So I made an oops, *sadface*. Though I'm glad I backed up the important stuff before I went from OOS to LineageOS. I decided to see how RROS was with Q, So I downloaded needed files, and I proceeded with what I thought was necessary. RROS 8.1.0, proper gapps. Had Magisk and TWRP on phone already, so I did factory reset, install RROS, TWRP -> reboot TWRP -> flash GApps, flash magisk... Clearly something went wrong as my phone went default encrypted with no way to decrypt it. Apparently I had to wipe the data and start out freshy fresh. So, what did I do wrong? How could I have avoided this? I've done some research and it seems that with the A/B partition, format data is required? If that is so, so be it. I'd just like to know if there was an alternative way to switch ROMs without having to backup all data and restore it after formatting data. Way more hassle than I anticipated.
Imo, there is no way to change custom rom without formating data, otherwise your storage will end up encrypted. I am just using automatic google backup for apps, settings, wifi, call logs and sms and google photos for images and it works great. You dont need to take care of it at all, just set it and it will automatically backup all your data periodically and when you swith to the new rom you will have choice to restore all of the above from your backup during initial setup.
Related
Ok, so i'm new to all this stuff about custom recoverys and ROMs. How exactly do they work?
Let's say i make a custom recovery image of my current ROM, wich is stock, does it just backup the OS or my personal files (music, photos, apps, etc.) too?
I'm asking this primarly because i want to upgrade my phone, but to do so i have to flash the stock firmware because i've modified some system files. Wich bring to my other question, flashing ROMs wipe user data? i've read some split responses to this, some people say it does some say it doesn't.
And my final question, let's say i made a backup, wiped my phone flashed stock firmware and updated, now how i recover my data from the
backed up ROM, i mean it is a different version, does it have an option to just restore user data?
Thanks in advance, and sorry if these are too much questions.
it'll back up system, data, boot.img and dalvik cache.
your sd partition isn't backed up, but all the stuff on it will be readable by whatever new rom you put on it (unless you wipe EVERYTHING [not a good idea]).
when you're changing roms/etc, you want to place the rom.zip + gapps.zip (and custom kernel.zip if you're going to use one) on your sd partition. you do this because usb storage mostly doesn't work with custom recoveries as of yet on this device meaning once you've wiped, if you don't have a rom on your sd partition you're mildly screwed in that you'd have to reflash everything from a stock image (meaning you will lose root, all your personal files and whatever rom was on the phone - basically everything goes back to stock bar the bootloader).
e: as for restoring all apps data, use something like titanium backup. i always have a backup on my sd partition of all my current apps (plus wifi passwords, accounts info, sms messages etc to save time/effort when restoring after putting a new rom on). i also always set TB to backup all modified/new data every night at about 3am, then upload the backup to google drive so that if i either brick my phone or accidentally wipe everything, at least i can get back to where i left off.
If you forget to place the ROM zip, and have formatted the device, it is not necessary to flash stock. You use adb side load which is present in every recovery.
in that case i need to remember that for future use - i hardly ever use my pc with my phone now as you can pretty much do anything (update recovery etc) on the phone alone.
that, and i'm on windows 8.1 which afaik doesn't play nicely with fastboot or adb.
twist3d0n3 said:
....and i'm on windows 8.1 which afaik doesn't play nicely with fastboot or adb.
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Click to collapse
....i think this is a rumor. Never ever had any problems on W8.1
^ good to know, thanks
I can't believe what I've seen!
A few days ago I encrypted my galaxy s3 running the old 4.1.2 with this guide to avoid having to enter an alphanumeric password each time I unlock the screen. Yesterday I installed an app called "Locker" that is supposed to reboot and wipe the device after a specified number of wrong lockscreen pin attemps.
When I woke up this morning I had a nandroid on the microsd (online nandroid backup app) performed overnight plus the internal storage backed up too and I decided to try that app. After 10 wrong attemps it actually rebooted to recovery but didn't wipe anything, probably cause I'm running a custom recovery (TWRP). No bad, after reboot you are prompted to enter the alphanumeric cryptopassword (different from the lockscrenn pin) so that method would be safe, I think. After entering the cryptopassword it forced reboot again, again stating I entered 10 wrong pin previously. At this point I was stuck so I tried restoring the nandroid, rebooted but guess what?? My cryptopassword was not recognized!!! I tried another time wiping everything, included internal storage, no good. I tried restoring a previous unencrypted image, incredibly it still asks me the cryptopassword and still doesn't recognize it!!
