Note: To skip the following lengthy background information, skip down to the numbered steps below.
Package disablers from a Vietnamese developer "Kunkunsoft" have popped up in the Play Store under various names as this poor (and clearly very bright) guy plays "whack-a-mole" with Google and Samsung. Neither company is happy about Kunkunsoft's "Swiss Army Knife" ability to efficiently disable individual services associated with system apps and to thus selectively limit telemetry while maintaining app functionality, especially without root. The routine is that a newly-named Kunkunsoft package disabler appears in the Play Store, sometimes with a plugin listed with a covert developer name that is not Kunkunsoft, becomes popular, and the developer is harrassed by the big guns until they finally force him to modify his app/plugin to delete the capability of disabling individual services and/or they take his app down. Its a sad situation.
The last no-root incarnation of the Kunkunsoft app ("BK Disabler for Samsung" with "BK Plugin v2") disappeared about 6 weeks or so ago. It is now replaced by "Service Disabler" which requires root. I am writing this "how-to" mainly for any users of BK Disabler for Samsung (no root) who may disable some boot-critical system package or service like I did and be stuck with the spectre of data and cofiguration loss. I spent way too much time trying to figure out how Kunkunksoft disables packages and services without root, in order to try to recover my phone by undoing his magic from a custom recovery. To his credit the dev responded to my email for assistance. However, he merely insisted that I would need to factory reset and lose my data and would provide no clue about how his app operates.
After much trial and tribulation I figured out how the app works and why it cannot be undone. BK Disabler implements its services control magic without root by skillfully exploiting a subset of Samsung's home-grown security system, Knox. Specifically, the app operates as a Samsung Enterprise Mobile Device Management ("MDM") manager. Normally an MDM manager sits on a corporate server and allows IT personnnel to create and distribute device policies to Samsung phones. But BK Disabler is an Android app that is also an MDM manager, both running on the phone and controlling the phone! Pretty clever, huh? More specifically, BK Disabler creates a protected Knox MDM container, turns on Kiosk-mode in the phone, and allows only apps/services that have not been disabled to run in that Kiosk environment! This is all done in real time, so the user is unaware that every time he/she disables or re-enables an app or service, BK Disabler actually goes into MDM management mode and modifies the Knox Kiosk mode container! As you can see, the dev is very clever and engages in substantial recursive thinking to pull this off! He also had to purchase a Knox MDM Management license from Samsung. That is why the app is called "BK Disabler for Samsung." It only works on Samsung devices because Samsung, in an effort to capture the corporate market, has placed this powerful control mechanism in the hands of the corporate world, giving corporations the power to implement controls that are otherwise unavailable without root. You can also see why it would likely be near-impossible to undo BK Disabler's freezes from a recovery environment. You would need to break into Ft. Knox... (I was actually surprised to find that I could read an SqLite database containing signed lists of the packages that I had disabled. I thought about editing the unencrypted database but finally gave up after realizing that it was a Knox MDM setup. The disabled system apps/services preventing boot were protected in a Knox container and boot would have failed before my edited database could have been read by BK Disabler, if at all.
With that way-too-lengthy background in place, this is the way to recover should you become too aggressive with BK Disabler for Samsung or any other package disabler for that matter:
Notes:
(a) I tested the method described only on my ancient Samsung Galaxy S5 running "Marshmallow" (Android 6.0.1). The BK Disabler (Samsung) app will only install on Samsung models which include the older Samsung Knox security system and Enterprise MDM included in the stock ROMs. That said, this recovery procedure is generalized to recover data from any phone that is flashable using Odin, which can accept a flash a version of TWRP applicable to the phone and which can be rooted.
(b) Its a good idea to have the back cover of the phone loose because you will need to pull the battery during this procedure. If you have a phone without a removable battery, I'm not sure how you can turn the phone off following an Odin flash, as I have no experience with a phone without a removable battery. Turning the phone off after flashing TWRP is necessary to prevent TWRP from being removed by an automatic boot to the OS after the TWRP flash. The first boot following a TWRP flash must be to recovery and not to system in order to make TWRP "stick."
(1) Note that flashing TWRP in this step will set the warranty bit on Samsung phones, which allegedly voids the Samsung warranty. Whether or not doing so actually legally voids the warranty varies according to consumer protection and contract laws of various jurisdictions. Boot into download mode (hold volume down and home button while pressing power button.) Using Odin (I used v3.13.1), flash TWRP 3.2.1-0 KLTE. Make sure that Odin recognizes your phone. It will show up in the upper-left window "ID:COM." Press the middle tab and unselect "automatic reboot." The reason is that your initial boot following the flash must be into recovery; otherwise TWRP will be deleted by the normal system boot process. TWRP fixes this problem when you first boot into TWRP recovery. Press the "PDA" button and navigate to the TWRP flash file. After the TWRP flash loads into Odin ("ready"), press start. You will see a message in the upper left window that the flash completed successfully. Pull the battery to turn the phone off. Re-insert battery.
(2) Boot into recovery (hold volume up and the home button while pressing the power button); you will see the TWRP recovery screen. TWRP recovery is a work of art!
(3) TWRP recovery will mount both the internal and external SD cards as MTP devices, allowing you to see all of your user folders and files on both SD cards in Windows Explorer.
Note: FYI for noobs, the "internal SD card" is a portion of internal flash memory within the Android Linux /data partition that is allocated for user storage. The "external SD card" is an actual microSD card plugged into the slot above the SIM card and just above the top edge of the battery. Generally speaking, when Android refers to "SD card" it is referring to the internal SD card and not to a microSD card that you plug into the phone above the battery.
(4) In Windows Explorer, copy and paste all folders from both internal and external SD cards to a safe place on your desktop PC, laptop, etc. Note that you do not even need TWRP to perform this operation for the external SD card because you can take the microSD card out of the phone and transfer the files from an external microSD card reader.
(5) Now we will create a nandroid backup of the entire system, all Android Linux partitions. The reason that we copied the SD card data using Windows Explorer is that a TWRP nandroid backup does NOT include either internal or external SD card data. All bits of all other partitions are included in the TWRP nandroid backup. The TWRP folks consider us to be smart enough to copy our photos, videos documents, etc. from both internal and external SD cards using Windows Explorer. However that still leaves lots of our data, like our contacts, calendars, text messages, emails, phone call logs, etc. buried in the nandroid backup.
(6) In TWRP, select the external SD card as the backup destination (if you don't have an external SD card, go buy one before doing anything else. Format it to fat32 in a USB card reader plugged into a Windows system (separate from the phone). Then insert the microSD card into the phone above the SIM card.
(7) In TWRP, select all partitions to back up, with the external SD card selected as the destination to write the nandroid backup to.
(8) Swipe the indicated TWRP screen area to the right (as indicated by the arrows) to start the backup. It will take awhile to create a nandroid of 6-8 GB.
(9) Make sure that you have a good nandroid backup created. If you want to be extra cautious, reboot into TWRP and restore the nandroid backup that you just created. TWRP should indicate if it was able to successfully restore the nandroid backup. Note that we are not going to use the TWRP restore function in this recovery process; we just want to make sure that the nandroid backup is good.
(10) TWRP will create an entire directory structure on the external SD card, top-level being "TWRP." Copy this entire directory stucture to a safe place on your PC.
