Database Users

[Q] recovering from soft brick

i THINK i know what i did wrong:
i flashed firmware that i found from another site (not filefactory) with mobile odin. i had done a few backups, but did a fresh one anyway from cwm, and moved it to the "external" sd card. i unchecked everroot--i dunno why, i was going to root with the zip file... this may have been my mistake. but i also checked, "factory reset/wipe data/wipe cache etc" from within odin. THIS may have been my mistake... well, when it rebooted, mobile odin went to it, said everything went fine, then rebooted. now i'm stuck on the gTab start-up screen. it doesn't load the boot animation even. i can get into download mode, and i can get into recovery. tried flashing a rom and a kernel on top of whatever is on the device. that didn't work. mobile odin DID take away root. so i rerooted it thinking that cwm may require root to work.
the problem from within cwm is that it isn't seeing the "internal" sd card, or it thinks the external is the internal... that's how i was able to root again, by applying zip from sd card. it worked. so it IS still seeing internal storage.
this may have already been fixed had i not LOST the USB cable.... another one is on order and en route. i can see no solutions with it as is, i'm going to need mobile odin to reflash...
i'm getting an error saying "can't mount emmc"
thanks for any help!!!

moderator, you can delete this post, sorry for the trouble, didn't mean to resubmit "new" thread.
thanks
-C

Factory Reset wiped out the internal SD card! I thought it's not meant to happen?!

This is the first time I'm using a device that doesn't have an external SD card, but I've all along understood that the internal SD card does not get wiped when you do a factory reset, and I'm sure I read that again on another thread just the other day.
My N7 is rooted using Wug's toolkit, with CM10.2 and Bulletproof kernel.
Yesterday I decided to do a factory reset (under Settings, Backup & Reset, Factory Data Reset), but after I did it, all the stuff I had on the internal SD was gone, including my backup files, the ROMs I had transferred there, etc.
Surely this is not meant to be the case, is it??

internal sdcard used to be a different partition.
Now it is just a directory in your /data and the "sdcard" is an emulated sdcard.
I know stock ROM and stock recovery wipes /data and everything in it including the virtual sdcard.
TWRP recovery will only remove the /data user stuff, leaving the virtual sdcard alone.
Which recovery are you running?

sfhub said:
internal sdcard used to be a different partition.
Now it is just a directory in your /data and the "sdcard" is an emulated sdcard.
I know stock ROM and stock recovery wipes /data and everything in it including the virtual sdcard.
TWRP recovery will only remove the /data user stuff, leaving the virtual sdcard alone.
Which recovery are you running?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for that! (Thanks coming your way). Well, better to know now than later! The down side is that I lost my CWM backups and my Titanium Backup files, but the good thing is that I think I have a TWRP backup that's on my computer.
I'm using TWRP, but not really liking it, cos I cannot boot into recovery from the phone and have to keep relying on the Wug Toolkit. I've just downloaded CWM and will be switching to that.
So the moral of this story is that if we are to do a factory reset, we should do it via recovery, correct? I'm presuming CWM will also leave the virtual sd card alone, yeah?

Oh one more thing, I think I lost root after the factory reset!!
I checked my All Apps and SuperSu wasn't there anymore. Just rooted it again using Wug kit.

oohyeah said:
I'm using TWRP, but not really liking it, cos I cannot boot into recovery from the phone and have to keep relying on the Wug Toolkit. I've just downloaded CWM and will be switching to that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not sure what issue you are having with TWRP, but you can flash it to the recovery partition and boot to it automatically. If that's the only reason you don't like it, I'd work on fixing the install rather than jumping to another recovery.
oohyeah said:
So the moral of this story is that if we are to do a factory reset, we should do it via recovery, correct? I'm presuming CWM will also leave the virtual sd card alone, yeah?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would probably do it from recovery. I don't know what CWM does on this platform as I've only used it on other platforms.

