Hey guys, I need some advice please. Have had a number of odd happenings with my i9000 in the last 24hrs and not sure if some of them are the fault of the phone, or my fault! Apologies up front too for the long post – didn’t know how to put it all more succinctly!
First things first – it’s a Galaxy i9000M Bell vibrant. Came as Éclair 2.1, upgraded recently via Kies to Froyo 2.2, Build UGKC1. Then rooted with SuperOneClick, successfully without drama. Can get into recovery and download modes no problem via 3-button method.
Bit of background info – int SD 16GB, inserted 16GB ext SD. Before any upgrade to the phone had some issues where some photos taken with camera on the phone would show up in gallery as a corrupted/damaged icon. Pretty sure this occurred on default int SD so changed save location to ext SD but same deal now and then. Formatted ext SD – still happened from time to time. Actually replaced ext SD (exchanged at shop with brand new one), but same thing happened again. Figured I’d learn to live with it as only happened now and then.
So, phone rooted last week. Had been doing reading on ROMs/kernels before trying to flash anything. Only root-type things I’d done were to get TiB (and do full backup), Root Explorer, Terminal Emulator and Wireless Tether. Y’day I noticed after taking a few pics that one of the ‘corrupt’ icons that had previously been in place of an older photo, was now in the spot of one of the pics I had just taken (and strangely, the older, apparently corrupted photo was now fine).
I tried to delete a few of the photos but the phone just got stuck trying to delete. Had to force close it with task manager. Same deal if I tried 1 or many photos. Did this a number of times but no joy. Eventually just took ext SD out, put it into PC and deleted them that way, then put back into phone. Now it took AGES to complete the media scan on ext SD – like 5-10 mins! This happened a couple of times if I tried to do anything with the SD eg. save a file to it. So reformatted the SD card (on PC) but same prob when put back in phone.
Figured it might finally be time to try a new kernel in hope it may fix this bug. Had speedmod all ready to go (but hadn't been brave enough yet to try my first flash) so flashed K13E-500Hz via Odin. It worked fine, but “media scanning” problem was still there. Figured I might as well go the whole hog so factory reset the phone via recovery 3e. Did this ok, and “media scanning” was no longer a prob when I put the ext SD card in, just took a couple of seconds – hooray!
Restored apps + system using TiB which also appeared at first to work fine. Put a few pics and ringtones on the ext SD and all seemed fine. Then some app icons disappeared from the Applications pages. They appeared ‘crossed out’ in TiB and when I went to restore them again the phone spazzed out saying (sorry can’t recall exact wording) there was not enough memory and to delete some things to try to fix this. A red SD-like icon appeared in the top bar. I tried rebooting the phone via recovery 3e and it went into a cycle of vibrating, flashing up the turn-on screen/display then shutting off, but vibrating occasionally and lighting the soft touch keys but nothing else. This did this for about 5 mins and in order to try to save battery/stop the whole process I ended up factory resetting yet again via recovery.
Today it works 'ok'. Have not braved putting an ext SD in yet! Got Tib off the market but have also not dared to try to restore any thing yet. Oddly, in TiB it shows “System ROM” as almost fully taken up ie. Full green bar (289MB, only 6.06MB free) – this can’t be right can it?
Internal, DB data and SD card all show as ~99% free.
Deleted Dalvik cache in case that was the RAM problem but it didn’t do anything much (freed up about 6MB only).
So, my questions!
1. is this all because of the ‘corrupt/damaged’ issues before I’d done anything to my phone?
1b) How do I find out what RAM is available and what is using it all up? RAM manager is showing 197MB/339MB used but is this what the 'memory' problem would be? Clearing memory doesn't seem to do anything.
2. I never installed any kind of lagfix (knowingly anyway) – could this be a reason - have seen lots of threads/posts about disabling lagfix before flashing roms or kernels
3. I thought factory reset would wipe everything – but it obviously kept the int SD info ok (I’d copied Tib backup to ext SD and also to dropbox just in case) –should I maybe reformat the int SD and factory reset again?
4. If the issue is the phone itself (with prior corrupt file problem) – would it be worth flashing back to stock kernel and unrooting phone to try to bring back and get fixed/replaced under warranty?
