Techincal Question About Wiping System with Custom ROM - OnePlus 6T Questions & Answers

So I've seen with installing custom ROMs that there are steps that basically say, "Do not wipe system" in TWRP. I have noticed in doing things the dumb way that I can wipe every partition but the only way it becomes unrecoverable is if system is wiped, this is even if I install a custom ROM in its place. Can someone help me understand what has changed with A/B partition or OnePlus security settings where OOS system partition must be intact to allow one to run a custom ROM?
The reason I ask is that unless it is a byte for byte overwrite then we leave OOS files on parts of the custom ROM storage partition and if it is bit for bit write why would erasing the partition matter?

What seems more important for custom ROM is to not wipe data before rebooting in TWRP to flash magisk. So a clean flash is now flashing the ROM, flashing TWRP then reboot in TWRP and then only wiping data and art. Then flashing magisk. This is important to keep decryption working. That means not using factory reset feature either, always wiping with manually selected partitions.
Anyway wiping system is useless as the flashing script wipes it anyway.

Related

Axon 7 randomly stopped booting

Hi there, I have an Axon 7 with LineageOS that was working like a charm until I rebooted it today. It was in the normal lineage OS boot animation with the blue circle moving from right to left, except it never stopped. Now after trying a few more times, it just keeps playing the animation except the phone will vibrate slightly every several seconds. The phone is encrypted but that hasn't been a problem. When I reboot to TWRP, it says Unable to mount storage.
I tried wiping Cache and Dalvik / ART Cache, but this didn't help. Finally, I do have a backup from 7-20-2017 but I'd rather not have to go back to that...
Any recommendations?
Chrono7x said:
Hi there, I have an Axon 7 with LineageOS that was working like a charm until I rebooted it today. It was in the normal lineage OS boot animation with the blue circle moving from right to left, except it never stopped. Now after trying a few more times, it just keeps playing the animation except the phone will vibrate slightly every several seconds. The phone is encrypted but that hasn't been a problem. When I reboot to TWRP, it says Unable to mount storage.
I tried wiping Cache and Dalvik / ART Cache, but this didn't help. Finally, I do have a backup from 7-20-2017 but I'd rather not have to go back to that...
Any recommendations?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So you can't see the internal storage from TWRP? I'm guessing encryption actually plays a part here. Formatting data is probably the best course of action, though you should flash magisk or superSu if you do, to get rid of encryption. But you obviously lose everything that's on the internal storage.
Maybe make a system and boot backup and clean flash Lineage. Like, wipe system and caches, then flash the bootloader, modem, LOS and whatever else you flash
Choose an username... said:
So you can't see the internal storage from TWRP? I'm guessing encryption actually plays a part here. Formatting data is probably the best course of action, though you should flash magisk or superSu if you do, to get rid of encryption. But you obviously lose everything that's on the internal storage.
Maybe make a system and boot backup and clean flash Lineage. Like, wipe system and caches, then flash the bootloader, modem, LOS and whatever else you flash
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is it easier to just use the backup I have currently? If so, what are the steps necessary for that (sorry for newb questions, haven't messed with it in a while)
EDIT: Also, TWRP claims decryption is successful when it is loading up.
Chrono7x said:
Is it easier to just use the backup I have currently? If so, what are the steps necessary for that (sorry for newb questions, haven't messed with it in a while)
EDIT: Also, TWRP claims decryption is successful when it is loading up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Again. Can you see the internal storage?
Don't restore the backup. Your problem is basically either on /system (clean flash of the ROM will do) or on /data (complete format of data is needed). So try the non destructive one first
Choose an username... said:
Again. Can you see the internal storage?
Don't restore the backup. Your problem is basically either on /system (clean flash of the ROM will do) or on /data (complete format of data is needed). So try the non destructive one first
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't see any storage folder. So if I want to install the latest LOS and frankly just start from scratch, can I follow the guide here https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/axon7/install#installing-lineageos-from-recovery starting from "Installing LineageOS from recovery"? Will I still need to install something to wipe the encryption?
