore the "Android_ID" be added to Titanium Backup, and they have made it so. I tested a couple times and can verify that it is the Android_ID that this app relies on. So for those out there, give it a try if you wish. I should note though that may have to switch the time sync "from auto to manual, then back to auto" to be able to get the site to accept the key. But yes, restoration of the Security Key has been achieved! Good luck everyone!
@Cbjohns
It's working!
I've got nandroid-backup from some months ago, when I used to play SWTOR. Now on the new ROM I couldn't make it working.
So I
1. nandroid-backup this ROM
2. nandroid-restore previous one
3. backup this SETTINGS/BLUETOOTH(only data) and SWTOR app(data+app)
4. nandroid-restore again present ROM
5. restore SETTINGS/BLUETOOTH(only data) and SWTOR app(data+app)
6. reboot(without it, it doesn't work) my phone
-and it's working.
Thanks again!!
I recently got a new phone and had to call support every time I tried a new rom. This has saved me TONS of time, thank you so much!
Cbjohns said:
I know this post is old, but I've seen several similar posts concerning the same issue, and the resolution was calling Customer Support and having it removed. Anyway, I've restored the app successfully several times today. Last week, I contacted Titanium Track (Titanium Backup Support), and one of the suggestions they gave me led to an answer. "If you leave the app installed and just switch between the ROMs without a wipe, does the same problem happen or not?".
It indeed did continue to function. I then tried a "factory reset" and restoring the app, which led to the dreaded "unexpected error occurred". My next step involved, restoring all system app data/rebooting...and then the authenticator functioned. After a couple of hours, I narrowed down the 2nd app that needs to be restored. Under Titanium Backup it's - [SETTINGS/BLUETOOTH...-> "Settings Storage". By exploring this data using Titanium Backup, I saw one variable that I believe is the cause of the issue. "Android_ID".
Sorry, I can't post the link but this is from "adrynalyne" on Android Forums - "Warning. Do Not Share Nandroid Backups".
I believe that the Star Wars: The Old Republic Security Key app is looking at the Android_ID key for a match, and then bombing out. This is only a theory from my experience. But I would suggest to anyone that's willing to try it to attempt to restore both the SWORSK and Settings Storage "SETTINGS/BLUETOOTH", rebooting, and see what happens. Of course, make a NANDROID backup before trying this!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is basically identical to this thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2402021
It is posted in the Nexus forum, however, and I don't know how much overlap there is between the users of that forum and this one, so I wanted to ask it here since I'm using an S4.
Basically, when ever a ROM that you're using comes out with a major revision, the expectation is that you do a clean install and wipe all data. This can be quite a hassle when it comes to restoring everything when you boot back up. Especially if it's an active ROM and you find yourself needing to do this monthly. I personally have been using Titanium Backup to restore user apps, but I don't use it for system apps as I presume some of that data might be incompatible with the newer revision of the ROM and I don't want to screw up any of the benefits that the update offers me. However, this still leaves a lot of system settings non-restorable and I was wondering what the experts on here did to minimize the complication of restoring all of their settings after their wipe their device for a software update. For example, Ringtones, WiFi/Bluetooth settings, system application options/settings. Does anyone have a good method to simplify this process of getting your phone back to exactly the way it was prior to the update or is it mostly just a tedious process you put up with every month or so?
Thanks.
Out of an unknown reason after I rebooted by Galaxy S II, it just did a factory reset on its own.
So my S2 was bugging about something about the calendar storage crashing and the dialogue box won't stop popping up again and again no matter how many times I press OK. It won't let me do a proper reset as the dialogue box is in the way so I took out the battery and put it back in.
So it was booting as normal (Samsung Galaxy bootscreen, then the Siyah boot animation*, then finally the oval Samsung animation). But instead of my usual lockscreen, it greeted me with a setup screen as if I did a factory reset, even if I didn't do any special commands or gestures or button combos. So after going through the setup, as well as the tutorials, the factory default everything is now set.
But it gets weird. Real weird.
