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Un-Bricking by Unlocking & Flashing CWM+CM7 (was: Accidentally deleted MediaProvider)

Un-Bricking by Unlocking & Flashing CWM+CM7 (was: Accidentally deleted MediaProvider)
Hi!
When removing Bloatware with Titanium Backup a while ago, I accidentally missed a click (never used a touch screen...) and uninstalled MediaProvider, which I have not been able to recover since.
I tried putting the files back from a friend's HTC, which didn't work; after that I was told even the packages differ between manufacturers, so I tried getting them from a stock Bell Atrix .zip posted on these very forums, which didn't help either. Neither #android-root nor AndroidForums were able to help, thus I ask here: Can anyone tell me how to either make my system accept Bell's files, or where I can find a "vanilla" Motorola build?
(Problem is, the phone didn't come from a phone company, a friend of mine got it pre-release from his uncle who is with Motorola, so it may even be different from what hit the market later on...)
I guess the following information will help, it's a Titanium Backup info file for another componend I backupped shortly after:
#Titanium Backup
#Sat Feb 25 03:28:43 MEZ 2012
app_gui_icon=[...]
sys_ro.build.date.utc=1302536066
app_version_code=8
sys_ro.product.model=MB860
has_prefsdata_jpu=0
sys_ro.serialno=<xxx>
sys_ro.build.description=olympus-user 2.2.2 OLYEM_U4_0.44.0 578673 ota-rel-keys,release-keys
has_prefsdata=0
app_gui_label=com.android.providers.applications 2.2.2
sys_ro.build.version.release=2.2.2
app_apk_md5=1989ff2476ee73ad445760b9bef5f44e
has_dbdata=0
app_apk_codec=GZIP
app_is_forward_locked=0
app_is_system=1
app_label=com.android.providers.applications
app_version_name=2.2.2
generation=1
app_apk_location=internal
(Most of this is unnecessary, I guess, but I can't really be sure what you might need to judge what I would have to to...)
I would be very grateful for any help, it is extremely limiting not to be able to use any media capabilities.
So, thanks in advance,
David

maybe flash a new rom if your contacts are all backed up?

Hm, well, that would really be the last resort :\ In addition to losing all my data, I fear the risk of bricking it completely. Can't really be that I'd have to flash it just because two files are missing...?
Edit: I neglected to say that the files in question are MediaProvider.apk and MediaProvider.odex. I do only need to copy these to /system/app, right?

Intelensprotient said:
Hm, well, that would really be the last resort :\ In addition to losing all my data, I fear the risk of bricking it completely. Can't really be that I'd have to flash it just because two files are missing...?
Edit: I neglected to say that the files in question are MediaProvider.apk and MediaProvider.odex. I do only need to copy these to /system/app, right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, but you have to set the permissions same the other files in .system/app folder.
I have attached the missing files to this post. My gingerbread version is 2.3.4.
Good Luck!

Huh. Setting right permissions for the files from Bell had no effect; installing yours soft bricks it in an interesting way: Even with Early USB Enumeration, all I see is
# adb devices
List of devices attached
???????????? no permissions
Even with root. The LED flashes red, and after a minute it reboots. I had expected things not to work out, resulting in the deletion of your files, but that I screwed up _that_ bad after it didn't even seem to notice the right (?) files when they were there is kinda surprising.
The standard workarounds (adb kill/start server, MODE=0666 to udev or being root) change nothing about this. Time for hard reset?

Intelensprotient said:
Huh. Setting right permissions for the files from Bell had no effect; installing yours soft bricks it in an interesting way: Even with Early USB Enumeration, all I see is
# adb devices
List of devices attached
???????????? no permissions
Even with root. The LED flashes red, and after a minute it reboots. I had expected things not to work out, resulting in the deletion of your files, but that I screwed up _that_ bad after it didn't even seem to notice the right (?) files when they were there is kinda surprising.
The standard workarounds (adb kill/start server, MODE=0666 to udev or being root) change nothing about this. Time for hard reset?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would hard reset too at this stage. I'm sorry it didn't work out.

Now, that's interesting. Factory reset didn't change anything.

