[Q] Need help attempting to recover data from my GN :( - Samsung Galaxy Nexus

Phone:
GN Toro (Verizon)
no OS currently installed!
TWRP 2.3.3 (I know, needs to be updated)
Skip to the bold text for the TLDR version.
So here's the story... I was going to flash the latest AOKP and decided that this time I would do things right! In the past I had almost always dirty flashed, but this time I was going to start clean and only restore data for a handful of apps. So I booted into TWRP and wiped cache, dalvik cache, system, and ..........internal storage! I went to flash the ROM I had downloaded and that's when I learned that I had made a huge mistake :crying:
So I've been doing a TON of reading; I think I've found a solution to my problem in this thread.
I know I can either use ADB push to reload the ROM or use ODIN mode to reflash (although I was unable to get ODIN to see my phone). My concern is that if I'm going to have any chance recovering my files, I need to avoid writing to /sdcard at all costs.
So here's my question, is there a way to get a binary dump of /sdcard aka /media/data without first installing android? I need to be able to do so from TWRP or fastboot. I have the GN toolkit but I don't see any way of doing this. I also have all the drivers installed and working (or so it seems) and ADB installed.

Sorry I misread. I'm not sure how you can recover from that.

I think you should be able to adb push a ROM to it. Flash it and it won't touch the contents of the SD card.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus

Beezer80 said:
I think you should be able to adb push a ROM to it. Flash it and it won't touch the contents of the SD card.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, this is exactly what I did. The new ROM wrote a directory structure and various files to /sdcard, hopefully none of those writes overwrote the data I'm trying to recover...

16GB thumb drive and USB OTG cable. Boot into recovery and use dd to dump the user data partition to the thumb drive.
Probably too late for that, since you've already written files to the partition.

cschmitt said:
16GB thumb drive and USB OTG cable. Boot into recovery and use dd to dump the user data partition to the thumb drive.
Probably too late for that, since you've already written files to the partition.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ya know, I have a huge thumb drive and a USB-OTG adapter, I never even thought of this! Thanks, if I ever need to do this again I will try that.
I was able to recover most if not all of my pics (the only thing I cared about losing) using this guide I linked above.

Glad that method worked. It's kind of scary with GN having a single data partition and no ext sd. Coming from a device with separate /data and /sdcard partitions plus and ext sd, I miss being able to back things up onto the card.

Related

[Q] Is it Bricked?

Well, last night, after doing a complete wipe, INCLUDING the /system partition, my sd card would not eject properly. (Using Lion OSX 10.7.1)
So, I manually ejected it; when I tried to reboot the phone, it wouldn't boot.
To make a long story short, basically, in CWM, when I tried to flash anything, or recover my backup, I keep getting the "E": SD Card not recognized, won't mount" error, no matter what I do.
I tried to format my card, I tried a different card, but no matter what, my phone won't recognize my sd card. Also, it used to give me the option of flashing from my "internal" sd card, but that option does NOT show up in the CWM menu anymore, Probably because I formatted my system partition..
I had formatted the system partition a few times before, when I had fc's after trying a different theme or rom, but, I was always able to get back into recovery, and flash something that fixed it.
Is there anything else I can do at this point? My phone isn't "seen" by my computer anymore, so I can't get anything on to it directly, and it won't recognize my sd card, no matter what I do..
Thanks for any help or ideas you can offer
use odin to flash back to stockhttp://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1282420
thanks for the suggestion, but I'm on mac OSX Lion; Odin won't work on it
Try this on your Mac http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1277000
sk63 said:
Try this on your Mac http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1277000
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, but all that does is root the phone and install a rooted kernel..not a rom which is what is needed to boot the phone, and its already rooted
looks like its time to get a PC..
I just had the same SD error in CWM, ODIN'd a fresh CWM 5023 and back to working again! I was worried it was going to be a serious issue (had similar problems with a Vibrant that rubbed me the wrong way) But it was an easy fix
fortunately, the good folks at Best Buy had no problem swapping my phone for me..
Thanks for your suggestions, and be careful when you wipe your /system partition!
wase4711 said:
Thanks, but all that does is root the phone and install a rooted kernel..not a rom which is what is needed to boot the phone, and its already rooted
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not true. Heimdall does the samething as odin does. I use heimdall instead of odin most of he time. Its better.
Sent From My Evo Killer!!!
Interesting; do you need the GUI front end, or do you do everything through command line?
Fortunately, I got a new phone from Best buy today, so my immediate issue is fixed; I was just wondering about using it sort of like ADB to push stuff through via a mac..

[Q] Can I access storage memory from CWM?

