i lost my phone late Tuesday night, i called it and rang a few times tried calling it again a few minutes later and went to answer machine,
either battery went or someone turned it of, ive checked on find my phone and it was last synced about 1 yesterday so guessing it was turned on briefly then , been no activity on it since, so its looking like the likelihood someones found and keeping it, so how secure is it? it has a 5 digit pin code, finger print and face to unlock the phone and i have stuff stored in secure folder as well which includes a picture of series of words to get into my crypto wallet.
For every android security is pretty much the same,
if someone don't know your password they can enter the phone by doing hard reset via the recovery,
but if you're rooted or using custom rom, then all they need to do is full wipe from twrp, which is not included Internal Storage and flash other custom rom and they might get into your personal data on your phone's storage.
also I believe if you enable device manager as administrator before, you have an option to reset your phone on Find My Device
i never did root this phone i wanted to keep the credit card option, device manager is on and im keeping my eye on find my phone but not wiped it in the hope it might come back to me yet, ive got a year and a half of pictures on there and hoping the phones secure enough to keep people accessing the info.
on find my phone it still hasnt synced since the 29th 1.08pm so still unsure to put the wipe message on there,
I want to get a new sim card today so the sim in the old one will deactivate , do you know if this happens will find my phone still work? thanks
There are 2 possibilities for the fact that your phone still hasn't synced since the 29th.
- It could be the phone is still hasn't turned on
- Or it could be that your phone is already reset from the recovery, if this happen then you don't have any control of your phone anymore
also I remember that you can lock your phone from find my device, I don't really know what will happen to your phone is it still be able to access the recovery to reset the phone or not.
Related
Hi All,
I seem to have run into a very dire case where my 100% stock M8 is completely unusable, due to what seems to be a failed OTA update.
Phone will boot up normally, but as soon as the home screen comes up a "com.android.systemui" error comes up, preventing any type of further interaction with the os, since the screen goes black and start flashing an empty default background on and off indefinitely.
Now, I'm fairly computer literate but I never rooted or modded any phone so I spent the last 3 days on these forums looking up information and learning what rooting, bootloaders, ADB and all that fun stuff I had never heard of before meant. However, after initially being optimistic about at least getting my data back before an inevitable factory reset I have reached a dead end.
Here's what I went through so far:
- To backup without normal access to the OS, I need the ADB pull command
- To use the ADB, I need "USB debug" enabled BUT Can't access settings, so can't enable USB debug
- Searched for ways to work around enabling USB debug via bootloader/recovery
- Found out you can use ADB with a custom recovery image
- Tried flashing a custom image BUT bootloader is locked, so no dice
- Found the only way to unlock the bootloader with S-ON is via HTC dev BUT will wipe all data upon unlocking
- Found no way to set S-OFF without wiping
I can't believe a fully stock phone can be hard bricked by a simple OTA update just because I never tampered with it (cos if I did, I would have a lot more options).
I'm aware I'm going to have to factory reset eventually anyway, but I want to pull out whatever data I can first.
Please help, I'm running out of ideas.
Thank you all.
lo11o said:
I can't believe a fully stock phone can be hard bricked by a simple OTA update just because I never tampered with it (cos if I did, I would have a lot more options).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can believe it, since I've seen it happen enough times to folks on these forums. You do a major update to the OS, bootloader, and radio; and there is always a possibility of rendering the phone non-operational.
What kind of data are we talking about? Is it on internal storage, and if so, can you see internal storage on your computer when you connect the phone?
If no to any of that, you're probably stuck at a dead end. If the data is important, it should have been backed up off-phone to begin with.
Thanks for replying redpoint, and the answer to both questions unfortunately is no.
I'm mostly interested in backing up text messages and notes, everything else is either synced with google or redownloadable. Of course I'll take care to remove the SD before resetting so whatever's in there won't be affected.
I have no idea what could have caused this mess. What's more infuriating is that the system underneath the error dialog does seem to be functional, notifications pop up and it even rings if I try calling my number, but can't pick up. Even Wi-Fi is on, for the record. Everything just goes to hell as soon as that dialog goes away (yes, I've tried ignoring it and trying to get the notification bar down). It's just that the fact it's technically not in a "bootloop" situation made me hope.
