Hello,
I recently flashed to CM. I then wanted to flash to stock so that I could update the PRL. When I did I accidentally wiped the Internal flash memory. I had a bunch of pictures and video that I'd like to recover if possible. I've found that all the disk/photo recovery software requires USB Mass Storage so that the card is recognized. I am unable to get USB Mass Storage on my Galaxy S3 and SGS3 UMS App seems to only work for External SD Cards.
I was unable to find a way to use adb to mount the drive, but if there is I'd appreciate the help.
Is there a way to mount the internal flash memory so that it is recognized as a hard drive that can be scanned by the data recovery software?
Phone: Sprint Galaxy S3 16gb
Recovery - TWRP 2.3.0.0
ROM - CM10
Thanks
Samah
I do not think you are going to be able to mount the internal storage (which appears as the internal sdcard) as Mass Storage that is going to allow you to run a normal recovery program. There are android apps (such as Undelete For Root) that would do what you want from the phone but as far as I know they only support FAT partitions. The internal sdcard of your phone is not FAT (I believe it is ext4) even though it looks as if it is. It still may be worth trying Undelete For Root... nothing to lose!
You may be out of luck, but keep looking.
Hexamob Recovery has support for ext4. I have never used but it may be your only chance. I be curious to see if it works.
It does look like Hexamob may work (according to the claims). There is a Hexamob Recovery Lite that is a free app and also a Pro version that is pay.
Hexamob Pro worked
I've now tried both suggestions.
The Undelete for Root didn't work as it does not recognize exFat.
Hexamob Lite was unable to find anything to recover, but the Pro version worked. It seems to be able to recover a set number of files each time it's run. After running it a few times, I was able to recover a good number of the pictures.
Thank you.
I am happy that Hexamob Recovery worked for you, I cant stand losing pictures.
Me either. I downloaded at least 6 different disc/photo recovery softwares to get my photos back.
Can someone tell me how to change the subject of this thread to [Solved]? I think that's what I'm supposed to do.
Related
I am new here and I am scared I messed up my S3. I installed the CM 10.1 nightly build 12.18.12 yesterday and my file system is messed up. The original files that I had on my phone are hidden, I can't see them. I don't even get the option to look in the 0/ folder while browsing the internal memory, I don't see anything. In addition, I'm using a FAT32 formatted microSD but the phone won't store anything on it. When I plug the phone into my computer in MTP mode with the SD card installed, I can see the internal memory if I click on the SD card and nothing if I try to click on the internal memory. Without the card installed, nothing comes up. Most importantly, I have two clockworkmod recovery files on my internal memory that I can't access when I go into recovery, it says that it can't find them. I can see the folder, only with the micro SD installed even though everything in on the internal memory, if I go to install from zip and look for them. I don't know how to get clockworkmod recovery to see, access, and install the recovery to get my phone back to the way it was. PLEASE HELP!!!
Is it possible to just unroot and have my phone go back to "day 1" when I got the phone out of the box?
Same issues for me
FIESTY2 said:
I am new here and I am scared I messed up my S3. I installed the CM 10.1 nightly build 12.18.12 yesterday and my file system is messed up. The original files that I had on my phone are hidden, I can't see them. I don't even get the option to look in the 0/ folder while browsing the internal memory, I don't see anything. In addition, I'm using a FAT32 formatted microSD but the phone won't store anything on it. When I plug the phone into my computer in MTP mode with the SD card installed, I can see the internal memory if I click on the SD card and nothing if I try to click on the internal memory. Without the card installed, nothing comes up. Most importantly, I have two clockworkmod recovery files on my internal memory that I can't access when I go into recovery, it says that it can't find them. I can see the folder, only with the micro SD installed even though everything in on the internal memory, if I go to install from zip and look for them. I don't know how to get clockworkmod recovery to see, access, and install the recovery to get my phone back to the way it was. PLEASE HELP!!!
Is it possible to just unroot and have my phone go back to "day 1" when I got the phone out of the box?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am having the same issues. I have tried to move files with the phone connected via USB to my computer and also though the file explorer on the phone and I can't. Not sure why CM 10.1 was set up to mess with the file formatting, etc, but it screwed stuff up. I have tried going back to CM 10 (which is awesome and very stable) but I don't have the right gapps and can't get the right ones installed...
Anyone have any ideas on how to return the files to the original locations?
There isn't a way for you to go back to day one unless you download the original ROM and flash it. Good luck get that installed at this point though...