(11) Now take a deep breath and, using the TWRP wipe function, wipe all partitions except EFS. TWRP has a screen showing all partitons to be wiped, with check marks beside all of them. Uncheck the EFS partition. That partition should not have been affected by BK Disabler and every write into EFS is somewhat risky. (Keeping in mind that restoring the nandroid backup or re-flashing to stock will both re-write the EFS partition; but those functions presumably know what they are doing.)
Also note: Wiping the /data partition by itself is equivalent to a factory data reset and should delete all of the BK Disabler Enterprise MDM/Kiosk-mode setup (as well as all of your non-system apps, data, settings, etc.) However, we are going to make sure that the phone is in completely factory stock pristine shape by re-flashing the stock ROM. Doing so will flash all partitions except /data, which we just wiped.
(12) Download the factory stock firmware from Sammobile that corresponds to your phone model, your version of Android and your carrier. It will download as a .zip file and will unzip to a file name reflecting your stock image and ending in _HOME.tar.md5. Don't change the file name or further decompress. Open Odin, press the "PDA" button and navigate to the _HOME.tar.md5 image. The other three file slots are left blank. Odin knows to extract all partitions from the image file in "PDA." By default, Odin is set to reboot the phone normally when the flash completes. Press the middle tab and uncheck that so that you can observe that the flashing operation terminated normally and completely. Do not select any other option. DO NOT select "repartition." Make sure that Odin recognizes your phone in the upper left box "ID:COM." Press "Start" and you will see the Odin log file populate on the Odin screen and you will see a flash progress bar on the phone. You will see a green "success" notification at the upper left of the Odin screen when the flashing operation completes successfully. Pull the battery to power the phone off and then re-insert battery.
(13) Next we will boot normally into the newly-flashed system. Before powering on, though, give this some thought. You will be faced with the "new phone" setup dialog and so should know your Google email address and password, name you want to use for the phone, etc. Also keep in mind that while you are fiddling with the setup, Google is busy getting your location, defaulting all of the settings to its best advantage, etc. And your carrier is busy downloading OTA Android and security updates to your phone. E.g., the big boys are infecting your phone as fast as they can and any controls that you previously set in place (e.g., via settings, freezing apps, firewall settings, etc.) to hold off the hoardes are no longer in place. It might be a good idea to put the phone into airplane mode immediately, pull the SIM card, turn off your wireless router, or whatever, to slow things down while you go through the new phone setup and adjust some of your settings. Just a thought...
(14) Now root your phone using your favorite rooting method. (This is necessary because the next (recovery) step uses the Titanium Backup app, which requires root.) For example, download Chainfire's SuperSu v2.82-SR5 zip file from here: https://download.chainfire.eu/1220/SuperSU/SR5-SuperSU-v2.82-SR5-20171001224502.zip Do not unzip. Move the SuperSu zip file to the internal or external SD card (to the top directory or any other directory is fine.) Use the Install function from within TWRP to navigate to the SuperSu zip file, highlight the zip file and swipe the TWRP action strip to install SuperSu. Now boot the phone normall (into the Android system) and you will be greeted by the SuperSu app. You may be given a choice whether to install SuperSu as "systemless" or to install it in the system partition. I prefer "systemless" because flashing a ROM (which overwrites the /system partition) does not wipe out root if SuperSu is installed as "systemless."
(15) Now download Titanium backup from the Play Store (paid Pro edition to be able to complete these steps). Also download and install any apps from which you need to recover data that are not system apps. (For example, if you use the stock messaging app, no need to download any other app to recover messages. However, if you use a non-stock messaging app, download and install that app now.)
(16) Now plug phone into PC USB and transfer the entire TWRP nandroid directory structure from whereever you copied it to on your PC to the internal SD card (Titanium will not recognize the nandroid file on the external SD card and will likely not recognize the nandroid file by itself without the TWRP directory structure).
(17) Now the amazing magical coordination between the TWRP team and the Titanium dev will become clear. Fire up Titanium and hit "Menu..." "Import/Export..." "Extract from Nandroid backup." Give Titanium awile to look into the Nandroid backup file and analyze it. When finished, Titanium will present all the apps and app data that it could find in a list for you to select from via checkmarks. Note that at the top of the screen you can select to restore apps only, data only, or apps + data. Also, the Titanium legend (font colors and icons) is quite extensive. You can study it under "Menu..." "Help/Licensing." Suffice it to say, though, the legend will indicate that few if any apps are available to restore. Why? Because, remember, the apps were hid away in a secure Knox container by the BK Disabler MDM app! So, logically TWRP was not able to include the apps in the nandroid backup. That's ok, because system apps were restored via re-flashing the stock ROM and you downloaded other apps that you needed to recover data for from the Play Store. I believe that its best just to choose "restore data" to avoid any problems with Titanium attempting to find apps in the nandroid when they don't exist there. However, if that is unsuccessful you could try restoring "apps + data." I would suggest restoring one app's data at a time. After each such restore, start up the app to make sure that its data is restored, then restore the next, etc.
(18) I was able to successfully recover all data, including contacts, calendar, SMS/MMS, phone log, K-9 email, etc. That said, going forward I will not go even one week without doing a full Titanium backup of all apps + data and less frequent TWRP nandroid backups, copying each to safe backup folders on my Windows PC. Of course, you could just enable Google Cloud sync. After all, why make Google work to get your data, why not just hand it to them?!
(19) Also, I am not too bitter about the Kunkunsoft BK Disabler for Samsung time-wasting experience. I did it to avoid burning time with the whole "rooting" scenario. But in the end I wasted much more time than would have been the case by just "doing it right" with TWRP and Titanium in the first place. I might even consider using Kunkunsoft's new whack-a-mole Play Store pop-up "Service Disabler," because Titanium does not freeze an app's individual services. But I would only do that if I can confirm that Service Disabler does not come anywhere near the "Samsung Knox Enterprise MDM/Kiosk Mode" area. What a nightmare!!
Update... I just read on a Kunkunsoft blog that his latest "no root" disabler "Package Disabler (All Android)" uses Google's Android SELinux "Device Owner" Enterprise Management "Device Policy Controller" functionality. This is the same old bad-boy unrecoverable "lock yourself out of your device" scenario as described above except even worse because it is probably even more secure than Knox and applies to all SELinux Android on any device after Kit-kat 4.4 or so. Basically the app takes over your phone as though it were a company-owned and managed phone. I would not touch it with a ten-foot pole and suggest that you just root your phone to avoid problems. I plan to contact Kunkunsoft to ask how his root version, "Service Disabler" works. If it works via Package Manager, like Titanium, then I will use it to re-acquire the ability to disable individual services. Otherwise I will just live without that luxury.
Related
I don't know if I'm the only one having this issue, but I'd figure I'd lay out my findings for everyone to see if we can get to the bottom of it. Since the EB01 leak was released, I've noticed that after a while my installed apps will not remember their preferences anymore, think everytime is the first run, etc...
First time I flashed EB01 was using ROM Manager and an old "green" version of CWM. After the first instance of these issues cropping up, I went back DI01 using a FULL Odin restore (rom, kernel, radio, novinand, etc, w/ re-partitioning), then flashed to an EB01+CWM+Root package using Odin instead of CWM. Again, after a day or two, apps started forgetting their preferences. I then got a new phone as a warranty replacement, went from EA28 to EB01 using Odin: still having the same issues.
