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[Q] How do I root without having to factor reset?? Don't want to lose photos.. HELP!!

So I've been looking for a solution for the past 2 months now it is SO frustrating. Anyway so...
I own a LG Nexus 5 (non rooted), and I've been using this photo app called VSCOcam solely as my phone camera for the last 2 years, and I've taken thousands and thousands of photos with it. The phone has been amazing for the last 2 years but it is time for an upgrade.
So I went to backup my phone and realized that VSCOcam had screwed me... The app has its own internal library so unless you "export" the photos, they are not accessible in /sdcard. Someone in XDA forums had the app and told me that the photos are stored inside "/data/data/com.vsco.cam/files/images" and unless I root I wont have access.
Now heres the cycle of stupidness which I think you all can guess. In order to root -> I need to unlock my bootloader, and to unlock my bootloader -> I need to factory reset!
I've tried just about everything to root my phone without factory resetting, so far none has succeeded.I contacted the devs for VSCOcam and they told me to highlight the photos individually and export... are you kidding me??
What should I do? Should I just bite the bullet and lose ALL MY PHOTOS?? The app is currently listed as 12gb in size thats so heartbreaking!!!
TL;DR - VSCOcam hid thousands of photos in "/data/data/com.vsco.cam/files/images" which is unreachable without root, and to root means to factory reset my phone wiping all the photos I'm trying to get in the first place...

mobscene8859 said:
So I've been looking for a solution for the past 2 months now it is SO frustrating. Anyway so...
I own a LG Nexus 5 (non rooted), and I've been using this photo app called VSCOcam solely as my phone camera for the last 2 years, and I've taken thousands and thousands of photos with it. The phone has been amazing for the last 2 years but it is time for an upgrade.
So I went to backup my phone and realized that VSCOcam had screwed me... The app has its own internal library so unless you "export" the photos, they are not accessible in /sdcard. Someone in XDA forums had the app and told me that the photos are stored inside "/data/data/com.vsco.cam/files/images" and unless I root I wont have access.
Now heres the cycle of stupidness which I think you all can guess. In order to root -> I need to unlock my bootloader, and to unlock my bootloader -> I need to factory reset!
I've tried just about everything to root my phone without factory resetting, so far none has succeeded.I contacted the devs for VSCOcam and they told me to highlight the photos individually and export... are you kidding me??
What should I do? Should I just bite the bullet and lose ALL MY PHOTOS?? The app is currently listed as 12gb in size thats so heartbreaking!!!
TL;DR - VSCOcam hid thousands of photos in "/data/data/com.vsco.cam/files/images" which is unreachable without root, and to root means to factory reset my phone wiping all the photos I'm trying to get in the first place...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wonder if you can't use something like Helium to make the backup. If you're not rooted, it uses ADB to make a backup (I think). See where you get with that. If you can get them on your hard drive, they should be yours for the taking.

Aerowinder said:
I wonder if you can't use something like Helium to make the backup. If you're not rooted, it uses ADB to make a backup (I think). See where you get with that. If you can get them on your hard drive, they should be yours for the taking.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for the suggestion, but I've already tried that, when I connect it to my PC Helium tells me the app is not supported and contact the app devs.... It was one of 3 apps that wasn't supported.
I could only laugh at my misery. :good:

mobscene8859 said:
Thank you for the suggestion, but I've already tried that, when I connect it to my PC Helium tells me the app is not supported and contact the app devs.... It was one of 3 apps that wasn't supported.
I could only laugh at my misery. :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried running an ADB backup manually from the command line? http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-nexus/general/guide-phone-backup-unlock-root-t1420351
adb backup -all ??

What's the problem with exporting them then? Am I missing something?

