Develop Bugs

[Q] Error when formatting /data...

My phone was working fine until I upgraded two apps (I can't recall which ones) and my phone rebooted on its own; weird. I am running CM7 BTW.
I figured "No problem, I'll just flash my backup through Clockworkmod; not so. I keep getting "error formatting /data" regardless of any wipe, format I do.
I am not sure what to do from here. Please help. Searching revealed some RUU advice, but those were in other phone forums and I want to make sure I don't screw this up.

evil_elf said:
My phone was working fine until I upgraded two apps (I can't recall which ones) and my phone rebooted on its own; weird. I am running CM7 BTW.
I figured "No problem, I'll just flash my backup through Clockworkmod; not so. I keep getting "error formatting /data" regardless of any wipe, format I do.
I am not sure what to do from here. Please help. Searching revealed some RUU advice, but those were in other phone forums and I want to make sure I don't screw this up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What version of cwm are you using?
Sent From My Optimized HTC Incredibly Dinc

It was the orange, but I upgraded it to see if it would work. uh, oh, as I write this, I fear worse...
Upgrading changed cwm to blue, but still same problems. It is almost as if the data directory has no write permissions.
I got impatient and used the ruu.exe from pvillecomp and now it gets stuck at the red eye droid screen and is on a reboot loop.
I can't get into recovery now, I get the phone icon with the red ! triangle. I figure cwm is gone now, so what, use unrevoked again? This would flash a new recovery, correct? Otherwise, how would I get the zip file onto the sd card now to flash via hboot? Even with a cwm, I imagine I will have the same formatting issues, unless the rom upate utility corrected those.

evil_elf said:
My phone was working fine until I upgraded two apps (I can't recall which ones) and my phone rebooted on its own; weird. I am running CM7 BTW.
I figured "No problem, I'll just flash my backup through Clockworkmod; not so. I keep getting "error formatting /data" regardless of any wipe, format I do.
I am not sure what to do from here. Please help. Searching revealed some RUU advice, but those were in other phone forums and I want to make sure I don't screw this up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try manually mounting /data before wiping it.
EDIT: Nevermind just read your other post about loosing cw recovery. Are you still s-off?

yeah, I tried every combination of mounting and formatting and it always failed with the same message. I am still S-off, so I imagine from here I can use unrevoked to flash cwm back onto it then I can try to restore from a saved ROM I have on my card. Should I do that?
I could copy the file to flash cwm file to my card instead I guess, but my card would have to be FAT32 I assume.

Well I flashed ClockworkMod 5.0.2.0 using HBOOT and now I am back to my original problem: Error while formatting /data! I can mount /data, but not format it, even through the mount menu option. Any ideas?
I don't know much about the file structure but does this not seem like a permissions issue to you guys? Fix permissions in CWM and factory resets don't help either.

evil_elf said:
Well I flashed ClockworkMod 5.0.2.0 using HBOOT and now I am back to my original problem: Error while formatting /data! I can mount /data, but not format it, even through the mount menu option. Any ideas?
I don't know much about the file structure but does this not seem like a permissions issue to you guys? Fix permissions in CWM and factory resets don't help either.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have a ext2/3/4 partition on your sdcard?

cmlusco said:
Do you have a ext2/3/4 partition on your sdcard?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
By partition, do mean directories? I formatted the card to FAT32 but did not partition it in any way. I don't believe I had separate partitions on it before, but I could be wrong. Wouldn't the partitions have shown up in my Windows OS when I plugged the card in to the reader?

evil_elf said:
Well I flashed ClockworkMod 5.0.2.0 using HBOOT and now I am back to my original problem: Error while formatting /data! I can mount /data, but not format it, even through the mount menu option. Any ideas?
I don't know much about the file structure but does this not seem like a permissions issue to you guys? Fix permissions in CWM and factory resets don't help either.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
factory reset in hboot is different. It will probably wipe programming so you'll have to *228 1 and *228 2 to yet reprogram your phone. It'll probably wipe sdcard and emmc too. I've not tried so this is at your own risk. see if there are better options first.
Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk

tiny4579 said:
factory reset in hboot is different. It will probably wipe programming so you'll have to *228 1 and *228 2 to yet reprogram your phone. It'll probably wipe sdcard and emmc too. I've not tried so this is at your own risk. see if there are better options first.
Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've already tried it before. It did not touch my card but did reset my phone's programming.
The restore function in CWM only touches the internal memory, correct?