Chrono7x said:
I don't see any storage folder. So if I want to install the latest LOS and frankly just start from scratch, can I follow the guide here https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/axon7/install#installing-lineageos-from-recovery starting from "Installing LineageOS from recovery"? Will I still need to install something to wipe the encryption?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What? No... That's for normal phones. How did you manage to install LOS without knowing that you need the univ. bootloader and modem?
So, you can't access the internal storage via the file manager on TWRP i'm guessing.
Wipe - Format data, after that flash the Universal bootloader, modem, LOS, Magisk, GApps. Magisk takes care of dm-verity and disables encryption. Don't try to uninstall it though or your internal storage will get encrypted as soon as you do. But if you want to change ROMs you can just fpash it before booting and it won't ger encrypted.

How to really clean my phone before a new flash?

Hello everyone.
Usually I just format things through TWRP and flash a new ROM, but I found the following in a Nexus 6 thread:
As to what I usually do for a really clean install (likely overkill):
Reboot to Bootloader
Wipe everything (fastboot erase all)
Do flash-base.sh from latest factory image (this reflashes modem partitions; this is required after erase all)
Boot to Recovery
Wipe everything from TWRP
Reboot to Recovery
Wipe everything again from TWRP (old habit from when the first wipe didn't actually get rid of everything on older devices)
fstrim Data, Cache, System, and Firmware partitions
Reboot to Recovery
ROM
GApps (I don't use GApps, but if I did, this is when they are to be flashed)
Reboot to Recovery
Wipe everything except System from TWRP
Format Data and Cache to F2FS
fstrim Data and Cache partitions
Reboot to Recovery
Kernel
Magisk
Reboot to System
Do set-up and copy files over to device
Reboot to Recovery
Wipe Dalvik Cache (I guess the button in TWRP would work; I do rm -Rf /data/dalvik-cache)
Use filesystem tools to check and repair partitions (e2fsck for ext4 being System and Firmware partitions, and fsck.f2fs for F2FS being Data and Cache partitions)
fstrim Data, Cache, System, and Firmware partitions
Reboot to System
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is there anything similar for Moto G5 Plus? I would really like to make a deep cleanup in my phone before flashing a new ROM.
Thanks in advance.
vitorsubs said:
Hello everyone.
Usually I just format things through TWRP and flash a new ROM, but I found the following in a Nexus 6 thread:
Is there anything similar for Moto G5 Plus? I would really like to make a deep cleanup in my phone before flashing a new ROM.
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Except part 1: flash-base.sh from latest factory image (we have no factory image) you can do everything on the Moto G5+ too.
The question is if that is really needed.
Wiping twice with TWRP isn't necessary anymore but you can do it if you want.
fstrim isn't really needed imo, but you can do it from terminal if you want.
And checking the partitions for errors may be a good thing but if the partitions are faulty you would recognise it when you try to flash anything. But this is a thing you can do too if you want to.
You can find the exact usage of the commands for fstrim and e2fsck and fsck.f2fs by googling for it.
If I want to be sure that everything is cleaned up I wipe all partitions except external SD with TWRP, reformat data (you'll have to do that as the F2FS formatted data partition is encrypted) and flash my usual stuff like ROM, gapps, kernel, magisk etc.
Sent from my Moto G5 Plus using XDA Labs

Sanity Check on Flashing Stock 5.1.4

Ok, so I am not new to flashing rom but for some reason I am having huge issues trying to install clean stock OOS 5.1.4 rom. Just want to double check I am not doing anything stupid since I mainly been flashing custom roms (xXx rom mainly).
So I simply wipe dalvik/ART cache, cache, system and data (want to start off completely clan) then flashed the OnePlus5Oxygen_23_OTA_037_all_1807181258_7b4b6.zip file in TWRP.
