Develop Bugs

Data recovery through a flash dump

I was in the process of rooting my phone (and tried unlocking it) and I am not sure what happened but after the phone came back, I got the root but my data got wiped out. Apparently, I found out that some phones do this for security reasons. I must have been careless and done something wrong. Now, because Galaxy Nexus uses MTP, it is technically not possible to mount it as a disk drive and use conventional PC-based recovery software.
Theoretically speaking, shouldn't it be possible to take a flash dump of the internal disk and use an offline utility such as extundelete to recover my lost data? I saw this idea posted in this thread but no one followed up on it.
Any suggestions on how I can hack around?

EliteLegend said:
I was in the process of rooting my phone (and tried unlocking it) and I am not sure what happened but after the phone came back, I got the root but my data got wiped out. Apparently, I found out that some phones do this for security reasons. I must have been careless and done something wrong. Now, because Galaxy Nexus uses MTP, it is technically not possible to mount it as a disk drive and use conventional PC-based recovery software.
Theoretically speaking, shouldn't it be possible to take a flash dump of the internal disk and use an offline utility such as extundelete to recover my lost data? I saw this idea posted in this thread but no one followed up on it.
Any suggestions on how I can hack around?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Technically maybe.... if the partition is not zero'ed. But you would need to find some way to dump the userdata partition. You can't dump it to somewhere on the device, so you would need to somehow dump that partition to an external drive. Maybe you could look at trying this out. (I haven't had the chance to try it out myself yet.)

Did this work?
So, did this work?
I ran into the same problem with my nexus.
I have no skills with ADB at all, so before I jump into trying to learn anything to be able to take a flash dump, I was hoping that someone could report back as to whether or not this worked.
Thank you!
JR

whozamazinka said:
So, did this work?
I ran into the same problem with my nexus.
I have no skills with ADB at all, so before I jump into trying to learn anything to be able to take a flash dump, I was hoping that someone could report back as to whether or not this worked.
Thank you!
JR
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=30706842
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

Photo Recovery
During a recent trip outside the country, I purchased a prepaid sim card for my unlocked, bought directly from Google, Galaxy Nexus. During this time, the OTA update for JB was released and I updated my phone with the new firmware. After completing the update, I was unable to make phone calls or receive any signal whatsoever. I contacted my domestic carrier T-Mobile who instructed me to do a factory reset. Unfortunately, I did not make a back up of the video footage of my family (Holocaust survivors). Currently the phone does not have a baseband or IMEI number and I have been unable to recover my photos. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Here is what I have done so far:
Photo Recovery
1. Attempted to restore a previous backup – No backup was made previously!!!!!!UGH!
2. Unlocked Bootloader with ADB. ADB Pull / Media – Nothing….
3. ADB pull / partition – Only received system files, no media files.
4. Tried to Use data recovery software PhotoRec. – would not recognize internal drive on Galaxy Nexus (USB Debugging on/off, Samsung drivers loaded correctly, Camera mode: nada)
5. Tried to use multiple different online photo recovery software. None could detect the phone’s drive when scanning.
IMEI/Baseband missing Issue
1. Re-flashed original firmware using WugFresh’s Nexus Root Toolkit. No dice.
2. Attempted to flash alternative ROM.
3. Re-flashed radio via NRToolkit and ADB
4. Attempted to use apps: HC-ktool, GetRill Premium- nada
The goal is to firstly restore the wiped data and retrieve the photos. Then to fix the missing baseband issue. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

