Root and data loss - Upgrading, Modifying and Unlocking

Hi all,
Have things changed recently or is generally rooting expected to wipe the data on the phone in the process?
I need to backup appdata from the phone that is not currently rooted (from what I can gather I need to unlock bootloader too) so it sounds like the impossible task as I would wipe the data I am after in the process.
Or have I got my wires crossed somewhere?
Thanks

It's usually unlocking the bootloader, not rooting, that wipes the phone.

Telyx said:
It's usually unlocking the bootloader, not rooting, that wipes the phone.
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Click to collapse
Thanks Telyx, any idea if Z3+ could be rooted without unlocking bootloader? I had a mixed bag on this.

Related

[Q] Can I re-lock the bootloader?

Hi all,
I just purchased a GSM Galaxy Nexus, and the seller didn't inform me that he had unlocked the bootloader. I am wondering if I can lock it, and return it to its stock settings.
Any input would be much appreciated.
Thanks,
Dave
fastboot oem lock
Just like he said, but if you want to keep your sdcard files, back it up first cause it will erase it.
Any specific reason why you want to re-lock your bootloader?
Just because it has an unlocked bootloader doesn't mean the software/firmware/recovery isn't stock necessarily. You can unlock and not change anything else about the phone.
If you EVER plan on rooting or flashing ROMs, just leave it unlocked.
I thought unlocking the Bootloader wiped the phone, not locking it....Anyways I too was given an unlocked bootloader when my phone was sent for repair. I would personally keep it that way as it has helped me try on a few things, namely testing different basebands without losing data & setup of the phone...
Leave it like that I'd say!
I would suggest locking it if you plan on doing anything remotely sensitive on your device, Google Wallet, corporate email, naked pics of your spouse, etc.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
housry23 said:
Just like he said, but if you want to keep your sdcard files, back it up first cause it will erase it.
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s1977 said:
I thought unlocking the Bootloader wiped the phone, not locking it....Anyways I too was given an unlocked bootloader when my phone was sent for repair. I would personally keep it that way as it has helped me try on a few things, namely testing different basebands without losing data & setup of the phone...
Leave it like that I'd say!
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Click to collapse
s1977 is correct. Locking the bootloader does NOT wipe anything. Unlocking wipes.

