For the CyanogenMod and other custom ROMs for the Motorola Bravo, I think it would be better if ADB (USB Debugging) could be completely disabled or password-protected even in Recovery. I use a PIN to protect the phone for normal boot and operation, but anyone could use ADB to access it through recovery without knowing the PIN. I don't know a great deal about it, but it appears to be a security risk that can be avoided only using a stock ROM. Or, is there a way to replace the recovery environment with one that does not have ADB as an optional function? Thanks.
I should add that I tried to avoid the problem by uninstalling recovery, but this resulted in a boot loop that I couldn't find a way to fix.
sirv said:
I should add that I tried to avoid the problem by uninstalling recovery, but this resulted in a boot loop that I couldn't find a way to fix.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's because its REQUIRED to boot custom roms -- the 2nd-init exploit and all.
I think you're being a bit paranoid. Its not like a ton of people have adb installed on their computer; and the ones who your worried about adb hacking you can probably get around your password\lockscreen if adb wasn't installed.
If its personal data on the sdcard you're trying to protect, then not having adb will matter at all, especially if you're on stock, since a factory wipe will give access to everything on the sd.
While I'll look into it, I think that a no adb bootmenu is a bad idea -- adb has saved my ass more times than I can count; and its required for ics to run. My idea is a password protected recovery. That would be the best option, keeping you safe while still having the tools needed in case stuff happens.
Perhaps you can PM Epsylon3, Quarx2k, or Maniac103 since they're the main devs of our roms, and bring this security issue up with them and\or submit my password recovery idea as your own.
Related
The touchscreen on my Fire stopped working today. I already talked to Amazon and am getting a replacement, but I want to revert back to stock before sending it in. I've seen ways to do this with TWRP, but I don't have a touchscreen to use TWRP, or any recovery for that matter, with.
Is there any way to do this?
I do have full ADB and Fastboot access, with FireFireFire working, but do not have a currently working rom installed (I was on CM9, and it won't go past the boot screen).
drk.hd said:
The touchscreen on my Fire stopped working today. I already talked to Amazon and am getting a replacement, but I want to revert back to stock before sending it in. I've seen ways to do this with TWRP, but I don't have a touchscreen to use TWRP, or any recovery for that matter, with.
Is there any way to do this?
I do have full ADB and Fastboot access, with FireFireFire working, but do not have a currently working rom installed (I was on CM9, and it won't go past the boot screen).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is a way to do this with adb... I just do not know the proper commands. Sorry
Does installing a custom rom void the warranty? Seems like it would be BS for Amazon not to honor it when it's apparently a hardware related issue.
sengwall said:
Does installing a custom rom void the warranty? Seems like it would be BS for Amazon not to honor it when it's apparently a hardware related issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, I don't think it does, but I'd rather not take the chance.
drk.hd said:
No, I don't think it does, but I'd rather not take the chance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
YES! It absolutely does. The second the device was rooted it broke warranty.
Sent from my myTouch_4G_Slide using XDA App
The same thing actually happened to me earlier today. I was just browsing some sites on the ICS rom when it just stopped responding. I couldn't get it to recognize any touches even after a bunch of reboots, so I just figured it to be some bug that hadn't been squashed yet. When I dropped down to recovery and saw the same issue, I knew I had a real problem.
Hoping against hope, I tried both CWMR and TWRP on it and got no results. Like you, I figured it would have to go back to Amazon, so I started searching for a way to get it back to stock... nothing obvious jumped out at me because everything is written with access to recovery in mind... which doesn't help.
So, I started reading about adb and going through the built-in help. As I was familiarizing myself with some basic adb commands and options, I left TWRP open in front of me. I don't know how long I had it that way when I mindlessly tapped on the screen and thought I saw it flicker. Yes! I had pressed the Wipe button and it had taken me to that section. It's been working fine ever since.
I'm not claiming I did anything and I don't have a how-to on how to fix it, but it couldn't hurt to just leave the thing running in recovery for a while and see if the touchscreen comes back to life for you too.
Still, I'd love to see someone with more adb knowledge provide a simple tutorial on how to get it back to stock without access to recovery. I'm sure it would be helpful to someone in the future... maybe even me if the same problem comes up again.
Best of luck to you.
Just ignore my comment
Sent from my Amazon Kindle Fire using Tapatalk
If your on the rooted stock rom you could always wait until Amazon pushing the next OTA
You will have to make a fastboot image and flash that with fastboot. But before you create the image, you will have to create all the appropriate symlinks. Then you run...
