[Q] Unlocking bootloader wipes SD storage: YES OR NO??? - Nexus S Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I'm seeing different answers in different threads. I need to reinstall 2.3.4 but have to go back to earlier version first. ClockworkMod was suggested to me but the only way to get that is to unlock the bootloader or root. And both of them wipe the SD storage, right?

EDIT
it does format

demo23019 said:
No
Unlocking and locking your bootloader will only reset your phone data not internal SD data
even if it did you could just copy everything to your PC
And you flash Clockwork recovery from bootloader screen after you unlock it doesn't require root.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How can I copy it? I lost USB connectivity, from the manual 2.3.4 install, which is why I'm trying to go back to an older version in the first place. No SD card on the NS. Are you sure it won't delete the SD storage? I have A LOT of picture(that were on a card before the NS) and I would DIE if I lost them; pretty much EVERY picture of my 8 month old baby. Have you done this personally and your SD data was intact?

I locked and unlocked and it did format my SD card. Maybe try getting the photos off through adb
Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk

edit my bad it does format
could always check this out
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=931865
jrocka01 said:
Have you done this personally and your SD data was intact?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I recently sent my phone out for repair to Samsung i loaded stock rom and locked my bootloader and had to format my sd because after i did all that my data was still there
I just tried and lost my data so i hope you didn't listen to me

demo23019 said:
edit my bad it does format
could always check this out
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=931865
I recently sent my phone out for repair to Samsung i loaded stock rom and locked my bootloader and had to format my sd because after i did all that my data was still there
I just tried and lost my data so i hope you didn't listen to me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, still too much of a puss to pull the trigger. Thanks for letting me know for sure. Any other ideas?

no you're not a puss you would have lost everything..i felt bad after i double checked on my phone

Only time your SD is wiped is by fastboot UNLOCKING your boot loader. Locking it will keep your data intact. The other way of wiping your SD is by selecting format SD card in Clockwork. Moving between versions of Android does not wipe your SD. When I say SD, I mean your personal stuff like pictures, music, downloads etc.

peeturr said:
Only time your SD is wiped is by fastboot UNLOCKING your boot loader. Locking it will keep your data intact. The other way of wiping your SD is by selecting format SD card in Clockwork. Moving between versions of Android does not wipe your SD. When I say SD, I mean your personal stuff like pictures, music, downloads etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The reason I'm trying to go to an earlier version is because I lost USB connectivity after a manual 2.3.4 install, which means I can't access my SD storage. The only ways to do that are by 1)unlocking the bootloader or 2)rooting to put on CWM. Both of which wipe my SD storage. Or an I mistaken? Can you think of an alternative? Again, the key issue is NO USB CONNECTIVITY.

jrocka01 said:
The reason I'm trying to go to an earlier version is because I lost USB connectivity after a manual 2.3.4 install, which means I can't access my SD storage. The only ways to do that are by 1)unlocking the bootloader or 2)rooting to put on CWM. Both of which wipe my SD storage. Or an I mistaken? Can you think of an alternative? Again, the key issue is NO USB CONNECTIVITY.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried removing the device via device manager and reinstalling the appropriateusb driver? 2.3.4 doesn't have a non functional USB storage.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA Premium App

krohnjw said:
Have you tried removing the device via device manager and reinstalling the appropriateusb driver? 2.3.4 doesn't have a non functional USB storage.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's showing up as Unknown Device and when I try to update the drivers it says they're up to date. Do you manually install 2.3.4? Have you heard about this issue from anyone else?

When you say you lost usb connectivity, do you mean when in the bootloader? If so you need to install the drivers from PDAnet I believe. If you are having issues mounting the drive while the phone is on, try reinstalling the device/drivers after you uninstall, reboot and use another USB port.
Hope that helps. Otherwise, sorry to waste your time. Good luck.
EDIT: Now I think I follow what you are saying. I went into recovery to mount the SD card and NADA, then USB mass storage devices, NADA. Same issue as this post right? http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1072884&page=2 One of the gents recommends disabling USB legacy devices in the BIOS but I am not so sure if that will help. I had this same issue on my EVO with another recovery.

