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[Q] Enrcyption Support for ClockWorkMod Recovery

Hello,
i have just installed the official stock ICS 4.0.3 Rom to my Nexus S and everything was really fine... until i tried to root it. As someone who tries to take security seriously, i immediately encrypted the device using the tools provided by ics (works ok).
but unfortunatly it's now not possible anymore to mount /sdcard while in recovery, which makes rooting and installing updates impossible (or is there any other way? eg. fastboot?).
therefore my question: will clockworkmod recovery support ics encrypted devices in the (near) future? i know its gonna be a p.i.a. to type a password with only the volume buttons, but hey
i like the encryption and would like to keep it, but not beeing able to use recovery like before is a big drawback...
greetings
Georg

Same for me.
Hope to see encryption support in clockworkmod soon.
I bought Rom manager premium even if I never flash from rm just to support the developers... hope they will be able to get it sorted out

Op -- I'm interested in this for when my phone (EVO 3D) finally gets ICS. Will you post an update to this thread if you hear anything?
BTW, with TWRP getting touchscreen support, it can't be too much longer before CWM gets touchscreen since I think the guys in TWRP were going to start contributing to CWM, from what I've heard anyway. So that would solve the password typing problem.

Georg, thanks for asking this question as I've been wondering the same exact thing. Hopefully we'll get a good answer soon.

Alternatives for ClockworkMod Recovery
I encrypted my device (the Exchange account I added required it) n... now I cant do anything in recovery ... it wont mount the drive ... any suggestions for a replacement ...
thanks ...

mrosensweig said:
I encrypted my device (the Exchange account I added required it) n... now I cant do anything in recovery ... it wont mount the drive ... any suggestions for a replacement ...
thanks ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its because the way encryption works you have to boot and enter code, that's the whole point, no recovery can do it atm
Sent from my ice cream powered Nexus S

small update:
nothing new on the subject, but i didnt check out the new touch recovery (anyone tried it yet?).
in the mean time i went back to an unencrypted CM9...

I didn't read anything about encryption so did not upgraded to the touch recovery yet

you should lock the bootloader if someone is nagging you

jomir said:
small update:
nothing new on the subject, but i didnt check out the new touch recovery (anyone tried it yet?).
in the mean time i went back to an unencrypted CM9...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Jomir, what was the procedure you used to get back to CM9? Is it possible to repartition, erasing the encrypted partitions so a new rom can be flashed? How?
Thx,
rmsilva

rmsilva123 said:
Jomir, what was the procedure you used to get back to CM9? Is it possible to repartition, erasing the encrypted partitions so a new rom can be flashed? How?
Thx,
rmsilva
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Restore a backup or do a clean install(format boot, system, cache and data)
Sent from my ice cream powered Nexus S

DarkhShadow said:
Restore a backup or do a clean install(format boot, system, cache and data)
Sent from my ice cream powered Nexus S
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply, DarkhShadow. The problem is that CWM can't wipe or format these partitions, since it can't mount /sdcard (which is encrypted). If I could only access the external sdcard from within CWM, I could just wipe everything and then install a new rom. But since it can't mount /sdcard, I can't access sd-ext. nvflash is not an option, since my TF101 is B90. Is there a way to either restore the stock recovery (overwrite CWM) or boot from the external SD so I can run a script such as "super wipe full" (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1245892)? Maybe there's a way to run the wipe script through adb? If I can just format the partitions (which is what the script does), then CWM would be able to mount /sdcard and, consequently, the external SD and I can flash a new rom (such as revolution HD 3.0.1).
Thanks,
rmsilva

Honestly idk then, try a factory reset on phone(ie booted up) and then maybe it will be unencrypted?
Sent from my ice cream powered Nexus S

The funny thing is that stock recovery on an encrypted phone can write to the disk, but only from a warm reboot (perhaps the kernel stays resident?).
When I say write to disk I say apply the leaked OTA update, 4.0.4 for the VZ Gnex. And correct me if I am wrong, it's writing and mounting the disk, no?
Anyhow, this is done from stock recovery which is open source. So you ask yourself, why can't Koush support mounting the disk from a warm recovery state reboot? Maybe he doesn't know this?
DarkhShadow said:
Its because the way encryption works you have to boot and enter code, that's the whole point, no recovery can do it atm
Sent from my ice cream powered Nexus S
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

rmsilva123 said:
Jomir, what was the procedure you used to get back to CM9? Is it possible to repartition, erasing the encrypted partitions so a new rom can be flashed? How?
Thx,
rmsilva
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i did a factory reset (from the settings menu), installed recovery per adb/fastboot and installed cm9 from sdcard in recovery.

