[Q] Recover Photos after root + custom rom - Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hi,
I unlocked my friend's Nexus 4 bootloader, rooted it, installed custom kernel and rom.
However, I totally forgot to backup his photos
I've now got a really irate friend, and no idea how to get his photos back (every recovery program I find online needs to work with an external SD).
Firstly, with the root etc, has it changed the way the partitions work from stock?
Secondly, if there is a way, can you guide me into attempting to recover the photos?
Thanks in advance!

Sorry to hear this, but I believe unlocking the bootloader normally wipes the internal storage - as in the photos are gone for good.
You can root and install custom kernels and roms all you want, and keep the contents of internal storage, but bootlocker unloading (with the normal method) wipes data and storage, afaik.

Related

HELP - Cannot access external SD after encrypt my phone and do a full wipe

Can anyone Help?
I Encypted my device when I was with CM9. I had to install Samsung stock ICS so I did a full wipe and flashed the Stock ICS with Odin. Now I can't access my external SD card.
All my Titanium Backup is there and tons of photos & videos (32Gb).
I tried to use the same passcode on the encrypted device now but without success.
Can anyone give me a light?
Thx

[Q] Cleaning out the main storage/new beginning

I am about to give my AT&T Samsung GS4 a new beginning. I have had issues with my current stock ROM and restoring to a previous recovery is giving me issues. I am ready for a new start. The device is rooted, and I have TWRP 2.6.3.0 installed. I don't mind switching to CWM (Jeboo v1.1 is already on my flash list). I am leaning toward Graviton 1.4 ROM. Maybe Goldeneye.
I have just over 2 GB free on my internal storage, which I see getting used up pretty quick with photos of kids and other stuff. I have looked into a few folders, not knowing if they are important. I would like a fresh start with a new ROM and a clean internal storage. I'm even starting anew with a new empty SD card.
What can I do to clean out this internal storage and still keep TWRP (or CWM) recovery intact so I can install a new ROM? My goal is to have a fresh start on a new ROM with no junk files in the internal. Will wiping the internal storage from recovery wipe out my recovery?
In the interest of avoiding catastrophic meltdown and loss of everything, I have indeed made a copy of my internal drive, the sd card, and a few Nandroid backkups, which are all stored on a flash and/or PC.
Device config: Rooted stock ROM, UCUAMDL, stock kernel 3.4.0-453947.
duckredbeard said:
I am about to give my AT&T Samsung GS4 a new beginning. I have had issues with my current stock ROM and restoring to a previous recovery is giving me issues. I am ready for a new start. The device is rooted, and I have TWRP 2.6.3.0 installed. I don't mind switching to CWM (Jeboo v1.1 is already on my flash list). I am leaning toward Graviton 1.4 ROM. Maybe Goldeneye.
I have just over 2 GB free on my internal storage, which I see getting used up pretty quick with photos of kids and other stuff. I have looked into a few folders, not knowing if they are important. I would like a fresh start with a new ROM and a clean internal storage. I'm even starting anew with a new empty SD card.
What can I do to clean out this internal storage and still keep TWRP (or CWM) recovery intact so I can install a new ROM? My goal is to have a fresh start on a new ROM with no junk files in the internal. Will wiping the internal storage from recovery wipe out my recovery?
In the interest of avoiding catastrophic meltdown and loss of everything, I have indeed made a copy of my internal drive, the sd card, and a few Nandroid backkups, which are all stored on a flash and/or PC.