[DISCUSSION] Google Play Nexus not wiping after Bootloader Unlock

So um...I'm kind of shocked.
I just unlocked the bootloader on my shiny new USA GSM Galaxy Nexus from Google Play and...my data was still there when I rebooted. No Android Wizard or anything.
It's as if I did nothing, but I checked MULTIPLE times and I'm unlocked. Got the unlock icon during boot and everything.
digweed4me said:
same here on mine my data was intact
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BlindWolf8 said:
Just relocked and unlocked again to make sure it wasn't some sort of weird fluke...looks like I'm immune. What's going on here? An unlock is supposed to wipe everything for security reasons.
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FredFS456 said:
So all the apps, app data, virtual sdcard files, etc. were all there?
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BlindWolf8 said:
Yessiree. Everything was still there. The phone acted as if nothing happened whatsoever, despite the onscreen warning about losing data.
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Archpope said:
Same thing happened to me. I was prepared to start all over, but doing the 4-in-1 from the Galaxy Nexus Toolkit, I was surprised to see the only changes were an unlock symbol appearing on the screen at bootup, and Google Wallet griping about my having an insecure phone.
I may re-lock the bootloader now that I've rooted. I'm not sure if I will lose root, but I only rooted to run an adblocker anyway.
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BlindWolf8 said:
For the record I didn't even do that. I simply did "fastboot oem unlock". I like to keep things simple.
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uoY_redruM said:
Got mine from the play store Friday. Unlock wiped nothing..
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
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BlindWolf8 said:
Figured I'd just give ya all the info so you have it:
Stock bootloader shows:
FASTBOOT MODE
PRODUCT NAME - tuna
VARIANT - maguro 16GB
HW VERSION - 9
BOOTLOADER VERSION - PRIMELA03
BASEBAND VERSION - I9250XXLA2
CARRIER INFO - NONE
SERIAL NUMBER - [REDACTED] (I can give it if it's absolutely needed)
SIGNING - production
LOCK STATE - UNLOCKED
Download/Odin Mode shows:
OMAP-Samsung HW Information
Board Name: tuna REV 9
Board Rev: HSPA - 9
Boot Type: USB MMC1
Device Type: HS
Build Date: Jan 24 2012 18:27:20
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efrant said:
Hmmm. You do have a shipping (sorry, "production") bootloader, not an engineering one. Very interesting... Not sure why some devices wipe while others will not, upon unlocking.
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bilalakhtar said:
There are quite many security issues that could arise from being able to unlock the bootloader without wiping all data, for example, a hacker could get past your screen lock by:
1) Battery pull, then
2) Boot into bootloader using the key combination
3) fastboot oem unlock
4) Flash an unsecure boot.img that has r/w permissions
5) Edit the right files to remove screen lock
But I still have a feeling that this behavior with USA GSM Nexi is intended. Probably because Google intended that phone to be sold only to developers who are likely going to be unlocking bootloaders anyway, and decided to simplify the process?
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MERGED THREADS.
Mark.
bobsbbq said:
I don't think the Amazon is a USA version but an international version. If international version it will have to be shipped overseas for repair, Google Play has USA warranty. Also if you do decide to root the USA version does not wipe your device during the unlocking of bootloader like the international versions do.
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The USA version, as any other hspa+ version, DOES wipe userdata when unlocking the bootloader.
I have the USA version from the play store. My data wasn't wiped after unlocking the bootloader. Either way, its not a big deal. Warranty matters are much more important.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
bobsbbq said:
I don't think the Amazon is a USA version but an international version. If international version it will have to be shipped overseas for repair, Google Play has USA warranty. Also if you do decide to root the USA version does not wipe your device during the unlocking of bootloader like the international versions do.
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Nobody who has purchased a play store GN has reported wipe after unlock.
Mine from the play store did NOT wipe user data after unlocking. I am running CM9 and have locked and unlocked many times without wiping data.
DOHCtor said:
The USA version, as any other hspa+ version, DOES wipe userdata when unlocking the bootloader.
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Does NOT wipe actually. Maybe leave it to people with first hand experience to answer a question like this?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
ragnarokx said:
Does NOT wipe actually. Maybe leave it to people with first hand experience to answer a question like this?
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Although it may be a bug that will be fixed in a later update so I don't know if the failure to wipe is a permanent feature. However, I can verify my GN didn't wipe either after unlocking.
ragnarokx said:
Does NOT wipe actually. Maybe leave it to people with first hand experience to answer a question like this?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
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is this with the oem fastboot unlock method?
ragnarokx said:
Does NOT wipe actually. Maybe leave it to people with first hand experience to answer a question like this?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
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I have 3 Play store Galaxy Nexus. They all wiped data when I unlocked bootloader. I think that's first hand experience. If it doesn't wipe the data, then that's a security risk.
Example: Just yesterday, I got tired of using CM9 and fastbooted the stock images without -w. I didn't want to go into recovery to wipe data and factory reset (because that just wipes data partition, not usb storage), so while in fastboot, I did fastboot oem lock then fastboot oem unlock. If it didn't wipe data, then my usb storage should've had a clockwordmod folder, music that I precache, and other various folders that were created from apps that were installed, and I wouldn't be introduced to the welcome screen upon bootup. Like I said, if it doesn't wipe data for you guys, then that's a security risk and you should be contacting Google. Because if you lose your phone, someone can oem unlock your phone and go through your data.
AcuraKidd said:
is this with the oem fastboot unlock method?
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Click to collapse
Yup.
DOHCtor said:
I have 3 Play store Galaxy Nexus. They all wiped data when I unlocked bootloader. I think that's first hand experience. If it doesn't wipe the data, then that's a security risk.
Example: Just yesterday, I got tired of using CM9 and fastbooted the stock images. I didn't want to go into recovery to wipe data and factory reset, so while in fastboot, I did fastboot oem lock then fastboot oem unlock. If it didn't wipe data, then my usb storage should've had a clockwordmod folder, music that I precache, and other various folders that were created from apps that were installed, and I wouldn't be introduced to the welcome screen upon bootup. Like I said, if it doesn't wipe data for you guys, then that's a security risk and you should be contacting Google. Because if you lose your phone, someone can oem unlock your phone and go through your data.
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Well then your statement about "The USA version, as any other hspa+ version" is at least inaccurate. As you can see, many people's data did not wipe when they unlocked their bootloaders, so all phones/situations are not the same.
And I'm not really worried about someone unlocking my bootloader if I lose my phone - it's already unlocked If I had data that precious on my phone, I wouldn't root in the first place.
ragnarokx said:
Yup.
Well then your statement about "The USA version, as any other hspa+ version" is at least inaccurate. As you can see, many people's data did not wipe when they unlocked their bootloaders, so all phones/situations are not the same.
And I'm not really worried about someone unlocking my bootloader if I lose my phone - it's already unlocked If I had data that precious on my phone, I wouldn't root in the first place.
