Database Info

ROM and recovery structure

Hey,
I'm generally new to the Android platform.
I got some hands on with simple guided procedures like rooting and flashing ROMs and updates.
I just wanted to get a better picture of how recovery works --
Where does the recovery sit? Is it on a different partition in the phone's internal storage?
Does booting into recovery actually mean that we're instructing the boot-loader to boot from a different partition rather than booting from the OS partition?
When using custom recovery images, do we actually override the phone's original recovery or is it loaded from a separate location (such as the SD card)?
By the way, if anyone knows some good resources where I can read more about the structure of the OS, it would be much appreciated.
Thanks!

[Completed] Soft Bricked Irulu with MT6582 Set

Hey guys, its been a long time since I've been on here asking questions, but I am completely stumped. I got an Irulu Victory 1S china phone. I achieved root, installed CWM. Problem was there was not enough storage space on main drive, as it was partitioned at 800mb for system apps and 5gigs internal SD storage. I found an app specifically for that phone manufacturer that partitioned the drive to 2.5 gigs. Flashed new Rom, Cyogen, now I am stuck in a boot loop. I can get into CWM no problem. But no matter what Rom I install, even after clearing delvik, cache, system, it just boot loops. I found from manufacturers website the original disk img files, but when using MTKtools it says disk size doesn't match file. I found a a blog that has a more detailed instructions on how to modify MBR and EBR1 using editors, but nothing on how to fix size issues. Any help is appreiated. I have win10 and Linux Mint systems if that helps any. Im assuming that there is a file or something I need to edit to get new roms to boot. I can do remote desktop sessions as well if needed. Im not computer dumb, but I know enough to get around windows and linux.
PS: I can only boot into recovery, when I ADB Shell it, it comes up as 123456789ABCDE RECOVERY as device. Cant seem to pull or push any files this way.
Update; Ok so I tried using EBR edit tool. Modified EBR to 2.5 gigs. Did a system, cache, and delvik wipe. Tried to install rom. Now it finds package, starts to open it, and then goes back to CWM main page. Tried several Roms with same results. It starts to install, but then flashes back to main recovery page. Now Im even more confused!

Hello,
Best bet is to get your partitions restored to factory partition table and then try flashing the stock firmware.
When in recovery, have you tried doing a full system and data wipe with the advanced wipe options and then flashing your ROM?
I'm not familiar with your device to give you better answers. Try posting your question in the forum linked below.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/android/help?
The experts there may be able to help.

Help Needed: Resize System Partition

Hi,
My system partition size is 1.9GB and I am unable to update from current 7.1.6. The latest ROMs filesize are much larger and thus, the phone will bricked whenever I tried to update to newer ROMs.
I tried fastboot ROMs and the same problem persisted except 7.1.6 versions and below. Of course, CM13 worked because the ROM size is a lot smaller but the camera quality is horrible. sMIUI and xiaomi.eu ROMs do not work, resulting in bricking (hard brick- I cannot power up). The only way out is to install 7.1.6 Fastboot ROM via MiFlash.
I tried wiping and even formatting my file partitions to clean away rubbish but do not resolve the fundamental problem that the system partition size is only 1.85GB (1.5GB filled).
Any ways to format/resize my system partition?
PS: The phone is rooted and I have the latest SuperSU (2.74) and TWRP (3.0.2) installed.

Fastboot edl should rewrite all the partition data that is needed, expect the one part that has your imei numbers (take backup before you start)
Here's the guide:
http://en.miui.com/thread-237832-1-1.html

CM13 with micro SD card GT-P311x

Hello,
I have managed to take my tablet from KitKat to Lollipop and then Marshmallow using cm-13.0-20160802. Everything was working fine up to a point when I was in Japan and then I started experiencing problems with Wi-Fi connections. Following the boot, I was getting a message stating that "Process system isn't responding...". Restarting the tablet was some sort of a solution to be able to use Wi-Fi.
Back to home, I was determined to obtain the most recent version of cm-13.0 hoping to solve the issue but I was not simple. First, let me say that I have a micro SD of 32 Gig, which was integrated as internal memory. My recovery program was TWRP 3.0.0-0. I have tried to follow the steps as explained on Android-Andi FAQ page. I might have made an error somewhere but anyhow, the end result was an empty tablet. Everything was gone including backups saved on the external SD.
To fix this, I have restored my tablet to 4.2.2, rerouted it, went to Lollipop with cm-12.1 and finally to Marshmallow cm-13.0-20161007. Again, my external SD card is now integrated and viewed as internal memory using the feature that comes with cm-13. I have just found out that 2 other releases of cm-13 have been made available since. TWRP is now 3.0.2-7 and was used to back up Lollipop as well as EFS.
I would like to proceed with the update but I would prefer to take an easy way, not the long one as I was forced to. Here is my question: considering that my external SD is viewed as being internal storage, what should I do in order to update my current version of cm-13 to a more recent version?
Regards

You have two options
a.) Doing a dirty flash. Install the rom then wipe cache and dalvik. Then reboot
b.) Clean flash. Wipe /system, /data, dalvik, and cache then install the rom. Then wipe cache and dalvik again and reboot.
Wiping Data (Internal storage not /data) is usually not needed unless you want to encrypt the device.
Don't forget to use the latest recovery.
Cheers

Thanks Lightracer for your reply.
By the time I received your reply, I had figured out my problem. I can now update my rom with my external sd card has being viewed as internal storage without loosing everything.
For your information, I do use the latest recovery tool. By the way, I prefer the clean approach.
Thanks again for your involvement.