evil_elf said:
By partition, do mean directories? If so, yes. I formatted the card to FAT32 but did not partition it in any way. I don't believe I had separate partitions on it before, but I could be wrong. Wouldn't the partitions have shown up in my Windows OS when I plugged the card in to the reader?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No windows would not see it if its there you would need to use a program called "gparted" on your pc to get rid of it or reformat it. Also when you tried the factory reset from hboot were you on a stock recovery then or cwm?

cmlusco said:
No windows would not see it if its there you would need to use a program called "gparted" on your pc to get rid of it or reformat it. Also when you tried the factory reset from hboot were you on a stock recovery then or cwm?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried the Factory Reset from HBOOT and also the Wipe Data/Factory Reset from CWM. Occasionally I am getting the 5 vibrations and a black screen when trying to turn off and on; battery pull allows me to boot up into ROM or HBOOT.
CM7 is working now, but the hard button bindings are screwed up along with a bunch of other stuff. CWM is able to restore the system, but fails on data so it makes sense. I can't receive calls either. I was so hoping the ruu would have fixed this...
The card should have no bearing on flashing a ROM? Or am I not understanding this?
Oh, I also tried to restore and format data manually without the card in to no avail. The Wipe Data/Factory Reset formats the data folder without errors but not the manually method of formatting or the restore method.
Could this help? http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=18287267

Just tried this: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1006556
Still same error.

To return my phone under warranty to a Verizon store, do I need to make sure that the stock ROM is flashed and the phone is unrooted with S-ON again? I am starting to think this is the route I am heading down and I only have a week left on my warranty.

Very short answer.........YES!!!

A kind soul helping me at http://forum.cyanogenmod.com/topic/32272-error-formatting-data-when-restoring/

*Possible Solution* If still an issue
If it is still an issue I had the same problem with my incredible.
I was playing a racing game on my phone and it just restarted on its own. When I turned it back on the phone had reset itself. Every time I would restart the phone from then on it would delete every thing I had saved like it was doing a factory reset. So I tried to do a wipe and restore and no luck. I kept getting the same errors you were getting in clockwork. I also tried the e2fsck commands from the link in the prior post and no luck.
1. I got a working HTC Incredible and booted into recovery and mounted all partitions.(/system, /data, etc.)
2. Then I used adb to pull the filesystem from the working phone with this command.
c:\android\adb pull / filesystem
This puts all the files from the phones root folder into a folder named filesystem in the same directory as the adb files.
3. After that finished I hooked the phone with the messed up partitions to the computer, booted into recovery, and mounted all partitions.
4. Then I used adb to push the filesystem from the working Incredible to the Incredible with the messed up partitions with this command.
c:\android\adb push c:\android\filesystem /
5. When it finished I rebooted the phone. It booted up and I got a few force close errors but nothing major, so I restarted and booted into recovery. When I tried to format /data it formatted like it should have.
6. Finally I downloaded the stock+ rooted rom and flashed it with clockwork and the phone booted up fine with no force closes and doesn't reset after reboot.
This worked for me and should work for anyone else that has this filesystem problem.

Can i get those files?
i dont have a working incredible. can you post a link to the working filesystem.
Thanks.
androidi1 said:
If it is still an issue I had the same problem with my incredible.
I was playing a racing game on my phone and it just restarted on its own. When I turned it back on the phone had reset itself. Every time I would restart the phone from then on it would delete every thing I had saved like it was doing a factory reset. So I tried to do a wipe and restore and no luck. I kept getting the same errors you were getting in clockwork. I also tried the e2fsck commands from the link in the prior post and no luck.
1. I got a working HTC Incredible and booted into recovery and mounted all partitions.(/system, /data, etc.)
2. Then I used adb to pull the filesystem from the working phone with this command.
c:\android\adb pull / filesystem
This puts all the files from the phones root folder into a folder named filesystem in the same directory as the adb files.
3. After that finished I hooked the phone with the messed up partitions to the computer, booted into recovery, and mounted all partitions.
4. Then I used adb to push the filesystem from the working Incredible to the Incredible with the messed up partitions with this command.
c:\android\adb push c:\android\filesystem /
5. When it finished I rebooted the phone. It booted up and I got a few force close errors but nothing major, so I restarted and booted into recovery. When I tried to format /data it formatted like it should have.
6. Finally I downloaded the stock+ rooted rom and flashed it with clockwork and the phone booted up fine with no force closes and doesn't reset after reboot.
This worked for me and should work for anyone else that has this filesystem problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Here try this one http://dinc.does-it.net/Touch_of_Blue/filesystem.zip, im interested to see if this works for you too. It seems quite a few people have been having issues with /data latley.