Use tmpfs to install a new ROM in crypted system
Hello Everyone
To flash a new ROM you can do as follows:
boot in Recovery
format cache partition
from your PC use adb to mount /sdcard as tmpfs:
adb shell mount -t tmpfs none /sdcard​
put your ROM on the (fake) sdcard
adb push <your rom> /sdcard​
use the recovery to flesh the ROM as usual
This worked form me.
Sorry to be late...

What about a nandroid backup or restore? How big is /cache?
orcruin said:
Hello Everyone
To flash a new ROM you can do as follows:
boot in Recovery
format cache partition
from your PC use adb to mount /sdcard as tmpfs:
adb shell mount -t tmpfs none /sdcard​
put your ROM on the (fake) sdcard
adb push <your rom> /sdcard​
use the recovery to flesh the ROM as usual
This worked form me.
Sorry to be late...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Sorry I didn't try with a nandroid backup but I think it is too big to fit the device memory...
You can backup data inside the sd partiton (phone up and running, just to don't lose data...), boot into recovery, format sdcard partition, mount it, put the backup in the sdcard and after install the nandroid backup...
I think that it could work but I am not sure. If after formatting the sdcard you can mount it, the task is done. You can put the backup on it using adb push and flash using recovery.
If you try please give me some news.
Regards

orcruin said:
Hello Everyone
To flash a new ROM you can do as follows:
boot in Recovery
format cache partition
from your PC use adb to mount /sdcard as tmpfs:
adb shell mount -t tmpfs none /sdcard​
put your ROM on the (fake) sdcard
adb push <your rom> /sdcard​
use the recovery to flesh the ROM as usual
This worked form me.
Sorry to be late...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm kind of a noob when it comes to adb. What is that process doing exactly? How big is the fake sdcard? I want to make sure I understand all the implications before I dive in. Of course I need HTC to release a ICS ROM first. ;-)

thx1200 said:
I'm kind of a noob when it comes to adb. What is that process doing exactly? How big is the fake sdcard? I want to make sure I understand all the implications before I dive in. Of course I need HTC to release a ICS ROM first. ;-)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First it formats the cache partition. Then mount the /sdcard so that you can access it from your pc. After you mount the /sdcard, you can put your rom zip into it. After the zip has been transferred into /sdcard, you can flash the zip as usual.
Since nexus s doesn't have sdcard slot, it mounts the internal storage as '/sdcard' to treat it like a sdcard, thus 'fake' sdcard. The 'fake' sdcard is around 13GB.

[Q] TF101 Installing Custom ROM on Encrypted device

I recently managed to successfully root my TF101.
I installed CWM (Via ROM Manager) and downloaded CM9
I boot into CWM and attempt to do a nandroid...can't find path.
I attempt to just install from SDCard...can't find path
Realization (and research) hits that CWM can't see the external sd, and the system doesn't see it as SDCARD but EXT-.
CWM can't see the internal SDCard because apparently on the Tablet the ICS encryption locks that down (but doesn't on my EVO since the SC Card isn't part of the internal storage)
I attempt to perform a factory data wipe to clear out the encrtyption , but upon reboot CWM loads. I try to perform the boot-launcher data wipe, but then CWM loads.
I try to use CWM to factory reset but since it can see the damned SDCard because of the encryption, no dice.
My machine is not bricked, as I can still boot into the previous install but I can't seem unable to format the thing to install CM9.
What to do, and thanks.

It has been said multiple times before DO NOT USE ROM MANAGER.
Either use Thing O Doom's peri to install a different CWM or Gnufabio's Recovery installer or NVFlash a rom to completely wipe. And don't use encryption there is no point 99% of the time

I didn't check here first, which is obviously what was my first mistake.
Will any of those recoveries be able to access and format the SD Card area?
Also, I use encryption as I do have sensitive things on my machine that I don't want exposed in case the machine is stolen. First time I've ever had it give me a problem, as the phone encrypts differently.