buzzbox said:
During a recent trip outside the country, I purchased a prepaid sim card for my unlocked, bought directly from Google, Galaxy Nexus. During this time, the OTA update for JB was released and I updated my phone with the new firmware. After completing the update, I was unable to make phone calls or receive any signal whatsoever. I contacted my domestic carrier T-Mobile who instructed me to do a factory reset. Unfortunately, I did not make a back up of the video footage of my family (Holocaust survivors). Currently the phone does not have a baseband or IMEI number and I have been unable to recover my photos. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Here is what I have done so far:
Photo Recovery
1.Attempted to restore a previous backup – No backup was made previously!!!!!!UGH!
2.Unlocked Bootloader with ADB. ADB Pull / Media – Nothing….
3.ADB pull / partition – Only received system files, no media files.
4.Tried to Use data recovery software PhotoRec. – would not recognize internal drive on Galaxy Nexus (USB Debugging on/off, Samsung drivers loaded correctly, Camera mode: nada)
5.Tried to use multiple different online photo recovery software. None could detect the phone’s drive when scanning.
IMEI/Baseband missing Issue
1.Re-flashed original firmware using WugFresh’s Nexus Root Toolkit. No dice.
2.Attempted to flash alternative ROM.
3.Re-flashed radio via NRToolkit and ADB
4.Attempted to use apps: HC-ktool, GetRill Premium- nada
The goal is to firstly restore the wiped data and retrieve the photos. Then to fix the missing baseband issue. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In your case I'm thinking you're s.o.l. First, when unlock the bootloader the phone gets wiped. So when you tried to pull....there was nothing to pull. Data recovery won't work because can't mount gnex as mass storage. Then you tried...three different flashes..? I'm gonna have to say it's gone. Just go back to stock.
*Shaolin Shadowboxing*

JediNinjafication said:
In your case I'm thinking you're s.o.l. First, when unlock the bootloader the phone gets wiped. So when you tried to pull....there was nothing to pull. Data recovery won't work because can't mount gnex as mass storage. Then you tried...three different flashes..? I'm gonna have to say it's gone. Just go back to stock.
*Shaolin Shadowboxing*
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Having the same issue as Buzzbox - i.e. missing baseband and IMEI. In my case JB 4.1.1 was working just fine, when the phone simply restarted, and the baseband and IMEI vanished.
Phone came with ICS, after which i had recieved OTA jellybean - but this was a month ago. Didnt install any custom ROMs.
To try and fix this, i flashed factory image of ICS - but still nothing on IMEI and baseband. Help please...

You can recover data from android phones with data recovery software, see this solution: android data recovery
helped me before. Easy to follow and worked well for me.

jameskasmonr said:
You can recover data from android phones with data recovery software, see this solution: android data recovery
helped me before. Easy to follow and worked well for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
I had tried to do this but didn't work in my Note 10+.
I made the mistake of delete my phothos from OneDrive that was sincronized with the Samsung Gallery. Now I would like to recover the photos but until now I did not have sucess. Do you have sugestions how to recover my gallery?
My phone it's not rooted and I'm not an expert!
Thank you.

[Q] Urgent help recovering my data...

Hi everyone,
I'm at a loss at the moment as I do not know which way to turn, any help would be greatly appreciated.
so the last 2 years have been pretty eventful for me. I had a number of close relatives pass away and various other important family events take place and all my pictures and videos surround them seem to have disappeared from my HTC One X.
I had the phone connected to a laptop and was in the process of backing up the entire collection when the phone got incredibly hot, froze and restarted on me, to my shock all my videos and pictures where gone once the phone booted back up. I have removed the battery and have not used the phone since, in fear that it may delete/write over any data structures, or remove any chance I have at recovering my files.
Now I am of course a newbie to the HTC one X when it comes to rooting etc but I have done this sorta thing with previous phones in the past so I can work through a guide/root/update if needed.
Having tried many of these generic "recover your data" type software they all seem to require USB Mass Storage Mode. from what I have found and and experienced I can not do this as my android version is 4.1.1 and the option was removed in an update. MTP connection type is how it connects to a PC ( i hope im making sense here as im not sure if im saying that right).
I've spent the last week trying to figure out a way to get the phone to work with mass storage mode but my understanding is a little sketchy.
Is there anyway to recover my data and if so what is the best course of action?
Should I root and upgrade to a custom firmware?
If i do this will this wipe the existing internal storage/ or perhaps remove any chance I have at recovery after the upgrade? I haven't used the phone since as ive read on several threads that the best chance of recovery is to ensure that very little data / no new data is written to the phones internal memory.
I've even considered paying professional data recovery services however they simply do not provide enough information as to what/how they do it and im scared that they may return the phone with no results and also wipe any chance I have at recovery.
any help at all would be greatly appreciated, as at this point i really don't know what else to do.
if someone has a tried and tested method or recovery service they have used please let me know. If it really is too difficult to attempt a recovery myself id be willing to pay for any assistance beyond that.
thanks for any assistance in advance.

