[Q] Unable to mount /data - Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III

My wife's Galaxy S3 suddenly decided it didn't want to boot past the Galaxy SIII logo (which includes the blue Cyanogen mascot at the bottom)
I was going to attempt to re-flash Cyanogenmod 10.2, but for some reason TWRP prompted me for a password upon going into recovery. Hitting Cancel here allows me into TWRP. I flashed the latest version on TWRP, and still I am prompted by that password.
I then found that I was unable to wipe Dalvik Cache, and then found that I'm unable to mount /data.
Well that's not good. I assume that I'll have to use Odin to go back to stock and re-partition? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Sounds like your /data is encrypted. When you're prompted for a password, that's to decrypt the /data partition (it's probably the PIN she uses to unlock the phone). Hitting cancel simply leaves /data unencrypted and unmounted. If you hit mount within TWRP, you'll probably see a "Decrypt Data" button. Try using the PIN and see if that works.
Joe
erc. said:
My wife's Galaxy S3 suddenly decided it didn't want to boot past the Galaxy SIII logo (which includes the blue Cyanogen mascot at the bottom)
I was going to attempt to re-flash Cyanogenmod 10.2, but for some reason TWRP prompted me for a password upon going into recovery. Hitting Cancel here allows me into TWRP. I flashed the latest version on TWRP, and still I am prompted by that password.
I then found that I was unable to wipe Dalvik Cache, and then found that I'm unable to mount /data.
Well that's not good. I assume that I'll have to use Odin to go back to stock and re-partition? Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

joeinternet said:
Sounds like your /data is encrypted. When you're prompted for a password, that's to decrypt the /data partition (it's probably the PIN she uses to unlock the phone). Hitting cancel simply leaves /data unencrypted and unmounted. If you hit mount within TWRP, you'll probably see a "Decrypt Data" button. Try using the PIN and see if that works.
Joe
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I think you're right about the encryption. How does /data become encrypted? She doesn't recall encrypting it through settings, of course. Her usual pin doesn't work to allow access either. If I can't figure out the password to decrypt /data, what's next?

Within CM, the ability to encrypt /data is selected within settings. It will ask you to set a pin or passphrase, have more than 80% battery and will reset to encrypt (you'll see a green wireframe android icon and an encryption progress meter). This is all a conscious decision, so someone must have gone in there to set it, if that's the reason why it's asking for a password. You can set a different password for encryption, but you would have to do this from the command line, which doesn't sound likely here.
If encryption was interrupted, it's possible the drive isn't encrypted, but TWRP thinks it is (the key data is stored at the end of the partition). I'm paraphrasing, but if that bit is set, it will always think the partition is encrypted. The only way to wipe that is to completely wipe the /data partition, which you probably don't want to do unless you've got good backups (and nandroid will not backup /data/media, so be careful with that option).
Do you know if the phone had adb debugging enabled? You could try running logcat while it boots to see what the issue is. I had something similar happen to mine (hanging at the CM icon at boot) when I upped from the October CM10.2 nightlies to the M1 release and ended up using ODIN to return to stock - it's a good thing I had backups!
You can get a shell while in recovery to poke around. You can try mounting from the command line there (the /data partition will be listed in the /etc/recovery.fstab file).
If all else fails, and you have good backups, you could try wiping /data from within TWRP, but keep in mind that all pictures, texts, music, etc will go with it! I would only do this as a last, last resort.
I've seen several threads lately about issues with the partition layout in recent flashing (esp. with the MF1 update). I've reverted back to stock as a precaution, myself.
Joe
erc. said:
Yes, I think you're right about the encryption. How does /data become encrypted? Her usual pin doesn't work. If I can't figure out the password to decrypt /data, what's next?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

