Develop Bugs

Edit Oct 17, 2014 - Encrypt your device/phone with custom ROM

Disclaimer: I am not responsible for any damage or liability arising out of these steps. I did not invent anything, I just tried something. Only move forward at your risk
If you don't agree ... stop reading and move on...
Background: Our phone has access to so much personal information that its scary if it fell into wrong hands. The only way to fix this is to encrypt phone. I did lot of research and here is a working solution that works for me - try at your risk.
Download Links:
a) Tested with ROM Stock 4.4.4 NH7 Galaxy S4 M919/Jfltetmo by @ShinySide
b) Tested with ROM |ROM|★KANGAKAT★|►KTU84P◄|4.4.4|Xposed|►8◄|6.26.14 by @iB4STiD
c) stock recovery AT&T S4 works with M919
d) Philz/CWM custom recovery
Encrypting with custom rom
1) Assume you are on custom recovery. - Backup everything first. Create a nandroid backup
2) Do a full wipe and install one of the two roms linked above (I have tested with few other roms ... none worked). Start the phone and set it up the way you want. Install all apps etc.
3) ODIN Stock recovery. See #c under download above. Its AT&T stock recovery but works for me. You need to know how to ODIN - find out. Doing this wrong will permanently damage your phone
4) Start your phone and turn on encryption. You will need to set lock type = password and will need to connect to charger and have 80% charge.
- Phone will do blank and stay blank for 20-30 minutes. Do not do anything. Encryption is happening behind the scenes.
- You might have to do this twice or thrice if it did not encrypt first time. For me the phone went blank first time and after 25 minutes it restarted but device was not encrypted. I redid the same steps and worked second time.
- If you interrupt the encryption process (battery pull or power up) you will see error message (encryption failed, reset device)
5) If all goes well you now have a password protected encrypted phone with custom rom!!! Check in Settings -> Security
6) You may install custom recovery ... but I don't see the point because you will need stock recovery to decrypt
To install another ROM
1) Reboot into stock recovery, then wipe data and cache (this removes encryption).
2) install your recovery of choice and install ROM using recovery. Philz/CWM
Credit goes to @Tronicus and his reply Flash a Rom on an Encrypted Android
Tronicus said:
How to Flash a rom on an encrypted Android phone (specifically this one, the I9505 SGH-I337).
The Problem: Once encrypted, you can't decrypt it easily. When encrypting the phone android will tell you you can only decrypt it using a factory reset. Naturally you assume it's talking about the "Factory Data Reset" option found in Settings --> Backup and Reset. But noooo, Android is lying through its ****ing teeth. Then you'll assume you have to wipe everything from your custom recovery mod (CWM, TWRP, or one of those). Wrong again! You'll get beautiful "can't mount /data" messages and more bull****. I read about a workaround that required installing the new rom using ADB, but I had ingeniously disabled USB debugging prior to wiping everything, so I only got so far with that option (plus it's tediously long if you haven't installed all the necessary software already and don't feel like bricking your phone because you made a typo in the command line). So, apparently the only other way to really format that partition free of its encryption is to use a stock recovery. So:
Short Version for Godlike users who know automatically how to do all this **** without any help (mimicking how most help posts are finely detailed on this site): Flash stock recovery, wipe everything, flash your custom recovery and install your new rom.
Long version for us mortals who don't know everything and haven't already downloaded already every single bit of software on earth:
Backup all the stuff you want to save. This process will truly wipe EVERYTHING. You can do it manually, or you can use an app like Titanium Backup Pro to help you (find it on Google Play Store). Here's a nice guide which recommends what to restore and what not to restore: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1480343
Flash the stock recovery using Odin. You can download a stock recovery from here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=49687791&postcount=3 It's the link called "I337MK2stockrecovery.tar.md5" In case you don't know how to flash it with Odin, this short guide will help: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1506697
In step 6 replace "recovery.tar.md5" with the stock recovery you downloaded.
Wipe everything from the Stock recovery console. This little ****er will **** up the encryption all those sissies couldn't touch. You're welcome. You boot into recovery mode from a turned off phone by pressing simultaneously the volume up key + the home key + the power key until you see blue text appearing in the top left corner of your screen.
Reinstall your custom recovery. In my case I had installed the rom BEFORE flashing in the stock recovery (apparently it works, you just can't boot because of the encryption), so I was able to boot into the new rom before I returned to my custom recovery. Weird. Anyways, I recommend CWM. You can pick it up from this link: http://goo.im/devs/philz_touch/CWM_Advanced_Edition/jflte
For some weird reason they call the I337 version the "jflte" version. It's bonkers. Click there, and download the latest version that ends with .tar.md5. This version is upgradable via Odin, which we already used. Use the same instructions used as when you upgraded the stock recovery rom.
Boot into your recovery mod and flash your rom like you usually do.
A word about TWRP: it cost me many hours of work and I don't recommend it. Its website is outdated, and recommends using GooManager (which is no longer mantained) and doesn't work anymore for this. GooManager suggests using a new, different app, which doesn't have the option of installing TWRP. Then I tried using their TWRP Manager app from play store and the image file wouldn't download. Then I tried manually selecting the image file in TWRP manager that I downloaded from their site for use via the ADB method, and it bricked my phone... twice (using two different methods the app sugested). I tried so much because in theory TWRP has the ability to decrypt android's 4.4 encryption, but after looking at their github site I noticed it was filled with people's reports (including people with the S4) on how it wouldn't work decrypting squat. So I gave up, and installed CWM in 30 seconds.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Disclaimer: I am not responsible for any damage or liability arising out of these steps. I did not invent anything, I just tried something. Only move forward at your risk