So all of the apps I downloaded are gone (except for the root apps when I did a root on my device*, which is no surprise as these are now embedded in the firmware or something). BUT my files (including the ones NOT on the SD card) are still there, as well as other personal files. Yes, personal files are still in there but the apps and settings are gone. Shouldn't those be wiped out after a factory reset?
So what's not wiped out are my personal files (pictures, videos, docs, etc.), my Contacts--which are saved on the SIM card, and the root apps*.
Ok, now for the technical information
Samsung Galaxy S II i9100 (Int'l Unlocked) 16 GB
2 GB Transcend microSD
Stock Battery (1650 mAh)
OEM Android Firmware (4.1.2 JB w/ Touchwix UX) even after the factory reset
*ROOT information
Siyah Kernel S2-v6.0beta5
flashed with Odin 3.07
CWM v3.15
This is the guide I used to root my device. I followed it carefully bit by bit.
YouTube Title: " How to Root Samsung Galaxy S2 (i9100) Jelly Bean 4.1.2 with Siyah Kernel "
I simply need an answer how this happen, as well as any knowledgeable set of information. I have scoured the web and I have no concrete answer and I hope the experienced people here can give an answer. This is just so unusual and it never happen to me before.
Also I should also point out I am a noob and this is my first time posting . I have already watched the "You are a noob on xda-developers" video and read the written guide and I hope I followed everything. If I have any mistakes, please inform me I would gladly appreciate it!
Same happened to me few times on stock jb.Didn't found any logical reasons for this.Everything at stock.
Ok... A few things :
1. I'm sorry for your loss of all the apps. I don't know why that happened, although I have seen it happen before. Take the chance to install only the apps you need, and you should find an improvement with battery life and speed.
2. It's normal that all of your photos, videos etc didn't get deleted. A factory reset will reset all the apps and settings, but all data on the internal or external sd card will be intact. The i9100 has an internal sd card partition built in (11.5GB for the 16GB model) whatever is on that won't disappear in a factory reset
Thanks for reading the rules and posting with logical information, it's nice to read for a change
Edit: sorry for not quoting you.. Instead, @MixEcoSystem now you'll get a notification :good:
Sent from a galaxy far, far away
Thank You very much But now I have a new problem
Hopper8 said:
Ok... A few things :
1. I'm sorry for your loss of all the apps. I don't know why that happened, although I have seen it happen before. Take the chance to install only the apps you need, and you should find an improvement with battery life and speed.
2. It's normal that all of your photos, videos etc didn't get deleted. A factory reset will reset all the apps and settings, but all data on the internal or external sd card will be intact. The i9100 has an internal sd card partition built in (11.5GB for the 16GB model) whatever is on that won't disappear in a factory reset
Thanks for reading the rules and posting with logical information, it's nice to read for a change
Edit: sorry for not quoting you.. Instead, @MixEcoSystem now you'll get a notification :good:
Sent from a galaxy far, far away
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now I havr most of my needed applicatoons are now installed, a notification occured. It is alerting me that I only have 200 MB free space of the 2 GB capacity of the system partition. Of coarse I just had a factory reset which should have cleared it in the first place. Before the unknown factory reset, I still had ~700 MB free space. Now I didn't even reinstall everything and it is already warning me. This is just weird.
Is there a way to check this system partition?
UPDATE: Now I can't install other new and large applications like evernote. Error 919 even if it downloaded 100%. Now I'm frustrated I have to go back to the restricted iOS of iPod touch 5th gen until we can fix this
MixEcoSystem said:
Now I havr most of my needed applicatoons are now installed, a notification occured. It is alerting me that I only have 200 MB free space of the 2 GB capacity of the system partition. Of coarse I just had a factory reset which should have cleared it in the first place. Before the unknown factory reset, I still had ~700 MB free space. Now I didn't even reinstall everything and it is already warning me. This is just weird.
Is there a way to check this system partition?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it's possible to see what's in there, use this app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.levelokment.storageanalyser and go preferences - options - and tick both boxes there.