I get error
Code:
push: filesystem/sys/devices/platform/android_pmem.0/power/wakeup -> /sys/devices/platform/android_pmem.0/power/wakeup
failed to copy 'filesystem/sys/devices/platform/android_pmem.0/power/wakeup' to '/sys/devices/platform/android_pmem.0/power/wakeup': Operation not permitted
i get this error trying to push the filesystem. any workaround?

help, lost device operating system

I did the dumbest move. I was having some issues with my phone so I did a factory reset within the phone. It booted up no problem but was still having problems, so I booted up in twrp and wiped everything but I forgot that when I did a factory reset, it wiped everything on my sd card. All my roms and all. No I can only boot in boot loader and twrp. Even in twrp when I try to mount usb storage, my computer sees it but its not installing the drivers for my to access it.
What can I do?
Edit. I was able to load a factory rom using nexus tool kit 1.5.3

Also keep in mind when in recovery you can adb push files to your internal storage. So as long as you have fastboot or recovery or both, you're fine.
Sent from my AOSP Android 4.1.1 Galaxy Nexus

Zeinzu said:
Also keep in mind when in recovery you can adb push files to your internal storage. So as long as you have fastboot or recovery or both, you're fine.
Sent from my AOSP Android 4.1.1 Galaxy Nexus
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup!
Code:
adb push ROM.zip /sdcard/
then flash it.

Phone stuck on Splash Screen after OTA ICS

Looking for a little help for a friend of mine. Her E4GT is not rooted and yesterday she accepted the OTA update without an SD card present. I don't know what exactly happened but the aftermath resulted in her phone being stuck on the first splash screen. I booted into stock recovery and tried to apply the update manually but it aborts the install everytime saying:
Finding update package…
Opening update package…
Verifying update package…
Installing update…
file_getprop: failed to start “/system/build.prop”: No such file or directory
E:Error in /tmp/sideload/package.zip (status 7)
Install_package = (1)
INSTALLATION ABORTED.
From what I found this was caused by the system being wiped and then not being able to install the update because no sd card was present. She only cares about saving the pictures on the internal sd card because it has all her pics from her daughters 5th bday party last sunday. Besides trying to manually apply the update, I have also tried to adb backup but I get an error saying it can't connect to backup (apparently adb backup is a new feature to ICS and doesn't support GB).
I am looking for ideas to save her pictures and then wipe the phone and start over. Is Odin my only hope and will I lose the pictures if going this route? Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks
Cliffs:
Not rooted, stuck on splash screen, have access to stock recovery and download mode, can't install update.zip

I would put the Phone in download mode and try a no data one click restore.
You could also try to install a custom kernel and recovery and use USB host in recovery to access the internal storage
From what I understand the internal storage shouldn't be wiped.
Don't kill me if I am wrong. Im
Fairly new to the e4gt so I've still got a lot to learn. But I'd give it a try. Since at this point the pictures are inaccessible you've almost got nothing to loose.
Good Luck
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

The internal storage acts like an SD card, it shouldn't ever get wiped except by the user doing a format of the internal. As long as you can get into a custom recovery, or booted into a rom anything on the internal SD will be intact. You can use Odin to do a full restore of a rom, Odin oneclicks are the easiest and safest for people unfamiliar with using Odin, or you can use regular Odin and place the el26+cwm kernel .tar.md5 in the PDA slot and flash it, once it starts to reboot hold power and volume+ until it boots into recovery and then you can mount the internal storage and transfer a rom.zip from the PC to flash in recovery, and also copy off anything in the internal SD you don't want to lose. If you use the Odin/kernel method the yellow triangle on the i9100 splash screen is normal and no harm has been done, this occurs when you flash an insecure kernel with a custom recovery via Odin. If you choose the recovery/kernel method to install a rom, make sure to wipe data/factory reset, wipe cache and wipe dalvik cache(under advanced options) before flashing the rom.zip :thumbup:
We are legion, for we are many.
Sent from the DarkSide of the GalaXy with a MEK device

Thanks for the replys guys. I ended up using ODIN one click kernel w/ CWM5 and booting directly into recovery. I tried doing a backup but everything kept failing and I could only mount the sd card as USB not the internal. So I ended just using adb pull /emmc/DCIM DCIM\ and boom all her pictures were copied to the same folder as my platform-tools (all 1750 pictures she had lol)
I searched as much as I could and was pretty sure ODIN would leave internal storage alone I just needed a little reassurance especially after sprint tech told her the only thing they could do was wipe the phone and she would lose everything. Thanks again :good:

96blkgsr said:
Thanks for the replys guys. I ended up using ODIN one click kernel w/ CWM5 and booting directly into recovery. I tried doing a backup but everything kept failing and I could only mount the sd card as USB not the internal. So I ended just using adb pull /emmc/DCIM DCIM\ and boom all her pictures were copied to the same folder as my platform-tools (all 1750 pictures she had lol)
I searched as much as I could and was pretty sure ODIN would leave internal storage alone I just needed a little reassurance especially after sprint tech told her the only thing they could do was wipe the phone and she would lose everything. Thanks again :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's great news! I'm happy you were able to help her out!
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

[Q] Crashing and freezing?!

Hi guys , its me again ... well i have a big problem.I recently owned a Kindle fire ,but i gave it to my brother who went away for a while . He came back with the divice telling me that the hard drive had crashed. I thought it was not a big problem so i tried to fix it. I turned it on and saw the blue kindle fire letters (because it's rooted) and then afterwards it said boot and then the screen would just go blank. I thought it was a bit strange so i went into recovery and everything was gone so i thought that maybe he had wiped everything from the SD card , system , cashe and dalvik cache except TWRP , so i mounted the device to my computer , copied the jandycane ROM for jellybean 4.1.1 for KF and the gapps onto the kindle fire , i then unmounted and tried to flash it but it would give me an error. My brother claims he didn't make it fall or anything and he is studying medicine so he really needs it because he doesn't want to carry his laptop around. Please help me , both me and my brother are in great need.
Thanks in advance.

The kf like most tablets/phones does not have a hard drive, it uses flash drive memory like sd cards. I seriously doubt that it could have gone bad, however it could be an issue with the partitioning of the drive. What exactly are the errors you get when trying to flash a Rom?
Sent from my Amazon Kindle Fire using xda app-developers app

jlshady00 said:
The kf like most tablets/phones does not have a hard drive, it uses flash drive memory like sd cards. I seriously doubt that it could have gone bad, however it could be an issue with the partitioning of the drive. What exactly are the errors you get when trying to flash a Rom?
Sent from my Amazon Kindle Fire using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well i just started it again to go into recovery menue and i forgot to mention something , it freezes up sometimes , especially when i was transfering files to it but i got them over sucesfully... ww now it isn't even booting into recovery mode!Somebody help me!!!! :crying:

FIxed it ... now im in recovery mode and i get
* Verifying filesystems...
* Verifying partion sizes ...
E:Unable to open zip file.
Error flashing zip '/sdcard/jandycane_otter-1.8.0_0xD34D.zip

Dark__king said:
FIxed it ... now im in recovery mode and i get
* Verifying filesystems...
* Verifying partion sizes ...
E:Unable to open zip file.
Error flashing zip '/sdcard/jandycane_otter-1.8.0_0xD34D.zip
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe your file transfer hiccupped. You could wipe the device and push it again then retry your flash.
Sent from my original Kindle Fire masquerading as a Galaxy Nexus

sharonbw said:
Maybe your file transfer hiccupped. You could wipe the device and push it again then retry your flash.
Sent from my original Kindle Fire masquerading as a Galaxy Nexus
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't wipe it becuase TWRP in on my SD

Wipe system, factory reset, wipe cache and dalvik cache then transfer the .zip ball over and flash it again just to make sure. You won't lose folks stored on the sd as long as you don't wipe sd which you don't need to do.
Sent from my Amazon Kindle Fire using xda app-developers app

Dark__king said:
I can't wipe it becuase TWRP in on my SD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Typos aside...that doesn't make any sense.
Dark__king said:
FIxed it ... now im in recovery mode and i get
* Verifying filesystems...
* Verifying partion sizes ...
E:Unable to open zip file.
Error flashing zip '/sdcard/jandycane_otter-1.8.0_0xD34D.zip
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You obviously have recovery installed, and I'm pretty sure it isn't installed to the sdcard partition.

soupmagnet said:
Typos aside...that doesn't make any sense.
You obviously have recovery installed, and I'm pretty sure it isn't installed to the sdcard partition.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
TWRP is on my SD card i see it when i usb mount my sd card to my pc. Also even after wiping everything except Sd card it still wont flash the zip

Is the TWRP on your sdcard a TWRP folder or is the TWRP you are speaking of the recovery.img?
Also, what version of TWRP are you running?