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I was assuming that (maybe not the Docomo version) all GSM versions had the same hardware and if that's the case, then it's software related as to why your data's are not being wiped. Maybe the bootloader that came with the imm30d before it updated to imm76i doesn't wipe the data upon unlocking? Do me a favor, go into bootloader mode and tell me if your bootloader version is primela03.
I didn't get a chance to look at the bootloader versions when I received my Galaxy Nexus because I oem unlocked all three of them right away and fastbooted the latest takju images via flash-all.sh script on all of them just to avoid waiting for ota. I didn't want my dad and brother come to me and ask me "why is it telling me to update? What is it?"
DOHCtor said:
I was assuming that (maybe not the Docomo version) all GSM versions had the same hardware and if that's the case, then it's software related as to why your data's are not being wiped. Maybe the bootloader that came with the imm30d before it updated to imm76i doesn't wipe the data upon unlocking? Do me a favor, go into bootloader mode and tell me if your bootloader version is primela03.
I didn't get a chance to look at the bootloader versions when I received my Galaxy Nexus because I oem unlocked all three of them right away and fastbooted the latest takju images via flash-all.sh script on all of them just to avoid waiting for ota. I didn't want my dad and brother come to me and ask me "why is it telling me to update? What is it?"
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Interesting. I did the OTA update before unlocking.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
Edit: you realize that flashing factory images will also wipe your device, right?
DOHCtor said:
The USA version, as any other hspa+ version, DOES wipe userdata when unlocking the bootloader.
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Well sorry sir your wrong. At least I can say this for the first initial unlock and root using the Nexus tool kit. I have two of them and both of them did not wipe. When they booted up everything was the same as before I unlocked and rooted.
After reading some of the comments in the Tool Kit thread is is believed the USA version has a slightly different bootloader. Some think Google wanted to make it easier as they know people are going to root their phones.
There maybe other ways to unlock the bootloader which causes a wipe. But I can assure you using the tool kit doesn't.
I wont say that its not possible but I have read all the way through the play store gsm thread and not a single purchaser reported a wipe after unlock.
ragnarokx said:
Interesting. I did the OTA update before unlocking.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
Edit: you realize that flashing factory images will also wipe your device, right?
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Yes, but after flashing the takju images for them, i loaded it up and did testing on the phone to make sure everything was okay. Afterwards, I would lock, unlock, and lock the bootloader again to wipe all data (including usb storage). How do I know it wipes? Because I am presented with the setup wizard again upon boot, and all the sample photos that I've taken to test the camera in the DCIM folder are gone.
Someone mention they unlocked bootloader and rooted with toolkit. For all those that did not have data wipe, which method did you guys use? I didn't use toolkit, I did it the old fashion way with setting up ADB. I'm use to doing that way since the G1 days.
edit: I'm not calling anyone a liars and this information about a no wipe bootloader unlock is all new to me. I'm just trying to find out why it's not wiping for some people...
DOHCtor said:
Yes, but after flashing the takju images for them, i loaded it up and did testing on the phone to make sure everything was okay. Afterwards, I would lock, unlock, and lock the bootloader again to wipe all data (including usb storage). How do I know it wipes? Because I am presented with the setup wizard again upon boot, and all the sample photos that I've taken to test the camera in the DCIM folder are gone.
Someone mention they unlocked bootloader and rooted with toolkit. For all those that did not have data wipe, which method did you guys use? I didn't use toolkit, I did it the old fashion way with setting up ADB. I'm use to doing that way since the G1 days.
edit: I'm not calling anyone a liars and this information about a no wipe bootloader unlock is all new to me. I'm just trying to find out why it's not wiping for some people...
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So you have no way of knowing if your device was wiped the first time you unlocked, since you flashed factory images immediately afterwards. Could there be a difference between unlocking the first time and subsequent times? I wouldn't know because I only unlocked once.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
ragnarokx said:
So you have no way of knowing if your device was wiped the first time you unlocked, since you flashed factory images immediately afterwards. Could there be a difference between unlocking the first time and subsequent times? I wouldn't know because I only unlocked once.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
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Then there's a possibility that all GSM Galaxy Nexus doesn't wipe the first bootloader unlock. Maybe people didn't take notice the first time they did it. Just a theory.
Can anyone that relocked and unlocked the bootloader chime in and let us know if it wiped their data?
Dohctor maybe our play store versions are later revisions idk? All I know is I also have two galaxy nexuses from play store and when unlocking boot loader it did not erase the data that I had on my phone all of my apps were still there also. Obviously play store nexuses do not wipe data upon unlockingand who knows why. Anyways I will make a video to show the non believers I have no problem doing that.... I also relocked and unlocked boot loader because I tried starting dead fresh to get google wallet to work again let's just say that if u do not wipe or reset data inside the app your beat so I thought locking boot loader and unrooting then reflashing stock image would help. It didn't .... secure element is beat on my one device. So I unlocked the "relocked" boot loader ( this is what it says when u relock it) anyways it told me it would wipe data I proceeded. Rooted again threw touch recovery on booted into recovery and there was my aokp backup waiting for me ... so unlocked relocked and unlocked again...no data loss. Pretty cool I think of it as if u have data on your phone that is that important do not root then! So it not wiping data doesn't bother me. ....all using toolkit btw
sarni84 said:
Dohctor maybe our play store versions are later revisions idk? All I know is I also have two galaxy nexuses from play store and when unlocking boot loader it did not erase the data that I had on my phone all of my apps were still there also. Obviously play store nexuses do not wipe data upon unlockingand who knows why. Anyways I will make a video to show the non believers I have no problem doing that.... I also relocked and unlocked boot loader because I tried starting dead fresh to get google wallet to work again let's just say that if u do not wipe or reset data inside the app your beat so I thought locking boot loader and unrooting then reflashing stock image would help. It didn't .... secure element is beat on my one device. So I unlocked the "relocked" boot loader ( this is what it says when u relock it) anyways it told me it would wipe data I proceeded. Rooted again threw touch recovery on booted into recovery and there was my aokp backup waiting for me ... so unlocked relocked and unlocked again...no data loss. Pretty cool I think of it as if u have data on your phone that is that important do not root then! So it not wiping data doesn't bother me. ....all using toolkit btw
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Even if you don't root, people can get access to your data if it doesn't wipe upon unlocking the bootloader. For example; you lose or someone steals your phone and wants your data for some reason. You never unlocked or rooted your phone, it's bone stock. The thief will hook it up to his or her computer and unlock the bootloader and boot up clockwork recovery and pull all your data, including files and pictures in your usb storage (unless you enable encryption). I'm not paranoid, I telling you guys what's possible.
That sucks that relocking and unlocking the bootloader didn't wipe data for you. Don't have to make a video because I believe you. And about having a later version, that's not true. I ordered mines the first day Google made it available in the Play Store.
It sucks that Google Wallet still has that SE error. I always reset data within the app every time I switch roms. Glad my Wallet still works