I read somewhere on these forums that unless your phone doesn't charge, doesn't turn on and doesn't even get recognised by a computer, it can almost always be saved. Am I truly SOL?
lo11o said:
I read somewhere on these forums that unless your phone doesn't charge, doesn't turn on and doesn't even get recognised by a computer, it can almost always be saved. Am I truly SOL?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you can't interact with the phone to turn on Debugging, I personally can't think of any way to pull the desired data off the phone.
Bummer. I'll proceed with the factory reset then, live and learn.
Thanks for the advice, I learned a lot of very useful stuff from this community, having the patience to read and process all the wealth of information - even n00b-friendly, too. :good:
OK so I smashed my s5, am a UDP verizon guy and hooked on the open bootloader, so i searched far and wide for another one with the 15 chipset...which I didn't find but I found a note 4 with it.
I bought it and unlocked it and loaded on a rom I loved. (5.0.1 og5). Well...no sense lying here...I was trying to do some less than kosher things regarding my ex's Facebook account with it. In the process I wasn't smart enough to cross check MD5s (a precaution I learned all too well) and opened an app that has me baffled.
It basically hijacked admin on my device completely. No Antivirus program can touch it, though many detect it. "Unknown sources" in my security folder is stuck permanently enabled, and I can't take over as admin on my own brand new note4.
I have tried flashing twrp and titanium backups to no avail, and also tried the safe stock og5 firmware through Odin but it never completes. I am stuck. I have logcat records and all the tools I would think might help, but I can't get rid of it...it seems to have used root and embedded itself into every facet of the device.
I am willing and ready to do anything including a full unroot and stock rom, I just don't want a locked update. Can anyone help me please?
As of now, no roms break it, only the stubborn malware CM app tries to get rid of it, but only identifies it as "suspicious file". My user admin and unknown sources are both locked, and a gaggle of bizarre log events happen constantly, forcing my device into crazy lag. As soon as it happened I received a couple random number-link blank text messages, but I never opened them. I don't have the numbers saved as I've flashed the phone like 30 times since trying to rid myself of this. Aside from the lag and locked unknown sources and admin, and an inability to clear trusted credentials, the phone seems to run normally, though I am scared to use it to log on to pretty much anything. The malware didn't come from a text, but from an app that I knowingly permitted thinking it was something else and I feel like a moron for it. It doesn't seem to have a name. It installed as an untitled app and I couldn't delete it with the root system app deleter, because it put a green bar over the check box in the app. I got rid of it with titanium, but to no avail. It still lurks.
Thanks in advance, and let me know of any screens hits or logs or tests I can provide to help.
At that point, I would recommend using Samsung's Smart Switch for PC program to do an emergency firmware upgrade & initialization. This will download a full copy of the stock firmware for the device (including a few bits that you won't find in stock firmwares available for download through sites like SamMobile) and will erase everything on the device and restore your phone to stock firmware.
If you are in the US and have a Best Buy nearby, you can see if one of their Samsung reps can perform a factory recovery using their SMART tool (which will do the same thing that Smart Switch's emergency firmware initialization will). Officially, rooted devices are not supported and they may rightfully refuse to do this, but it's worth asking if you don't have a computer to use for Smart Switch or don't want to wait.
You will need to redo the developer conversion, but that's the only thing I can think of that will definitely completely restore your phone to stock and eliminate all traces of whatever you installed.
thanks. that solved my problem and got it back to stock, rid of the malware completely. unfortunately, when i tried to return to the rom i had used, everything fell apart for me :/.
A friend of mine has the same phone as I have - a OnePlus 3 which we both bought at launch. When he got it, he activated the secure startup in the start up configurations - I didn't.
After a while, he changed his mind to go to CyanogenMod (I always help him with flashing stuff, getting him TWRP, try to explain everything) so I got him the (back then) latest CM. The problem was (and still is) that his secure startup still shows up. He doesen't want it anymore, so do I. I go nuts asking him every time to unlock TWRP / his phone just to change something.