Yes, I think you are. I had a look for VSCO and came across a post in January from mobscene asking exactly the same question, and I can see what he's getting at. This is what VSCO tech support say:
https://vsco.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/200435135-VSCO-Cam-How-do-I-save-my-images-
"You can save as many items as you want from your VSCO Cam library by simply tapping once on each image, and then selecting the share icon."
Since the images are stored in data/data, inaccessible via a file explorer on an unrooted phone, mobscene can't do a straight drag-and-drop.
And, as he says, before he can root the phone he'll have to unlock the bootloader, which will wipe the images. Catch 22, sort of defeats the point of the exercise.
But if this has been going on now for eight months, the manual export (tapping multiple images at a time and exporting - the VSCO site shows multiple select is possible) could have been done by now. An enormous effort, I get that, but if the photos are important enough then maybe worthwhile. Looks like the only option.

Securely wiping old Android phone IMPOSSIBLE? - NO "encrypt" option

I need to wipe two Android Phones that do not have the "encrypt" option. I am selling them very soon so this is important. One phone is running stock Gingerbread, the other is using a custom rom running ICS 4.04.
I attempted a secure wipe on the ICS phone by choosing every wipe option found in TWRP (dalvik, cache,etc), then I did 2 factory resets and flashed a NEW ROM after that. Guess what..? I used the free program "DiskDigger" on my PC and I found THOUSANDS upon THOUSANDS of recoverable files. FULL pictures, not just thumbnails; I found videos, I found zip files, I found voice recordings, I found music, and more!
There is no way in hell I can sell these phones until I know they are CLEAN of my information. What pisses me off is that with iPhone, it's as simple as pressing "Erase All Content And Settings". That takes maybe 5 minutes tops and it works on iPhone's as old as the iPhone 3GS! I thought custom flashing a new rom and wiping cache in TWRP would do the trick but NOPE.
Can anyone help me?

An update for you... I downloaded these two apps and ran them on both phones. Here are the results...
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pinellascodeworks.securewipe&hl=en - Secure Wipe
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.aiuspaktyn.secureeraser&hl=en - Secure Eraser
On the stock Gingerbread phone, 3 photos were found by DiskDigger and I was able to preview them and recover them. Recuva found 20 files, the same 3 pictures, plus some overwritten garbage. I ran both apps AGAIN and got the same results, those same 3 photos were still there, intact. So what I then did was click on the photos in Recuva and selected "Secure Overwrite Checked". I ran the scans a THIRD time, Recuva first. It found 15 different files, 11 ignored all labelled as "unrecoverable" or "very poor". Only one photo was from before was found, but there was no preview. I recovered it, but no photo program could open it, so it looks to be successfully overwritten and corrupted.
On the phone running custom ROM ICS: I ran DiskDigger and it found 0 files; Recuva found 3 files after secure wiping. One was in "poor state" and two were in "excellent" state - a .bin file and .M file. I overwrote these files in Recuva and ran the scans a second time. DiskDigger found nothing, Recuva found 3, 14 ignored, all were "unrecoverable".
So I have some peace of mind now. Before running these Secure erase programs, DiskDigger found 99% of the contents on the phone that was running custom ROM ICS. So wiping dalvik cache, other cache, multiple factory resets, and flashing a new ROM did NOTHING!
If anyone has suggestions on other recovery programs, I will do a third check to put my mind at ease.

Wow... very surprised that there is no discussion on this. Do people not care about about the security of their devices?

umirin said:
Wow... very surprised that there is no discussion on this. Do people not care about about the security of their devices?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
General rule is basically no to sell your old devices and physically destroy them, if you care for privacy. A phone is no different to PC or any other piece of hardware here, so you're either aware of this and don't give/sell your stuff or don't care.

Destroying old equipment is pointless unless you are a career criminal avoiding the police or some other high profile person that a large organization with spend tones on resources on investigate.
Data breaches are far more likely from bad practices during ownership
Quality wipe apps with root access over writing old data multiple times is quite effective..