Related

[Q] no idea of a title??

i unlocked my htc cha cha via htc dev and only set the main install location to memory card rather than the internal memory.now everytime the phone restarts i get force closes for most com.android apps(phone,people,settings,etc..)
any suggestions on how to fix this please?
thanks
Oh, you're using on of the custom ROMs then. Unfortunately you need to reset to factory data (from CWM), as long as you cannot access Settings.
Ahh bad idea, you have to be really really careful. I'd suggest rather than using Apps2SD, or setting it to SD like that, use Link2SD, your phone sees it as internal. It'll save you a lot of space.
But yeah, as Alex said, you'll have to reset using CWM.
custom rom?dont recall installing a custom rom neither do i have access to the root directory neither did i choose the external storage as my primary storage using apps2sd.i did it using adb devices via the java sdk
just to emphasize on something.i don't really know much of the "mod/developing" thingie..so am like a noobie
RockyAJ said:
custom rom?dont recall installing a custom rom neither do i have access to the root directory neither did i choose the external storage as my primary storage using apps2sd.i did it using adb devices via the java sdk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awww man, why did you went through adb?
That takes a lot of experience and practice. Use LINK2SD/APP2SD apps from market, as stated above. Try the same command through adb once more and set memory to internal, afterwards reboot the device. See if that helps. Otherwise, factory reset data.
factory reset you mean using the volume down plus on button and factory reset?cause i did a reset but didn't help.and i saw a "tutorial" online for the adb and it worked but just lately the phone went loca
Alex C. said:
Oh, you're using on of the custom ROMs then. Unfortunately you need to reset to factory data (from CWM), as long as you cannot access Settings.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
alex,now i am having the same problem again.i formatted the phone,and backed up everything.then i start getting these errors back.and they pop up once then second time applications/settings open.any suggestions?new ones?

CyanogenMod Woes

Hey all,
I stumbled into an issue a few days ago and I'm trying to figure out how to get it resolved with minimum headache.
I downloaded the latest CyanogenMod download from h8rift's get.cm website, but unfortunately I didn't notice that it was CM9 rather than CM10 until I had flashed it and the boot animation popped up.
I didn't have a CM10 zip saved to my SD card partition, and TWRP, for some reason, would not mount to USB on either my Mac or my PC. The phone wouldn't boot into CM9, so I couldn't download the zip from there either.
So, I hit 'factory reset'.. twice, both from the bootloader, and from TWRP. Well, no luck. Now the file browser in TWRP doesn't even show my SD card's contents, just the TWRP folder. Every time I see a command line in TWRP, it tells me the SD card couldn't be mounted.
So, crap. Are all my files gone? I didn't realize factory resetting wipes the phone. I have all my photos on the SD card partition as well as a somewhat recent Titanium backup, so I'd really, really, really not like to lose those.
I understand that running a RUU will probably fix my issue, but the thing is, on the off chance that my SD card contents are still around, I'd like to be able to keep them. Will running a RUU wipe the SD card, if it still is in there somewhere? Are there any other suggestions re: getting the phone to boot, or be recognized as a USB disk? Also, if I do end up RUUing, I assume I have to unlock the bootloader again. Sigh, that was a hassle the first time.
tl;dr I'm complaining about a lot of stuff that I'll probably have to do anyways because I did something stupid and wasn't smart enough to keep backups, but if anyone wants to give pointers that'll make this process easier I will kiss your shoes and worship you forever.
Thanks.
If you end up needing to wipe your SDCard, here are some helpful tips
[Q] E:Can't mount/SD card http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?t=1751803
---------- Post added at 11:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:29 PM ----------
denversc said:
If you end up needing to wipe your SDCard, here are some helpful tips
[Q] E:Can't mount/SD card http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?t=1751803
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oops, here is the full url:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1751803
So I just managed to boot into CyanogenMod 9, without actually doing anything.
So it boots but can't mount the SD card. I have no idea either. Any way to mount the SD card without relocking bootloader?
Have you tried to access your sd card with a file manager app like solid explorer to see if anything is still on the card?
Sent from my Nocturnalized One XL using Forum Runner
Factory reset from the bootloader appears to wipe the sdcard and leave it in an unformatted state. I did this yesterday and fixed it by letting the phone boot back into the sense rom I was running.
Not quite sure what you can do in CM9. Have you tried connecting to your computer and seeing if windows detects a valid drive? If it doesn't maybe let windows format it, yeah I don't like this idea either, so you can at last get some files on it.
I had a similar problem after flashing a nocturnal update...
Here's what I did to resolve:
Wipe all - SD card, factory reset (all can be done inside TWRP)...then plug your phone into your computer via usb and on your phone in TWRP main screen, navigate to Mount and select USB storage. It WILL show up on your computer as unformatted - just reformat (which will wipe it again) and then let you copy files in. Just download the latest CM10 (which is working great) and flash away...
I am using a Mac computer running win xp via parallels and it worked great - I don't remember what file structure to format the SD card as, but it was the default when it brought up the format dialogue...
Hope that helps!
Sent from my One X using xda premium

