Fix Galaxy Nexus bootloop after flashing CM nightly. - Samsung Galaxy Nexus

Hey guys!
I have flashed my Samsung Galaxy Nexus (i9350) with CM-12.1-20160117-NIGHTLY. I first installed the new CM recovery (with the same build date) via Fastboot, wiped Cache (but not Dalvik Cache, since the new Recovery had no option for this).
My device was then stuck in some sort of "bootloop". It gets to the "Android is updating ..." screen, where it says it compiles "app X of Y", then reboots and starts over again.
So I booted the device back into the bootloader, flashed back the old CM recovery (with build date 2016-11-17) via Fastboot, formatted System, Cache and wiped Dalvik Cache, then installed the old ROM only to find it being stuck in a bootloop too with the AMOLED display increasing and decreasing in brightness, but the ROM's not getting anywhere (not even to the point where it says "Android is updating ..." - it's just showing the boot animation and the screen "goes mad").
So I went back to the "old" CM recovery, formatted System, Cache, wiped Dalvik Cache, rebooted to bootloader, flashed the "new" CM recovery via Fastboot, flashed the "new" ROM again, wiped Cache again with the "new" Recovery ("new" recovery does not offer to format System or wipe Dalvik Cache, which is why I did it with the "old"), again "Android is updating ..." loops.
Now since System, Cache and Dalvik-Cache are basically "clean", I'm afraid that Data might be corrupt and thus my data on the phone might indeed be lost. (I have backups, but they are four months old.) Formatting Data might make the device bootable again, but I'd really like to do some sort of "data recovery". I mean "normally" flashing a ROM doesn't corrupt your data partition, right?
I don't know how to access the data partition though, since the device won't boot. The recoveries I have unfortunately don't allow ADB access either. Any chance? Or should I hit "wipe data / factory reset" and kiss the data goodbye? (Like I said, it's not "much" that will be lost, though I'd really like to keep it if it's "somehow" possible.)
Thanks a lot for your advice!
EDIT: I managed to gain MTP and ADB (root) access by booting into TWRP via Fastboot.
I now backed up the entire MTP storage, as well as the following:
- "/data/data/com.threema.app"
- "/data/data/com.android.providers.telephony"
- "/data/data/com.android.providers.contacts"
- "/data/data/com.android.providers.userdictionary"
Will this be sufficient to get my SMS, contacts (stored on phone), custom dictionary (for swipe recognition) and Threema messages back?

TWRP has a mount as MTP functionality that will allow you to access data.
You can also use adb while you're in fastboot adb pull allows you to pull anything as long as you have the path so adb pull /data should be able to pull those contents.
For me TWRP mount as MTP is a much easier and reliable option.

Thanks! I managed to pull off "/data" using TWRP, wipe "/data", restore files selectively. Works, even on the new nightly, which now runs like a charm.
Do you have an idea, why CWM does not support ADB access? I remember that it used to support it some years ago.

Related

[Q] Wiping Cache from Recovery? *PLEASE HELP*

Upon booting up via Vol. Down + Power, there are four options (fastboot, recovery, wipe cache, and simunlock). What happens when you wipe cache?
I just installed a new ROM (well updated), couldnt get it to boot as I was stuck on the custom boot screen, but after wipe cache it loads up?
Does this effect the functionality at all? Please help. Thanks
I believe this is a factory wipe, but is a dumbed down version, that does not wipe /sd-ext partitions etc. Just removes /data programs and user info, but won't touch any /system applications.
It is used to reset the phone without actually booting up the OS
Any particular reason why my ROM wouldnt boot up normally but requires a cache wipe in order to boot?
trenwei said:
Any particular reason why my ROM wouldnt boot up normally but requires a cache wipe in order to boot?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Soms roms will require you to wipe dalvik cache in order for the new rom to boot (conflicts can be caused), and wiping this cache would do it, however you can just wipe dalvik cache from recovery not this hboot menu.
For future reference when changing roms, especially when changing to someone elses rom (and especially especially when its a different base) you should be doing a full wipe
A full wipe is:
-Data (factory reset)
-Dalvik Cache
-Ext partition (although sometimes you can get away with skipping this one)
You should be able to wipe those three from both Amon-RA and Clockwork Mod recoveries.
NOTE: I am sleep deprived, so this will proberly not make alot of sense
I'm not that technical with the Android system (have worked with linux abit though)
Deleting the cache would remove any saved data from the system. These saved items may contain anything from images to which default program is loaded, to which widgets are loaded on the homscreen.
This is why after a new install the phone takes a little longer booting up, creating all the new files. If you need me to go into cache, use Google.
Another theory would be:
After an upgrade, some files and apps think that the system has changed owners, so their permissions change from read/write to read/only etc.
With this, some system files will become inaccessible, will be unable to be edited and so forth.
A way around this would be to "fix" the permissions of the data, changing the owner of the files allowing read/write permissions
Rom Manager has a nice little feature that allows you to fix permissions, and has come very helpful for me, with my switching to and from OD/Pinky, and restoring LauncherPro, which likes to FC at every restore -.-.