The only thing I noticed out of place (I'm no developer) in a logcat trace is:
Code:
Line 745: E/ApplicationContext(31797): Couldn't rename file /dbdata/databases/com.speedsoftware.rootexplorer/shared_prefs/com.speedsoftware.rootexplorer_preferences.xml to backup file /dbdata/databases/com.speedsoftware.rootexplorer/shared_prefs/com.speedsoftware.rootexplorer_preferences.xml.bak
Line 745: E/ApplicationContext(31797): Couldn't rename file /dbdata/databases/com.speedsoftware.rootexplorer/shared_prefs/com.speedsoftware.rootexplorer_preferences.xml to backup file /dbdata/databases/com.speedsoftware.rootexplorer/shared_prefs/com.speedsoftware.rootexplorer_preferences.xml.bak
Line 745: E/ApplicationContext(31797): Couldn't rename file /dbdata/databases/com.speedsoftware.rootexplorer/shared_prefs/com.speedsoftware.rootexplorer_preferences.xml to backup file /dbdata/databases/com.speedsoftware.rootexplorer/shared_prefs/com.speedsoftware.rootexplorer_preferences.xml.bak
Line 745: E/ApplicationContext(31797): Couldn't rename file /dbdata/databases/com.speedsoftware.rootexplorer/shared_prefs/com.speedsoftware.rootexplorer_preferences.xml to backup file /dbdata/databases/com.speedsoftware.rootexplorer/shared_prefs/com.speedsoftware.rootexplorer_preferences.xml.bak
Just a few other things I've noticed
*System application do not seem to be affected
*/dbdata/databases/ is full if entries for apps that are no longer installed. I don't know if that is normal or if they are supposed to be cleared out when an app is removed.
*deleting the entry in /dbdata/databases/ for a particular app seems to force it re-create the entry, allowing it save it's preferences.....until they change again.
*reading from dbdata seems to work fine, just writing isn't working.
*only certain apps seem to act up. The first ones to show signs of issues are usually Tapatalk, Root Explorer, & Titanium Backup. Apps like Dropbox and Facebook don't seem to be affected this time around.
I question weather this a corruption due to the installation method (outdated CWM) or a bug in EB01 itself and only folks who add/delete apps frequently like myself are more prone to notice it.
Thoughts?
First, this shouldn't be posted here. This has nothing to do with Development, so it should have gone in the General forum.
Next, have you tried to do a factory reset after the issue pops up and try again? I realize that you did the full Odin wipe, but did you try wiping data anyway? Also, are you on Voodoo or no-voodoo?
1. Apologies, I figured since this was an issue with software under development and is likely a code issue, that it belongs here more than anywhere.
2. Yes, many wipes of data & cache partitions, restores to DI01, etc. The full restore & re-formatting was a last resort. Plus, it's doing the same thing with an entirely new device.
3. Non-voodoo
What I would suggest is reset your phone and reset your data restoring, AKA clearing it from google's servers the best way to do that is reflash a froyo rom, wipe all the cache's and then when it asks you to login with your google account skip that step and then login using Settings->Accounts & Sync add your google account And then in Settings->Privacy Uncheck Backup my data and Automatic Restore. There is a chance there is a app or a setting being pulled from google that could be screwing it up, you could also try formating your SD card.
You mentioned Titanium Backup. It has an "Auto-sync TB settings" is supposed to auto restore it's settings from the SD card after a wipe. Maybe you have a setting in there that is causing an auto-restore to happen of the data from some of your apps.
And definitely check to make sure that you don't have Automatic Restore checked in Settings->Privacy. The best way to do this is just like jazzyjames mentioned. After a wipe, don't log into Google on the first boot, but first go in and uncheck the auto restore. Then you can log into your Google account.
It happens to those who use voodoo, but it was worse with 2.2 for some reason.
I fixed it using and all in one odin 2.2 version. It'll repartition the file system and restore your dbdata.
Done problem solved...
I found the Google Auto-Restore was enabled, so I disabled it to clear everything and did a factory wipe and re-did everything with pretty much every automated backup or sync service turned off.
We'll see how things go.
Noob friendly guide to clean install ROM.
Ok friend here posting some steps to clean Install ROM and how to keep device ready to clean install ROM with minimal risk of loosing data with keeping data restore handy.
I have devided this guide in Three sctions.
If you are first time flashing custom ROM then first part of this guide is not much helpful to you. Move to section 2 (installing ROM) as well read post#2
1.Pre Flashing - How to keep device ready to clean install ROM/Wipe
2.Installing ROM
3.Post flashing data restore.
1.Pre Flashing preparation and data backup management.(for rooted device)
Here for this I do prefer titanium with schedule backup to keep my data protected on daily basis and describing below how do I prefer to manage it.
Ok let's start with schedule backup with titanium. This step will secure you to keep your data backup everyday without your interference.
- Install Titanium backup from play store (features mentioned here best managed with Pro version only)
- Now open titanium application and select click to edit filter as shown in screenshot below
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
-In next screen select create label. see image below
-Now give this filter a desired label like here i gave data only in below screenshot. After this select add/remove elements in same screen. This is very inportnt step and you have to decide what elements you requires to backup daily. In my case giving you some examples like
contact storage ( look for contac storage green color to make contact backup), Messages (yellow colored) to make backup of SMS. like this. You can select your desired application data to make backup according your needs. But I strongly recommend to make backup od these two only from system application part. Though another important app is Launcher which can helpful to restore your launcher setting (Homescreen) for that you need to select TouchWiz home (red color). Also note that when you restore red color backup, select only to restore data only. we will discuss again in restoring section. Ok you can also select third party elements which changes data frequently. in my case I don't use stock launcher so selecting third party launcher so whenever i do change my homescreen setting, i need not to worry about it. Anyway it's enough to make clear what you have to select here is only application which data frequently get changes.
Once you finish this setup you will see your filter in nect screen
-Now come to main screen and select Schedule. See image below
-Now here you can see two pre defined rule here on ths page. see image below
-Select first rule by tapping on edit on first rule. Now next screen is very important and you will find three tables. Here in below screenshot as I shown select first tab to "Backup new user app and New version" This will ake backup of all user app which backup is not present. Also it will make re backup if you update application version.
second tab is keep no filtering so all user app will backup and third tab should setup to 'Any' so it can make backup without any power condition.
Also in lower part select desired day and time when to make backup. You can select daily or on selected day. I prefer to do during our sleeping time so it can do silently.
-Now click on edit button of second rule. This is for backup of all app and data for which you have created lebel.
Now on first table select 'All user App + System data" and in next table (filter) select label which you have created earlier. So this will make backup of only stuff which you have selected in add/removal elements while creating label. Also recommended to keep 'Any' under power condition of third table.
Same as before here defined your prefered time to make backup. Keep considerable time between first and second rule so app will remain free at time od backup of second rule.
-Ok most of setup is now finished and select menu key - preference from titanium app and Check mark 'Auto-Sync TB setting' This will save setting on SD card and when you install Titanium next time all above made setting will be retrived autometically.