I am currently on the latest blue TWRP and after flashing, it will try to boot but reboots back into TWRP. I have tried the zip file from a number of sources and they all do the same. Am I missing something here?
UPDATE: I did do something stupid after all. I forgot that my Oneplus was decrypted. So all I had to do was go into TWRP and go to Wipe and format data to re-encrypt it.
Z-Blade said:
Ok, so I am not new to flashing rom but for some reason I am having huge issues trying to install clean stock OOS 5.1.4 rom. Just want to double check I am not doing anything stupid since I mainly been flashing custom roms (xXx rom mainly).
So I simply wipe dalvik/ART cache, cache, system and data (want to start off completely clan) then flashed the OnePlus5Oxygen_23_OTA_037_all_1807181258_7b4b6.zip file in TWRP.
I am currently on the latest blue TWRP and after flashing, it will try to boot but reboots back into TWRP. I have tried the zip file from a number of sources and they all do the same. Am I missing something here?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When starting fresh, wiping of internal storage should be considered. I recommended 2 guides here https://forum.xda-developers.com/on...nos-beta-1-android-oreo-t3710003/post77205633

(Yet Another) Question on Encryption

So, I've been reading ad nauseum on this topic with regards to flashing new ROMs on my 6t and getting locked out due to decryption.
Among other threads and places across the interweb, I've read all of these:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/search/forum/8259?query=Encryption
During my travels I've discovered that the s**t doesn't really hit the fan until "data" is wiped via TWRP. I see that the recommend process for flashing new ROMs goes like this:
Boot on twrp
Flash ROM
Flash twrp installer
Reboot to twrp
Factory reset
Reboot to system
Am I understanding this correctly that if I transpose steps 4 and 5, then I shall plan on losing all of my data, but if I reboot from TWRP (right back into TWRP) before step 5 (aka data wipe), I shouldn't loose my data?
Assuming that is correct, does it matter if I leave a lock screen password enabled before rebooting to TWRP from the soon-to-be replaced ROM? I ask this because removing the lock screen password did not seem to reduce my chances of encountering permananly encrypted data.
Thanks!
notorious.dds said:
So, I've been reading ad nauseum on this topic with regards to flashing new ROMs on my 6t and getting locked out due to decryption.
Among other threads and places across the interweb, I've read all of these:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/search/forum/8259?query=Encryption
During my travels I've discovered that the s**t doesn't really hit the fan until "data" is wiped via TWRP. I see that the recommend process for flashing new ROMs goes like this:
Boot on twrp
Flash ROM
Flash twrp installer
Reboot to twrp
Factory reset
Reboot to system
Am I understanding this correctly that if I transpose steps 4 and 5, then I shall plan on losing all of my data, but if I reboot from TWRP (right back into TWRP) before step 5 (aka data wipe), I shouldn't loose my data?
Assuming that is correct, does it matter if I leave a lock screen password enabled before rebooting to TWRP from the soon-to-be replaced ROM? I ask this because removing the lock screen password did not seem to reduce my chances of encountering permananly encrypted data.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. For the love of god. Someone please clear up how we can flash on the go. I don't always have access to a computer with Adb/fastboot.
Every time I try to switch roms, upon rebooting to TWRP, my folders encrypt. Then I have to format data and voila, no fricking ROM to flash and I'm stuck
idkwhothatis123 said:
Yes. For the love of god. Someone please clear up how we can flash on the go. I don't always have access to a computer with Adb/fastboot.
Every time I try to switch roms, upon rebooting to TWRP, my folders encrypt. Then I have to format data and voila, no fricking ROM to flash and I'm stuck
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah A/B partition are a nuisance when it comes to flashing. I'd recommend you to do a clean flash of the ROM. Follow these steps.
1. Download the Latest Stable OOS from OnePlus's Website. Download the ROM ZIP of your Choice as well as the latest TWRP Installer. Transfer these to your phone and also copy them to a Laptop as you might have to Format Data.