Device config: Rooted stock ROM, UCUAMDL, stock kernel 3.4.0-453947.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Reset Flash Counter
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FXULkN5rAU
Reflash Stock
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpdWLPaJpiQ
What is the purpose of resetting the flash counter? As far as I know my bootloader is still locked.
Returning to stock? Wont i ose root and recovery? Wont I risk ending up with MF3 instead of the MDL that can be rooted?
On-On and Beer Near
If you've got everything backed up, a nandroid, the new ROM, a custom kernel (if you so desire) and the loki-doki zip (if not flashing a loki'd ROM or kernel) all on your micro SD card, then you're ready to begin.
In recovery, wipe everything except the external sd card. I've heard of users having problems after wiping/formatting data in twrp. May want to look into that. I think some users reverted to an older version of TWRP to avoid that. I use cwm. Check out the I337 guide in my signature. It details everything to wipe for a clean slate (system, data, etc).
Cheers
I have one each of a TWRP and CWM backup and recovery. Can a CWM be restored in TWRP?
On-On and Beer Near
duckredbeard said:
I am about to give my AT&T Samsung GS4 a new beginning. I have had issues with my current stock ROM and restoring to a previous recovery is giving me issues. I am ready for a new start. The device is rooted, and I have TWRP 2.6.3.0 installed. I don't mind switching to CWM (Jeboo v1.1 is already on my flash list). I am leaning toward Graviton 1.4 ROM. Maybe Goldeneye.
I have just over 2 GB free on my internal storage, which I see getting used up pretty quick with photos of kids and other stuff. I have looked into a few folders, not knowing if they are important. I would like a fresh start with a new ROM and a clean internal storage. I'm even starting anew with a new empty SD card.
What can I do to clean out this internal storage and still keep TWRP (or CWM) recovery intact so I can install a new ROM? My goal is to have a fresh start on a new ROM with no junk files in the internal. Will wiping the internal storage from recovery wipe out my recovery?
In the interest of avoiding catastrophic meltdown and loss of everything, I have indeed made a copy of my internal drive, the sd card, and a few Nandroid backkups, which are all stored on a flash and/or PC.
Device config: Rooted stock ROM, UCUAMDL, stock kernel 3.4.0-453947.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have the answers already, but I will advice one thing, do not do any twrp over version 2.5.0.2, or you will for sure be starting over again at some point. Those versions have issues.
good luck.
TheAxman said:
You have the answers already, but I will advice one thing, do not do any twrp over version 2.5.0.2, or you will for sure be starting over again at some point. Those versions have issues.
good luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
TWRP 2.6.0.0 is why we are having this conversation...
I have TWRP on my Asus TF700 tablet...not sure which version. Perhaps I need to get CWM on that device also.
Now I'm thinking the SD card that I was using at the time was the problem. I have not been able to write any files to that card using a PC. I have found another card from a different manufacturer. I have clockworkmod installed. My sd card contains recovery files and a new ROM.
I think all I need to do now is go into recovery, wipe everything including internal storage but not the external SD. Flash the new rom and kernel then reboot.
I believe this is all I need to do. Sound good to you?
On-On and Beer Near