joeinternet said:
Within CM, the ability to encrypt /data is selected within settings. It will ask you to set a pin or passphrase, have more than 80% battery and will reset to encrypt (you'll see a green wireframe android icon and an encryption progress meter). This is all a conscious decision, so someone must have gone in there to set it, if that's the reason why it's asking for a password. You can set a different password for encryption, but you would have to do this from the command line, which doesn't sound likely here.
If encryption was interrupted, it's possible the drive isn't encrypted, but TWRP thinks it is (the key data is stored at the end of the partition). I'm paraphrasing, but if that bit is set, it will always think the partition is encrypted. The only way to wipe that is to completely wipe the /data partition, which you probably don't want to do unless you've got good backups (and nandroid will not backup /data/media, so be careful with that option).
Do you know if the phone had adb debugging enabled? You could try running logcat while it boots to see what the issue is. I had something similar happen to mine (hanging at the CM icon at boot) when I upped from the October CM10.2 nightlies to the M1 release and ended up using ODIN to return to stock - it's a good thing I had backups!
You can get a shell while in recovery to poke around. You can try mounting from the command line there (the /data partition will be listed in the /etc/recovery.fstab file).
If all else fails, and you have good backups, you could try wiping /data from within TWRP, but keep in mind that all pictures, texts, music, etc will go with it! I would only do this as a last, last resort.
I've seen several threads lately about issues with the partition layout in recent flashing (esp. with the MF1 update). I've reverted back to stock as a precaution, myself.
Joe
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey Joe, I appreciate you taking the time to answer the questions. I did edit my earlier response while you were responding, but to go into slightly more detail, her phone was just sitting on the arm of the couch, when she realized that it was off (it had been on just prior to that). She assumed the battery had died, but when I charged it to 100% and tried to boot it, that's when we found out that it wouldn't boot.
Anyway, wiping data isn't an issue. I have all of her photos and videos backed up, and most of her important stuff is stored in Google Drive. Unfortunately, trying to wipe data actually throws an error. Can you wipe /data if you can't even mount it?
EDIT: When I try to format data in TWRP, I get errors saying "E: Failed to decrypt data", and then it stops at "Updating partition details..."
Possibly a coincidence, She was previously using CM10.2 nightlies and just recently went to the M1 release.
So if we can't mount or wipe /data from recovery, I assume the next step is to go back to stock with Odin? And if that's the case, can you point me in the right direction? I am downloading Official VRBMF1 4.1.2 right now. Do I need a PIT file or something to fix the partitions?
Thanks again

Hrm..
I'd say going back to stock with ODIN will definitely get things back on track. You might need a PIT file to re-partition the device. You'll want to make sure it's the PIT for your model of phone (Verizon 16GB GS3, for example). Google turned up this:
http://teamuscellular.com/Forum/topic/3882-pit-files-for-all-us-variants-of-sgsiii/
I'm the SCH-I535 16GB so I used that one.
One other caveat - be sure you're running ODIN from a real PC - I was using a Virtual Machine and that caused issues.
Joe
erc. said:
Hey Joe, I appreciate you taking the time to answer the questions. I did edit my earlier response while you were responding, but to go into slightly more detail, her phone was just sitting on the arm of the couch, when she realized that it was off (it had been on just prior to that). She assumed the battery had died, but when I charged it to 100% and tried to boot it, that's when we found out that it wouldn't boot.
Anyway, wiping data isn't an issue. I have all of her photos and videos backed up, and most of her important stuff is stored in Google Drive. Unfortunately, trying to wipe data actually throws an error. Can you wipe /data if you can't even mount it?
EDIT: When I try to format data in TWRP, I get errors saying "E: Failed to decrypt data", and then it stops at "Updating partition details..."
Possibly a coincidence, She was previously using CM10.2 nightlies and just recently went to the M1 release.
So if we can't mount or wipe /data from recovery, I assume the next step is to go back to stock with Odin? And if that's the case, can you point me in the right direction? I am downloading Official VRBMF1 4.1.2 right now. Do I need a PIT file or something to fix the partitions?
Thanks again
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