-I prefer to keep titanium backup folder on Ext SD because many times you may needs to wipe IntSD too. Also prefereable to make periodic manual backup of titanium backup folder to PC from Ext SD card. you can set loaction from Menu - preernce - Backup folder location.
-also recommended to keep multiple copy of backup by selecting Number of backup under menu-preference. This is important when one backup failed then old to that backup may be useful
So this is all about keep device ready to make backup of your device anytime on daily basis. Though you can manually run scheduled backup by selecting 'RUN' in schedule-rule just before flashing ROM to assure latest settings are being backup already.
2.Flashing ROM
1.Flash your desired CWM/TWRP if you are still on stock recovery. - READ POST #2 FOR DETAIL ABOUT FLASHING RECOVERY.
Note that your device not required to be rooted to flash custom ROM. Just having CWM/TWRP (what is recommended by your ROM developer)
2.Download and copy ROM file to your SD card (Int/Ext)
(Here I am showing example of Philz recovery and some option may be different in case of you are using other recovery)
3.Reboot to recovery and select wipe data (for clean installation) (see image)
4.Select Install zip and then select zip from SD (where you copied) (see image)
5.Now wait here and don't immediately confirm by pressing 'yes' but wait till it finish md5 check. (see image) MUST READ
Once it finish md5, compare it with below provided md5 sum and select yes only if it matches. If it doesn't match that means your download is corrupted and needs to redownload.
Ok Next important thing to mentione here is management of bootloop
So many users experiences bootloop after flashing ROM, even after clean install. This is most of due to corrupt data and common issue on kitkat based ROM.
Here recommended steps in case you get bootloop.
1.Make sure you have checked MD5. I have desribed here how to check md5 on device above wit Philz recovery. I strongly recommend to check MD5 on device because sometime file can be corrupted while transffering from PCto device. In case you are using other recovery then you can use root explorer from play store to check MD5. Open root explorer - navigate to ROM file - Long press and select properties. Vait for some time while it finish calculating MD5 and once it matches with one provided on ROM thread.
2.Use recovery which is recommended by developer of ROM.
3.Before flashing ROM wipe data and then install ROM.
4.If still issue then you can try flashing stock recovery and then wipe data with stock recovery. NOTE that wiping data with stock recovery will erase all data from Int SD too.
5.Even after this issue persist then last final way is to flash stock ROM with Odin and then wipe data using stock recovery. After that follow install instruction as said above.
Now After successful flashing ROM last step is to restore data
3.Post flashing Restoring data.
1. First complete setup wizard and wait till you get homescreen. Now here wait for your device to become cool. On first boot after clean install media scanner will scan all drive and Index srvice also will run that will make device quite hot. and this depends on data on your device (5 to 30min) Don't intall anything during this period and wait till device gets cool. (This waiting period is optional but still recommended to prevent any unwanted issue)
2.Now reboot device and add your google account. If you have cloud backup for your contacts then let sync to finish and as soon as you add google account your contacts will be restored autometically. Ifyou don't want to sync contact data then immdiately open account-google and select 'Cancel sync' now you can manually select each option which you want to select if you needs selected data to sync only.
3.In case you don't sync contacts with google server then now time to restore from backup you made by other way. Apart from titanim other way to backup contacts is from contact application itself. for that you needs to make bachup before wiping device by
Contact - menu -Impoort/Export - export (SD/ExtSd)
If you have make backup this way then now restore it by doing this in reverse. Contact-men-Import/Export-Import (from where you created backup)
In case you have created backup by titanium then
Open titanium app - look for contact storage (green color) and select it - restore -data only. Remeber this step you have to do after adding google account only otherwise you can't see contacts.
Next is restore SMS
Open titanium - look for Messages (Yellow color) - select - restore -data only
Now reboot device and check contacts and messages are restored correcly
4.Restore rest of app and data.
For this open titanium - menu - batch action - Select "Restore missing app with data" option Here very important thing on next screen is to keep selected two option a.App + data and b.Exclude System apk. This option a will restore all your app including data like game level (may not with few app), credential of app, settings/preferences of app etc and option b will prevent any junk file of preveios ROM to inject.
After confirming of these two options now check list of app which going to restore. Have a look again and deselect any app you don't needs as well an app you don't know what is it (sometimes old ROM junk can be seen here)
Once restore process start, keep patience and let it finsh. During this time device getting hot is normal. and once restore finish, simply reboot device and open application whih requires to give auto notification. Also open applications manually which require root permission. Remember some application can't work unless you manually open it once after titanium restore.
Also to remind that if you find lots of application causing force closes after restoring titanium then may e your ROM is not fixed for it and you needs to Install TB restore fix from play store and needs to apply fix. Also to note you needs to do it everytime you restore titanium data.
OK friends I think lots for now and will update if I find anything missin here. Thiugh it's long to read but I can assure once you do it, you will never worry about wiping device. and it's one time investment to keep device clean
All the best and happy flahing !
This is for users who first time ever flashing custom ROM.
First you should know difference between stock recovery and custom recovery at least visual difference. So if you don't know how stock recovery looks then first put device in recovery this way
Turn off device. Press Vol UP + Home + Power simultaneously. once you see samsing logo on screen just release power button and keep holding other two. Soon you will see some menu on screen. Note down options available and this is stock recovery. Now move On
1.First make backup of your contacts and SMS. you can do it without having device rooted too. For contacts you can sync with google account OR making backup locally from contact app-menu-Import/Export-Export to (USB/Rxt SD) I recommend ExtSD if you have ext SD card because sometime you needs to wipe IntSD card and may you lose data from IntSD (USB storage) For SM you can use samsung account OR offline with third party app like SMS Backup/Restore
2. Remember that for Installing custom ROM you don't needs to have device rooted. Just only having custom recovery (CWM/TWRP) is enough.
Here is guide to flash custom recovery.
First download tar OR tar.md5 format recovery. If you don't know where to get then seek help from ROM thread which you want to flash and get download link of recovery recommended by respective ROM developer.
Once you get custom recovery in tar format, you needs odin. Also make sure you have installed Kies OR Samsung USB drivers on your PC. I prefer samsung driver only.
Remember you don't connect device to PC while flashing with any extension cable. Simply use single cable to connect device with PC. If it is desktop machine then choose one from backside (direct connects to MoBo
Also make sure your machine's firewall is Off and also turn off antivirus if any you have installed on machine.
Now you are ready to go.
3.Turn off your device. Once it turn off completely, press three button Vol Down + Home + Power to put device in download mode.
Now you will see warning screen and press Volume up to continue
After this you will see green android logo and text Downloading...
4.Open Odin from PC and select PDA (On new version of Odin it will be AP) and navigate to custom recovery which you have downloaded in tar/tar.md5 version. See image below for No3
5.Connect your device to PC and soon ID:COM tab will be turn to different color once device is detected. (see No 1 in above Image)
6. Keep selected Auto reboot and Reset time as shown in Image above
7. Now click on start button (no5 in image above)
8.It will take few seconds to finish process and you will see Pass/RESET msg on first tab of Odin. Now you can disconnect device and it will auto reboot.
9.Turn off device and put device in recovery as said very first on this post. If your recovery is changed from first look of stock recovery then you have successfully finished first task. Now move to post 1 above and part 2 Installing ROM section to continue to flash custom ROM.
10.If even after flashing custom recovery you recovery not changes and same as stcok look you have before flashing then follow this.