Thanks in advance for any help anyone can offer!!!!!!
Read your hole post its really long. Can't answer to all questions. But did you try to put your phone as massage storage to your pc and mark everything thats on int sd and just erease it. When turn your phone off, put it in download mode and flash a stock rom (with 3 files) from samfirmware.com with repartition enabled? Maybe that works. Good luck! Before i forgot ext 4 is the better filesystem. Rfs getting laggy after a while cause its not the correct filesystem for sgs. Thats why ext4 is the main format on sgs2.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
hey thanks for the reply.
i know it was a super-long post, apologies again.
didn't try deleting the ext SD whilst connected via usb. got fed up with the phone not being able to delete & freezing when i tried that way so just took SD out and deleted them with card plugged directly into laptop.
as it happens, since 2nd factory reset, i've been cautious about what i do. no ext SD yet (though might try that tomorrow). didn't do full restore of missing apps and system files as i did the first time. so far have only restored about 6apps via TiB and wifi locations. Phone working ok...for now.
next steps:
1. try taking loads of photos to see if 'corrupt'-style icons occur again with int SD only;
2. maybe try an ext SD again after reformatting it and see how the media scanning goes and how it goes having music/vid/pic files on it etc;
3. gonna look more into the speedmod kernel ie. the tweaks which i think i need to access via recovery mode.
not quite ready to try and flash a custom rom with that little scare!
...but would like to try a custom rom at some point when i feel more educated about all this
Just look at the search function on xda or google. There enough guides about flashing. Know how you feel. The first time i flashing it was very scary for me. Got a heartbeat like a technosong. If you want i can write you a guide for every step. Trust me it is easier as it sounds. Just pm me and i will help you out.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
First of all, I am posting this thread here because I can reply in a thread about CWM, since topics are located in the Dev part and I, as a new user, dont have the access. To get it, it would take me an hour or so, to get 10 posts.
Back to this thread...
So yesterday I rooted my LG Optimus 2x using this Guide:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1327599
and I did everything as listed.
Then I downloaded ROM Manager and tried to download a CM7 ROM. First I had to re-flash CWM Recovery (for some reason). After that I tried to backup my ROM(Stock 2.3.4, flashed without root, LG support is great yay!), but when it rebooted and launched CWM, nothing happened.
I couldn`t even select a command by pressing power button. I was worried, but since I did nothing to the ROM, I pulled out the battery. Since I knew there was a backup option when downloading the ROM, I downloaded it and again, when CWM launched, nothing happened. This time I could choose commands, so I went on and rebooted.
So I did it manually, downloaded gapps and CM7, placed them on my 1gb SD card. Launched into CWM, made a backup, wiped data, cache and partition cache. Installed CM7 from SD and Google Apps. Rebooted and the nice CM7 Launch Screen appeared.
So until now everything went seemingly well. When I did the setup I noticed the Google Apps were missing, but I didn`t mind that. That was the only problem issue.
Today I tried to take a picture, but I couldn`t because my SD card was full. First I was confused, since the Camera shots used to be stored in the Internal memory.
So I plug the phone into my PC and checked the External SD card. The Back-up ROM took all the space and I am quite bothered, since I have planned on changing my SD card.
Now I wrote all this just in case I did something wrong, but here is the question:
Can I somehow move this back-up to my Internal storage and not lose my Back-Up.
Where is CMW installed?(I had to re-install it again after ROM flash. ROM Manager remained on my phone, while other apps go deleted.)
Now this is quite a lot of text, but I am a newbie, and I need to know if I messed it up.
Thanks in advance!
CWM are installed to an own partition (cant remember wich one, but that doesnt really matter)
Just move backup folder from /sdcard/clockworkmod/backup/*BackupDate* to /mnt/emmc/clockworkmod/backup or something like that,
Try and see
When I connect the phone to PC I get to folder, the External SD one and Internal(5,5gb). THere is a folder called clockworkmod, but I cant see the mnt and emmc thingys.
Is it allright if i copy my whole backup folder there(there is a download folder for CM7. I can delete that can`t I, for storage space purposes.)