Code:
make_ext4fs -l 512m -a system -s /path/to/fastboot_system.img /path/to/system_folder
That will create the fastboot image. Then when FFF gives you fastboot access, you run...
Code:
fastboot flash system fastboot_system.img
You will also need a fastboot image for recovery and the bootloader.
Isn't there any easy way like with my desire, simple ruu.
Or hasn't anyone created these images to flash. I also need to get back to stock everything and send it to amazon, my wifi gets error after some period of time and some times when screen goes off, try'd 3 roms and stock.
There is a way to tell the device to install /sdcard/update.zip via shell commands. I forget what they are tho. Something about the extendedcommands. If I have time tomorrow I'll look it up.
here it is:
http://www.theandroidsoul.com/kindle-fire-stock-rom-installation-guide/
b63 said:
here it is:
http://www.theandroidsoul.com/kindle-fire-stock-rom-installation-guide/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the link. I'm back on this thread because I think my Kindle Fire touchscreen is now dead for good. However, those instructions do not work as-is because you need to press a button on the screen to tell the Kindle Fire to allow the host to mount it as a USB Mass Storage device. Although those instructions don't get you all the way there, I was able to use the core idea to get my Kindle Fire back to stock. So, many thanks for pointing me in the right direction.
On top of the touchscreen not working, I ended up partially bricking the device trying to find a way to flash it back to stock, so I had also posted in the Unbricking thread. I posted my solution there....
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=23226260&postcount=701
Odds are, if you have a device that is booting correctly, you will be able to ignore steps 3 and 4 and get it booting back to stock. I do have a couple of other suggestions... Leave your USB cable hooked up to the Kindle Fire as it boots into stock for the first time. This is the only time that it will automatically mount the /sdcard to your computer and you will have a chance to reclaim (and delete) all the files stored there. You can also do something like 'adb pull /sdcard C:\sdcard' before you flash. Also, depending on what ROM and apps you were using before starting the process, you might want to delete your user data and reset the device to factory defaults. You can do this with 'fastboot erase userdata' and the next time you start the device, you'll get a warning that it's about to reset. Hit the power button and you should have a clean, fresh from the factory Kindle fire... albeit with a broken touchscreen. Good luck!
After several failed attempts to follow this guide (no offense to posters; I appreciate your contributions), I found this to be the simplest method.
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/10817721/wipe-data-factory-reset-through-adb
Download stock update, then it's basic procedure in adb:
adb push C:/update.zip /sdcard/update.zip
adb shell
recovery --wipe_data
After reboot, go back into to adb shell and do "recovery--update_package=/sdcard/update.zip"
Factory reset, etc. and you're good to go.
Hello, so this is my first time trying to root an android device, and I think I messed up. I watched a tutorial on youtube on how to do it and successfully installed superuser and twrp from a batch file ( I had to install adb drivers first ). I wasn't really sure I did it in the correct steps, so I wanted to revert back to the stock os. I booted into twrp and wiped the data ( cache, system, etc) from twrp. I then mounted it and transfered the kindle fire update 6.3.1 to my KF. I used the option on twrp to revert back to stock using the newly transferred zip. It ran for awhile then prompted me to click reboot. So I did. And this is where it gets tricky
After the reboot, all I see is the boot screen displaying "kindle fire." It never booted and lasted like this for hours. I tried to boot into twrp but I think it got deleted. I googled the problem and found it was in some sort of fastboot loop. I tried many fixes, using adb and other fastboot commands. Every time I tried anything, all I got was "waiting for device." Also, I couldn't use adb shell because it said system/bin/sh was not found. I went to my computer and found that the kindle fire no longer showed up as a removable device, but it showed up in device manager as adb composite interface under android phone. I thought that somehow all of my system files got deleted and thats why it says system/bin/sh not found. I tried to use the adb push command to manually send the update.zip to the KF but it is no longer a mounted drive, so there is nowhere to send it to. I'm at a loss here, Ive tried numerous utilities such as KFU, firekit, unbrick utility. I just need to figure out a way to remount the KF and copy over the folder "system" in the update.zip. If anyone could help me that would be great, as I have been trying to fix this for three days now.:fingers-crossed:
Read the How To in the attached link and it should help you figure out what the problem is and get you unbricked, http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1552547.
tazmanhawaii said:
Read the How To in the attached link and it should help you figure out what the problem is and get you unbricked, http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1552547.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That doesn't really help me at all, as I have tried the solutions that what you just posted provides, and none of them have worked. I have tried flashing firefirefire and twrp to the kindle fire using fastboot, but to no avail. I think I need a bit more help than a beginner's guide can provide, but thanks for the link.