What do you mean you can't boot into recovery with twrp? I'm using twrp and have no problem booting into recovery.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app

geckocavemen said:
What do you mean you can't boot into recovery with twrp? I'm using twrp and have no problem booting into recovery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I try to boot into recovery, it ends up showing a dead android with the red triangle "!" sign. I remember doing some searches and it seemed like this was normal. I remember the reason was that the N7 would always rewrite the recovery or something. From your responses, I'm guessing it's not normal?
The only way I could get into recovery was using the Wug toolkit using USB debugging/ADB, which really sucked, cos if it bootlooped and I can't get into the system to turn on USB debugging, then I'm not sure what I would do (though I read there's some way around it or something). I had never encountered any such thing with all my many other devices which all run CWM.
So what's up with all that?

"su" enter' next line "reboot recovery" in the Android Terminal window should also boot your device into recovery

User_99 said:
"su" enter' next line "reboot recovery" in the Android Terminal window should also boot your device into recovery
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This will work fine. If you have no aversion to installing apps, Rom Toolbox Lite gives you power widgets you can put on your desktop then go to recovery with one touch. I use Quick Boot PRO, although the free version of that all may do recovery also. One might work for you until you want to play with mods.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

oohyeah said:
When I try to boot into recovery, it ends up showing a dead android with the red triangle "!" sign.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is stock recovery.
You need to get rid of /system/etc/install-recovery.sh
You can get rid of it by hand, or just install SuperSU from TWRP. Then flash TWRP to the recovery partition.

Thank you everyone for your input!
I'm happily back on CWM right now. If I revert back to TWRP next time at least I'll know what to do!

oohyeah said:
Thank you everyone for your input!
I'm happily back on CWM right now. If I revert back to TWRP next time at least I'll know what to do!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
None of your blunders has anything to do with TWRP.

khaytsus said:
None of your blunders has anything to do with TWRP.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK let me get something straight.
Obviously, the factory resetting that wiped out all internal storage (the original point of the thread) has nothing to do with TWRP, and I never said it did. On this point though, I'm surprised that it doesn't seem to be more well known that a factory reset would do wipe out all your data (did several searches and only found 'confirmations' that your internal SD data would be left untouched), though I'm glad that I know it now.
The suggestions on different ways to boot into recovery were helpful, though I believe that I would still have encountered the dead android, or would I not have?
What's certainly still not clear to me though is regarding the problem of not being able to boot into recovery and getting the dead android with the exclamation/triangle. After the first few replies, I expected to hear that this was NOT meant to be the case and that I did something wrong in the process or whatever.
However, what I seemed to get was that this is the expected behavior, and what I needed to have done was to "get rid of /system/etc/install-recovery.sh".
So let me ask these questions for clarification:
1. Is the dead android normal, given what I did/didn't do?
2. Is deleting /system/etc/install-recovery.sh part of the process of installing TWRP in order to be able to boot into recovery?
3. Would I also need to get rid of /system/etc/install-recovery.sh if using CWM?
(so far it doesn't seem to. After installing CWM I'm not getting the dead android and I didn't delete the install-recovery.sh).
Thanks. And just to be clear, I hope no one takes it the wrong way that I'm bashing TWRP or anything, because I"m not. Just been a long time user of CWM and this is the first time using TWRP and encountering the dead android.

oohyeah said:
So let me ask these questions for clarification:
1. Is the dead android normal, given what I did/didn't do?
2. Is deleting /system/etc/install-recovery.sh part of the process of installing TWRP in order to be able to boot into recovery?
3. Would I also need to get rid of /system/etc/install-recovery.sh if using CWM?
(so far it doesn't seem to. After installing CWM I'm not getting the dead android and I didn't delete the install-recovery.sh).
Thanks. And just to be clear, I hope no one takes it the wrong way that I'm bashing TWRP or anything, because I"m not. Just been a long time user of CWM and this is the first time using TWRP and encountering the dead android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dead android = stock recovery, so normal there.
When you flash a custom recovery on a stock ROM, there is a file, /system/etc/install-recovery.sh, or I actually prefer just renaming /system/recovery-from-boot.p, which will automatically verify your recovery image and restore it to stock if it doesn't match. So you must always remove this file, or the ROM will restore the stock recovery on boot.
TWRP makes it easy to remove either file by mounting /system in read-write mode and using its built-in file manager to remove it. You can do the same in CWM using adb.
As for point 3, yes, try to reboot into recovery again. If you didn't remove (either file), you'll find stock recovery again.