joeinternet said:
Hrm..
I'd say going back to stock with ODIN will definitely get things back on track. You might need a PIT file to re-partition the device. You'll want to make sure it's the PIT for your model of phone (Verizon 16GB GS3, for example). Google turned up this:
http://teamuscellular.com/Forum/topic/3882-pit-files-for-all-us-variants-of-sgsiii/
I'm the SCH-I535 16GB so I used that one.
One other caveat - be sure you're running ODIN from a real PC - I was using a Virtual Machine and that caused issues.
Joe
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I wish I could come back with more insightful information, but through a bunch of poking and prodding in recovery, I was able to eventually format /data without having to use Odin. Thanks for the link, though. I'm saving the PIT file (same as yours), because who knows when it'll be needed.
This is actually the second time this phone has been stuck at the Galaxy SIII logo screen (with Cid, before the boot animation) in the past couple weeks. Both times were with the Cyanogenmod 10.2 M1 release. I think I might try RC1 to see if it behaves any better, but if not, it's back to stock she goes. If my wife didn't find TouchWiz so hideous, I'd likely go skip trying RC1 and go straight to stock and wait patiently for the 4.3 OTA.

Related

Can't format G-Tab, nvflash does nothing, all apps and settings are still there!

Okay I am super confused. I've successfully used FORMAT utility and also nvflash restore...but the tablet won't format!!! All my apps and settings are still there when I nvflash restore it!
I ran the nvflash_gtablet.bat from the Format utility..and it looked liked it worked: at the end of the process the tablet showed the red font with the kernel mismatch and bootloader not found, or something along those lines..
Just to be safe, I did it a second time. lol
Then I used nvflash restore to restore it back to original shipping.
I noticed right away something was wrong when as soon as it booted to the tap and tap home screen, the screen started to go dim after 15 seconds (that was the screen timeout time I'd set before formatting and all that).
But I thought maybe it was a fluke, so I checked the app drawer, and all my apps are there!!!! Not only that, it connected to my password protected wifi right away!!
Can someone please help me delete the f_ck out of this thing? I want there to be NOTHING left, so I can get a clean start.
The reason I wanted to format is because, I'm having a sound issue with my gtablet (whenever entering the volume control and adjusting the volume the processes always force closes...no matter what ROM I'm on). I wipe data, try to start fresh, but the problem always occurs after a few hours of use on any ROM (even the brand new TNT 5).
And I don't know if this matters or not, I'm on Windows 7, 64 bit...but I obviously have the USB drivers working because I'm using these utilities.
Please somebody? Today is my only day off work for a long long time.
I "THINK" I remember reading that you could flash CWM and from there wipe user data, then run nvflash to get back to stock recovery. Never tried it myself & I'm new here, so take the info for what it is worth.
Don't panic....
I don't think you have anything to worry about. If you read the post (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=974422), it states in rather large red letters at top :"This fully erases the ROM but this will NOT affect the internal SD card. You MUST be able to use nvflash to restore the stock firmware."
Since your apps are installed on the internal SD, that's why you see them when you reload the ROM.
Edit: If I were you, I'd run the Format and load stock, then reload Clockwork and format the internal SD. That should get you back to a rather vanilla slate.
You can also refer to the posting below as another source. If you go down to the Homebrew link found in the posting, it's is used to revert the gtab back to it's original TnT state.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=842000&highlight=stock
format and nvflash do not erase personnal data, a full reflash of difference firmware might format your personnal data, if you want to wipe out data, use the Factory wipe in the CW menu
Ronin916 said:
I don't think you have anything to worry about. If you read the post (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=974422), it states in rather large red letters at top :"This fully erases the ROM but this will NOT affect the internal SD card. You MUST be able to use nvflash to restore the stock firmware."
Since your apps are installed on the internal SD, that's why you see them when you reload the ROM.
Edit: If I were you, I'd run the Format and load stock, then reload Clockwork and format the internal SD. That should get you back to a rather vanilla slate.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you all for your replies. But I am a little confused still. AFAIK the apps aren't on the sd card...wouldn't I be able to see them when I mount the sd card on the computer?
ksc6000,
Storage devices on the G-Tablet are named as follows:
/sdcard -- main memory
/sdcard2 -- external mini-SD card
/usbdisk -- USB key
Rev

[Q] Ooops - Tab's funked. Help!