I was stuck and didn't know what to do, I said I'll try flashing a stock rom with odin, I started downloading it but I reflashed stock recovery back for another try. Wipe data/factory reset, then reflashed TWRP restored the overnight nandroid back again and guess what???
MY DEVICE ISN'T ENCRYPTED ANYMORE!!! It only asks the lockscreen pin, but if I go to settings => Security it shows itself as unencrypted!!
Such an incredible bug, yes, you'll lose your internal storage in the process and you need a nandroid to restore the /data partition. I can't believe it!!
Probably I understand what happened. The online nandroid backup is performed after the cryptokey has been entered, so it saves the data partition unencrypted.
The proof would be making a nandroid from recovery and seeing if this trick works the same
FDE on Android 4.x is already known as vulnerably and can be decrypt by various tools (not telling the name here - and don't ask me for it). Just saying, so no matter if you use it or not if an attacker have physical access to your device it's very easy to get your stuff and the fact you use a custom recovery makes it very easy (not that a stock recovery is not affected but needs some more steps to get the tools working..).
CHEF-KOCH said:
FDE on Android 4.x is already known as vulnerably and can be decrypt by various tools (not telling the name here - and don't ask me for it). Just saying, so no matter if you use it or not if an attacker have physical access to your device it's very easy to get your stuff and the fact you use a custom recovery makes it very easy (not that a stock recovery is not affected but needs some more steps to get the tools working..).
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Click to collapse
With other experiences I had with PCs, if you clone a bitlocker encrypted partition online, the resulting copy will be unencrypted, if you clone it booting from a live cd the resulting copy will be encrypted as well.
What I did was backing up my phone online, so the backup was of an unencrypted system. I'm sure if I restore a nandroid made in recovery environment, it will restore an encrypted system as well
I think the only way to get around it is brute forcing it, a 128 bit key is safe as long as you don't choose a short password
Howdy!
I have finally gotten the multi user problem solved and made my 1st nandroid backup. I have never done a restore so I have a couple of questions:
1) If I flash lineage then do a restore in TWRP can I select just the 'data' partition to restore from my OOS bcakup?
2) Can I do a restore a back up I made in OOS after I flash Lineage or does that muck things up?
3) If I can do a restore of only the 'data' files will that restore all my apps, and will it restore the app data?
I have done several searches of the forums and have not been able to totally figure out how I can save my set up in OOS and get all my apps and data to Lineage without painstakingly loading each app again and setting each app back up.
4) If I copy my entire data folder to my hard drive, flash Lineage, then copy it back to the phone will that accomplish what I am trying to do, or is that what the nd backup will do, or am I barking up the wrong tree totally.
Last time I accidentally wiped my phone and had to rebuild everything from scratch......this time I would like to avoid that fun!!
Thank you in advance,
JC
Hello,
I just updated the rom Evolution X 11 on my Xiaomi Mi 9T Pro after using an older version for about half a year.
Now my phone does not boot anymore, its stuck in recovery (TWRP). Also all data seems to be encrypted and TWRP is not asking for a password.
Is there a way to get my phone to boot again or at least backup my data before I do a full wipe?
You should always do a full twrp backup before messing with roms.
The best solution would be to backup the "Data" and "Internal Storage" partitions. Data contains all apps, their appdata and settings, while internal storage contains all of your own files (photos, videos etc.). After you back these up, wipe your phone (system, data, cache, dalvik) and flash the version of evolution x you were using previously. Now restore data and internal storage and your device should be back to normal.
If you get a bootloop while booting after restoring data and internal storage, then wipe the device again and this time flash evolution x, but only restore internal storage. This way, it should boot and you will be able to recover your files, though your apps will be gone.
If you only restore internal storage then it will no doubt boot up and you will have access to your files, but since you'll have already backed up the important stuff (data + internal storage), you might as well try restoring data as well, as there is no harm, and if the phone boots correctly after restoring both partitions, your phone will be as it was before your updated your rom.
