Database Users

Soft brick but common fixes not working

Hi,
I got my N7000 stuck in a bootloop. i did NOT flash any other rom not for the N7000. i was planning to flash the paranoidandroid rom and while shifting from ICS to GB [as it suggested] this happened.
I still have download and recovery modes. Flashing different stock roms is going through, and some custom kernels too [the yellow triangle appears after and the flash count increases]
trying to recovery from my nandroid backups gives the same result as the stock flashing
i.e. its goes through then get stuck in the boot screen before the animation [the screen which says Samsung Galaxy bla bla, the screen where the yellow triangle shows up to be clear]
What can i do now please??
thanks
edit: should i try to format /system /data /preload /emmc fom CWM recovery 5 becuase i can do that

So you flashed successfully gb? If you are on a gb and you have used a safe kernel to revert. Did you try to Wipe data and cache from recovery? Try it, it should bring you out of the boot loop.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2

Hi,
I don't know on what rom i am at the moment. it should be GB since i flashed SGN_XX_OXA_KJ1_FACTORYFS.tar
wiping data on the CWM worked before but this time it got stuck with out any progress in the blue bar for like 20min.
i was suggested to flash a wipe rom, but i dont know where to find one exactly

Like Baxos said. Try wipe all since you r at old GB. Its worked 4 for me. I've been at your stage then wipe all then root and flashed paranoidandroid. Try Get back to recovery and wipe all then reboot.
n7000 paranoid android v2
Will update to v3 when got time

wipe all = also formatting /system /data /preload /emmc fom CWM recovery 5?
because i did many of the restore to factory and clearing cache

the problem seems to be due to the fact that /data is not being wiped. the progress bar gets stuck and then reboots
any idea how i can wipe this partition?

Did you first install a safe gb kernel when you were on ics before downgrading the rom to gb? If not then you will have performed a wipe under ics kernel and it sounds like brick bug symptoms.
Sent from my Paranoid Android GT-N7000. It doesn't get much better than this!

jan-sgs said:
the problem seems to be due to the fact that /data is not being wiped. the progress bar gets stuck and then reboots
any idea how i can wipe this partition?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe your /data is corrupted. You can make a new /data with adb.

hi,
sorry for the late reply. i was busy with uni work
i will try the adb method.
thanks

all partitons were wiped on a different rom version.
the boot loop seems to be irreparable and i will have to send it abroad to get it fixed. hopefully i dont have any of my data on it

Partition damage? Not sure whats wrong...

Hey all,
I have an S4 i337m model. I've installed a custom ROM that is essentially a rooted stock ROM (I do not remember the exact build/version of the ROM). I realize having this info would be useful, but at the moment, I cannot access this info.
While running this ROM, everything was fine. Last week Friday, I attempted to install FoxHound 1.6. Had to play around with the installation options, but I got FoxHound to work. However, I need to get back on my old ROM as I needed some files that were deleted during the FoxHound install. So I wiped my phone, and restored my nandroid backup of my rooted stock ROM. again, everything was fine. No issues.
Here is where the problem is; after restoring my rooted stock ROM, I could boot into the phone and access the files needed. However, when I reboot/shut down phone, upon restarting/powering up, my phone is stuck at the 'Samsung Galaxy S4' logo right after power on. So, I boot into recovery (the latest version of TWRP) and I navigate to 'file manager' to take a look at my storage/files. And this is where I believe the issue to be; I see virtually no files at all. I can see many folders/partitions, but there are virtually no files anywhere (i.e. the system and data partitions are empty). I am assuming this is the reason why my phone doesn't boot past the Samsung Galaxy S4 logo. Now, when this happens, I wipe my phone again and restore my working nandroid backup. Everything works fine. I can get back into Android without issues. Until I reboot/power off my phone. Then this happens all over again.
I believe I may have damaged(?) the partition(s). When I installed FoxHound, I also installed an option during installation titled 'EXT4'. I know linux uses ext2/3/4 partition tables. Did I damage my storage/partition by installing EXT4 from FoxHound? Do I need to repartition my phone via Odin PIT file or something similar? Am I totally wrong with my analysis? Any help/advise/insight would be very welcomed.
Thanks