Ty
Should work
Before I upgraded from a 4.1 to a 4.2 based rom, I copied all my files from my sd card and then flashed the Rom. Then I formatted my phone's storage so I wouldn't have that weird 2 sd card file system going and so that I could see all my old files which I pasted back onto my phone. When I boot into cwm, and want to install a .zip, I see a couple folders such as the cwm folder and venom folder and legacy folder, and I find that my sd cards files are not under root and I have to go to /0. If I go into a file explorer such as we file explorer, I can't see any files under the the place where those several folders are. Any ideas?
Sent from my HTC One using xda premium
Noticing same thing...
I've just been searching these threads for the exact same issue. Wondering if it would be possible to take a nandroid, erase system and everything and either restore or reload my room from scratch to fix this? My phone says it's running low on memory while it still shows almost 10gb free when attached to my computer. I assume this is the problem...
BJodrey said:
I've just been searching these threads for the exact same issue. Wondering if it would be possible to take a nandroid, erase system and everything and either restore or reload my room from scratch to fix this? My phone says it's running low on memory while it still shows almost 10gb free when attached to my computer. I assume this is the problem...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, ive tried to format my phones internal storage but the problem is still there. Though it does free up a lot of space when I do it. I think it says it is low memory because there are duplicate files of everything on your sd card
Today, I have experienced a very "odd" problem. I have just found out that there is a folder called "storage" visible in my Internal Storage.
When I thought that, since it was visible, it did not contain much useful files (Only 2 xml files I found which would be in both internal and external storage) so I deleted that folder and everything in my SD Card and Internal Storage vanished.
I found out that the "storage" folder had a link to both storage devices but the weird thing is, why was that there and why is it visible? I could of sworn that I have never seen that before on my Xperia Z...
Can anyone else see their "storage" folder in the internal storage or is it just me?
ZeroInfinity said:
Today, I have experienced a very "odd" problem. I have just found out that there is a folder called "storage" visible in my Internal Storage.
When I thought that, since it was visible, it did not contain much useful files (Only 2 xml files I found which would be in both internal and external storage) so I deleted that folder and everything in my SD Card and Internal Storage vanished.
I found out that the "storage" folder had a link to both storage devices but the weird thing is, why was that there and why is it visible? I could of sworn that I have never seen that before on my Xperia Z...
Can anyone else see their "storage" folder in the internal storage or is it just me?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi.
At root, i have sdcard and sdcard1 and storage. Inside storage folder i have sdcard0 and sdcard1. I have seen this before for long time ago.
CiscoX said:
Hi.
At root, i have sdcard and sdcard1 and storage. Inside storage folder i have sdcard0 and sdcard1. I have seen this before for long time ago.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
but this is totally different from what I have experienced.
From Windows, Internal Storage would have a folder called "storage" with another folder called "01" inside the storage folder. So "Internal Storage/storage/01/" if it was read on a Windows PC. inside the storage folder, there is just 1 folder called "01", nothing else. inside "01" folder, there are ONLY 2 .xml files which are the same as the 2 .xml files you would have by default in the root of your Internal and External Storage.
In short- Internel Storage has a folder called storage, inside storage has a folder called 01, inside 01 there are only 2 .xml files. The strange thing is, if it were linked to Internal/External Storage, why only 2 .xml files are visible in the 01 folder?
EDIT: When I tried to delete the storage folder (At the time I did not know that it was linked) Windows loading bar for deleting files did not move so I had to cancel it. Once cancelled, everything in my external/internal storage was wiped off. Thankfully, I recovered most of my lost pictures with Recuva
Not sure but I think this folder came somehow from the recovery maybe a bug.
I hope you didn't lost important things.
Sent from my GT-I9500 using xda premium
ZeroInfinity said:
but this is totally different from what I have experienced.
From Windows, Internal Storage would have a folder called "storage" with another folder called "01" inside the storage folder. So "Internal Storage/storage/01/" if it was read on a Windows PC. inside the storage folder, there is just 1 folder called "01", nothing else. inside "01" folder, there are ONLY 2 .xml files which are the same as the 2 .xml files you would have by default in the root of your Internal and External Storage.