11. Follow steps 3 to 5 above and after this uncheck Auto reboot option (no 2 in above image) and finish steps 7.
12. Now this time your device won't reboot auto but when you see Pass/REST msg simply disconnect devie and put device in recovery manually bu Vol UP + Home +Power (as said initially)
13.Now you should have custom recovery. and you are ready to proceed for Flashing custom ROM. Head toward post #1 avove section 2 (Installing ROM)
GoofLuck.
reserved
Thanx doc
Hey, what a really useful post! Thanks doc, I'm finally gonna understand something about this titanium label thing!
Thanks alot Ketan Bhai for this great noob friendly guide.. :good::good::good:
Mod Edit
Good work.
Thread stickied
malybru
Forum Moderator
Very very thank you Dr.ketan...
Can I ask you...
Which are the apps requiring root permission and/or to be given auto notification, that you advise to manually open after titanium data restore?
I think I have never read something so useful in any thread about flashing roms...Great??
Great thread. I would just add to backup external datas for certain apps like WhatsApp: they're stored in the internal sd and may get lost when formatting it, since usually Titanium doesn't include them in its backup.
Sent from Galaxy Note 8.0 GT–N5100
jasminedd said:
Very very thank you Dr.ketan...
Can I ask you...
Which are the apps requiring root permission and/or to be given auto notification, that you advise to manually open after titanium data restore?
I think I have never read something so useful in any thread about flashing roms...Great??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I said that about third party (User) applications. Like any third party app you have restored with titanium and that requires root you should trigger supersu permission by asking it. sometimes what happen that it ask supersu permission while you are not monitoring device and you may miss it and app can't perform action. Also some app are not having auto restart option so these kind of app also needs to open it once after restoring with TB
In short user Applications you restored with titanium needs to open once to get it activated.
Very thank you Dr.ketan... Never done so even more precious is your advice ?
This is such a fantastic guide. Thanks Doc, would save hours for a newbie... You rock
Thanks this is really a great guide
Very thank you Dr.ketan. you are the best!!
Inviato dal mio GT-N7100 utilizzando Tapatalk
Great thread dr .. but I missed such thread during my nooby days
Better late than never. Hopefully this will cut off cluttering many thread development. Also easy to direct newbies here for you like helping friends.
Sent from my SM-N900 using xda premium
Doc, lets say XDA v1.2 is install and i did TB backup manually for that on my microSD card. Later on XDA v1.3 is installed how can i make it automatically overwrite the previous verison on the microSD card without deleting it manually?
Not sure if im asking this correctly
It depends on how many backup to keep is selected under preferences. If you select one then earlier will be erased automatically once you backup new.
Sent from my SM-N900 using xda premium
Alternatively, if one has problems with any backups on external SD, mostly on KitKat firmwares due to write to SD permission revoked for 3rd party apps, one can use this app - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.genie9.gcloudbackup to make backup on cloud storage and keep it secure forever and restore hassle free(until you forget your password ).
Does not require root, so its fine for those coming from stock to custom directly without rooting.
Sent from my RPG with auto targeting
WOW!
I have been using Titanium Backup Pro for several years--but, there is stuff in your guide, dr. ketan, that was completely new to me--it is so very useful.
Now doing a clean install will be soooo much easier.
thanks,
Glad that this has been made a 'Sticky'.
With Titanium Backup, when you backup your apps and other files it creates a folder full of files that only it can read. When I flashed Jasmine, I copied those files to my computer and then flashed, then redownloaded Titanium Backup and moved those files as well as the license back into the correct folders. Is this the correct way to use TB, or is there a route that I am missing? It worked fine, just not sure if it is the recommended way of use or not.
More or less.
The folder is usually in the /sdcard area which is NOT wiped by custom recovery (default) "factory reset", so I'm not sure there is any reason to back it up and restore it. If you are using the default wiping method in TWRP, the (internal, psuedo-) /sdcard folder is not wiped.
But there's no harm in a PC backup. A backup that goes unused can just be deleted some time down the road; disk space is cheap & it's there in a disaster. The same can not be said for not making backups.
Warning: since you are newish to this stuff this behavior is VERY different in stock recoveries - the stock recovery version of "factory reset" wipes out EVERYTHING. In that case it would be mandatory that you backup the entire /sdcard if you want to save things. It's a little bit unfortunate that Android named this type of procedure "Factory Reset" instead of something more accurate, which would be something like "User Data Wipe", as it leads new rooters to erroneously conclude that random modifications to the /system and boot partitions can be un-done using something called "factory reset". NOT TRUE AT ALL; IT'S JUST FOR WIPING USER DATA.
Different apps use different strategies for "Pro" version licensing. If they stick with the Google Play ("market") best-practice recommendations, there shouldn't be any need to manipulate license files, so long as the app is downloaded from the Play Store with the same google login that was used to originally purchase the app. But I can't say for sure if that's the mechanism with TiBu.
I use TiBu kind of sparingly - typically only for market apps I am interested in, and even in those cases I usually download the app from the market and restore only the data from TiBu (to avoid missing market registration bugs, etc). Folks on small data plans might have different ideas about it because of data usage issues (and timeliness of restore procedures). I don't use TiBu for things like backup of data stores for launcher apps, ROM frameworks (e.g. "Settings"). There probably is some degree of compatibility from ROM to ROM with those items, but it is certainly not guaranteed. (Things like word dictionaries & dialer blacklists fall into this category - it would be nice if they were guaranteed to be compatible, but there is no way to know in advance. You sort of have to experimentally determine whether you have broken anything.)
Alternatively, you could keep a copy of the TiBu .apk file in your SD card somewhere. That would allow you to do whatever restores you like without connecting to the Google Play market. Just copy it to /data/app using TWRP after flashing/wiping and then on first boot it will be ready to do your restores.*
* in TWRP via Advanced -> Terminal
This requires getting comfortable with a minimum number of Unix command line commands, e.g. "cd", "cp", "ls", "pwd", etc.
I did download it from the store, but had previously read that the license would need to be moved in a thread not on this website. When I redownloaded it from the store, it automatically added the license back, so I ended up not needing it.
I only use TB to backup things like my offline games I want my scores saved, or apps that it logs me back into when it loads it back (Facebook, Reddit, Messenger, Twitch, Twitter, etc).
What I was looking to do was just keep the files for the backups of those apps on my SD card (or whatever is the recommended method), rather than stored to the phones internal memory since it gets wiped during the reset.
Your internal /sdcard should not be getting wiped by TWRP's default wipe method (which is used for installing ROMs for instance). You would have to go into the Advanced Wipe submenu for that to happen. A stock recovery "factory reset" would nuke the "internal" /sdcard though.
That said, there is nothing wrong with having backups off the device - especially for people that remain on a locked bootloader and do not have a (independent boot) custom recovery.
TiBu has a place in its settings where you can choose to place it's backups on the external sdcard if you want to do that. Then they would be safe from any type of factory reset, and could be retrieved if the phone suddenly died.
I assume this is possible. Usually I would do this with TWRP (which you can do), but this method does not require root necessarily.
I want a backup I can restore in case things go sideways.
I managed to do this. Here are the basic instructions.