Team roug's recovery has internal and external sd support and i think the encryption is an ics/tegra 2 bug more than anything

Ok, so I managed to get the new recovery on via Thing O Doom's peri. And I was able to install Revolver via the ext card...but upon boot I was prompted for my encryption pin and got the message that android was updating...My Build number is now Revolver but everything is the same as it was. I still can't factory wipe this damned thing.
Upon request to wipe, it boots back to recovery and says formatting data and cache, data wipe failed.
Tis site states http ://0xfeedface.org/blog/lattera/2012-06-04/installing-cm9-encrypted- android-tablet
The dilemma
When you encrypt your Android device, the /data partition is what gets encrypted. The partition in full is encrypted and cannot be mounted within CWM. CWM also cannot perform a wipe, since it cannot mount the /data partition. And CWM cannot mount the external SD card. This is our dilemma. No access to the internal SD. No access to the external SD. No way to perform a wipe and format the internal SD from CWM.
The Solution
What we need to do, then, is use adb while the tablet is in recovery mode to reformat the internal SD card, thereby removing the encryption. On the US Transformer Prime, the internal SD card is at /dev/block/mmcblk0p8. The partition for our spare SD card will be at /dev/block/mmcblk1p1. You will need to replace those device entries for any other device you might attempt this on. After formatting the internal SD card, we will mount it and then mount the external SD card at /data/media:
In CWM, wipe cache
adb shell
mke2fs -t ext4 /dev/block/mmcblk0p8 # Warning: This can take a while. Be patient.
mount /data
mount /dev/block/mmcblk1p1 /data/media
Now go back to CWM on your device, then go ahead and flash your CM9 and gapps zips like normal. You now have CM9 installed! The /data partition is not encrypted. If you do not need to flash any other ROMs (unlikely if you're reading this article), feel free to re-encrypt your device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know the block numbers for the TF01

you need to undo the encryption before you can wipe anything

You can't. Hence my problem. I cannot mount,delete, or format the SDCard. It sounds like the process in the above post is the solution, but I don't know how to find out what block numbers the tf101 uses.

If you don't mine losing your data NVflashing a rom will resolve all the problems

Yep nvflash will do the trick otherwise as the solution you found yourself explains
Use adb in recovery ( in other words hook it up on a pc ) for this you will need android sdk runnin on your pc
More info about adb u can find here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1751439&highlight=adb+help
Good luck

Thanks to all, I have resolved my issue!
I had to download the stock rom, extract the blob, and use Wheelie for PC to NVFlash everthing abck to stock. I was then able to update over OTA, and use the excellent Thing O Doom's peri to re-root and flash the working recovery.
There should be several items in the Root FAQ up top, such as:
If you are encrypted and going to root, factory reset to get rid of the encryption FIRST since the encryption locks down the SDCARD partition (Unlike on the phone)and none of the recoveries can access it to mount. DON"T use ROM manage on the TF101 and always, always check XDA first.
:good:

darthrater said:
Thanks to all, I have resolved my issue!
I had to download the stock rom, extract the blob, and use Wheelie for PC to NVFlash everthing abck to stock. I was then able to update over OTA, and use the excellent Thing O Doom's peri to re-root and flash the working recovery.
There should be several items in the Root FAQ up top, such as:
If you are encrypted and going to root, factory reset to get rid of the encryption FIRST since the encryption locks down the SDCARD partition (Unlike on the phone)and none of the recoveries can access it to mount. DON"T use ROM manage on the TF101 and always, always check XDA first.
:good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That FAQ is sadly pretty outdated, I wish I could liberate the OP
Glad all is working now though.

[Q] Need help with installing Hypersense Nova ROM

This is my very first attempt at installing a ROM.
I've managed to figure out how to install the correct USB driver for my GRK39F 2.3.6 Nexus One, unlock my bootloader, flash a new radio, root my phone, and... installed clockworkmod recovery and backed up my ROM. It was hell trying to figure all this out. I didn't even know what GSM and CDMA meant in the cell phone world a couple of weeks ago. I'm now stuck though. I would like to install Hypersense Nova http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1604957. I have the radio and hboot required in that thread. I've confirmed root access with a root checker. I'm now working on the partition layout and trying to find a blackrose thread to help with that, which i'm confident I can find and execute.
Here's the part I don't understand:
3) WIPED ext4 partition (for APP2SD), I suggest 1gb ext4!
4) Recovery: I suggest you to use 4EXT Recovery Classic!
5) IMPORTANT: WIPE ALL (DATA, SYSTEM, BOOT, CACHE, DALVIK-CACHE, SD-EXT) 3 TIMES!
I assume 3,4, and 5 need to be done after I change the partition layout, but I don't understand how to 'wipe ext4 partition' or what that means, I don't understand what needs to be done with recovery other than what I've done with clockworkmod already, which was back up my ROM, and I don't understand how to wipe all, data, system, boot, etc.. After all that is done I assume actually installing the Hypersense Rom is the same as any other ROM? Putting it on my SD card root and using something like clockworkmod to flash the new ROM? I'm exhausted from staying up late nights figuring things out so I am finally breaking down to ask for help. Took me two days of trial and error just to figure out that I needed to install the google USB driver not only once while my phone was running the OS, but then having to install it a second time while the phone was in bootloader mode, to get around the <waiting for device> message from hell. Thanks for any help!

