Hi everyone! Before I describe my problem, I need you to know that I'm somewhat a noob when it comes to resolving and tinkering with software on Androids, but have some basic knowledge. I've look into all options and posting here is my last resort, please be patient
So recently, a customer brought in a J320FN. It is running on an older update (J320FNXXU0APH1, August 2016), and a few days back, after updating it to the lastest version the phone seized up. The owner has pictures and contacts that he really want to recover. After surfing through some forums, I saw that some phones, when being flashed with stock ROM via Odin, don't lose personal data, and some do. Before I try to flash this device, I want to make sure I can flash the stock ROM and eventually save the data.
I've tried wiping cache partition, because that's what I usually do when encountering software issues.
Also, the phone boots to the point where I can see the current time, and swipe down the notification bar. After some seconds, the phone reboots and the whole thing just goes on.
So my questions are;
1. Do I flash the latest version of Android or just reflash the current one?
2. Do I lose personal data, such as photos, videos and contacts?
3. Is there anything else I can do, before flashing fresh ROM on the device ?
bregaryevich said:
Hi everyone! Before I describe my problem, I need you to know that I'm somewhat a noob when it comes to resolving and tinkering with software on Androids, but have some basic knowledge. I've look into all options and posting here is my last resort, please be patient
So recently, a customer brought in a J320FN. It is running on an older update (J320FNXXU0APH1, August 2016), and a few days back, after updating it to the lastest version the phone seized up. The owner has pictures and contacts that he really want to recover. After surfing through some forums, I saw that some phones, when being flashed with stock ROM via Odin, don't lose personal data, and some do. Before I try to flash this device, I want to make sure I can flash the stock ROM and eventually save the data.
I've tried wiping cache partition, because that's what I usually do when encountering software issues.
Also, the phone boots to the point where I can see the current time, and swipe down the notification bar. After some seconds, the phone reboots and the whole thing just goes on.
So my questions are;
1. Do I flash the latest version of Android or just reflash the current one?
2. Do I lose personal data, such as photos, videos and contacts?
3. Is there anything else I can do, before flashing fresh ROM on the device ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When it comes to flashing Samsung devices via Odin and whether or not the user data is erased or not, it depends on whether you are flashing a firmware that has an upgraded or downgraded bootloader.
The user data only gets wiped if you flash a firmware that has a bootloader that is older than the one currently installed on the device or if the bootloader is newer than the one currently on the device.
The user data does not get wiped if you flash the exact same firmware that is currently installed on the device, or at least, a firmware that has the exact same version of bootloader as the one currently installed on the device.
So you basically have 2 questions to answer.
1) does the firmware that I want to flash have an upgraded bootloader version compared to the bootloader version that is currently installed on the device?
2) does the firmware that I want to flash have a downgraded bootloader version compared to the bootloader version that is currently installed on the device?
If the answer to either of these two questions is no, then you can flash without it wiping the user data.
If the answer to either of these two questions is yes, then the user WILL be wiped during flashing.
If you want to try to save the user data before flashing the firmware, you can try finding a version of TWRP for J320N and flash it on the device then use the backup feature in TWRP to create a full backup of all data on the device. Then flash the firmware of uour choice via Odin, then the data can be extracted from the backup that was created via TWRP and restored on the device after flashing the firmware.
Sent from my LGL84VL using Tapatalk
Droidriven said:
When it comes to flashing Samsung devices via Odin and whether or not the user data is erased or not, it depends on whether you are flashing a firmware that has an upgraded or downgraded bootloader.
The user data only gets wiped if you flash a firmware that has a bootloader that is older than the one currently installed on the device or if the bootloader is newer than the one currently on the device.
The user data does not get wiped if you flash the exact same firmware that is currently installed on the device, or at least, a firmware that has the exact same version of bootloader as the one currently installed on the device.
So you basically have 2 questions to answer.
1) does the firmware that I want to flash have an upgraded bootloader version compared to the bootloader version that is currently installed on the device?
2) does the firmware that I want to flash have a downgraded bootloader version compared to the bootloader version that is currently installed on the device?
If the answer to either of these two questions is no, then you can flash without it wiping the user data.