Have developer options available, select USB debugging. On PC, install minimal adb and fastboot, install essential drivers. Connect phone to PC, select transfer files MTP under USB connected options in notifications. If USB debugging prompt prompts up on phone, check alway allow and ok.
Run cmd.exe as admin and navigate to you ADB install directory. Type "adb root" if rooted or just "adb" if not. ADB should start.
Type adb backup -system -apk -shared -all -f C:\filenameyouchoose.ab
On the phone, type a password for encryption if wanted and touch Back Up My Data.
Presto, now all that's left is to wait. The -apk is to back up apps and -shared is to backup internal SD card data. Change those if you don't want that data backed up.
The command to restore the backup is adb restore C:\filenameyouchoose.ab
Full XDA guide here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-nexus/general/guide-phone-backup-unlock-root-t1420351
Thanks! I'm attempting this procedure for the first time. I am at the place where I am supposed to enter a password to encrypt my backup. The "Back Up My Data" button does nothing. I've tapped all over and around it. The "Do Not Backup" button works just fine and it cancels the operation instantly. My adb session ends. If I tap all over the "Back Up My Data" eventually the operation times out. What could I possibly be doing wrong? Has anyone ever seen this behavior before? (It's super hard to troubleshoot problems with no feedback or error codes.)
I set a desktop backup password in developer options. It still wouldn't go. Then I rebooted and it worked after a fresh boot. Not sure why. I hope that is helpful to someone.
Grep_The_Truth said:
Thanks! I'm attempting this procedure for the first time. I am at the place where I am supposed to enter a password to encrypt my backup. The "Back Up My Data" button does nothing. I've tapped all over and around it. The "Do Not Backup" button works just fine and it cancels the operation instantly. My adb session ends. If I tap all over the "Back Up My Data" eventually the operation times out. What could I possibly be doing wrong? Has anyone ever seen this behavior before? (It's super hard to troubleshoot problems with no feedback or error codes.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh, while I was typing out the message, seems you already solved it.
Previous message: I had similar issue when I was trying to install apps using apk(s) files. It turned out to be the app Twilight app which didn't allow me to click install button except cancel: "The prompt for screen overlay detected is presented when an installed application is allowed to Draw over other apps is running in the background" See if your issue has something to do with an app.
Charkatak said:
...It turned out to be the app Twilight app...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Brilliant! That was it. Jolly good show, sir!
File size of backup
Just wondering if anyone gets vastly different file sizes when they do a complete backup? The first time i tried this i got a backup file of about 600mb. I did it again with a different file name to the same folder and it was double the size. The third time i tried it was back to the original smaller size. My fear is that this is not a reliable means for complete backup. Is there any way of seeing whats inside this backup?
I have stumbled upon this command and my question is, is this as powerful as a nandroid backup? Since we don't have permanent TWRP (Yet?), I feel really unsafe while messing with the phone (The whole A/B thing which I still need to get used to doesn't help either) and considering the times nandroid backup saved my device I could really use something equally powerful to fall back on.
I tried the ADB backup and it took a while and generated a ~10GB file for me, but restoring to a new phone didn't work. No errors or anything, it just went real fast and didn't seem to do anything. I didn't care to try to investigate it because I just needed to get my new phone up and send the broken one back.
I ended up using TWRP from the boot partition (obviously not backing up boot), then installing twrp on boot on the new phone and restoring the system and data, next copying the sdcard contents to the computer using adb pull and adb push onto the new phone, finally flashing the correct boot.img, and I was back up and running on a replacement phone right where I left off on the old one. ...
One caveat is if your old phone is on a different firmware you have to update the new phone to match before all this.
Hi,
First post, so be gentle. I searched the forum and found quite a few posts about a boot looping S5 but most referring to custom ROMs - my phone started doing this on its own. Running marshmallow 6.0.1. Its almost 3 years old, and up until now has never caused problems. It was charging when this first happened, and it could have updated (I have no way of knowing what update though).
First thing I tried was a new battery, I charged it up with the phone off, but it still wouldn't boot.
The problem:
-It either hangs on the startup splash screen ("Samsung GALAXY S5") and can only be turned off by pulling the battery (sometimes), or.. it restarts on the same screen (mostly).
-If I leave it for 10 minutes without a battery, it goes further, getting to the point where it asks for the password, but then freezes at this point at restarts.
-I can get into recovery (vol up + home + power buttons) and have cleared the cache. It never hangs or freezes whilst in recovery.
-Whilst I had enabled developer options (used for debugging bluetooth problems once) I have NOT enabled USB debugging - so it seems ADB push/pull to recover user data won't work.
I don't really want to do a factory reset as google hasn't backed up everything, so I'm stuck. Does TWRP or clockworkmod go into the recovery partition (sparing user data)? Or do these only work after a factory reset? I have read a fair bit about Odin, Kies, and firmware updates, but as I don't know what the problem is, I have no idea where to start - I was hoping there are some kind of debug logs on the phone that could at least point to the cause, but of course I cannot access it. The fact it doesn't crash/hang/restart in recovery leads me to believe it isn't a hardware problem - but the fact this happened suddenly without me changing anything is suspicious. Ideas?
If you have an SD card inserted remove it - a corrupt SD can cause bootloops
If it boots without sd card transfer what you need from it to a pc either via USB card reader or via USB cable whilst in twrp
Once done format sd card & transfer files back - note only transfer back personal files eg pics music etc & not the android folder or any app data
If it still bootloops your only choice maybe a factory reset
You can flash twrp at any time - it will not erase userdata unless you goto the wipe section & do it yourself
You can create a backup & extract it on a pc but remember twrp backups do not backup personal files like pics music docs
You can however mount internal storage & transfer what ever files you want to pc
If all else fails flash stock firmware via odin
TheFixItMan said:
If you have an SD card inserted remove it - a corrupt SD can cause bootloops
If it boots without sd card transfer what you need from it to a pc either via USB card reader or via USB cable whilst in twrp
Once done format sd card & transfer files back - note only transfer back personal files eg pics music etc & not the android folder or any app data
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sadly, it stil does it without the SD - forgot to mention I tried that too.
TheFixItMan said:
You can flash twrp at any time - it will not erase userdata unless you goto the wipe section & do it yourself
You can create a backup & extract it on a pc but remember twrp backups do not backup personal files like pics music docs
You can however mount internal storage & transfer what ever files you want to pc
If all else fails flash stock firmware via odin
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ahh, this is what I was hoping. So twrp, goes onto the recovery partition? I did read (here: hxxps://twrp.me/faq/backupexclusions.html ), as you mentioned, that TWRP doesn't back up internal storage automagically. Even if done manually, as long as I can transfer the files to PC, I'll be happy. Thankfully, it's only one folder of photos that I google didn't back up, but I might as well grab everything.
I may post back with questions, thanks for the reply!
Right, I keep reading that "USB debugging" must be enabled when installing TWRP, or doing almost anything. But I don't have this enabled, and I can't enable it since I don't have access to the phones system. Is this required to install TWRP? I know it is required to use ADB which I believe is used to flash the TWRP. If this is the case, it looks like a dead end. I did find one link claiming to enable USB debugging from a recovery, but the instructions are incomplete, and it also mentions performing a factory reset first - which kind of defeats the point.