cnewsgrp said:
One of the things I needed was the ability to encrypt my phone (device only not external SD) for security purpose. Our phones today gives access to lot of information that I would rather not fall in wrong hands. I did lot of research and here is a working solution.
Credit goes to @Tronicus and his reply Flash a Rom on an Encrypted Android
The quote looks long however it is really very simple. To install another ROM
- Install and reboot into stock recovery, then wipe data and cache (this removes encryption).
- Then install your recovery of choice and install ROM using recovery. Philz/CWM
This has been tested working on |ROM|★KANGAKAT★|►KTU84P◄|4.4.4|Xposed|►8◄|6.26.14 by @iB4STiD
This did NOT work on a Touchwiz ROM by same developer
I have not tested any other ROM
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know if it matters too much or not, but the stock recovery you linked to is for the AT&T S4. A good rule of thumb is to never use Odin to flash anything not specifically for your particular device... In this case the M919.
Sent from my SGH-M919 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

lordcheeto03 said:
I don't know if it matters too much or not, but the stock recovery you linked to is for the AT&T S4. A good rule of thumb is to never use Odin to flash anything not specifically for your particular device... In this case the M919.
Sent from my SGH-M919 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have tested stock recovery on M919 .. it works

Honestly im surprised its not talked about more since there is a big push for personal privacy when it comes to data. Encryption really is a pain in the ass to work with on android. Figuring out how to switch or update custom roms while encrypted will drive you insane. The easiest way is to just odin back to stock and start over, but that requires a computer anytime you need to flash anything.
I recently was trying out one of the 4.4.4 GPE roms and turned on encryption. It worked great until i started missing touchwiz and wanted to go back to HyperDrive TW. So the journey began...
First of all, i backed up everything to external storage since i knew everything on the internal storage would have to be wiped. I loaded the phone into recovery mode (using TWRP) and tried wiping, but all i got was a bunch of "Failed to mount" errors. Fine. Got the same error when trying to factory reset or wiping /system, /data, /cache, and anything else. Tried formatting to different file systems and then formatting back to the original but no luck. Fixing permissions didnt help. I just kept trying everything available multiple times.
Eventually it started wiping everything except the /data mount. Well... At least i could install new custom roms. Im not sure exactly what did it because i was just throwing everything at it. Anyways I got it to install, and booted into it. Nope.
Now it was saying I needed the password to decrypt the internal storage. It would detect wrong passwords fine, but as soon as i put the correct password in, it would allow me in, show the green android encryption picture, then blank screen. I thought it was just decrypting and setting up my rom but after a few hours my screen was still black and nothing was happening. Pulled battery and went back to TWRP.
I started wiping everything again and again and tried doing everything i could to wipe everything on the internal storage. Again, not sure what did it, but eventually got it all cleaned up and got a new rom installed and could boot into it.
The whole process probably took about 6-7 hours...
I dont even want to enable encryption on the new rom...