Marblesnake said:
That doesn't really help me at all, as I have tried the solutions that what you just posted provides, and none of them have worked. I have tried flashing firefirefire and twrp to the kindle fire using fastboot, but to no avail. I think I need a bit more help than a beginner's guide can provide, but thanks for the link.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First of all, when you try to revert to stock without wiping the necessary partitions, bad things will happen. What usually happens is you end up with some sort of frankenROM with no working shell and no custom bootloader or recovery.
Based on your description, it seems like you aren't in fastboot at all. You can confirm this by paying attention to the boot screen at the device starts up. If you see a bright Kindle Fire logo that stays bright, you're in fastboot. If you see a bright Kindle Fire logo that dims a little after a few seconds, you're no longer in fastboot and the device is trying to boot normally. What usually happens in situations like yours is, not only does the system have no way of booting, but there is also no working shell to send the necessary commands to change the bootmode, and you will receive the typical "system/bin/sh not found" error.
The problem is without a working shell, you cannot get into fastboot to install custom recovery and you cannot install recovery while booted "normally" without a working shell.
You have two options:
* Acquire a factory cable. A Motorola style factory programming cable to be exact. You can purchase one, or make one yourself. There is a thread in the KF General forum with information regarding both. The factory cable will put the device in fastboot so you will be able to install custom recovery and repair your system.
or
* Use Firekit. But in order for Firekit to work properly in your situation, you need to put the device in USBboot to install a "new" bootloader and recovery. This consists of opening the device and using the "shorting trick" as described in the Firekit thread. I would suggest creating a liveUSB with "persistence" and install the SoupKit. SoupKit comes with Firekit along with a number of other tools you may find useful.
Either way, you need to get custom recovery installed so you can wipe your system and data (factory reset) partitions and flash a new ROM. If it's the stock ROM you want, MoDaCo is your best bet. Once you install a custom ROM, there is no need to "root" as all custom ROMs come pre-rooted.
Hope that helps.
soupmagnet said:
First of all, when you try to revert to stock without wiping the necessary partitions, bad things will happen. What usually happens is you end up with some sort of frankenROM with no working shell and no custom bootloader or recovery.
Based on your description, it seems like you aren't in fastboot at all. You can confirm this by paying attention to the boot screen at the device starts up. If you see a bright Kindle Fire logo that stays bright, you're in fastboot. If you see a bright Kindle Fire logo that dims a little after a few seconds, you're no longer in fastboot and the device is trying to boot normally. What usually happens in situations like yours is, not only does the system have no way of booting, but there is also no working shell to send the necessary commands to change the bootmode, and you will receive the typical "system/bin/sh not found" error.
The problem is without a working shell, you cannot get into fastboot to install custom recovery and you cannot install recovery while booted "normally" without a working shell.
You have two options:
* Acquire a factory cable. A Motorola style factory programming cable to be exact. You can purchase one, or make one yourself. There is a thread in the KF General forum with information regarding both. The factory cable will put the device in fastboot so you will be able to install custom recovery and repair your system.
or
* Use Firekit. But in order for Firekit to work properly in your situation, you need to put the device in USBboot to install a "new" bootloader and recovery. This consists of opening the device and using the "shorting trick" as described in the Firekit thread. I would suggest creating a liveUSB with "persistence" and install the SoupKit. SoupKit comes with Firekit along with a number of other tools you may find useful.
Either way, you need to get custom recovery installed so you can wipe your system and data (factory reset) partitions and flash a new ROM. If it's the stock ROM you want, MoDaCo is your best bet. Once you install a custom ROM, there is no need to "root" as all custom ROMs come pre-rooted.
Hope that helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the help. Yeah, I tried the firekit method but didn't use the shorting trick. I have scoured the internet for information and tricks and it seems like these are my last two options before I throw this thing out the window. I have seen your posts in other threads and you have been a great help throughout this ordeal.
factory cable
thank you for this information. I am in the same predicament. I am purchasing a factory cable from Amazon $1.27.
It is sold by Earlybirdsavings and is a 3ft micro USB factory cable for kindle fire and Motorola Xoom.
thank you for all the helpful information!
I went to flash cyanogenmod 10.1.
backed up rom via clockwork.
wiped data, flashed new rom.
flashed gapps.
