Related
Let me first apologize for all of the information, but I wanted to give you guys as much to go on as possible.
TLDWR - Can't flash roms, can't decrypt phone, can't wipe data, can't mount internal storage, can't use ODIN....where next?
Here is what I got:
SPH-L710
Android vers - 4.2.2
Cyanogenmod vers - 10.1.0-d2spr
Was getting flaky reception when I was on 10.0.0 nightly, decided to update to 10.1.2. Downloaded the the required files through Rom Manager, rebooted into CWM Recovery version 6.0.3.1 (non-touch) and did the install (dirty)....booted up and the ROM itself worked, but all my apps were getting "stopped unexpectedly". I figured, ok, did a dirty update so stuff isn't working; I'll redo it and this time wipe everything (after backup of course). When I went to do this, I noticed that it did not mount my sdcard (internal storage, not external sd card). I thought was odd, tried manually mounting, didn't work, tried rebooting recovery and that didn't work. Thought maybe it was a fluke, tried wiping and reflashing 4.2.2 (CM 10.1.2).....it went very quickly. Rebooted, and all of my stuff is gone, which is good, but now it won't let me restore apps.
At this point, I decided I'd had enough of trying to upgrade, so I decided to downgrade back to my old CM 10.0.0....long story short, the flash went quickly, booted up, things worked, but still had the same problem with the apps. I could see the data on the internal storage when the phone was booted, but it never saw it in recovery mode. After doing some reading, I saw where the filesystem changed when going to 4.2.2 so that you can use the new profiles feature. This seems to be what caused CWM Recovery to not see my internal storage anymore.
I thought well, maybe it's because I am back on 10.0.0, so I tried downloading and flashing 10.1.0. It did the same quick flash and showed after boot that I was running on 10.1.0, but I still couldn't mount internal storage (sdcard) in Recovery. I said screw it, reinstalled my apps and decided to truck on with how it was. Short version here - installed mobileiron and touchdown, ran through the encryption in mobileiron, etc etc...mobileiron didn't recognize touchdown and I could not get LEAP for wifi to work.
Decided I would try to decrypt and completely wipe phone. Removed Mobileiron as administrator, tried to decrypt - could not. Tried tweaking security settings, reboots, adb mount and format - all to no avail. Tried wiping in recovery....this failed because it cannot read my storage (because it can't mount it and it is now encrypted)!
With the phone booted up and running adb shell, I can get to the main file system, but my sdcard, data, data/media directories all look empty. I can't mount sdcard through ADB either.
When all of this failed, I looked to ODIN to fix my woes...no luck here either. Downloaded the stock Sprint ROM (4.1.1 L710VPBLJ7 L710SPRBLJ7 ) and tried flashing it but I get hung up on the "Setup Connection"...in ODIN. I have tried multiple drivers, usb ports, battery pulls, etc...I even tried from another PC.
I know this is a lot of information and I apologize again. If you read through all that, thanks for being thorough...if not, I will answer your questions, but hopefully won't have to repeat a bunch of info again.
My end all questions are - where do I go from here? What other options do I have? Is there any repair place I might be able to take this to that they might be able to decrypt/flash the phone to stock for me?
Thanks in advance,
dwnocturnal
dwnocturnal said:
Let me first apologize for all of the information, but I wanted to give you guys as much to go on as possible.
TLDWR - Can't flash roms, can't decrypt phone, can't wipe data, can't mount internal storage, can't use ODIN....where next?
Here is what I got:
SPH-L710
Android vers - 4.2.2
Cyanogenmod vers - 10.1.0-d2spr
Was getting flaky reception when I was on 10.0.0 nightly, decided to update to 10.1.2. Downloaded the the required files through Rom Manager, rebooted into CWM Recovery version 6.0.3.1 (non-touch) and did the install (dirty)....booted up and the ROM itself worked, but all my apps were getting "stopped unexpectedly". I figured, ok, did a dirty update so stuff isn't working; I'll redo it and this time wipe everything (after backup of course). When I went to do this, I noticed that it did not mount my sdcard (internal storage, not external sd card). I thought was odd, tried manually mounting, didn't work, tried rebooting recovery and that didn't work. Thought maybe it was a fluke, tried wiping and reflashing 4.2.2 (CM 10.1.2).....it went very quickly. Rebooted, and all of my stuff is gone, which is good, but now it won't let me restore apps.
At this point, I decided I'd had enough of trying to upgrade, so I decided to downgrade back to my old CM 10.0.0....long story short, the flash went quickly, booted up, things worked, but still had the same problem with the apps. I could see the data on the internal storage when the phone was booted, but it never saw it in recovery mode. After doing some reading, I saw where the filesystem changed when going to 4.2.2 so that you can use the new profiles feature. This seems to be what caused CWM Recovery to not see my internal storage anymore.
I thought well, maybe it's because I am back on 10.0.0, so I tried downloading and flashing 10.1.0. It did the same quick flash and showed after boot that I was running on 10.1.0, but I still couldn't mount internal storage (sdcard) in Recovery. I said screw it, reinstalled my apps and decided to truck on with how it was. Short version here - installed mobileiron and touchdown, ran through the encryption in mobileiron, etc etc...mobileiron didn't recognize touchdown and I could not get LEAP for wifi to work.
Decided I would try to decrypt and completely wipe phone. Removed Mobileiron as administrator, tried to decrypt - could not. Tried tweaking security settings, reboots, adb mount and format - all to no avail. Tried wiping in recovery....this failed because it cannot read my storage (because it can't mount it and it is now encrypted)!
With the phone booted up and running adb shell, I can get to the main file system, but my sdcard, data, data/media directories all look empty. I can't mount sdcard through ADB either.