In short- Internel Storage has a folder called storage, inside storage has a folder called 01, inside 01 there are only 2 .xml files. The strange thing is, if it were linked to Internal/External Storage, why only 2 .xml files are visible in the 01 folder?
EDIT: When I tried to delete the storage folder (At the time I did not know that it was linked) Windows loading bar for deleting files did not move so I had to cancel it. Once cancelled, everything in my external/internal storage was wiped off. Thankfully, I recovered most of my lost pictures with Recuva
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, this is very strange. I remember when i did see this after i bought my phone i was thinking this must be an bug. Another thing, in root i also have a folder named: ext_card and it is the same as sdcard1 here. Sdcard1 is my microSD card i have, but why so many folder linked to the same folders.
At root i go to storage, inside i have folders: emulated, removable, sdcard0, sdcard1 usbdisk.
Inside emulated i have 0 and legacy. etc etc
All of them are linked and goes to the same internal card and external card,
gm007 said:
Not sure but I think this folder came somehow from the recovery maybe a bug.
I hope you didn't lost important things.
Sent from my GT-I9500 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it really is a bug, we need to know what did actually cause this to happen.
And yeah, Recuva was really useful for me
CiscoX said:
Yes, this is very strange. I remember when i did see this after i bought my phone i was thinking this must be an bug. Another thing, in root i also have a folder named: ext_card and it is the same as sdcard1 here. Sdcard1 is my microSD card i have, but why so many folder linked to the same folders.
At root i go to storage, inside i have folders: emulated, removable, sdcard0, sdcard1 usbdisk.
Inside emulated i have 0 and legacy. etc etc
All of them are linked and goes to the same internal card and external card,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Too many linked folders make it confusing, why would there be a linked folder visible in the Internal Storage though? this is what is really confusing me right now.
Need more reports if any one else has found this mysterious "storage" folder in their Internal Storage...
im not sure but if everyone with this folder are running 4.2.2 it is for the multiuser or multitasking feature of jellybean 4.2.2
skinsfanbdh said:
im not sure but if everyone with this folder are running 4.2.2 it is for the multiuser or multitasking feature of jellybean 4.2.2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Strange, this is the first time I have ever seen this. I only saw this folder today and I have been on custom roms based on stock xperia firmware android 4.2.2 for ages now... Why would it appear just today? I don't think multitasking will cause this to happen since it doesn't create any folders/files related to it (afaik).
I've had something like this happen where in emulated/0 (my main internal SD storage) there was another 0 folder that freaked out recoveries and such. I had the similar "can't delete from windows" thing, but using a in-recovery file manager I just deleted it, problem solved. tl;dr if you want to delete it and its causing problems delete it from recovery.
Sent from rooted carbon note 2, with the xda app.
shbaldw said:
I've had something like this happen where in emulated/0 (my main internal SD storage) there was another 0 folder that freaked out recoveries and such. I had the similar "can't delete from windows" thing, but using a in-recovery file manager I just deleted it, problem solved. tl;dr if you want to delete it and its causing problems delete it from recovery.
Sent from rooted carbon note 2, with the xda app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
exactly what im talking about. lots of threads in the htc one forum about it and being this device was released with 4.1.2(like the htc one) and has recently been updated to 4.2.2(like the htc one) maybe its the same thing, not saying it is because i dont know. just sounds like the same thing
shbaldw said:
I've had something like this happen where in emulated/0 (my main internal SD storage) there was another 0 folder that freaked out recoveries and such. I had the similar "can't delete from windows" thing, but using a in-recovery file manager I just deleted it, problem solved. tl;dr if you want to delete it and its causing problems delete it from recovery.
Sent from rooted carbon note 2, with the xda app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Windows did not make any progress in deleting it, it was stuck on the Preparing to delete... window. Once I cancelled it because it took too long, everything from sd card/ internal storage was gone. All because of that storage folder inside my Internal Storage...
I know about the emulated/0 issue (From previous HTC One X Android 4.2.2 AOSP roms) but this seems to be completely different from it.
skinsfanbdh;44594029...and being this device was released with 4.1.2(like the htc one) and has recently been updated to 4.2.2(like the htc one)...[/QUOTE said:
hmm, I updated my phone from 4.1.2 to 4.2.2 prior to seeing this. This might be the cause. Anyone else have this happen?