If the answer to either of these two questions is yes, then the user WILL be wiped during flashing.
If you want to try to save the user data before flashing the firmware, you can try finding a version of TWRP for J320N and flash it on the device then use the backup feature in TWRP to create a full backup of all data on the device. Then flash the firmware of uour choice via Odin, then the data can be extracted from the backup that was created via TWRP and restored on the device after flashing the firmware.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey, thanks for the quick response.
I tried what you recommended but the problem still persists. After flashing the current version, the phone did the exact same thing and started looping.
Also tried TWRP but there's an FRP lock, preventing me from flashing it.
Now that the stock rom flash thing failed, guess there's only TWRP left. I did FRP unlocks before, but not on phones that are soft bricked. Is there anyway around it except wiping all data?
I may have forgot to mention, that the phone indeed has a passcode. And god knows what did the owner install/do with the device, that made ot to seize up.
Related
Way back when, I modified my 4.1.2 tab so I could use the Switchme app. Since it hasn't had a software update since then, I need to unmodify my system, so I did a hard reset but that doesn't seem to unmodify it so I can get it updated. Do I have to flash to a stock ROM, or won't that help either? I've done a hard reset twice now and restoring my Samsung account does seem to work either. Help PLEASE!
Nope it does not.
Stoney60 said:
Way back when, I modified my 4.1.2 tab so I could use the Switchme app. Since it hasn't had a software update since then, I need to unmodify my system, so I did a hard reset but that doesn't seem to unmodify it so I can get it updated. Do I have to flash to a stock ROM, or won't that help either? I've done a hard reset twice now and restoring my Samsung account does seem to work either. Help PLEASE!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Factory reset only Clears out use added content apps and Personal Settings. To get back to stop you will ..
1 Download the Correct Latest Version Of Android From Sam-mobile or Samsung For your Device.
2. Download odin for your device
3. Make sure you can access your device from windows or os your using.
4. Follow instructions for getting into download mode and flashing the samsung firmware with odin from your computer.
5 . Reboot the device and Leave it be..
Never flash anything on any Device until you know how to get back.
There are many Threads with step by step details on the above. even many youtube videos..
Good Luck
Hey,
I don't think you have to flash back to a stock ROM in order to upgrade to a different ROM. I was able to upgrade my tab with 4.1.2 (I can't remember what ROM it was) right to GNABO then a few hours later to Carbon, and a few hours later to Hyperdive and I'ts running fine with no issues besides the Aroma freezing, but what else is new...
You shouldn't have to flash back to a stock ROM to flash to a modified ROM, reason being is the modified ROM Flashes over the current ROM on the device, so the original ROM will be deleted anyways. The new ROM contains the updates for you, that's the advantage of androids. I recommend trying a few OS's before you pick the one for you stick with it. If you want to go stock there is a thread somewhere in the DEV section with the stock ROM just do some searching.
Make sure when you install a ROM to ;
Backup your device and make sure to keep a copy of the backup to your pc!
Boot into CWM Recovery or TWRP
Wipe data / factory reset
Wipe cache
Wipe dalvik cache
Install ROM from SD
Good Luck
I have been having a persistent issue trying to encrypt my phone's internal storage. (Samsung Galaxy S4 mini LTE (GT-I9195). I thought it might be related to me rooting the device, since I read that you can't encrypt a rooted phone.
So a few minutes ago I plucked up the courage to follow the tutorial to flash my original downloaded firmware to the phone, in an attempt to erase all trace of root. Well the phone came up and wanted my password, so I rebooted and installed TWRP via odin again, then did a factory reset and then used the wipe data option and proceeded to make a backup, assuming this would be as useful and as good as odin-flashing my original firmware back for future use and more convenient and less dangerous than using odin.
Well, after booting it up, going through the setup wizard and then adding a lockscreen password, I am still unable to encrypt the phone. It shows the green android robot, screen fades out, then very soon after that the phone reboots and it all comes back up as normal unencrypted. Bare in mind that this is still the stock firmware that was odin-flashed and then a factory reset.
After all this, what would I need to do to get the phone encryption working?