I have a Galaxy Nexus that won't boot. It goes through a boot loop. I've tried everything to try and get it working. I've wiped data/factory reset, I've formatted system and re-flashed ROMs that were already on my phone, I've tried restoring backups from several nandroid backups. It never gets past the initial Google splash screen with the unlock symbol.
I'm going to send it in for service, but I'm wondering if there's a way to try to access the flash memory to copy all the data to my computer? I've stupidly done tons of regular backups (Titanium, SMS, nandroid) to my flash memory on my phone, but never backed it up to my PC. I can see the directory structure through CWM 5.5.0.2, but I can't mount it as a USB storage device from CWM and I assume I actually have to be booted up to use ADB.
Any suggestions?
big_raji said:
I have a Galaxy Nexus that won't boot. It goes through a boot loop. I've tried everything to try and get it working. I've wiped data/factory reset, I've formatted system and re-flashed ROMs that were already on my phone, I've tried restoring backups from several nandroid backups. It never gets past the initial Google splash screen with the unlock symbol.
I'm going to send it in for service, but I'm wondering if there's a way to try to access the flash memory to copy all the data to my computer? I've stupidly done tons of regular backups (Titanium, SMS, nandroid) to my flash memory on my phone, but never backed it up to my PC. I can see the directory structure through CWM 5.5.0.2, but I can't mount it as a USB storage device from CWM and I assume I actually have to be booted up to use ADB.
Any suggestions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You should be able to do adb with the device in recovery mode. I'd recommend doing something like
Code:
> adb pull /data/media sdcard
This will copy the entire contents of the pretend SDcard on the phone (/data/media) onto a new folder on your computer called "sdcard".
I don't think there's a way to access the internal memory through CWM. For CWM to do that, is that to unmount that partition, and it cannot unmount data (where the sd-cad resides) as android wouldn't run without the /data partition, or so I've heard.
Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.
Theshawty said:
I don't think there's a way to access the internal memory through CWM. For CWM to do that, is that to unmount that partition, and it cannot unmount data (where the sd-cad resides) as android wouldn't run without the /data partition, or so I've heard.
Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Recovery is not Android, it will run fine without the /data partition mounted (though there isn't a whole lot it would be able to do then, since that's where all your flashable goodies would reside). CWM accesses internal storage all day long when you're flashing ROMs and kernels and whatnot.
Thanks! I assumed ADB wouldn't work in recovery because I tried it quickly on a PC that didn't have the drivers installed. I plugged in it on my upstairs PC and I'm doing a very lengthy adb pull as I type this. Thanks!

Is it true that formatting your internal SD card will brick your phone?

I have avoided formatting my internal SD card via clockworkmod since day one out of fear that I will brick my phone. I format it all the time when its connected to my PC....but I heard it shares some system partitions with the internal storage? .....and formatting via CWM will brick your partition map?
Is there any re-partition files available for the galaxy s3 if corruption ever did occur?
This area is something I dont know much about, so please bare with my classifications if they are inaccurate.
Thanks!
RealTic said:
I have avoided formatting my internal SD card via clockworkmod since day one out of fear that I will brick my phone. I format it all the time when its connected to my PC....but I heard it shares some system partitions with the internal storage? .....and formatting via CWM will brick your partition map?
Is there any re-partition files available for the galaxy s3 if corruption ever did occur?
This area is something I dont know much about, so please bare with my classifications if they are inaccurate.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe you can, as long as you install a rom before rebooting. I think i did it before but I can't say I'm sure.
RealTic said:
I have avoided formatting my internal SD card via clockworkmod since day one out of fear that I will brick my phone. I format it all the time when its connected to my PC....but I heard it shares some system partitions with the internal storage? .....and formatting via CWM will brick your partition map?
Is there any re-partition files available for the galaxy s3 if corruption ever did occur?
This area is something I dont know much about, so please bare with my classifications if they are inaccurate.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've done it before on CWM. I currently use TWRP though. Just load your ROM and anything else you need to flash on your extsd card. Format internal storage then flash your ROM of choice. I do this every time I flash a new ROM. I find it helps cut down on freezing and other issues.
As long as you flash a ROM after you wipe the internal storage your fine.
Sent from my Clean Bean v2.6 Galaxy S3
TheSocalGuy79 said:
I've done it before on CWM. I currently use TWRP though. Just load your ROM and anything else you need to flash on your extsd card. Format internal storage then flash your ROM of choice. I do this every time I flash a new ROM. I find it helps cut down on freezing and other issues.
As long as you flash a ROM after you wipe the internal storage your fine.
Sent from my Clean Bean v2.6 Galaxy S3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's right. Formatting through recovery will not affect the boot or recovery partitions, so it's safe to do... but as SocalGuy79 said, just make sure you have the Rom zip you want to flash on your extSDCard.
I do that every time I install a new ROM. So no, it's perfectly safe, just make sure you flash a new ROM before you reboot lol.
Joe0113 said:
I do that every time I install a new ROM. So no, it's perfectly safe, just make sure you flash a new ROM before you reboot lol.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here. I use TWRP 2.4.4, Format data usually too, I never backup and restore data for apps ever. And I very, very rarely ever have problems that others have with ROMs.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2
TheSocalGuy79 said:
I've done it before on CWM. I currently use TWRP though. Just load your ROM and anything else you need to flash on your extsd card. Format internal storage then flash your ROM of choice. I do this every time I flash a new ROM. I find it helps cut down on freezing and other issues.
As long as you flash a ROM after you wipe the internal storage your fine.
Sent from my Clean Bean v2.6 Galaxy S3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have done something really stupid here. I formatted my /system and /data & /data/media using CWM and the rom i had loaded for flashing on the internal storage is now gone. I do not have an external sd card. I tried using adb to sideload or push the file but in vain since /data/media folder is missing. Will this be fixed if I flash stock ROM using Odin.
I can still boot into CWM and download mode.