Thanks, Khaytsus. I booted into recovery (long press power button, reboot menu, recovery), and it booted straight into CWM, like it always has with my other devices. (And to confirm, I have not even looked for the install-recovery.sh file, let alone removed or renamed it.)
So far it seems to me that TWRP requires removal of install-recovery.sh, whereas CWM does not, but this doesn't seem to be what you guys are telling me is supposed to be the case.

oohyeah said:
Thanks, Khaytsus. I booted into recovery (long press power button, reboot menu, recovery), and it booted straight into CWM, like it always has with my other devices. (And to confirm, I have not even looked for the install-recovery.sh file, let alone removed or renamed it.)
So far it seems to me that TWRP requires removal of install-recovery.sh, whereas CWM does not, but this doesn't seem to be what you guys are telling me is supposed to be the case.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It really depends on what ordering you do your actions in.
/system/etc/install-recovery.sh doesn't exist on a stock factory shipped system.
It only gets put in place after you install an OTA. If you do all your upgrades using the factory images, you'll never encounter it.
What it does is during your boot process, it will check to see if your recovery is different than what it expects (ie stock). If so, it will install stock recovery by taking the stock kernel and patching it.
If any of the following are true, it will not overwrite your recovery:
/system/etc/install-recovery.sh is missing (or modified to not run as the original file)
/system/recovery-from-boot.p is missing
you are not running the stock kernel
The most common way for install-recovery.sh to be missing is you always used factory images.
The most common way for install-recovery.sh to be modified to not do the original function is if you installed SuperSU. It will overwrite install-recovery.sh with its own.
So in all the back and forth, it is quite possible you got rid of install-recovery.sh or had it modified simply by installing root.
If you then subsequently installed custom recovery, it would stay in place.
Previously you were installing TWRP and flashing it onto the tablet, but upon booting into android, install-recovery.sh realized it wasn't stock recovery, and overwrote TWRP with stock recovery.
That is why whenever you rebooted, you got fallen android (which is stock recovery)
If the way you installed cwm is to use "fastboot flash recovery cwm.img" then the only reason it is around is because something else you did got rid of or modified install-recovery.sh. cwm would be no more immune to install-recovery.sh than twrp was.

oohyeah said:
Oh one more thing, I think I lost root after the factory reset!!
I checked my All Apps and SuperSu wasn't there anymore. Just rooted it again using Wug kit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just to clarify, you didn't lose root. You just lost the supersu app, a root permission manager, because it was installed to your /data partition. The su binary was still in /system, all you would have had to do was install supersu from the market.

I'm not sure what else you were expecting from a "factory reset"

creaturemachine said:
I'm not sure what else you were expecting from a "factory reset"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you read the thread? He explained his reason for expectation quite well.
I just started up on a Nexus 4, and was also surprised to see this. Coming from a Galaxy S2, the "sdcard" being left intact was pretty convenient when flashing from ROM to ROM. Albeit, leading to some messiness. When did Nexus change to this behavior?

Skaziwu said:
I just started up on a Nexus 4, and was also surprised to see this. Coming from a Galaxy S2, the "sdcard" being left intact was pretty convenient when flashing from ROM to ROM. Albeit, leading to some messiness. When did Nexus change to this behavior?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Depending on which level you are looking at, it didn't really change the behavior, but rather how your data is organized.
Factory reset has always wiped out /data.
On older devices, they put the /sdcard in a separate partition and formatted fat32.
These are the ones that were surviving a factory reset.
On newer devices, the internal /sdcard is starting to migrate onto a directory in /data and the "sdard" you see is "virtual". Since it is on /data, when you wipe data, the virtual sdcard is also wiped.
Some recoveries try to simulate the previous behavior by doing a "rm" of every directory except the virtual sdard when you choose to wipe, instead of the erase/format that Android is doing.
The advantage of keeping the sdcard as a directory under /data is you don't need to decide how much space to split between the sdcard and your /data. Also permissions on files are more flexible being in an ext4 filesystem. Finally since everything is emulated and accessed via MTP, you don't need to unmount the filesystem, so your PC can access it.
There are also cons with this approach, but that is what Google is going with.