When all of this failed, I looked to ODIN to fix my woes...no luck here either. Downloaded the stock Sprint ROM (4.1.1 L710VPBLJ7 L710SPRBLJ7 ) and tried flashing it but I get hung up on the "Setup Connection"...in ODIN. I have tried multiple drivers, usb ports, battery pulls, etc...I even tried from another PC.
I know this is a lot of information and I apologize again. If you read through all that, thanks for being thorough...if not, I will answer your questions, but hopefully won't have to repeat a bunch of info again.
My end all questions are - where do I go from here? What other options do I have? Is there any repair place I might be able to take this to that they might be able to decrypt/flash the phone to stock for me?
Thanks in advance,
dwnocturnal
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where did you download your stock Rom from? Did you FULLY uninstall drivers from Windows, before reinstalling?
Sent from my hybrid GS3
joeyhdownsouth said:
Where did you download your stock Rom from? Did you FULLY uninstall drivers from Windows, before reinstalling?
Sent from my hybrid GS3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got the link to the stock stuff through ODIN from here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2189539
Missed your other question the first time I read your post....Yes, I uninstalled the drivers, rebooted, reinstalled the drivers. Tried connecting on another PC as well.
Ok, little bit of an update.
I went through Recovery and was messing around trying to mount and wipe...I couldn't mount data or sdcard, so I figured I couldn't just format them either. WRONG! I was able to format /data and /data/media, which then let me mount /data. After doing this, I rebooted recovery and I could mount sdcard...so I did and formatted it.
Now, I had my old version of CM 10.0.0 on my external sd card, so I installed that and booted up...WOOT - back to blank CM 10.0.0!
Now I've got all my data and apps saved to a folder on my PC, if I can just figure out a way to put them back on the phones storage and restore from my backup...
dwnocturnal said:
Ok, little bit of an update.
I went through Recovery and was messing around trying to mount and wipe...I couldn't mount data or sdcard, so I figured I couldn't just format them either. WRONG! I was able to format /data and /data/media, which then let me mount /data. After doing this, I rebooted recovery and I could mount sdcard...so I did and formatted it.
Now, I had my old version of CM 10.0.0 on my external sd card, so I installed that and booted up...WOOT - back to blank CM 10.0.0!
Now I've got all my data and apps saved to a folder on my PC, if I can just figure out a way to put them back on the phones storage and restore from my backup...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's sounds as if you should start a totally clean install, then backup your downloaded apps with Titanium Backup after you get ROM setup again.
Sent from my hybrid GS3
Another update:
I couldn't get my backup to restore correctly....I kept getting an error restoring /data. Luckily I had an older backup from several months further and was able to restore that. After doing so, I had to remove my google accounts, readd them, and reinstall my mobile iron client for work and I am now good to go!
Man, that was a nightmare.....thought I had soft-bricked my phone.
How do I mark this thread as solved now?
dwnocturnal said:
Another update:
I couldn't get my backup to restore correctly....I kept getting an error restoring /data. Luckily I had an older backup from several months further and was able to restore that. After doing so, I had to remove my google accounts, readd them, and reinstall my mobile iron client for work and I am now good to go!
Man, that was a nightmare.....thought I had soft-bricked my phone.
How do I mark this thread as solved now?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hit the edit/delete button under the original post, type [SOLVED] before your title. Then click the save button.
Worked!! Thanks.
dwnocturnal said:
Ok, little bit of an update.
I went through Recovery and was messing around trying to mount and wipe...I couldn't mount data or sdcard, so I figured I couldn't just format them either. WRONG! I was able to format /data and /data/media, which then let me mount /data. After doing this, I rebooted recovery and I could mount sdcard...so I did and formatted it.
Now, I had my old version of CM 10.0.0 on my external sd card, so I installed that and booted up...WOOT - back to blank CM 10.0.0!
Now I've got all my data and apps saved to a folder on my PC, if I can just figure out a way to put them back on the phones storage and restore from my backup...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It worked. Thans. It looks like this is the only solution!!! I wonder why the OS does not let people decrypt the phone......
Same Issue
demax123 said:
It worked. Thans. It looks like this is the only solution!!! I wonder why the OS does not let people decrypt the phone......
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately I do have the same issue. The problem is I have not backed this up previously. Any suggestions?
So I decided to take my first steps to rooting, custom recoveries and ROMs and followed a stickied thread on the OnePlus forums here.
I firstly downgraded from Nougat to Marshmallow using the official Stock ROM. Afterwards, I flashed the recovery.img for TWRP from the official TWRP site. All is good.
I boot into TWRP and it asks me for a decryption password, I enter it and get "Incorrect Password". I try to boot normally and the same thing happens - weird. One member on another forum, from another question, suggested to wipe data through TWRP, and so I did. This cleared the decryption message through TWRP but then I got a boot loop with a simple message of "Decryption Unsuccessful". I press reset and the phone repeats everything.
Anywho, I flashed stock recovery and a fresh Marshmallow ROM which sorted my phone back to safeland.
Question is, how can I bypass all this? I followed the guide to the tee but no mention of this. I'm a n00b to flashing and only really know as far as the instructions on the OnePlus support page for flashing a stock ROM.
Use TWRP 3.0.4-1, it has decryption support.
If you are planning on rooting with SuperSU, use v2.79, not the first one that pops up when you Google "SuperSU". Not sure why, but the first link that pops up on Google directs you to an older version on Chainfire's site, which causes bootloops if you flash it on Nougat.
Other than the versions of the above files, the steps in rooting are the same as in the original guide.
I personally keep my phone decrypted, since I don't have anything super important on it. Not only do I not run into any encryption issues, the phone boots faster is decrypted. Decrypting does have its downsides though (you have to wipe your phone, also less security), so I would recommend that you research about it some more prior to deciding. There are methods of decrypting without losing all data though.
Anova's Origin said:
Use TWRP 3.0.4-1, it has decryption support.