To be honest, it sounds like it's time for a system clean. If you've already flashed siyah kernel, you'll be fine to do it. I actually did it myself yesterday :good: here's a screenshot of my storage after I cleaned it yesterday. I had so much rubbish floating around yesterday. Much better now
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In my signature is a link, in that link is a download link to a 3 part firmware. If you flash that via Odin, it will wipe your system partition and then you'll be good to go.
Once that's wiped, then I would re-root (siyah kernel is as good as any to do that), then flash a custom ROM based on a stock ROM, say NeatROM, as long as you want something similar to what you're already on. To flash that ROM, flash the zip file from siyah kernel recovery. NeatROM is a bit lighter than a full stock ROM with some bloat removed, but has a lot more customisation options
Hope that helps
Sent from a galaxy far, far away
data/lost+found consuming 1.32 GB (75%) is well...found
Hopper8 said:
Yes, it's possible to see what's in there, use this app: and go preferences - options - and tick both boxes there.
To be honest, it sounds like it's time for a system clean. If you've already flashed siyah kernel, you'll be fine to do it. I actually did it myself yesterday :good: here's a screenshot of my storage after I cleaned it yesterday. I had so much rubbish floating around yesterday. Much better now
In my signature is a link, in that link is a download link to a 3 part firmware. If you flash that via Odin, it will wipe your system partition and then you'll be good to go.
Once that's wiped, then I would re-root (siyah kernel is as good as any to do that), then flash a custom ROM based on a stock ROM, say NeatROM, as long as you want something similar to what you're already on. To flash that ROM, flash the zip file from siyah kernel recovery. NeatROM is a bit lighter than a full stock ROM with some bloat removed, but has a lot more customisation options
Hope that helps
Sent from a galaxy far, far away
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After using storage analyzer and enabling it to access root, " lost+found " folder inside /data is using 75% of the system partition with the 2nd consumer to be dalvil-cache at only 160 MB. I think this is where all my apps went because of its name. Is this a recoverable thing and I could restore everything like before the reset occurred OR is it just "dump" that can only be safely erased?
Also thanks for the ROM recommendation :good: , but I think I'll stick with TouchWiz since I am kind of a fan of it despite its high memory use I might go for a KitKat build in the future
Note: I had to remove the links cause I haven't reached the 10 post requirement
Neat ROM is touchwiz, its a stock custom rom, its touchwiz minus high memory use, the only way to use stock rom imo.
MixEcoSystem said:
After using storage analyzer and enabling it to access root, " lost+found " folder inside /data is using 75% of the system partition with the 2nd consumer to be dalvil-cache at only 160 MB. I think this is where all my apps went because of its name. Is this a recoverable thing and I could restore everything like before the reset occurred OR is it just "dump" that can only be safely erased?
Also thanks for the ROM recommendation :good: , but I think I'll stick with TouchWiz since I am kind of a fan of it despite its high memory use I might go for a KitKat build in the future
Note: I had to remove the links cause I haven't reached the 10 post requirement
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm. I've never seen that folder before... I really doubt you need it! But maybe try a quick google search before you delete it? If it was me... It would be gone already but then again, I have stuffed a few things up before. Best to be sure what you're doing before, not after you do it
And, as the guy above me said, NeatROM is touchwiz... Just without all the rubbish apps and a lot more customisation. Think of it as stock touchwiz on steroids but yes, I'm on kitkat now. I personally don't like touchwiz. Don't ask for ROM recommendations though, it's against forum rules. I merely suggested NeatROM as a way to get some extra space for your system partition :good:
Sent from a galaxy far, far away
I've recently been getting into more security cautious habits with encryption and what not, due to this whole NSA/Big-brother is watching business... But I have a question (more may pop up as this discussion goes on). Sorry if I seem noob-y, I am still getting a hang of all this encryption business. But here's my first round (regarding just the files being backed up):
If I go ahead and do a full phone encryption with my GN2 where will I stand as far as backups to Dropbox/Copy/Google Drive/etc.?