.Xenon- said:
Hi everyone,
I'm at a loss at the moment as I do not know which way to turn, any help would be greatly appreciated.
so the last 2 years have been pretty eventful for me. I had a number of close relatives pass away and various other important family events take place and all my pictures and videos surround them seem to have disappeared from my HTC One X.
I had the phone connected to a laptop and was in the process of backing up the entire collection when the phone got incredibly hot, froze and restarted on me, to my shock all my videos and pictures where gone once the phone booted back up. I have removed the battery and have not used the phone since, in fear that it may delete/write over any data structures, or remove any chance I have at recovering my files.
Now I am of course a newbie to the HTC one X when it comes to rooting etc but I have done this sorta thing with previous phones in the past so I can work through a guide/root/update if needed.
Having tried many of these generic "recover your data" type software they all seem to require USB Mass Storage Mode. from what I have found and and experienced I can not do this as my android version is 4.1.1 and the option was removed in an update. MTP connection type is how it connects to a PC ( i hope im making sense here as im not sure if im saying that right).
I've spent the last week trying to figure out a way to get the phone to work with mass storage mode but my understanding is a little sketchy.
Is there anyway to recover my data and if so what is the best course of action?
Should I root and upgrade to a custom firmware?
If i do this will this wipe the existing internal storage/ or perhaps remove any chance I have at recovery after the upgrade? I haven't used the phone since as ive read on several threads that the best chance of recovery is to ensure that very little data / no new data is written to the phones internal memory.
I've even considered paying professional data recovery services however they simply do not provide enough information as to what/how they do it and im scared that they may return the phone with no results and also wipe any chance I have at recovery.
any help at all would be greatly appreciated, as at this point i really don't know what else to do.
if someone has a tried and tested method or recovery service they have used please let me know. If it really is too difficult to attempt a recovery myself id be willing to pay for any assistance beyond that.
thanks for any assistance in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If all you need to do to salvage your data is USB mount storage then I suggest flashing a custom recovery, CWM and TWRP both enable USB mount storage.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda app-developers app

Craiglivesey94 said:
If all you need to do to salvage your data is USB mount storage then I suggest flashing a custom recovery, CWM and TWRP both enable USB mount storage.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok so I've used CWM a few years back and I have a rough idea of what to do (i can search around for a decent guide) but I just want to confirm that flashing a custom recovery will not force me to reformat or format the internal memory in its entirety before/during/after the installation itself?
Would this be the best way to recover data from the device as its not currently rooted or had any custom firmware flashed to it
ie: install CWM>enable mass storage mode>use generic software to scan the drive and attempt to recover
thank you

.Xenon- said:
ok so I've used CWM a few years back and I have a rough idea of what to do (i can search around for a decent guide) but I just want to confirm that flashing a custom recovery will not force me to reformat or format the internal memory in its entirety before/during/after the installation itself?
Would this be the best way to recover data from the device as its not currently rooted or had any custom firmware flashed to it
ie: install CWM>enable mass storage mode>use generic software to scan the drive and attempt to recover
thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
unlocking your bootloader will wipe all your data. I would try recovery software first, if your pc can see your phone I don't see why the software won't.

nogotaclue said:
unlocking your bootloader will wipe all your data. I would try recovery software first, if your pc can see your phone I don't see why the software won't.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
there are a number of reputable recovery software applications on the market, almost all of which require that you are using mass storage mode (when attempting to recover from a mobile device). I've used 14 different programs so far and none of them can recognize my HTC one x when its plugged into the PC.
my htc works fine and is showing up as "portable media device" in the windows browser however none of the programs ive tried can locate the storage with there respective disk/file browsers.

.Xenon- said:
there are a number of reputable recovery software applications on the market, almost all of which require that you are using mass storage mode (when attempting to recover from a mobile device). I've used 14 different programs so far and none of them can recognize my HTC one x when its plugged into the PC.
my htc works fine and is showing up as "portable media device" in the windows browser however none of the programs ive tried can locate the storage with there respective disk/file browsers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
doesn't really like you have much of a choice now then. You should prepare yourself for the possibility that, because data is missing, the sdcard may be corrupted and not recoverable at all. having said that, I have recovered data from hard drives and sdcards that have been formatted multiple times, with minimal loss. I would wait till tomorrow night before you decide anything, give more people a chance to see the post through tomorrow

nogotaclue said:
doesn't really like you have much of a choice now then. You should prepare yourself for the possibility that, because data is missing, the sdcard may be corrupted and not recoverable at all. having said that, I have recovered data from hard drives and sdcards that have been formatted multiple times, with minimal loss. I would wait till tomorrow night before you decide anything, give more people a chance to see the post through tomorrow
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah im hoping someone may know of a why to get either usb mass storage mode working or perhaps just a good recovery service anyone could recommend.

