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I want to use Android Device Encryption (Settings --> General --> Security). My questions are:
1). Is there any issue if my device is rooted and KNOX is disabled (it's still 0x0)
2). If anything to my device and I need to Odin, I assume encryption will NOT prevent me doing so?
3). Bonus question: is there anyway to use PIN when the device is encrypted? I only see "Password" and the rest is greyed out. I don't want to use 6 characters alphanumeric password everytime I want to use my device.
1) Yes, if you're rooted with a 100% stock ROM and recovery, you CAN encrypt.
2) Sort of. It might mess up the encryption. Mine got confused thinking it was still encrypted, but couldn't mount the partition after Odin ran. To fix it, boot to STOCK recovery using the hardware keys (vol+/home/power), and do a factory reset from in there. Note that CWM/TWRP etc will NOT work to fix this issue. It's something to do with the changes Samsung made to the encryption code.
3) Nope. Password only. In theory, it might be possible to do an Xposed module, but I didn't find a good place to hook in to the process. If they would separate the encryption password from the device lock code, this would be easy. I ended up using the No Lock Home Xposed module, which lets you switch to swipe screen lock when you are connected to particular wifi/cell/BT devices.
I'm actually running without encryption now. It makes custom ROMs difficult. I believe if I were running an AOSP derived ROM it would be fine, but using modded stock stuff causes issues. Make sure you do backups to SD or a computer. If something goes wrong with the encryption there is no way to recover without a full wipe, which kills everything on the internal storage, including /sdcard. The external SD card is not affected, unless you encrypted that as well. I like the extra security, but the implementation sucks and is buggy.
Hi,
I recently upgraded to Lineage 14.1 bacon for my Oneplus One. I installed it using TWRP. I had made a backup of important apps via Titanium Pro Rooted (Dunno if this is relevant).
Also I made a backup of the system and data via TWRP just in case. After the first successful install, like a fool I tried to revert to the old build from TWRP Backup by using the restore process, where I tried to just restore the data part of the backup and not the system as well.
It got stuck at 50% during this process for more than 6 hours. I just rebooted the phone midway during the restore process, wiped the phone again to factory and re-installed Lineage 14.1 (with Gapps Micro which I did the first time as well).
Now for some reason after that, some of the apps that I try to install, just refuse to download from the App Store. They are permanently stuck at the downloading stage where the download progress bar never shows. After a few minutes they return with an Error 492. This is happening for apps like google chrome, microsoft excel, powerpoint & word, Line, Snapchat, Candy Crush, Magic Rush Heroes and few more apps. The rest of the apps just download fine.
My guess (since I am not an expert at any of this stuff) is that the restore process is where things got screwed up. I have wiped everything except internal storage (including dalvik cache and cache) to reinstall Lineage with gapps a few times and there is still no success in installing those few apps mentioned before. I have no clue how to solve this issue.
The Lineage and Gapps packages to be flashed are in internal storage and this device doesn't have an external SD Card. So I cannot wipe internal storage as well. IF there is a way to install Lineage with Gapps in spite of wiping internal storage then I dunno that process.
I am in a major fix here. Please help!
You can use adb push to put data on your internal memory. Ensure that you have usb debugging on when connect your phone.
rk92 said:
You can use adb push to put data on your internal memory. Ensure that you have usb debugging on when connect your phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the suggestion! But here is the issue now! My friend in haste, wiped the whole internal storage. Now I had the data backed up luckily. But, there is no ROM or gapps zip available to flash and I am using TWRP 2.7.0.0 and I am unable to find an option to connect TWRP to an external memory such as USB OTG or USB Mass Storage to load the flash files onto the phone. It seems like my phone is bricked with only TWRP as the only recovery mode! Any way I can flash to Lineage again?
Here is the issue now! My friend in haste, wiped the whole internal storage. Now I had the data backed up luckily. But, there is no ROM or gapps zip available to flash and I am using TWRP 2.7.0.0 and I am unable to find an option to connect TWRP to an external memory such as USB OTG or USB Mass Storage to load the flash files onto the phone. It seems like my phone is bricked with only TWRP as the only recovery mode! Any way I can flash to Lineage again?