If you are planning on rooting with SuperSU, use v2.79, not the first one that pops up when you Google "SuperSU". Not sure why, but the first link that pops up on Google directs you to an older version on Chainfire's site, which causes bootloops if you flash it on Nougat.
Other than the versions of the above files, the steps in rooting are the same as in the original guide.
I personally keep my phone decrypted, since I don't have anything super important on it. Not only do I not run into any encryption issues, the phone boots faster is decrypted. Decrypting does have its downsides though (you have to wipe your phone, also less security), so I would recommend that you research about it some more prior to deciding. There are methods of decrypting without losing all data though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply. I agree with you, I'm not fussed about Encryption and would rather have my device decrypted, the problem is I'm not sure how to decrypt it, or if it would be possible to revert and re-encrypt afterwards. As far as I know, Encryption is enabled by default on anything Marshmallow. In addition whether Decrypting would cause further issues down the line.
My reasoning for reverting to Marshmallow was Xposed and is the main reason I'd like to root with the possibility of flashing a new ROM.
In reply to your other points, I used the official TWRP from here if that makes a difference or should I be using the build you provided, surely if I can decrypt my device it makes it pointless for something with decryption support, yes?
Nonetheless, appreciate the reply!
The TWRP build from the official site is a little outdated, it is known to have decryption issues. Try the one from the XDA page.
To decrypt, you have to either root or flash a dm-verity-no-encrypt.zip that is floating somewhere around on XDA, there's probably a copy of it in the root guide in your first post. If you have no data on your phone that you mind losing (after saving a copy somewhere off your phone), the easiest way to decrypt is to go into TWRP and wipe your /data partition. If your phone is rooted or flashed with the no-encrypt.zip, the /data partition will not be encrypted the next time you boot.
There is a way to decrypt while maintaining your data, you can follow this guide. It involved saving a nandroid (saves all info in /data partition except /data/media, where all your media files and certain app data is stored). You can then save anything in /data/media by transferring it to your computer prior to wipe. You can actually restore a nandroid from an encrypted phone onto the same decrypted phone without having all your files encrypted. You can then transfer all your files from the /data/media folder back to your phone, though you'll need to give all the files and folders the proper permissions.
Once decrypted, you phone will remain decrypted until you flash OOS again, such as when updating. To prevent the phone from automatically encrypting its /data partition, you'll have to flash SuperSU or the no-encrypt.zip immediately after flashing an OOS ROM everytime you flash it.
If at some point down the road, you'd like to encrypt your phone again, that's really easy. You can go into the settings app -> secuity -> scroll to bottom to "encrypt". Clicking that option will encrypt your phone without data loss.
I personally have not had any issues after decrypting my phone. I can't speak for others though.
Anova's Origin said:
The TWRP build from the official site is a little outdated, it is known to have decryption issues. Try the one from the XDA page.
To decrypt, you have to either root or flash a dm-verity-no-encrypt.zip that is floating somewhere around on XDA, there's probably a copy of it in the root guide in your first post. If you have no data on your phone that you mind losing (after saving a copy somewhere off your phone), the easiest way to decrypt is to go into TWRP and wipe your /data partition. If your phone is rooted or flashed with the no-encrypt.zip, the /data partition will not be encrypted the next time you boot.
There is a way to decrypt while maintaining your data, you can follow this guide. It involved saving a nandroid (saves all info in /data partition except /data/media, where all your media files and certain app data is stored). You can then save anything in /data/media by transferring it to your computer prior to wipe. You can actually restore a nandroid from an encrypted phone onto the same decrypted phone without having all your files encrypted. You can then transfer all your files from the /data/media folder back to your phone, though you'll need to give all the files and folders the proper permissions.
Once decrypted, you phone will remain decrypted until you flash OOS again, such as when updating. To prevent the phone from automatically encrypting its /data partition, you'll have to flash SuperSU or the no-encrypt.zip immediately after flashing an OOS ROM everytime you flash it.
If at some point down the road, you'd like to encrypt your phone again, that's really easy. You can go into the settings app -> secuity -> scroll to bottom to "encrypt". Clicking that option will encrypt your phone without data loss.
I personally have not had any issues after decrypting my phone. I can't speak for others though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Brilliant. On a side note, I'm sure I did a /data wipe, which caused the boot loop I was having - weird. Anywho, I'll try the TWRP build you mentioned and see how I get on. I did watch one video which suggested to use the fastboot erase userdata as another way of unencrypting the phone.
Either way I'll give it all a try!
Anova's Origin said:
The TWRP build from the official site is a little outdated, it is known to have decryption issues. Try the one from the XDA page.
To decrypt, you have to either root or flash a dm-verity-no-encrypt.zip that is floating somewhere around on XDA, there's probably a copy of it in the root guide in your first post. If you have no data on your phone that you mind losing (after saving a copy somewhere off your phone), the easiest way to decrypt is to go into TWRP and wipe your /data partition. If your phone is rooted or flashed with the no-encrypt.zip, the /data partition will not be encrypted the next time you boot.
There is a way to decrypt while maintaining your data, you can follow this guide. It involved saving a nandroid (saves all info in /data partition except /data/media, where all your media files and certain app data is stored). You can then save anything in /data/media by transferring it to your computer prior to wipe. You can actually restore a nandroid from an encrypted phone onto the same decrypted phone without having all your files encrypted. You can then transfer all your files from the /data/media folder back to your phone, though you'll need to give all the files and folders the proper permissions.
Once decrypted, you phone will remain decrypted until you flash OOS again, such as when updating. To prevent the phone from automatically encrypting its /data partition, you'll have to flash SuperSU or the no-encrypt.zip immediately after flashing an OOS ROM everytime you flash it.
If at some point down the road, you'd like to encrypt your phone again, that's really easy. You can go into the settings app -> secuity -> scroll to bottom to "encrypt". Clicking that option will encrypt your phone without data loss.