[Q] Is there anyway to wipe internal SD Card and install a Rom?

After many program installations and various rom setups, I want to free up space on my Internal SD Card by doing a full wipe. Is there a way to do this and be able to load a rom?
sfetaz said:
After many program installations and various rom setups, I want to free up space on my Internal SD Card by doing a full wipe. Is there a way to do this and be able to load a rom?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stock recovery wipes everything but TWRP preserves the "virtual" sdcard. There might (or might not) be some advanced option in TWRP to wipe the virtual sdcard, never looked.
Twrp has the wipe option, I knew that already. I wanted to find a way to use it and still be able to flash a rom. In any case I figured out how to transfer a file to the device with the ADB push command after getting adb to recognize the nexus. Will attempt all this in a couple of days.
sfetaz said:
Twrp has the wipe option, I knew that already. I wanted to find a way to use it and still be able to flash a rom. In any case I figured out how to transfer a file to the device with the ADB push command after getting adb to recognize the nexus. Will attempt all this in a couple of days.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess I don't understand what you mean then as by default twrp doesn't reset your virtual sdcard for a wipe, so whichever ROM update.zip files you had on the virtual sdcard would survive a wipe in twrp, so there would be no reason to copy them back over.
I guess maybe your question had nothing to do with wipe, and you were really asking how to transfer a custom ROM install file to the tablet so twrp can install it. You can do that using adb or mtp or just download the file using the browser on the tablet.
In advanced wipe there is a box for internal storage... and TWRP supports OTG so you can connect a flash drive formated to FAT32 that contains the Zip you wan't to flash and flash it like any other file.
iamezio said:
In advanced wipe there is a box for internal storage... and TWRP supports OTG so you can connect a flash drive formated to FAT32 that contains the Zip you wan't to flash and flash it like any other file.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is what I mean. My virtual SD Card (data/media) is bloated with files I want to get rid of. So I wanted to wipe internal storage to clear all files and reinstall a rom. Using ADB or USB-OTG as iamezio says, I can transfer a rom zip back to the internal storage after wiping it to be able to install a rom. When I first made this post I wasn't sure how to do this.
sfetaz said:
This is what I mean. My virtual SD Card (data/media) is bloated with files I want to get rid of. So I wanted to wipe internal storage to clear all files and reinstall a rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, when you do a wipe from twrp, it is just removing all the files using a delete operation, which you can also do yourself.
The part of your question that seemed pertinent to me is you wanted TWRP to see your ROM file, which is the same question one would have if they asked how do I install a ROM.
sfetaz said:
This is what I mean. My virtual SD Card (data/media) is bloated with files I want to get rid of. So I wanted to wipe internal storage to clear all files and reinstall a rom. Using ADB or USB-OTG as iamezio says, I can transfer a rom zip back to the internal storage after wiping it to be able to install a rom. When I first made this post I wasn't sure how to do this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
twrp will wipe you internal storage with that option you saw in advanced settings. i actually did that one day by mistake and had to sideload the files to get back up and running. if that's what you are ready for, then go for it, it'll do it...