Until now I was always able to answer his questions - I read this forums all the time, and google is my best friend. However it seems that no one actually has this problem, or at least isn't really aware of it. The secure startup is an option under settings, but even if we disable it, after a reboot it shows up again. It shows up even after formatting the whole phone. I deleted all of the partitons, but it still shows. I have no clue where it actually is saved, since it remembers not only the language the phone was prior set to, but also the "welcome message".
Is it in the bootloader? If so, how do I get rid of it?
Another idea was to install an old backup of the original OS, but he doesen't have it anymore. My idea was to recover the backup, then disable the settings in hope that the system thinks "well ok, the hash seems to be the same so ok, I let you through with it".
Any help would be great, since I really have no idea anymore.
__revolt__ said:
A friend of mine has the same phone as I have - a OnePlus 3 which we both bought at launch. When he got it, he activated the secure startup in the start up configurations - I didn't.
After a while, he changed his mind to go to CyanogenMod (I always help him with flashing stuff, getting him TWRP, try to explain everything) so I got him the (back then) latest CM. The problem was (and still is) that his secure startup still shows up. He doesen't want it anymore, so do I. I go nuts asking him every time to unlock TWRP / his phone just to change something.
Until now I was always able to answer his questions - I read this forums all the time, and google is my best friend. However it seems that no one actually has this problem, or at least isn't really aware of it. The secure startup is an option under settings, but even if we disable it, after a reboot it shows up again. It shows up even after formatting the whole phone. I deleted all of the partitons, but it still shows. I have no clue where it actually is saved, since it remembers not only the language the phone was prior set to, but also the "welcome message".
Is it in the bootloader? If so, how do I get rid of it?
Another idea was to install an old backup of the original OS, but he doesen't have it anymore. My idea was to recover the backup, then disable the settings in hope that the system thinks "well ok, the hash seems to be the same so ok, I let you through with it".
Any help would be great, since I really have no idea anymore.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just a thought.
May be the phone picks up the settings from your Google account. Try setting it up as a new phone after wiping and flashing either with a new Google account or with no account and see if the issue returns.
__revolt__ said:
A friend of mine has the same phone as I have - a OnePlus 3 which we both bought at launch. When he got it, he activated the secure startup in the start up configurations - I didn't.
After a while, he changed his mind to go to CyanogenMod (I always help him with flashing stuff, getting him TWRP, try to explain everything) so I got him the (back then) latest CM. The problem was (and still is) that his secure startup still shows up. He doesen't want it anymore, so do I. I go nuts asking him every time to unlock TWRP / his phone just to change something.
Until now I was always able to answer his questions - I read this forums all the time, and google is my best friend. However it seems that no one actually has this problem, or at least isn't really aware of it. The secure startup is an option under settings, but even if we disable it, after a reboot it shows up again. It shows up even after formatting the whole phone. I deleted all of the partitons, but it still shows. I have no clue where it actually is saved, since it remembers not only the language the phone was prior set to, but also the "welcome message".
Is it in the bootloader? If so, how do I get rid of it?
Another idea was to install an old backup of the original OS, but he doesen't have it anymore. My idea was to recover the backup, then disable the settings in hope that the system thinks "well ok, the hash seems to be the same so ok, I let you through with it".
Any help would be great, since I really have no idea anymore.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Format whole device leave nothing. Use this chance to convert data to f2fs. Then the password will be gone. And you will have an empty phone to start afresh with
*Irrelevant thread*
@Omnitrix4m3
Call Project Fi. Talk to them. They'll probably send a replacement (no waiting for repair). You can always talk to them and then after hearing what they say decide no.
Omnitrix4m3 said:
Wow. I spend so much time on Reddit ignoring these threads until today.
Allow me to set the scene, I'm a student who loves to tinker and modify, and the idea of unlocking my bootloader, rooting, and running custom ROMs on my device seemed fascinating at first. Becoming an avid user of this after fashing my device countless times and performing backups, I began to find a system thatworked for my device and was stable. Having not flashed anything for months on my phone, I had no reason to take a backup of my phone. Until today.