Also, is my assumption correct, that the new TWRP backup I made, after flashing the original firmware via odin, is that new fresh backup as good as flashing the original again via odin? At least in terms of the OS status? I know the recovery isn't changed by such a backup and odin wipes absolutely everything, but I think you know what I am asking.
Morthawt said:
I have been having a persistent issue trying to encrypt my phone's internal storage. (Samsung Galaxy S4 mini LTE (GT-I9195). I thought it might be related to me rooting the device, since I read that you can't encrypt a rooted phone.
So a few minutes ago I plucked up the courage to follow the tutorial to flash my original downloaded firmware to the phone, in an attempt to erase all trace of root. Well the phone came up and wanted my password, so I rebooted and installed TWRP via odin again, then did a factory reset and then used the wipe data option and proceeded to make a backup, assuming this would be as useful and as good as odin-flashing my original firmware back for future use and more convenient and less dangerous than using odin.
Well, after booting it up, going through the setup wizard and then adding a lockscreen password, I am still unable to encrypt the phone. It shows the green android robot, screen fades out, then very soon after that the phone reboots and it all comes back up as normal unencrypted. Bare in mind that this is still the stock firmware that was odin-flashed and then a factory reset.
After all this, what would I need to do to get the phone encryption working?
Also, is my assumption correct, that the new TWRP backup I made, after flashing the original firmware via odin, is that new fresh backup as good as flashing the original again via odin? At least in terms of the OS status? I know the recovery isn't changed by such a backup and odin wipes absolutely everything, but I think you know what I am asking.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ODIN doesn't wipe everything. Perform a factory reset via stock recovery immediately after flashing the firmware via ODIN to set your phone back to stock. And who told you that enryption doesn't work with rooted phones?!
LS.xD said:
ODIN doesn't wipe everything. Perform a factory reset via stock recovery immediately after flashing the firmware via ODIN to set your phone back to stock. And who told you that enryption doesn't work with rooted phones?!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did a factory reset and deleted data and performed a new backup that I have saved to the computer.
But when I started to realise I could not encrypt I went googling and found a blog post by someone who claimed that he had to jump through all kinds of hoops to get it to encrypt after he rooted his S4 mini. But my problem is even non-rooted on default firmware with TWRP recovery installed I cannot encrypt So I am hoping someone here will have the answer.
Morthawt said:
I did a factory reset and deleted data and performed a new backup that I have saved to the computer.
But when I started to realise I could not encrypt I went googling and found a blog post by someone who claimed that he had to jump through all kinds of hoops to get it to encrypt after he rooted his S4 mini. But my problem is even non-rooted on default firmware with TWRP recovery installed I cannot encrypt So I am hoping someone here will have the answer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The point is that that KNOX detects the TWRP recovery. Enryption is possible with any rooted custom rom and probably with any roms but Samsung's S4 generation and newer due to the stupid KNOX security.
LS.xD said:
The point is that that KNOX detects the TWRP recovery. Enryption is possible with any rooted custom rom and probably with any roms but Samsung's S4 generation and newer due to the stupid KNOX security.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I did get encryption working one time on a custom rom but I have no idea how I did it. What should I do to improve my chances of getting encryption working? I thought when I rooted the original rom it removed knoxx?
So, I know that OTA will fail since I am rooted. I am on a Sprint S6 with OC9. I rooted using the T-Mobile Auto-Root.
I see that OCF was published for Odin to flash back to stock. My question revolves around the recommended procedure for flashing with stock. I use Titanium Backup. If I backup, then flash OCF, will this also erase all data on the phone to the point where I have to restore all backups and customize the phone all over again? There's just some things Titanium can't restore well. Or is there a way to update the ROM without wiping everything (dirty flash)?
Given the phone has built-in storage and no microSD, does the storage partition ever get wiped unless I do it manually?
Also, is there any sort of change log for the stock ROM versions? Or do they seem to be just modem updates at this point?
I don't know much about this phone yet since I just got it but coming from a nexus 5 flashing a ROM would keep your data but in this case since it is a system image you will probably lose everything in your storage
My problem is very simple at its core and I find myself resorting to extreme solutions such as factory reset to solve it. However, I am okay with this. I would like to know the best way to unroot and factory reset my Note 4 SM-N910U.