FIESTY2 said:
I am new here and I am scared I messed up my S3. I installed the CM 10.1 nightly build 12.18.12 yesterday and my file system is messed up. The original files that I had on my phone are hidden, I can't see them. I don't even get the option to look in the 0/ folder while browsing the internal memory, I don't see anything. In addition, I'm using a FAT32 formatted microSD but the phone won't store anything on it. When I plug the phone into my computer in MTP mode with the SD card installed, I can see the internal memory if I click on the SD card and nothing if I try to click on the internal memory. Without the card installed, nothing comes up. Most importantly, I have two clockworkmod recovery files on my internal memory that I can't access when I go into recovery, it says that it can't find them. I can see the folder, only with the micro SD installed even though everything in on the internal memory, if I go to install from zip and look for them. I don't know how to get clockworkmod recovery to see, access, and install the recovery to get my phone back to the way it was. PLEASE HELP!!!
Is it possible to just unroot and have my phone go back to "day 1" when I got the phone out of the box?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To get back to day 1 just flash a stock rom from the stock rom thread in OG development using Odin. That will bring you back to either out of the box ics or newest jellybean update, depending on which one you choose.
Hi I have been dealing with this problem for awhile now and still haven't been able to find a fix (without rooting). After I updated JB from Kies when it came out my internal and memory card folders are completely different? Also it says I only have 11.95GB total in my internal memory. The internal memory folder says :sdcard0. And my memory card folder is: extSdCard? I'm not rooted. Does anyone know how to get the folders back to the regular names ext sd ect? Any help would be appreciated, thanks.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda premium
RPK925 said:
Hi I have been dealing with this problem for awhile now and still haven't been able to find a fix (without rooting). After I updated JB from Kies when it came out my internal and memory card folders are completely different? Also it says I only have 11.95GB total in my internal memory. The internal memory folder says :sdcard0. And my memory card folder is: extSdCard? I'm not rooted. Does anyone know how to get the folders back to the regular names ext sd ect? Any help would be appreciated, thanks.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is how it they are formatted now. It's not a mistake or anything being messed up. I guess I'm just used the internal being sdcard0 and ex sd card being extsdcard. I don't use myfiles much. I use root explorer and it can displays it as storage and then inside that folder is extsdcard and sdcard. Or there is a fodler just called sdcard for the internal in the root of the file system.
What problem is it creating, other than just being different than you are used to ?
hednik said:
That is how it they are formatted now. It's not a mistake or anything being messed up. I guess I'm just used the internal being sdcard0 and ex sd card being extsdcard. I don't use myfiles much. I use root explorer and it can displays it as storage and then inside that folder is extsdcard and sdcard. Or there is a fodler just called sdcard for the internal in the root of the file system.
What problem is it creating, other than just being different than you are used to ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yhea, i'm having some trouble too. After the update my extCard is totally mess-up. The folders with the pictures and songs are not recognized, and the Gallery doesn't show hundreds of pictures, but i see if i use a file manager. I've synced all my songs so far, but with the pictures is a mess: seems also the format is not recognized anymore and with Kies i'm not seeing a way for put the pictures in the new folder named "Photo". It's really frustrating.
hednik said:
That is how it they are formatted now. It's not a mistake or anything being messed up. I guess I'm just used the internal being sdcard0 and ex sd card being extsdcard. I don't use myfiles much. I use root explorer and it can displays it as storage and then inside that folder is extsdcard and sdcard. Or there is a fodler just called sdcard for the internal in the root of the file system.
What problem is it creating, other than just being different than you are used to ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I cannot use the Apps2sd app anymore. And basically I would just like to be like before the update.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda premium
i'll try not to rant too hard but Kies and OTA firmware updates are a joke. you are essentially dirty flashing one rom over another with no real clearing of caches, no resetting, no way for all the programs to regroup, rebuild and run on the system hardware/software properly. the thing about dirty flashing is, it sticks well with some devices but generally not with many others. you'll see these types of issues many times among the avid flashers and those that must have the latest release of a developers rom.
i would recommend backing everything up, booting into stock recovery, wiping data/factory reset and wiping cache. if you decide to perform another update via kies in the future, i would do this procedure before AND after the update.
yes, you have to start over when you perform these sorts of actions but you have to ask yourself, are you happy with how your device is performing now (before the update)? is it worth starting over? (it might be if you're going to run on the updated OS for a year or so) and how well do you want it to perform after you install the update?
cheers
EDIT: i just assume everyone accesses recovery and download mode so i didnt post the button combo. recovery is: Volume Up + Home + Power. release just the power button when you get a vibrate.
RPK925 said:
Also it says I only have 11.95GB total in my internal memory.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is normal for a 16GB SGS3. 16GB is advertised but actual formatted available space is less. 11.95GB is right on par. This is the case for just about all devices that have memory that is writable, including hard drives on a computer.