Additional info
Baseband: I337MVLUAMG1
Build number: JDQ39.I337MVLUAMG1
ROM: Rooted stock ROM 4.2.2 (with some bloatware removed)
While my phone was in the it's 'logo stuck' state, I entered into TWRP and selected the Wipe option, then Format Data. I must select 'Format Data' in order for my phone to work on it's next boot. Manually formatting System, Data, etc... will not allow my phone to boot up at next boot. And, my phone will only work on the next boot. If I power off/restart phone, it will get stuck at the logo again. So my phone is only good for 1 boot up after a wipe.
And, after I restore a working backup and boot into the phone, everything works until next power down/reboot. Once I power down/reboot phone, I must go into recovery since it will not boot into Android. When I get into TWRP, I see that my Internal Storage has 0MB free and I am unable to see any files. I can see folders/partitions, but there is nothing in any folder/partition. My external SD card shows nothing as well. My external SD card however is unaffected as all the data is still there once I get into Android and look around.
Also, I just restored a backup I had before I was having this issue. After restoring and rebooting, the same thing happens. I get stuck at the 'Samsung Galaxy S4' logo.
So I'm guessing there is some partition troubles here. Maybe I'm wrong, but I'm scratching my head as to the cause of this problem.

It could be some hardware issues too. I'd Odin back to stock and see if the problem persists. If it does its hardware.

jd1639 said:
It could be some hardware issues too. I'd Odin back to stock and see if the problem persists. If it does its hardware.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought the same thing. I'm downloading the stock ROM now and will give it a try.
One other thing I noticed during my last restore/fix attempt... After I perform a wipe -> Format Data (from TWRP), I notice that it reverts to my rooted stock ROM without me restoring anything. So, after I do a full wipe/format, and reboot my phone immediately after the full wipe/format, my phone will boot into the rooted stock ROM. I thought that wiping/formatting via TWRP totally cleans the internal storage of all data. So how can I be booting into any ROM after a wipe?
Unless I'm mistaken in my thinking and the full wipe/format option in TWRP just reverts back to the stock ROM I had installed prior to installing further custom ROMs?

If you wipe system and data there shouldn't be any rom it would boot. Don't try that though unless you have a nandroid because it shouldn't boot
What version of twrp ate you using?

Do not format data in twrp.

jd1639 said:
If you wipe system and data there shouldn't be any rom it would boot. Don't try that though unless you have a nandroid because it shouldn't boot
What version of twrp ate you using?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hear ya... I have several nandroid backups. All work (minus this 'stuck at logo' issue I am having). I am using the newest TWRP version 2.6. It's very strange... after I perform a full wipe, I am able to boot into my rooted stock ROM that I flashed shortly after acquiring the phone. This was a bit over a month ago now. I do not know how this is possible.
xBeerdroiDx said:
Do not format data in twrp.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why not?
_____________________________________________________________________
**Should I try using CWM instead?

Talabis said:
I hear ya... I have several nandroid backups. All work (minus this 'stuck at logo' issue I am having). I am using the newest TWRP version 2.6. It's very strange... after I perform a full wipe, I am able to boot into my rooted stock ROM that I flashed shortly after acquiring the phone. This was a bit over a month ago now. I do not know how this is possible.
Why not?
_____________________________________________________________________
**Should I try using CWM instead?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use twrp 2.5.0.2 or cwm. The newer twrp has issues.

jd1639 said:
Use twrp 2.5.0.2 or cwm. The newer twrp has issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is TWRP 2.5.0.0 ok to use?

Ok... It's really starting to look like my partition table has been damaged. Every time I flash a new ROM or restore a nandroid backup successfully, and then restart my phone, I get stuck at the S4 logo. Upon starting recovery, my internal storage reads 0MB free. It seems like my partition table is becoming corrupt after a reboot, or it has already been corrupted.
I tried flashing the stock ROM for my phone (I337MVLUAMDJ_I337MOYAAMDJ_I337MVLUAMDJ_HOME.tar is the one I used), but that didn't help at all. After installing this stock ROM, and I go into stock recovery, I get an error: E:failed to mount /data (invalid argument).
This really is looking like a partition problem. Is there some way to re-partition my phone? I remember a PIT file was used to partition my old Galaxy S i9000. Is there a PIT file for the S4 i337m?
I would also like to try CWM but I am having a hard time finding a ODIN flashable version.