p-hil said:
Honestly im surprised its not talked about more since there is a big push for personal privacy when it comes to data. Encryption really is a pain in the ass to work with on android. Figuring out how to switch or update custom roms while encrypted will drive you insane. The easiest way is to just odin back to stock and start over, but that requires a computer anytime you need to flash anything.
I recently was trying out one of the 4.4.4 GPE roms and turned on encryption. It worked great until i started missing touchwiz and wanted to go back to HyperDrive TW. So the journey began...
First of all, i backed up everything to external storage since i knew everything on the internal storage would have to be wiped. I loaded the phone into recovery mode (using TWRP) and tried wiping, but all i got was a bunch of "Failed to mount" errors. Fine. Got the same error when trying to factory reset or wiping /system, /data, /cache, and anything else. Tried formatting to different file systems and then formatting back to the original but no luck. Fixing permissions didnt help. I just kept trying everything available multiple times.
Eventually it started wiping everything except the /data mount. Well... At least i could install new custom roms. Im not sure exactly what did it because i was just throwing everything at it. Anyways I got it to install, and booted into it. Nope.
Now it was saying I needed the password to decrypt the internal storage. It would detect wrong passwords fine, but as soon as i put the correct password in, it would allow me in, show the green android encryption picture, then blank screen. I thought it was just decrypting and setting up my rom but after a few hours my screen was still black and nothing was happening. Pulled battery and went back to TWRP.
I started wiping everything again and again and tried doing everything i could to wipe everything on the internal storage. Again, not sure what did it, but eventually got it all cleaned up and got a new rom installed and could boot into it.
The whole process probably took about 6-7 hours...
I dont even want to enable encryption on the new rom...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah Encryption does not seem to work on TWZ roms. I tried on G Eye without luck.

I have updated op. Please check

Encryption will slow down your phone quite a bit. More battery usage + more CPU usage + slower phone = not worth it unless you've got some very private stuff you don't want being shared. Otherwise, 3rd party apps that lock a lot of files, can encrypt certain files, and hide others will do the trick perfectly well.'
Not trying to bash fully encrypting your phone, but I've tried it before and although I am very pro privacy, I had to eventually take it off due to all the extra hassle it created.

Don't know about slowing down. I am not seeing it. I feel differently about security.

Be warned: Encrypting your device can be dangerous

Hello,
As Google has decided to turn encryption on as a standard in the upcoming Android 5.0, I thought I would give it a test on my CosmicCM 5.4.
I started the encryption and it prompts you that you for a passcode that will be used from now on, so far no problem.
It started encrypting my device and it was running for some time(I left it alone for an hour) and reboots a couple of times.
After he's finished the annoyance came.
first you will have to type twice your password with a reboot, one time do decrypt your device the second time to enter your device.
Be aware that performance can be slowed through encryption, and it can negatively impact battery life too.
So I decide to go back.
The Problem: Once encrypted, you can't decrypt it easily.
When encrypting the phone android will tell you you can only decrypt it using a factory reset. Naturally you assume it's talking about the "Factory Data Reset" option found in Settings --> Backup and Reset and this works.
Now I wanted to try a rom (TW 4.2.2 based) and see how this worked and after installing and booting.
I got prompted to enter the decryption and of course this didn’t work anymore as there is no data for the password.
So I assumed you can wipe everything from your custom recovery mod (CWM, TWRP, or one of those).
Wrong! You'll get beautiful "can't mount /data" messages and more.
After some hard time I got everything working again, by flashing CosmicCM again.
The phone booted al clean again without asking for encryption and when you check the menu it also mentioned encryption is deactivated.
Trying the previous rom again just triggerd the encryption again.
So It seems that there is still somewhere a hidden encrypted protection that will be activated when I flash a different rom.
So be warned and don’t play with encrypting your device as you could brick it.
Didn't have time to investigate further on how I can remove it completely, but my guess is I have to redo all the partitions.