[Q] Custom Recovery & Flashing issues

I'm new to the Moto Droid world coming from Samsung, and trying to learn about it. I've googled and read a lot about all of the topics below, and I'm looking to learn more. Here are some observations/issues that I'd appreciate any insight on - It would also be helpful to know if these are known, open/unresolved issues:
My device is rooted and unlocked, running sys. ver. 183.46.10.xt907.Verizon.en.US, build KDA20.62.10.1. (I think that's stock Verizon). I have CWM ver. 6.0.4.8 installed. When I try a nandroid backup to my external sd card (/storage/sdcard1), boot-image, recovery image, and system complete normally. When it tries to backup data, I get the error "Can't mount /data!". When I look at my external SD card, I see 4 non-empty files (boot.img, recovery.img, system.ext4.tar.a, system.ext4.tar.b) and 1 empty file (system.ext4.tar). Is there anything I can do to get CWM to backup data also? Do I need to resort to backing up with ADB to get everything?
When I reboot from CWM, I get "rom may flash stock recovery on boot - can't be undone" with "no" or "yes - disable recovery flash" as my choices. I think either choice keeps my CWM recovery. I then get "root access possibly lost - fix? with "no" or "yes fix root (/system/xbin/su)". If I select "yes fix root (/system/xbin/su)", it keeps root, and if I select "no", it loses root. Shall I consider these as minor annoyances that I shall forever live with?
I've tried to flash TWRP, and the only version that I've been able to boot up is the latest one, version 2.8.1.0. The problem is that the font is too big, or our screen size is too small for that version. Is there a version of TWRP that works on our device? I tried ver 2.5, and it doesn't boot.
To flash, I boot the phone into AP Fastboot and use mfastboot on my Windows PC.. Flashing seems to work, but I always get the "<bootloader> variable not supported" message at the start. Is this anything to worry about or indicating some other problem?
Thanks in advance for any and all responses.

beeewell said:
I'm new to the Moto Droid world
coming from Samsung, and trying to learn about it. I've googled and read a lot about all of the topics below, and I'm looking to learn more. Here are some observations/issues that I'd appreciate any insight on - It would also be helpful to know if these are known, open/unresolved issues:
My device is rooted and unlocked, running sys. ver. 183.46.10.xt907.Verizon.en.US, build KDA20.62.10.1. (I think that's stock Verizon). I have CWM ver. 6.0.4.8 installed. When I try a nandroid backup to my external sd card (/storage/sdcard1), boot-image, recovery image, and system complete normally. When it tries to backup data, I get the error "Can't mount /data!". When I look at my external SD card, I see 4 non-empty files (boot.img, recovery.img, system.ext4.tar.a, system.ext4.tar.b) and 1 empty file (system.ext4.tar). Is there anything I can do to get CWM to backup data also? Do I need to resort to backing up with ADB to get everything?
When I reboot from CWM, I get "rom may flash stock recovery on boot - can't be undone" with "no" or "yes - disable recovery flash" as my choices. I think either choice keeps my CWM recovery. I then get "root access possibly lost - fix? with "no" or "yes fix root (/system/xbin/su)". If I select "yes fix root (/system/xbin/su)", it keeps root, and if I select "no", it loses root. Shall I consider these as minor annoyances that I shall forever live with?
I've tried to flash TWRP, and the only version that I've been able to boot up is the latest one, version 2.8.1.0. The problem is that the font is too big, or our screen size is too small for that version. Is there a version of TWRP that works on our device? I tried ver 2.5, and it doesn't boot.
To flash, I boot the phone into AP Fastboot and use mfastboot on my Windows PC.. Flashing seems to work, but I always get the "<bootloader> variable not supported" message at the start. Is this anything to worry about or indicating some other problem?
Thanks in advance for any and all responses.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're using the wrong TWRP. Use TWRP281KK.img > http://d-h.st/511
All the info you need is here > http://forum.xda-developers.com/dro...oot-unlock-t2869432/post55282645#post55282645