2. Now Reboot to Recovery and flash OOS ZIP and TWRP Installer. Let it finish. Once it's done Reboot to Recovery from Within TWRP.
3. Again flash OOS and TWRP Installer. If for some reason your folders are messed up (as you posted in the image earlier) just go to Wipe and Format Data. And transfer the OOS and TWRP Installer to Internal and Flash them. Let it finish.
4. Once that's done, now again Reboot to Recovery and now flash ROM and TWRP Installer. After that's done, again Reboot to Recovery.
5. Again, flash ROM and TWRP Installer. Once done, Reboot to Recovery.
6. Now flash Gapps of your Choice. Stock are Recommend while anything above Nano will work. AROMA won't work. Once Gapps are flashed now go to Wipe and do a Factory Reset (Swipe to Factory Reset). Once that's Done, hit Reboot System and wait for the ROM to Load.
7. After the Initial Setup, Reboot to Recovery and flash Magisk and Custom Kernel if you want.
Personally I Format Data after flashing Gapps to get a "clean install". But that's not necessary. Also if you want to flash ROMs often I'd suggest investing in Swift Backup. It's an excellent app for Backups and can Backup almost Anything. Hope this helps.
This is what I do. Occasionally I get the Encrypted Folders but if followed correctly all is smooth. I can flash any ROM without Encryption. Except maybe stock OOS.
Thanks Mannan.
However, what I'm really looking for is someone to explain the following:
1. Which action or actions is it that triggers the phone to be encypted without a way to decrypt when flashing a new rom? My suspicion is that if the phone was encrypted while having been boot from slot A, then wiping data while in slot A results in data loss. By extension, rebooting into slot B and then wiping data allows slot B to now hold the encryption key. I'm sure this theory has got some errors, but it's the best I can come up with having no intrinsic knowledge on the topic.
2. Are there any means of mitigating data loss should the phone become encrypted? I.e. If possible, can I back up data (minus /data/media) and then restore that when I can't get access to /data/media?
With regards to question #1, I developed my "suspicion" after lossing ambition to test it. When I get my ambition back to fight this issue, I'll try again. I'm just getting sick of transfering 25+ gigs of data via adb every time the data gets encrypted and I can't get it decrypted.
notorious.dds said:
Thanks Mannan.
However, what I'm really looking for is someone to explain the following:
1. Which action or actions is it that triggers the phone to be encypted without a way to decrypt when flashing a new rom? My suspicion is that if the phone was encrypted while having been boot from slot A, then wiping data while in slot A results in data loss. By extension, rebooting into slot B and then wiping data allows slot B to now hold the encryption key. I'm sure this theory has got some errors, but it's the best I can come up with having no intrinsic knowledge on the topic.
2. Are there any means of mitigating data loss should the phone become encrypted? I.e. If possible, can I back up data (minus /data/media) and then restore that when I can't get access to /data/media?
With regards to question #1, I developed my "suspicion" after lossing ambition to test it. When I get my ambition back to fight this issue, I'll try again. I'm just getting sick of transfering 25+ gigs of data via adb every time the data encryption kicks in.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're not that far off, actually. And while I'm no developer I suspect that Encryption kicks in when
a). You flash stock OOS. No matter what ROM you are on, when you flash OOS it's possible you can get encrypted. I'm not sure about this but if a developer could confirm that'd be great. This one time, I flashed OOS Stable while on Beta and it Encrypted my Storage. So I had to retransfer with a computer to flash it the required two times. So basically avoid flashing OOS when on a Custom ROM. Even when switching ROMs.
b). Just as you said, when you Wipe Data within TWRP and then Reboot to TWRP it also Encrypts the Device. So I usually Wipe Data after flashing ROM & Gapps. Otherwise if you Wipe Data after flashing ROM it will Encrypt you.