P6800 running Zeta
I was browsing facebook the other night when... shaboom - everything froze. No biggie I thought, I'll just do a little reset (I was getting a few FCs here and there anyway lately) and I'll be good to go...
NOPE. It started bootlooping at the initial Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 screen. I'm able to enter CWM recovery and even wipe the cache and flash ZIP files, but when I try to wipe data/factory reset, wipe the Dalvik cache or restore a Nandroid backupI get a System Error. It doesn't look good.
Is there a way to fix my seemingly funked /system without losing all my internal SD card data (where my Titanium backups reside) or to recover it before a full Odin flash?
Just tried again - it reboots and goes into a loop when I try to wipe data and dalvik, and when I try to restore a previous backup it gives me "Error while restoring /system!"
Any help greatly appreciated before it becomes a $600 door stop
Do you dare to wipe the system folder and follow by flashing another ROM?
Sent from my GT-P6800 using xda app-developers app
iena said:
Just tried again - it reboots and goes into a loop when I try to wipe data and dalvik, and when I try to restore a previous backup it gives me "Error while restoring /system!"
Any help greatly appreciated before it becomes a $600 door stop
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok... try go long way... download old HC stock rom and install that... then try go to stock recovery in hc and wipe your data
Thread moved to Q & A section, post in the relevant section next time.
edan1979 said:
ok... try go long way... download old HC stock rom and install that... then try go to stock recovery in hc and wipe your data
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you mean via Odin? Will I lose the data on my internal SD card by doing that? Is there any way of mounting the device in its current state as external storage on my PC to copy all data before a wipe?
ZhenMing: I'm not sure what you mean, but as I wrote above I am not able to wipe the system folder.
yes you will loose your data... i can give you another advice... but do this one carefully... the reason why your device cant wipe any /system or /data is because the corrupted partition... you need to check it... follow the guide in this thread...
USE ONLY PART 3... follow the guide start from this para to check your device...
Code:
Now we are going to use e2fsck to check our new partitions for errors, but not only, it also fixes some erros and it will even for example create lost & found in /data
So let's go, we'll begin with /system. If you're still in the (parted) shell, use ctrl+c and type "adb shell", then issue the following :
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1862294
iena said:
Do you mean via Odin? Will I lose the data on my internal SD card by doing that? Is there any way of mounting the device in its current state as external storage on my PC to copy all data before a wipe?
ZhenMing: I'm not sure what you mean, but as I wrote above I am not able to wipe the system folder.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Since you can go into cwm, you can mount your storage and then connect to PC to copy all you want.
edan1979 said:
yes you will loose your data... i can give you another advice... but do this one carefully... the reason why your device cant wipe any /system or /data is because the corrupted partition... you need to check it... follow the guide in this thread...
USE ONLY PART 3... follow the guide start from this para to check your device...
Code:
Now we are going to use e2fsck to check our new partitions for errors, but not only, it also fixes some erros and it will even for example create lost & found in /data
So let's go, we'll begin with /system. If you're still in the (parted) shell, use ctrl+c and type "adb shell", then issue the following :
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1862294
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But won't it downsize the int sd size, if OP tab still under warranty, better to get it fix by samsung for free and not lost any space.
Just reading the 1st post of the ZETA rom thread.
He says he is using stock Kernel.
He says every 5 lines, that you should full wipe...
without giving any sort of warning that it will eventually brick your device.
friedje said:
Since you can go into cwm, you can mount your storage and then connect to PC to copy all you want.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tried that one, but it won't mount unfortunately. The external will no problem, but when I try with the internal it just... well it does nothing. It's a bummer cause all my most recent backups are on the internal. Any other way of retrieving my data short of extracting the chip?