I think i flashed the wrong gapps
upon boot I get "setup wizard has stopped" as well as one regarding gapps.
this prevents me from using the rom. I can access the calender and clock that is all. not the settings or reboot menu.
I can access the built in storage via windows, shows up as a nexus 7.
Ok, not a big deal, I will boot into recovery via the bootloader.
That no longer works. Sits at a google screen forever
Ok, I will use fastboot via the bootloader....
That no longer works. As soon as a usb cable touches the nexus either power or pc it freezes the bootloader requires a reboot.
windows rejects the usb and states is malfunctioned and unrecognised (though it works fine in the rom)
fastboot doesn't see the device.
I've tried:
three usb cables.
windows safe mode.
different ports
uninstall/install drivers.
nexus tool kit (doesnt recognise device)
wiggling the cable as suggested
anybody got an idea how I can either get the bootloader not to freeze when using a usb cable or how to boot into some kind of recovery (which was there!!!!!)
please? :fingers-crossed:
Something seems a little off here.
Was it a gapps package for some other device? Hard to see why flashing something to /system would produce the result you got, as the (gapps) edify script would at most specify a mount of "system", not a /dev/block/ device name.
Does adb work (with the ROM booted)? If so, can you get a root shell or install .apks?
The fact that the ROM boots suggests that the bootloader is working correctly enough to load and execute the LNX (boot) image. That means that in principle you could flash (using the "dd" command) a recovery image to the boot partition from a root-privileged command line (either an adb session or a terminal emulator). Performing a regular (power button) restart would boot you into a recovery session.
Obviously, this hinges on you getting a command line somehow with your reduced-functionality ROM limping along as it is. It's not obvious to me how you will make that happen though.
I am not at all confident that this will fix the bootloader <--> USB issue without somehow reflashing the bootloader without using fastboot!. The only way this has been observed for the N7 has been with the OTA process and a stock recovery - the OTA puts an image (**note - important!** this OTA bootloader image is slightly different from the bootloader image in the factory/fastboot ROMs) into the USP partition and some magic occurs on the next boot.
Well, anyway there's some ideas. Would you mind identifying the "wrong" gapps that you used? For the life of me I can't see how it caused the symptoms you are observing...
good luck
Hi. Many thanks.
Ok.....
Gapps. I downloaded the appropriate package via the link on the Rom page. However, I flashed a jellybean package I'd downloaded for my one x. I may be naive in thinking that Gapps is Gapps no?
I deduced it was that having googled the setup wizard problem and seeing that others had had it.
Bootloader.
Again. Ive googled around and can see many have the freezing bootloader with usb issue. Some say its the cable. Some say its the pc. But it does it with the charger as well. Again this is an issue for some. not sure what to do! Works fine until the cable goes in.
Recovery.
Again I know its an issue booting recovery from bootloader. I've read you need the usb in to a pc to make it happen. Obviously that's a no go for me
Adb.
Never really used it. Used fastboot many times. I assumed you need to be able to access the developer options and activate debugging etc within the Rom to allow it to work? I can not do that. Its around 10% funtional. I can place a reminder on the calender but that's about it! No way to system settings.
Sorry if thats teaching you to suck eggs. You obviously know your stuff, just wanted to make it clear.
Ta.
Sent from my HTC One X+ using xda app-developers app
olly2097 said:
Recovery.
Again I know its an issue booting recovery from bootloader. I've read you need the usb in to a pc to make it happen. Obviously that's a no go for me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A normally functioning tablet does NOT require you to be plugged in to a PC in order to boot the recovery from the bootloader menu. Maybe you are saying something else here, but I trust you've tried starting the recovery without anything plugged in at all.
Unless you can get the recovery working, the only hope you have is somehow levering up what you have available to gain a privileged thread of execution. Obviously that's going to be pretty challenging.
good luck - you're going to need it.
PS: could you provide a URL to the *wrong* One X gapps download? I think the gapps bundle ships with system libraries - I want to peek at those libs to see if there are any hardcoded block device paths that might explain the queerness you observed. (I can't imagine why this would be the case, but...)
bftb0 said:
A normally functioning tablet does NOT require you to be plugged in to a PC in order to boot the recovery from the bootloader menu. Maybe you are saying something else here, but I trust you've tried starting the recovery without anything plugged in at all.
Unless you can get the recovery working, the only hope you have is somehow levering up what you have available to gain a privileged thread of execution. Obviously that's going to be pretty challenging.
good luck - you're going to need it.