I wouldn't mess with a pit file and I haven't seen one anyway. It's sounding more and more like your memory is bad. I'd keep it stock and see if you can get an exchange on the phone under warranty.

Further investigation has lead me to the culprit... sorta. It's my /data partition that is screwing everything up. If I format /data and then reboot, I can get into my phone. But if I reboot again, then my /data partition becomes corrupt and my phone hangs at the S4 logo. And then if I go into recovery, I can see that my internal storage is at 0MB free.
However, after formatting/restoring /data partition and rebooting into android successfully, everything works fine. If I reboot from this point and enter recovery, I am still able to see my /data partition and files. At this point, everything seems to be fine. Once I reboot out of recovery and let the phone boot into Android, I get stuck at the S4 logo and my /data partition screws up/becomes corrupt. It looks like my /data partition is only becoming corrupt after the 1st successful boot into Android. If I enter recovery after the 1st successful android load, I am still able to see all files and partitions. It is only trying to load android after the 1st boot that my /data partition becomes corrupt. Very strange...
So, I can always boot into my phone as long as I format my /data partition prior to loading Android. Anyone experience this before? Any ideas? I realize my memory may be damaged, but I'm leaving that as a last resort possibility since my phone was working fine up until I started installing FoxHound with the EXT4 option as well as installing 1 or 2 of the kernel's FoxHound provides. Namely Adam kernel is the one I tried.

All good... I think/hope
Well, I think I got the problem solved. After toying with this thing all day. It seems like TWRP 2.6 was the problem in some sense. Looks like TWRP 2.6 does not format the /data partition correctly. I had to get restore/install a working ROM, boot into my phone and install ClockworkMod Recovery via ROM Manager. I then used CWM to format /data. Once I did this, and loaded back into my phone, and went through the setup process since /data was formatted, everything was working fine. I just rebooted 5 times and shut down twice and my phone booted back up into android without issue.
So as one user in this thread had mentioned, formatting /data with TWRP 2.6 was the problem.
Hope this helps others avoid a similar issue.
Thanks everyone for all the help. It pointed me in the right direction.

Glad you got it fixed.

I'll be giving these steps a try, having somewhat of the same problem!

i've been having this exact same problem but with TWRP 2.5.0.2 since July. Its been driving me insane and I have not been able to find any one else having this issue until now. I think i might finally try CWM instead as a last measure before I finally give up!

Try TWRP 2.6.3.1 version. It works pretty well even though it's unofficial http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2262996
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Any LP ROM with working encryption?

I tried to encrypt my i9505 on Kangpop and it ****ed the /data partition. TWRP couldn't even wipe or mount it, the phone was stuck on the boot screen when I tried to start it normally. I had to flash the stock recovery and factory reset with that to fix it.
Anyway, I am now using Danvdh's ROM. This seems a lot cleaner but it uses the same GPE base and the same kernel (GooglyMax) so I'm worried about trying to encrypt it again lest I get the same problem come back.
So I just wanted to ask if anyone has successfully encrypted their data on any custom LP ROM? I'm worried the issue might be Lollipop's new security measures blocking encryption from working in rooted phones.
Thanks in advance all

Encryption that can't be formated

Hi,
I set up TWRP 2.8.7.0 and cm-13.0-20160129 on my Samsung Galaxy S4 LTE-A (GT-I9506), and run into an odd problem where it would work after install, but would not work after a reboot (booting screen would just roll for ever). Installing CM again, would work, and than the problem would still be there. Mindlessly I decided to play a little anyway and set up encryption. The phone ended up rebooting, and not loading, so I'm here without a password (default_password doesent work) and with an encrypted /data that TWRP cant wipe or format
Unable to mount storage.
Unable to decrypt data
Unable to wipe '/data' -- unknown file system 'auto'
Unable to format to remove encryption
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've attempted to use ADB to format it, but it seems parted isnt installed. With that phone being a less popular variant I'm kind of afraid to just flash whatever there, but I guess I need a recovery with a least parted, or possibly one that would be able to format the drive itself. Any pointers?