Sorry for reply to self, but I was less than clear, so - help?
My next step would be to try to unlock the bootloader, then flash CWM and see if anything can be fixed that way; then, I would try flashing CM7 (or, more specifically, the Neutrino GT ROM) by CWM; then, I would try flashing it without. Is that a safe progression of attempts? Or have I possibly broken anything that would hard-brick it by any of these methods? And can you recommend any finer increments what I could do before / between / after those mentioned? I still have the option to apply an update in Recovery - is it possible, for instance, to put a .zip onto my SD that has 0 Byte MediaProvider files in it?
(I have thought about installing Neutrino for a while, and this seems to be a good time to flash it, as my data is cleared now anyways. To my understanding, this should not be any more dangerous than just re-flashing the Froyo that was there before, right?)
As an additional fact, ADB now doesn't detect any devices any more, even with Early USB. This could be because USB Debug is not a factory standard setting, though, as I reset it to factory defaults.
Also, the startup Moto screen behaves differently: It doesn't go to the point where the logo disappears in a flash, the background light switches off before that. As far as I can tell, the display still shows the animation, though, but it is not lit. Furthermore, the reboot seems to happen immediately after the animation has ended, and not 1-2 minutes later, like it was before the reset.
I would be grateful if anyone could explain what happened. To my understanding, a factory reset should clear /system, and the error started when I put some non-compatible .apks there, so I thought this would fix things. Is it possible something broke on the hardware side, when (for instance) 2.2.2 called a function that has had its parameters changes in 2.3.4?
[If a moderator reads this - does this qualify as a general Android question? I have no experience with different devices, so I'd be glad if you could decide if this thread has to stay here or if it can go to a sub-forum with a wider audience - General Android Q&A, for instance.]

Bump...

Success Neutrino up and running!