Ok I was able to push the zip files for Lineage and Gapps using adb from the computer. But now the problem is that TWRP is stuck in a permanent loop mode. The Teamwin screen appears and refreshes back to the same screen all the time. Should I switch to CWM?
Upon further research I found that using fastboot mode I can flash the latest TWRP image. I did that and thankfully the image that I had sideloaded through ADB was available and I was able to install Lineage and Gapps. Question now remains is that should I install SuperSU and root my device as it still says that the device is unrooted!
Ok back to square one! The apps listed in my original question still dont seem to be installing even after completely wiping the phone and installing Lineage OS 14.1 and gapps afresh. Any suggestions???
rk92 said:
You can use adb push to put data on your internal memory. Ensure that you have usb debugging on when connect your phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the suggestion @rk92. I used adb push to install the rom and gapps per your suggestion! But the issue of above said apps not installing still persists in spite a clean wipe of the phone.
GanZ
When I login to Google Play Store using my google account, the apps that wont install show as installed. I do not own any other device except the oneplus one that I flashed from Cyanogenmod 12.1 to Lineage 14.1 Bacon Nightly. The apps are showing as installed in the same device, whereas they are clearly not! I checked all apps under the settings section and not one of these apps are installed. This is really something strange as an issue! Any ideas forum members? Is there any thread on XDA with a solution to this problem? Please help!
ganz.dev said:
When I login to Google Play Store using my google account, the apps that wont install show as installed. I do not own any other device except the oneplus one that I flashed from Cyanogenmod 12.1 to Lineage 14.1 Bacon Nightly. The apps are showing as installed in the same device, whereas they are clearly not! I checked all apps under the settings section and not one of these apps are installed. This is really something strange as an issue! Any ideas forum members? Is there any thread on XDA with a solution to this problem? Please help!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What is your version of Gapp. I think for Lineage 14.1 you need 7.1.1. Sometime back I had an issue when the play service would suddenly stop. I had flashed from cm13 to slimrom. I flashed the stock rom and then flashed to slimrom and this didn't happen. May this is not properly cleaning up your /system.
rk92 said:
What is your version of Gapp. I think for Lineage 14.1 you need 7.1.1. Sometime back I had an issue when the play service would suddenly stop. I had flashed from cm13 to slimrom. I flashed the stock rom and then flashed to slimrom and this didn't happen. May this is not properly cleaning up your /system.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I flashed gapps nano arm Nougat 7.1.. So guess that isnt the issue?
Ok even my storage seems to be blocked! I am not able to transfer files via MTP, OTG, Shareit and my camera isnt recognising the internal shared storage. The camera has permissions to access storage though. Using all file explorers available in the market, I am still not able to create folders, transfer files etc. Could this be a corrupt storage????
I have the exact same problem. I use Lineage 14.1 (2017 04 10) and android 7.1.1. I Also have certain apps which don't install (facebook, facebook messenger, snapchat). The download does not progress and after a couple minutes i also get error code 492. I just got this phone off a friend of mine, meaning i just did a factory data reset, but that didn't solve the problem.
I've always used apple or nokia in my life, thus i am a real noob at android. If a solution is found in this forum thread i'd be really happy as i can than fully use my 'new' oneplus one.
rk92 said:
What is your version of Gapp. I think for Lineage 14.1 you need 7.1.1. Sometime back I had an issue when the play service would suddenly stop. I had flashed from cm13 to slimrom. I flashed the stock rom and then flashed to slimrom and this didn't happen. May this is not properly cleaning up your /system.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@rk92 which Stock Rom did you flash? Coz as far as I remember reading there is no AOSP Build for OPO.
Kees de Groot said:
I have the exact same problem. I use Lineage 14.1 (2017 04 10) and android 7.1.1. I Also have certain apps which don't install (facebook, facebook messenger, snapchat). The download does not progress and after a couple minutes i also get error code 492. I just got this phone off a friend of mine, meaning i just did a factory data reset, but that didn't solve the problem.
I've always used apple or nokia in my life, thus i am a real noob at android. If a solution is found in this forum thread i'd be really happy as i can than fully use my 'new' oneplus one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@Kees de Groot Welcome to the club! Hope there are other active expert devs who can solve our problem!