I personally have not had any issues after decrypting my phone. I can't speak for others though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thought I'd post a little update, I managed to install TWRP and Root. I used fastboot erase userdata which fixed my decryption issue - everything was working! Back to stock Nougat now but am going to be trying Magisk.
Hello
This is a TWRP recovery for Motorola Moto G5 Cedric for arm64 ROMS, with encryption support, backup support for persist and efs partitions and possibility to flash/backup logo boot image.
I need review and test, especially for the storage decryption and/with LineageOS fingers-crossed. I was able to test it on my device (XT1676 3Go).
It is my first ROM so it is possible that there are bugs.
- Be carefull, there are problems with the backup system :
Just wish to come here and tell you guys to AVOID using this recovery, it seems to have a serious bug.
I just backed up my entire data partition (and enable digest verification) and restored the partition afterwards and the phone didn't boot.
Then I tried restoring it with verification enabled and the hashes didn't match.
In other words, for some reason, the generated backup was corrupt.
- freeZbies
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Changelog
TWRP 3.2.3-2
add sdcardfs
add FB2PNG for screenshot
fix brightness path and define it at 160
fix time zone error
fix incorrect lun path for USB
You can download it here :
TWRP 3.2.3-2 (md5: 0dbd3846593ae907d3391596876c1f35)
TWRP 3.2.3-1 (md5: 404b54d27653b5a1ec5b59023f53d3cb)
TWRP 3.2.3-0
Sources :
https://github.com/Akipe/twrp_android_device_motorola_cedric
https://github.com/Akipe/twrp_android_device_motorola_msm8937-common
Manifest :
https://github.com/Akipe/android_development_manifest
Would it be possible for you to compile a version capable of backing up all partition, including persist and efs? see here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=78695191&postcount=95
Guttergorm said:
Would it be possible for you to compile a version capable of backing up all partition, including persist and efs? see here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=78695191&postcount=95
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi!
Sorry for the delay, I added the functions you wanted. Can you try and tell me if everything is ok?
Hi,
tested your recovery image with my installed LOS 15.1. (32bit) Device: XT1676 16GB P5
- storage decryption: OK
- backup support for persist and efs partitions and possibility to flash/backup logo boot image: OK
nice work, thx for you effort
mikefive said:
Hi,
tested your recovery image with my installed LOS 15.1. (32bit) Device: XT1676 16GB P5
- storage decryption: OK
- backup support for persist and efs partitions and possibility to flash/backup logo boot image: OK
nice work, thx for you effort
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thx for testing :good:
Akipe can u help us to build treble rom for cedric???
Works nicely, thanks.
I just tested it and it decrypts my internal storage normally.
Just wish to come here and tell you guys to AVOID using this recovery, it seems to have a serious bug.
I just backed up my entire data partition (and enable digest verification) and restored the partition afterwards and the phone didn't boot.
Then I tried restoring it with verification enabled and the hashes didn't match.
In other words, for some reason, the generated backup was corrupt.
Of course I could make another test but it'll take just a long time to backup everything again, so if anyone wants to test it, feel free, but beware, you could have a hell of a headache finding out the backups you made were useless.
freeZbies said:
Just wish to come here and tell you guys to AVOID using this recovery, it seems to have a serious bug.
I just backed up my entire data partition (and enable digest verification) and restored the partition afterwards and the phone didn't boot.
Then I tried restoring it with verification enabled and the hashes didn't match.
In other words, for some reason, the generated backup was corrupt.
Of course I could make another test but it'll take just a long time to backup everything again, so if anyone wants to test it, feel free, but beware, you could have a hell of a headache finding out the backups you made were useless.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello ! Thank you for your test and sorry for your backup
I will test the backup system and add a warning
freeZbies said:
Just wish to come here and tell you guys to AVOID using this recovery, it seems to have a serious bug.
I just backed up my entire data partition (and enable digest verification) and restored the partition afterwards and the phone didn't boot.
Then I tried restoring it with verification enabled and the hashes didn't match.
In other words, for some reason, the generated backup was corrupt.
Of course I could make another test but it'll take just a long time to backup everything again, so if anyone wants to test it, feel free, but beware, you could have a hell of a headache finding out the backups you made were useless.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have backup up data partition from my TWRP, reboot one time to recovery, restore the data backup with digest verification, and reboot to LineageOS, with no problem (my rom is LineageOS 16.0 without encryption.)
I think there may be 2 errors (maybe more) :
1) There is a problem with data restore when encryption is enable. I can not test this scenario for now, but i will do it as soon as i can
2) Was your backup stored on your SD card? if so, it is possible that the sd card may be damaged, because it is too old or of poor quality (more info here : https://photo.stackexchange.com/questions/40489/what-causes-an-sd-card-to-go-corrupt )
if you have other information or other ideas, do not hesitate to share it!
if people want to participate, try to save the data partition and restore it, especially with the encrypted partition :good::good:
be careful, make a backup of your data before test
Akipe said:
I have backup up data partition from my TWRP, reboot one time to recovery, restore the data backup with digest verification, and reboot to LineageOS, with no problem (my rom is LineageOS 16.0 without encryption.)
I think there may be 2 errors (maybe more) :
1) There is a problem with data restore when encryption is enable. I can not test this scenario for now, but i will do it as soon as i can
2) Was your backup stored on your SD card? if so, it is possible that the sd card may be damaged, because it is too old or of poor quality (more info here : https://photo.stackexchange.com/questions/40489/what-causes-an-sd-card-to-go-corrupt )
if you have other information or other ideas, do not hesitate to share it!
if people want to participate, try to save the data partition and restore it, especially with the encrypted partition :good::good:
be careful, make a backup of your data before test
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree it may be any of the 2 problems.
My data partition was indeed encrypted, and yes, my SD card is not what I would call genuine, though I think that's not the case since the card is relatively new and I never had any problem related to data corruption.