RPK925 said:
I cannot use the Apps2sd app anymore. And basically I would just like to be like before the update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any particular reason why you are using Apps2sd? $10 to $20 will land you an external memory card with huge amounts of space (32GB at least). This is plenty to store music, photos, and other misc. files. And even with a ton of apps installed to internal, you still should have ample space left over. There is just no good reason to use Apps2sd on this phone as it has so much internal memory. If this is just to keep you from losing data, then I would suggest rooting and using an app such as Titanium Backup as it makes it super easy to restore apps and the corresponding data after anything that requires a factory reset.
simonMac777 said:
Yhea, i'm having some trouble too. After the update my extCard is totally mess-up. The folders with the pictures and songs are not recognized, and the Gallery doesn't show hundreds of pictures, but i see if i use a file manager. I've synced all my songs so far, but with the pictures is a mess: seems also the format is not recognized anymore and with Kies i'm not seeing a way for put the pictures in the new folder named "Photo". It's really frustrating.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As stated by xBeerDroidx, factory reset from stock recovery. You will have to re-setup your device but it will be a one time frustration for now until the next update.
As stated by xBeerDroidx, factory reset from stock recovery. You will have to re-setup your device but it will be a one time frustration for now until the next update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually i did.
After the update, without factory reset, everything was (almost) fine… except a strange malfunction of the Gps (lock signal lost after a while) and sporadic reboot without reason. For the Gps I’ve found here the solution (NV Rebuild), but for the reboot… I wasn’t sure about it. So I decided for a factory reset. After that my ext card, with the ICS paths, was not recognized. So bucked up everything, format the ext card and let Kies sync my files and create all the folders needed from JB: Camera Photo Video for pictures, and media for the music. Now I’m let’s say 90% ready to go… I’m curios to test especially the Gps.
So my phone is in a bootloop. I made a dumb mistake, and restarted my phone to be met with a bootloop. My question is - is it possible for me to get my files off of the phone before reinstalling/doing a fresh install? I have access to both download mode and CWM Recovery - I just have some files on here that I really need, and unfortunately, they aren't replaceable. Is there anyway for me to get them off of my phone? I'm running WFTN.
I've tried starting up CWM and backing up to external-sd, but every time I do I get a "can't mount backup path" error. So I go to Mounts and Storage and try mounting my external sd, but I get a "Error Mounting /external_sd!" message. Can anyone help me out?
Edit
Actually, I managed to get the files I needed. I needed some recordings off of the phone, and I was able to plug my phone into my computer via usb (in CWM) and it gave me access to the phone's internal SD card. So I suppose all that's left is actually re-flashing the ROM. I was running an older version of WFTN, I suppose i was due for an upgrade anyway.
However, I suppose my original question remains - is it possible to backup the files on the phone (without using the usb)? Is there a reason I was unable to mount my external sd card?
Just because you are flashing a rom doesnt mean your recordings or anhthing on your sd card is wiped when you flash a new rom. The exception being if you use odin to put a oneclick of a jellybean rom on. Then it wiped internal. And if you are worried about sd card just pull it out. Iirc I was always able to pull files from both internal and external while in recovery using el26 kernel. Not sure where the problem was. But glad to know you got your files.
Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 2
I have an LG Optimus Pro E980 with 4.4.2, rooted with towel root.
In an attempt to install TWRP recovery today I lost access to my external sd card. Not sure what I did but earlier today I could view, copy files or delete files to my sd card from my phone or from my computer when hooked with usb and media transfer.
I had a lot of trial and error trying to get a custom recovery installed on my phone and in the process I noticed my sd card quit working.
I have rebooted, removed it, reformatted (from my computer) and still nothing changes. ES File Manager sees it (I think) but when I try to create a folder on the external sd it just says it can't. It works when I put it in another android phone so I don't think the sd card is the problem. I also tried the app on google sdfix that makes kitkat have the settings to write to the sd card. Still didn't fix my problem. It will mount or erase from the settings menu. I don't see a format or unmount option at all.
I would like to flash a new copy of 4.4.2 to my phone but I can't find instructions of how to do this that I understand . I figure this will fix my problem and I was wanting to do a wipe and clean install anyway.
