I encrypted my SD card and did something stupid - Sprint Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Alright, so I was dumb and encrypted my SD Card, and did not make a backup. I didn't like that I couldn't access it with Titanium Backup so I pulled the files off of it, and wiped the card (didn't think that I could have just decrypted them at that point in time, I thought I had to wipe it to decrypt it, turns out that's if you encrypt your phone.) is there any way to decrypt them with Wndows, or somehow with my phone? I have a lot of pictures on there. Thanks, any recommendation would be great! :fingers-crossed:

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[Q] SD card will not mount.

I was deleting crap on my sd card to free up some space. I cant remember everything i deleted but now i can not get the card to read in the phone. It says it it not mounted. I have tried to remount it in settings but nothing happens it just says i can remove the sd card. I can not plug it in to the computer because the phone will not enter disk drive mode. I tried a nandroid back up but it says something about md5 sums mismatch.
I am running ARHD xd 3.6 with the kernal that comes with it as well as the preferred radio.
Htc said to do a factory reset of the phone. Which i would rather not do. Is there a way to reformat the SD card there is little on there that i really care about. Reformatting would be my last resort but if that is the only fix then sure. Thanks guys!
I would not reformat it unless you take the files to your computer. See if you can get a hold of an as card adaptor for your pc and transfer your files so you can transfer them back. Reformatting will completely erase everything and I don't know how your device will react to you having your custom Rom removed.
It won't have anything to go off of I would think. I've never had this problem but I'm giving you my heat advice. But reformat before you factory reset.
First you can try and use an sd card reader and reformat the sd card. If you dont have that you can do nandroid backup through recovery to save your system data and apps. Then do a factory restore, maybe even a EXT4 reformat. after that you can reflash your rom and restore your backups.
PS If you dont want to use recovery backups for any reason you can always use titanium backup for apps (I wouldnt recommend backing up system data), make sure your accounts are synced, and even use an sms backup app for your text messages.
I was scared the actual phone was not reading the sd card or that the ROM had stopped it from reading correctly so i grabbed my wifes 2gig card threw it in there and the phone read it no problem at all. I just put my card back in and did a wipe of it was clear of any errors and worked perfectly. Immediately after i made a nandroid backup.
I could restore a nandroid backup because they are stored on the SD card and since it was connected i was getting a md5 checksum error. I looked up the error and tried to push the back up through adb shell but once again with out the sd card reading correctly no restore could be done. All my contacts are saved through gmail, photos are all uploaded the gogole+ as soon as they are taken so really the only stuff i lost was my nandroid backup from the stock rom.
thanks for the help guys.
Ya it happens some times it sounds like your weren't too attached to anything on the card so that's good.
I've said it before make a back up of your back ups. Put em ib a safe folder on your pc if you can. Hope. You can get back to normal good luck.

encrypted phone and lost cwm?!

i knew this would be a possibility after encrypting the phone so i made a nandroid beforehand. now, when i tried to make nandroid it just states it cant back up system and errors out with "cant mount /data" . is there a way to do a nandroid within the android OS?
dz2k said:
i knew this would be a possibility after encrypting the phone so i made a nandroid beforehand. now, when i tried to make nandroid it just states it cant back up system and errors out with "cant mount /data" . is there a way to do a nandroid within the android OS?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Since the phone boots into CWM and not Android, it cannot read the encrypted data on the phone. I am not aware of any way you can do a nandroid with an encrypted phone. If you are looking to just protect personal data, is encrypting JUST the SDCARD an option that might work for you?
mjb32803 said:
If you are looking to just protect personal data, is encrypting JUST the SDCARD an option that might work for you?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would think you'd have to keep an unencrypted external SDCARD to back up to though in this case. If the internal is encrypted i doubt that CWM would be able to use it as a backup source
I believe to date the only option is to unencrypt before going into CWM to do your backup. The other option (not a full backup I know) would be to see if an app such as Titanium backup which can also back up system apps will fit your need.
CWM and nandroid are separate from the OS. The /sdcard partition is encrypted by the OS, and as such, only the OS can access it, including for backup purposes.
i didnt encrypt the external sd card as it only gave the option to encrypt new data. i already had lots of media files on it and its not a big deal. im glad i made a nandroid before encrypting the phone! i want the encryption of the OS more so than anything..lol. not that i have much to hide but still..
ill continue using titanium backup for apps i get. thanks all!
update: online nandroid on the market has given nandroids a life again!