@rk92 thanks a lot for your help! My internal storage permissions was the problem. It got fixed when I ran some adb shell commands from my laptop with USB Debugging enabled. Everything is normal now. Error 492 fixed.
@Kees de Groot I have a feeling that your app permissions are a problem. Check access to your internal storage. If you are able to access internal storage on your Oneplus using File Explorer to modify internal storage data, then fixing app permissions for the ones not installing will help you install them. Because all the apps that you are unable to install are due to permissions issues. These apps are not able to get access to internal storage. If internal storage access is the issue for you as well (in spite of being a rooted user), then run the commands posted on this thread. https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2222297
It should fix your permissions.
Hope that helps.
Could a moderator close this thread as solved?
Regards,
GanZ
Earlier in OnePlus 3 days...
I have set up fingerprints to unlock my device with pattern lock.
Then ...
I had deleted ... The below mentioned files from data/system...
1. locksettings.db
2. locksettings.db-shm
3. locksettings.db-wal
4. gatekeeper.password.key
5. gatekeeper.pattern.key
Because i dont want any security on my phone but i want my fingerprints to unlock my device very quickly and after removed the above mentioned files, i did that no more secure lockscreen and fingerprints working fine.
Now... In 'OnePlus 5T'...
I have set-ups my fingerprints to unlock my device with pattern lock.
Then ...
I had deleted ... The below mentioned files from data/system...
1. locksettings.db
2. locksettings.db-shm
3. locksettings.db-wal
4. gatekeeper.password.key
5. gatekeeper.pattern.key
As i don't want any security in my phone because my family need my Phone sometimes so i want swipe up to unlock my phone and fingerprints to unlock my device very quickly but as in OnePlus 3 it was working very fine but in 'OnePlus 5T' it is not working... When i reboot my phone it is showing blank screen, no home screen only wallpaper is showing.
When i get back into TWRP recovery (Blu_Spark) it is asking me a password to unlock modification and i have deleted the lockscreen security files already though.
Any solution?
I know many of you will saying decrypt your phone.
So, i have already format data and wipe internal storage.
Still when i followed the above steps, it still ask me a password in TWRP recovery.
How to solve that issue?
Note: Please Do Not Suggest to me to entered family's member fingerprints or tell them the password or pattern as i simply mentioned above what i want.
The default password in TWRP is "default_password" (without quotation marks). You could try that...
Didgeridoohan said:
The default password in TWRP is "default_password" (without quotation marks). You could try that...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for the reply.
I have not tried that password but i will soon... any idea about the above first issue? Home screen is not showing anything, only showing Wallpaper of the phone?
Can someone let me know how to find the password ?
The default one (default_password) seems to not be working
Using bluespark TWRP by the way and stock Oxygen OS with fingerprint password
Not sure if the data partition is encrypted, but it sure does look like it as in TWRP file manager I can not browse in folders in sdcard properly since they folder names are hashed
Edit:
Nevermind
Removed the fingerprint and data is no longer encrypted
This is a weird one and I would still like to know how to bypass it by not always removing the fingerprint if possible
So if someone knows, feel free to reply back
Normas Interruptor said:
Thank you for the reply.
I have not tried that password but i will soon... any idea about the above first issue? Home screen is not showing anything, only showing Wallpaper of the phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the exact same issue!! I deleted the 5 keys and I can only see the wallpaper and it doesn't allow me to set a new pin. TWRP is asking me for a password that I never set. Did you ever figure out how to solve the problem? I would like to figure out how to decrypt my data before having to do a reformat... :crying:
CoCoGirl886 said:
I have the exact same issue!! I deleted the 5 keys and I can only see the wallpaper and it doesn't allow me to set a new pin. TWRP is asking me for a password that I never set. Did you ever figure out how to solve the problem? I would like to figure out how to decrypt my data before having to do a reformat... :crying:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, this issue only appear when you have encrypted device...
So, to get ride of this situation again... Just format data with yes command and always flash no-vrrity zip to stay decrypt now you can delete these 5 files and stay decrypted and you can use your phone without any issues.
Normas Interruptor said:
Well, this issue only appear when you have encrypted device...