Anyways, thanks for your effort.
freeZbies said:
I agree it may be any of the 2 problems.
My data partition was indeed encrypted, and yes, my SD card is not what I would call genuine, though I think that's not the case since the card is relatively new and I never had any problem related to data corruption.
Anyways, thanks for your effort.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have test backup the data partition with encryption on LineageOS 16 (arm64), backup and restore work without issue
What ROM did you use when you made the backup, and with what arch (arm or arm64) ?
Akipe said:
I have test backup the data partition with encryption on LineageOS 16 (arm64), backup and restore work without issue
What ROM did you use when you made the backup, and with what arch (arm or arm64) ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was on stock oreo, so its arm, not arm64
freeZbies said:
I was on stock oreo, so its arm, not arm64
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh ok, there are chances that's why the backup did not work .
This recovery is mainly intended for arm64 rom !
Just wanted to say that everything worked well for me in backing up and restoring the OmniROM, on both decrypted and encrypted phone.
Thanks @Akipe for the great job
Can you update it to latest TWRP?
Sent from my cedric using XDA Labs
forgot password to decrypt??
hi,
first, sorry if this is the wrong place to post this. right now, when i install the 64 bit twrp i am asked for a password to decrypt my data. i have tried some passwords i think i would have used, but those don't work and i get a message also saying that the default password didn't work - i haven't typed a default password, though, so i assume there is a default one that twrp tries automatically. in the past, i did try a rom requiring 64 bit twrp and i am guessing i set a password other then the default to encrypt/decrypt, but i went back to stock without issues so have not thought about the password and cannot remember what i would have used. i wanted to try dotos on my phone, which i assume requires 64 twrp because i got error 255 when i tried to flash without twrp64. so i installed twrp64 but cannot get any further. so here are my questions:
is there any way to decrypt the data if i forgot my password?
if not, can i format the data while encrypted to install the new rom? if i can do that, what should i back up? i have pictures and other necessary files backed up, so i am not worried about completely wiping the phone to start over. however, should i back anything else up before formatting? do i need to worry about losing imei or losing any partitions that would make phone inoperable or not have any signal? should i back up with twrp64 or the non-64 bit twrp currently installed? any help or point in the right direction is greatly appreciated.
tia,
nurvus
nurvus said:
hi,
first, sorry if this is the wrong place to post this. right now, when i install the 64 bit twrp i am asked for a password to decrypt my data. i have tried some passwords i think i would have used, but those don't work and i get a message also saying that the default password didn't work - i haven't typed a default password, though, so i assume there is a default one that twrp tries automatically. in the past, i did try a rom requiring 64 bit twrp and i am guessing i set a password other then the default to encrypt/decrypt, but i went back to stock without issues so have not thought about the password and cannot remember what i would have used. i wanted to try dotos on my phone, which i assume requires 64 twrp because i got error 255 when i tried to flash without twrp64. so i installed twrp64 but cannot get any further. so here are my questions:
is there any way to decrypt the data if i forgot my password?
if not, can i format the data while encrypted to install the new rom? if i can do that, what should i back up? i have pictures and other necessary files backed up, so i am not worried about completely wiping the phone to start over. however, should i back anything else up before formatting? do i need to worry about losing imei or losing any partitions that would make phone inoperable or not have any signal? should i back up with twrp64 or the non-64 bit twrp currently installed? any help or point in the right direction is greatly appreciated.
tia,
nurvus
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You need to format data
Push back button when it asks for decrypt
Goto wipe and select the option on the right to format data
This will erase everything on internal storage so copy any files you want to keep to pc first (pictures music etc)
Once formatted data restart back to recovery to check encryption has been removed and data partition is mountable
TWRP backups do not save personal files (pictures music etc) They only backup data and system files (and other named partitions)
Once you have flashed a new rom you can encrypt again if you want to via the security settings menu in phone settings
TheFixItMan said:
You need to format data
Push back button when it asks for decrypt
Goto wipe and select the option on the right to format data
This will erase everything on internal storage so copy any files you want to keep to pc first (pictures music etc)
Once formatted data restart back to recovery to check encryption has been removed and data partition is mountable
TWRP backups do not save personal files (pictures music etc) They only backup data and system files (and other named partitions)
Once you have flashed a new rom you can encrypt again if you want to via the security settings menu in phone settings
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for the quick response! and just for clarification and for me to be sure, should i back up any partitions before formatting? right now i have 32 (or non64 i guess) bit twrp installed, stock rom and bootloader unlocked. do i need to take any precautions with data/imei/signal before reinstalling twrp64, formatting data, and installing a new rom? if it matters any i have the international version of the moto g5. thanks again!!
nurvus
nurvus said:
thanks for the quick response! and just for clarification and for me to be sure, should i back up any partitions before formatting? right now i have 32 (or non64 i guess) bit twrp installed, stock rom and bootloader unlocked. do i need to take any precautions with data/imei/signal before reinstalling twrp64, formatting data, and installing a new rom? if it matters any i have the international version of the moto g5. thanks again!!
nurvus
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Backup efs if you want to preserve your current emei state or need to restore it in future
A question about decrypting your device, in this case Luisrom Android 10, but would most probably count for other roms too.
Did not try it already but would like to decrypt my device and would like a confirmation if the following is the right procedure without doing a new install:
Boot in recovery
Make a backup of /data to internal storage with TWRP
Make a backup of internal storage to my pc
Format data in TWRP
Copy internal storage back from pc to OP3(T)
Restore backup from /data with TWRP
Reboot with decrypted phone
I could do a dirty flash afterwards ofcourse, but because /system is not touched I think the steps above should be enough.
Could someone confirm if this is right?
Just tried what I described above but seems not to work.
After reboot, phone is starting again with encrypting and after next reboot everything is encrypted again.