Make sure zip file verification and md5 check are disabled when you flash it. If you still have issues place another rom.zip and gapps.zip on your sdcard then flash it.

soupmagnet said:
Is the TWRP on your sdcard a TWRP folder or is the TWRP you are speaking of the recovery.img?
Also, what version of TWRP are you running?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The folder is on the SD card and it's version 2.3

Dark__king said:
The folder is on the SD card and it's version 2.3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay, that's just the backups/themes folder. TWRP is actually installed to it's own partition, separate from the sdcard. Not that it matters because your problem seems to be that you're using TWRP 2.3 rather than 2.2
Not to say that's the only problem you're having, but it's a good place to start.

Well i think i updated to TWRP 2.3 but i need to check so im not sure :\

its sticking at the TWRP screen x_x any help on this?

Dark__king said:
Well i think i updated to TWRP 2.3 but i need to check so im not sure :\
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dark__king said:
its sticking at the TWRP screen x_x any help on this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay i'm i (after alot of freezing) it's version 2.2.2.1 not 2.3, sorry

What other ROMs have you tried to install.

Phone stuck in bootloop. Tried tons of things.

So, I have an N7100. I have rooted my phone a few times. The last time was over a year ago and it worked fine. Yesterday, suddenly (I haven't attempted to flash anything) it restarted on its own and won't boot. I tried to go into the TWRP recovery I had installed over a year ago, but TWRP will only load for a second and then disappear and the phone would restart again and go into the bootloop. As a result, I can't wipe cache partition.
I can confirm that I can connect successfully to ODIN and flash a different version of TWRP. I have failed to flash CWM so far... maybe I couldn't find a correct version since my phone has knox???
I tried flashing a different kernel, but that didn't work either. Do I need a specific kernel?
The only thing I need to do is recover my files, whether it is through recovering the phone, or accessing the internal storage.
Can someone please help me? I don't want to do a complete wipe.
And in case this is relevant, my ROM is the custom OMEGA rom, I'm not sure which version though. Either 31, or 26, which is either for android 4.3 or 4.4.2.
Thanks

Hey,
I have the same problem, the phone just restarted on it's own yesterday, restarted again and is now stuck at the bootlogo.
Wiping Cache and Dalvik on it's own doesn't suffice, Wiping the system partition too (TWRP) gets the phone to boot, but it will restart again after a couple of minutes, again stuck at the boot logo.
I'm using the limbean ROM.
shadnixx, wiping the system partition does not mean that you're going to loose your data - you should try that, after the factory reset the phone is usable for a couple of minutes, I will now try to flash a newer ROM and gapps, maybe the problem will go away with that.

quickhash said:
Hey,
I have the same problem, the phone just restarted on it's own yesterday, restarted again and is now stuck at the bootlogo.
Wiping Cache and Dalvik on it's own doesn't suffice, Wiping the system partition too (TWRP) gets the phone to boot, but it will restart again after a couple of minutes, again stuck at the boot logo.
I'm using the limbean ROM.
shadnixx, wiping the system partition does not mean that you're going to loose your data - you should try that, after the factory reset the phone is usable for a couple of minutes, I will now try to flash a newer ROM and gapps, maybe the problem will go away with that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for replying. I can't wipe the partition. That requires that I get into recovery, right? I can't even get into recovery. TWRP loads for just 1 second and then the phone reboots.

shadnixx said:
Thanks for replying. I can't wipe the partition. That requires that I get into recovery, right? I can't even get into recovery. TWRP loads for just 1 second and then the phone reboots.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
have you tried to reinstall TWRP recovery? Maybe yours is corrupted, try to flash the latest version again. If that help you boot in recovery, things will be easier to haddle after.
https://dl.twrp.me/t03g/twrp-3.0.2-0-t03g.img.tar.html
also see this if it can help you
http://techbeasts.com/install-latest-twrp-recovery-on-samsung-galaxy-note-2-all-variants/

logosA said:
have you tried to reinstall TWRP recovery? Maybe yours is corrupted, try to flash the latest version again. If that help you boot in recovery, things will be easier to haddle after.
also see this if it can help you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I already tried that. Thanks though

@shadnixx Well use every possible way to flash and enter custom recovery. Try Philz, TWRP, CWM, everything...
If everything fails you'lll have to reflash Stock ROM using Odin. I've heard is wipes data but not internal storage but I'm not sure and don't balme me if it happens. Search xda a little.
See these threads: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2583588
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1121817
If that fails then the phone has hardware damage I think. Needs to go to service.

