So the last ROM I had on my Moto G5S plus required me to disable dm-verity and force-encryption. Now I want to sell the phone and would like to secure erase all data on it.
But I do not know how partitioning on Android works. Right now I am on Stock ROM which has encryption enabled. If I fill up the entire storage with junk data, will it overwrite every bit of the internal storage?
Related
Good Morning,
I would like to make a Nandroid backup with TWRP, but on their website there is this FAQ hereunder which if I understand correctly, states that internal storage is not included. I don't have an external card but only internal storage. Can someone confirm that a nandroid with TWRP doesn't include the data in internal storage, or is this a misunderstanding?
Many thanks.
What is EXCLUDED from a TWRP backup?
Apr 11, 2018
First of all: you have to choose the partitions which should be added to a backup but there is an important thing to know regarding the /data/media storage (FAQ: What is a data/media device?).
When you have a device with a /data/media storage as internal storage TWRP behaves different then you might thought. Please read the mentioned link above to understand what /data/media is and if your device is affected or not.
Creating a backup of the user data partition will NOT include /data/media (your internal storage)! That means if you save photos or data on the internal storage (e.g. some apps will save data there as well) those will be NOT included in a TWRP backup! There are many people thinking that this is the case but due to a decision taken by the dev team this is the current way of how it works.
To be absolutely clear when you do something like this:
1.Creating a full backup in TWRP (including /data partition)
2.Factory resetting your phone
3.Restoring your previously taken full backup
4.Result: all your saved data will be there but your data on the internal storage gets LOST!
So keep that in mind when you backup and restore!
You may want to backup the internal storage as well but this is not possible in the TWRP GUI. You have to do it manually (e.g. with "tar" when your internal storage is mounted in TWRP).
TWRP is open source software. So you're free to add a backup option for the internal storage and push your request to our gerrit for reviewing.
https://twrp.me/faq/backupexclusions.html
I took out my sdcard and did format data on the internal storage and now i can't mount my sdcard in twrp. Didn't think about the fact that removing the encryption on the internal storage would make it unable to recognize the encryption on the sdcard afterwards. Is there any way to fix this? Or did I just screw myself?
When I reinstalled the rom and tried to boot it still asks me for my password which still works even though I can't boot because it says that the data is corrupted. But the encryption key should still be stored somewhere apparently. There must be a way to use it to decrypt the sdcard.
Moto G 2015
latest TWRP
GZRom Tesla Nougat Rom
Hello,
the situation:
* Upgraded from Oreo to Pie with Samsung Stock (June build)
* Flashed TWRP, no-verity, magisk, xposed (Ed) etc.
* then factory resetted (reasons not important)
Everything worked fine. Then I encrypted my internal SD card with the 9.0 Samsung Stock ROM.
Complication:
* I realized TWRP cannot handle encrypted internal storage from Samsung Stock.
* Now I can flash (with Odin) a Stock ROM and TWRP.
* But I cannot unencrypt my internal storage using TWRP
* This MEANS I cannot flash magisk via TWRP etc.
> When I go to TWRP > wipe > wipe data, TWRP formats internal storage (it is then not displayed as "0 MB" anymore)
> However, when I re-flash stock rom - the internal storage gets apparently encrypted again without me chosing the option
Is there a way out? Otherwise I have effectively killed my S9+ for root usage under stock rom (which I need for camera performance - sole reason I bought the s9+).
Thank you in advance.
Akalias
My Devidc: G965F, Exynos
So i realize that twerp is not capable of decrypting internal data storage for the s9+. But is it a bug? I mean there must be a way to just wipe the internal storage without being able to handle Samsung encryption??
//Edit
just FYI: installing the following ROM with the "_rescue" suffix as explained by the dev, solves the problem of the encrypted storage!
https://forum.xda-developers.com/ga...-development/rom-u1arc5-devbase-v5-2-t3764822
Ok so this is getting interesting.
1. Encrypting with Samsung Stock
2. Wiping Data (wipe "yes") with TWRP
3. --> Internal Storage accessible again - but no ROM installed
4.A.1. Reflashing samsung stock
4.A.2 Internal storage automatically encrypted again
4.B.1 Alternatively: Flashing DevBase Samsung Stock
4.B.2 Internal Storage still decrypted and accessible via TWRP
4.B.3 Wiping DevBase ROM
4.B.4 Flashin original Samsung Stock
---> Internal Storage encrypted again and not accessible for TWRP
Question: Does encrypting the internal storage via Samsung Stock once, trigger a flag that causes the phone to be permanently be re-encrypted if flashing stock ROM?
Is there a solution to this?
So i assume no one has encounter this ever before or has enough technical acumen to give a hint?
"_rescue" totally worked.
TheAKAlias said:
So i realize that twerp is not capable of decrypting internal data storage for the s9+. But is it a bug? I mean there must be a way to just wipe the internal storage without being able to handle Samsung encryption??
//Edit
just FYI: installing the following ROM with the "_rescue" suffix as explained by the dev, solves the problem of the encrypted storage!
https://forum.xda-developers.com/ga...-development/rom-u1arc5-devbase-v5-2-t3764822
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the referral.
I was in the exactly the same predicament as yourself.
Flashing the latest XSG (UAE) firmware encrypted /data and I couldn't decrypt it.
_alexndr is a genius!
Hello,
Would it theoretically possible to delete the recovery system of android and use the space for example for data?
I mean, if you have SPflashtool, you would not need the android recovery, becuase you can flash the phone over pc,
if something is broken on the firmware, so why not deleting it, and use the space the recovery takes normally for other purposes?
Is the recovery system only needed for recovery, or has it other functions too (Booting the normal system for example)?
@Rufus0700
Partitions aren't resizeable on Andoid A-only devices, hence by deleting the mentioned /recovery partition one doesn't gain storage space that can get added/merged to another partition, for example /data partition.
jwoegerbauer said:
@Rufus0700
Partitions aren't resizeable on Andoid A-only devices, hence by deleting the mentioned /recovery partition one doesn't gain storage space that can get added/merged to another partition, for example /data partition.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But I think it would be possible to edit the partition table BEFORE flashing the ROM on the phone?
Hello,
I own a Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro (sweet). Its bootloader is unlocked and I use TWRP 3.6.1 as recovery. The problem is that when I install a rom (EvolutionX), everything works until I reboot to TWRP. At that point, my recovery is unable to mount the phone's internal storage and it shows as 0 bytes. I have followed a few help topics already, which stated that the solution was to change the data partition format to Ext2, then back to Ext4. However, this makes my phone unable to restart to system. The problem is that when I format my data, the data partition is by default formated as f2fs. I'm guessing that any other data format makes it unable to boot.
So the problem is:
When data is formatted to Ext4, TWRP is able to mount my phone's internal storage and install roms. However, in that case, my phone won't boot to system.
In the other case, my data is formatted to f2fs, which makes my phone totally functional, but my recovery useless. Which means I can't root my phone or update it.
What could I do?
Thanks in advance.
are you mixing up file system type with encryption? if your android is 12, TWRP is not able to decrypt (yet). then just disable encryption and format userdata f2fs (unencrypted).
otherwise claim it to TWRP maintainer he forgot f2fs support.