BuriedCode said:
Right, I keep reading that "USB debugging" must be enabled when installing TWRP, or doing almost anything. But I don't have this enabled, and I can't enable it since I don't have access to the phones system. Is this required to install TWRP? I know it is required to use ADB which I believe is used to flash the TWRP. If this is the case, it looks like a dead end. I did find one link claiming to enable USB debugging from a recovery, but the instructions are incomplete, and it also mentions performing a factory reset first - which kind of defeats the point.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On the g900f all you have to do is the following
Install Samsung USB drivers https://developer.samsung.com/galaxy/others/android-usb-driver-for-windows
Put phone into download mode (hold Vol down home & power button) & connect to pc
Push Vol up to start connection
Open odin https://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=4431749&d=1519672710
Place twrp.tar in the AP section & flash
https://dl.twrp.me/klte/
As soon as the phone restarts enter recovery - hold Vol up home power button
If the phone starts to boot before entering recovery you will need to flash it again - once you have entered twrp once it will stick
Once again, thank you for the clear instructions. I Successfully got TWRP on my phone, and it appears on the PC so I could see the file structure in explorer (!). Progress.
I went to copy two photos as a test - MPT/USB transfers have always been unreliable for me anyway - and the phone froze. I only noticed when the touch screen became unresponsive and the clock wasn't updating. So this could well be the original problem - a hardware issue that causes the phone to freeze when it does anything remotely taxing. Or.. it could be the MPT transfer.
Either way, I had to pull the battery and it seems the TWRP didn't take as when I tried to boot into recovery, it had the stock recovery menu. So at least I'm not going backwards, nothing is broken.
Now I know how to get TWRP on there, and to boot back into recovery right away, and I know that it works. Next up is getting it on there and leaving it for 10 minutes to see if it crashes/freezes. If its OK, then I'll have to look for another way to pull files off. Can one use ADB with TWRP? If its enabled then I could use "pull" to get the files off and hopefully quicker (or at least more reliably) than ****ty MPT. Ideally I'd like to just pull everything off so I can decide what to add back later after a fresh reset.
Thank you once again for your advice!
Replying to my own post. It still can crash (screen has random colours on it and it freezes) but rarely whilst in TWRP. I was able to use adb and pull off all my camera photos that weren't backed up, and with the "-a" option, keep the file attributes.
Also solved the MPT problem - if anyone has the same issue or cares - using USB 3.0 sockets on my PC and only at the back rather than the sockets on the front (which are awful quality anyway). It's sitll onyl USB 2.0 but I guess the socket is higher quality.
Last question which I may make another thread for: How can I back up contacts, internet bookmarks, SMS and "memos" from a Samsung S5? I read that TWRP does not back these up, so I would need the location of the directory where these are stored. My google fu yielded somewhat vague answers from stackexchange, but no exact directories. If TWRP includes these in backup great, if not I would like to know if there is any kind of work around. MMS messages probably aren't that important, but contacts and memos really are. If I find any answers, I'll post back for others. Cheers!
Right, I realise people either know this, or don't care, but I did say I would post with anything I've found. I couldn't find the answers googling, so I was digging around in the file browser in TWRP.
- Almost everything in data/media - which isnt' backed up by TWRP - is exposed to MPT. I say almost everything, because some isn't, but I backed up the entire folder anyway with adb pull. This is the "internal SDcard" people mention in forums (internal memory partition, not an actual card). Simply copying from windows explorer grabs the files, but not with the correct directory structure. Best to use adb pull with the -a option to keep file attributes.
- Samsung memos, bookmarks (from the samsung internet browser), and contacts are not stored in /data/media. Rather these are in data/data. in the following places (absolute directories):
- memos: data/data/com.samsung.android.app.memo/databases/memo.db
- bookmarks: data/data/com.sec.android.app.sbrowser/databases/SBrowser.db
- contacts: data/data/com.android.providers.contacts/databases/contacts2.db
It seems TWRP does not back these up -I could be wrong though. Samsung's own utilities probably do but I have never used them. I don't know if google stores these either since I haven't used its backups to check.
I am still unclear of exactly what TWRO backup backs up. I understand that the /media folder is not included (downloads, photos, music etc..) but are app settings in data/data included?
BuriedCode said:
Right, I realise people either know this, or don't care, but I did say I would post with anything I've found. I couldn't find the answers googling, so I was digging around in the file browser in TWRP.
- Almost everything in data/media - which isnt' backed up by TWRP - is exposed to MPT. I say almost everything, because some isn't, but I backed up the entire folder anyway with adb pull. This is the "internal SDcard" people mention in forums (internal memory partition, not an actual card). Simply copying from windows explorer grabs the files, but not with the correct directory structure. Best to use adb pull with the -a option to keep file attributes.
- Samsung memos, bookmarks (from the samsung internet browser), and contacts are not stored in /data/media. Rather these are in data/data. in the following places (absolute directories):
- memos: data/data/com.samsung.android.app.memo/databases/memo.db
- bookmarks: data/data/com.sec.android.app.sbrowser/databases/SBrowser.db
- contacts: data/data/com.android.providers.contacts/databases/contacts2.db
It seems TWRP does not back these up -I could be wrong though. Samsung's own utilities probably do but I have never used them. I don't know if google stores these either since I haven't used its backups to check.
I am still unclear of exactly what TWRO backup backs up. I understand that the /media folder is not included (downloads, photos, music etc..) but are app settings in data/data included?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All app data is backed up in a twrp backup
If you were to restore a twrp backup your phone would be in exactly the same position as when the backup was created including app settings & data
The common partitions it will backup are system data cache & boot (kernel) - it can also backup (if included in the twrp.fstab) modem/efs & other partitions
The only things a twrp backup doesn't backup is personal files eg downloads music pictures documents etc
You can make a twrp backup & extract it on a pc - I'm sure there are guides which explain how to do this
TheFixItMan said:
All app data is backed up in a twrp backup
If you were to restore a twrp backup your phone would be in exactly the same position as when the backup was created including app settings & data
The common partitions it will backup are system data cache & boot (kernel) - it can also backup (if included in the twrp.fstab) modem/efs & other partitions
The only things a twrp backup doesn't backup is personal files eg downloads music pictures documents etc
You can make a twrp backup & extract it on a pc - I'm sure there are guides which explain how to do this
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Excellent. Well I've manually (well, same directory structure) backed up pretty much everything I could think of anyway so even if the phone goes south, the media files are safe. I'll do a TWRP backup on my PC as well (just for easy restoring if I need to) I'm assuming this can only be done via adb? as the UI only gives options for internal or SDcard storage - which is another option.
I have some more questions as I am not sure how to proceed. Yes, everything is (or can be) backed up. But the phone still freezes which may or may not be a hardware issue. So I am stuck deciding:
1) looking for logs to attempt to diagnose the problem. Probably won't get me anywhere. logcat doesn't seem to work.
2) Just performing a factory reset from TWRP. Unsure exactly what this resets. Firmware? OS? wipes all apps?
3) Using Odin to flash stock firmware (I only have one large md5 file from updato.com for use with "AP"). Does this wipe apps and data? (I'm not including media files here).
In some forums people claim that user data (as in apps and app data) isn't wiped by using ODIN to update the firmware, others say it wipes absolutely everything. Whilst I have back ups I'd obviously prefer it to keep the apps and their data, assuming they aren't the cause of the problem. Apologies for so many questions, I probably don't need to know all the details, but I'm curious and cautious.