Sent from rooted carbon note 2, with the xda app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
shbaldw said:
hmm, I updated my phone from 4.1.2 to 4.2.2 prior to seeing this. This might be the cause. Anyone else have this happen?
Sent from rooted carbon note 2, with the xda app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think it has anything to do with an upgraded android version. Like I said before, I have been on Android 4.2.2 a long time now (Upgraded when the firmware first came out) and I have never seen this folder before. I have just seen it yesterday. Another strange thing is that after I attempted to delete the storage folder, Everything was gone INCLUDING that storage folder. I haven't seen the storage folder after that happened. I'm going to go flash another rom and full wipe to see if the storage folder pops up again.
EDIT: Right, no there is no more storage folder in Internal Storage after a full wipe and formatted everything! Very strange indeed...
Wierd storage folder symlink inside internal storage!
ZeroInfinity said:
I don't think it has anything to do with an upgraded android version. Like I said before, I have been on Android 4.2.2 a long time now (Upgraded when the firmware first came out) and I have never seen this folder before. I have just seen it yesterday. Another strange thing is that after I attempted to delete the storage folder, Everything was gone INCLUDING that storage folder. I haven't seen the storage folder after that happened. I'm going to go flash another rom and full wipe to see if the storage folder pops up again.
EDIT: Right, no there is no more storage folder in Internal Storage after a full wipe and formatted everything! Very strange indeed...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know this is a very old thread but I face the same issue in Android 5.1.1 now and I too deleted the folder named storage only to see that all the data from the sd card has vanished because of that. Any idea what caused this buggy symlink to be created?
All my data is now gone because I just deleted one folder inside my sdcard, and I didn't even think to backup anything since I didn't even dream that deleting a single folder will delete the parent folder! Again recuva was my friend but still I am not able to recover everything in internal storage, any suggestions on what to use to scan the internal storage?
anantharam said:
I know this is a very old thread but I face the same issue in Android 5.1.1 now and I too deleted the folder named storage only to see that all the data from the sd card has vanished because of that. Any idea what caused this buggy symlink to be created?
All my data is now gone because I just deleted one folder inside my sdcard, and I didn't even think to backup anything since I didn't even dream that deleting a single folder will delete the parent folder! Again recuva was my friend but still I am not able to recover everything in internal storage, any suggestions on what to use to scan the internal storage?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you upgrade to newer firmware using a zip? That's a common bug when upgrading via zip.
The only proper way is to backup ur entire internal storage and flash a full ftf. Then you will not have the annoying symlink.
langeveld024 said:
Did you upgrade to newer firmware using a zip? That's a common bug when upgrading via zip.
The only proper way is to backup ur entire internal storage and flash a full ftf. Then you will not have the annoying symlink.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did do a factory reset before flashing a new firmware. Not sure what else I should do..
And as for the internal storage recovery, I followed these different guides but raw file using vhdtool and recuva did not give me any single file that was last present in my internal memory and even extundelete didn't return any single file that was in the internal storage, some of these tools return hundreds of text files and images that I had no idea was in my internal storage but none of them return me any of the hundreds of images and videos that I was sure were in my internal storage.
anantharam said:
I did do a factory reset before flashing a new firmware. Not sure what else I should do..
And as for the internal storage recovery, I followed these different guides but raw file using vhdtool and recuva did not give me any single file that was last present in my internal memory and even extundelete didn't return any single file that was in the internal storage, some of these tools return hundreds of text files and images that I had no idea was in my internal storage but none of them return me any of the hundreds of images and videos that I was sure were in my internal storage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes but if you factory reset on 4.4.2 (for example) and then flash 5.0.2 fw via zip in recovery, you will get the annoying folder symlink.
The only way to upgrade to lollipop is by flashing a full ftf (which will wipe internal sd) after that you won't have the annoying symlink.
But you flashed zip instead of ftf and discovered the folder symlink which seemed not harmful to delete so you deleted it. Right?
Then there's no chance in getting the data (photos etc) back.