does opening the bootloader erase internal memory? please reply ASAP

does opening the bootloader erase internal memory?
please reply ASAP
Xiaomi is a special kid on the block.
While Android by design wipes all partitions when you confirm unlocking the bootloader Xiaomi does not do that.
By some weird decision I don't know why.
But I recommend to either way backup everything you got before unlocking the bootloader just to be safe.
thanks
Wipes data...
The data will be wiped after unlocking the bootloader!
Uschinator said:
The data will be wiped after unlocking the bootloader!
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So... Does it matter when? You loose data unlocking the bootloader no matter what, when etc...

Question Unlock Bootloader without wiping data

Hello,
Is it possible to unlock bootloader without wiping data on P6P?
lukeexecute said:
Hello,
Is it possible to unlock bootloader without wiping data on P6P?
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To my knowledge - no !
Absolutely no way without a forced full wipe; there never has been. The moment you unlock the bootloader it triggers the full wipe.
Thanks for the replies.

Problems with root

I have just rooted an old note 10+ 5g with Magisk to recover some old lost photos.
Problem I have is although successfully rooted now, any recovery app I use is not finding a single file.
Anybody have an idea what to do?
Karl Brunton said:
I have just rooted an old note 10+ 5g with Magisk to recover some old lost photos.
Problem I have is although successfully rooted now, any recovery app I use is not finding a single file.
Anybody have an idea what to do?
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Was the bootloader locked before you did this? Unlocking the bootloader wipes data.
V0latyle said:
Was the bootloader locked before you did this? Unlocking the bootloader wipes data.
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Yes it was locked and I know it wipes data but thought I might be able to recover data
Karl Brunton said:
Yes it was locked and I know it wipes data but thought I might be able to recover data
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Nope, sorry. As you know, unlocking the bootloader wipes data, and the only thing that -might- be able to recover your files would be forensic data recovery.
Good luck.
I have my old note 9 that I want to do the same thing with. If bootloader needs unlocking how can I get around this so that I can get root but without losing data? Not done rooting for a long long time and this whole bootloader lock seems to be a right pain
I found out the hard way on a 6T a few years back...you can't. Unlocking the bootloader wipes data. Only way around it is back and restore.

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