And to answer that last Question the app I personally use is called Swift Backup. It's an amazing app and although it costs $5.49 it can Backup Apps and Data. It can also backup the Files in Android/obb. Give it a go.
Mannan Qamar said:
You're not that far off, actually. And while I'm no developer I suspect that Encryption kicks in when
a). You flash stock OOS. No matter what ROM you are on, when you flash OOS it's possible you can get encrypted. I'm not sure about this but if a developer could confirm that'd be great. This one time, I flashed OOS Stable while on Beta and it Encrypted my Storage. So I had to retransfer with a computer to flash it the required two times. So basically avoid flashing OOS when on a Custom ROM. Even when switching ROMs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been fiddling around with OOS and The Pixel Experience (aka TPE) ROM. I've yet to need to flash OOS in order to loose my ability to decrypt. Flashing TPE screws everything up quite nicely as well. That said, I have gotten into the situation where TWRP (booted from either slot) has got everything encrypted. However, in one case, I was able to get the data back by recreating the boot_a partition as it existed before I wiped data. I think there may be something to be learned here. However, subsequent attempts to use this method have not been successful. In other words, I'm not sure what I actually learned.
Mannan Qamar said:
And to answer that last Question the app I personally use is called Swift Backup. It's an amazing app and although it costs $5.49 it can Backup Apps and Data. It can also backup the Files in Android/obb. Give it a go.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm still using Titanium Backup (paid version as well). It works quite well and I'm happy with it. That said, it's still a much bigger pain in the butt to restore vs performing a nandroid restore of the data. It's apples and oranges though. In order for the nandroid to provide any real value, you pretty much have to do right before need it... unless you never do anything on your phone. It also only works with the ROM from which it was created... obviously. Since my current nandroid backup of /data is > 22 gb, its fairly cumbersome.
notorious.dds said:
I've been fiddling around with OOS and The Pixel Experience (aka TPE) ROM. I've yet to need to flash OOS in order to loose my ability to decrypt. Flashing TPE screws everything up quite nicely as well. That said, I have gotten into the situation where TWRP (booted from either slot) has got everything encrypted. However, in one case, I was able to get the data back by recreating the boot_a partition as it existed before I wiped data. I think there may be something to be learned here. However, subsequent attempts to use this method have not been successful. In other words, I'm not sure what I actually learned.
I'm still using Titanium Backup (paid version as well). It works quite well and I'm happy with it. That said, it's still a much bigger pain in the butt to restore vs performing a nandroid restore of the data. It's apples and oranges though. In order for the nandroid to provide any real value, you pretty much have to do right before need it... unless you never do anything on your phone. It also only works with the ROM from which it was created... obviously. Since my current nandroid backup of /data is > 22 gb, its fairly cumbersome.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I dunno if it will work but when you get Encrypted try booting the TWRP image. Maybe that'll work.
Doesn't this problem occur with backups and restore from twrp as well?.... This A/B stuff I'm not used to but I'll keep reading and hopefully something in my brain will kick in lol...
Mannan Qamar said:
I dunno if it will work but when you get Encrypted try booting the TWRP image. Maybe that'll work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, that I defintitely tried. No dice. However, I just backed up everthing and I'm about to start blowing the thing up with ROM flashes. Consider it a stress test. I'll report back.
What I've got so far...
Coming from OOS 9.0.14 running on slot B with a lock screen pattern enabled, I boot into TWRP on slot B.
I then flashed The Pixel Experiance ROM via it's .zip file. (The flash is then applied to slot A because it goes to the inactive slot).
Flashed the TWRP install .zip
Changed active slot to A
Reboot to recovery (aka TWRP) ... now in slot A.
wiped data (minus storage)
Flashed magisk
Reboot system
This got me into the new ROM with data intact. However, when rebooting to recovery (still slot A), it would ask for a pattern but yet wouldn't accept the pattern to decrypt. Rebooting back into Pixel Experience the data was decrypted. So, even the data would decrypt when booted into system, I could no longer get to the data from within TWRP. I then changed the lock pattern from within Pixel Experience and reboot to TWRP, it still couldn't decrypt the data. Rebooting back to system succeeded in that it actually boot, but I could no longer unlock the phone (stuck on "phone is starting"). My presumption at this point was that Pixel Experience could no longer decrypt the data.