Ok i've gotten as far as installing the nova zip from clockworkmod recovery after i formatted and wiped everything. partitioned with hboot 220-10-206, set sd-ext to 1gb and 0 swap. but here is where i'm stuck at..
>>> formatting system...
>>> mounting data...
>>> checking /data/app...
>>> extracting files...
>>> mounting SD-ext...
It has been hanging at mounting sd-ext for about 20 minutes now. there is a progress bar at the bottom that is still completely grey.

Ask in the q/a of nexus one subforum http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=603

How to format encrypted /data in CWM

Here's the scenario: say you try out encryption on a ROM, either because your employer makes you or because you want the extra security. What happens when you can root your phone, like we can (easily) with the S3, and you want to flash a different ROM? The problem you will find yourself in very quickly is that you cannot do a successful wipe. You can't format an encrypted /data in CWM or any other recovery. If you cannot format /data, you can't flash a ROM - it fails, because /data is encrypted, and it cannot proceed. It turns out none of the recoveries can format an encrypted /data. You also cannot reverse encryption once you've done it. You're stuck, all because you flipped the switch on encryption.
I found myself in this problem as others have in many other forums (like this one for the GNex) (and another one, more detailed).
I also tried, admittedly somewhat out of desperation, the soft-brick instructions here. That didn't work because Nand Erase All fails. You can flash on top, and luckily you can use your same password to decrypt your /data (which I did) but you're still not going to have a clean ROM. Dirty flashes = lots of problems down the road.
I finally found a simple way to do this and wanted to save anyone else the trouble of digging. You can do it using CWM and adb and a few commands. Credit goes Shawn Webb's blog and utkanos on FreeNode's irc at #cyanogenmod.
Here is how to do this on our Verizon S3:
In CWM, wipe cache
adb shell
mke2fs -t ext4 /dev/block/mmcblk0p15
mount /data
mount /dev/block/mmcblk1p1 /data/media
If adb doesn't work in CWM, reboot recovery. You might need to create /data/media after mounting /data in order to do the last step, which I opted not to do. I hope this saves someone else a few hours of frustration, and I also hope that someday one of our recoveries can handle formatting encrypted data. Until then... I'm just not using encryption, period. There already is a lot of documentation against it, and this is one more reason in my book.

Thanks for this. I fell into the same scenario yesterday but after reading a lot of helpful posts from people like yourself I have managed to solve the issue. Basically I found two ways of doing it, one is as you have suggested and the other is by just replacing the custom recovery with the stock recovery. The SGS3 toolkit available on XDA made the 2nd option just slightly simpler for me and by spending less than 10 mins (excluding time for backups and downloads) the issue was resolved.
Just to share this option to save others from the headache of looking for a solution:
1) Get the toolkit
2) Install drivers as recommended and follow instructions to choose the build, or closest build, for your S3
3) Restore stock recovery with toolkit via ODIN (follow instructions)
4) After rebooting, go into Android and reset to factory settings, this would bring you to the stock recovery and wipe
5) Restore custom recovery with toolkit via ODIN (follow instructions)
6) Restore your system (luckily for me I had a nandroid backup before I encrypted)
Note: I did "lose" my internal sdcard files (pictures/documents). But I backed that up on my external sdcard before starting the process. My sdcard was not encrypted.

kitleon said:
Thanks for this. I fell into the same scenario yesterday but after reading a lot of helpful posts from people like yourself I have managed to solve the issue. Basically I found two ways of doing it, one is as you have suggested and the other is by just replacing the custom recovery with the stock recovery. The SGS3 toolkit available on XDA made the 2nd option just slightly simpler for me and by spending less than 10 mins (excluding time for backups and downloads) the issue was resolved.
Just to share this option to save others from the headache of looking for a solution:
1) Get the toolkit
2) Install drivers as recommended and follow instructions to choose the build, or closest build, for your S3
3) Restore stock recovery with toolkit via ODIN (follow instructions)
4) After rebooting, go into Android and reset to factory settings, this would bring you to the stock recovery and wipe
5) Restore custom recovery with toolkit via ODIN (follow instructions)
6) Restore your system (luckily for me I had a nandroid backup before I encrypted)
Note: I did "lose" my internal sdcard files (pictures/documents). But I backed that up on my external sdcard before starting the process. My sdcard was not encrypted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You just saved my month. Drop me a message if I can get you a beer via paypal for this.
Cheers!