Have you tried flashing a stock ROM via Odin? Is this your phone: http://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/database/GT-I9506/ ?

not yet; I don't have windows, and didn't see any point in changing the soft used for flashing, will try but cant download the polish rom at the moment o0 (ends up with a dead link or a server down?)

I know of no other way to flash a stock ROM from sammobile.com other than Odin.
Did you create a free account on sammobile.com to enable the regular download?

harce said:
not yet; I don't have windows, and didn't see any point in changing the soft used for flashing, will try but cant download the polish rom at the moment o0 (ends up with a dead link or a server down?)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can also flash it with Heimdall. It's the open source variant of Odin.

aaaand I'm back, managed to download, got some windows, flashed to stock using odin, and it's still encrypted. is running 'repartition' from odin safe? I've noticed some warnings against it but without any explanations.
edit; running the same operation with repartition failed. this bloody encryption might be able to survive nuclear war.

After flashing back to stock via Odin, did you perform a factory wipe before booting the rom for the first time?
I assume you have a pit file for the phone since you repartitioned?

audit13 said:
After flashing back to stock via Odin, did you perform a factory wipe before booting the rom for the first time?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
just now, seamed to go thorough properly (no error messages) and worked!
audit13 said:
I assume you have a pit file for the phone since you repartitioned?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
never managed to do that. I wonder what advantage does the wipe from factory ROM have over custom recoveries... anyways thanks to all who helped, the issue is solved. also it seems that the problems with non-rebooting CM were my mistake of not wiping the cache/dalvik after install

I find that a wipe using a custom recovery is not always as through as a stock recovery. Can't say how or why, it's just based on my experience with Samsung and Nexus phones.

harce said:
just now, seamed to go thorough properly (no error messages) and worked!
never managed to do that. I wonder what advantage does the wipe from factory ROM have over custom recoveries... anyways thanks to all who helped, the issue is solved. also it seems that the problems with non-rebooting CM were my mistake of not wiping the cache/dalvik after install
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
audit13 said:
I find that a wipe using a custom recovery is not always as through as a stock recovery. Can't say how or why, it's just based on my experience with Samsung and Nexus phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think the difference is that a custom recovery only wipes /data partition so that the internal sdcard will not be wiped. The stock recovery formats /data partition. When you want to lose encryption you need to format /data partition.
You can also format the /data partition with a custom recovery, but that option is hidden for good reason. Because it will also format your internal sdcard and that's not something we want to do when changing roms.

Galaxy Tab A 8 (SM-T350) stuck on boot loop after trying to recover stock firmware

Hey folks. I'm hitting a brick wall trying to figure out this issue and I'm hoping someone will know how to fix this.
I have a Galaxy Tab A 8 (SM-T350) that I rooted and successfully flashed with first crDroid, then Lineage (both Android 9.0) using TWRP. I had made a backup before attempting this just in case I wanted to revert to stock.
Well, that didn't go as smoothly as I was hoping. Ever since trying to restore my backup, I've been stuck on a continuous boot loop that I can't seem to fix.
I keep getting "E:failed to mount /efs (Invalid argument)" and "dm-verity verification failed. . ." no matter what I try. I've googled the error and tried every solution suggested but I still can't get it to boot.
Any help at all would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

skorpien said:
Hey folks. I'm hitting a brick wall trying to figure out this issue and I'm hoping someone will know how to fix this.
I have a Galaxy Tab A 8 (SM-T350) that I rooted and successfully flashed with first crDroid, then Lineage (both Android 9.0) using TWRP. I had made a backup before attempting this just in case I wanted to revert to stock.
Well, that didn't go as smoothly as I was hoping. Ever since trying to restore my backup, I've been stuck on a continuous boot loop that I can't seem to fix.
I keep getting "E:failed to mount /efs (Invalid argument)" and "dm-verity verification failed. . ." no matter what I try. I've googled the error and tried every solution suggested but I still can't get it to boot.
Any help at all would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ignore the EFS error its probably a red herring. Your issue is dm-verity.
3 ways around it. Return to complete stock, including wiping the data partition or flash root (magisk suggested) or disable dmverity using one of the zips out there.