I then:
Reboot to TWRP (slot A still)
Flashed OOS
Flashed TWRP
Set active slot to B
Reboot to recovery (aka TWRP)
wiped data (minus storage)
reboot to system
At this point OOS failed to boot and I was returned to TWRP. Data was still not able to be decrypted. I then did a factory reset plus wiped storage (aka data, dalvik, and internal storage) and tried to boot to system... still failed and sent me back to TWRP. This time, although data was empty, it was decrypted. I tried to reboot system again. It failed again and sent me back to TWRP.
So, at this point , I've wiped data and internal storage but I cannot get stock OOS to boot. So, I reboot to bootloader and executed:
Code:
fastboot -w
My understanding is that this should do the same this as performing a factory reset from within TWRP. However, rebooting to system succeeded this time.
So, the new questions are:
1. How is it that I can decrypt data when booted into Pixel Experience on slot A, but I cannot decrypt the data via TWRP?
2. If I removed the lock screen pattern from OOS before flashing PixelExperience, would I have been able to decrypt the data in both the ROM and within TWRP?
3. Why is factory resetting via fastboot effective when doing so in TWRP is not?
notorious.dds said:
What I've got so far...
Coming from OOS 9.0.14 running on slot B with a lock screen pattern enabled, I boot into TWRP on slot B.
I then flashed The Pixel Experiance ROM via it's .zip file. (The flash is then applied to slot A because it goes to the inactive slot).
Flashed the TWRP install .zip
Changed active slot to A
Reboot to recovery (aka TWRP) ... now in slot A.
wiped data (minus storage)
Flashed magisk
Reboot system
This got me into the new ROM with data intact. However, when rebooting to recovery (still slot A), it would ask for a pattern but yet wouldn't accept the pattern to decrypt. Rebooting back into Pixel Experience the data was decrypted. So, even the data would decrypt when booted into system, I could no longer get to the data from within TWRP. I then changed the lock pattern from within Pixel Experience and reboot to TWRP, it still couldn't decrypt the data. Rebooting back to system succeeded in that it actually boot, but I could no longer unlock the phone (stuck on "phone is starting"). My presumption at this point was that Pixel Experience could no longer decrypt the data.
I then:
Reboot to TWRP (slot A still)
Flashed OOS
Flashed TWRP
Set active slot to B
Reboot to recovery (aka TWRP)
wiped data (minus storage)
reboot to system
At this point OOS failed to boot and I was returned to TWRP. Data was still not able to be decrypted. I then did a factory reset plus wiped storage (aka data, dalvik, and internal storage) and tried to boot to system... still failed and sent me back to TWRP. This time, although data was empty, it was decrypted. I tried to reboot system again. It failed again and sent me back to TWRP.
So, at this point , I've wiped data and internal storage but I cannot get stock OOS to boot. So, I reboot to bootloader and executed:
My understanding is that this should do the same this as performing a factory reset from within TWRP. However, rebooting to system succeeded this time.
So, the new questions are:
1. How is it that I can decrypt data when booted into Pixel Experience on slot A, but I cannot decrypt the data via TWRP?
2. If I removed the lock screen pattern from OOS before flashing PixelExperience, would I have been able to decrypt the data in both the ROM and within TWRP?
3. Why is factory resetting via fastboot effective when doing so in TWRP is not?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well starting from the way you flashed the ROM, the rule of thumb is that you NEVER manually change slots. Now since you are on stock follow the instructions I posted earlier to flash PE or any other ROM for that matter. I think when you manually set the slot it somehow messed up Decryption. Next, after flashing OOS from TWRP when you are on a Custom ROM, you must always Format Data. The command you ran via Fastboot (fastboot -w) does just that.