I was on the same boat a month ago

akiratoriyama said:
I was on the same boat a month ago
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wish you told me sooner
Did you redo all the partitions to get the encryption completely removed?

RichyE said:
I wish you told me sooner
Did you redo all the partitions to get the encryption completely removed?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think I had to wipe my data via Philz, CWM and stock to remove encryption.

akiratoriyama said:
I think I had to wipe my data via Philz, CWM and stock to remove encryption.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the info, will try to flash stock this week and see if this helps

Boot loop and factory image restore

Hi,
I'm writing here as a last hope, after I've tried every possible solution I could find online. Any help here will be very much appreciated.
Couple of days ago I received my fresh Nexus 5X, that I plan to use with Project Fi.
After unlocking the bootloader (with Google Support blessing!) and installing TWRP+SuperSU, I ran into problems, big problems.
Following the Android wizard setup, I connected to the wifi and the phone started downloading an update of ~79Mb.
When rebooted, though, it started TWRP, and it didn't go ahead.
To play safe, I decided to do a factory reset, using the official ROM from Google, replacing also TWRP with the original recovery (I basically did every step in the "flash-all.sh" script).
That didn't work either, and the phone now gets stuck at the boot animation.
I've tried also wiping partitions using both fastboot ("fastboot -w...") and TWRP, but nothing worked.
Another diagnostic symptom.
I've noticed that the recovery (TWRP for sure, the stock one not so much sure) had problems finding the sdcard partition ("unknown volume for path couldn't mount sdcard installation aborted").
Could that be a source of issues?
I thought that it would be possible to do a factory reset, but I'm probably missing something.
At this point, I'm completely lost and I don't know what to do.
Thanks in advance.

Try the flash all script again with latest firmware and let it boot up completely. It will take a while, once booted, flash TWRP and root if you want.

ntropia said:
Hi,
I'm writing here as a last hope, after I've tried every possible solution I could find online. Any help here will be very much appreciated.
Couple of days ago I received my fresh Nexus 5X, that I plan to use with Project Fi.
After unlocking the bootloader (with Google Support blessing!) and installing TWRP+SuperSU, I ran into problems, big problems.
Following the Android wizard setup, I connected to the wifi and the phone started downloading an update of ~79Mb.
When rebooted, though, it started TWRP, and it didn't go ahead.
To play safe, I decided to do a factory reset, using the official ROM from Google, replacing also TWRP with the original recovery (I basically did every step in the "flash-all.sh" script).
That didn't work either, and the phone now gets stuck at the boot animation.
I've tried also wiping partitions using both fastboot ("fastboot -w...") and TWRP, but nothing worked.
Another diagnostic symptom.
I've noticed that the recovery (TWRP for sure, the stock one not so much sure) had problems finding the sdcard partition ("unknown volume for path couldn't mount sdcard installation aborted").
Could that be a source of issues?
I thought that it would be possible to do a factory reset, but I'm probably missing something.
At this point, I'm completely lost and I don't know what to do.
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wonder if you need a modified boot.img or kernel since you are rooted .In my experience since Android 5.1.1 you need a custom kernel for root and sometimes a modified boot.img after flashing twrp
Sent from my Nexus 5X using XDA Free mobile app

androidddaaron said:
I wonder if you need a modified boot.img or kernel since you are rooted .In my experience since Android 5.1.1 you need a custom kernel for root and sometimes a modified boot.img after flashing twrp
Sent from my Nexus 5X using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's an interesting perspective, actually.
I didn't know that you needed a special image for rooted devices.
Although, I would imagine that's always possible to 'un-root' it, and honestly I was hoping that 'fastboot flash -w...' would have removed any trace of the root.
Is that the case?
Either way, where could I find these modified images?
Thanks a bunch!