[Q] Google Nexus 4: photo recovery -safest ROOT possible (pun) 4.4.2

In short, i deleted my photos by accident, and deeply desire to recover them.
Data Recovery programs wont work on my Google Nexus 4, for a combination of reasons. Namely, because it is not a usb mass storage device, it is internal memory, and because the phone has not ever been rooted. If it is possible to recover the photos without rooting the phone, this would be favorable. But i doubt this is possible.
Is there a way to root my phone without causing a "factory wipe/reset"? Perhaps by avoiding unlocking the bootloader?I am not even 100% sure if this can be achieved on 4.4.2. as of now. I am continuing to investigate, but if anyone has the know-how, please let me know.
this forum here, suggests something that might work, but at the end of the forum, it suggests that 4.4.2 is still impossible to root without wiping.
-There are methods of scanning the phone after it has been rooted, but i can't find the right kind of rooting i need.
-There are methods of copying the phone's hard drive -bit-by-bit- to my PC in .RAW format, and then converting this into something that can be mounted like a real drive, which could be scanned and from which photos could be recovered., but this method requires a rooted phone as well
-there is a possibility of trying to mount the phone on a linux OS, and then scan it possibly. but i don't know if this is impossible.
i am reading the basics in the meantime.
LG Google Nexus 4, 4.4.2
Build:KOT49H
kernel:
3.4.0-perf-g2cae413
[email protected] #1
wed Nov20 14:54:28 PST 2013
Desktop PC: Windows 7 Professional 64bit, service pack 1.
Laptop: mac...
you can read more about things i have tried and my other concerns, in greater detail below.
LOTS OF METHODS, LITTLE CLARITY
I just came back from visiting some dear friends in china and purchased an upgraded version of dropbox. Before I uploaded my photos, I accidentally deleted my entire album.
What is the safest and surest attempt for recovery?
1. i need to avoid installing anything on my phone as much as possible - (lest it overwrite the empty areas where the "deleted" photos reside.)
2. i need to keep my phone off as much as humanly possible (lest it overwrite the empty areas where the "deleted" photos reside.)
3. almost without saying - id like to avoid bricking my phone, (lest it destroy my "deleted" photos)
SOFTWARE RECOVERY SECTION
All known software recovery programs won't find any data on my phone because either they are made for scanning mountable drives, USB mass storage devices, or some simply cannot scan the device unless i root my phone (although I am not sure if rooting is directly correlated with successful scanning, or if rooting the phone simply allows me to carry on with other necessary steps prior to "successful scanning"- like allowing me to installing apps that allow me to mount the internal memory as a scannable drive). Enabling USB Debugging, or enabling/disabling MTP is not the same as enabling USB mass storage mode. Seeing the Nexus 4 as "portable Device" under my computer does not mean it is a mounted drive that i can scan with a recover program. No matter what, nothing seems to work with the Google Nexus 4 as it is now.
***I first tried installing the driver's through the ANDROID SDK, by unzipping the contents from the downloaded zip file and by double clicking the .exe file. Double-clicking the .exe file resulted in a cmd dos-style window popping up and immediately disappearing. Perhaps i needed to put the extracted folder on "C:\"?
REGARDLES....later, I have used WugFresh Nexus Root Toolkit v1.8.2 for ensuring proper driver installation for my phone. I have only used this software to install drivers. It walks you through bad-driver uninstallation/clean up, it retrieves the latest drivers, installs them, and then tests their workability for you and lets you know if the drivers were successfully installed.
I have not used Wug's toolkit to root or hack my phone... yet....
Below is a list of software I have used on my Windows machine and my mac. These simply will not work with the phone as it is right now.
Remo
TenorShare
Bycloud android data recovery
Android Data Recovery
Dr. Fone
Recuva
- i havent tried disk digger. but it requires a rooted phone.
SO simple methods will simply not work? Please correct me if I am wrong.
BIT BY BIT CLONE METHOD
This seems to be the most tedious (but thorough) method for actually preparing something that can be truly scanned for photo-recovery. This method seems to create a bit-by-bit copy of the phone to my computer, which can be converted and mounted and then scanned.
However, it requires rooting. Not to mention, it recommends non-destructive rooting. Which leads me to the next section ...
ROOTING section (and its problems)
In the fruitless sections listed above, it always seems to lead towards rooting as a requirement. Most people say you should root your phone when you first get it, because, i suppose rooting is "synonymous" with a wipe/reset. I believe this reset happens as a result of the bootloader being unlocked. According to MY limited understanding, this unlocking process essentially causes a "factory reset" which wipes the phone, and then catastrophically overwrites the precious space where the deleted photos currently reside. this is unacceptable. I imagine, this "reset" is for security reasons.
Most people seem to suggest that you make a back up before you root. This isn't helpful for my situation because we are talking about retrieving deleted data. I cannot make a back-up of deleted data.
Is it really possible to root without wiping the Google Nexus 4?
Is it even profitable to consider rooting a viable option? I don't imagine myself enjoying a rooted phone as much as others on this forum. I would hate to be creating a black hole for malicious software to breed. i am only concerned with data retrieval for this one time in my life. Is rooting the only viable option? If i root, won't that make the previously mentioned software-scanning section (e.g., Dr. fone), more viable than the BIT-BY-BIT section tedious and pointless by comparison?
All in all, I think it most likely that i will need to root my phone and do the bit by bit copy. If a rooting-first-step is the final conclusion, then I am looking for clear and careful advice for my specific phone on how to root it without jeopardizing the deleted photos (e.g., avoiding a "factory reset" from unlocking the bootloader, or perhaps avoiding unlocking the bootloader altogether) and how to hopefully carry on from there. I don't even know if avoiding "unlocking the bootloader" will virtually guarantee a non-destructive root method
Rooting gets crazy because it leads to necessary installations of SuperUser, busybox, kernels, roms, etc... There are so many unfamiliar vague terms for a beginner like me and it is taking tons of time to break through. I am uninterested in keeping my phone rooted, or maintaining a lifestyle with a rooted phone. if we can move expeditiously from point A to B and then back, (get in, get the photos, and get out,) that would be the most awesome plan.
LINUX METHOD?
is there another way to get to the deleted photos?.
I do not know if 'mounting' the phone is akin to 'mounting' a scannable drive. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fw2MKGIgyF4
maybe this is another wild goose chase?
IN SUMMARY
1. It would be helpful if there was a root-free photo-recovery software solution that actually works (this is unlikely to be in existence) with an unrooted nexus 4
2. It would be helpful if it is possible to root without destroying my chances of recovering my deleted photos, with the goal of allowing recovery software access (deeper access) to my phone, i.e. disk digger or if necessary... a bit-by-bit copy to my PC.
3. it would be interesting if the nexus 4 can be magically mounted and scanned on the linux operating system
4. It would be MOST HELPFUL if there was a clear consensus on what direction to take, because there is a lot of misinformation out there. One wrong step and i could end up shooting myself in the foot twice (if i inadvertently reset my phone), or three times (if i brick my phone).
5. can the phone be put back to normal (i.e. unroot) after rooting? or does this require that i make a full backup of the phone in its current state? ( i tried using WUGS toolkit to backup my media, but it wont do it unless i unlock the bootloader... back to that problem again )
I'm sorry for sounding like an idiot. I have been at this for a more than a few hours. I sincerely appreciate any help and consideration towards this specific situation in advance, and the hope that this forum has already offered me.

Impossible to root 4.4.2 without unlocking the boot loader and wiping the device.