TWRP backup question

If I backup my system on tw recovery, and flash a new rom, will wiping my phone delete the tw recovery backup in case I have to restore my phone? Feel free to correct me on this, but to my understanding teamwin has it's own partition, and wiping does not mess with this partition?
matthewbhass said:
If I backup my system on tw recovery, and flash a new rom, will wiping my phone delete the tw recovery backup in case I have to restore my phone? Feel free to correct me on this, but to my understanding teamwin has it's own partition, and wiping does not mess with this partition?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think TWRP backups are normally stored on your internal storage partition, so if you perform a (EDIT full factory reset doesnt wipe this, thanks Silesh) or wipe your internal storage, your backups will be erased too. The TWRP itself does install to the recovery partition (which will only be affected by a flash to the recovery, which a wipe will not perform), you're correct on that but the backups are held separately to that. You can copy your backups to another computer or SD card, I found my backup under /SDcard/TWRP/BACKUPS - you could either copy the folder with a root browser or use the ADB pull command (with the ADB terminal), though the TWRP backup may not show on a Windows desktop even if it's been copied correctly. However, if copied back to your phone, the TWRP backup should function.
Edit: thanks Silesh for correcting me, I was thinking of app data rather than user data!
echo92 said:
I think TWRP backups are normally stored on your internal storage partition, so if you perform a full factory reset or wipe your internal storage, your backups will be erased too. The TWRP itself does install to the recovery partition (which will only be affected by a flash to the recovery, which a wipe will not perform), you're correct on that but the backups are held separately to that. You can copy your backups to another computer or SD card, I found my backup under /SDcard/TWRP/BACKUPS - you could either copy the folder with a root browser or use the ADB pull command (with the ADB terminal), though the TWRP backup may not show on a Windows desktop even if it's been copied correctly. However, if copied back to your phone, the TWRP backup should function.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for replying. I can't transfer files from my computer to my phone, but I have thought about using the ADB sideload option from recovery. Is there a way that I can move my backup from my phone to my computer (and to my phone from my computer) using the sideload option, just in case I need the backup? I refuse to flash a new ROM without access to my complete backup, lol.
Internal storage is not formatted during a normal wipe. You have to specifically go into the advanced wipe and select internal storage to wipe it completely. So there is no issue while flashing a new rom if you don't choose the advanced wipe option.
You could also create the twrp backup in your external sdcard. That way your backup stays even if you wipe your phone using a factory reset or by mistake.
Strange. What's the problem of making backups to external SD? The function is right there (as Silesh mentioned). BTW: the very last version of TWRP is able to make backups straight to pc. This needs to be done FROM a pc though. TWRP is capable to work with fastboot now (using special command though, or with this GUI for pc: https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/software-hacking/tool-twrp-backup-restore-tool-pc-t3572241 )
You can choose whether you want to use internal storage or SD card when making a backup. It doesn't matter which you choose as long as you (and I learned this the hard way) pay attention to what you are doing and DO NOT WIPE internal storage or your SD card. Advantages of SD card is you won't lose your backup if you decide to flash stock. Disadvantage: if your card craps out on you backup is lost unless you have copied to PC or saved on cloud.
My Solution
I solved my problem by using the pull command in adb. Now if I decide to flash a new ROM, I can push my TWRP recovery back to my phone using adb and then recover it in my TWRP recovery.. I also backup using adb backup which backs it up directly to my computer anyways.
I knew about storing my TWRP backup on an sd card, but I haven't made time to get one. . I recently switched to the Motorola G4 Plus after my iPhone 6s decided to turn off and not turn back on. I eventually grew tired of the iPhone anyways due to lack of accessibility and freedom. Back in the day I owned androids but never rooted one or had one that was rooted. I did jailbreak my 4th generation iPod a few years ago. But I went through an iPhone 5s, and upgraded to a 6s and had that for a few months. I eventually just switched back to android after the longest time and I can't say that I regret it.
My Moto G4 Plus has been an amazing phone. I've only had it for a few weeks now, but I rooted it the day after I got it . So I'm a bit of a noob in the rooting community, . Since then it's been a pretty smooth transition. I've only got root access and xposed framework as of now. I was thinking about flashing a ROM so I made backups just in case, but I don't plan on making any major changes to the kernel or flashing another ROM. I'm satisfied with the stock ROM since Motorola pretty much made it as minimal as possible. I would recommend this phone to anyone. It's the most solid phone I've had yet.

What to backup to recover before flash ROM?

