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[Solved] Stuck on boot animation Suddenly. Solved without wiping data.

Symptoms:
Phone stucks at boot animation screen (4 color balls rolling)
adb devices command shows device is represent.
adb logcat shows no fatal error, no obvious cause
kernel message shows no fatal error
Cause:
Content inside /data/system/sync is corrupted(?)
Fix:
Rename or remove folder /data/system/sync
Below is the full story and how I figure it out:
3 days ago when I woke up, i find that my phone was rebooting and the screen showing boot animation. After waiting a long time, I find that the phone was stuck on boot animation. I can use adb shell to connect the phone and adb logcat to retrieve the log. The log shows nothing special or fatal, just some minor errors.
My phone is rooted, unlooked and relocked bootloader, CWM Recovery 6.0.4.4
The apps I installed that have root access included, but not limited to:
Xposed Framework​Android Tuner aka 3C Toolbox​GravityBox​iFont​Xprivacy​Greenify​AFWall+​BusyBox​SuperSu​com.avast.android.mobilesecurity​com.avast.android.antitheft (Root install)​
After Googled a few hours, 99.9% of the result tell you factory reset your phone is the fix, and i am not satisfied with that. So I used CWM recovery to made a complete backup, and tinkering with the files and system.
At first I cleared cache and dalvik-cache in recovery as this is easiest, but no luck.
Then I suspect this might be a flash memory chip problem , so I boot into recovery, use adb shell to connect console, however, adb shows that device unauthorized, so I do a factory reset and reboot recovery, then adb shell again and success, and in recovery, restore /data backup. Then I use command
Code:
%path to android platform tools folder%> adb push adbkey.pub /data/misc adb/adb_keys
, then adb is authorized after reboots.
To check if the flash memory is okay, i used the command:
Code:
e2fsck -fv /dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/persist
e2fsck -fv /dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/cache
e2fsck -fv /dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/userdata
e2fsck -fv /dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/system
The result seems fine, and no signs of hardware failure.
After reading logcat, the system seems nearly finished the booting process, and stucked at end of System service, and never signal Boot_Completed. Using Android Device Monitor, system_process main thread is still running and doing something unknown.
At this point, i think kernel and /system should be normal.
Then I suspect that the apps i installed might be the cause, I renamed the folders like:
Code:
mv /data/data /data/data.old
mv /sdcard/Android /sdcard/Android.old
mv /data/app /data/app.old
to see if the OS can boot normally, but no luck.
I also renamed many other app folders and reboot, but none of this can solve the bootloop problem.
Then I renamed /data/system and reboot, from the logcat, i can see the system is regenerating the content inside the system, and I waited for a moment, the OS booted successfully with many "xxx process stopped" error message on the screen. So at this moment I realized that content in /data/system might be the root of all evil. As Home screen is not usable with a lot of process stopped messages, I used this command to start the apps i want.
Code:
adb shell monkey -p com.yourpackage.name -c android.intent.category.LAUNCHER 1
(Need to use some game points )
Next I used command
Code:
find /data/system -mtime -3
to find out which files were altered within last 3 days. I get a list of files and folder and then I rename the folders one by one and reboot. Finally, /data/system/sync folder is confirmed as the cause of the problem.
I restored the full backup in recovery, and renamed the /data/system/sync folder to /data/system/sync.old and reboot. Phone boots normally, everything seems fine.
I don't know what, why, how exactly causing the boot problem, but the problem is solved anyway. Hope this information can help someone.
I used 40+ hrs to figure it out, and another 2+ hrs to summarize and write this.
fxxk.

Nice work!
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Sir my Samsung J2 Core is stuck on BootAnimation, because of the new System Webview that i installed on Magisk, what should I do for this, Thank you in advance for your Help.