Can someone please advise me? TY
Certain twrp can't access the SD disk. I know this because I have installed twrp 2.8 and I notice immediately that it can't access the external SD disk, as normally be in the directory/storage/sddisk1. Don*t ask me which twrp to use because I don't know. I've heard that some twrp can access the external SD disk and some can't without some modification. Try this one
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3144369
Its been modified, so it should work without any problem. BTW, as I have said on your other topic, why are you trying to reinstall the stock KitKat that you already have? If you have issues, a factory reset, as you've already figure out, should take care of thing, unless you've erase system files. Don't take the process of flashing tot files lightly, because if one of many things go wrong, you may wish you have never know how to flash the tot file.
hawkwind212 said:
Certain twrp can't access the SD disk. I know this because I have installed twrp 2.8 and I notice immediately that it can't access the external SD disk, as normally be in the directory/storage/sddisk1. Don*t ask me which twrp to use because I don't know. I've heard that some twrp can access the external SD disk and some can't without some modification. Try this one
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3144369
Its been modified, so it should work without any problem. BTW, as I have said on your other topic, why are you trying to reinstall the stock KitKat that you already have? If you have issues, a factory reset, as you've already figure out, should take care of thing, unless you've erase system files. Don't take the process of flashing tot files lightly, because if one of many things go wrong, you may wish you have never know how to flash the tot file.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just responded to your other post.
when i format my SD card to be used as internal storage and i place a ROM on the SDcard to install / update the Rom im on i cant locate the zip at all. Is because its formated as internal and also when i connect to my computer only the sdcard shows not the internal memory any ideas
Let me just give you an other warning, when using Custom ROMs you should not use internal storage, because the moment you decide to switch ROMs and you either choose to or have to wipe /data, strangely it will wipe and corrupt an SD card,, its weird because wiping /data doesn't touch the real internal storage but if your SD is set as internal storage it wipes it.
I learned that the hard way, I switched to a custom ROM on my HTC 10, I was using SD Card as Internal for the first time on this device in Stock Rooted ROM, the very second I wiped /data to do a clean flash, TWRP said "can't mound sd card".
The card was wiped in a weird format so it was corrupted, a 64GB Sandisk Ultra became a 16GB card that wouldn't properly mount even in windows, yes for real! even formatting in Windows 10 wouldn't fix it, I had to use a special tool from sandisk's website to repair the card.
After all of this I searched XDA to confirm this is a real issue, it wasn't just weird bad luck, so if I were you I would be careful or just switch back to SD External Mode.
The final conclusion is this feature is very nice for the regular world with OTA's but it seems in the Root world it can be a disaster, which I'm sure why you could be having issues as well.
EDIT: I forgot to mention, the last part you mentioned is normal, internal storage will no longer be accessible in Windows or even Android for you, apps can still install there though, and in the App Manager you have the choice where you want a particular app installed.
Viper4713 said:
Let me just give you an other warning, when using Custom ROMs you should not use internal storage, because the moment you decide to switch ROMs and you either choose to or have to wipe /data, strangely it will wipe and corrupt an SD card,, its weird because wiping /data doesn't touch the real internal storage but if your SD is set as internal storage it wipes it.
I learned that the hard way, I switched to a custom ROM on my HTC 10, I was using SD Card as Internal for the first time on this device in Stock Rooted ROM, the very second I wiped /data to do a clean flash, TWRP said "can't mound sd card".
The card was wiped in a weird format so it was corrupted, a 64GB Sandisk Ultra became a 16GB card that wouldn't properly mount even in windows, yes for real! even formatting in Windows 10 wouldn't fix it, I had to use a special tool from sandisk's website to repair the card.
After all of this I searched XDA to confirm this is a real issue, it wasn't just weird bad luck, so if I were you I would be careful or just switch back to SD External Mode.
The final conclusion is this feature is very nice for the regular world with OTA's but it seems in the Root world it can be a disaster, which I'm sure why you could be having issues as well.
EDIT: I forgot to mention, the last part you mentioned is normal, internal storage will no longer be accessible in Windows or even Android for you, apps can still install there though, and in the App Manager you have the choice where you want a particular app installed.
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Click to collapse
Thats what figured, thanks again for the quick answer.
Andr3w151 said:
Thats what figured, thanks again for the quick answer.
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Click to collapse
No problem, I will tell you my set up if it helps you, I use SD as External, all my Music, Photos, Videos, Game ROMs(SNES, N64, etc), TWRP backups, any ROMs or flash stuff is all on the SD.
My internal storage is usually never touched by me file transfer wise, all apps and other caches and such are stored there by force but I still have a good amount of space because of the SD help still.
And I have a bit of apps, including all the big file sized GTA games, Real Racing 3, etc.
Good luck on what you decide is best for you!
hey there. How should I format my SD card? Ext2/3/4? size? What's the best choice? Got a 128gb card
Thx for reply