.Xenon- said:
Yeah im hoping someone may know of a why to get either usb mass storage mode working or perhaps just a good recovery service anyone could recommend.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is the device rooted? Do you have CWM Recovery installed on it?

MrT69 said:
Is the device rooted? Do you have CWM Recovery installed on it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no unfortunately not, just wish i had now and I woulda have saved myself alot of hassle.
I think if i understand it correctly now if i root and install CWM recovery now it actually reformats/wipes the storage.

.Xenon- said:
no unfortunately not, just wish i had now and I woulda have saved myself alot of hassle.
I think if i understand it correctly now if i root and install CWM recovery now it actually reformats/wipes the storage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok. Currently I'm on the way home from work but I guess I will need aprox. 1 hour.
1. DO NOT install a custom ROM
2. You need to install CWR Recovery for this Action
3. Don't care if the device will boot or not - you need only CWR Recovery installed on it
4. Do not try to do stupid things like using public bull**** recovery crap Tools
It will take up to two hours and your data will be back. Ok. lets say most of them.
To do:
1. Unlock your device bootloader
2. Install CWM Recovery
3. Let me know when it's done
And most important - leave the device as it is. Do not restart or boot the device to much times

MrT69 said:
Ok. Currently I'm on the way home from work but I guess I will need aprox. 1 hour.
1. DO NOT install a custom ROM
2. You need to install CWR Recovery for this Action
3. Don't care if the device will boot or not - you need only CWR Recovery installed on it
4. Do not try to do stupid things like using public bull**** recovery crap Tools
It will take up to two hours and your data will be back. Ok. lets say most of them.
To do:
1. Unlock your device bootloader
2. Install CWM Recovery
3. Let me know when it's done
And most important - leave the device as it is. Do not restart or boot the device to much times
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for your help!
Im at work at the moment too so I will try to do this as soon as I get home.
just a quick question though, does unlocking the bootloader and installing CWM recovery format the storage? nogotaclue said unlocking the bootloader would wipe/reformat the memory again. (I am trying to avoid this as it could potentially write over the data im trying to recover)

.Xenon- said:
thanks for your help!
Im at work at the moment too so I will try to do this as soon as I get home.
just a quick question though, does unlocking the bootloader and installing CWM recovery format the storage? nogotaclue said unlocking the bootloader would wipe/reformat the memory again. (I am trying to avoid this as it could potentially write over the data im trying to recover)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't care about if the SDCard will be formated or not.
On the one Hand it seems you have already formated or lost the partion on it and on the other Hand there is no other way to get the data back.
I promise to you that this is OK even when the unlock procedure Format your SDCard This is not the first time that I recover some data. And I do this Job since more than 15 years.
It's up to you to decide.

Sorry I didn't mean to offend you. Just worried that's all. I was called away for work so I'm back this weekend. Will root and install the recovery as soon I can.
Thanks again for your help.
Sent from my GT-I9505 using xda app-developers app

MrT69 said:
Don't care about if the SDCard will be formated or not.
On the one Hand it seems you have already formated or lost the partion on it and on the other Hand there is no other way to get the data back.
I promise to you that this is OK even when the unlock procedure Format your SDCard This is not the first time that I recover some data. And I do this Job since more than 15 years.
It's up to you to decide.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then i have a question to you Mr T, what software is "best" or at least very good to use to recover lost/formatted data ?
As you seem to know much about that
sent from my venomized piece of technology

Re: Recover deleted pictures and videos
It is very good that you did not use your phone after deletion of photos and videos so there will be no matter of overwriting. You said that you have tried many Recovery Tools but I think they might be free of cost. I have also tried so many free data recovery tools to recover my photos but all are of no use. Then my friend suggested me Remo recover Android tool after employing the tool I successfully recovered all my data from my HTC one.