I was the same situation as you, twice, I tried every possibility to recover my photos but it ended up with nothing. Everything was gone.
On a mechanical harddrive, when you wiped data, the data will only be gone when the wiped sectors are overwritten (e.g. format harddrive, which overwrite with empty buffer).
As long as the wiped data in those sectors are not overwritten, you'll be able to recover almost all - if not all - data you deleted.
On flash memory instead, (such as ssd drives and internal storage of our phone) deleted data is immediately deleted.
(that's also one of the reasons on Android, you never have to defragment the internal sd, same story for an ssd)
I'm sorry for u to say but I'm afraid you're unfortunately lost the photos and there's no way to get it back.
But my advice to you is:
Never upgrade between android versions (e.g. 4.4 > 5.0) using a zip installable.
Only use full factory images (ftf), they will wipe internal sd in order to get correct mappings so backup everything before flashing.
Once u on a firmware, an update to the same firmware is allowed (e.g. from one 5.0.2 rom to another 5.0.2 rom).
I hope it helps u in the future.
Regards
langeveld024 said:
Yes but if you factory reset on 4.4.2 (for example) and then flash 5.0.2 fw via zip in recovery, you will get the annoying folder symlink.
The only way to upgrade to lollipop is by flashing a full ftf (which will wipe internal sd) after that you won't have the annoying symlink.
But you flashed zip instead of ftf and discovered the folder symlink which seemed not harmful to delete so you deleted it. Right?
Then there's no chance in getting the data (photos etc) back.
I was the same situation as you, twice, I tried every possibility to recover my photos but it ended up with nothing. Everything was gone.
On a mechanical harddrive, when you wiped data, the data will only be gone when the wiped sectors are overwritten (e.g. format harddrive, which overwrite with empty buffer).
As long as the wiped data in those sectors are not overwritten, you'll be able to recover almost all - if not all - data you deleted.
On flash memory instead, (such as ssd drives and internal storage of our phone) deleted data is immediately deleted.
(that's also one of the reasons on Android, you never have to defragment the internal sd, same story for an ssd)
I'm sorry for u to say but I'm afraid you're unfortunately lost the photos and there's no way to get it back.
But my advice to you is:
Never upgrade between android versions (e.g. 4.4 > 5.0) using a zip installable.
Only use full factory images (ftf), they will wipe internal sd in order to get correct mappings so backup everything before flashing.
Once u on a firmware, an update to the same firmware is allowed (e.g. from one 5.0.2 rom to another 5.0.2 rom).
I hope it helps u in the future.
Regards
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you very much for the detailed explanation, after wasting two whole days trying everything described anywhere in the internet for recovering data from internal storage, I have also learnt it the hard way that it won't be possible to recover my data. Anyways the good news is google photos had backed up most of my photos, so it would actually be the call recordings, whatsapp history and other documents that I would have to loose permanently.
langeveld024 said:
Never upgrade between android versions (e.g. 4.4 > 5.0) using a zip installable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As for the upgrade issue, is this only for lollipop or any android version? I have never seen anything similar when I upgraded from 4.0 to 4.1 or 4.2 to 4.4 e.t.c. If I shouldn't use zip installable to upgrade android versions how else do I upgrade to kitkat or lollipop? I don't think there are any factory images published for lollipop for my phone since support for it ended long time ago.
ZeroInfinity said:
Today, I have experienced a very "odd" problem. I have just found out that there is a folder called "storage" visible in my Internal Storage.
When I thought that, since it was visible, it did not contain much useful files (Only 2 xml files I found which would be in both internal and external storage) so I deleted that folder and everything in my SD Card and Internal Storage vanished.
I found out that the "storage" folder had a link to both storage devices but the weird thing is, why was that there and why is it visible? I could of sworn that I have never seen that before on my Xperia Z...
Can anyone else see their "storage" folder in the internal storage or is it just me?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Am again reviving this old thread as today I deleted a folder named sdcard inside my oneplus 3's internal storage and lost everyrhing. Though I had never upgraded my phone using any zip file and always went with the OTA update
I also made a thread https://forum.xda-developers.com/oneplus-3/help/strange-t3537998