PS: could you provide a URL to the *wrong* One X gapps download? I think the gapps bundle ships with system libraries - I want to peek at those libs to see if there are any hardcoded block device paths that might explain the queerness you observed. (I can't imagine why this would be the case, but...)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah, tried both ways.
The gapps I downloaded was a while ago. I've deleted it. was for 4.1.1
anyway. I....
Booted to bootloader, selected recovery, pressed power and rammed in the usb cable at the same time.
recovery
now running rom fine after flashing TW recovery via toolkit and mounting to pc.
I cant explain it. it took forever. but thank you
Hi folks,
yesterday my Nexus 4 hit the ground and the front glass just bursted. Touch is not working anymore and the screen is locked (only slide to unlock, no pin or gesture). I can connect it to my PC and can access the internal storage, so backing up images, music, etc. is not a problem.
I have some apps installed of which I want to transfer the app data to my new phone. Debugging is enabled so I thought, well that'll be easy just run adb backup. Thought so... As adb backup requires a user action when it comes to entering the password I'm doomed
Does anybody has an idea or experienced the same problem on how I can get adb backup to work without being able to use the touch screen?
I'm not limited to adb backup but as my phone is not rooted I assume there are not a lot possibilities besides.
Thanks a lot for your help.
calex
calex3141 said:
Hi folks,
yesterday my Nexus 4 hit the ground and the front glass just bursted. Touch is not working anymore and the screen is locked (only slide to unlock, no pin or gesture). I can connect it to my PC and can access the internal storage, so backing up images, music, etc. is not a problem.
I have some apps installed of which I want to transfer the app data to my new phone. Debugging is enabled so I thought, well that'll be easy just run adb backup. Thought so... As adb backup requires a user action when it comes to entering the password I'm doomed
Does anybody has an idea or experienced the same problem on how I can get adb backup to work without being able to use the touch screen?
I'm not limited to adb backup but as my phone is not rooted I assume there are not a lot possibilities besides.
Thanks a lot for your help.
calex
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have a custom recovery? Try flashing a non-touch one. Adb should work from within it.
abaaaabbbb63 said:
Do you have a custom recovery? Try flashing a non-touch one. Adb should work from within it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As I wrote, my phone is NOT rooted nor unlocked, so no custom recovery. Or do I get something wrong there?
calex3141 said:
As I wrote, my phone is NOT rooted nor unlocked, so no custom recovery. Or do I get something wrong there?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then you'll lose your app data.
calex3141 said:
As I wrote, my phone is NOT rooted nor unlocked, so no custom recovery. Or do I get something wrong there?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your outta luck it seems then... If its that important to you you could buy a replacement screen for the n4... Get your data and sell it and get the money you spent in the screen back.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk
If the apps that u need data are on sdcard(their datas)then u just do adb pull /sdcard c:\sdbackup with phone on.
if not then:
@calex3141 :
1ST: IM NOT RESPONSABLE FOR ANY DAMAGE / FAIL WHILE DOING THIS METHOD, I TESTED ON MY FRIEND´S N4 BUT I CANT GUARANTEE THAT WILL WORK ON EVERY NEXUS (INCLUDING YOURS), USE AT YOUR OWN RISK.
2ND: DO NOT CRY IF U CANT GET BACK THE FILES IF SOMETHING FAIL. YOU COULD JUST BUY SCREEN REPLACEMENT OR GET A JTAG DUMP
3RD: do carefuly. if you are nervous calm down b4 doing this. one single command and u can format the nand so be careful.
4TH: I hope it Works for u .
5TH: u need to have adb seted up and also drivers. if you dont know how, search google(for drivers).