[Q] Recovery bootloop after Odin/Kies/Heimdall STOCK flash, only boots to DL mode

Hi folks, long time reader, first time noob answer seeker.
I'm no stranger to rooting, flashing, hacking about and such - I even spend most of my day as a software engineer, and I've finally given up on this one - so here I am (rock me like a hurricane), please be kind.
SM-900T - It was rocking pretty darn well on Jedi Elite which I had flashed over rooted stock 4.3 MI7 - then (probably after one too many XPosed modules) it just kept rebooting randomly. Thinking it was no biggie, I thought I could just reflash to stock and call it a day. Thirteen or so flashes later, I gave up on 4.3 and figured I'd just take the thing up to 4.4.2 NB4 by upgrading everything to 4.4.2 via Kies.
That's when I first ran into the bootloop issue, read a lot about it, and managed to get it up(ish) on stock, rooted, with Philz 6.X... Couldn't flash a ROM to save myself and wound up with another soft brick.
Flash forward to Friday - decided to start from scratch again - attempted to flash stock 4.4.2 from Kies, from Odin, From Heimdall... Nothing seems to be able to get me out of the current state it's in:
Only boots to download mode. Flashes seem to work fine, but on that first reboot where it tries to go to stock recovery to finish up on the device itself, it never gets there - boot loops trying to load recovery no matter how it wants to get there. If I pull the battery and start up (either straight to system or by cancelling out of download mode), it boot loops trying to load system. Boots fine to download mode, where I attempt to flash again with the same results.
Yes, I've tried Odin 3.0.9, 3.0.7, 1.8.5, Heimdall on Mac, Heimdall on Windows, Kies on Mac, Kies on Windows - repartition via PIT and not. Installed, uninstalled, and reinstalled all software and drivers multiple times, tried multiple cables on multiple USB ports.... Most of the time it looks like it's going to be fine (sometimes the flash fails, usually through Kies), but never surivives that first reboot after the flash.
Every answer I've seen says to do the things I've already done or cannot do (flash stock via Odin, pull the battery and boot to stock recovery and do a factory reset - which I'd LOVE to do, but can't). No problem recognizing the sucker on the PC/Mac
Next step: try flashing a N9005 ROM...
Any other thoughts? I do have another N900T that's working but has a blacklisted IMEI, and I've been tempted to swap the IMEIs a last resort (although either I'm too dumb to make it stick, EFS pro says it succeeds in writing the IMEI after I do a EFS format, but it doesn't stick.... Either I'm missing something, or I need a UART cable) - is there a way of swapping just the radio hardware or just the internal storage? OR, is there a way of taking a full system image of my working phone and making an Odin-flashable tar from that?
Failing any of these options, perhaps I'll wait for an Odin-flashable 4.4.3 if such a thing exists - or, hope to get lucky and swap it out at a store praying they don't see I've tripped Knox.

Looks like you've tried almost everything. Take it in and have them swap it.
Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk

Coming from you...
noobtoob said:
Looks like you've tried almost everything. Take it in and have them swap it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Coming from you (I have read, and am quite thankful for, many of your posts), sounds like that might be the best option, however disconcerting.

bondidave said:
Coming from you (I have read, and am quite thankful for, many of your posts), sounds like that might be the best option, however disconcerting.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I do have a few ideas... Got done questions though.
1. Do you have an external SD card?
2. It goes all the way through flash on 4.4 even with heimdall?
3. Is there anything you have left out? Even the smallest detail can help, and by the op you are detail oriented, so I just need to know.
Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk

... is there a way of taking a full system image of my working phone and making an Odin-flashable tar from that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, but I don't have the details handy.
All your attempts suggest to me that you might have some damaged hardware which is causing data corruption during transfer. Open the back and take a good look at the USB port. Tighten the screws and try a transfer while firmly holding the cable in place -- don't move it while transferring.
If that doesn't work then let 'noobtoob' walk you through booting with the removable sdcard. Your second N900T will be needed to write the data to the sdcard. If this works then you can 'dd' write stock partitions to an sd card with #2 then 'dd' write them in #1.
If either of those works then unroot and take it in for warrenty exchange.
Frank

bondidave said:
... then (probably after one too many XPosed modules) it just kept rebooting randomly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This also indicates data corruption, and this is what started it all. Since you have tried various cables and computers that leaves the device, probably the USB port.
Frank