Giving it back to Samsung sounds like the best option, but I'm worried cause it has a custom ROM and it's rooted. Anyone has experience doing that?
Also I thought full wipes were good, but you're saying they eventually brick the device? How come? I thought having a custom recovery meant it would be virtually impossible to brick my device... and the weird thing is that it happened during normal usage, not while flashing.
Anyway, my priority is obviously to get my tab working again, but retrieving my internal data is second highest. Isn't there a flashable ZIP that would copy the contents of the internal SD into an external SD card? Surely this has happened to someone before me?
Thanks for all the answers, really appreciated!
bruce16878 said:
But won't it downsize the int sd size, if OP tab still under warranty, better to get it fix by samsung for free and not lost any space.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nope it wont... the 3rd stage on that thread command for just check and fix the corrupted partition... its like when we force boot windows... it will run on a little diagnostic software to check the drive... same concept.
Oh I see, Thanks for the explanation. Learn something new today.
Sent from my LT18i using xda app-developers app
friedje said:
Since you can go into cwm, you can mount your storage and then connect to PC to copy all you want.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
edan1979 said:
nope it wont... the 3rd stage on that thread command for just check and fix the corrupted partition... its like when we force boot windows... it will run on a little diagnostic software to check the drive... same concept.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Gotcha! Will try that one and post result - thanks!
how did your partition check go?
i'm annoyed that some partitions can be corrupted randomly even doing some mundane stuffs
even on stock ICS fw, i encountered DATA corruption by just deleting a contact
i guess you have softbrick..
here is what i did:
-flash stock Honeycomb firmware using Odin
-forced tablet into stock recovery mode
-wipe Cache/Data/Factory Reset
- reboot
when your tab is working again you could backup files from your internal EMMC and you could flash ROMS from there
JAYZE said:
how did your partition check go?
i'm annoyed that some partitions can be corrupted randomly even doing some mundane stuffs
even on stock ICS fw, i encountered DATA corruption by just deleting a contact
i guess you have softbrick..
here is what i did:
-flash stock Honeycomb firmware using Odin
-forced tablet into stock recovery mode
-wipe Cache/Data/Factory Reset
- reboot
when your tab is working again you could backup files from your internal EMMC and you could flash ROMS from there
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for that. I haven't tried anything yet as I'm away till Weds, but I will then and let you know. So you're saying by flashing stock HC via Odin and wiping/resetting everything through stock recovery I won't lose my internal storage data?
that's what i experienced..but i could not guarantee that it will be the same for your device
i noticed that because old folder are not deleted when i rebooted, but i haven't checked if the system folders are cleared
to have a clean reflash i also format/sdcard on recovery..but don't do this on stocl ICS recovery since you might risk increasing the damage
try to format via odin the Honeycomb fw first [don't put PIT file neither enable Repartion, just normal flash]
then force it to enter recovery mode when it bootloops after reset
you might fix your device this way if it has softbrick
just resort to using PIT/repartition as your last option
Again I would not recommend repartition when tab still under warranty. Repartition the last resort only if the tab is without warranty after failing all other alternatives.
JAYZE said:
how did your partition check go?
i'm annoyed that some partitions can be corrupted randomly even doing some mundane stuffs
even on stock ICS fw, i encountered DATA corruption by just deleting a contact
i guess you have softbrick..
here is what i did:
-flash stock Honeycomb firmware using Odin
-forced tablet into stock recovery mode
-wipe Cache/Data/Factory Reset
- reboot
when your tab is working again you could backup files from your internal EMMC and you could flash ROMS from there
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
After a full hangup, your stock hc is your first step out of the dark!
Best of luck
al128 said:
+1
After a full hangup, your stock hc is your first step out of the dark!
Best of luck
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok I'm gonna do it. There are dozens of versions of HC for the 6800 though, can I just pick any or do I need to find out what it was running out of the box? Mine came from Singapore.