I recently rooted my Moto G5 plus and would like to check out a a few custom ROMs. However, from reading the instructions on a few custom ROM threads it isn't clear to me what to backup in TWRP to be able to recover or go back to the stock ROM if I want to later.
I've read that I should backup Data, logo, and boot, and internal storage, plus all apps and data with Titanium Backup, but what about System, System Image, Recovery, OEM, and EFS? What about persist?
Can someone give me a quick summary of what I need to backup to go back to my current state if I want to experiment with some other ROMs?
Thanks.
Splice_9 said:
I recently rooted my Moto G5 plus and would like to check out a a few custom ROMs. However, from reading the instructions on a few custom ROM threads it isn't clear to me what to backup in TWRP to be able to recover or go back to the stock ROM if I want to later.
I've read that I should backup Data, logo, and boot, and internal storage, plus all apps and data with Titanium Backup, but what about System, System Image, Recovery, OEM, and EFS? What about persist?
Can someone give me a quick summary of what I need to backup to go back to my current state if I want to experiment with some other ROMs?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Back up everything available in TWRP, including efs and persist. Then store it all on the cloud. You can never have too much backed up.
Too many people have screwed their devices in this forum by not backing up persist and then applying bad modifications. It is unique to your device and you can't use someone else's to guarantee full functionality.
I backed up all 53 partitions and stored in my harddisk. It's less than 5GB.
I left out only the data partition because for that I use Titanium Backup and RSync.
Yet I haven't backed up the partition table, also this is important...
NZedPred said:
Back up everything available in TWRP, including efs and persist. Then store it all on the cloud. You can never have too much backed up.
Too many people have screwed their devices in this forum by not backing up persist and then applying bad modifications. It is unique to your device and you can't use someone else's to guarantee full functionality.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if i backup my efs and persist in a custom rom 64 bits that backup won't work in stock right? it is intact
Backup everything... although it may be too late already, but any working backup is better than nothing.
What you should REALLY do is unlock the bootloader, then before you do anything at all one-time boot TWRP, NOT install it, and backup everything and move it off the device and to the cloud. Once you have rooted or modified your device, even installing TWRP, you are not getting a clean backup.
nicolap8 said:
Yet I haven't backed up the partition table, also this is important...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
acejavelin said:
What you should REALLY do is unlock the bootloader, then before you do anything at all one-time boot TWRP, NOT install it, and backup everything and move it off the device and to the cloud. Once you have rooted or modified your device, even installing TWRP, you are not getting a clean backup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have anyone backed up and successfully restored a full partition backup before? I mean running dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p* of=/sdcard/*.img for all partitions before installing TWRP. Would restoring it later (after flashing roms and such) return your phone to 100% stock state, being able to re-lock BL, take updates and everything?
prokaryotic cell said:
Have anyone backed up and successfully restored a full partition backup before? I mean running dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p* of=/sdcard/*.img for all partitions before installing TWRP. Would restoring it later (after flashing roms and such) return your phone to 100% stock state, being able to re-lock BL, take updates and everything?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No... there are some things you cannot write to, period, but the OS can (has to do with encrypted files/partitions I believe), bootloader unlock is one of these things. Many of the mmcblk0 partitions cannot be written to, you can really one write to about 8 or 10 of them via software without having an external writer (for the life of me I can't remember what it's called).
acejavelin said:
No... there are some things you cannot write to, period, but the OS can (has to do with encrypted files/partitions I believe), bootloader unlock is one of these things. Many of the mmcblk0 partitions cannot be written to, you can really one write to about 8 or 10 of them via software without having an external writer (for the life of me I can't remember what it's called).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see. Wasn't expecting to be able to return the bootloader status to untampered, but what matters most is being able to return to a fully working stock rom and take OTAs without bricking the device. There's also all the issues people keep getting in this forum - such as losing their IMEI, 4G, VoLTE - can be those be avoided (and even fixed) by restoring the right backed up mmcblk0 partitions?
prokaryotic cell said:
I see. Wasn't expecting to be able to return the bootloader status to untampered, but what matters most is being able to return to a fully working stock rom and take OTAs without bricking the device. There's also all the issues people keep getting in this forum - such as losing their IMEI, 4G, VoLTE - can be those be avoided (and even fixed) by restoring the right backed up mmcblk0 partitions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, you can restore your efi folder to correct this most of the time, if you have a clean backup. Otherwise you need to get it JTAG programmed
prokaryotic cell said:
I see. Wasn't expecting to be able to return the bootloader status to untampered, but what matters most is being able to return to a fully working stock rom and take OTAs without bricking the device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just to clarify that you understand, you can't return your bootloader status to untampered but you can lock it again. However it really isn't necessary to do that just to get OTAs. All you need to do is return to your stock with stock recovery and no-root (fastboot method not TWRP flashable.) OTAs work fine once you have done so. I have restored a TWRP backup just by booting into TWRP but it seems like I had some issue unrelated to OTA, although I don't recall what they were and is was on my previous phone (Moto G4).

Can I recover internal storage data using this method?

So, I flashed DotOS v3.0, but I had to format data in TWRP to remove encryption. But I didn't take a backup as flashing custom ROMs never required to backup internal storage. There were some pictures that I lost. I came across this method and I wonder if it works on Zenfone 3 ZE520KL?
https://forum.xda-developers.com/ga...de-internal-memory-data-recovery-yes-t1994705
Please help me. I need to know if there's a way.

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