So I just flashed Bootleggers from Stock OpenBeta 11. These are the steps I followed. I was successfully able to flash and was able to keep my Data intact. These are the steps I followed.
Starting from OpenBeta 11 I flashed ROM (Bootleggers) and then TWRP Installer. Then go to Reboot and Select Recovery. Once in Recovery, again flash ROM and TWRP Installer. Once done, reboot to Recovery. Flash Gapps and then go to Wipe and do a Swipe to Fa Tory Reset. This will Delete all your Data except Internal Storage. This is a necessary step when flashing a ROM. Once done, reboot to System. After this I was able to boot up Successfully with my Internal Storage as it was before flashing. After that I restored my backup. Everything is working and I can enter and Decrypt TWRP without error.
This thread should be pined as a guide because instalation notes in ROM threads are so basic.
A couple of things come to mind reading this thread in reference to encryption
1) if security patches dont match on A/B, it seems to trigger a lockout with encryption. i may be wrong.
2) if internal storage isnt wiped, i.e.-if you use the "factory reset' option in twrp, your data is still there and that in itself post-flash can trigger encryption error as the data is still there.
I think about it like this, despite it being A/B partitions, the data is like a middle layer that isnt individualized to one partition or the other. so a trigger/failure for secure boot encrypts it all.
kitcostantino said:
A couple of things come to mind reading this thread in reference to encryption
1) if security patches dont match on A/B, it seems to trigger a lockout with encryption. i may be wrong.
2) if internal storage isnt wiped, i.e.-if you use the "factory reset' option in twrp, your data is still there and that in itself post-flash can trigger encryption error as the data is still there.
I think about it like this, despite it being A/B partitions, the data is like a middle layer that isnt individualized to one partition or the other. so a trigger/failure for secure boot encrypts it all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm pretty sure, that if you flash anything with a security patch earlier than the one you're currently using your data will get encrypted.
Which is why it happens with going back to OOS from custom, because they're always late with security patches compared to custom roms.
The hardest thing for.me coming from an A only device (Axon 7) has been learning order of operations. as long as one flashes rom followed by twrp and then a reboot into recovery, followed by installing magisk, things usually go okay. Going from aosp to aosp went okay, but like you said moving from OOS to AOSP or vice versa always yielded encryption lock. maybe we could make a merged security patch or something of the sort to bridge the gap. im no dev, so im sure someone who knows more than i can tell us why that wouldnt work. it would be really cool for One Plus to gain a better foothold in custom OS before the majority of crack flashers and devs swear off. Dont get me wrong, OOS is amazing and i feel with the inherent features, is superior to any other stock rom, but android is all about choice.
i really and truly wish someone would make a version of TWRP that had a dual boot set up vs A/B. I have had devices (looking at you, Droid Bionic) that never had proper root/bl unlock and had amazing rom communities bc of safestrap/dual boot/etc. i am more than willing to give up internal storage space to duplicate/clone /data and anything else that is on both systems. i also wish recovery had its own partition again, but that one is beyond our control at this point as it resides in boot now.
Maybe its conceivable. Who knows.
I have no issues. I don't lose anything when I flash ROMs. I boot to twrp, factory reset(not wipe storage), flash ROM, flash twrp installer....boot ROM, reboot twrp, flash gapps, custom kernel. Then I factory reset again (not wipe storage) and then install magisk..done....no issues. It will fail boot once and then boot fine because of this process but only after you do this. So if you reboot later you are fine...I keep all my stuff
First off, I want to thank all of you who contributed to this thread. I'm defintely gaining a better understanding of some of the pitfalls associated with A/B devices and encryption. Thanks!