So, to get ride of this situation again... Just format data with yes command and always flash no-vrrity zip to stay decrypt now you can delete these 5 files and stay decrypted and you can use your phone without any issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That will wipe my entire internal drive as well right? I don't mind using my phone encrypted, but I'd just want to get past the encryption now so that I can access and backup my files before flashing or formatting.
CoCoGirl886 said:
That will wipe my entire internal drive as well right? I don't mind using my phone encrypted, but I'd just want to get past the encryption now so that I can access and backup my files before flashing or formatting.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes! you are right, formatting data can format your entire storage including internal storage but that will be happens only once..... Install TWRP recovery by codeworkx universal and format data, that will be erase the entire storage for sure but once you done with that... copy and paste Oxygen OS ROM file along with No-verity.zip file...
first flash ROM then flash No-verity.zip so you can stay decrypted ever.
Flashing no-verity.zip all the time in every rom at last is the best practice to stay decrypted.
Normas Interruptor said:
Yes! you are right, formatting data can format your entire storage including internal storage but that will be happens only once..... Install TWRP recovery by codeworkx universal and format data, that will be erase the entire storage for sure but once you done with that... copy and paste Oxygen OS ROM file along with No-verity.zip file...
first flash ROM then flash No-verity.zip so you can stay decrypted ever.
Flashing no-verity.zip all the time in every rom at last is the best practice to stay decrypted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah I see... the problem is that I don't have any backup of my files right now. So even if I format only once, my entire storage will be forever gone.
Did you figure out how to solve the problem of "when i reboot my phone it is showing blank screen, no home screen only wallpaper is showing" without reformatting?
CoCoGirl886 said:
Ah I see... the problem is that I don't have any backup of my files right now. So even if I format only once, my entire storage will be forever gone.
Did you figure out how to solve the problem of "when i reboot my phone it is showing blank screen, no home screen only wallpaper is showing" without reformatting?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have to erase the entire storage that is the only solution... trust me i have faces this issue several times when my phone as not decrypted and i lost my entire storage almost 10 times
If you have a fingerprint set, OR a pin or password, your TWRP pass is ALWAYS the same as your phone pin or pass Just tried it on mine.
Normas Interruptor said:
You have to erase the entire storage that is the only solution... trust me i have faces this issue several times when my phone as not decrypted and i lost my entire storage almost 10 times
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
jesus christ!
McDumbdumb said:
If you have a fingerprint set, OR a pin or password, your TWRP pass is ALWAYS the same as your phone pin or pass Just tried it on mine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup, that's the solution
LucasBass said:
Yup, that's the solution
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad to get some confirmation, I was fairly certain this had worked across multiple TWRP versions, but glad to hear it works from other users
CoCoGirl886 said:
I have the exact same issue!! I deleted the 5 keys and I can only see the wallpaper and it doesn't allow me to set a new pin. TWRP is asking me for a password that I never set. Did you ever figure out how to solve the problem? I would like to figure out how to decrypt my data before having to do a reformat... :crying:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same exact issue here as well. Did you ever find a solution without losing your data?
p3ric0 said:
Same exact issue here as well. Did you ever find a solution without losing your data?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately no. I had to format in the end and lose 9 months of photos, data, etc :crying:.
Now I know not to mess with the lockscreen keys because the newer android versions (i think 6.0 and over) has a security patch to prevent access to phone even if you delete the keys. From now on, if your touchscreen doesn't work then your best bet is to boot into TWRP, plug in a mouse via OTG cable and try to flash a new rom, which should preserve your internal drive data.
CoCoGirl886 said:
Unfortunately no. I had to format in the end and lose 9 months of photos, data, etc :crying:.
Now I know not to mess with the lockscreen keys because the newer android versions (i think 6.0 and over) has a security patch to prevent access to phone even if you delete the keys. From now on, if your touchscreen doesn't work then your best bet is to boot into TWRP, plug in a mouse via OTG cable and try to flash a new rom, which should preserve your internal drive data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dammit I was afraid of that
I tried doing a factory reset (leaving internal storage) but now the phone gets stuck on the Welcome screen "One sec.."
My internal storage is encrypted so all the folders are hashed and I can't even recover any backups I had in the phone. ADB doesn't want to detect the device while it's in TWRP so I can't sideload adb. My only hope is to buy an OTG adapter today, put my latest twrp backup on a flashdrive, and hope I can recover that way.