for adb just install minimal adb and fastboot
6TH: its recomended to test to see if cygwin(u will know what it is in a moment) is working (do some commands on it, like cd .. (to go back)or ls (list files) )
7TH: if u have any errors contact me asap and i will try to help you
LETS GO:
unlock the bootloader: (type in cmd prompt, fastboot oem unlock, and follow instructions on phone)(DO THE MANUAL WAY, DO NOT USE TOOLKITS, KEEP READING TO KNOW WHY)(it will say that u will loose files, but it actualy dosent format, it just change the 1st´s block of userdata partition to make it unmountable normally,thats why toolkits do fastboot format userdata after unlock.and tutorials say to format data in STOCk recovery, since custom ones dosent format, just delete everything except sdcard)
(do not format anything, even on stock recovery)
flash multirom recovery:http://d-h.st/pzv (Thanks@tassadar for his great work)(the only that i use, so i cant tell others)
then do this
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1994705
(instead of doing it with phone on, just do on recovery,adb is enabled on it)
My phone suddenly had a momentary display malfunction (some of the text on the screen just turned into garbled pixels) and then entered into a boot loop. I didn't make any changes or updates to the phone recently. It no longer boots normally - just the Samsung logo and some of the Verizon logo animation, then it reboots and starts again. How do I pull my user data off (photos mainly) before trying a factory reset? The phone is totally stock. I haven't unlocked it, rooted it, or installed any custom recovery/ROM/bootloader/whatever. (I sound like I don't know what I'm talking about because I don't, haha.) The touchscreen is fully functional. I'm sure this has been covered here before, but I haven't found anything that totally explains how to do this in this particular situation, so I'd really appreciate any help anyone can provide.
The only time I can get the phone to show up under adb devices is when I boot it in recovery mode and select "Apply update from ADB". But it says "sideload" next to it in adb devices, and the push, pull, and shell commands return errors. I've read that this is normal. Wiping the cache partition didn't solve the boot loop problem.
If it helps, this is what the top of the recovery screen displays:
Android Recovery
Verizon/heroqltevzw/heroqltevzw
8.0.0/R16NW/G930VVRSBCTC1
user/release-keys
I'm no Android expert, clearly. I've heard it mentioned that I need to install a custom recovery in order for this to be possible. To be clear, I want to make sure I don't erase the user data before I have a chance to pull it off the phone. These are the questions that I still have after reading information elsewhere (some of which I'm just asking out of an abundance of caution):
Is it correct that I need to install a custom recovery before I can pull this data off the phone?
Do I need to have it unlocked/rooted/anything else in order to be able to install a custom recovery? Or is there anything else I should do before installing it?
Which custom recovery should I install?
Do I need a custom ROM, if that's a different thing?
Do I need a custom...bootloader, if that's also a different thing?
Should I use Odin or Samsung Smart Switch to install the custom recovery?
(Extra credit: Does it sound from my description of how the boot loop started that this phone has hardware problems and should be replaced ASAP?)
Thank you so much for any help you can provide! Any extra information beyond my questions will be very much appreciated, too, of course. You guys never cease to impress.
You have a B version bootloader like me, and so far no root/custom recovery has been made for our versions of bootloaders. If I were you, I would check if you had maybe like a previous backup, and if Google made an automatic backup of your apps and photos? If you didn't use a 3rd party backup, and if you don't want to wait, you might lose some files. I also think you might be able to flash a certain part of stock firmware to get your phone to boot again, but I'm not sure
Also, if you don't care about files that can't be get through automatic backups, might as well flash a whole stock firmware, which as far as I know, may be the easiest way to get out of one.
Please correct me if I'm wrong
Also to answer your bullet points:
1. I'm not sure if you need a custom recovery, but from my experience from a Verizon s5, that's probably a yes.
2. Since this is Verizon, you would need to unlock your bootloader in order to install a custom recovery, which in where I posted my first reply, the B version of the bootloader is still locked down without any known way to unlock it. You and me are stuck with this, as I also have the B version.
3. If the heavens line up and you somehow unlock the bootloader, try to flash a recovery Called TWRP under the name "Herolqte" (that's what I think). If that doesn't work, try to find one that works with the phone on XDA. If neither of those show up try to use another custom recovery like CWM.
4. If your trying to recover data on a phone, flashing a custom ROM is probably the last thing you want to do. A custom ROM is a modified version of Android, which may mean you'll have to format your device anyways so this is probably not what you want (even though it would be nice :[ )
5. As in post 2, all you would need to get a custom recovery is to unlock the bootloader. I'm not even sure if you CAN get a custom bootloader, as Odin won't even let me flash a stock bootloader to my phone that is the same exact Version >:[
6. You would need to use Odin if you were trying to flash something to your phone. Smart switch I think WOULD let you back up your device, but you would need to be on the home screen on your phone, which in turn, would probably need you to be out of that bootloop.
7. This is probably a software issue. If you don't care to much about the idea, try flashing some parts of a stock firmware. I was personally in a boot loop 2 days ago, but I flash a stock modem file (I think that was the second file slot from the bottom in Oden) and that got me out, but for some reason wiped my phone clean, and I'm not sure why.
Anyways. Goodluck in recovering your data. Also I'm not sure if a factory reset would even fix a boot loop
yaas
yaas