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Weird problem. Cannot factory Reset. Phone keeps restoring previously installed apps.

Hi There,
I have been having the Samsung Galaxy Sl for 2 months now and the software kept crashing. I went to privacy and opted for a factory reset. Funny thing is no matter how many times I do a factory reset the phone restarts, and installs all the apps which i personally installed again. This is not a google recovery problem where all data is backed up in google. But the apps just magically reappear even after formatting the internal sd in recovery mode and reflashing it to the latest firmware. I am at a loss. I got a shock that even after reflashing my firmware to the latest 2.3.4 JKPJ5 it still reinstalls apps such as AVG, the BBC News, Cool reader.. And even my old wallpaper again.
Steps I have taken:
1) Formatted internal sd
2) Used recovery mode and wiped partition and cleared cache
3) Did factory reset and even installed a new firmware.
I have done everything. Pls help. My home button is also not working and the all the corrupted data from my old installation also comes back
Even when I restart my phone, any new apps i install vanish and are again replaced by the old apps.

Kishel Raj said:
Hi There,
I have been having the Samsung Galaxy Sl for 2 months now and the software kept crashing. I went to privacy and opted for a factory reset. Funny thing is no matter how many times I do a factory reset the phone restarts, and installs all the apps which i personally installed again. This is not a google recovery problem where all data is backed up in google. But the apps just magically reappear even after formatting the internal sd in recovery mode and reflashing it to the latest firmware. I am at a loss. I got a shock that even after reflashing my firmware to the latest 2.3.4 JKPJ5 it still reinstalls apps such as AVG, the BBC News, Cool reader.. And even my old wallpaper again.
Steps I have taken:
1) Formatted internal sd
2) Used recovery mode and wiped partition and cleared cache
3) Did factory reset and even installed a new firmware.
I have done everything. Pls help. My home button is also not working and the all the corrupted data from my old installation also comes back
Even when I restart my phone, any new apps i install vanish and are again replaced by the old apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you try factory resetting with the code? That should help you! And please post this in the Q&A section henceforth!

Sorry. Moving to Q&A
Thread Moved to Q&A

pls try this *2627*3855#
warning it will erase all user data.. ^^
Sent from my GT-I9003 using xda premium

Thanks.
Funny thing is i tried the reset codes. And only some work. I tried the reset code *2627*3855# . But I get an error saying its a connection probelm or invalid MMI code.
Sorry bangalorerohan. But I am not getting any replies in the Q&A section. I will just continue here for now..

Tell me the method you used to flash the new FW! I will tell you your error!

The probelm began before I even considered flashing my firmware. The sd card will be unexpectedly removed causing forced closes. Did a factory reset using the privacy menu quite a number of times for a few weeks. It helped for a while but the problem will always reocurred though. Then suddenly, factory resets stopped working alltogether. The phone will delete new apps i install every time i reinstall them and reinstall apps which i uninstall every time i restart the phone.
I thought flashing the firmware will fix the problem. But even after flashing the old apps and settings keep coming back.
Here are the steps I used to flash.
1) Removed sim card and micro sd card.
2) Restarted phone in download mode.
3) Run odin and plugged phone in Usb port
4) Checked Repartition, Auto Reboot, and Reset Time boxes.
5) Downloaded pit files.
6) Waited for it to pass
7) Pressed reset
8) Took phone out from usb port, took out battery and turned on download mode.
9) Flashed PDA, PHONE, AND CSC files. By ticking Auto reboot and reset time checkboxes.
10)Clicked Start
11) Waited for pass and started again.
I even tried using the recovery mode to wipe everything but still had the same problem. Apps and settings still keep reocurring from the corrupted android 2.2
I have done everything and am hoping for a solution for this frustrating problem. THinking of reflashing to android 2.2 and sending my phone to samsung for warranty.

