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
Hi
I have the Samsung galaxy S Advance (DULP8) and I want to root it. I followed the steps to root but when i copy the root.zip into my external memory card and then go try to flash that via stock recovery(update via external storage ) i don't see it ? in fact there is stuff that dosent belong to me like some song folders and such
I even tried copying the file in internal and external still no luck . I had the device earlier and it was running gingerbread then it got messed up and i sent to Samsung to repair they repaired it and returned with jellybean 4.1.2 installed :highfive:
I don't know what to do i am so frustrated and cofused about where the hell does the folders come from which i have no clue about ?
Also in the storage in settings there is three tabs
1.Device memory
2.Internal Storage
3.Sdcard
When i select update from external storage in recovery it dosent even go to my external sd ?
From recovery choose "install zip from external sdcard" don't use update.
Sent from my GT-I9070 using Tapatalk 2
There is option like that
R_a_z_v_a_n said:
From recovery choose "install zip from external sdcard" don't use update.
Sent from my GT-I9070 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is no Option like that I am using stock recovery.
bhvingrover said:
There is no Option like that I am using stock recovery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is there install? Or apply update from external storage?
Ok, I did not use stock recovery for a long time - I do not remember what is exacly. If you do not see anything from "update from external storage" you will need to REPARTITION your SD card. This is not formating, this is erasing partition and creating it again. Guide: http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/SD_card_partitioning
You will lose data from it, so I suggest you to backup it to a computer.
Sometimes you pasted your zip on a folder that is down below than those that stock recovery displays
So what you have to do is: go to your file explorer (personally I use ES file explorer) and enable display of hidden files, then some folders with . will appear so try pasting the zip on one of those folders
If stock recovery doesn't show anything when apply updates is pressed, then you'll have to do what shut_down said
Stock Recovery does show things in External storage
Shiningb said:
Sometimes you pasted your zip on a folder that is down below than those that stock recovery displays
So what you have to do is: go to your file explorer (personally I use ES file explorer) and enable display of hidden files, then some folders with . will appear so try pasting the zip on one of those folders
If stock recovery doesn't show anything when apply updates is pressed, then you'll have to do what shut_down said
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It does show stuff but its not stuff which is in my memory card (4gb).
bhvingrover said:
It does show stuff but its not stuff which is in my memory card (4gb).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You need to put root.zip on EXTERNAL SD. It is not shown in INTERNAL.
This might work but first you need to backup all your data: from ext-sd and from usb storage.
Then factory reset you phone. After that format your ext-sd with sistem file "FAT32" . When done with that put only the "root.zip" on the sd.
After all above is done try to install the root file with stock recovery.
P.S If this doesn't work you might be stuck on the stock JB for a long time.
Sent from my GT-I9070 using xda premium
Are you tried internal storage?
Hi guys
I'd like to erase my sd card. In the last time i've flashed several roms. Now, i have in system storage two part, one is emulated where is a 0 map with all file i have, end the other one is sdcard0, and there are also all files. Because i have only 5G free space, i want to erase one of them. I want to copy the necessary files to my pc, and the whole sd erase, after then copy back the folder i need. Can i do so? Don't will i erase my rom too?
thanks
mohab216 said:
I'd like to erase my sd card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First of all, do you have a real SD card? If so, you don't have the same phone as 99% of people in the HTC One subforum, because the HTC One has no SD card. But in short, nothing you can delete as non-root will hurt your ROM. If you're using a file manager and deleting stuff, you're pretty safe. You can get into more trouble with factory resets or "wipes".
fenstre said:
First of all, do you have a real SD card? If so, you don't have the same phone as 99% of people in the HTC One subforum, because the HTC One has no SD card. But in short, nothing you can delete as non-root will hurt your ROM. If you're using a file manager and deleting stuff, you're pretty safe. You can get into more trouble with factory resets or "wipes".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tnaks. It is of course a virtual sd card
You can format it via CWM/TWRP recovery. Back up first, format and put back what you need.
No it won't erase your Rom or wipe. If u use twrp, be sure you uncheck all marks except SDcard (think it's the bottom one)
Note that if you "format internal storage" in CWM, it *will* wipe all your app data. I don't think you want that.
There are "fake" folders on Android 4. The real folders you should have are:
/data/media/0
/data/media/obb (optional)
/data/media/legacy (this is empty on my phone)
You should have no other folders in /data/media. If you see other folders and delete them, it will probably solve your problem. If you don't, your problem may have a more complicated solution.