Realizing I had too many garbage apps on my phone, too much RAM being used, and my SOT being garbage, I decided on deleting some of the 222 apps I keep for fun on my phone. With that, I used my phone's built in free space client which cleared unused apps and saved photos. However, it also included my downloads folder where I consciously chose my downloaded ROM and vendor images to save space (Remember, my build was stable at the time and I wanted space to do an eventual nandroid backup). After deleting those flashable files I continued about my day as usual. However, until the end of the day I realized my phone was logged out of my school's wifi, so I logged back in. My phone then began to lag, and a combination of the phone and me using the powerbutton allowed it to reboot. Then it began to bootloop. Normally as a flasher bootloops are easy to get rid of, or may ensue for minutes after flashing a file, however this was consistent and I had no ROM to flash over it, muchless boot to TWRP to do it. I couldn't boot to anything but the system's own recovery mode. I gave the phone some time alone and tried to research how to fix the problem without opening the phone up and soldering. When I attempted again to boot the phone I realized I got boot into TWRP. However, that was shortlived as, when I tried to make a backup the phone froze and rebooted. Going home with my head in my hands, I later tried booting an hour and a half later making my whole boot animation until the very end when the name is shown and the lock screen should load, that's when it began to loop again. I spoke to my father who bought the phone through Project Fi, who recommended me to talk to support. However I just realized: A) If I send it, I lose my data or have it tampered with in a repair. B) If they attempt to boot it, they will see its void of warranty due to the bootloader unlock and rooting and might not honor my warranty (although people have done it after warranty, NOT BECAUSE IT WAS DEVOID BY UNLOCKING BOOTLOADER/ROOTING). C) I bought it on sale for like $250 for 32 GB so money I get back won't cover a Pixel or another phone I can tinker with again with AOSP roms (and I'm not trying to wait two years for Android O, the only other phone I would consider is a OnePlus 5 which launches in the summer and would be around $450).
What would you guys suggest I do?
1. DIY solder and fix
2. Continue tampering to find way to copy off data (I need suggestions)
3. Send it back completely wiped or in way it is to fix
4. Have it replaced with money (and then what phone would I buy?)
And finally do I go to Google Store, Project Fi, or LG to have this issue resolved while ommitting the fact it has been modified?
P.S.: While writing this, this actually booted up for 5 minutes and worked until it crashed and entered the loop again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you can get into recovery again, do a factory reset and see if it'll boot. If so, take the opportunity to back up your files then flash the factory images to go back to stock so you can get a replacement. Good luck
Hi everyone,
So i know this is a long shot but there are some amazing folks on XDA so after scouring the web i figured this was my final hope.
So my niece has a stock S9 (G960U1) bought directly from Samsung. 2 days ago, her phone died overnight and when she put it on charge and booted her pattern no longer was being accepted. Same pattern used for quite some time. She kept trying it and then thought maybe she did forget it somehow and tried something else and of course now she only has a few attempts left before auto wipe (option was on in the settings ). She foolishly had everything on her phone out of which the most important is photos of someone who has passed and no recent backups.
It seems that most of the stuff was backed up to Samsung Cloud but the images and no backup turned on. So i've been desperately trying to help her as the only option seems to be wipe at this point but i don't know if recovery software will even be able to fully recover the images.
Tried so far:
Find My Mobile won't work as phone is on boot screen so no internet connection
ADB won't work because it won't accept the shell cmd
Aroma File Manager won't install (sig failure)
Tried a few programs available online (Dr Fone etc) but they either don't support the S9 or they wipe phone
Some mentioned the Extreme Syndicate thread but that also states you have to wipe
Friend works with Samsung sales and he's going to check with a tech but haven't heard back from him yet (not even sure they can do anything)
We do have the original receipt from Samsung (bought directly from them)
Really appreciate any help and if a wipe is the only option then let me know if you have a preferred recovery software that will hopefully be able to recover the images of concern.
Thanks
If she has a Samsung account, you can unlock the phone. Go to https://findmymobile.samsung.com and sign in, then look on the right menu, there is an option to unlock phone.
kenboyles72 said:
If she has a Samsung account, you can unlock the phone. Go to https://findmymobile.samsung.com and sign in, then look on the right menu, there is an option to unlock phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the response but no internet access at boot up.