probably the USB port.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Swapped the main board with the working phone to rule out the USB port - still no luck.
Definitely interested in trying the boot from external SD, I'll do my own search for it, unless you can quickly provide me with a link - but if it's as easy as it sounds (booting off of an SD in order to be able to send ADB commands to dd copy the partitions from the good phone to SD then from the booted SD back to internal) - I'm happy to give it a shot.
Tempted just to swing by TMO just to see if they'll swap it "under warranty" (despite picking it up from a private sale) - the only way they would notice it's been "tampered" with would be to check the knox counter by attempting to run download mode.
Oh, and yes, it does go all the way through with the flash (at least in Odin - I haven't tried a full flash through heimdall, just boot and recovery, Kies occasionally goes through to the end, but sometimes craps out at the same 57% point at which point the emergency restore screen shows up)
Thanks again guys

bondidave said:
Swapped the main board with the working phone to rule out the USB port - still no luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, but I still think the problem was initially caused by corruption. Maybe the files you have been flashing are corrupt.
Definitely interested in trying the boot from external SD, I'll do my own search for it, unless you can quickly provide me with a link - but if it's as easy as it sounds (booting off of an SD in order to be able to send ADB commands to dd copy the partitions from the good phone to SD then from the booted SD back to internal) - I'm happy to give it a shot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is the thread, it would be good to read the whole thing but if you need to save time begin at this message: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=48685247&postcount=158
I have not tried this procedure yet but @noobtoob was actively involved in it.
Tempted just to swing by TMO just to see if they'll swap it "under warranty" (despite picking it up from a private sale) - the only way they would notice it's been "tampered" with would be to check the knox counter by attempting to run download mode.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please try the SD-boot first so that we can add that experience to this newly developed procedure.
Oh, and yes, it does go all the way through with the flash (at least in Odin - I haven't tried a full flash through heimdall, just boot and recovery, Kies occasionally goes through to the end, but sometimes craps out at the same 57% point at which point the emergency restore screen shows up)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have probably tried it, but if not, download fresh copies of everything and check the MD5 values.
Frank

Frank Westlake said:
OK, but I still think the problem was initially caused by corruption. Maybe the files you have been flashing are corrupt.
This is the thread, it would be good to read the whole thing but if you need to save time begin at this message: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=48685247&postcount=158
I have not tried this procedure yet but @noobtoob was actively involved in it.
Please try the SD-boot first so that we can add that experience to this newly developed procedure.
You have probably tried it, but if not, download fresh copies of everything and check the MD5 values.
Frank
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This was for hard brick method and no one has verified it works on 4.4 KK yet. There is an image in there though. My mediafire shows it was downloaded 11 times, but yet not a single "this works on KitKat" response. Located here you will find the kkunbrick.img. There is still a problem flashing anything through heimdall after updating to the 4.4 bootloader, so there is no way to tell if the phone actually took the recovery. I have had to switch to Odin for everything afterwards, and in personal experience 3.07 works best with my phone.
@bondidave I was thinking skipping the sd-card trick for now, and trying just a few other things first. Do you have a nandroid of any 4.4 ROMS saved anywhere? I was going to say try and flash the stock image. After it gets through flash and tries to boot into recovery, go back directly to download mode. Flash philz or twrp, whatever you need to. Try and perform a recovery boot, wipe everything, and nandroid restore of a 4.4 if you have one.
Also if you have an external find the efs fix zip and have handy on an sd-card, do the same steps above except the nandroid restore. Basically if we can get into a recovery we should be ok. I had a similar issue when it was just booting over and over into download mode and this was how I fixed it. I have never used the efs fix zip, but many others swear by it. I was able to recover fortunately enough.
Last resort try the sd-card boot. I don't necessarily think it will work with this particular case as you do not have the dreaded QHUSB_MODE and your phone is still recognized by the computer(s) you have been using.
As far as making a complete system backup of your current phone, I highly recommend against it, unless you just want to extract information from it and not re-write it. This could definitely cause some system corruption on a new device.
If none of these methods work, then try and have them swap it under warranty.