Thank You !!
ATTACK said:
You're using the wrong TWRP. Use TWRP281KK.img > http://d-h.st/511
All the info you need is here > http://forum.xda-developers.com/dro...oot-unlock-t2869432/post55282645#post55282645
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you so much for your reply, and for pointing me to the correct TWRP for my device. It worked like a charm !! :good:

Soft Bricked Oneplus 5 - Virturally Zero storage, accidentally deleted I think.

Guys i got my oneplus 5 in the mail yesterday and I like it, but I think i ****ed up...big time. please somebody help me out.
i was following this guide: https://forum.xda-developers.com/oneplus-5/how-to/oneplus-5-unlock-bootloader-flash-twrp-t3624877
to root my oneplus 5 so i can use Adaway. Ive rooted and installed a custom rom many times on my oneplus one before so I didn't really have any issues.
but then when I got to "Gaining root access" part, I was a little confused because I wasn't sure what step to take, so i Just did the stuff from the top. I think somewhere along the way I ****ed up and for some reason all my folders are gone except for android. (ie downloads, notifications, alarms, ringtones, music, pictures, etc folders are gone)
even when i take a picture, it just disappears because it has nowhere to save to... . when I plug it in with file transfer mode, there is literally only 1 folder, look at this picture: http://imgur.com/a/F49v0
is there anything I can do to fix this? or did i just GG no re 540$? I know i'm a ****ing stupid ass ****ing low life piece of **** dumbass **** head.
If worse comes to worse, I still got like 13 days left to return it if possible? Do u think they'll accept a return or replacement from me?
****
when I go to google and try to download an image, it says It can't be downloaded because of missing SD card. wtf is going on?!
EDIT UPDATE: okay now my phone is stuck on boot screen with the 1+ symbol. any1 know how to help me out?

onepluslover69 said:
Guys i got my oneplus 5 in the mail yesterday and I like it, but I think i ****ed up...big time. please somebody help me out.
i was following this guide: https://forum.xda-developers.com/oneplus-5/how-to/oneplus-5-unlock-bootloader-flash-twrp-t3624877
to root my oneplus 5 so i can use Adaway. Ive rooted and installed a custom rom many times on my oneplus one before so I didn't really have any issues.
but then when I got to "Gaining root access" part, I was a little confused because I wasn't sure what step to take, so i Just did the stuff from the top. I think somewhere along the way I ****ed up and for some reason all my folders are gone except for android. (ie downloads, notifications, alarms, ringtones, music, pictures, etc folders are gone)
even when i take a picture, it just disappears because it has nowhere to save to... . when I plug it in with file transfer mode, there is literally only 1 folder, look at this picture: http://imgur.com/a/F49v0
is there anything I can do to fix this? or did i just GG no re 540$? I know i'm a ****ing stupid ass ****ing low life piece of **** dumbass **** head.
If worse comes to worse, I still got like 13 days left to return it if possible? Do u think they'll accept a return or replacement from me?
****
when I go to google and try to download an image, it says It can't be downloaded because of missing SD card. wtf is going on?!
EDIT UPDATE: okay now my phone is stuck on boot screen with the 1+ symbol. any1 know how to help me out?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try to reboot into TWRP and format everything, including internal storage. Then flash any ROM and reboot.
If this doesn't work, you'll have to start all over again. Do a complete revert to stock.
Download the stock OP5 OOS 4.5.4 zip.
Download OnePlus stock recovery.
Reboot into fastboot/bootloader mode.
Flash stock recovery.
Boot into stock recovery.
Do a full wipe of /system and /data and /data/media (internal storage).
Sideload the full zip you downloaded in step 1 and flash it via stock recovery.
Reboot your phone.