It also seems as if Android 10 (read it somewhere) is using file based encryption, so not only on a higher level...
So for now, I only see a fresh install as the solution.
Would someone know another solution to keep your data without doing a fresh install it would be nice to know.
Any input is welcome!
Johan2020 said:
Just tried what I described above but seems not to work.
After reboot, phone is starting again with encrypting and after next reboot everything is encrypted again.
It also seems as if Android 10 (read it somewhere) is using file based encryption, so not only on a higher level...
So for now, I only see a fresh install as the solution.
Would someone know another solution to keep your data without doing a fresh install it would be nice to know.
Any input is welcome!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First of all: decrypting is what happens on each reboot if data is encrypted. Decrypting is making something encrypted readable again. Removing encryption is something completely different.
For your question: which rom are you booting? This sounds like you are using a rom with forced encryption enabled. Dosable forced encyption in fstab before first system boot.
You can't use fbe with op3/t. No blobs, no twrp... Either you havn't read closly enough or you belived some ignorant not reading closely enough: g requires new devices shipped the first time with q to use fbe. All devices shipped originaly with fde can still use fde with q.
Reference: https://source.android.com/security/encryption/file-based
nvertigo67 said:
First of all: decrypting is what happens on each reboot if data is encrypted. Decrypting is making something encrypted readable again. Removing encryption is something completely different.
For your question: which rom are you booting? This sounds like you are using a rom with forced encryption enabled. Dosable forced encyption in fstab before first system boot.
You can't use fbe with op3/t. No blobs, no twrp... Either you havn't read closly enough or you belived some ignorant not reading closely enough: g requires new devices shipped the first time with q to use fbe. All devices shipped originaly with fde can still use fde with q.
Reference: https://source.android.com/security/encryption/file-based
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am using CrDroid 6.4 Luisrom which is not enforcing encryption, just as most other custom roms.
I had enabled encryption though after installation to see if encryption was working already for installing CrD Luis on my work phone (where I want encryption).
After that I decided to go back to unencrypted, following the procedure above, which did not work.
Did not make the link between fbe and file based encryption, but ofcourse this is the same and not available on op3/t.
Must have been sleeping when I wrote that.
Based on what you wrote and my missing knowledge;
After encrypting, is fstab changed also and would the solution have been to change fstab back also before rebooting after restore?
Johan2020 said:
After encrypting, is fstab changed also and would the solution have been to change fstab back also before rebooting after restore?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. fstab isn't changed during encryption, neither for forced encryption nor for "voluntary" ( ) encryption.
Maybe the problem is the restored data itself: the rom setting for encryption is restored as well if you restore the data unconditionaly... Perhaps this way the reencryption is triggered. Did you try to boot the rom without restoring data? If it's unencrypted on a clean boot, but is (re)encrypted after first boot after restoring the backup, you have the answer. If it's encrypzed on a clean boot, formating to remove the enctyption has failed.
nvertigo67 said:
No. fstab isn't changed during encryption, neither for forced encryption nor for "voluntary" ( ) encryption.
Maybe the problem is the restored data itself: the rom setting for encryption is restored as well if you restore the data unconditionaly... Perhaps this way the reencryption is triggered. Did you try to boot the rom without restoring data? If it's unencrypted on a clean boot, but is (re)encrypted after first boot after restoring the backup, you have the answer. If it's encrypzed on a clean boot, formating to remove the enctyption has failed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good point, did not try that unfortunately and just did a fresh install so.... not really eager to try it now
But I think indeed reencryption was triggered because of also restoring the encryption settings.
Will try it when I have some spare time and want to take the risc of a fresh install again
I was attempting to install the Begonia Recovery Project for Miui 12.5 (android 11) using the fastboot method. But when I reboot into this new recovery and look inisde the "install" tab, all my folders from my main storage are made up of random letters and numbers.
I assume that this means that my files are still encrypted but I am not sure how to decrypt them.
I am running MIUI 12.5.3 Global edition on android 11 and the Begonia Recovery Project version I downloaded and installed was from this website : https://www.pling.com/p/1556862/
Furthermore, I have a unlock pattern on my phone but when I boot into the custom recovery, it doesn't ask me for my unlock pattern. Could this be the reason all my files are named with random letters and numbers?
It won't let me boot back into my operating system and when I try, I get an warning saying "No OS Installed! Are you sure you wish to reboot?". Rebooting leads me right back into the custom recovery, with all files still named with random characters.
I would prefer to be able to boot back into my system without having to lose any of my personal files on my phone (if that is possible).
Any help is greatly appreciated and I thank you in advance
Sqorpz said:
I was attempting to install the Begonia Recovery Project for Miui 12.5 (android 11) using the fastboot method. But when I reboot into this new recovery and look inisde the "install" tab, all my folders from my main storage are made up of random letters and numbers.
I assume that this means that my files are still encrypted but I am not sure how to decrypt them.
I am running MIUI 12.5.3 Global edition on android 11 and the Begonia Recovery Project version I downloaded and installed was from this website : https://www.pling.com/p/1556862/
Furthermore, I have a unlock pattern on my phone but when I boot into the custom recovery, it doesn't ask me for my unlock pattern. Could this be the reason all my files are named with random letters and numbers?
It won't let me boot back into my operating system and when I try, I get an warning saying "No OS Installed! Are you sure you wish to reboot?". Rebooting leads me right back into the custom recovery, with all files still named with random characters.
I would prefer to be able to boot back into my system without having to lose any of my personal files on my phone (if that is possible).
Any help is greatly appreciated and I thank you in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is the reason why everyone recommends taking a backup of your files and resetting your device prior to such attempts. Unfortunately, most likely you will lose part, if not all of your files.
That No OS Installed error is normal since MIUI is a system on root OS and TWRP isn't able to detect them.