[Q] Issues with KatKiss 4.3.1_027 on TF101

Good morning-
I have a TF101 (with keyboard) running KatKiss 4.3.1_027 and gapps 4.3_20130914. Everything was fine until yesterday morning when I lost network connectivity and decided to reboot (this happens from time to time). Unfortunately, now my tablet won't boot. I get the splash screen with the swirling colored circles, but nothing more.
I tried booting to TWRP (v2.6.3.0 if it matters) and flashed KK and gapps again (including wipes as instructed). This time, it got to an "Upgrading Android" screen, went through my apps, but then got stuck on "Starting apps." I've given it about an hour in both situations and still nothing.
To make matters worse, my microSD slot is flaky and usually doesn't read my card. Based on what I've found, it looks like I have to use adb to push any new files to the tablet. If I boot TWRP and connect my TF to my PC (Windows 7), it tries to install "ASUS Android MTP Device" but is not successful (yellow exclamation point - "This device cannot start. (Code 10)"). I've tried downloading and installing the suite from ASUS, but that doesn't seem to help. "adb devices" doesn't list anything, so I'm stuck here as well.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!!
Brian
Welcome to XDA!
This is what I responded to you over at TFF:
Sorry for the issues, it looks like the issue is a corrupt /data/ partition. By default "fsync" is off because this makes it faster, however it could get in a bootloop due to this speed. The fix is to flash the "fsync_on.zip" before the boot loop happens.
Once it happens, you are stuck, but there is help.
If you have TWRP 2.6.3.0, it is supposed to have USB support. Plug in a USB drive before booting to TWRP and it should be there.
To fix your issue and lose very minimal data, here is what will need to be done:
Boot to TWRP.
Backup only the /data/ partition. I would back it up to USB if possible, or if not back it up to the internal or microSD (if the microSD is playing nice).
Next (here is the leap of faith) do the wipe of the SYSTEM, CACHE, DAVLIK and DATA partitions. Do not do a FORMAT DATA, just a WIPE DATA (in the advanced section of the WIPE menu).
Now, install KatKiss and the GAPPS.
Wipe CACHE & DAVLIK.
Reboot.
Sign in to your Google account. You can have it restore apps if you want, I usually do myself, but it does not really matter.
Once it is done restoring your apps (or if you choose not to restore) open the Play Store an install Titanium Backup and the Premium Key for TiBu. You need the premium to restore from a TWRP backup.
Open TiBu and go into the Menu section, then find the option to restore from a nandroid backup. This will scan for any nandroid backups. Pick the backup to restore from and it will take a few minutes to scan the backup. Pick the apps you want to restore data and / or the app from.
Go make a coffee and wait for it to complete.
You may lose data from one or two apps, but you will have it from the rest of them. That is better than nothing.
Thank you!!
If that's all it is, then it's not as bad as I thought.
frederuco said:
If you have TWRP 2.6.3.0, it is supposed to have USB support. Plug in a USB drive before booting to TWRP and it should be there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately, this doesn't seem to be working for me. I used TWRP to power off my tablet. Then, I plugged in a USB stick into one of the ports on my keyboard, as this is the only way that I have access to a port. TWRP boots as expected, but I can't see my USB device anywhere. Am I doing something wrong? Is there a partition on the internal storage that I can use for the backup that won't get wiped by the process you outlined above?
Thanks again!!
You can use the INTERNAL storage option, just be sure that when you wipe you only wipe the DATA partition. Do not choose to FORMAT DATA.
WIPE DATA = wipes the /data/ partition without wiping /data/media/ (which is the /sdcard/ directory or INTERNAL)
FORMAT DATA = formats the entire /data/ partition.
As I said above, you can use the internal storage option but be sure to only use the wipe data option.
frederuco said:
You can use the INTERNAL storage option, just be sure that when you wipe you only wipe the DATA partition. Do not choose to FORMAT DATA.
WIPE DATA = wipes the /data/ partition without wiping /data/media/ (which is the /sdcard/ directory or INTERNAL)
FORMAT DATA = formats the entire /data/ partition.
As I said above, you can use the internal storage option but be sure to only use the wipe data option.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just so I'm 100% clear:
Boot to TWRP
Check only "Data" from the left menu.
On the right side, "Storage: Internal Storage" is selected and nothing needs to be changed here.
Swipe to back up
Proceed with the steps in your original post.
Correct.
frederuco said:
Welcome to XDA!
This is what I responded to you over at TFF:
Sorry for the issues, it looks like the issue is a corrupt /data/ partition. By default "fsync" is off because this makes it faster, however it could get in a bootloop due to this speed. The fix is to flash the "fsync_on.zip" before the boot loop happens.
Once it happens, you are stuck, but there is help.
If you have TWRP 2.6.3.0, it is supposed to have USB support. Plug in a USB drive before booting to TWRP and it should be there.
To fix your issue and lose very minimal data, here is what will need to be done:
Boot to TWRP.
Backup only the /data/ partition. I would back it up to USB if possible, or if not back it up to the internal or microSD (if the microSD is playing nice).
Next (here is the leap of faith) do the wipe of the SYSTEM, CACHE, DAVLIK and DATA partitions. Do not do a FORMAT DATA, just a WIPE DATA (in the advanced section of the WIPE menu).
Now, install KatKiss and the GAPPS.
Wipe CACHE & DAVLIK.
Reboot.
Sign in to your Google account. You can have it restore apps if you want, I usually do myself, but it does not really matter.
Once it is done restoring your apps (or if you choose not to restore) open the Play Store an install Titanium Backup and the Premium Key for TiBu. You need the premium to restore from a TWRP backup.
Open TiBu and go into the Menu section, then find the option to restore from a nandroid backup. This will scan for any nandroid backups. Pick the backup to restore from and it will take a few minutes to scan the backup. Pick the apps you want to restore data and / or the app from.
Go make a coffee and wait for it to complete.
You may lose data from one or two apps, but you will have it from the rest of them. That is better than nothing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
frederuco said:
Correct.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Success!! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!! Two follow-ups to this:
1.) Since I was never able to get this working, is there a way to access the USB/SD card slots on the keyboard dock in TWRP? Using the internal storage is good, but if I want to wipe the whole thing (since my microSD card slot doesn't work), I would really have no way of ever being able to do this.
2.) I actually went up to 4.4.2, mostly because I could. However, I seem to have issues with the Google Play store where apps are always stuck on "Installing..." then the get installed but not really. I think I'll go back down to 4.3 unless there's a way to solve this.
Thank you again!!