What follows is the original story and my attempts to fix it. It's rather long, so if you would like to skip this section there is a tl;dr at the end.
Originally, I had found myself unable to login to the app Snapchat because they had gone to extreme lengths to lock out rooted users (an infamous fact on online discussions).
A popular solution for this would've been to install the Xposed Framework with RootCloak to hide Root from Snapchat - this is where my first problem came along.
My Android phone is encrypted.
This means that I could not use TWRP to flash the Xposed Framework zip (because TWRP for my device does not support encryption, thus could not read /data directory.)
I tried using FlashFire to skip recovery and got the same result - /data encrypted.
I tried to flash with CWM to see if it would support decryption of /data partition, but CWM isn't even compatible with my device.
At this point I was running out of things to try (I had been after this problem for about three days) and I decided to just kick the bucket, unroot and factory reset, because apparently the only way to undo data encryption on Android is to delete everything .
Apparently, even this would be a challenge. To factory reset a rooted device, you apparently need a stock ROM.
I tried looking for stock ROMs for SM-N910U online but the sites that came up (there were about 9 hits on Google for my baseband) all seemed fake and potentially harmful.
Even then, I don't know how I would flash the ROM since my TWRP doesn't work but that's the least of my worries at the moment .
I'd be extremely grateful if anyone could offer any potential pointers on where to download a safe stock ROM for my device and how to flash this ROM when I have no working TWRP (since my /data partition is, again, encrypted).
It seems a bit like a paradox - to remove data encryption you need a TWRP stock flash, but for a TWRP stock flash you need to remove data encryption.
Please do help... thank you in advance.
TL;DR
- tried to install xposed to hide root.
- found out that i can't flash any roms from recovery, because my recovery (twrp) doesn't support android disk encryption.
- found out that to remove encryption, i need to factory reset.
- i can't factory reset, because I need a stock ROM and I don't know where to find said stock ROM.
- also, how would i even flash this rom without a working recovery (again, the recovery doesn't work because full disk encryption).
Device Details:
Phone: Samsung Galaxy Note 4Model: SM-N910UAndroid version: 6.0.1 MarshmallowBaseband version: N910UXXU1DPL1
qnxo said:
My problem is very simple at its core and I find myself resorting to extreme solutions such as factory reset to solve it. However, I am okay with this. I would like to know the best way to unroot and factory reset my Note 4 SM-N910U.
What follows is the original story and my attempts to fix it. It's rather long, so if you would like to skip this section there is a tl;dr at the end.
Originally, I had found myself unable to login to the app Snapchat because they had gone to extreme lengths to lock out rooted users (an infamous fact on online discussions).
A popular solution for this would've been to install the Xposed Framework with RootCloak to hide Root from Snapchat - this is where my first problem came along.
My Android phone is encrypted.
This means that I could not use TWRP to flash the Xposed Framework zip (because TWRP for my device does not support encryption, thus could not read /data directory.)
I tried using FlashFire to skip recovery and got the same result - /data encrypted.
I tried to flash with CWM to see if it would support decryption of /data partition, but CWM isn't even compatible with my device.
At this point I was running out of things to try (I had been after this problem for about three days) and I decided to just kick the bucket, unroot and factory reset, because apparently the only way to undo data encryption on Android is to delete everything .
Apparently, even this would be a challenge. To factory reset a rooted device, you apparently need a stock ROM.
I tried looking for stock ROMs for SM-N910U online but the sites that came up (there were about 9 hits on Google for my baseband) all seemed fake and potentially harmful.
Even then, I don't know how I would flash the ROM since my TWRP doesn't work but that's the least of my worries at the moment .
I'd be extremely grateful if anyone could offer any potential pointers on where to download a safe stock ROM for my device and how to flash this ROM when I have no working TWRP (since my /data partition is, again, encrypted).
It seems a bit like a paradox - to remove data encryption you need a TWRP stock flash, but for a TWRP stock flash you need to remove data encryption.
Please do help... thank you in advance.
TL;DR
- tried to install xposed to hide root.