That random named folders is your internal storage but it's encrypted. You'll need to enter your passcode every time you boot to TWRP. If it doesn't ask you go to Mount and select Decrypt Data
To disable encryption you'll need to format data and install Disable ForceEncrypt. Doing this will erase EVERYTGHING. (except Find Device,IMEI's etc)
I would recommend you to install this TWRP to decrypt them.
If your device boots back to TWRP, it might be triggering Rescue Party. (click the 3rd button on the bottom of the screen to view the logs)
Fytdyh said:
This is the reason why everyone recommends taking a backup of your files and resetting your device prior to such attempts. Unfortunately, most likely you will lose part, if not all of your files.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had installed twrp like this before and never had this type of error. But yes, the smart thing would definately be to always have backups. Lesson learned for next time!
Canny1913 said:
That No OS Installed error is normal since MIUI is a system on root OS and TWRP isn't able to detect them.
That random named folders is your internal storage but it's encrypted. You'll need to enter your passcode every time you boot to TWRP. If it doesn't ask you go to Mount and select Decrypt Data
To disable encryption you'll need to format data and install Disable ForceEncrypt. Doing this will erase EVERYTGHING. (except Find Device,IMEI's etc)
I would recommend you to install this TWRP to decrypt them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for the fast reply.
I installed the twrp that you recommended. TWRP still isn't asking for my passcode and I can't find a "Decrypt Data" option in the Mount section. The only checked options in Mount are "Data", "Cache", and "Micro SD Card".
Is Disable ForceEncrypt needed in order to be able to boot back into my operating system? Is there any way to boot back into my OS without this?
Thanks again for the fast reply!
Sqorpz said:
Thank you for the fast reply.
I installed the twrp that you recommended. TWRP still isn't asking for my passcode and I can't find a "Decrypt Data" option in the Mount section. The only checked options in Mount are "Data", "Cache", and "Micro SD Card".
Is Disable ForceEncrypt needed in order to be able to boot back into my operating system? Is there any way to boot back into my OS without this?
Thanks again for the fast reply!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That zip can only be used if your data is formatted. If you flash it without formatting data you'll be making the situation even worse because it won't allow you to decrypt anymore. (it makes the phone think data isnt encrypted tho it clearly is encrypted)
Also did you check the logs as i suggested to determine the reason why the phone is not booting?
Canny1913 said:
That zip can only be used if your data is formatted. If you flash it without formatting data you'll be making the situation even worse because it won't allow you to decrypt anymore. (it makes the phone think data isnt encrypted tho it clearly is encrypted)
Also did you check the logs as i suggested to determine the reason why the phone is not booting?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Whoops, I used the twrp you recommended without formatting the data. Does this mean my data is forever undecryptable?
I checked the logs and indeed it is triggering the Android Rescue Party.
It suggests possible solutions that are
wipe caches, and/or
Format data, and/or
Clean-flash your ROM.
The reported problem is :
'--reason=enablefilecrypto_failed'
Sqorpz said:
Whoops, I used the twrp you recommended without formatting the data. Does this mean my data is forever undecryptable?
I checked the logs and indeed it is triggering the Android Rescue Party.
It suggests possible solutions that are
wipe caches, and/or
Format data, and/or
Clean-flash your ROM.
The reported problem is :
'--reason=enablefilecrypto_failed'
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No i didnt meant that, i said the Disable ForceEncrypt zip needs data to be formatted.
The reported problem unfortunately means your phone cannot setup encryption. (thats why twrp won't decrypt it)
The only solution is to format data to make the phone usable again.
(you might as well flash the disable encryption zip after formatting the data since encryption on android is a pain in the ass and it makes the phone a bit faster)
By the way, do not wipe data, just click Format Data and format it since it doesn't get rid of the encryption properly.
T
Canny1913 said:
No i didnt meant that, i said the Disable ForceEncrypt zip needs data to be formatted.
The reported problem unfortunately means your phone cannot setup encryption. (thats why twrp won't decrypt it)
The only solution is to format data to make the phone usable again.
(you might as well flash the disable encryption zip after formatting the data since encryption on android is a pain in the ass and it makes the phone a bit faster)
By the way, do not wipe data, just click Format Data and format it since it doesn't get rid of the encryption properly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you so much for your informative responses.
Apologies, I thought you meant that flashing different twrp would lead to undecryptable files.
By formatting data do you mean the parition on my phone called "data"?. I forgot to add that files in my "data" folder have sensible names and don't look encrypted. Is it normal for it to just encrypt my internal storage?
By the sounds of it, I think I will proceed with your suggestion of formatting the data. Just to clarify, will this method also remove everything in my internal storage, eg pictures, music, videos?. Is there a way to continue with this method without having to lose those?
I appreciate your help greatly.
Sqorpz said:
Thank you so much for your informative responses.
Apologies, I thought you meant that flashing different twrp would lead to undecryptable files.
By formatting data do you mean the parition on my phone called "data"?. I forgot to add that files in my "data" folder have sensible names and don't look encrypted. Is it normal for it to just encrypt my internal storage?
By the sounds of it, I think I will proceed with your suggestion of formatting the data. Just to clarify, will this method also remove everything in my internal storage, eg pictures, music, videos?. Is there a way to continue with this method without having to lose those?
I appreciate your help greatly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They actually encrypted the whole partition till Android 10. This required you to enter a password before the phone boots up but now they only encrypt the internal storage,apps and app data so you don't have to enter a password anymore before the phone boots-up.
Yes formatting the data will erase everything on your device including the internal storage.
Because they are encrypted just like the other part of data there's no way to save them.
Canny1913 said:
They actually encrypted the whole partition till Android 10. This required you to enter a password before the phone boots up but now they only encrypt the internal storage,apps and app data so you don't have to enter a password anymore before the phone boots-up.
Yes formatting the data will erase everything on your device including the internal storage.