Nope. The OTG adapter works but TWRP can recovery everything except data.. gives an error "extractTarFork() process ended with ERROR: 255" when I try. Sighhh
p3ric0 said:
Dammit I was afraid of that
I tried doing a factory reset (leaving internal storage) but now the phone gets stuck on the Welcome screen "One sec.."
My internal storage is encrypted so all the folders are hashed and I can't even recover any backups I had in the phone. ADB doesn't want to detect the device while it's in TWRP so I can't sideload adb. My only hope is to buy an OTG adapter today, put my latest twrp backup on a flashdrive, and hope I can recover that way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You deleted the lockscreen keys from the OP right? If so, I don't think an OTG adapter would help. Because once you deleted the password then it will default to TWRP's password but it doesn't exist? However, if you never deleted the keys and can access TWRP's screen to enter your password then you should be able to decrypt and extract your backup. I had a pattern password and you can use the mouse connected to OTG cable to draw your pattern to unlock.
I'm actually having the same touchscreen issue on my device again... but the screen would randomly work. So I am waiting for it to start working before I reflash.
p3ric0 said:
Same exact issue here as well. Did you ever find a solution without losing your data?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
CoCoGirl886 said:
You deleted the lockscreen keys from the OP right? If so, I don't think an OTG adapter would help. Because once you deleted the password then it will default to TWRP's password but it doesn't exist? However, if you never deleted the keys and can access TWRP's screen to enter your password then you should be able to decrypt and extract your backup. I had a pattern password and you can use the mouse connected to OTG cable to draw your pattern to unlock.
I'm actually having the same touchscreen issue on my device again... but the screen would randomly work. So I am waiting for it to start working before I reflash.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So, TWRP asking password because our Device is encrypted but when i erase the internal storage and decrypt the device then problem got solved because encryption is a culprit here.
Hey there,
I have the Galaxy a50 SM-A505Fn and I just broke my internal storage by flashing TWRP and Multidisabler.
First, I should note that I am completely blind, so I use TWRP with ADB in CMD.
First I tried to root my phone with a patched boot image, using Magisc, but that didn't work, so I switched to TWRP.
After flashing it with Odin and booting into the recovery, my pc saw it as Galaxy A50 and the folders inside it were literal giberish and I couldn't paste anything in it, so I switched to a micro SD to flash Disabler and that worked surprisingly well.
Note, I did the wiping before that.
After the disabler worked, I rebooted into TWRP and used the command to reboot into recovery, as I was instructed, then the phone booted up just fine.
I set it up, and gained root with Magisc manager, but after connecting it to the PC to get the sound files I wanted to change it was still giberish and didn't let me make folders or paste anything into it.
The card also looked like it had the internal storage files like you would see on any phone, it had like 256 KB used on it from 2 gb it is formated at since I used it for a pi before and didn't have time to fix the capacity on it back to 64, but again you can't put anything onto it while in the phone.
Any help on how to make it work like normal?
Also apps don't see the storage properly either, so I can't use it for the reasons I rooted it for.
Thanks a lot.
After reading about it, it seems that the storage is encripted.
I managed to flash Infinity os on it, but the thing doesn't talk since it is missing text to speech, so I wanted to flash a zip to make it talking.
After rebooting into twrp, again, still encripted.
Got the zip onto my card, but doesn't flash, which is fine since that can be fixed, but I can't really do anything to fix it.
Does anyone know the command to format data?
twrp format data doesn't work like in the TWRP guide.
Any ideas?
you need to install multidisabler
yamen_tn said:
you need to install multidisabler
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did that already, that is how I flashed a rom on it, but was still encripted.
The rom said that there is a problem with my device, but it set up just fine.
I am back on ful stock right now and it decripted, I might try it again in some time.
The only things I want from root is to be able to change system sounds, to add haptic feedback which I already did and tweak it so it works faster.
If I could change the sounds without root and without event sound that would be awesome and would let me stay on stock.
Dragos597 said:
Did that already, that is how I flashed a rom on it, but was still encripted.
The rom said that there is a problem with my device, but it set up just fine.
I am back on ful stock right now and it decripted, I might try it again in some time.