Kishel Raj said:
The probelm began before I even considered flashing my firmware. The sd card will be unexpectedly removed causing forced closes. Did a factory reset using the privacy menu quite a number of times for a few weeks. It helped for a while but the problem will always reocurred though. Then suddenly, factory resets stopped working alltogether. The phone will delete new apps i install every time i reinstall them and reinstall apps which i uninstall every time i restart the phone.
I thought flashing the firmware will fix the problem. But even after flashing the old apps and settings keep coming back.
Here are the steps I used to flash.
1) Removed sim card and micro sd card.
2) Restarted phone in download mode.
3) Run odin and plugged phone in Usb port
4) Checked Repartition, Auto Reboot, and Reset Time boxes.
5) Downloaded pit files.
6) Waited for it to pass
7) Pressed reset
8) Took phone out from usb port, took out battery and turned on download mode.
9) Flashed PDA, PHONE, AND CSC files. By ticking Auto reboot and reset time checkboxes.
10)Clicked Start
11) Waited for pass and started again.
I even tried using the recovery mode to wipe everything but still had the same problem. Apps and settings still keep reocurring from the corrupted android 2.2
I have done everything and am hoping for a solution for this frustrating problem. THinking of reflashing to android 2.2 and sending my phone to samsung for warranty.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you have done everything correctly. Maybe it's a hardware problem because your sd card keeps unmounting. Have you dropped it? They best way is to send it to service center for repair.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium

reflashing back to froyo
Hey guys thanks for your help. but the problem seems to be related to the hardware. I am reflashing my phone back to froyo and sending it to get the warranty. But after reflashing there seems to be another problem. I cant receive calls anymore. But i can make calls..
I need to know if samsung can find out if I have reflashed my phone because I am afraid that my warranty will be void. Is there anyone with experiece regarding samsung warranty?

Kishel Raj said:
Hey guys thanks for your help. but the problem seems to be related to the hardware. I am reflashing my phone back to froyo and sending it to get the warranty. But after reflashing there seems to be another problem. I cant receive calls anymore. But i can make calls..
I need to know if samsung can find out if I have reflashed my phone because I am afraid that my warranty will be void. Is there anyone with experiece regarding samsung warranty?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
play dumb, dont mention you flashed, tell them you tried to update with kies and since then the FW is acting up, you can't make calls anymore etc

Interestingly... i have exactly the same problem. I have had this problem for abt 4 months now and i have tried everything (except sending it back to the repair centre). I don't think its a hardware problem but more of a bad flash somewhere in between.
i have been searching the net for ages for a solution... have yet to find any.

Hi all:
I've got the same problem!!
Has any one a solution? I'm crazy with this.

Why do i keep posting on threads that have already been resolved!!

BassBlaster said:
Why do i keep posting on threads that have already been resolved!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what's been resolved?

Major problem with phone after (botched?) stock restore

I'm truly lost for how to fix this. I'm trying to restore my phone to factory and I've wound up with major issues with the phone when it starts up. I get immediately those messages you get when a process dies: "Unfortunately, the process com.google.phone has stopped." I get this message for a huge range of apps, as far as I can tell it may be all or most of the built-in system apps, one after the other. I can't access settings or anything.
I tried restarting into fastboot and using "flash-all.bat" to wipe everything and install the stock images, then booted into recovery and attempted to wipe the data. I got everything wiped, or so I thought, but then the same problem still occurs when it starts up. How is this possible? Surely there could be nothing remaining of the old system on there at this stage?

After you flash factory images, there's no need to go in recovery again. Also, when setting up google account, don't sync app data.

[Q] Issues after upgrading to LMY47I

Hi All,
I did an upgrade to 5.1 (LMY47I) on my Nexus 5 and started facing some strange issues and have no clue on how to resolve them. Before the upgrade I had the following config:
Recovery: TWRP
Root status: Rooted
ROM: Stock 5.0 LRX22C
I used following method for the upgrade: http://forum.xda-developers.com/goo...e-update-rooted-device-to-5-1-lmy47d-t3050789
It was successful but post that I came across few issues as below:
1. Power button functionality was erratic. Sometimes it would lock my mobile but at other times it was locking and waking up my phone immediately. At times "Power Off" popup was also showing up. While I tried to figure out reason for that, trying power button multiple times, my phone rebooted and started the "Optimising Apps" sequence once again. It happened again a couple of times and so I decided to try out factory reset (since I hadn't done that after upgrading).
2. I did a factory rest from Settings. After factory reset, apps and other settings were gone but I noticed that user data in the storage was intact. I guess that also gets removed on a factory reset. Am I wrong on this one?
3. I wanted to install Cerberus as a system app and so I downloaded its zip from the website and flashed using recovery. I was surprised to see that the app wasn't showing after booting up. I tried couple of times more but got no success. So, I decided to install it from Play store and convert to system app using Link2SD. When I tried doing that, Link2SD gave me an error saying "/system: not enough storage space". I tried converting few other apps but got same error. Any thoughts on what could be going on here?
Thanks,
Anurag