I currently have photos and such backing up to copy, and I often move backups made through recovery to Dropbox and such. If I were to have photos automatically sync to copy or move system backups to dropbox wouldn't that render them basically useless as I am assuming they move out of the phone encrypted (not being decrypted as they exit).
The photos would be unusable anywhere besides my phone right? So moving them off my phone to share vacation photos for instance would be impossible, and if my phone were to crash they'd be irretrievable? Making the backup process pointless.
Wouldn't the back up be rendered useless as well, exactly when I might need said backup? If my phone were to ever crash or die for some reason, I would lose the encryption key, would even be able to do a full system restore through the recovery? It would seem that the encryption key wouldn't be kept with those back up files, so while it might place everything back in its correct place, it would still be unreadable. Or does it maybe keep the key in system files somewhere so that a full backup would restore the key as well?
And my second round of questions (regarding recoveries and what not):
I am also under the impression that I would not be able to flash through custom recovery either as the internal SD would be inaccessible from the recovery being it doesn't have the encryption key. I am currently running OmniROM and it is in a nightly stage still for my phone. I wouldn't be able to update nightly would I? I am assuming since it basically flashes/overwrites system each time, that I would be losing my encryption key and making everything besides system unusable then right?
And what about downloading ROMs to flash/update directly to my phone? As I download them from in browser or another app and they go to the default /downloads folder they would be encrypted. They wouldn't be accessible from there in recovery, but if I were to try and move them out of internal SD to the external SD they would retain encryption and still be inaccessible? So the only way to download ROMs and updates would be from PC and only move them to the external SD?
Overall, this seems to be crippling a lot of the way I use my phone...
Bump?
Sorry, this is already getting buried and I kinda want to know what's going on before I go ahead and do this...
Zombtastic said:
I've recently been getting into more security cautious habits with encryption and what not, due to this whole NSA/Big-brother is watching business... But I have a question (more may pop up as this discussion goes on). Sorry if I seem noob-y, I am still getting a hang of all this encryption business. But here's my first round (regarding just the files being backed up):
If I go ahead and do a full phone encryption with my GN2 where will I stand as far as backups to Dropbox/Copy/Google Drive/etc.?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not (yet) an expert on this, but when you've encrypted your device, it encrypts the file system on your internal memory and SD card. You have to enter a PIN/password when you turn on your device (and when it times out) to gain access. When the correct PIN is entered at boot time, the file system is available as normal - the underlying data is still encrypted, but the file system can unencrypt it in "real time" for use by apps and the system.
So that means that Dropbox et al all see your files as normal, and any copying you do from your device to something on the net (Drive, Dropbox, a server, etc.) works as normal - the data appears normal to the apps and is copied as normal. So photos would copy across as photos, music as music, etc.
Think of it like this: You can't speak Urdu, only English. There is a book you own that is written in Urdu that you want to tell someone about. You find a translator to read the book and tell you what it says. He reads the first page in Urdu, translates it in his head to English, and tells you what it says. You then tell your friend what it says (in English, of course). Your friend writes down what you told him, in English, then tells you something in reply. You tell your Urdu translator what your friend said (again, in English). Your Urdu translator then translates (in his head) what you said from English to Urdu, and writes it down in the book in Urdu.
At no time do you understand Urdu, nor does your friend. Your friend doesn't even know the book is written in Urdu and doesn't care. He never sees it or accesses it directly. If anyone ever steals your book, they can't read it unless they can read Urdu. The book is only useful to you and your friends if you have an Urdu translator sitting there in the loop. (the analogy is imperfect and incomplete but you get the idea).
So, getting back to your phone, if you have it encrypted, the underlying file system deals with translating things on the fly if you've given it the correct password at boot and login time. No apps ever know about the encryption - they just see data as normal (unencrypted). So any app that wants to copy a photo to Dropbox just sees a normal photo - it never sees the underlying encrypted data. But if you don't enter the correct password at boot time, the phone can't boot, and anyone trying to access the data on the phone won't be able to read it unless they know the password.
Does that help or confuse?