[Q] SGH-T989 frozen in time, advice requested, any ideas?

Hello, everybody. I have a T-Mo SGS2 SGH-T989 that's frustrating me, and I'm hoping one of you might understand what's happening and how to fix it. Its software seems to be frozen in time. Every time I reboot it, no matter what I've done to it, it opens on the homescreen I had in place as of last Thursday (6 September). As soon as it boots it downloads updates for every app that's had an update come out since then. Any apps I have tried to install since then give me a "could not be downloaded due to an error. (492)" message, and any already-installed apps I delete magically reappear unchanged as soon as I reboot. Not only that, but all the app cache data is frozen in time, too; Poweramp opens with the player cued to the middle of a track I had last listened to over Bluetooth in my car last Thursday, the Kindle app opens to a page within a book I had read last Thursday, etc. I can't make any permanent changes to my phone for no obviously apparent reason, though it's for the most part functional. To top it all off, though, after being powered on for a few hours, apps start randomly force closing until I reboot it again! I've been running essentially the same software environment on it for a couple of months, and up until last Thursday it was rock-solid reliable. I'm not a complete n00b, but I don't have nearly as much time as I'd like to devote to progressing beyond rank amateur status, and having my phone not completely functional is bugging the spit out of me. I've been trawling this and other forums as much as I can since then, and I can't make head or tail of this problem. Anybody have any ideas?
I've already tried wiping the cache and dalvik cache, I've tried restoring a backup from cwm, I've tried doing a factory reset and data wipe, I've tried darkside super wiping it, I've tried flashing new recoveries, I've tried to update the firmware through Kies, I've tried to flash it back to stock with ODIN, and I even downloaded the Android SDK so I could open an adb shell over USB and chmod all the file permissions to read/write! I keep encountering error messages in cwm and adb saying error mounting /sdcard, error mounting /sd_ext, error mounting sdcard/android.secure, etc. What really blows my mind is that everything seems to be working just fine in ODIN while I'm flashing it - until the phone reboots and shows me exactly the same environment it had before I flashed it. I had avast! Anti-Theft installed, and I disabled its device administrator privileges and uninstalled it before I made any of these attempts to fix it, but it keeps reappearing too. I'm at a loss.
Device details:
Phone: T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S II SGH-T989 (rooted)
Android: 4.0.3
ROM: DARKSIDE.EVOLUTION.3 v5 (out-of-date, I know, but it had been working flawlessly for months, and if it ain't broke....)
Kernel: 3.0.8-perf-T989UVLE1-CL508451 (it says "[email protected] #1" on the line after that in the kernel version block of the "About phone" settings page)
Recovery: ClockWorkMod Recovery v5.0.2.7 (again, I know it's out-of-date, but if it ain't broke.... and now it won't let me re-flash it!)
Baseband: T989UVLE1
Selected Installed Apps: AdFree, Amazon Market, Amazon Kindle, ADWLauncherEX, avast! Mobile Security, Beautiful Widgets, BusyBox Pro, Dolphin Browser, Dropbox, DSPManager, KeePassDroid, Kies air, MX Player Pro, Poweramp, PriceCheck, QR Droid Private, ROM Toolbox Pro, Shazam, Superuser, TeslaUnreadPlugin, Titanium Backup, Widget Locker
Nizrael said:
Hello, everybody. I have a T-Mo SGS2 SGH-T989 that's frustrating me, and I'm hoping one of you might understand what's happening and how to fix it. Its software seems to be frozen in time. Every time I reboot it, no matter what I've done to it, it opens on the homescreen I had in place as of last Thursday (6 September). As soon as it boots it downloads updates for every app that's had an update come out since then. Any apps I have tried to install since then give me a "could not be downloaded due to an error. (492)" message, and any already-installed apps I delete magically reappear unchanged as soon as I reboot. Not only that, but all the app cache data is frozen in time, too; Poweramp opens with the player cued to the middle of a track I had last listened to over Bluetooth in my car last Thursday, the Kindle app opens to a page within a book I had read last Thursday, etc. I can't make any permanent changes to my phone for no obviously apparent reason, though it's for the most part functional. To top it all off, though, after being powered on for a few hours, apps start randomly force closing until I reboot it again! I've been running essentially the same software environment on it for a couple of months, and up until last Thursday it was rock-solid reliable. I'm not a complete n00b, but I don't have nearly as much time as I'd like to devote to progressing beyond rank amateur status, and having my phone not completely functional is bugging the spit out of me. I've been trawling this and other forums as much as I can since then, and I can't make head or tail of this problem. Anybody have any ideas?
I've already tried wiping the cache and dalvik cache, I've tried restoring a backup from cwm, I've tried doing a factory reset and data wipe, I've tried darkside super wiping it, I've tried flashing new recoveries, I've tried to update the firmware through Kies, I've tried to flash it back to stock with ODIN, and I even downloaded the Android SDK so I could open an adb shell over USB and chmod all the file permissions to read/write! I keep encountering error messages in cwm and adb saying error mounting /sdcard, error mounting /sd_ext, error mounting sdcard/android.secure, etc. What really blows my mind is that everything seems to be working just fine in ODIN while I'm flashing it - until the phone reboots and shows me exactly the same environment it had before I flashed it. I had avast! Anti-Theft installed, and I disabled its device administrator privileges and uninstalled it before I made any of these attempts to fix it, but it keeps reappearing too. I'm at a loss.
Device details:
Phone: T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S II SGH-T989 (rooted)
Android: 4.0.3
ROM: DARKSIDE.EVOLUTION.3 v5 (out-of-date, I know, but it had been working flawlessly for months, and if it ain't broke....)
Kernel: 3.0.8-perf-T989UVLE1-CL508451 (it says "[email protected] #1" on the line after that in the kernel version block of the "About phone" settings page)
Recovery: ClockWorkMod Recovery v5.0.2.7 (again, I know it's out-of-date, but if it ain't broke.... and now it won't let me re-flash it!)
Baseband: T989UVLE1
Selected Installed Apps: AdFree, Amazon Market, Amazon Kindle, ADWLauncherEX, avast! Mobile Security, Beautiful Widgets, BusyBox Pro, Dolphin Browser, Dropbox, DSPManager, KeePassDroid, Kies air, MX Player Pro, Poweramp, PriceCheck, QR Droid Private, ROM Toolbox Pro, Shazam, Superuser, TeslaUnreadPlugin, Titanium Backup, Widget Locker
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This sounds like an Android virus... Did you download anything "suspicious" recently?
whatiznt said:
This sounds like an Android virus... Did you download anything "suspicious" recently?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah what he said.. You could always try a virus scan, however I have heard they aren't that reliable.. Easiest fix would be get a warranty replacement and be done with it.
VoiD_Dweller said:
Yeah what he said.. You could always try a virus scan, however I have heard they aren't that reliable.. Easiest fix would be get a warranty replacement and be done with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
Oh, dear.
I wouldn't have thought I had downloaded anything especially sketchy. I won't install an app unless it's got a lot of positive reviews, but I suppose that's no guarantee of absence of malware. The trouble with sending it in for warranty service is, I've voided my warranty by rooting it and installing a custom ROM, and I can't flash it back to stock.
Nizrael said:
I wouldn't have thought I had downloaded anything especially sketchy. I won't install an app unless it's got a lot of positive reviews, but I suppose that's no guarantee of absence of malware. The trouble with sending it in for warranty service is, I've voided my warranty by rooting it and installing a custom ROM, and I can't flash it back to stock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What are you talking about, you can ALWAYS flash back to stock
Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2
Nizrael said:
I wouldn't have thought I had downloaded anything especially sketchy. I won't install an app unless it's got a lot of positive reviews, but I suppose that's no guarantee of absence of malware. The trouble with sending it in for warranty service is, I've voided my warranty by rooting it and installing a custom ROM, and I can't flash it back to stock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you already have a back up try this out. Format system, Format data, Format cache. Wipe cache partition, Wipe dalvik, Wipe data/Factory Reset. Do all these twice not once but twice then reinstall backup rom and reboot. See if this fixes the problem.
No Joy
richardlibeau said:
If you already have a back up try this out. Format system, Format data, Format cache. Wipe cache partition, Wipe dalvik, Wipe data/Factory Reset. Do all these twice not once but twice then reinstall backup rom and reboot. See if this fixes the problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Creating a backup was the first thing I did after I rooted it, so I did what you suggested. The first four steps went well enough:
Reboot to recovery ---> mounts and storage ---> format /system ---> Yes - Format ---> Done. (x2)
mounts and storage ---> format /data ---> Yes - Format ---> Done. (x2)
mounts and storage ---> format /cache ---> Yes - Format ---> Done. (x2)
wipe cache partition ---> Yes - Wipe Cache ---> --Wiping cache... Formatting /cache... Cache wipe complete. (x2)
When I went to wipe dalvik, I got this error the first time:
advanced ---> Wipe Dalvik Cache ---> E:unknown volume for path [/sd-ext]
So I tried it again, and it seemed to work:
Wipe Dalvik Cache ---> Dalvik Cache wiped.
Just to be sure, I tried it a third time and got the error again:
advanced ---> Wipe Dalvik Cache ---> E:unknown volume for path [/sd-ext]
After several more tries, it seems to be alternating back and forth between telling me it works and giving me an error message, so I moved on:
wipe data/factory reset ---> Yes -- delete all user data --->
It seemed to partially work, but also gave me an error:
-- Wiping data...
Formatting /data...
Formatting /cache...
Formatting /sd-ext...
Formatting /sdcard/.android.secure...
Error mounting /sdcard/.android.secure!
Skipping format...
Data wipe complete.
I tried it again three more times and got the same results, error mounting /sdcard/.android.secure. Moving on, I tried to restore a backup:
- backup and restore ---> restore ---> E:Can't mount /sdcard (x4)
The thought occurred that it might be trying to access an external SD card rather than internal storage, so I re-installed the one I had removed prior to mucking about trying to wipe things and tried again:
- backup and restore ---> restore ---> Couldn't open directory. No files found.
This was new, so I went back to the wipe data/factory reset step:
wipe data/factory reset ---> Yes -- delete all user data --->
This time it seemed to work without any errors:
-- Wiping data...
Formatting /data...
Formatting /cache...
Formatting /sd-ext...
Formatting /sdcard/.android.secure...
Data wipe complete. (x2)
Since that seemed to work, I repeated all steps from the beginning and moved on to the restore step:
- backup and restore ---> restore ---> Couldn't open directory. No files found. (x2)
I tried the restore from internal sdcard option:
- backup and restore ---> restore from internal sdcard ---> Couldn't open directory. No files found. (x2)
I then tried the "- advanced restore" and "- advanced restore from internal sdcard" but with the same results ---> Couldn't open directory. No files found. (x2)
Then I rebooted it:
- reboot system now --->
And yet again, it behaves as though it's been powered down since Thursday before last.