DrFredPhD said:
Impossible to root 4.4.2 without unlocking the boot loader and wiping the device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same problem.... There isn't a solution yet? :crying:

fabrollo said:
Same problem.... There isn't a solution yet? :crying:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, you have to unlock the bootloader and that wipes the device
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using XDA Free mobile app

jd1639 said:
Nope, you have to unlock the bootloader and that wipes the device
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And after i should try to recover all the wiped files with diskdigger for example? Maybe the datas that we was searching will be found?
Thanks... if i must try this way to solve my problem i will bite the bullet...

fabrollo said:
And after i should try to recover all the wiped files with diskdigger for example? Maybe the datas that we was searching will be found?
Thanks... if i must try this way to solve my problem i will bite the bullet...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The chances of recovering anything is very small
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app

Recover lost pictures/video on internal memory

Is there a way to recover these on this phone? Apparently most of the pictures/videos were being saved to the internal memory rather than external, and one morning all was lost somehow so I wanted to try and recover what I could. I've tried Dr.Fone Android Recovery which attempts to temporarily root the phone during the process, but it fails and won't go passed attempting to root which I assume is because there's no root for the version of the phone? The phone is running Lollipop 5.0 and the current build number is N900VVRSEPL1. Any ideas?

The PL1 update was a security patch release. It appears to have done it's job (and probably then some) - the previously used, public rooting tool(s) for OB6 / OF1 firmware releases no longer work on it, so ... barring a new rooting method, root is not available to you.
"one morning all was lost" isn't very descriptive though; so whether or not having root would be mandatory is 100% not clear.
Are you sure you didn't accidentally get a ".nomedia" file into the folder where the pictures are supposed to be? Check with a file explorer.
If they truly did get erased, even having root wouldn't make the job much easier - you would have to use a forensic recovery tool that understood ext4 filesystems. (And note: if the files did get erased, the longer you use the phone, the more are being lost as the "/data" file system is constantly being written)
good luck

Huawei P10 Lite SMS thread recovery

I have a kinda complex problem with this device.
Someone called me last night scared because she (kinda) deleted an entire messages thread from the phone ( SMS ) and it was an accident.
Now, she really need those messages because of a juridic case. Is there any way to recover old messages that were deleted from that thread ?
I tried to recover with EaseUS mobile Data Recovery, which (for desktop version) i used in the past for other laptops and Desktops to recover deleted files or formatted disks, but with phones, it requires me Root. I recently Rooted my HTC device and this process "wipe" whole data from your phone. As i know, Windows Kernel and Linux Kernel (the one used in Android OS too) have the same file management system, so the point is, this "Wipe" what actually does with MBR ? It hard format the disk, or it just modify MRB's File Table by deleting it's references pointers to files ? A hard format (switching every single bit to 0 from where MBR ends, all the way to the end of the partition) takes a lot of time, especially in these smartphones, because they have a lot slower storage speeds, and on my HTC device, this process took like 1-2 seconds so i hardly can imagine that actually it deletes the data, so with the MBR's mechanism in mind, i really take this in consideration to root the phone and use that software to recover that thread.
My main concern is that, i don't really know what file shall i restore. If these SMSes are stored into a database, when a thread is deleted, the phone can simply "drop records"... i mean, it can simply delete records from the tables, and tables being stored in a database as a single file, ell, and they are gone... for good in this case scenario....
The only way i think i will act if someone confirm that this is the way to recover it, i will restore every single file of the phone that was deleted before accident happen and i will look for SMS database to be modified a day after the thread was deleted. Is this the good way, i'm about to do a pointless action by rooting this device?
I have to mention, the thread is now created again, have 3 new mesages with that person, but there were like 1k+ in that thread before... so, how to recover them?
Thank you in advance for any information.

Dr Fone recovery option messed up my phone getting "Enter your password to start up device" and No support single sku