This happened a while back to me with my J5, the issue was that I made a full TWRP backup, then began to test other roms. After I was done, I tried to restore my backup, but it would constantly fail. I sat down for a while, confused and sad about how my TWRP backup had failed me. I tried every solution I could think of, eventually this solution I've mentioned in the above paragraph came to my mind. Thank god for putting it into my mind, otherwise I would've lost a lot of stuff (mainly whatsapp chats which werent backed up, and a lot of apps which I took the time to pain-stakingly configure in the best way for my device).
Anyways, enough of my story, hope this helps you out! If it does, message back here and let us know, and also mark my post as the solution if it was able to help you, so that anyone else who stumbles upon this thread can be saved too!
Cheers!
PhotonIce said:
You should always do a full twrp backup before messing with roms.
The best solution would be to backup the "Data" and "Internal Storage" partitions. Data contains all apps, their appdata and settings, while internal storage contains all of your own files (photos, videos etc.). After you back these up, wipe your phone (system, data, cache, dalvik) and flash the version of evolution x you were using previously. Now restore data and internal storage and your device should be back to normal.
If you get a bootloop while booting after restoring data and internal storage, then wipe the device again and this time flash evolution x, but only restore internal storage. This way, it should boot and you will be able to recover your files, though your apps will be gone.
If you only restore internal storage then it will no doubt boot up and you will have access to your files, but since you'll have already backed up the important stuff (data + internal storage), you might as well try restoring data as well, as there is no harm, and if the phone boots correctly after restoring both partitions, your phone will be as it was before your updated your rom.
This happened a while back to me with my J5, the issue was that I made a full TWRP backup, then began to test other roms. After I was done, I tried to restore my backup, but it would constantly fail. I sat down for a while, confused and sad about how my TWRP backup had failed me. I tried every solution I could think of, eventually this solution I've mentioned in the above paragraph came to my mind. Thank god for putting it into my mind, otherwise I would've lost a lot of stuff (mainly whatsapp chats which werent backed up, and a lot of apps which I took the time to pain-stakingly configure in the best way for my device).
Anyways, enough of my story, hope this helps you out! If it does, message back here and let us know, and also mark my post as the solution if it was able to help you, so that anyone else who stumbles upon this thread can be saved too!
Cheers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your help but backing up the data and internal storage doesnt seem possible right now because all the data is encrypted in TWRP...
If you can't backup anything, then wipe system, cache and dalvik, and flash the version of evolutionx you were previously using. Then boot, it should be fine. If it wont boot (give it some time, it will take the time of a fresh install), then this time wipe system+data+cache+dalvik, then flash whichever rom you like and you'll be able to access the files.
You can also try using platform tools and fastboot or adb ( i dont remember exactly which one) to copy the filess from your phone onto your pc.
Sorry if this doesn't apply to your situation, I've never used a phone which has been encrypted, as such I have no experience with them.
PhotonIce said:
If you can't backup anything, then wipe system, cache and dalvik, and flash the version of evolutionx you were previously using. Then boot, it should be fine. If it wont boot (give it some time, it will take the time of a fresh install), then this time wipe system+data+cache+dalvik, then flash whichever rom you like and you'll be able to access the files.
You can also try using platform tools and fastboot or adb ( i dont remember exactly which one) to copy the filess from your phone onto your pc.
Sorry if this doesn't apply to your situation, I've never used a phone which has been encrypted, as such I have no experience with them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That sounds like a good idea. I found the old version on my PC.
Now I just need a way to install it... because twrp cant read the file. I tried with adb sideload but that results in an error for some reason. Flashing Magisk for example with adb sideload is possible.
Edit: Got it to work by using a tool called "Large Address Aware". Now waiting for the results...
PhotonIce said:
If you can't backup anything, then wipe system, cache and dalvik, and flash the version of evolutionx you were previously using. Then boot, it should be fine. If it wont boot (give it some time, it will take the time of a fresh install), then this time wipe system+data+cache+dalvik, then flash whichever rom you like and you'll be able to access the files.
You can also try using platform tools and fastboot or adb ( i dont remember exactly which one) to copy the filess from your phone onto your pc.