crypticlight said:
Hi All,
I did an upgrade to 5.1 (LMY47I) on my Nexus 5 and started facing some strange issues and have no clue on how to resolve them. Before the upgrade I had the following config:
Recovery: TWRP
Root status: Rooted
ROM: Stock 5.0 LRX22C
I used following method for the upgrade: http://forum.xda-developers.com/goo...e-update-rooted-device-to-5-1-lmy47d-t3050789
It was successful but post that I came across few issues as below:
1. Power button functionality was erratic. Sometimes it would lock my mobile but at other times it was locking and waking up my phone immediately. At times "Power Off" popup was also showing up. While I tried to figure out reason for that, trying power button multiple times, my phone rebooted and started the "Optimising Apps" sequence once again. It happened again a couple of times and so I decided to try out factory reset (since I hadn't done that after upgrading).
2. I did a factory rest from Settings. After factory reset, apps and other settings were gone but I noticed that user data in the storage was intact. I guess that also gets removed on a factory reset. Am I wrong on this one?
3. I wanted to install Cerberus as a system app and so I downloaded its zip from the website and flashed using recovery. I was surprised to see that the app wasn't showing after booting up. I tried couple of times more but got no success. So, I decided to install it from Play store and convert to system app using Link2SD. When I tried doing that, Link2SD gave me an error saying "/system: not enough storage space". I tried converting few other apps but got same error. Any thoughts on what could be going on here?
Thanks,
Anurag
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1- Possibly hardware (power key) issue
2- Factory reset from Android OS *should* erase all user data.
3- Its just that, /system does not have enough free space to put more apps in there. Common issue after Lollipop. Remove some other app from /system, such as Maps, for example, to free up some more space. Be reminded that once you start messing with /system, this will (or might) cause issues with OTA updates.

So I managed to tackle (or at least figured the reason) for all the issues I was having:
1- Yes, there is some issue with the power key. ? But the other issue of optimising apps loop was because I did not do a clean install which disappeared when I did the factory reset after that.
2- After doing some reading on the Internet, I came to know that stock recovery cleans the user data but twrp doesn't by default. Since I had twrp, it just removed apps and settings but retained other data. In order to do a clean install I flashed stock LMY47I again including recovery, userdata etc. (used flash-all.bat). This removed everything from storage and made my phone as good as a new one (software wise).
3- Yes, it was the issue with storage space and was a surprise for me. Thanks for clarifying on that. Before I did a clean install, I tried removing couple of system apps and was able to install cerberus after that via recovery too. However, clean install solved everything.. ☺
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app

Phone just crashed and now having problems booting up

So I'm here at work.. working with my phone plugged in, charging, doing it's thing which shouldn't be much when I look over at it there's a bunch of "application x has crashed" and then reboots. Except it only sort of reboots. It sometimes hangs on the reboot, and if I reboot it 3-4 times it might come up into the OS but then all those messages appear again and it'll reboot itself.
I don't think I've installed anything crazy recently and blocked updates a long time ago when I got it, and am rooted with TeamWin recovery on it. I go into recovery and do a fix permissions and permissions and I get a bunch of errors to the effect of "e: xml error parsing file"
I do see that I have a nandroid backup from about 3 months ago that I might just have to try restore, but it's just weird that it seems like the phone just crashed itself. Can anyone think of any options I can try before I do that?
Also I don't think the phone has ever been updated since I got it as I froze/killed that process. Should I try upgrading to the latest? Are there big fixes/security issues that I should be concerned with that would make me want to upgrade?
Thanks for the help.