Wiped T310, no OS, unable to mount internal SD

Prior to today, I had not installed TWRP or rooted my T310 device. I believed I followed the instructions to root my device correctly (found here). Going through TWRP, I rebooted the system to install the Superuser package. I then rebooted the system, loaded up TWRP, and began to do a system wipe (followed instructions found here) to prep the flash of the rom and gapps.
I selected the following partitions to wipe: Dalvik cache, system, data and data. The instructions werent clear, so I checked both 'data' boxes.
After the wipe executed, I went to flash the rom and GAPPS I loaded to the internal sd card aaaaand... there were no .zip files. Crap. I went to reboot TWRP and it alerted me that my device does not appear to be rooted. Double crap. Not panicking, I went to mount and tried to see if I could mount the internet SD card to my device. Nothing. Windows now shows a 'Samsung_Android' device but it is listed under 'unspecified'. Reloading the drivers have done no good.
I'm guessing SuperUSer was never installed correctly *or* I did something during the reset.
I, of course, did not perform a backup prior to all of these. I have rooted my devices multiple times and it was always a breeze so why backup now? Weell...
So now I'm sitting here with a nonSU device, with no OS, no backup, and I'm unable to connect my device to Windows. Outside of loading a rom from an external SD Card, what options do I have?
jaredmac11 said:
Prior to today, I had not installed TWRP or rooted my T310 device. I believed I followed the instructions to root my device correctly (found here). Going through TWRP, I rebooted the system to install the Superuser package. I then rebooted the system, loaded up TWRP, and began to do a system wipe (followed instructions found here) to prep the flash of the rom and gapps.
I selected the following partitions to wipe: Dalvik cache, system, data and data. The instructions werent clear, so I checked both 'data' boxes.
After the wipe executed, I went to flash the rom and GAPPS I loaded to the internal sd card aaaaand... there were no .zip files. Crap. I went to reboot TWRP and it alerted me that my device does not appear to be rooted. Double crap. Not panicking, I went to mount and tried to see if I could mount the internet SD card to my device. Nothing. Windows now shows a 'Samsung_Android' device but it is listed under 'unspecified'. Reloading the drivers have done no good.
I'm guessing SuperUSer was never installed correctly *or* I did something during the reset.
I, of course, did not perform a backup prior to all of these. I have rooted my devices multiple times and it was always a breeze so why backup now? Weell...
So now I'm sitting here with a nonSU device, with no OS, no backup, and I'm unable to connect my device to Windows. Outside of loading a rom from an external SD Card, what options do I have?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can either download the whole firmware and use Odin to flash or get adb setup and push a rom zip to the internal card using adb.
Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk
hi,
you will need a microsd card 32gb and properly formatted that comes with a card reader for your pc.
download your rom and get it onto the card, insert the card into your device
boot to twrp, and flash,
now, if twrp still spits the no os message at you, which is an issue with twrp,
you next need to go to your wipe options, select advanced and do a full data format/wipe,
NOT SYSTEM, DATA. meaning /data and /data/media. when that completes you should be sorted
but expect your initial boot of the new rom to take a little longer.
never wipe system with twrp. the rom's updater-script will manage that function.
m
Thank you both. I lost my SD cards and card reader in a move so while that orders, I will attempt to utilize ADB. I'm pretty green but I'm certain there are guides out there..
moonbutt74 said:
hi,
you will need a microsd card 32gb and properly formatted that comes with a card reader for your pc.
download your rom and get it onto the card, insert the card into your device
boot to twrp, and flash,
now, if twrp still spits the no os message at you, which is an issue with twrp,
you next need to go to your wipe options, select advanced and do a full data format/wipe,
NOT SYSTEM, DATA. meaning /data and /data/media. when that completes you should be sorted
but expect your initial boot of the new rom to take a little longer.
never wipe system with twrp. the rom's updater-script will manage that function.
m
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm having a hell of a time getting the rom to install from the SD card. I believe I am not formatting the card correctly. Is there a guide on how to do so? I have a primary partition in SD in FAT32 and the other partition as EXT4 but no luck. Any help is appreciated.
jaredmac11 said:
I'm having a hell of a time getting the rom to install from the SD card. I believe I am not formatting the card correctly. Is there a guide on how to do so? I have a primary partition in SD in FAT32 and the other partition as EXT4 but no luck. Any help is appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hi,
your external sdcard should be formatted as single partition fat32 unaligned,
if you running windows, use bootice, look it up
On linux , gparted may give you issues, if so, on debian at least there is another better utility
though the name escapes me at the moment, disk manager i think.
m
moonbutt74 said:
hi,
your external sdcard should be formatted as single partition fat32 unaligned,
if you running windows, use bootice, look it up
On linux , gparted may give you issues, if so, on debian at least there is another better utility
though the name escapes me at the moment, disk manager i think.
m
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I was able to find a good stock firmware download, flashed that via Odin and I'm back to square 1. I am going to forego the external SD route. Perhaps too technical for me or some other hang up is abound but I am leaving that method alone for now. Thank you for your help : )

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