THANKS!
olm3ca said:
Here's the scenario: say you try out encryption on a ROM, either because your employer makes you or because you want the extra security. What happens when you can root your phone, like we can (easily) with the S3, and you want to flash a different ROM? The problem you will find yourself in very quickly is that you cannot do a successful wipe. You can't format an encrypted /data in CWM or any other recovery. If you cannot format /data, you can't flash a ROM - it fails, because /data is encrypted, and it cannot proceed. It turns out none of the recoveries can format an encrypted /data. You also cannot reverse encryption once you've done it. You're stuck, all because you flipped the switch on encryption.
I found myself in this problem as others have in many other forums (like this one for the GNex) (and another one, more detailed).
I also tried, admittedly somewhat out of desperation, the soft-brick instructions here. That didn't work because Nand Erase All fails. You can flash on top, and luckily you can use your same password to decrypt your /data (which I did) but you're still not going to have a clean ROM. Dirty flashes = lots of problems down the road.
I finally found a simple way to do this and wanted to save anyone else the trouble of digging. You can do it using CWM and adb and a few commands. Credit goes Shawn Webb's blog and utkanos on FreeNode's irc at #cyanogenmod.
Here is how to do this on our Verizon S3:
In CWM, wipe cache
adb shell
mke2fs -t ext4 /dev/block/mmcblk0p15
mount /data
mount /dev/block/mmcblk1p1 /data/media
If adb doesn't work in CWM, reboot recovery. You might need to create /data/media after mounting /data in order to do the last step, which I opted not to do. I hope this saves someone else a few hours of frustration, and I also hope that someday one of our recoveries can handle formatting encrypted data. Until then... I'm just not using encryption, period. There already is a lot of documentation against it, and this is one more reason in my book.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just wanted to say thanks very much for this. I'd tried the method of reloading the stock ROM as described by a previous poster, but this way worked.
I did run into a small issue I was wondering if you could shed some light on. When I entered "mount /data", I got the following:
Code:
~ # mount /data
mount: mounting /dev/block/mmcblk0p37 on /data failed: Invalid argument
I bullied ahead and entered the last line "mount /dev/block/mmcblk1p1 /data/media" and got this:
Code:
~ # mount /dev/block/mmcblk1p1 /data/media
mount: mounting /dev/block/mmcblk1p1 on /data/media failed: No such file or directory
However after doing this, I was able to perform a complete wipe of /data using CWM and load a new ROM without issue.
I'd curious to know what might be causing these Invald argument responses.
My Device: HTC One (GSM)
Thanks again! :laugh:

olm3ca said:
Here is how to do this on our Verizon S3:
In CWM, wipe cache
adb shell
mke2fs -t ext4 /dev/block/mmcblk0p15
mount /data
mount /dev/block/mmcblk1p1 /data/media
If adb doesn't work in CWM, reboot recovery. You might need to create /data/media after mounting /data in order to do the last step, which I opted not to do. I hope this saves someone else a few hours of frustration, and I also hope that someday one of our recoveries can handle formatting encrypted data. Until then... I'm just not using encryption, period. There already is a lot of documentation against it, and this is one more reason in my book.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm trying to follow your instructions but fail at finding out my mount points.
Sorry for the noob question, but who do I find out what the mount points of internal and external SD card are on my device (Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini International 4G)? I found this post
stackoverflow. /questions/6824463/how-to-get-all-the-mount-point-information-for-android-device
which seems to include the answer but I don't know what tool / software they use. I'm no programmer.
My phone is encrypted and doesn't turn on, it doesn't accept my password saying it's wrong, though I know it's correct. OS is Cyanogenmod 10.1 stable. Booting into CWM v6.0.3.7 is possible though.
I appreciate everyone's help.
Stephan

TWRP Mounts External SD Card as /system on JB

I used the US OTA .zip, reflashed twrp 2.2.2 and found myself unable to root with it. What is the fix for mounting /system as /system instead of external sd as /system from within twrp's adb?

Did you check the twrp thread? Pretty sure it says not to use it on jb.

lafester said:
Did you check the twrp thread? Pretty sure it says not to use it on jb.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Of course I did! I also saw that Asus says not to unlock my bootloader... You don't get far by obeying every rule, just the important ones. This one is not important to follow when you are comfortable in fastboot and nvflash.
I am bringing information to the table and asking what I can do with it, if anything. External SD mounts, but it mounts as /system. I am just looking for a workaround to mount the actual /system.