Struggling to find how to do a Full Backup including all Application Data to do a Recovery of deleted (accidental) files

Hi XDA members,
So I am a wiz at Apple software..... but
I have been provided with a Customers phone ( Google Pixel 3a) they have accidentally emptied the Trash Can instead of selecting the Restore option...All there photos have been deleted permanently.
I understand that the phone will need to be put into 'root' mode, but have read that rooting will wipe the phone which I do not want to happen.
My customer has got applications to do with taking regular Medication setup, and many more application that they do not want deleted with the data wiped.
Your urgent help on this matter would be kindly appreciated.....
Paul
P.s. I have installed ADB & Fastboot along with Bluestacks application but am stumped from here on in.

They are probably lost unless Google cloud gives you restore options.
Always redundantly back up critical data to at least 2 hdds that are physically and electronically isolated from each other and the PC.

It’s not my phone but a Customers well more of a friend but Customer still regardless..
I work tirelessly on Apple devices, but trying to do a big favour on this occasion with an Android.
The advanced software I use daily does not support Android devices.
In regards to Backup..I do back up everything of mine to a NAS drive…just my friends doesn’t/didn’t and their Google account doesn’t seem to show any photos of the deleted items from Trash at least..and they apparently hold precious moments that cannot be captured anymore.
My friend was trying to create a folder to put the images in, but instead deleted them then when they went to restore from the trash they ended up deleting them… no idea how they made this error with all the extra warnings that appear during the process, but that’s what they did and I’m not one to argue with a customer.
Could really do with someone being able to get my friend/customer out of this horrid situation
many thanks
Paul

At this point if the pictures are that important I would power down the phone and give it to a data recovery specialist. Any more mistakes may make recovery impossible if it is now.
Do not use online apps that claim to be able to do this!
If the jpegs that haven't been overwritten already can be recovered, it will be only the image. All file structure, exif data, time stamps, etc are lost in a sea of juxtaposed data. Only file types and file size can be searched for in the recovered data. This alone is a daunting task. The images have no time structure at all. Only memory can separate and index them back to order.
It's a rude shock... to the neat, organized data that once existed.
The magnitude of this is enormous. Even a flash card with a 120 images is a true pain to reconstruct and of limited value without the exif data. I need a stiff drink just thinking about it... always redundantly backup critical data. Never encrypt data drives.
Maybe your friend did back them up on Google at one point. Worth a shot, on a different phone/PC. Remember every second the victim phone is on is a second it can be overwriting data! Even after Backup Transport is disabled I've seen Google servers retain that data in spite of the warning to the contrary. If deleted on Google it's self... that's a question for Google.
I loathe cloud services and don't use them now.

Question New to Sammy Z flip3, question

Hey guys & gals I just received my brand new Galaxy Z flip 3, (still haven't opened sealed box yet, lol).
I was hoping someone could answer a Q concering Samsung Switch? I am coming from a Sammy note 10+, and my Q is, "does the Samsung switch app truly transfer all my content to my new phone, meaning absolutely everything?
I've used the app in the past and ran into issues where it only partially copied text messages, contacts, and files saved to my internal storage.
I guess my Q is a 2 parter, lol, if not Samsung switch is there a better, safer, more complete app that will do this? If it means using a PC program thats fine too. Any help would be greatly appreciated, and thank you all in advance!

I hoped you backed up all your critical data...
Use Contacts to make a export/import file copy of your contacts. Any app like Poweramp that allows for backup files do so. Docs, pictures, etc copy/paste from your backup source.
SmartSwitch isn't that smart; it may or may not work. Best to load the new Fold from scratch.
If you get a bad build using SmartSwitch you'll need to do a factory reset.
The odds of it not screwing up aren't that good. Something simple like contacts it can likely do ok. Apps, homepage settings probably won't end well going from the N10+ to a Fold.
Never trust SmartSwitch to backup critical data as it can fail you miserably.