Encrypted Device - NO keyboard

So, I encrypted my device last night, but on rebooting, the password screen has no keyboard, so I cannot enter my password... In TWRP, I cannot mount data (doesn't prompt for a password like it should), so I cannot wipe... Any attempts to wipe result in FAILED. I cannot access anything from a computer (nothing shows up).
I've seen a few scattered posts that relate, but none resolved. It would appear that I have a completely bricked phone now. Any suggestions?
HTC Droid DNA - Cyanogenmod (latest milestone) - TWRP 2.8
Did you encrypt /system?
You should normally be using LUKS and have an unencrypted partition on your SD card so you can access it via USB. Then getting to the other encrypted partitions is a lot easier.
dyczone said:
Did you encrypt /system?
You should normally be using LUKS and have an unencrypted partition on your SD card so you can access it via USB. Then getting to the other encrypted partitions is a lot easier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can access/mount system in TWRP, however I cannot see it over USB on my computer. Is there anything I can do from TWRP to get a keyboard, or at least wipe and start over.
Nagrom Nniuq said:
I can access/mount system in TWRP, however I cannot see it over USB on my computer. Is there anything I can do from TWRP to get a keyboard, or at least wipe and start over.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you try flashing a stock ROM via fastboot?
Well, incase anyone is interested. I was able to adb sideload CM11 onto my phone using TWRP and my computer. After that I was able to reboot and get a keyboard on the encryption screen. Unfortunately, after I entered my password, the screen looked like it was unlocking, however it then just went blank and stayed like that for over an hour before I gave up on that. Sadly, I was reduced to formatting data, losing everything, and starting over from scratch... Chalk that up to a massive fail for encryption. If that happens to people, no one is going to use it.