The only things I want from root is to be able to change system sounds, to add haptic feedback which I already did and tweak it so it works faster.
If I could change the sounds without root and without event sound that would be awesome and would let me stay on stock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good thing you got it decrypted back again, i have had kind of the same issue with internal storage decreasing drastically multiple times, as far as i understood it happens when i install patched AP with magisk then install multidisabler and reboot it without formatting the whole device, maybe try that when your root next time to get past the internal storage issue. Note that mine was in android 9 and device storage was not encrypted unlike yours.
And as a suggestion, if there's someone near you who can help you with actually rooting your device with magisk rather than TWRP it will be much easier.
Regards
SuizShaw said:
Good thing you got it decrypted back again, i have had kind of the same issue with internal storage decreasing drastically multiple times, as far as i understood it happens when i install patched AP with magisk then install multidisabler and reboot it without formatting the whole device, maybe try that when your root next time to get past the internal storage issue. Note that mine was in android 9 and device storage was not encrypted unlike yours.
And as a suggestion, if there's someone near you who can help you with actually rooting your device with magisk rather than TWRP it will be much easier.
Regards
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've got the patched image for AP from a friend, also patched TWRP, but it did that after flashing auto disabler and wiping everything, so I still don't get it.
Anyway, it is back for now and I will have to see if it breaks next time I install twrp on it.
Hello!
This is my first post in this forum, please be indulgent if I don't understand some stuff or abbreviations immediately.
I recently bought a Galaxy A3 2017 (SM-A320FL) to replace my old one with shattered screen and back cover. I tried the new Poco X3 for two weeks, but I wasn't satisfied with it since it was just wayyy too large for me, and also the phone speaker was unbearably loud (all people around me could follow the conversation on phone, even on lowest volume), which then led to the decision of sending it back and buying another used A3 2017 in good condition, as I was very satisfied with it, except of limited internal storage which continued to be an issue over months and years. And since the spare parts would have cost the same as the smartphone costs used at the moment, the decision was easy.
To avoid the single problem I had with the old phone, I wanted to root the phone right from the start so I could adopt the SD card as internal storage and/or change the folder some apps (especially WhatsApp) are storing their data and media in. Since the phone is factory reset and I have the other one which is still functioning, I don't have to take much care while trying things, which is great. I took yesterday evening until late night for that plan, and although a lot of threads and posts I read said that rooting the stock OS with latest update of Android 8 is not possible, I did it after some trial and error with flashing the custom recovery TWRP through Odin and then flashing SuperSU through TWRP. If a tutorial is needed, I'd happily write down how I did it, just ask.
But I still have a problem with adopting the storage. And as far as I understood, this is related to the storage encryption of Android/Samsung. Please explain if someone knows, I'd really like to understand the mechanisms that make all of this so laborious. I tried to mount the storage in TWRP when I started it first after flashing (it persists btw, as some people said it is gone and no recovery system can be found after the phone booted normally once, why?), but ran into the problem of "internal storage (0MB)". This was solved by wiping it, then I was able to mount the SD card as internal storage and the internal storage also was shown with a reasonable size in MB. I then started the phone which was obviously factory reset by the wiping. Unfortunately I couldn't see any results in the OS (does stock Android or file manager even show these changes in some way?) and also noticed the adopted storage was not anymore adopted when inspecting it in the TWRP recovery and again the internal storage was at 0MB. I then stumbled upon the app "Root Essentials" which is said to be able to adopt the storage, but needs a zip file which must be flashed by the recovery for that process. I tried it, but the flashing process does not work, as it can't find an installation of the app - my guess is, that this also is related to encrypted storage and the 0MB problem, how should the flash be able to look for something in encrypted space?
Soo, my problem now is, that I want to adopt the storage and don't know how to continue & where to begin. I also don't know if that app "Root Essentials" is any good, just read it at several places while googling so gave it a try. The phone is rooted with TWRP (0MB problem persisting) and stock OS now, and the adoptable storage per se is no must-have for me - if there is any other solution to migrate apps and more importantly their data to the SD card, please let me know, I'd be perfectly fine with that also.
Thank you!