How do you flash a phone without SD card?

I have been using Samsung Android all my life, if I buy the OnePlus One phone, how will I flash the phone with new ROM since I can't just simply put the .zip file onto external SD card and flash through recovery.
Use adb to push to the internal sd or sideload it from recovery.
Sent from my One using Tapatalk
kuromusha38 said:
I have been using Samsung Android all my life, if I buy the OnePlus One phone, how will I flash the phone with new ROM since I can't just simply put the .zip file onto external SD card and flash through recovery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can flash whatever .zip you need through the internal storage.
treChoy said:
You can flash whatever .zip you need through the internal storage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How? You suppose to wipe your internal memory clean before flash any rom.
kuromusha38 said:
How? You suppose to wipe your internal memory clean before flash any rom.
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Click to collapse
No, you aren't. You don't need to wipe internal memory, only /system, /data, /cache and dalvik partitions.
So wait...
You're saying that everytime you flashed a rom you cleaned out your entire phone beforehand?
Sent from my HTC One using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Derpston said:
So wait...
You're saying that everytime you flashed a rom you cleaned out your entire phone beforehand?
Sent from my HTC One using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, of course. That's what they say on the instruction.
kuromusha38 said:
Yes, of course. That's what they say on the instruction.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
im pretty sure no rom would make you wipe your internal storage. theres no reason to ever do that.
Most recovery like twrp, cwm etc doesn't wipe your internal memory when you say factory reset. Before flashing new rom most developers prefer you factory reset which wipes your system, data partitions but nothing happens to your internal memory. So you are good.
Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk
That you for the clearing the confusion
kuromusha38 said:
That you for the clearing the confusion
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your Galaxy Note 2 can flash ROMs like this in the same way. Even if you use Factory Reset/Wipe Data in your recovery, it still wouldn't wipe your Note 2's internal storage. It will wipe /data (but you'll notice it'll say 'wiping /data without wiping /data/media'.
It's been this way for a long, long time.
The Jack of Clubs said:
im pretty sure no rom would make you wipe your internal storage. theres no reason to ever do that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope. Any package that tells you to wipe /sdcard is from someone who has no clue what they're doing.
On devices with unified storage, it is slightly more complex - in rare cases the filesystem can get corrupted in such a way that requires complete format. This will clobber /sdcard on devices with unified storage (/sdcard is /data/media remapped) - but a normal wipe data/factory reset in recovery on a unified device will remove everything *except* /data/media on /data
Again, it's *very rare* that you need to fully format /data on a device with unified storage - I've only had to do it twice in my life, both times on a Moto G because f2fs sucks rancid donkey balls for data integrity.
http://www.phonearena.com/news/OneP...-card-support-revealed-in-User-Manual_id56033
???????
its clearly a typo. oneplus said specifically that the one will not come with an sdcard slot.
The Jack of Clubs said:
its clearly a typo. oneplus said specifically that the one will not come with an sdcard slot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only reviews I've found are from Android Authority and Engadget, both with the 16gb white model, and neither say a microSD card slot is there. Engadget says there isn't one, and AA pulls the cover off to show the internals - and if there was a slot, surely they would have noticed, right?
OTOH, these seem to be "pre-production" units, with software that still needs some bug fixes. So who knows what's really in store?
Planterz said:
The only reviews I've found are from Android Authority and Engadget, both with the 16gb white model, and neither say a microSD card slot is there. Engadget says there isn't one, and AA pulls the cover off to show the internals - and if there was a slot, surely they would have noticed, right?
OTOH, these seem to be "pre-production" units, with software that still needs some bug fixes. So who knows what's really in store?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry guys, but there's no SD slot. Mounting data through something like a Meenova works though.
Also, it's worth noting that when you switch to a newer device, you can't mount storage to USB from recovery like you were once able to.
If you don't want to use sideload or adb push, you'll want to put the ROM on your storage using a working ROM first, so that's why you should always have a working ROM zip on your storage at any given time, because if you start bootlooping when you're away from a computer, you're stuck until you can get back to one.
LiquidSolstice said:
Also, it's worth noting that when you switch to a newer device, you can't mount storage to USB from recovery like you were once able to.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You mean like OTG in recovery? The One read my Meenova with a 32GB microSD card in the stock recovery.
Harfainx said:
You mean like OTG in recovery? The One read my Meenova with a 32GB microSD card in the stock recovery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh, I'd believe it. But if you don't have one or if you forget, you're still screwed. Nothing beats a fully on-device solution
LiquidSolstice said:
Oh, I'd believe it. But if you don't have one or if you forget, you're still screwed. Nothing beats a fully on-device solution
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Absolutely! :good:

[Q] Recover data after factory reset (Moto G 4G)

I had to do a factory reset on my Moto G 4G as it was not working properly. I backed up everything using Helium and all the contacts to storage. I didn't realise that I was actually backing up to internal storage rather than an SD card (not present). After a factory reset, I lost all the backups. I assumed Helium would have backed everything up to the computer it was connected to?
Is there a way to recover what was on the internal storage prior to the factory reset? The phone doesn't appear as separate mass storage drive when connected to the computer. It is just listed as the phone name under My Computer so I cannot seem to run any standard file recovery tools such as Testdisk.
Help!?
No hope?
I'm guessing since no one has replied that there is no hope in recovering the original data?
&r01d said:
I'm guessing since no one has replied that there is no hope in recovering the original data?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey
U know recovery applications that I used can scan memory that can mount ... (I can't remember exact name)like using Samy or Sony.they shows the drives as a software not a mountable memory.like u put SD card on a memory reader n use that.it can be support by rec app but that one no I think
Try rec app in ur system or find a hack that can mount internal men then go on
Hope this will help you
Might see if this thread will help mounting the storage in ADB http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2843152

Fully Wipe internal Storage and flash new Rom from Pc

Hey guys, I just wanted to know if there is any way by which I could completely wipe the internal memory and flash a rom, kernel etc straight from the PC through USB? Also If someone could recommend a Rom and gapps (xposed user) it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Sent from my A0001 using XDA-Developers mobile app
Edit : I don't necessarily have to flash from the PC, I just want to completely wipe the Internal memory before flashing a new Rom coz of viruses. Thank you
Sent from my A0001 using XDA-Developers mobile app
You have that option on Twrp.
Wipe -> Advanced -> Choose all partitions including internal storage
If you to Instal new rom from PC, you have to use fastboot but you can use USB otg to
FSadino said:
You have that option on Twrp.
Wipe -> Advanced -> Choose all partitions including internal storage
If you to Instal new rom from PC, you have to use fastboot but you can use USB otg to
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But if I choose Internal storage from TWRP won't the rom and gapps get erased too?
Sent from my A0001 using XDA-Developers mobile app
Well yes that would happen, you'd delete the files you put on the internal storage so, when you do the "full" wipe in TWRP using the Advanced wipe option, select everything except the internal storage which will leave those files located there intact.
br0adband said:
Well yes that would happen, you'd delete the files you put on the internal storage so, when you do the "full" wipe in TWRP using the Advanced wipe option, select everything except the internal storage which will leave those files located there intact.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I understand but I want to wipe the internal storage too , is there a way for me to flash the files from the PC through recovery?
Sent from my A0001 using XDA-Developers mobile app
No, there's not really much you can do at that point since you'd be cleaning out any content there you'd need to redo the phone back to a functional state. The only types of ROMs you can flash directly in fastboot mode are pretty much the factory CyanogenOS ones from what I can tell, those are the only ones provided as actual partition images, the rest are designed to be installed through recovery, even OxygenOS comes in a recovery flashable form (the last one for the OPO, 2.1.4).