Frank Westlake said:
You have probably tried it, but if not, download fresh copies of everything and check the MD5 values
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yessirreeebobbyjimmy, tried several copies from several different places - that and Kies is a moron and redownloads it every time anyways.

noobtoob said:
My mediafire shows it was downloaded 11 times, but yet not a single "this works on KitKat" response.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I download these things just to have them handy if something fails.
Do you have a nandroid of any 4.4 ROMS saved anywhere? I was going to say try and flash the stock image. After it gets through flash and tries to boot into recovery, go back directly to download mode. Flash philz or twrp, whatever you need to. Try and perform a recovery boot, wipe everything, and nandroid restore of a 4.4 if you have one.
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Click to collapse
I don't think he got that far into installing 4.4, but I recommend not using anything that was saved after this problem began. If the problem was caused by corruption then the restore will reinstall the corruption.
Last resort try the sd-card boot. I don't necessarily think it will work with this particular case as you do not have the dreaded QHUSB_MODE and your phone is still recognized by the computer(s) you have been using.
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Click to collapse
If the problem is bad USB or other bad hardware causing corruption during transfer then the SD-card boot will get past that, then transferring the rest of the partitions by SD-card will continue to be corruption-free. He could then trade-in the phone.
But you are right -- he should try everything else before the SD-card boot. Because if something else succeeds then maybe the hardware is fine, and if he went immediately to SD-card boot he wouldn't know that.
Frank

Thanks for the advice guys - I'm going to try the backup from my other phone, then the efs fix, then the sd-card boot... I'll report back, wish me luck.

A nandroid previous failure, or a ROM install from external SD card was all I meant.
Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk

I got some answers I was looking for here. Glad I read this thread.

Lorettaa said:
I got some answers I was looking for here. Glad I read this thread.
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Click to collapse
Glad something good came out of my frustration!
Here's a quick update: I've done everything but the boot from SD card with no luck (and actually thought I had hard(er?) bricked it for a while after trying to copy over a few images from the other phone - turns out it needed to stay with the battery out for at least 20 minutes).
Good news - walked into a TMO brick-and-mortar last night, showed the guy my endless bootloop, and a replacement is on its way to my house for an affordable $20 warranty service fee.
At this point, I'm thinking the internal flash memory is just bad - as a software engineer, I'm ok with chalking this one up to a hardware issue (as much as I was hoping that my first post on XDA would result in some new profound solution to a longstanding issue common to a few folks).
Oh well - new Note 3 on it's way, and a new S5 shortly behind it (didn't hold out much hope on TMO hooking me up, so I ordered an S5)... let the battle of the Samsungs begin!
Thanks again to you guys who helped out - and the whole XDA community in general, I am very grateful.

Finally you made it fix and enjoy the battle between your phones

Well, sucks it couldn't be fixed, but glad you got a replacement on the way. It pretty much sounded like the partitions were well over written before we attempted anything, but always worth a shot.
Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk

Yes, but I don't have the details handy.
All your attempts suggest to me that you might have some damaged hardware which is causing data corruption during transfer. Open the back and take a good look at the USB port. Tighten the screws and try a transfer while firmly holding the cable in place -- don't move it while transferring. :good:

Help with booting problems?

Hello,
I just noticed something the other day and I do not know if this has any effect on my problem with the phone getting a usb not recognized error so I wanted inquire!
So I did a completely clean install of the [ROM] [Touchwiz-PC1,PD1] [100% Stock, Root, No KNOX, No Itson] [4/5/2016] deodox rom and have noticed that my boot screen no longer shows multiple lines while booting. The only thing I get now is:
Set Warranty Bit : Kernel
Before I would get that and several other lines including one about Knox. I also do not get the Sprint logo as one of the bootup screens. My question is, is this rom suppose to do this or did I do something wrong? I followed the directions 100%. I also notice that I also now get an error that it cannot do a fingerprint unlock on boot and I have to enter my emergency password.
Last but not least, if there is a problem. Is there anyway to put a OG5 rom on my micro sd card (I have a card reader I can put the micro sd card into to transfer files, I cannot odin) and restore it to then?
Thanks for any help!