Flo
Hey there Flo,
I am facing the same issues like you, always having to clear up space (e.g. Chrome cache) because the internal storage is not enough for the apps. And you cannot move many of the apps to the SD card, only their data. Last time I had to rermove Teams altogether because it was eating up 500+MB, and I couldn't afford it anymore as the free space dropped below 600MB.
Sooo, here are some basics I have learnt while looking for solutions.
Current custom ROMs are not an option for me as I use this phone for banking and production tasks, and I could not find any of them stable and issue-free enough to switch from the stock one.
The stock ROM is full of bloatware, especially Samsung stuff I do not need, and some others, like the Facebook app. However, you cannot extend internal storage with your SD card as Samsung does not allow this, and this is impossible with the stock ROM.
So I am stuck here, as I cannot leave the stock ROM, but I am constantly running out of space. Currently, I have rooted my device and installed TWRP, too, and I am planning to try one of the debloated stock ROMs to see if they can solve at least my problem with running out of free space on the internal storage.
In any case, what I can confirm is that you either have the stock ROM, and then you can only install apps on the internal storage, or if you want to extend your internal storage with the SD card, you'll have to choose one of the custom ROMs that allow this and wave goodbye to Knox and some other features.
I hope the above helps.
Hi!
Thanks for your detailed answer!
I didn't find a way to adopt the storage persistently, and I think at this point I'll just take your word that it won't be possible with the stock ROM. I knew that the stock ROM adopt storage option isn't able to be brought back by some adb shell commands as it was possible earlier (until 6.0 Marshmallow I think), but I thought that it maybe is possible by tricking the storage the OS sees with the mount in TWRP before the first start. Doesn't seem to work at all (for mostly unknown reasons, at least for me ).
And same for me, I don't know if the custom ROMs nowadays are better a lot, but doesn't sound like that as you described it. I flashed Resurrection Remix on my Galaxy S4 a few years ago, and although I liked the customizability and slimness, I too often ran into bugs and errors with it, which is why I abandoned the phone in the end.
However, I kind of found a fix I can live with on the SM-A320FL: I downloaded Link2SD from Playstore and also upgraded to the plus version, which is reasonably priced. This enables to also store app data on the SD card. I tried it with the 64GB SD card I had rolling around, partitioned it with MiniTool Partition Wizard following this guide to conform Link2SD requirements, and it worked perfectly. I also uninstalled all sorts of bloatware, and as far as i saw the shift to external storage of the apps I tried works fine. All data, including app, cache and app data is moved (and/or linked, not sure) to the ext2 partition on the SD card (which is shown to be a broken partition in Android storage settings btw, but that's fine). If any, only <1KB of file size per app remains in internal storage, which seems great!
I am currently waiting for my ordered 256GB SD card (U3, A2) to arrive next week, then I will do the full port from the old to the new A3 and I'll see how WhatsApp and Spotify behave being stored in external storage. Hopefully Link2SD is able to shift them, especially WhatsApp, since that was the main factor in cluttering the internal storage very fast and efficient.
If the Link2SD doesn't work for WhatsApp media, I'll give FolderMount a try, the direct mount then seems to work for many.
Since you mentioned it: What are the great features of Knox? The secure folder? Data encryption by screen lock? I can't remember using Knox features knowingly in the past three years. Is Knox not already blown by flashing a custom recovery?
Thanks for your help!
Flo
The internal storage data partition not mounting in TWRP is due to the partition being encypted when Android is booted, but also due to quota being enabled and latest version of TWRP for this phone (3.2.3-0 AFAIK) being unable to mount this. Fix for this is to flash a zip from Zackptg5 which disables both these options. See https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...y-a3-sm-a320f-fl-y-2017.3562302/post-79260952 for full details
I see that OrangeFox is available now (https://orangefox.download/device/a3y17lte), so maybe this is able to mount without these problems, I am going to flash this soon so I will let you know!
FYI I am using H-ROM by Astrako. Very close to stock (it is a port from the A7) and seems to work well. VoWiFI is working in this ROM which was essential for me.
lastsaskatchewanpirate said:
The internal storage data partition not mounting in TWRP is due to the partition being encypted when Android is booted, but also due to quota being enabled and latest version of TWRP for this phone (3.2.3-0 AFAIK) being unable to mount this. Fix for this is to flash a zip from Zackptg5 which disables both these options. See https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...y-a3-sm-a320f-fl-y-2017.3562302/post-79260952 for full details
I see that OrangeFox is available now (https://orangefox.download/device/a3y17lte), so maybe this is able to mount without these problems, I am going to flash this soon so I will let you know!