Zombtastic said:
I currently have photos and such backing up to copy, and I often move backups made through recovery to Dropbox and such. If I were to have photos automatically sync to copy or move system backups to Dropbox wouldn't that render them basically useless as I am assuming they move out of the phone encrypted (not being decrypted as they exit).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm, this does my head in a bit but lets untangle it:
- you boot into Recovery. The Recovery you're using (obviously) understands encrypted file systems (some versions of CWM do, some versions of TWRM don't for instance - see near the end of this post for a bit more on this). So when you boot into Recovery and enter your PIN/password, it can then read your file system. You can then do a Recovery-based backup of your file system (or individual files, though I'm not aware that you can do this). The backup it creates is written to the encrypted file system and thus encrypted with the same encryption keys used for everything else.
- You boot the phone back up as normal and enter your PIN/password, and start up Android. You then use Dropbox to copy the Recovery backup files to the cloud. So the question is, "Are these files encrypted?" and I think the answer is, "No". Why? Read the rest of this post and hopefully you'll work out the same conclusion. But I'm pretty sure that the data that ends up on the Cloud is not encrypted.
One general comment worth pointing out as an aside (sorry, this paragraph isn't really related to the above but I wanted to point this out somewhere and its still useful) is that each time you encrypt your phone, it creates a unique encryption key - even if you give it the same PIN/password to use. So if you're forced to rebuild/reflash/wipe your phone in the future, it won't be able to access any data that is still on there (in internal or SD memory) since it won't know the previous encryption key. So you'll have to wipe all data and start again. And at that point, if you choose to encrypt your fresh, newly initialized phone, it will have a new, unique encryption key that won't work on any encrypted data from previous. So if for instance, you plug in an SD card that was encrypted on your phone in an earlier ROM, it won't be readable even if you know the correct PIN/password, since your phone will be using a different underlying unique key.
Zombtastic said:
The photos would be unusable anywhere besides my phone right? So moving them off my phone to share vacation photos for instance would be impossible, and if my phone were to crash they'd be irretrievable? Making the backup process pointless.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So, if you're following this, you'll now understand that moving your photos off your phone could be done two ways:
- while you're using the phone as normal (ie. you've booted it, entered your PIN/password, and copying your photos to Dropbox via an app while you're logged on. If you do it this way, you're simply copying photos as normal that can be viewed as normal in Dropbox.
- by copying backups generated while in Recovery. But Recovery will be firstly mounting the encrypted file system successfully (if you gave it the right PIN/password and your version of Recovery supports encryption), which means it can read your photos as normal files, then backs them up into its own normal Recovery file/folder structure and writes them to your encrypted file system, so the underlying data is encrypted unbeknownst to Recovery. Then when you boot up your phone and log in successfully to Android, you can access that data as normal (and unencrypted). So when you then copy it to Dropbox, all you're copying is normal Recovery-created backup files. The copied data won't be encrypted (unless Recovery encrypts them itself, independently, which I don't think it does). So you could copy this data to anybody's phone, so long as they were using a compatible Recovery version and probably compatible ROM.
Zombtastic said:
Wouldn't the back up be rendered useless as well, exactly when I might need said backup? If my phone were to ever crash or die for some reason, I would lose the encryption key, would even be able to do a full system restore through the recovery? It would seem that the encryption key wouldn't be kept with those back up files, so while it might place everything back in its correct place, it would still be unreadable. Or does it maybe keep the key in system files somewhere so that a full backup would restore the key as well?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not 100% sure on this, but I think your logic is correct. The backup would be useless if the phone loses the encryption key, which it would do if you re-initialized your phone and/or did a new encryption. So you can only recover your backed up data if you haven't done either of those things. A solution to this is to use backup software that runs on your phone (Titanium Backup) that gives you the option to encrypt your data. Some caveats to this approach should be obvious:
- you firstly need to decide if you trust your backup software's encryption
- you need to use a strong password and be able to recall it months/years from now when you go to restore your data
- you need to copy your backups off your phone (such as onto your SD card, cloud, dropbox, etc.) in case you lose your phone.