Solved
I found the solution which, as it happens when nothing seems to be wrong, was fairly trivial.
Basically, the scripts provided with the stock ROM from Google has problems, and this last command fails:
Code:
fastboot update image-bullhead-mmb29p.zip
saying that system.img is missing.
To fix that, you have to manually extract the content of the files and proceed to flash manually userdata, system, etc...
The problem is that if you don't flash also vendor.img, you're in trouble, and the device will not boot.
Some of the guides that I've found were suggesting that you need to do it for the Nexus 9, and I didn't notice when other guides were mentioning it.
Once you flash the vendor.img, the boot loop is gone.
I'll put it here, I hope it can be helpful to somebody.
Thanks to androidddaaron and k.s.deviate for the support!
(I've thanked also used the thank button near the posts, but if there's more to do, let me know)
Now, back to mess up the Project Fi SIM...

Oldtimer turned NUBE question

Hey everyone,
I have been rooted for a LONG time, but have been gone for a year or 2. I have the OnePlus 3 that IS rooted with:
Experience OS R11.0 with
Kernel 3.18.31-perf+
[email protected] #1
7.1.1
OP3_o2_open_18
This one has served me well, but may be a bit obsolete.
What rom and kernel can I use now from 7.1.1 What must I do? I see 8.0 and such, and a host of others. Will I lose everything if I upgrade to a new version? I always do a nandroid, and I have Titanium Backup, which I THINK keeps apps, etc...
I remember having trouble installing Roms way back when. Not sure if it was a TWRP issue, as I also had Philz at one point. ( I Have TWRP now, but not sure which version) I had to use what i have (Which IS a GREAT ROM) because I was afraid to brick my phone, because I had so much trouble getting a rom to load. I constantly remember the little android falling over saying "Leave me the **** alone. If I boot to recovery, I just get the TWRP screen 3.1.0.0 that never opens. It just stays on that page and never opens, so I have to turn off the phone to reboot to turn on
I sincerely apologize for not remembering or keeping up.
Have a great day

wascapsfan said:
Hey everyone,
I have been rooted for a LONG time, but have been gone for a year or 2. I have the OnePlus 3 that IS rooted with:
Experience OS R11.0 with
Kernel 3.18.31-perf+
[email protected] #1
7.1.1
OP3_o2_open_18
This one has served me well, but may be a bit obsolete.
What rom and kernel can I use now from 7.1.1 What must I do? I see 8.0 and such, and a host of others. Will I lose everything if I upgrade to a new version? I always do a nandroid, and I have Titanium Backup, which I THINK keeps apps, etc...
I remember having trouble installing Roms way back when. Not sure if it was a TWRP issue, as I also had Philz at one point. ( I Have TWRP now, but not sure which version) I had to use what i have (Which IS a GREAT ROM) because I was afraid to brick my phone, because I had so much trouble getting a rom to load. I constantly remember the little android falling over saying "Leave me the **** alone. If I boot to recovery, I just get the TWRP screen 3.1.0.0 that never opens. It just stays on that page and never opens, so I have to turn off the phone to reboot to turn on
I sincerely apologize for not remembering or keeping up.
Have a great day
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow.. Not one answer. What happened to the days where you ask a question, you get ridiculed, then many come out of the woodwork to get you on track...
Oh well........

wascapsfan said:
Hey everyone,
I have been rooted for a LONG time, but have been gone for a year or 2. I have the OnePlus 3 that IS rooted with:
Experience OS R11.0 with
Kernel 3.18.31-perf+
[email protected] #1
7.1.1
OP3_o2_open_18
This one has served me well, but may be a bit obsolete.
What rom and kernel can I use now from 7.1.1 What must I do? I see 8.0 and such, and a host of others. Will I lose everything if I upgrade to a new version? I always do a nandroid, and I have Titanium Backup, which I THINK keeps apps, etc...
I remember having trouble installing Roms way back when. Not sure if it was a TWRP issue, as I also had Philz at one point. ( I Have TWRP now, but not sure which version) I had to use what i have (Which IS a GREAT ROM) because I was afraid to brick my phone, because I had so much trouble getting a rom to load. I constantly remember the little android falling over saying "Leave me the **** alone. If I boot to recovery, I just get the TWRP screen 3.1.0.0 that never opens. It just stays on that page and never opens, so I have to turn off the phone to reboot to turn on
I sincerely apologize for not remembering or keeping up.
Have a great day
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Make sure you have the latest TWRP by Bluspark, it just works flawless for me and alot of other people.
Take a full backup. Wipe system and both cache partitions. Then flash the latest Experience ROM. For the open beta releases I should stick with stock kernel. Otherwise Franco and Flash kernel would be interesting. For root I should go with Magisk. Everyone uses it nowadays and the modules are super handy.