Sorry if this doesn't apply to your situation, I've never used a phone which has been encrypted, as such I have no experience with them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This did not help unfortunately... Im still in the same recovery-bootloop and my data is still encrypted.
It's probably still bootlooping as the data partition got modified when you flashed the newer version of evolutionx, and now it will not work with the old one. You can try wiping system+data+cach+dalvik and then flashing any rom of your choice. This will give you access to your internal storage (photos, media etc), but it will remove your apps and their settings. Whatsapp images are stored in the internal storage so you won't need to worry about those.
Again, this is risky, as it may not work (I don't know much about encryption), or you might still not be able to access your files after flashing the new rom. Proceed at your own risk.
PhotonIce said:
It's probably still bootlooping as the data partition got modified when you flashed the newer version of evolutionx, and now it will not work with the old one. You can try wiping system+data+cach+dalvik and then flashing any rom of your choice. This will give you access to your internal storage (photos, media etc), but it will remove your apps and their settings. Whatsapp images are stored in the internal storage so you won't need to worry about those.
Again, this is risky, as it may not work (I don't know much about encryption), or you might still not be able to access your files after flashing the new rom. Proceed at your own risk.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for still helping me out but I already did a full reset yesterday. I did not lose much except for the time setting it all up again.
I still dont really get the point of encrypting all your data if you cant decrypt it even if you know the password...
So I've read that regular LineageOS updates work with "dirty flashes" but the bigger updates (between majoe Android versions) require "clean flash".
Is it possible to somehow save all the system and application settings and data between the big upgrades requiring clean flash?
Thanks and sincerely
heybaybee said:
So I've read that regular LineageOS updates work with "dirty flashes" but the bigger updates (between majoe Android versions) require "clean flash".
Is it possible to somehow save all the system and application settings and data between the big upgrades requiring clean flash?
Thanks and sincerely
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Boot into TWRP, select the Backup option, then select "advanced", select the data partition but do not select any other partition, swipe the slider to start the backup. When the backup finished, move the backup file to external sdcard or PC if you don't have external sdcard.
When you flash your ROM(do not store your ROM and gapps in your internal storage, store it on external, if you, don't have external, store it in your internal but don't wipe your internal when you do your wipes), wipe system, data, cache and dalvik cache then flash your ROM. After the ROM finishes, while still in TWRP, you can either go ahead and restore the data backup that you created or you can reboot into system to let the ROM do its initial load then immediately power off, reboot into TWRP, select Restore, then restore the backup of your data partition and reboot the device. I would let the ROM boot then go back to TWRP and then restore the data.
Thank you sir!
Is there any downside of restoring from backup instead if setting up everything manually?
Are there any downsides of choosing one if the two options proposed by you over the other?
Sincerely
heybaybee said:
Thank you sir!
Is there any downside of restoring from backup instead if setting up everything manually?
Are there any downsides of choosing one if the two options proposed by you over the other?
Sincerely
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) no downside, it restores all settings, apps and app data to exactly what you had before flashing the update.
2) no downsides, it is just that letting the ROM boot first then going back and restoring the backup reduces chances of things being buggy after the update.
I recommend that you boot into TWRP, select Backup and make a full backup of everything except for internal storage. Then, when you flash your ROM then let it boot then go back to TWRP, select Restore, then select "advanced restore" then select only the data partition and none of the others(this will restore only the data partition from the backup and not the others), then swipe the slider to start the restore process then reboot the device.
The reason I say to create a full backup of everything is so that you have a working backup to restore if something goes wrong with the update process. It gives you a restore point to go back to so you can troubleshoot what went wrong then try again. And if everything goes right with the update, you won't need to restore the whole backup, you can just do the advanced restore and restore only the data partition and then you should be where you want to be.
I don't know if this will backup and restore your SMS/MMS text messages, you may need to backup/restore those via one of the SMS backup and restore apps in the PlayStore, there are several that can do this.
Thank you again.
Does this backup work for migration between any custom ROMs let's say from LineageOS to PixelExperience or only between versions of the same ROM like from Lineage 18 to 19?
Is it possible to migrate the same set of settings and data from stock ROM with locked bootloader to a custom ROM?
Sincerely