Most of what you describe is not abnormal.
Your fingerprint may be data left over from Lollipop. Try deleting your fingerprints and add them back.
Be aware, if you factory reset, you'll need to flash systemless root again. Google search SuperSU zip if you need it; it's also linked in the ROM thread. If you factory reset for any reason, make sure you don't keep our have a folder in root folder named /carrier/ItsOn. The apk in that folder could activate causing numerous reboot prompts to complete activation.
Eventually, you're going to need access to a PC to do what you want. You might be stuck and unable to update; modified partitions can cause the failure to update on OTA and KIES. Custom stockish ROMs are coming but they won't be for PD1; it's already outdated.
You can't go back to Lollipop without a PC because you need to revert your bootloader to Android 5.1 to run that ROM. Without a TWRP backup to restore, you should also Odin the full stock tar rather than just the bootloader.
Sent from my SM-N910P using Tapatalk

samep said:
Most of what you describe is not abnormal.
Your fingerprint may be data left over from Lollipop. Try deleting your fingerprints and add them back.
Be aware, if you factory reset, you'll need to flash systemless root again. Google search SuperSU zip if you need it; it's also linked in the ROM thread. If you factory reset for any reason, make sure you don't keep our have a folder in root folder named /carrier/ItsOn. The apk in that folder could activate causing numerous reboot prompts to complete activation.
Eventually, you're going to need access to a PC to do what you want. You might be stuck and unable to update; modified partitions can cause the failure to update on OTA and KIES. Custom stockish ROMs are coming but they won't be for PD1; it's already outdated.
You can't go back to Lollipop without a PC because you need to revert your bootloader to Android 5.1 to run that ROM. Without a TWRP backup to restore, you should also Odin the full stock tar rather than just the bootloader.
Sent from my SM-N910P using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a PC, the problem is that it will no longer recognize my phone by USB. It always gives the USB not recognized error. I do have a folder in root called carrier but when I try to go into it with root it tells me my phone is not rooted. This does not make sense as my phone is rooted , per the installtion of the rom and I have other apps I have given root access too.
Arrg! Thanks for the info, any more will help greatly!

h4kudoshi said:
I have a PC, the problem is that it will no longer recognize my phone by USB. It always gives the USB not recognized error. I do have a folder in root called carrier but when I try to go into it with root it tells me my phone is not rooted. This does not make sense as my phone is rooted , per the installtion of the rom and I have other apps I have given root access too.
Arrg! Thanks for the info, any more will help greatly!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you enable developer options (tap build # in Settings/About device 7 times or more until enabled) and enable USB debugging in developer options?
Yes you should be able to detect device when you plug in to PC but you may not see COM connected in Odin without USB debugging.
If it's always not detecting, could be bad USB cable (broken out missing data lines) or bad PC USB port. Try others first, if that's the case. Hardware failure is rare but has been reported as suspect. Hopefully, it's simple rather than that.
Sent from my SM-N910P using Tapatalk

Phone has no OS and can't flash roms: SOLVED!

I picked up a sprint htc one m9 today. unfortunately no stock OS and no SD CARD with backup either. I booted into twrp but i can not do anything. everything fails. i tried to flash a rom and its a no go. I am stuck and have no idea what to try after looking for hours.
I have no OS
I can boot into twrp
twrp does not allow me to do anything FAILS on every operation.

zwp1990 said:
I picked up a sprint htc one m9 today. unfortunately no stock OS and no SD CARD with backup either. I booted into twrp but i can not do anything. everything fails. i tried to flash a rom and its a no go. I am stuck and have no idea what to try after looking for hours.
I have no OS
I can boot into twrp
twrp does not allow me to do anything FAILS on every operation.
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Click to collapse
Foremost: ugh. Sorry man - that sucks.
So it sounds like your best option would be to get an sd card and apply a RUU from there. Flippy498's Google Sheet is a great resource for where to get them and how to use them.
You might be able to use the Windows-executable RUU directly from Sprint. I'm pretty sure you'd need to be in download mode when you ran it though. It's not as straightforward as the sd card method, but they're usually my first fallback.
Keep in mind that both of these options are destructive - your phone will be brought to a factory state (stock firmware, recovery) and anything on the phone's internal memory will be wiped.
It might be worth exploring why TWRP keeps failing. If we could solve that, you could install the ROM of your choice and not worry about RUUs. But that's definitely more work and probably not necessary if you're not trying to save anything. Once the RUU has been successfully applied, you can just unlock the bootloader anew, install TWRP, and do whatever you want from there.

Thanks a ton that fixed it!

zwp1990 said:
Thanks a ton that fixed it!
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Wonderful! Enjoy your new phone!
(If you're satisfied with the resolution, the convention in this forum is to mark a thread 'solved' in the title when an issue is resolved. This'll help folks know where to direct their help.)