ashyx said:
Ignore the EFS error its probably a red herring. Your issue is dm-verity.
3 ways around it. Return to complete stock, including wiping the data partition or flash root (magisk suggested) or disable dmverity using one of the zips out there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply ashyx.
I've done two of the three things you suggested. I've tried returning it to stock using an image matching my exact model, and I've tried disabling dmverity. I've also tried rooting it but using a method other than magisk.
The flash seems to go well enough, but then I get stuck at the Samsung logo whenever I try rebooting into the system.
I've tried waiting, thinking I'm just being impatient, but it doesn't ever seem to get past the logo. I've tried googling ways to fix it being stuck on the logo but nothing I do seems to work. Is there any other way around it?
Side note: I've been able to flash Lineage OS again and might just have to stick with that if I can't flash it back to stock. Do you know any resources for replacing the default apps? I've tried GApps but I was wondering if there's a similar Samsung installer?

skorpien said:
Thanks for the reply ashyx.
I've done two of the three things you suggested. I've tried returning it to stock using an image matching my exact model, and I've tried disabling dmverity. I've also tried rooting it but using a method other than magisk.
The flash seems to go well enough, but then I get stuck at the Samsung logo whenever I try rebooting into the system.
I've tried waiting, thinking I'm just being impatient, but it doesn't ever seem to get past the logo. I've tried googling ways to fix it being stuck on the logo but nothing I do seems to work. Is there any other way around it?
Side note: I've been able to flash Lineage OS again and might just have to stick with that if I can't flash it back to stock. Do you know any resources for replacing the default apps? I've tried GApps but I was wondering if there's a similar Samsung installer?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You need to wipe the data partition, aka factory reset before or after installing the stock firmware then it will take anything up to 15 mins to boot.

ashyx said:
You need to wipe the data partition, aka factory reset before or after installing the stock firmware then it will take anything up to 15 mins to boot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've tried leaving it for a few hours in hopes that it would boot, but unfortunately it stays stuck on the logo.
Is there a way to check where or why it's getting hung up?

skorpien said:
I've tried leaving it for a few hours in hopes that it would boot, but unfortunately it stays stuck on the logo.
Is there a way to check where or why it's getting hung up?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you back up the efs partition with twrp?
If so try restoring it.

ashyx said:
Did you back up the efs partition with twrp?
If so try restoring it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did and I have been restoring it.
So far, this is what I've attempted:
Flash TWRP (twrp_3.1.0-1_sm-t350_18317.tar using Odin3 v3.10)
Reboot into recovery
Wipe everything from tablet
Format tablet
Reboot into download mode
Flash stock image with Odin
Reboot into recovery
Wipe dalvik cache
Restore backup (including efs partition)
Wipe dalvik cache (again)
Reboot
Get stuck on Samsung logo (left it for hours with no change)

skorpien said:
I did and I have been restoring it.
So far, this is what I've attempted:
Flash TWRP (twrp_3.1.0-1_sm-t350_18317.tar using Odin3 v3.10)
Reboot into recovery
Wipe everything from tablet
Format tablet
Reboot into download mode
Flash stock image with Odin
Reboot into recovery
Wipe dalvik cache
Restore backup (including efs partition)
Wipe dalvik cache (again)
Reboot
Get stuck on Samsung logo (left it for hours with no change)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't restore everything just EFS No need to keep wiping dalvik it serves no purpose when formatting or wiping the data partition.
Also FORMAT not wipe the data partition (note this wipes internal storage)
If it still doesn't boot install the combo firmware. Let it boot, factory reset from settings then reboot to download mode and install the stock firmware again.