Zombtastic said:
And my second round of questions (regarding recoveries and what not):
I am also under the impression that I would not be able to flash through custom recovery either as the internal SD would be inaccessible from the recovery being it doesn't have the encryption key. I am currently running OmniROM and it is in a nightly stage still for my phone. I wouldn't be able to update nightly would I? I am assuming since it basically flashes/overwrites system each time, that I would be losing my encryption key and making everything besides system unusable then right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tricky - if you flash/update your phone with a new ROM, you will probably be OK so long as you haven't wiped the part of your phone's storage that holds the encryption information. I don't know where this is. But the nightly updates I do to my phone don't normally touch my data - all my apps are still there and it boots identically to the way it did before I updated it. HOWEVER, its possible that an update may force me to wipe my phone for some reason - the update may fail, it may contain significant changes, or I might screw something up. I probably end up completely wiping my phone at least once every 2 months just because I like to play with the latest and greatest ROMs, or I screw something up. So if that happens, I'm going to lose the encryption information and thus would lose everything on the phone.
Of course, I can always restore my apps and data via Titanium Backup, since I back up my stuff quite often and then copy it to Dropbox.
Zombtastic said:
And what about downloading ROMs to flash/update directly to my phone? As I download them from in browser or another app and they go to the default /downloads folder they would be encrypted. They wouldn't be accessible from there in recovery, but if I were to try and move them out of internal SD to the external SD they would retain encryption and still be inaccessible? So the only way to download ROMs and updates would be from PC and only move them to the external SD?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm - good question. A simpler question is, "Is my encrypted file system accessible while in Recovery?" I believe the answer is, "Yes, if you use CWM, No if you use TWRM". But I say that because from what I've been reading, some versions of CWM/TWRM can/can't handle encrypted devices. But you'll already have sorted this out at the time you're trying to encrypt your device anyway since the encryption process involves rebooting your phone into recovery I believe - and if you're not using the correct supported Recovery, this step will fail. But if you are using a supported recovery, this step will work, and therefore logically I'd assume that you can access your encrypted file system while in Recovery in the future. I'd imagine Recovery would prompt you for your PIN/password in order to mount the encrypted file system.
So assuming the above is correct, you would be able to access the newly-downloaded ROMs while in Recovery and thus can flash them. But of course, Caveat Emptor with flashing the new ROM - if it forces you to wipe anything, you may end up unable to access any of the data.
Zombtastic said:
Overall, this seems to be crippling a lot of the way I use my phone...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From what I've been researching, you won't have a problem anyway, because I haven't come across anyone that has successfully encrypted their phone using a custom ROM. Strangely, this ability seems to be unwanted by XDA people. My tinfoil hat tells me that there are people ensuring that this ability continues to not work on custom ROMs until/unless a backdoor capability is found. Hopefully I'm wrong on many counts.
douginoz said:
From what I've been researching, you won't have a problem anyway, because I haven't come across anyone that has successfully encrypted their phone using a custom ROM. Strangely, this ability seems to be unwanted by XDA people. My tinfoil hat tells me that there are people ensuring that this ability continues to not work on custom ROMs until/unless a backdoor capability is found. Hopefully I'm wrong on many counts.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Amazing post by the way! It does seem very helpful.
BUT it's very funny you mention it not working. Because that's exactly what happened. After not getting a response here or in the ROM's forum for a few days, I decided to just take the plunge and do it. I was just planning on testing everything out my self and figuring it out as I went. The first time it seemed fine, the encryption went through it seemed.
Being as I didn't know any of the info you just enlightened me with, I did fear that nothing was truly encrypted though. Everything was transferring to my computer with a drag and drop and working fine, so I was afraid (without evidence) that nothing was truly encrypted. I asked on the ROM's forum again (still waiting for an answer).