Factory reset with encrypted SD card

Welcome to my thread and thank you for your attention.
Recently, I have encrypted my external SD card and my phone had been factory reset without any backup.
Now, I could see those documents and files in my computer and phone, but I cannot open it because it says they are damaged.
I have searched that someone could changed some EFS metadata to recovery the files but I don't know the detail.
Is there any chance I could open the files again?
Please help me, I am really sad about it, thank you again.:crying::crying::crying::crying::crying:

Decrypt SD card after factory reset

Hello,
I unexpectedly had to do a factory reset on my S7 while the SD card was encrypted, as result the SD was not obviously readable afterward.
I saved part of the encrypted content of the SD card (basically the pictures) before formatting it and starting using it again, however I'm not able to recover this content.
I tried with the procedure I found on internet:
- saving the encrypted data
- format the SD card
- encrypt of it
- copy of the saved content back to the SD
- decrypt
However, at the decrypt state the phone don't move from an 'Analyzing SD card' phase.
Any idea? I'm afraid I should have saved all the content of the SD card...
Thank you
You should plug the SD card on to your PC using an SD Card reader. Open up CMD, and type diskpart.
After which, type list volume, and you will see the "drive letter" of your SD Card, type clean and afterwards...
Proceed to typing create partition primary size = "insert capacity of SD card here (mb" *w/o the quotation marks*
After which, type assign letter=F
It should work fine after this hopefully.
When you encrypt the SD card, Android makes a unique key that is stored in the Android trust store. When you factory reset the device, that key is lost. Permanently. Remember, the whole point of encryption is so malicious parties cannot access your data. If you could just read it again after factory resetting then there isn't much point is there? Your only option is brute-forcing it.
Always backup. Always.
CurtisMJ said:
When you encrypt the SD card, Android makes a unique key that is stored in the Android trust store. When you factory reset the device, that key is lost. Permanently. Remember, the whole point of encryption is so malicious parties cannot access your data. If you could just read it again after factory resetting then there isn't much point is there? Your only option is brute-forcing it.
Always backup. Always.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you
I do have a backup, however it was more convenient to restore the 20GB of photos from the SD rather than from the cloud.
I was reading some guides on internet with this procedure that's why I tried.
I will survive, thank you both for your answer
Mone181 said:
Thank you
I do have a backup, however it was more convenient to restore the 20GB of photos from the SD rather than from the cloud.
I was reading some guides on internet with this procedure that's why I tried.
I will survive, thank you both for your answer
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If somehow it was possible to backup the encryption key which is generated randomly on each phone then it would be possible to decrypt it on your PC even if the phone was damaged using your password and encryption key. For some stupid reason this is not implemented in Android (but it was doable for some devices), for example TrueCrypt or Microsoft Bitlocker allow it.
difto said:
If somehow it was possible to backup the encryption key which is generated randomly on each phone then it would be possible to decrypt it on your PC even if the phone was damaged using your password and encryption key. For some stupid reason this is not implemented in Android (but it was doable for some devices), for example TrueCrypt or Microsoft Bitlocker allow it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I thought the encryption was based on pin of the phone actually.
Lesson learned
Hello,
I have similar problem, but with Sony Xperia Z5 Compact. I made factory reset but didn't decrypt SD card before. SD card was ejected before reset, so I have all the datas, but cannot open them.
Is there any chance that I may recover my photos and videos if I don't have any backup?
Best regards.
Anyone?
Hi everyone
I kinda have the same problem. But the difference in my case is that I didn't reset the phone. While operating normally, one day it gave me a notification that encryption has failed. When I touched it, a page opened with the button of decrypt SD card at the bottom. I thought a restart would fix the issue. But when restarted, the contents of my SD cannot be accessed. I tried to decrypt it manually but in the settings, it thinks that the SD is unencrypted and only gives me the option to encrypt it, which obviously fails after every try. I was wondering if there is any way to trigger the decryption manually? Because I didn't reset the phone or anything and the data is still there. The phone just fails to see it.
Thanks in advance
Hey! I can confirm for 1000% the method you said worked for me:
- saving the encrypted data
- format the SD card
- encrypt of it
- copy of the saved content back to the SD
- decrypt
I deleted a video was able to retrieve it using Diskdigger on my pc. But then I was unable to open it because it was encrypted. So than I decrypted the SD in my phone only to find out the files were than unrecoverable deleted!?! Luckily I copied the files to my pc before decrypting!!! I used ur method and it worked decrypted it and everything played fine! Must say I was on the same os same phone(s8) so that must've been why it worked anyway still it worked. I'm happy, I acquired parental responsibility because of u?
I have made a similar stupid mistake I rooted my galaxy s8 and forgot to decrypt the SD card... now can anyone help me with the steps that I can fallow to decrypt the camera folder...
I to have a same problum ..
please any one find out the result of that data recover from encripted sd card from samsung a50