Sir my Samsung J2 Core is stuck on BootAnimation, because of the new System Webview that i installed on Magisk, then im trying to open bootloader but it is not responding. what should I do for this, Thank you in advance for your Help

TUPANGPUTi23 said:
Sir my Samsung J2 Core is stuck on BootAnimation, because of the new System Webview that i installed on Magisk, then im trying to open bootloader but it is not responding. what should I do for this, Thank you in advance for your Help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Probably best to ask in your devices forums. This is for the Nexus 5, not the Samsun J2 Core.

Sprint Galaxy S6 Kernel Hackery (Broken Screen)

Hi there XDA. Long time lurker, first time poster. Many general thanks to everyone over the years.
So my screen completely gave out a couple of days, but the phone still works. I can still make voice commands etc. I recently lost my other computer where i did most of my ADBing from, so when i hook it up to my temporary laptop, adb is returning "unauthorized." Basically what I want to do is try something like: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2786395 but none of the tools i've found is allowing me to modify any of the kernel boot.img i've found. Unpacking works, but repacking is failing somewhere. It is making a .img file but when attempting to reunpack it just errors out. The new boot.img is also about 2K smaller than original which shoiuldn't be the case as I added 3 lines of text to the build.prop file.
So, I ask, does anyone know of a preexisting adb debug enabled and open (no auth required) kernel that I can fastboot? If not, does anyone know of any tools that can properly unpack/repack a boot.img for the S5. Finally, any other potential options of gaining control over my phone for the next week or so while awaiting a replacement? I can also install apps from the google play store, idk if any have services that will start automatically after rebooting that would basically give me VNC type access?
Thanks in advance for your time!

Much easier than that actually
Update:
So to get into an android phone it's actually quite easy.
To solve unauthorized device from adb:
Step 1: Reboot into recovery mode.
Step 2: Run "adb shell" from the ADK.
Step 3: backup /data/misc/adb/adb_keys [optional] by entering command "cp /data/misc/adb/adb_keys /data/misc/adb/adb_keys.bak"
Step 4: Type "exit" to leave shell.
Step 5: Using adb, push adbkey.pub (In .android of your home directory) to /data/misc/adb/adb_keys
Step 6: Reboot phone.
If you didn't already have USB debugging enabled for some reason:
Step 1: Reboot into recovery
Step 2: Run "adb shell" from the ADK.
Step 3: In the shell enter commands:
mkdir /realsystem
mount /dev/block/platform/15570000.ufs/by-name/SYSTEM /realsystem #Note: This will vary by device but should be very close to actual command.
echo "persist.service.adb.enable=1" >>/realsystem/build.prop
echo "persist.service.debuggable=1" >>/realsystem/build.prop
echo "persist.sys.usb.config=mass_storage,adb" >>/realsystem/build.prop"
reboot #Or follow above steps if both need to be done, they can be done at once.

TWRP backup over ADB not working

I am trying to execute a TWRP backup over adb via
Code:
adb backup --twrp
I get the prompt:
"Now unlock your device and confirm the backup operation..."
But nothing happens on the phone.
Android Debug Bridge version 1.0.39
TWRP version - 3.2.1-0
I have tried switching USB cables, charging the phone to 75% (per a thread I read), and booting the twrp.img from fastboot (instead of the flashed recovery).

I tried setting my desktop backup password in Developer options per this post https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=29403015&postcount=288 but no luck.
I also tried enclosing the backup command parameter(s) in single quotes per this posthttps://stackoverflow.com/a/41083851 also no luck.

Based on a comment in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clBVD6QOpRQ, I checked the contents of the "backup.ab" file that gets generated when I execute the command:
/sbin/sh: /system/bin/bu: not found

Why are you trying to make a backup this way anyways? Why not just use the twrp gui?

I don't have enough free space on my phone (32GB version), and I've had horrible luck getting OTG to work in TWRP. Is there a way to backup to my computer from the TWRP GUI that I'm missing?
Thanks for the question, btw. I probably should have mentioned the reason in the OP.

Did you ever get this to work? I'm in the same situation you were.

