I've just had a bit of a panic then worked myself out of it. To help others in a similar situation, I thought I'd put what to do here, as searching doesn't help.
I'd encrypted my phone (and the external SDcard FWIW) via the Security settings. But it slowed it down a lot. I'd thoughtfully backed up a NANDROID to my PC before doing anything. So instead of unencrypting, I thought I'd go the quick way: go in through CWM Recovery (previously flashed on the phone) and sort things out from there.
Big mistake. CWM Recovery doesn't deal with encrypted phones or SDcards. So I took the SDcard out, reformatted it in a reader on my PC, stuck the NANDROID back on it. Then back into Recovery. Still whenever I tried to do anything, such as wipe / factory reset or restore the NANDROID, I got "unable to mount /data".
Oh dear. Next step: I downloaded a stock N7100 firmware and flashed it via ODIN. But I discovered this doesn't sort the problem either; it still leaves the /data partition encrypted. On booting up, it asks me for the encryption password; but won't boot further - presumably due to incompatibilities between teh custom ROM's Data partition and the stock rom.
Rebooted into Stock Recovery; multiple errors "unable to mount /data". BUT happily Wipe / Factory Reset from the Stock recovery did work.
I was then able to reroot, re-install recovery, and restore the NANDROID, thank God. Major panic for a while there.
tl;dr if you get in a state with an unbootable encrypted phone, and non-stock recovery gives "Unable to mount /data", you need STOCK recovery on it (flashed via ODIN, perhaps from full stock firmware or separately if you can find it) then factory reset with that. You'll then obviously need to reroot etc.
hope that's of use to somebody.
kingqueen said:
I've just had a bit of a panic then worked myself out of it. To help others in a similar situation, I thought I'd put what to do here, as searching doesn't help.
I'd encrypted my phone (and the external SDcard FWIW) via the Security settings. But it slowed it down a lot. I'd thoughtfully backed up a NANDROID to my PC before doing anything. So instead of unencrypting, I thought I'd go the quick way: go in through CWM Recovery (previously flashed on the phone) and sort things out from there.
Big mistake. CWM Recovery doesn't deal with encrypted phones or SDcards. So I took the SDcard out, reformatted it in a reader on my PC, stuck the NANDROID back on it. Then back into Recovery. Still whenever I tried to do anything, such as wipe / factory reset or restore the NANDROID, I got "unable to mount /data".
Oh dear. Next step: I downloaded a stock N7100 firmware and flashed it via ODIN. But I discovered this doesn't sort the problem either; it still leaves the /data partition encrypted. On booting up, it asks me for the encryption password; but won't boot further - presumably due to incompatibilities between teh custom ROM's Data partition and the stock rom.
Rebooted into Stock Recovery; multiple errors "unable to mount /data". BUT happily Wipe / Factory Reset from the Stock recovery did work.
I was then able to reroot, re-install recovery, and restore the NANDROID, thank God. Major panic for a while there.
tl;dr if you get in a state with an unbootable encrypted phone, and non-stock recovery gives "Unable to mount /data", you need STOCK recovery on it (flashed via ODIN, perhaps from full stock firmware or separately if you can find it) then factory reset with that. You'll then obviously need to reroot etc.
hope that's of use to somebody.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was just wondering if i encrypt my phone but after reading this i think i will only encrypt external sd card so i wont fsck up because of rooting etc.
Flashed the latest stable Carbon rom yesterday and decided it wasn't for me so this morning I rebooted to TWRP and tried to run restore. The restore failed and the only error i see in the console is
Code:
E: error opening '/data/lost+found'
I went ahead and did the standard wipe (which also gave the same error, though it did not say failed) and rebooted, assuming it would just throw me back into carbon, but it got stuck in sort of a slow boot loop. I finally got back into recovery and now I'm at a bit of a loss. I saw only 2 suggestions, one being wipe /data and the other to flash back to stock with Odin. I'm not against wiping /data if someone could could either confirm that it would work or tell me if it's possible to backup some stuff from /data to my external sdcard or pc.
any advice would be appreciated, thanks
also sorry if this is the wrong place to post, I didn't see where else it would fit, says I can't post in the GS3 troubleshooting area.
ATT Galaxy S3
TWRP v2.6.0.0
fixed
Ok, I'm up and running again. I ended up formatting /data through twrp after I found out i could copy files over to external sd through its file manager.
so in case someone else runs into this:
assumes you have a twrp backup on the external sd
1. move important files with twrp's file manager to sd card
2. format /data
3. reboot recovery
3. standard wipe
4. restore backup from external
5. reboot system and cross fingers
Help, I have no idea what happened. I have a tab pro 10.1 t520. It's rooted with twrp recovery.
Today and game I tried to play kept crashing, so I rebooted into recovery and attempted to wipe the cache figuring might help. Well after it sat on that wipe screen for about 5 min it rebooted, got to the Samsung startup screen, and just hangs there. I'm able to boot into recovery, but now when I go to wipe I get a bunch of errors that it's unable to mount the /cache or the /data.
Help?! I have backups but it says i have 0mb internal storage and fails.
Nevermind got it back.
Bumping this to ask how you got it back? I've got the exact same issue produced almost the same way! Can't find any info on it except for other devices.
Hey I just restored my backup.
Ah crap I don't have one
Well, fixed it as described in this thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/gal...help-e-unable-to-mount-data-recovery-t3149906
Leaving it incase someone else encounters the same problem and does not have a nandroid backup.
Make sure your recovery is the latest 2.8.7.0 for the future
My Note2 had seen file system related issues (sd card directories renamed to u..., etc.) and finally it stalled at the Samsung logo one night. Booted into recovery and seeing "failed to mount /efs", also /system, /cache, and /data.
Any suggestions? I tried Kies but no luck, I guess the Samsung tech in Bestbuy probably did the same thing. I've been reading through this forum and found this file Stock_Partitions_N7105_T889.zip. Could I just use this without reflash the OS? If so, how? Hopefully I could get back some of the files on the phone. I haven't tried Odin or twrp, or root the phone yet.
Thanks in advance.
Flash TWRP using Odin. Boot into TWRP and see if you can pull off your data. If TWRP mounts the data partiton and you cannot find any files, you may be out of luck.
If you decide to live without the phone's data, you could try to revive the phone by flashing a stock ROM from sammobile.com using Odin.
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll try that, thanks.