Mannan Qamar said:
Well starting from the way you flashed the ROM, the rule of thumb is that you NEVER manually change slots. Now since you are on stock follow the instructions I posted earlier to flash PE or any other ROM for that matter. I think when you manually set the slot it somehow messed up Decryption.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So, my understand is that flashing a new ROM from within TWRP flashes it to the inactive slot. Therefore, my assumptions as to the reasoning behind rebooting from TWRP back into TWRP before wiping data were that:
Any modifiations made to the boot partition intended to affect the new ROM need to be made to the boot partition that shares the same slot as that of the new ROM, and
Wiping data while booted into image of TWRP which shares the same slot as the new ROM has some magical effect on preserving the ability to decrypt data vs wiping data while booted into the image of TWRP that resides in the slot of the ROM to be replaced.
It is these assumptions (combined with my execution of the basic recipe failing to prevent encryption lock-out) which led me to manually changing slots. I will say this... after flashing PE and TWRP.zip from within TWRP on slot B, simply rebooting to recovery brought me right back to TWRP on slot B. If PE is now on slot A, how does installing magisk, etc. do me any good while in slot B? Also, are my assumptions misguided as to the "why" rebooting to TWRP before installing magisk, wiping data, etc is necessary?
Mannan Qamar said:
Next, after flashing OOS from TWRP when you are on a Custom ROM, you must always Format Data. The command you ran via Fastboot (fastboot -w) does just that.
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Lightbulb status: on
Thanks!
kitcostantino said:
If security patches dont match on A/B, it seems to trigger a lockout with encryption. i may be wrong.
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Is this why in Mannan Qamar's earlier post he appears to be flashing the new ROM to BOTH slots before trying to boot into system?
ebproject said:
I'm pretty sure, that if you flash anything with a security patch earlier than the one you're currently using your data will get encrypted.
Which is why it happens with going back to OOS from custom, because they're always late with security patches compared to custom roms.
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I'm assuming that flashing OOS to BOTH slots as is mentioned earlier with regards to flashing a custom ROM won't help when going back to OOS given the old vs new issue. Has anyone verified that yet?
It's my understanding that the sure security patch is applied to the system partition, correct? Is part of that patch included in boot, or no?
jamescable said:
I have no issues. I don't lose anything when I flash ROMs. I boot to twrp, factory reset(not wipe storage), flash ROM, flash twrp installer....boot ROM, reboot twrp, flash gapps, custom kernel. Then I factory reset again (not wipe storage) and then install magisk..done....no issues. It will fail boot once and then boot fine because of this process but only after you do this. So if you reboot later you are fine...I keep all my stuff
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I notice that the FIRST thing you do is "factory reset". That's definitely not standard with the install threads I've read. Hmmmmm, interesting.
Also, why do you boot the ROM before flashing gapps, and kernel? It seems unnecessary since you're just factory resetting again. I'm sure I'm missing something on this one.
notorious.dds said:
I notice that the FIRST thing you do is "factory reset". That's definitely not standard with the install threads I've read. Hmmmmm, interesting.
Also, why do you boot the ROM before flashing gapps, and kernel? It seems unnecessary since you're just factory resetting again. I'm sure I'm missing something on this one.
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Booting to ROM solved the encryption issues
idkwhothatis123 said:
Yes. For the love of god. Someone please clear up how we can flash on the go. I don't always have access to a computer with Adb/fastboot.
Every time I try to switch roms, upon rebooting to TWRP, my folders encrypt. Then I have to format data and voila, no fricking ROM to flash and I'm stuck
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If you stuck on encrypted storage ever, reboot to system and after you see the setup screen, reboot to recovery again. Voila, your storage is decrypted now.
It happened to me all the time when I flash OOS and this way I am able to decrypt my internal storage.

Unreadable data partition in TWRP

I have purchased G6 and flashed TWRP and custom ROM but have a problem. When i wipe data partition and flash a custom ROM can not to write in data partition and must to wipe again...after that the same story. There is some problem in TWRP i think or some security reason for that. Dm-veryty flash does not work.

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