natboy said:
So I'm here at work.. working with my phone plugged in, charging, doing it's thing which shouldn't be much when I look over at it there's a bunch of "application x has crashed" and then reboots. Except it only sort of reboots. It sometimes hangs on the reboot, and if I reboot it 3-4 times it might come up into the OS but then all those messages appear again and it'll reboot itself.
I don't think I've installed anything crazy recently and blocked updates a long time ago when I got it, and am rooted with TeamWin recovery on it. I go into recovery and do a fix permissions and permissions and I get a bunch of errors to the effect of "e: xml error parsing file"
I do see that I have a nandroid backup from about 3 months ago that I might just have to try restore, but it's just weird that it seems like the phone just crashed itself. Can anyone think of any options I can try before I do that?
Also I don't think the phone has ever been updated since I got it as I froze/killed that process. Should I try upgrading to the latest? Are there big fixes/security issues that I should be concerned with that would make me want to upgrade?
Thanks for the help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. What did you do to that x applications? Did you just disable like location in the privacy guard?
2. Well, try to wipe the x application's data in settings -> app menu. If you can't navigate to there, try wipe all your data via recovery
3. Try to dirty flash your rom
4. Change into another rom

After a bunch of reboots, I was able to get the phone up but half my applications were deleted including Google Play store and most other Google apps including Inbox, Gmail, Hangouts. I might be paranoid, but maybe it was a Stagefright virus, but I have no proof that was it.
In the end I restored my nandroid from 4 months ago and it's now stable. But seriously I wasn't touching it when it started and then proceeded to destroy itself. Very strange behavior.

bricked (?) with "phone is starting"?

this morning, my gps wasn’t working and i did a reboot, since then my phone won’t start anymore. originally: bootloader unlocked, twrp installed, magisk as well.
after typing in the security pin, it was stuck. i assumed there was some problem with that, so i went into twrp and deleted those lock settings files, reboot, now i’m at "phone is starting" after each reboot now and i can access settings and basic stuff, but no home or anything, and tapping on system update tells me that the app is not responding ("settings keeps stopping"). booting into twrp asks for a pin which does NOT work anymore (neither my original one, nor 0000 or default_password).
i used magisk uninstaller (sideloaded), and reflashed what i assumed was an OTA-zip from the oneplus website, so i’ve got stock recovery installed now (bootloader still open), but otherwise not much changed - after booting i can basically only access settings (from the quick settings bar), nothing else works.
i ASSUME it has got something to do with not being able to decrypt data anymore. i also assumed i can just reflash the 2gb-zip from oneplus and that would include a fresh system/boot img and deleting those lock files from twrp would remove decryption, but i guess i was wrong.
other that formatting data now .. any recommandations/suggestions? any help would be greatly appreciated. :/

could be stock launcher is frozen or disabled?
it did this to me, even if I had another launcher.

virtyx said:
could be stock launcher is frozen or disabled?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for your guess - but, no, not disabled, i can see it in the list of apps. the only app "disabled" was the oneplus gallery, switched that back on, no effect ..

frank93 said:
thanks for your guess - but, no, not disabled, i can see it in the list of apps. the only app "disabled" was the oneplus gallery, switched that back on, no effect ..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
wipe cache in recovery

virtyx said:
wipe cache in recovery
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
tried that, didn’t work. and even after a "factory reset", starting from the "hello!"-page from scratch, everything stopped on the next page ("just a sec ..") - so i guess there was something seriously wrong with my data partition. not sure why though.
after formatting data (and crying during those few seconds) it "worked" again, now, and fortunately i had some kind of app backup at least, but ..
yeahwell.

frank93 said:
tried that, didn’t work. and even after a "factory reset", starting from the "hello!"-page from scratch, everything stopped on the next page ("just a sec ..") - so i guess there was something seriously wrong with my data partition. not sure why though.
after formatting data (and crying during those few seconds) it "worked" again, now, and fortunately i had some kind of app backup at least, but ..
yeahwell.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
very strange
maybe the restricted. XML file was stuck
no point trying since you formatted

four hours later, fresh setup - it’s starting to happen again, sudden "hangs" and "phone is starting .." out of nowhere, then "system ui is not responding", force reboot, .. working right now, but there’s something really fishy and i’m starting to assume it’s a hardware thing.

I'm having the same issue after rebooting to fix gps/mobile data issues. Any other solutions?