Help for recovery of encrypted data from formatted SD card

Hello Guys,
Yesterday my phone (Samsung S7) fell and the screen and touchscreen is not working since then. Not surprised given that it is shuttered XD.
Anyway, I had an sd card in the phone with all the photos saved on it, without cloud backups. Not remembering that the card was encrypted, I have simply connected the phone to my pc and copy pasted all photos to a pc folder. The sd card has then been inserted into a new Samsung A20e and fast formatted.
My problem is that now I have all the photos on my desktop which are encrypted and can't be opened. As soon as I realized this I have removed the sd card from the A20e to avoid overwriting data in case it can be recovered.
I would gladly appreciate if any of you could tell me if there is a way to recover this data.
I can access the USB debugging mode on the S7 and navigate its files.
My inexperienced ideas were:
1. Is it possible to recover the encryption key from the files in the phone and then use this do de-encrypt the photos on the pc?
2. If I insert the sd card back into the S7, format it, encrypt it (through a pc screen mirrowing tool), copy the photos form the pc into the card would the phone be able to read them? This could be possible if the phone uses always the same encryption key without changing it.
3. Is there any use in trying to use one of those data recovery tools on the sd card? The data I would get will still be encrypted.
Thanks to anyone who'd be willing to help.
upuupupupup
Galbanino0 said:
Hello Guys,
Yesterday my phone (Samsung S7) fell and the screen and touchscreen is not working since then. Not surprised given that it is shuttered XD.
Anyway, I had an sd card in the phone with all the photos saved on it, without cloud backups. Not remembering that the card was encrypted, I have simply connected the phone to my pc and copy pasted all photos to a pc folder. The sd card has then been inserted into a new Samsung A20e and fast formatted.
My problem is that now I have all the photos on my desktop which are encrypted and can't be opened. As soon as I realized this I have removed the sd card from the A20e to avoid overwriting data in case it can be recovered.
I would gladly appreciate if any of you could tell me if there is a way to recover this data.
I can access the USB debugging mode on the S7 and navigate its files.
My inexperienced ideas were:
1. Is it possible to recover the encryption key from the files in the phone and then use this do de-encrypt the photos on the pc?
2. If I insert the sd card back into the S7, format it, encrypt it (through a pc screen mirrowing tool), copy the photos form the pc into the card would the phone be able to read them? This could be possible if the phone uses always the same encryption key without changing it.
3. Is there any use in trying to use one of those data recovery tools on the sd card? The data I would get will still be encrypted.
Thanks to anyone who'd be willing to help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it has been formatted, it is gone. Recovering data that has been deleted is quite possible. Recovering data that has been formatted is not likely. And even if you did manage to recover any of the data, it would be very fragmented and incomplete, in other words, there wouldn't be enough left behind to recover anything that is a complete or useable file, all you would have are incomplete pieces of files.
However, it is possible to decrypt your encrypted backup but I don't know the best method to do so.
I only posted to give you an idea of what is possible and what isn't.
Sent from my SM-S767VL using Tapatalk
Droidriven said:
If it has been formatted, it is gone. Recovering data that has been deleted is quite possible. Recovering data that has been formatted is not likely. And even if you did manage to recover any of the data, it would be very fragmented and incomplete, in other words, there wouldn't be enough left behind to recover anything that is a complete or useable file, all you would have are incomplete pieces of files.
However, it is possible to decrypt your encrypted backup but I don't know the best method to do so.
I only posted to give you an idea of what is possible and what isn't.
Sent from my SM-S767VL using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply.
At least if you say that is possible to decrypt the files there is some hope for them. Have you got any idea of where I could understand more on how to do it?

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