FYI I am using H-ROM by Astrako. Very close to stock (it is a port from the A7) and seems to work well. VoWiFI is working in this ROM which was essential for me.
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Did “orange fox” work?
King p1n said:
Did “orange fox” work?
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Yes, with OrangeFox I didn't need to flash the zip file from Zackptg5 which removes quota. I didn't get on with the latest H-ROM 6.0 (too many niggles, particularly ambient light sensor doesn't work so no adaptive brightness; fingerprint scanner doesn't work in apps; video call doesn't work in WhatsApp), but OrangeFox worked really well, definitely recommend it. Sorry for not remembering to come back and update sooner!
lastsaskatchewanpirate said:
Yes, with OrangeFox I didn't need to flash the zip file from Zackptg5 which removes quota. I didn't get on with the latest H-ROM 6.0 (too many niggles, particularly ambient light sensor doesn't work so no adaptive brightness; fingerprint scanner doesn't work in apps; video call doesn't work in WhatsApp), but OrangeFox worked really well, definitely recommend it. Sorry for not remembering to come back and update sooner!
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Thank you
Which rom do you use and recommend?
Or can orange fox be used with the stock rom?
Doing this on behalf on a friend who is struggling with storage issues, been years since I’ve touched android
King p1n said:
Thank you
Which rom do you use and recommend?
Or can orange fox be used with the stock rom?
Doing this on behalf on a friend who is struggling with storage issues, been years since I’ve touched android
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Currently I use H-ROM 2.0 (https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...7-port-v2-0-pie-oneui-64-bits-treble.3940532/) which works well. Only two main niggles that I might change back to stock - video doesn't work in WhatsApp (but is OK in WhatsApp Business) and some VoWiFi calls have echo, but this might just be normal for VoWiFi, not had echo on normal cell network calls. Stock ROM is now available with Android 8 (Oreo) so when I have time I was intending to try that again, maybe with debloat to remove some of the stock apps.
I would recommend OrangeFox, and although I started with TWRP and flashed this over the top, I think you should be OK to just flash this straight from Odin. TWRP would only flash in old version of Odin, I would guess OrangeFox maybe would be the same. Flash in AP using older version Odin3 v3.12.10. Untick auto reboot, when complete power off with vol down + power, then force to recovery using volume up, home and power
lastsaskatchewanpirate said:
Currently I use H-ROM 2.0 (https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...7-port-v2-0-pie-oneui-64-bits-treble.3940532/) which works well. Only two main niggles that I might change back to stock - video doesn't work in WhatsApp (but is OK in WhatsApp Business) and some VoWiFi calls have echo, but this might just be normal for VoWiFi, not had echo on normal cell network calls. Stock ROM is now available with Android 8 (Oreo) so when I have time I was intending to try that again, maybe with debloat to remove some of the stock apps.
I would recommend OrangeFox, and although I started with TWRP and flashed this over the top, I think you should be OK to just flash this straight from Odin. TWRP would only flash in old version of Odin, I would guess OrangeFox maybe would be the same. Flash in AP using older version Odin3 v3.12.10. Untick auto reboot, when complete power off with vol down + power, then force to recovery using volume up, home and power
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Click to collapse
just to clarify I could use Orange fox with stock rom and enable adopted storage? So I can use SD for apps when necessary.
I did get adopted storage working of sorts, but certain screens were missing from storage in the setting menu (I think Samsung didn't include or removed these as the phone was not intended to work with Adopted Storage), so it would crash when trying to perform certain actions. I can't actually remember now if you could move apps to the Adopted Storage using the standard system menus, it was so flakey that I stopped using that and switched to using Link2SD (which I had already used before so had a Plus license for) and this does exactly what I needed. These are the steps I used to get Link2SD working: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/app-1-6-link2sd.919326/post-82757807. I don't think you need the Plus version, but it doesn't cost much, removes the ads and lets you move a few more files. Hope that helps