Thanks for the reply very much appreciated. What process/app do you use? I was thinking of just using one of the full backup/transfer apps for pc, and just do it that way since it seems to truly back up everything, any thought recommendation?
I noticed you did mention loading the Galaxy ZF 3 from scratch, so do you recommend that versus's a total back up & transfer, bc I was thinking a lot of my setting home screens, etc. arent always going to play nice, and will just cause slowed performance, crashes, etc. any thoughts?
Thank you again for the reply I really do appreciate it, I just want to do things the right/less pain in the ass way.

I have 2 N10+'s. The oldest, running on Pie, was hand loaded and that load will be 2 yo in June, still fast and stable.
The newest is running on Android 10. I used SmartSwitch but screwed up making the SmartSwitch copy. I had intended to only copy homepage settings but inadvertently included apps. It seemed to work but it has a lag now that I need to troubleshoot. It may well be from using SmartSwitch and force me to do a factory reset I'll play with it more as it may be something simple. It's the backup for this phone, no rush.
Unfortunately with stock Samsung's SmartSwitch is their one trick pony. Unless rooted there are no cloning options. One of the major shortcomings of stock Androids. All my PC OS loads are cloned. The good news is the Android OS load can be extremely long lived with minimal maintenance if you don't update the firmware.
A clean load is important as poorly written apps can change hidden user settings and sometimes a factory reset is needed to clear them. You are what you install... I use ApkExport to save installable copies of all my apps which are known good. No Playstore needed, it makes a reload faster and more precise, no surprises.
Everything I need to do a full reload is on the SD card which in turn is backed up redundantly to hdds.
You can use a OTA flashstick to do this but also make at least 2 hdd copies of it that are physically and electronically isolated from each other and the PC. Verify data size, number of folders and that the copies are readable.
Never use encryption on backup data drives.
Never clone music or other databases that can be damaged by compression... those silly null marks matter. This is another possible way SmartSwitch may damage critical data, compression.

Very interesting, and a lot of great information I did not know, so thank you for educating me on your diffrent techniques, Sammy switch, and everything else, my phone will thank you!

Samsung Kies, SmartSwitch's predecessor was worse
ColorNote is another favorite; it allows direct hyperlinks to the browser. I use it for bookmarks and more. It allows for daily cloud, SD card backup.
This is ApkExport, it's on Playstore too.
It works with Android 9 and 10 but not sure about 11 and up. A near perfect freeware apk.

Smart Switch has changed a lot in 3 years. I wouldn't write it off before giving it a try, especially in combination with Google's own backup and restore or other solutions. The important thing is to read the options before clicking next. Exclude system apps and you eliminate the risk of corrupted settings. You are not obligated to enable every single option, but even if Smart Switch only works to copy text messages and bookmarks, Samsung is going to have much better access to those items than any third-party app.
The copy does not remove the data from the original phone, so the only harm in trying is time. You can always do a factory reset and try another way if it doesn't work out. Compared to exporting all of your apps and manually inputting the settings back into every one from the start, it seems worth even an hour to see if you can save two.
I copied from a Note 20 Ultra, so the configuration was a little closer. Obviously, a Note 10 is not going to be a near match in terms of the stock setup. Using the two methods together left me with going through system settings and a handful of apps that I had to manually set up again (mostly logins and things that really shouldn't transfer).

I have used smart switch to set up my z flip from my OnePlus 7t pro McLaren 5G and I used it to transfer my original phones contents to my warranty replacement z flip 3 and I have had no issues

luigi90210 said:
I have used smart switch to set up my z flip from my OnePlus 7t pro McLaren 5G and I used it to transfer my original phones contents to my warranty replacement z flip 3 and I have had no issues
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sometimes it works, but you better be prepared if it doesn't. It's not suitable for critical data backup. Neither was Kies