easy
http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=3761904&d=1464187934

MrKhozam said:
Try to reboot into TWRP and format everything, including internal storage. Then flash any ROM and reboot.
If this doesn't work, you'll have to start all over again. Do a complete revert to stock.
Download the stock OP5 OOS 4.5.4 zip.
Download OnePlus stock recovery.
Reboot into fastboot/bootloader mode.
Flash stock recovery.
Boot into stock recovery.
Do a full wipe of /system and /data and /data/media (internal storage).
Sideload the full zip you downloaded in step 1 and flash it via stock recovery.
Reboot your phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i'm downloading a rom right now. btw I thought the latest OP5 OOS rom was 4.5.3?
huaiyue said:
easy
http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=3761904&d=1464187934
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
might I ask what exactly does this zip do?
update: solved everything by following khozam's method! that guys a ****ing beast. saved my ass. cheers

Sideload cannot read zip file
MrKhozam said:
Try to reboot into TWRP and format everything, including internal storage. Then flash any ROM and reboot.
If this doesn't work, you'll have to start all over again. Do a complete revert to stock.
Download the stock OP5 OOS 4.5.4 zip.
Download OnePlus stock recovery.
Reboot into fastboot/bootloader mode.
Flash stock recovery.
Boot into stock recovery.
Do a full wipe of /system and /data and /data/media (internal storage).
Sideload the full zip you downloaded in step 1 and flash it via stock recovery.
Reboot your phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Followed the steps. Everything works fine until sideload. I constantly get error in CMD prompt: cannot read...
I tried removing the zip file extension, dragging the file into command prompt. What am I doing wrong?
I have the same problem as OP where I foolishly deleted storage and now all I have is the android folder on the phone and cannot save files, nor download certain apps from the play store.
Thank you in advance...

sawihsiwi said:
Followed the steps. Everything works fine until sideload. I constantly get error in CMD prompt: cannot read...
I tried removing the zip file extension, dragging the file into command prompt. What am I doing wrong?
I have the same problem as OP where I foolishly deleted storage and now all I have is the android folder on the phone and cannot save files, nor download certain apps from the play store.
Thank you in advance...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you try formating first using the flash tool? If you accedentally deleted all folders even those in the root branch of the phone, It will generate the necessary files on your phone i think. Then you can simply flash twrp using the tool and should see the folders in twrp. Otherwise you can flash the full ota to generate them

sawihsiwi said:
Followed the steps. Everything works fine until sideload. I constantly get error in CMD prompt: cannot read...
I tried removing the zip file extension, dragging the file into command prompt. What am I doing wrong?
I have the same problem as OP where I foolishly deleted storage and now all I have is the android folder on the phone and cannot save files, nor download certain apps from the play store.
Thank you in advance...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Theoretically you should also be able to issue the following command in Recovery:
Code:
adb push -p [COLOR="Red"]<full zip path>[/COLOR] /sdcard/
Then select the zip from there. If you still get the read error, can you try rebooting into normal mode and issuing the same command?

Thank you for your help. huaiyue's storage fix zip file actually did the trick. I was able to restore everything back to normal. So thank you and thanks to huaiyue.

If anyone ever faces this again, Just follow below mentioned steps..
1: Flash TWRP
2: Got to Wipe and FORMAT data this will Decrypt you... AND let's you access your internal storage again..!
3: Now copy stock rom and FLASH.. This makes you ENCRYPTED again.
4: Now everything should be back to normal, just flash twrp again and enjoy..

Go to TWRP ----> select DATA (check it) ---> DONT swipe to wipe but click on REPAIR OR CHANGE FILE SYSTEM and select EXT 4. After that, reboot to twrp and data is recognized as normal sdcard..

That SD card fix helped but I want to know, what caused this?
---------- Post added at 12:03 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:00 AM ----------
huaiyue said:
easy
http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=3761904&d=1464187934
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thankyou so much dude!