That night, my phone was left plugged in charging, yet some how had turned off in the night. I awake to my phone asking for an encryption key. I enter my key in to no avail. Nothing works and my phone is left unable to boot. It was utterly denying my password. I had to reflash. I asked about that in the forums as well, whether that was normal or if encryption was maybe not implemented yet, etc. The dev running the nightlies for my device has responded to the forum multiple times but not to me. Another user mentioned it might be that it is now merged together as a Galaxy Note 2 ROM and not specifically a T-mobile Galaxy Note 2 ROM (might be possible. Idk.).
Now, I have tried to re-encrypt. Multiple times. But I cannot for the life of me get it to even start now. Every time I go to start the encryption process it shows me the fullscreen image of the android unzipped horizontally (at which point it is supposed to reboot and start encrypting) and it hangs/sits there forever. Not rebooting, not anything. If I hit the back button, the image disappears and it goes back to my phone. Working perfectly fine, like it never even started doing anything. I am not doing anything differently. I don't know what could be happening to stop it from even getting as far as it did last time. Unless the devs maybe started working on it and have disabled it for the time being/screwed it up worse, I dunno.
Not you got me crafting a tin-foil hat...
I have had it I have deleted all my photos AGAIN!!! I can't seem to see why KitKat made the Ext-SD Read Only : (ie photos in the internal memory) : WHY can't we access the internal memory from any of the recoveries and with all the other problems associated with the LB that we are all familiar with this is a really bad phone to root.
How did this happen ?
I downloaded a new ROM, made sure my phone had them both the ROM and the Dual Recovery flashable file on the SD and rebooted to TWRP. I then wiped out my everything but external and internal SD. After doing this I went to flash the ROM but couldn't find it (I know it was there but buried in one of the million sub directories.) Next I was interrupted at the door by my boss, we got to talking and I realized that my screen was off. When I returned the phone was in fact dead. #$#@ I screamed out loud because I knew what this meant. Despite my knowledge of how this operates I knew from experience loosing all my wedding photos that this wasn't going to go over well (read my previous thread of lost wedding photos).
Why even recommend rooting to anyone with a locked boot loader after all this is a phone people buy to use the camera. The photos are forced by default to internal memory and internal memory is extremely volatile on this phone
HAS ANYONE OUT THERE been able to get the data back I simply have no system/recovery partition now ?! Surely SOMEONE out there knows of a way to .ftf a system partition only so I can access my internal memory as the data partition is still fully intact..
If not I wont be surprised as this LB phone (camera) is a total disaster for me and I am regretting getting it in the first place... It's a real mess with these glitches ..
futiless said:
I have had it I have deleted all my photos AGAIN!!! I can't seem to see why KitKat made the Ext-SD Read Only : (ie photos in the internal memory) : WHY can't we access the internal memory from any of the recoveries and with all the other problems associated with the LB that we are all familiar with this is a really bad phone to root.
How did this happen ?
I downloaded a new ROM, made sure my phone had them both the ROM and the Dual Recovery flashable file on the SD and rebooted to TWRP. I then wiped out my everything but external and internal SD. After doing this I went to flash the ROM but couldn't find it (I know it was there but buried in one of the million sub directories.) Next I was interrupted at the door by my boss, we got to talking and I realized that my screen was off. When I returned the phone was in fact dead. #$#@ I screamed out loud because I knew what this meant. Despite my knowledge of how this operates I knew from experience loosing all my wedding photos that this wasn't going to go over well (read my previous thread of lost wedding photos).
Why even recommend rooting to anyone with a locked boot loader after all this is a phone people buy to use the camera. The photos are forced by default to internal memory and internal memory is extremely volatile on this phone
HAS ANYONE OUT THERE been able to get the data back I simply have no system/recovery partition now ?! Surely SOMEONE out there knows of a way to .ftf a system partition only so I can access my internal memory as the data partition is still fully intact..
If not I wont be surprised as this LB phone (camera) is a total disaster for me and I am regretting getting it in the first place... It's a real mess with these glitches ..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you got proper root you're always able to backup. It's just your fault you lost your data.