Long story short -- I'm selling my Note 4 so I wiped/formatted EVERYTHING (used "format data" option in TWRP which required me to type "yes"). After that happened I found I didn't have an OS installed. Ok, no big deal right? I'll mount my sdcard and copy the stock firmware over than flash with TWRP.
WRONG. Every time I try to copy a file to either the sd card or the internal storage, I get the following error message:
"Cannot copy Trltetmo_N910TUVU1ANJ7_Stock_Deodexed.zip
Its file size is larger than the device limit."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wtf? In file explore it says that the SD card has 29.7GB free space available. And internal storage has 24.1GB. Obviously something is not right here.
Is it possible that TWRP didn't format things correctly? I just want to know how to fix this so I can get the stock firmware back on this bad boy and get it sold. I have been out of the android scene for awhile so any and all help is greatly appreciated.
Also, not sure if it's worth noting but when I mount my Note 4 in windows with TWRP both the internal storage and sd card have like no file structure or files whatsoever. Completely empty. Also interesting is every time I reboot with TWRP, it asks if I want to install supersu or whatever to root the phone. I say "yes" but each time I reboot after that it asks me the same thing like it didn't actually do anything.
You can use ODIN to install Stock firmware on phone. So you won't need to copy anything to phone/sdcard memory.
If you still want to install that deodexed rom you mentioned, you need to plug your sdcard to computer using a sdcard adapter. TWRP built-in mount fails most of the times when trying to copy big files.
pvsgh said:
You can use ODIN to install Stock firmware on phone. So you won't need to copy anything to phone/sdcard memory.
If you still want to install that deodexed rom you mentioned, you need to plug your sdcard to computer using a sdcard adapter. TWRP built-in mount fails most of the times when trying to copy big files.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess that's not actually the "stock" stock firmware. Because the file I have is a .zip and is apparently incompatible with Odin. I will go to sam mobile and download the firmware there.
Do you recommend I download the most recent firmware should I flash the one that came with the phone?
Also, I hope that once I get the firmware back on, I will be able to copy large files when mounting normally once booted into the OS...
lmills.117 said:
I guess that's not actually the "stock" stock firmware. Because the file I have is a .zip and is apparently incompatible with Odin. I will go to sam mobile and download the firmware there.
Do you recommend I download the most recent firmware should I flash the one that came with the phone?
Also, I hope that once I get the firmware back on, I will be able to copy large files when mounting normally once booted into the OS...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, download the latest firmware and install it using ODIN.
You would be able to see and copy/paste to your internal and memory card normally after phone boots into android.
I am unable to locate magisk in internal storage in TWRP. Internal storage shows some size but cannot see the zip file anywhere. I also dont own a sd card so using that is out of the option. I have even tried adb sideload but it was showing as error 2. I am just 1 step away to root my phone and that is just to install magisk somehow on my phone. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
Princesskomz said:
I am unable to locate magisk in internal storage in TWRP. Internal storage shows some size but cannot see the zip file anywhere. I also dont own a sd card so using that is out of the option. I have even tried adb sideload but it was showing as error 2. I am just 1 step away to root my phone and that is just to install magisk somehow on my phone. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
first, get a micro sd card. on some roms you might encounter a problem with data decryption of internal storage, thus making reading anything with twrp unusable. also you need one to make a nandroid backup to restore your phone. second, see where your browser downloaded the file. perhaps in android/data ? some of them do download there, since scoped storage
Fytdyh said:
first, get a micro sd card. on some roms you might encounter a problem with data decryption of internal storage, thus making reading anything with twrp unusable. also you need one to make a nandroid backup to restore your phone. second, see where your browser downloaded the file. perhaps in android/data ? some of them do download there, since scoped storage
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the response. I thought we can root without sd card as nowadays phones come with internal storage. Anyways, I have not added customised rom its the original one that I use. The file I downloaded was in another zip folder, not in android/data as seen on pc. also in twrp I can see my storage is mounted like I can see the size number "Internal Storage (532276mb)" something like this but I am still unable to locate a single folder let alone any file in internal storage. I am so confused as how to proceed further.
try removing any security from your phone, like fingerprints or pin. maybe thats a reason
Fytdyh said:
try removing any security from your phone, like fingerprints or pin. maybe thats a reason
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
my phone is without any security. still I am unable to find any solution
do we need to install some custom rom ?