[SOLVED] TWRP can't mount internal storage - the problem is coming back...

I wanted to update my rooted Android Nougat to Oreo and also go from SuperSU to Magisk. During that process I discovered that TWRP recovery couldn't mount my internal storage.
I quickly saw on a lot of sites that it's a well-known issue, and I solved it by converting from ext4 to ext2 and back again. Now my phone is running perfect. All apps are installed, data and settings are restored with Titanium and root with Magisk is working fine. But then I remembered about the issue with TWRP and booted into recovery - just to discover the problem is back again. I can't mount my internal storage. So I can't flash zip files, I can't do a backup etc.
When I search xda or the web in general, I can't figure out why the problem has occured again. Also I can't find out how to fix it without losing all my data. Can anybody answer these two questions? Why is this happening again and how do I permanently fix it? And can it be with all my data on my phone - because I'm not able to do a backup.

Michael B.N. said:
I wanted to update my rooted Android Nougat to Oreo and also go from SuperSU to Magisk. During that process I discovered that TWRP recovery couldn't mount my internal storage.
I quickly saw on a lot of sites that it's a well-known issue, and I solved it by converting from ext4 to ext2 and back again. Now my phone is running perfect. All apps are installed, data and settings are restored with Titanium and root with Magisk is working fine. But then I remembered about the issue with TWRP and booted into recovery - just to discover the problem is back again. I can't mount my internal storage. So I can't flash zip files, I can't do a backup etc.
When I search xda or the web in general, I can't figure out why the problem has occured again. Also I can't find out how to fix it without losing all my data. Can anybody answer these two questions? Why is this happening again and how do I permanently fix it? And can it be with all my data on my phone - because I'm not able to do a backup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem occurs when you use a ROM which encrypts the software or the ROM your flashing has an encrypted kernal. The only way out is to flash a ROM which doesn't encrypt. It is a known problem with TWRP and we have to wait for the TWRP team to update TWRP to handle quota allocation.

It seems the problem is solved for me. I flashed the TWRP version from this link: https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=77296102&postcount=1243
First I tried from Odin but it didn't work. Then I installed the TWRP app from Google Play and flashed the other file, rebooted to recovery, and it seems to work. I can mount my internal storage, make a backup etc. So this is the solution for me.

I had also similar problem of internal storage 0mb and i was not be able to mount my data
so when i flash color recovery by nobody
It's gone because it's allready patch by him
I think it's issue of encrypt data so just flash this recovery from nobody post
https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s7/themes/recovery-twrps-colored-t3859323

Hey guys
wondering if somebody can assist me with my issue. I can mount the internal storage via twrp, and can copy files etc over to the internal storage on my pc. But when i go into file manager nothing appears. even though i indicate that it show me the internal storage. any ideas?

isgakbrfc said:
Hey guys
wondering if somebody can assist me with my issue. I can mount the internal storage via twrp, and can copy files etc over to the internal storage on my pc. But when i go into file manager nothing appears. even though i indicate that it show me the internal storage. any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i think you must try with different file mngr, that one have no ability or permission to read system files

noniboyba said:
i think you must try with different file mngr, that one have no ability or permission to read system files
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll re flash later and try a different file manager. Otherwise I'll install treble or re flash stock and start over

isgakbrfc said:
Hey guys
wondering if somebody can assist me with my issue. I can mount the internal storage via twrp, and can copy files etc over to the internal storage on my pc. But when i go into file manager nothing appears. even though i indicate that it show me the internal storage. any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
same problem, have you found solution ? please help me

TWRP sometimes can't mount the storage, the storage is encrypted, but don't worry. You can still flash your files and rewrite system partion. But in order to show the Storage, you have to use a different version of TWRP. Why am I saying this is mentioned following:
I installed the latest version of twrp, It didn't ask for any password patter to decrypt my storage. So , different XDA posts made me understand that , formatting everything, factory reset will decrypt my storage. And trust me, I have done it several time, several times my brother but it didn't decrypt my storage. I couldn't backup my ROM and without backing up my ROM, I didn't take the risk of flashing new ROM. I waited. This twrp couldn't even mount my system partion. So I seeked knowledge from different person. It took a lot of effort.
Then I learned that, I should change this version of TWRP. I changed to an older version and it didn't decrypt my internal storage after formatting, but it mounted my system partion. Since, it couldn't decrypt my internal storage, I couldn't take backup of my rom and save it to internal storage. so I inserted a pendrive in my phone, and saved the backup of my rom there.
Permanent Solution​
Flashing DM Verity Force Encryption Disabler will decrypt your storage instantly. But in my case, it aroused another problem, None of the security measures of my phone worked afterwards. FOD, pin, password, pattern none of them worked. I don't know the reason but I don't suggest it with my little knowledge. but almost every rom flasher use them, so I thing I have to study about them to know how they work.​
second and best option: start trying older version of TWRP, the good one will be the one to ask the password the recovery in the beginning. It will decrypt your internal storage.​
I was brief here, if anyone doesn't understand these things, let me know, I will explain them step by step because I know the pain of being NEWB.