BuriedCode said:
Excellent. Well I've manually (well, same directory structure) backed up pretty much everything I could think of anyway so even if the phone goes south, the media files are safe. I'll do a TWRP backup on my PC as well (just for easy restoring if I need to) I'm assuming this can only be done via adb? as the UI only gives options for internal or SDcard storage - which is another option.
I have some more questions as I am not sure how to proceed. Yes, everything is (or can be) backed up. But the phone still freezes which may or may not be a hardware issue. So I am stuck deciding:
1) looking for logs to attempt to diagnose the problem. Probably won't get me anywhere. logcat doesn't seem to work.
2) Just performing a factory reset from TWRP. Unsure exactly what this resets. Firmware? OS? wipes all apps?
3) Using Odin to flash stock firmware (I only have one large md5 file from updato.com for use with "AP"). Does this wipe apps and data? (I'm not including media files here).
In some forums people claim that user data (as in apps and app data) isn't wiped by using ODIN to update the firmware, others say it wipes absolutely everything. Whilst I have back ups I'd obviously prefer it to keep the apps and their data, assuming they aren't the cause of the problem. Apologies for so many questions, I probably don't need to know all the details, but I'm curious and cautious.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Odin firmware images (unless custom made) do not wipe user data apps & settings however unless it's the same firmware as already on the phone it will most likely bootloop until you do a factory reset in stock recovery
This will erase all app data & settings but not internal storage unless the device was encrypted in which case all internal storage will be erased
For twrp if you want to flash a custom rom
If encrypted format data (option on right of wipe menu) This will erase all internal storage - then restart to recovery
Then once encryption removed or not encrypted to begin with
Wipe system (previous rom)
Wipe data (app data settings)
Wipe cache
Flash rom
Flash gapps
Flash root (optional)
Restart
So it looks like a firmware flash with ODIN is the way to go. As I've loaded on TWRP I can no longer see the firmware version that was on the stock recovery screen to check if I have the right image downloaded. Is there a way to see the firmware version from TWRP? I tried
Code:
adb shell getprop
Which had [ro.boot.bootloader]: [G900FXXU1CRH1] that I'm guessing is the firmware version, although the hit on sammobile doesn't mention the carrier (vodafone). If I search by region and carrier, I get a different version.
Update: Just tried to backup to a blank SD micro. It freezes and restarts 2% into it every time. Tried:
Code:
adb backup " -all -noshared -f "C:\phone backup.ab" "
And it said "now unlock your device to confirm action" but TWRP gave no such dialog. At this rate I can't actually do a proper backup of anything. Is there another way? I don't have enough space on internal storage. I guess I could try USB storage (USB memory stick with adapter).
BuriedCode said:
So it looks like a firmware flash with ODIN is the way to go. As I've loaded on TWRP I can no longer see the firmware version that was on the stock recovery screen to check if I have the right image downloaded. Is there a way to see the firmware version from TWRP? I tried
Code:
adb shell getprop
Which had [ro.boot.bootloader]: [G900FXXU1CRH1] that I'm guessing is the firmware version, although the hit on sammobile doesn't mention the carrier (vodafone). If I search by region and carrier, I get a different version.
Update: Just tried to backup to a blank SD micro. It freezes and restarts 2% into it every time. Tried:
Code:
adb backup " -all -noshared -f "C:\phone backup.ab" "
And it said "now unlock your device to confirm action" but TWRP gave no such dialog. At this rate I can't actually do a proper backup of anything. Is there another way? I don't have enough space on internal storage. I guess I could try USB storage (USB memory stick with adapter).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just backup to internal storage or SD card & transfer to pc
Backup is stored in eg sdcard/twrp
The firmware you need is
https://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/galaxy-s5/SM-G900F/BTU/download/G900FXXU1CRH1/233034/
Free downloads on sammobile will be back on Monday or find an alternative site
TheFixItMan said:
Just backup to internal storage or SD card & transfer to pc
Backup is stored in eg sdcard/twrp
The firmware you need is
https://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/galaxy-s5/SM-G900F/BTU/download/G900FXXU1CRH1/233034/
Free downloads on sammobile will be back on Monday or find an alternative site
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't backup to SD card because it freezes at 2%. And using "adb backup " -f "C:\mybackup.ab" --twrp boot system data" " asks me to unlock my device - but TWRP doesn't show anything. On top of all that, it seems sammobile is under maintainance so I cannot download that firmware file until Monday Probably a good thing as it gives me a couple of days to keep trying to back up. Right now it gets into TWRP from recovery boot about one in 6 times. I'm out of idea's.
You can probably tell the frustration is real. Right now, I cannot use adb or twrp to backup onto internal storage (no space), the SDcard (crashes 2% into it, even with a blank SD card). It doesn't seem to crash whilst in TWRP, and I managed to pull the media folder off use "adb pull" so it seems it doesn't crash when using ADB commands.
So my only option before attempting to flash firmware is to make a backup via adb. However, I cannot get this to work at all. "adb backup --twrp" prompts me to unlock my phone, but the phone just displays the TWRP menu still. "adb backup -f "c:\backADB.ab" -noshared --twrp system boot data" tells me "adb: unable to open file c:\backADB.ab". Using simply "adb backup" puts me in the backup menu in TWRP, but then I can only change storage to internal or SDcard.
So either we can't yet backup to PC via adb and the TWRP documentation is out of date, or bugged. I'm on windows so I don't know if that makes it impossible - I just want to be able to get a backup on my PC's harddrive(s). Am I missing something with ADB?
Edit: it seems to now attempt to back up with "adb backup -f "c:\mybackup" --twrp system boot data" however.. this starts to back up and crashes at... 2%.
Just flashed the linked firmware with Odin after managing to get my apps backed up with my samsung account (the phone didn't crash for 15 minutes!). It cycled through "installing system update" restarting several times before hanging on the startup screen. I then pulled the battery, booted into stock recovery performed a factory reset (TWRP was gone). Now it is back in bootloop.
I installed TWRP again to use the file browser and my data has indeed been wiped (RIP). So what now? I could just let it boot loop and hope that it somehow gets back into android - it did that before, maybe one in 15 times. But I've done pretty much everything that has been recommended.
Rather than leave this thread hanging, I might as well post progress. After many *many* reboots interrupting the phone updating apps, it seems stable. It still occasionally crashes, but I can now make it crash and restart on demand by trying to install snapchat. It downloads it successfully and about a minute of "installing" the phone restarts, and reboots about 15 times before finally booting properly. I installed several other apps, none of which restarted the phone.
So, I'm going to get a new phone, and it seems that most things are backed up (please note, samsung doesn't back up contacts, shealth data, or splanner data despite claiming they do so). But I am curious as to what this problem could be. I have no experience debugging phone problems, and I realize it could be many things, but is there a way of checking the phones RAM (unlikely) or internal memory (flash, = more likely) for corruption? I may run a stress test to check if its power, CPU, or hover heating. If it passes that then it has to be memory usage.
Update: Today it only lasts a few minutes before it restarts. This is without any app updates - although I cannot be sure because I don't know whats going on in the background. This happens with, or without the SD card, and with both the new and old battery. I don't know where to start debugging. Any pointers?