Because they are encrypted just like the other part of data there's no way to save them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see. So could this have been avoided if I had flashed the twrp after disabling my password? Is it a smart practice to disable your password before doing stuff like flashing a custom recovery?
Obviously losing all my data and internal storage is definately a kick in the nuts. But it is also my fault for not backing up my data before experimenting like this.
Could you please send me an oultine of the steps I need to follow in order to proceed with your method of getting my phone working again. Frankly, I have little experience in this area and I'm afraid i'll make a mistake in the process. I also trust in your expertise and experience far greater than mine.
Thank you again!
Sqorpz said:
I see. So could this have been avoided if I had flashed the twrp after disabling my password? Is it a smart practice to disable your password before doing stuff like flashing a custom recovery?
Obviously losing all my data and internal storage is definately a kick in the nuts. But it is also my fault for not backing up my data before experimenting like this.
Could you please send me an oultine of the steps I need to follow in order to proceed with your method of getting my phone working again. Frankly, I have little experience in this area and I'm afraid i'll make a mistake in the process. I also trust in your expertise and experience far greater than mine.
Thank you again!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Simple, enter TWRP, go to Wipe, click Format Data, type yes then hit enter. Your data will be wiped. reboot the phone in Recovery mode (not to the normal OS or else the phone will encrypt again) again so the internal storage gets created.
Plug your phone into a PC, download this:https://zackptg5.com/downloads/archive/Disable_Dm-Verity_ForceEncrypt_11.02.2020.zip
copy it to your phone and install it. If you want to use Magisk, install Magisk first then this zip file. The encryption will be completely disabled.
To answer your first question, It wasn't your fault because i have no idea why your storage got corrupted in the first place but you should definitely disable the password (or disable the encryption if you want to use a password) before doing anything.
Canny1913 said:
Simple, enter TWRP, go to Wipe, click Format Data, type yes then hit enter. Your data will be wiped. reboot the phone in Recovery mode (not to the normal OS or else the phone will encrypt again) again so the internal storage gets created.
Plug your phone into a PC, download this:https://zackptg5.com/downloads/archive/Disable_Dm-Verity_ForceEncrypt_11.02.2020.zip
copy it to your phone and install it. If you want to use Magisk, install Magisk first then this zip file. The encryption will be completely disabled.
To answer your first question, It wasn't your fault because i have no idea why your storage got corrupted in the first place but you should definitely disable the password (or disable the encryption if you want to use a password) before doing anything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Since I am reseting my phone to its factory settings, I researched into some ROMs that I may use instead of MIUI. I came across the Pixel Experience ROM and I'm considering installing it.
I read somewhere that flashing a ROM involves having to disable encryption every time you flash a new ROM or something along those lines. Will installing the Disable ForceEncrypt disable encryption permanently or will I have to considering installing it again if I want to flash the Pixel Experience ROM?
Sqorpz said:
Since I am reseting my phone to its factory settings, I researched into some ROMs that I may use instead of MIUI. I came across the Pixel Experience ROM and I'm considering installing it.
I read somewhere that flashing a ROM involves having to disable encryption every time you flash a new ROM or something along those lines. Will installing the Disable ForceEncrypt disable encryption permanently or will I have to considering installing it again if I want to flash the Pixel Experience ROM?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You will have to install it again if you install a new ROM or kernel since it modifies both of them (they both get wiped if you install or update the ROM.
I recommend you follow their install guide since a lot of people get confused when they see errors.
Flashing PE A12
1. Flash latest Firmware. 2. Flash latest Dynamic TWRP. 3. Reboot to Dynamic TWRP. 4. Flash latest PE rom zip and then format data. 5. Reboot and enjoy. Links Here: Dynamic TWRP: TWRP For A12 Note: If you see any red line errors on twrp just ignore them and continue flashing. Also before...
telegra.ph
Canny1913 said:
You will have to install it again if you install a new ROM or kernel since it modifies both of them (they both get wiped if you install or update the ROM.
I recommend you follow their install guide since a lot of people get confused when they see errors.
Flashing PE A12
1. Flash latest Firmware. 2. Flash latest Dynamic TWRP. 3. Reboot to Dynamic TWRP. 4. Flash latest PE rom zip and then format data. 5. Reboot and enjoy. Links Here: Dynamic TWRP: TWRP For A12 Note: If you see any red line errors on twrp just ignore them and continue flashing. Also before...
telegra.ph
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for all your help. It was probably simple and easy for you but for me, I had no idea what I was doing and would never have done the steps that you suggested so thank you. I really appreciate all the help you've given me.
I just have one last request that is : do you know any good backup services for android? I know about services like google photos for backing up photos and videos, but I was wondering if there were any that backed up the android as a whole, including app data/progress, photos, videos, notes etc.
Thank you again for all your support and making this process very simple and easy and wish you all the best.
Sqorpz said:
Thank you for all your help. It was probably simple and easy for you but for me, I had no idea what I was doing and would never have done the steps that you suggested so thank you. I really appreciate all the help you've given me.
I just have one last request that is : do you know any good backup services for android? I know about services like google photos for backing up photos and videos, but I was wondering if there were any that backed up the android as a whole, including app data/progress, photos, videos, notes etc.
Thank you again for all your support and making this process very simple and easy and wish you all the best.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google One app can backup photos,SMS, phone call history and redownloads all of the apps (except apps that were installed from an apk file)
Pixel Experience actually bypasses the Google Photos storage limit so you can backup your entire gallery without problems.
For notes just use Google Keep, it syncs the notes to your Google account.
App data can be backed up by Titanium Backup or Migrate. (i suggest you test them before backing up your entire app data as suggested by Migrate developer)
I don't exactly recommend backing up Data as a whole since your only option is TWRP and TWRP loves to complain when it comes to backing up and restoring.
Thanks for the best wishes and i wish you all the best too. Have a good one.