Well there's one possible way: using an OTG USB stick with the ROM files on that, it might work but I can't say for certain it will. You could do the full wipe including the internal storage, use the file manager in TWRP to copy the ROM from the OTG USB stick back to internal storage then flash, maybe.
Just put all the files you need on pen drive, wipe all partitions including internal storage, plug pen drive through otg cable and flash everything you need
galaxys3lover said:
Edit : I don't necessarily have to flash from the PC, I just want to completely wipe the Internal memory before flashing a new Rom coz of viruses. Thank you
Sent from my A0001 using XDA-Developers mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Android is vulnerable to virus?
I just wipe and transfer the ROM/Gapps/addons from my PC while still in recovery.
This has always worked fine with my Oneplus One. My Note 5 and Galaxy Tab S2 will not be detected by my PC in recovery.
ADB sideload the ROM after erasing the Internal Storage
Doomerts said:
I just wipe and transfer the ROM/Gapps/addons from my PC while still in recovery.
This has always worked fine with my Oneplus One. My Note 5 and Galaxy Tab S2 will not be detected by my PC in recovery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you. Is there a tool to do that? I remember having a tool to do that for the S3.
Sent from my A0001 using XDA-Developers mobile app
galaxys3lover said:
Thank you. Is there a tool to do that? I remember having a tool to do that for the S3.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
euh, Windows explorer?
I don't use a tool at all. I plug in the USB cable, computer goes "pling", I drag and drop files from my computer into the phone's folder and done.
If you can't do this I'm not really even sure where to begin to find out why I can and you can't. Try just, going into recovery, plugging your phone into your computer and seeing what happens?
Doomerts said:
euh, Windows explorer?
I don't use a tool at all. I plug in the USB cable, computer goes "pling", I drag and drop files from my computer into the phone's folder and done.
If you can't do this I'm not really even sure where to begin to find out why I can and you can't. Try just, going into recovery, plugging your phone into your computer and seeing what happens?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My bad , I thought windows woudnt recognize the phone storage while in recovery , I thought i would have to do it through fastboot , i just checked it reads while in recovery ,I will try flashing now , Thanks for your help
galaxys3lover said:
My bad , I thought windows woudnt recognize the phone storage while in recovery , I thought i would have to do it through fastboot , i just checked it reads while in recovery ,I will try flashing now , Thanks for your help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We cool. Good luck!
You could always just format everything through recovery and then either push or sideload the new rom through adb.
darshiz said:
ADB sideload the ROM after erasing the Internal Storage
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this is the right answer
I'm surprised people haven't come up with ADB push yet.
Before wiping everything ADB pull the required files.
Wipe everything from the recovery, and while in recovery, ADB push everything you pulled back to the device.
Profit!
Mr.Ak said:
Android is vulnerable to virus?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Everything that is connected to the internet is vulnerable to virus

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