Messed up this time

My K1 has been stock rooted for awhile now, and this past weekend I decided to flash a rom on it. I downloaded everything and went into TWRP to start wiping per instructions.
In my haste I selected to wipe EVERYTHING! Internal, SD, cache- the whole works. Abbot the time the wipe finished, I thought "Oh no, I did not leave anything on there to give the tablet instructions!" No new ROM, no old one either.
I have left it in TWRP since Saturday, afraid to reboot it. I fear it will permanently brick because there isn't anything on there. It is still in TWRP, plugged in.
I tried using am OTG flash drive but TWRP does not see it. I took the SD card out & loaded the new ROM on it, but TWRP does not see it either.
I am using a Linux Mint terminal with ADB commands to do this. Sudo ADB devices sees it, shows the serial #, and says Recovery.
How do I get a ROM on this device and get it functional again? Can I reboot it? To bootloader, or to recovery again? What is my next step?
I am an amateur with Linux, so please, keep the commands simple!
Thank you!
Don't worry it's not broken. Just put your SD card in and mount it (click mount and check usb otg or sd card or whichever media you're using) and you should be able to see your media when you click install and expand devices.
You can also connect your tablet to your pc and simply drag and drop files into its internal storage, your linux pc should be able to see your shield if it's in twrp. Just open nemo (win+E) and place the files you want to flash. Just make sure if you're transfering files from linux to give it a few more minutes after transferimg before unmounting your tablet and starting to flash.
I LOVE YOU, MAN!!! I tried mounting (had not seen that in TWRP before) the SD card, but it still did not see it. I put the OTG drive back in and mounted, it saw it! I proceeded to flash the rom. I had a hard time installing gapps, I am going to reinstall it tomorrow.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your help!
biknut1 said:
I LOVE YOU, MAN!!! I tried mounting (had not seen that in TWRP before) the SD card, but it still did not see it. I put the OTG drive back in and mounted, it saw it! I proceeded to flash the rom. I had a hard time installing gapps, I am going to reinstall it tomorrow.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your help!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem
Make sure you've downloaded ARM and not ARM64 gapps for your android version (7.1.1 or 8.1 depending which ROM you use, you can find the version on the bottom of the first post).
I downloaded the link in the Rom post, but I will double check. Thanks again!
biknut1 said:
I decided to flash a rom on it. I downloaded everything and went into TWRP to start wiping per instructions.
In my haste I selected to wipe EVERYTHING! Internal, SD, cache- the whole works.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe already lessons learned, but a couple points I often tell folks on these forums:
- The TWRP default WIPE option (which only wipes data, Dalvik and cache) says "this is the only wipe you need most of the time". It says that for good reason, and they mean it when they say that! This default works great for flashing ROMs. Some folks will swear by wiping "system" when flashing a ROM. But this is already done when you flash the ROM, so it really is redundant.
- The option to wipe other partitions (besides the default) is labeled "Advanced" and again, it is called that for good reason. My advice would be, to not wipe anything under this section, unless you know exactly what it is, and what the result will be. There are sometimes valid reasons to do so, such as you want to completely wipe internal storage, and start fresh (various ROMs and apps dump a lot of extraneous stuff there, that never gets cleaned up unless you do so by some manual means). But again, you need to be prepared, such as not having your backups or ROM (that you intend to flash) on the partitions you are about to wipe.
- If/when you do choose to use the Advanced wipe features, always double check (triple check, for that matter) what you are about to wipe. It is easy to click the wrong box, and there will not be any confirmation of what you are wiping once you swipe. It's easy (maybe too easy) to intend to wipe something harmless like cache, but accidentally tap SD card or internal storage.
@redpoint73- Believe it or not, I know that! I did want to wipe the SD Card, and the rest of the tablet, so i could get rid of everything old that was making it lag. Good thought, just not all at one time. Lesson learned!
Nothing was harmed, tablet is better, gained some Linux experience, so all around it was a win!

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