Twrp issues
I have rooted the One Plus 3. I loaded TWRP about a year and a half ago. Now when I try to go into recovery, TWRP comes up, but never opens. I tried removing it, but it wont remove, and I try to reinstall it using several methods including apps, but to no avail. The bootloader is unlocked and the debugging is on. Any suggestions. I can't do a backup or anything.
Thanks
Dave

wascapsfan said:
I have rooted the One Plus 3. I loaded TWRP about a year and a half ago. Now when I try to go into recovery, TWRP comes up, but never opens. I tried removing it, but it wont remove, and I try to reinstall it using several methods including apps, but to no avail. The bootloader is unlocked and the debugging is on. Any suggestions. I can't do a backup or anything.
Thanks
Dave
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Boot into fastboot, then connect it to your pc and use fastboot flash recovery. Get the latest TWRP.

I tried that, but it won't take. If I had a tar file, I could try it with Odin, but no matter what I do, when I go into bootloader, it says I'm unlocked, then I try to go into recovery, and TWRP shows up, but typically you get the different choices like backup, install, etc... I stay stuck on the TWRP page, that does not do anything, nor does it give me any choices. I have to shut the phone down each time just to get it back to working mode. I tried the adb method using the cmd prompt, and everything works up to trying to actually flashing TWRP...

wascapsfan said:
I tried that, but it won't take. If I had a tar file, I could try it with Odin, but no matter what I do, when I go into bootloader, it says I'm unlocked, then I try to go into recovery, and TWRP shows up, but typically you get the different choices like backup, install, etc... I stay stuck on the TWRP page, that does not do anything, nor does it give me any choices. I have to shut the phone down each time just to get it back to working mode. I tried the adb method using the cmd prompt, and everything works up to trying to actually flashing TWRP...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You may have to flash the original recovery by oneplus , you can find it on one plus downloads in google , make sure before you do anything that you backup anything important like photos , videos to a computer , then download the ROM of choice along with the correct gapps for that ROM and the correct firmware ( most ROMs will include the recommended firmware in their post ) , also download the latest twrp recovery from twrp.me and magisk ( if not included in the ROM ) then its just a matter of wiping system , data , cache and dalvick whilst in twrp , install the ROM with the gapps let the ROM boot and setup a few of your settings then go back into twrp and flash magisk manager and you should be good to go , good luck and make sure you fully read the instructions on the ROM page that you want ...

Phone reboots to TWRP after custom ROM installation.

Hi, I hope this is in the correct forum section...
I have a Lenovo P2 running Lineage 14.1
I thought I'd have a look at a few other custom ROMs and I've installed three now, Lineage 15, AICP, and one other who's name escapes me just now.
The installs seem to go okay using TWRP. After reboot I get a message "To start Android, enter your password". The phone then immediately shuts off and reboots back to TWRP. It has done this with all three different ROMs that I've tried. I can restore my original Lineage 14.1 with no problem.
What's going on? I'm sure it's something simple but I'm damned if i can work it out.
Many thanks in advance for any help.
Cheers, Simon.

It's looks like encrypted, you gotta format your data using TWRP then start your device, good to go.

Many thanks, you were correct.
I formatted data with TWRP to remove encryption.
In case anyone else is having the same problem, I also then had to reboot TWRP, change data file system to ext2, reboot TWRP again and change data file system back to ext4 and reboot TWRP again, as suggested elsewhere on XDA site.
Just formatting data partition alone was not sufficient.
I now have a working version of lineage 16 to play with.
Cheers, Si.