[Q] Proper way to completely format a galaxy nexus in preparation for a custom rom?

What is the proper way to format a galaxy nexus? I want to clear everything possible and start fresh in an attempt to solve the abysmal write speeds I've been getting recently and I don't want to wind up bricking the thing in the process since I know certain partitions store the boot loader and more.
Other attempts to fix the write speed including fstrim, changing the mount command to enable trimming deleted files automatically, completely filling all free space with zeros then removing it, and none have helped yet. It gets approximately 0.10-0.15KB/s on random write with androbench, 2.0-5.5MB/s for sequencial write. I've never had anything less than 12GB free space, except when I tried filling all the free space
I want to format before reinstalling cyanogenmod and I understand there are risks involved that could brick my device so any instruction for what should and should not be touched would be greatly appreciated.
You need custom recovery installed (twrp or cwm). I have twrp. You need from recovery, for example twrp, wipe cache, dalvik cache, data and system from advanced wipe menu. After that, you should put in queue rom (which you are installing in zip format), then gapps(not all rom's need gapps, read install description for current rom) and custom kernel (not necessarily). After you just swipe on menu to proceed with installation and thats it
marko207 said:
You need custom recovery installed (twrp or cwm). I have twrp. You need from recovery, for example twrp, wipe cache, dalvik cache, data and system from advanced wipe menu. After that, you should put in queue rom (which you are installing in zip format), then gapps(not all rom's need gapps, read install description for current rom) and custom kernel (not necessarily). After you just swipe on menu to proceed with installation and thats it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Make sure yu don't wipe "sdcard data" (there's a difference in System Data and SDCard Data). Marco207 mentioned that yu will have to wipe System Data. Rest yu may wipe anything, in fact, everything in case yu want a whole fresh ROM.

[Q] Phone won't load past boot screen/ How to back up photos

My phone is stuck on the boot screen (it's rooted and i have clockwork mod) and normally when this happens, i would just factory reset and it would work just fine but all my photos would be wiped. This time I have really important photos that I didn't back up so I was wondering how I could back it up. Unfortunately I didn't have debugging mode enabled so it doesn't show up when i plug the phone into my laptop
What can I do to backup my photos?
a factory reset/data wipe(NOT the one that wipes the ENTIRE /data partition, I use twrp I can't remember what they call it in cwm) might allow your device to boot by erasing userdata/settings/installed apps and such, BUT it leaves /data/media intact which is a link to /sdcard where all your photos are stored.
a factory img restore WILL WIPE ALL /data, so don't do THAT yet.
if you have any rom zips on device you can TRY booting recovery and install it and then try to see if it boots.
recently I got stuck at boot and had to reflash my commotio zip in order to boot device.

[SOLVED] How to completely wipe literally EVERYTHING

I looked through many threads, posts, websites, and tutorials, but none of them say how to literally wipe my device completely (it could be that it's not possible), what I want to do is completely remove literally everything so that it's like a brand new hard drive without even any files in it.
'Factory Reset' doesn't remove everything because android still boots after a factory reset and android wouldn't be able to boot if there were no files on the device. TWRP doesn't remove everything either because how is twrp running, and I can still see the androids root directories in twrps file manager (TWRP does tell me that there's no OS installed, but then why is there still a functioning file system with actual files in them).
I want to completely wipe everything so that any future roms I download will have no way to be affected by any old kernels/roms/apps that I have installed in the past. I want to clean install android on top of a literally empty phone hard drive. If this isn't possible then what's the closest to that that I can get? Cuz I tried various roms and I had bugs that persisted between multiple roms even though other people said that they didn't have these issues.
In case you're wondering: I'm currently running LineageOS 15.1, oreo 8.1
Your best bet it to wipe using stock image. Reinstall TWRP and wipe system, cache and data before installing new ROM
I agree with the advice given by Vanschtezla.
Also, if you would completely wipe all data on the phone's storage then that would also wipe the partition table. The storage area is divided into partitions which are mounted to for example /system /data and /cache when your phone boots.
Also there is no real need to "wipe everything" as you say as that could brick your phone. If you just boot TWRP and wipe using "Factory reset" and additionally: System then everything should be clean enough to install a new ROM. Depending on the ROM it will wipe the System partition anyway.
Kernels reside in the system partition so when you wipe System, any Kernel is gone
Pre installed (system) Apps sit in the System partition so wipe System and they are gone
User Apps sit in the data partition so wipe data (that is included in the Factory reset) and they're gone
All in all I think you're expecting issues that simply do not exist. Especially if you just follow the instructions of the (custom) ROM you want to install.
THANK YOU!
peterpv said:
I agree with the advice given by Vanschtezla.
Kernels reside in the system partition so when you wipe System, any Kernel is gone
Pre installed (system) Apps sit in the System partition so wipe System and they are gone
User Apps sit in the data partition so wipe data (that is included in the Factory reset) and they're gone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is exactly what I was looking for! Why don't any "How to wipe your phone" guides say these things (even the ones that get more technical don't mention what exactly gets deleted for each wipe option, which is why from your perspective it was probably very weird to read my question).

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