Stuck in recovery with no image to flash

First of all, I read this thread, but no luck.
Situation:
* I unlocked bootloader, installed TWRP 3.1.1-1 and flashed Freedom OS, succeding.
* Then I decided to try the Oreo open beta, but had a problem (error 7 flashing it), so I wanted to get back to Freedom OS
* After flashing Freedom OS again (with success) I rebooted but I was stuck at boot logo.
* I decided to flash again OOS 4.5.14, but I misclicked something and I found my self in TWRP with no ROM to flash on SDcard (I think I have checked also internal storage while wiping).
* PANIC!
So, 3 questions:
1) given that I want to stay encrypted (if still possible at this point) should I decrypt data or not at TWRP boot?
2) if I chose decrypt with the unlock code (read that I did) I have to go with decrypt or formatting is enough to keep crypt?
3) MORE IMPORTANT: how do I get a ROM to flash into the phone. Reeboting in TWRP sometimes I see the internal storage, but when I drop a firmware in it I get the transfer windows stuck at 0% and it disappear after a few seconds.
Thanks in advance to who will help me!

this might help - https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2318497

chris4500uk said:
this might help - https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2318497
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the suggestion and... it's a beginning.
The problem is that if I sideload a small file like Magisk upload is ok, even if (obviously) it can't install.
When it comes to Oxygen OS I get I cannot read file error.
I doubleclicked the file and it opens in PC, so it isn't corrupted.

I'd be tempted to try another USB cable and maybe another computer if you have one. Failing that, if it's a problem with TWRP your last resort may be a complete low level flash. A good guide is here - https://forum.xda-developers.com/oneplus-5/how-to/unbrick-tool-oneplus-5-t3648169
Edit: I should say be careful if you do have connectivity problems, as flashing using unbrick tools while your connection is bad would not be a good idea at all since it could make things even worse (maybe even hard brick)

I finally got it working. I am a bit ashamed of what the problem was, but I share in case someone else does this stupid error.
The point is: I was formatting /data inside Advanced wipe instead of using "Format Data", so ( I think) I was not rebuilding the sd card allocation table.
After formatting with "Format data" I was able to put the firmware with drag and drop from the PC and I could finally have mu OP5 working again.

Can't you press reboot to recovery and decrypt with your code so your device gets mounted on a PC? Otherwise you can adb sideload the oxygenos file. I had the same error, but Google gave me this:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=69648733&postcount=47
Use the program on all the files in the adb directory and reboot.

Zocker1304 said:
Can't you press reboot to recovery and decrypt with your code so your device gets mounted on a PC? Otherwise you can adb sideload the oxygenos file. I had the same error, but Google gave me this:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=69648733&postcount=47
Use the program on all the files in the adb directory and reboot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No; i couldn't. But I solved simply by using "Format data".
SOLVED

UncleDan said:
I finally got it working. I am a bit ashamed of what the problem was, but I share in case someone else does this stupid error.
The point is: I was formatting /data inside Advanced wipe instead of using "Format Data", so ( I think) I was not rebuilding the sd card allocation table.
After formatting with "Format data" I was able to put the firmware with drag and drop from the PC and I could finally have mu OP5 working again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Format data is necessary on the OP5 when moving between Nougat and Oreo. I hope you flashed the Oreo Open Beta rather than Freedom. It's far superior.

jhs39 said:
Format data is necessary on the OP5 when moving between Nougat and Oreo. I hope you flashed the Oreo Open Beta rather than Freedom. It's far superior.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
[O/T ON]
I didn't at the moment, but I did right now, reverting to stock recovery. Do you now if an Oreo-ready TWRP is around yet?
[O/T OFF]

UncleDan said:
[O/T ON]
I didn't at the moment, but I did right now, reverting to stock recovery. Do you now if an Oreo-ready TWRP is around yet?
[O/T OFF]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are two with download links included in the instructions thread for flashing Oreo. I recommend the Blu Spark TWRP over the Chinese TWRP. It will be updated more often.