If it's just system that's gone you haven't lost any actual data yet, get the ftf for the firmware you were using, flash it in flashtool with everything but system /kernel checked. That way it doesn't wipe data etc. I'm not at my computer so can't be exact but you get the picture just restoring system via flashtool should do the trick
Also if you use xposed there's a module to enable handling of external storage, that and setting pics to save to external memory card should avoid you ever having this issue again. There's also an app called folder mount that can be used to ghost internal directories to the external card too hth
Oh also, I may be wrong but if you were using philz if you let the screen go dark while your running something it stays dark till it's finished then a quick press of the power button wakes it back up, you should of waited a little longer if that was the issue
Mr.R™ said:
If it's just system that's gone you haven't lost any actual data yet, get the ftf for the firmware you were using, flash it in flashtool with everything but system /kernel checked. That way it doesn't wipe data etc. I'm not at my computer so can't be exact but you get the picture just restoring system via flashtool should do the trick
Also if you use xposed there's a module to enable handling of external storage, that and setting pics to save to external memory card should avoid you ever having this issue again. There's also an app called folder mount that can be used to ghost internal directories to the external card too hth
Oh also, I may be wrong but if you were using philz if you let the screen go dark while your running something it stays dark till it's finished then a quick press of the power button wakes it back up, you should of waited a little longer if that was the issue
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your a GENIUS this totally saved me thank you so much sir : THIS WORKED... it was something I considered but found daunting because I have a 6906, the 6903 FTF worked for anyone reading this !!!! Maybe I can fix my attitude on this one thanks again...
futiless said:
Your a GENIUS this totally saved me thank you so much sir : THIS WORKED... it was something I considered but found daunting because I have a 6906, the 6903 FTF worked for anyone reading this !!!! Maybe I can fix my attitude on this one thanks again...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can I suggest you edit title to include [SOLVED] - might help other folks out
No worries pal, glad you got it sorted I'd be just the same if I thought I'd lost data that was important to me
Plus, why the hell are you not using google+ to backup your photos ?
Personally I use My PhoneExplorer to back my phone up and synchronise with my pc. It wil also back up all your photos to a folder in the My Pictures directory, sync your calendar and even make basic data backups. Been using it for years now, ever since I had a Sony Ericsson K700 phone
This is just a suggestion if you are also a bit paranoid in storing all your stuff on google.
http://www.fjsoft.at/en/
Sent from my D6503 using XDA Free mobile app
But you know that even without any rooting there is an option inside the camera app where to store pictures? You can choose ext. SD Card there. In my opinion it's not hard to find and due to your last disaster it's your fault not checking this. Since there are options to keep pictures on SD Card in fact you shouldn't blame the phone nor Sony.
furrypotato said:
Plus, why the hell are you not using google+ to backup your photos ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Privacy reasons, not wanting a third party to be responsible for your data etc etc
gurningchimp said:
Can I suggest you edit title to include [SOLVED] - might help other folks out
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Would like to do this but don't know how exactly ...
futiless said:
Would like to do this but don't know how exactly ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
click on edit/delete
click on go advanced
see the title box Below Reason for editing... change that one
Example Picture
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
furrypotato said:
Plus, why the hell are you not using google+ to backup your photos ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Kind of short sighted and pretentious to think we would all see things exactly the same. Personally Google isn't the "answer" to all my problems. Secondly I have had numerous smart phones as most of us have and this Xperia although I love it I have to dance around the volatile situation it poses to have 4.4 limitations which requires root to be able to in order to write to SD (?!). Kinda weird if you ask me and this is just one more thing to setup and calibrate so between roms it is easily overlooked. As I don't actually use social networking all that much and I have such large photos among many other things. I am thinking of other ways to automate this in the future. I am looking for a more set it and forget it method and if I could persist this between roms so be it.
I would like to know who keeps everything they own online aswell today... I mean why do companies use a VPN for data archive ... when they can just sync EVERYTHING to the cloud ?
I ponder politics
Envious_Data said:
click on edit/delete
click on go advanced
see the title box Below Reason for editing... change that one
Example Picture
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where is the field to edit the Thread and not just the first post ?
You should not flash ROMs in locked BL even if you have a recovery and root that doesn't mean it will flash a ROM.