Option58 said:
@shadnixx Well use every possible way to flash and enter custom recovery. Try Philz, TWRP, CWM, everything...
If everything fails you'lll have to reflash Stock ROM using Odin. I've heard is wipes data but not internal storage but I'm not sure and don't balme me if it happens. Search xda a little.
See these threads: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2583588
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1121817
If that fails then the phone has hardware damage I think. Needs to go to service.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your reply. That's what I'm trying to do. One question... do I have to have a specific CWM version that is compatible with my ROM?

Progress
OK, while flashing TWRP failed to help, flashing Philz Touch enabled me to get into recovery. I was able to mount the external SD card and browse the files, but the real problem is with the internal storage, since the SD card is removable. I couldn't manage to mount it. Can someone help with that?
Wiping the cache partition didn't help either.

You tried different tar versions of twrp?
What is the error message in Odin when trying to flash twrp?
Tried flashing twrp with different USB cables and USB ports?

audit13 said:
You tried different tar versions of twrp?
What is the error message in Odin when trying to flash twrp?
Tried flashing twrp with different USB cables and USB ports?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm sad to report, after I wiped the cache and restarted my phone, Philz would behave like TWRP did, which is to load for 1 second then reboot. Yes, I tried 4 different versions of TWRP, same result. Odin doesn't give any errors. It says that flashing was successful. Tried different cables and ports too, yes.

Possible power button or battery problem?

audit13 said:
Possible power button or battery problem?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't think so. I just replaced the battery... still same problem. And when I enter Odin "Download" mode, it doesn't keep restarting, so I don't think it's the power button.
I got a small update though...
Flashed another version of philz, which works every time I boot to recovery. A few problems though...
1. I can wipe cache partition, no problem. But When I try to wipe Dalvik, the phone reboots as soon as I try.
2. Aroma file explorer doesn't show any files.
3. I can mount external SD, but I can't mount internal storage
4. When using ADB, it could finally initiate pulling files from the internal storage (or that's what it appears to be doing), but only while on recovery mode. A few seconds after it says "listing files" or something, the phone reboots and the ADB operation aborts. It doesn't behave like this when I access other sections of philz recovery.
Any thoughts?

Another small update...
While using philz, I clicked the "install zip from sdcard" and it showed my folders. I think my files are intact, but I guess I can't be certain.

Small update again...
I flashed Aroma File Explorer from Philz, I managed to enter my internal storage browse around for a bit, but then the phone rebooted again. I tried to repeat so I could copy my internal storage, but now my internal storage says symlink error.

shadnixx said:
OK, while flashing TWRP failed to help, flashing Philz Touch enabled me to get into recovery. I was able to mount the external SD card and browse the files, but the real problem is with the internal storage, since the SD card is removable. I couldn't manage to mount it. Can someone help with that?
Wiping the cache partition didn't help either.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Listen up - Transfer any ROM to your external SD card, touchwiz based to avoid any complications if you can.
When you get into recovery (at least on TWRP 3 on my Galaxy Note 2 LTE this works) you can connect your phone to PC and transfer all the files, it just gets recognised.
If that fails then wipe /data and /cache partition and see if it boots. If that fails/succeeds then try to flash new ROM and wipe /data and see if it will boot. Data is not the same as internalSD. Data is your apps and settings, you can reinstall that later. InternalSD is your pictures and all. You want your pictures, not your apps, right? It is different.
But who knows what happened here. Malware? Corrupt partition? Hardware failure of some kind? Don't blame me if flashing a new ROM breakes everything even more.

Option58 said:
Listen up - Transfer any ROM to your external SD card, touchwiz based to avoid any complications if you can.
When you get into recovery (at least on TWRP 3 on my Galaxy Note 2 LTE this works) you can connect your phone to PC and transfer all the files, it just gets recognised.
If that fails then wipe /data and /cache partition and see if it boots. If that fails/succeeds then try to flash new ROM and wipe /data and see if it will boot. Data is not the same as internalSD. Data is your apps and settings, you can reinstall that later. InternalSD is your pictures and all. You want your pictures, not your apps, right? It is different.
But who knows what happened here. Malware? Corrupt partition? Hardware failure of some kind? Don't blame me if flashing a new ROM breakes everything even more.
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I'll try that, thanks.