I never got this working. I was actually messing with it last night. I mounted /system in TWRP (I tried both ro and rw), and I get a slightly different error message than before:
Code:
linker: error reading config file "/system/etc/ld.config.txt" for "/sbin/busybox" (will use default configuration): error reading file "/system/etc/ld.config.txt": Too many symbolic links encountered
WARNING: linker: error reading config file "/system/etc/ld.config.txt" for "/sbin/busybox" (will use default configuration): error reading file "/system/etc/ld.config.txt": Too many symbolic links encountered
/sbin/sh: /system/bin/bu: not found
I thought I might be onto something, because I had busybox installed in the default location where ROM Toolbox puts it (/system/xbin). However, after moving it to /sbin, I get the same error message.
While in TWRP, if I run the following (in adb shell):
Code:
cat /system/etc/ld.config.txt
I get
Code:
cat: /system/etc/ld.config.txt: Too many symbolic links encountered
However, if I reboot into Android and run the same command, I get the contents of the file.

Just to close the loop on this, this issue appears to be resolved as of TWRP 3.3.0.0.

This isn't resolved even in twrp 3.3.1-5 for me, and i found this
https://github.com/TeamWin/Team-Win-Recovery-Project/issues/877#issuecomment-289128732

To clear up any confusion, the 3.3.0.0 update works for me, but on the Pixel 3, not the OG Pixel.

using bmgr to restart Play store app restore

I was reading about this command and was curious as to the "coding" to use it. The other day I was restoring a phone and had to interrupt the Play store restore of my apps.
Can this command be used to restart the restore of apps from Play store? If so, what would be steps or "coding"?

You should be able to complete (restart) the restore process. You can do it using ADB or Terminal (if you have it installed and your phone is rooted).
I'm assuming you know how to run ADB commands.
Code:
adb shell
bmgr list sets
bmgr restore <tokenID from the previous command>
If there are multiple backup sets listed, you can find out the one that was used to start the restore process on your phone using the following command:
Code:
dumpsys backup | grep Ancestral:

Anyway to unfreeze a system app which is causing boot failure from within TWRP recovery?

Basically I froze a system app that should not have been frozen through TitaniumBackup the result being my system refuses to boot, looping once and giving an error "cannot load Android system" and suggesting a full wipe, which I hope to avoid in either case.
What are my options at this point, in defrosting it or undoing what TitaniumBackup has done within the confines of the TWRP recovery or adb systems? I don't remember the package by name as I froze 2-3 of them, but I assume defrosting them all would suffice.
I will try to provide some basic information about the unit and its software if it helps. Moto G Power running Android 10 and TWRP 3.4.0.0 which is not installed but booted using fastboot and it has Magisk as root.

TaZeR369 said:
Basically I froze a system app that should not have been frozen through TitaniumBackup the result being my system refuses to boot, looping once and giving an error "cannot load Android system" and suggesting a full wipe, which I hope to avoid in either case.
What are my options at this point, in defrosting it or undoing what TitaniumBackup has done within the confines of the TWRP recovery or adb systems? I don't remember the package by name as I froze 2-3 of them, but I assume defrosting them all would suffice.
I will try to provide some basic information about the unit and its software if it helps. Moto G Power running Android 10 and TWRP 3.4.0.0 which is not installed but booted using fastboot and it has Magisk as root.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried this?. Don't forget to thank that person if it works.
If it doesn't work, you can use ADB through twrp with the Package Manager binary from /system/xbin/pm to list all disabled apps like this:
Bash:
adb shell pm list packages -d
then you can enable those disabled apps/packages through:
Bash:
adb shell pm enable <userID> <package name>

Slim K said:
Have you tried this?. Don't forget to thank that person if it works.
If it doesn't work, you can use ADB through twrp with the Package Manager binary from /system/xbin/pm to list all disabled apps like this:
Bash:
adb shell pm list packages -d
then you can enable those disabled apps/packages through:
Bash:
adb shell pm enable <userID> <package name>
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you so much for the prompt reply, this totally answered my question into how TB freeze works in android, and solved my problem I can use my phone again =)