twistedumbrella said:
Smart Switch has changed a lot in 3 years. I wouldn't write it off before giving it a try, especially in combination with Google's own backup and restore or other solutions. The important thing is to read the options before clicking next. Exclude system apps and you eliminate the risk of corrupted settings. You are not obligated to enable every single option, but even if Smart Switch only works to copy text messages and bookmarks, Samsung is going to have much better access to those items than any third-party app.
The copy does not remove the data from the original phone, so the only harm in trying is time. You can always do a factory reset and try another way if it doesn't work out. Compared to exporting all of your apps and manually inputting the settings back into every one from the start, it seems worth even an hour to see if you can save two.
I copied from a Note 20 Ultra, so the configuration was a little closer. Obviously, a Note 10 is not going to be a near match in terms of the stock setup. Using the two methods together left me with going through system settings and a handful of apps that I had to manually set up again (mostly logins and things that really shouldn't transfer).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You had said, "using the two methods together left mewith going....", which two methods are you referring to? Thanks!

paranoid365 said:
You had said, "using the two methods together left mewith going....", which two methods are you referring to? Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The way that I read it it's Smart Switch and Google backup combo

paranoid365 said:
You had said, "using the two methods together left mewith going....", which two methods are you referring to? Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just like @beanbean50 said. I did the two that prompt during setup. I let Smart Switch do stuff like messages and browser (excluding desktop and system), but had Google do my apps. Photos and files I copied manually. I use Smart Launcher 6, so that has its own backup and restore.

blackhawk said:
Sometimes it works, but you better be prepared if it doesn't. It's not suitable for critical data backup. Neither was Kies
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
At no point did anyone say it's critical data that needed to be transferred
OP stated themselves it's basic things that OP wants that many other backup systems take care of(literally 3 of them exist on Samsung phones out of the box) unless you're a dingus and turn all that off
Google backup and Samsung backup both backup contacts, photos, videos, texts, apps, ect and having both of these systems on an older Samsung would mean that even if smart switch missed something like a few text messages, google or Samsung backup would fill in what's missing and to have both of these systems not functional would mean you disabled that on purpose
If your data is that critical and important you are already either practicing good backup practices or your company makes you auto back up to their servers. You wouldn't be using Samsung smart switch and while I understand to some people pictures of "your grandma"(not you specifically) are important and valuable, it's by no means the definition of critical data

luigi90210 said:
At no point did anyone say it's critical data that needed to be transferred
OP stated themselves it's basic things that OP wants that many other backup systems take care of(literally 3 of them exist on Samsung phones out of the box) unless you're a dingus and turn all that off
Google backup and Samsung backup both backup contacts, photos, videos, texts, apps, ect and having both of these systems on an older Samsung would mean that even if smart switch missed something like a few text messages, google or Samsung backup would fill in what's missing and to have both of these systems not functional would mean you disabled that on purpose
If your data is that critical and important you are already either practicing good backup practices or your company makes you auto back up to their servers. You wouldn't be using Samsung smart switch and while I understand to some people pictures of "your grandma"(not you specifically) are important and valuable, it's by no means the definition of critical data
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That fact that SmartSwitch can corrupt a otherwise clean load is also always a risk. Do it right the first time... you know the definition of insanity, right?

blackhawk said:
That fact that SmartSwitch can corrupt a otherwise clean load is also always a risk. Do it right the first time... you know the definition of insanity, right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Never had that happen to me or any of the thousands of customers I have processed line upgrades for, have you considered you did something wrong or maybe your data was corrupted from the other device or maybe you tried doing everything wirelessly instead of hardwired, all of these things are factors that can cause what you're describing and then some, just the act of disconnecting the phone while data is transferring can risk data corruption
Also if you're not a dingus and you didn't turn off all the other backup systems on your Samsung, you're supposed to use Google restore to restore accounts, texts and apps and you use smart switch to move photos, videos, and other personal files over
Guaranteed to never corrupt your install but considering how many people I have just used smart switch to move their accounts and data over from one phone to another and it's never given me an issue personally or professionally, I think smart switch is gonna be fine for OP and 99% of people out there in the world