When I plugin my Samsung Galaxy J7 Prime and then select recovery module and it show as connected and then I select android data recovery option and then select recover documents only and then click next. Then it show and detected device model, downloading package and it went like that till 99% uncertain if it hit 100% or not and then it caused my device to reboot and after it reboot now it is asking for a password to start up device but I tried device screen password, google account password and samsung account password but all didnt work. Thus it shows have 7 attempts left before factory reset itself.
The boot up looks a bit different from normal too, unsure if it is coming through a different type of boot and if there is a way to reverse to how it was earlier?
In recovery mode it shows in recovery log pid 2064 ran. where first line filesystem table code was;
0/ efs ext4/ dev/block/platform/1354000.dwmmc0/by-name/EFS(/dev/block/mmcblk0p3) 0
and in following
#ls /cache/recovery
ksmg
-rw------root root 8190724 2022-04-02 11:19 last_ode_dumpstate_err_check_password.log
From what I could see further in log it seems like maybe dr fone tried to root phone since I see files seem to have been overwritten probably as same file name shown where earlier recorded in time stamp as either 2017 or 2008 and underneath that dst is run with today tim stamp.
What would be method to solve to get back to normal working state without any data loss?
It seems when check via dr fone transfer showing as mem capacity 2797mb and 1362mb used whereas it should show as 32Gb, also when start up it says Enter your password to start up your device but I am certain I enter correct passwords but it is not verifying. Also in recovery mode it shows No support single sku supported api:3.
And when try backup option no files come up on scan does that mean the Dr fone recovery package that it installed wiped out the data? Or is it like in another different boot system for recovery? How to solve this problem?
Also any backup software you think could backup stuff before applying any drastic fixes

I think your phone internal storage is corrupted because of Dr. Fone and this is caused by the data encryption inside the phone and I think that it requires the encryption password, and to solve this problem, you must flash a modified recovery like TWRP or CWM and then pull all the data by making a MOUNT of the internal storage it will only works on old Android version 6.x or 7.x but you can try

My android is 6.0.1 so I think it should work, do you have any video tutorials or a thread with stepwise instructions to get twrp or cwm to backup current data and later restore?
Also any idea if use the dr fone repair device feature it might fix?

Dr.Fone only one thing do transfer WhatsApp chat between android and iOS all else features not work perfect so try another way, ask google how mount internal storage on android phones by twrp it’s easy and not need a tutorial just flash a custom recovery and don’t let device to boot enter recovery mode immediately and go to mount and press mtp or mount storage

Looks like the device name has got renamed as well best try to see if have a file explorer or manager for android so can see if files still intact? Any pc softwares that can be used to clarify without need to unlock screen since it is asking for a pass saying Enter your password to start up your device but I am certain I enter correct passwords but it is not verifying.
If the files are intact then I can try twrp or odin cf root flashing to see if can flash home version file so files possibly stay intact. Or if they are anyways not then will try factory reset via recovery mode and then will need recommendation of good software to recover data for free
Any ideas?

That app is trashware. Do Not use!
If a factory reset doesn't clear it you'll need to reflash the stock rom.
The data is lost... that's my opinion.
Always backup all critical data redundantly to at least two hdds that are physically and electronically isolated from each other and the PC... or you will lose data, eventually!
NEVER encrypt a data backup drive.
Do copy/paste file transfer, verify file size and folder count match. Test for readability.
NEVER clone music data bases, copy/paste only.
Do not use compression or apps like SmartSwitch to backup critical data, they can fail you miserably.
You can never have too many backup data drive. Avoid using flash memory; quality hdds have better memory retainment. Store in more than one location. Near lightning strikes can wipe them; a metal earth grounded box or safe is best.

blackhawk said:
That app is trashware. Do Not use!
If a factory reset doesn't clear it you'll need to reflash the stock rom.
The data is lost... that's my opinion.
Always backup all critical data redundantly to at least two hdds that are physically and electronically isolated from each other and the PC... or you will lose data, eventually!
NEVER encrypt a data backup drive.
Do copy/paste file transfer, verify file size and folder count match. Test for readability.
NEVER clone music data bases, copy/paste only.
Do not use compression or apps like SmartSwitch to backup critical data, they can fail you miserably.
You can never have too many backup data drive. Avoid using flash memory; quality hdds have better memory retainment. Store in more than one location. Near lightning strikes can wipe them; a metal earth grounded box or safe is best.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you recommend a free pc software that could possibly backup device in current state? Or a free pc software that could do data recovery without need to root phone so if I do go ahead with flash and it wipes data or i do factory reset then I could try to get backup data.

NW_Work said:
Can you recommend a free pc software that could possibly backup device in current state? Or a free pc software that could do data recovery without need to root phone so if I do go ahead with flash and it wipes data or i do factory reset then I could try to get backup data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not on an unrooted phone. You can try this.
If you used Drfone it has likely already encrypted the data with their own encryption key.
Hopefully some of your data is backed up somewhere else because this is a dead horse... I believe.
I be more concerned about salvaging the phone at this point. It's a tough lesson from the U of hard knocks... don't repeat it. Sorry.