- found out that i can't flash any roms from recovery, because my recovery (twrp) doesn't support android disk encryption.
- found out that to remove encryption, i need to factory reset.
- i can't factory reset, because I need a stock ROM and I don't know where to find said stock ROM.
- also, how would i even flash this rom without a working recovery (again, the recovery doesn't work because full disk encryption).
Device Details:
Phone: Samsung Galaxy Note 4Model: SM-N910UAndroid version: 6.0.1 MarshmallowBaseband version: N910UXXU1DPL1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go to Sammobile .com or samsung-updates .com this use your model number to search for your stock firmware, find the firmware for your region then flash that via Odin.
Sent from my SM-S903VL using Tapatalk
Would I first need to "wipe" anything in TWRP?
qnxo said:
Would I first need to "wipe" anything in TWRP?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It wouldn't hurt
Sent from my SM-S903VL using Tapatalk
Hi,
Its been a while since I been attentive to my Pixel. I was a lucky one who managed to get a Verizon 7.1.2 with an unlocked bootloader. I unlocked the bootloader, flashed a ROM, and rooted and haven't had a single major problem since.
I was running Resurrection Remix from about March and I yesterday I wanted to try to use Android Pay, so I followed a tutorial I found in another thread here to install Magisk, and when it was all said and done I ended up in a boot loop where the phone would reset as soon as it reaches the Google logo, ramdump, and eventually boot back into TWRP.
In the attempts to delete out all kinds of caches and dalviks and factory resets and whatever else, nothing worked.
So in the end I decided to just flash a new ROM. Flashed the latest Pure Nexus, reflashed TWRP, flashed the vendor image... went to go reboot and it gives me the WARNING! NO OS INSTALLED! error. I thought that was odd and decided to just update to the latest Resurrection Remix - same problem.
At this point I am unsure what to do next. I don't care about any user data on the phone, I just want to get it back up and running with a new ROM.
I have a few questions and thank you in advance for all help you may be able to offer:
1) Why am I getting the NO OS INSTALLED issue directly after flashing a ROM? Logs indicate no errors whatsoever. /system/ is mounted. Every time I boot into TWRP it asks me if I want to Keep System partition read only. I always tell it to allow modifications and never ask me this question again - it asks every time. Is it possible that /system/ can actually remain empty even after a fresh ROM install that gives no errors in the log?
2) I believe that I am supposed to reflash to stock image that this phone shipped with to start all over. If I reflash back to stock, will my bootloader have any chance of locking again? I don't even know what version the stock image was, and I'm further confused/concerned about the fact that it was a 7.1.2 image I shipped with - from my understanding there were security updates which make unlocking/rooting impossible. I don't understand why you have to start that far back - is it even needed? The latest Resurrection Remix ROM install instructions assumes that I am on latest "Firmware" NOF26W. This is another issue I don't understand - what is a firmware? The full factory image? In any case, NOF26W is specifically for Rogers Google Pixel devices. Since I need to be on this "firmware" before I install latest, can I just flash the NOF26W Stock image despite the fact that I am using a rooted Verizon Pixel? The NOF26W image is 1.8GB: What exactly in this ZIP am I supposed to flash?
3) There were various weird things about this phone/flashing ROMs that I seem to recall such as having to boot an older TWRP before flashing ROM and then flashing the newer TWRP - is any of this stuff still relevant?
4) I also remember that many people were fastbooting TWRP rather than flashing TWRP for some reason - are there specific builds/non-standard stuff required for any of this to work on the Pixel?
I really appreciate all and any help that anybody can provide. If there's files that you're referring to, PLEASE send links. I need to get this phone back up and running ASAP.
Thanks again!!
when you wipe system, twrp wipes current active slot but when install a rom, it gets installed in the inactive slot (which will become active upon reboot). but twrp still thinks the currently active slots system is erased and complains that no os is installed.
rohitece06 said:
when you wipe system, twrp wipes current active slot but when install a rom, it gets installed in the inactive slot (which will become active upon reboot). but twrp still thinks the currently active slots system is erased and complains that no os is installed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This. I just reboot anyway after seeing that message and I've never had any issues.