luigi90210 said:
Never had that happen to me or any of the thousands of customers I have processed line upgrades for, have you considered you did something wrong or maybe your data was corrupted from the other device or maybe you tried doing everything wirelessly instead of hardwired, all of these things are factors that can cause what you're describing and then some, just the act of disconnecting the phone while data is transferring can risk data corruption
Also if you're not a dingus and you didn't turn off all the other backup systems on your Samsung, you're supposed to use Google restore to restore accounts, texts and apps and you use smart switch to move photos, videos, and other personal files over
Guaranteed to never corrupt your install but considering how many people I have just used smart switch to move their accounts and data over from one phone to another and it's never given me an issue personally or professionally, I think smart switch is gonna be fine for OP and 99% of people out there in the world
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're entitled to your opinion. Let's see the white papers to back up that bold statement. I'm all ears.
An easy option for the lazy. It guarantees nothing...
It's not a cloned copy so there's a lot that can go wrong as it tries to merge the data.
Samsung and Google backups?
When they fail, then what? Both Samsung and Google have had hacks and lost client accounts forever. Hell Samsung can't even secure their own critical data
Meanwhile they waste power and resources, constantly in the background

Recover deleted photos

Hi everyone,
Two days ago, accidentally I managed to delete all the photos of my camera album on my S6 Edge (SM-G925F).
I long tapped the album in gallery, just as i would have done with a photo then clicked delete.
It seemed to take too long, so I clicked cancel. But it was too late. All was gone.
I have well, most of them backed up but still missing quite a few.
So far I tried to recover using the following apps:
Dr. Fone (both on the device itself and from computer).
UltData for Android (from laptop),
Dumpster Recover (on the phone),
DiskDigger (on phone)
But all they show me is photos that are still available on the device, or are in some app cache. ( Profile pics of people on Facebook, etc...)
Note: I tried all these methods both before and after rooting the device. (I read somewhere that rooting might help, but I simply get more crap...)
The device is running Android 7.0 (the latest update from Samsung.)
Has anyone managed to recover lost photos from an S6 so far?
What apps would you recommend?
Why can I not see those pics anywhere?
Does samsung have some special way to erase your storage if u delete your photos?
I cannot seem to find many search results about it, probably not many people use this device anymore
Thanks in advance for any help,
Agoston

Probably no longer recoverable after DrFone.
Pay the fee and get what it can recover.
It encrypts its results (using up more drive space) and presumably makes the original data inaccessible to other recovery apps.
Recovered jpegs files will be disassociated from their exif files though; no timestamps, original #, shooting or location data.
The only way to reliably prevent data loss is to redundantly back it up before it happens, unfortunately.

I did pay the fee, but it cannot find them either...
In the main window it showed 1090 photos, on the side it showed it found 10 000, but at recovery it got stuck at around 5000....

dagoston93 said:
I did pay the fee, but it cannot find them either...
In the main window it showed 1090 photos, on the side it showed it found 10 000, but at recovery it got stuck at around 5000....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
None were backed up anywhere?
It may take a long time to retrieve them and not actually be hanging... be careful!!!
Make sure it has all needed permissions.
No clue how to use that app. Try their support and Google search to try to find out what's going on.
Don't mess with that app or anything on the phone or you may lose what it found completely.
Normally I say clear app data and the system cache but NOT in this case!

blackhawk said:
None were backed up anywhere?
It may take a long time to retrieve them and not actually be hanging... be careful!!!
Make sure it has all needed permissions.
No clue how to use that app. Try their support and Google search to try to find out what's going on.
Don't mess with that app or anything on the phone or you may lose what it found completely.
Normally I say clear app data and the system cache but NOT in this case!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most of them is backed up just the ones in the last few months aren't.
It turned out during a chat with their support not long ago, that my phone is not supported by their app, and i will get a refund from them.
But the question stands...Is there any app out there that supports the recovery from an SM-G925F?
I didnt seem to find any, but I hope someone knows one