Database Develop

Oops! Pocket and Titanium Backup DON'T Mix

To start I broke my holster this morning. So I put my phone in my pocket like everyone would do. I apparently didn't lock the phone first. (This of course being just after I rooted and installed some Root features such as Titanium Backup) This led to only God knows, my phone opening many apps including TiB and settings. Somehow google account syncing stopped working. I read some suggestions and tried them all including a factory reset. After the reset nothing changed now except I had a phone that had no contacts or anything else tied to google. I retried editing the hosts file in /etc. I cannot edit it with Root Browser, Root Explorer, or even after using another program called mount r/w r/o. I did another stupid thing by deleting the host file in an attempt to replace it with another I created. Only good news is now the google account will get past the screen that says i don't have a reliable connection to the server. Still cannot access the play store but I do now have calendar, contacts, and a few other things. Any ideas how I could write to /etc
Sincerely,
My stupid self.
P.S.
I already ordered another holster.
EDIT: I factory reset once more and play store started working. I did root again and the host file is still deleted.

If you're not worried about your apps and data, you could always ODIN back to stock and start over. It may not be the best way to go, but its definitely the easiest...I already did it 3 times since the root came out XD

raynan said:
If you're not worried about your apps and data, you could always ODIN back to stock and start over. It may not be the best way to go, but its definitely the easiest...I already did it 3 times since the root came out XD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I read if you have the OTA version you can't ODIN back since the newer firmware is not out. I didn't get to the phone in time when it OTA'd. I will probably do that when the newer firmware is out. I am not anywhere close to a dev. So if I am way off base correct me its the only way I learn.

beeglej said:
I read if you have the OTA version you can't ODIN back since the newer firmware is not out. I didn't get to the phone in time when it OTA'd. I will probably do that when the newer firmware is out. I am not anywhere close to a dev. So if I am way off base correct me its the only way I learn.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes you can : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=53454972
Swiping from dark side of Galaxy S5.

[Q] Careless mistake made, want to make sure plan of action is correct

My device and detailed list of what happened: I started with i537 4.4.2 ne3 rooted with towelroot. i proceeded to follow the thread about upgrading to 5.0.1 lp oc6 and keep root. Followed everything precisely, sucessfully upgraded, but when i proceeded to restore from Titanium, I didnt realize until it was too late that i backed up user AND system apps and data. after that i got neverending "process.gapps..." has stopped working and so on. I realize now i should have only restored my user apps and data. Anyways, i managed to freeze play services so that i can flashfire LP again, btw i used the deodexed version. As i was doing that and clicked flash, i had forgotten to set the screen timeout to 10 min. or more. Now, all that happens is the samsung custom screen with padlock boots up, but just goes black from there and nothing else. I can boot into download mode. Unfortunately I dont have a laptop with me at the moment, i am using ps4 to post, but i wanted to make sure what my next plan of action should be. From what i have gathered im assuming i need to recover via odin. Do I need to recover back to ne3, towelroot, and then start the process again, or can i just recover to oc6 ? Am I forgetting something crucial? with my lack of attention, probably. Thank you in advance and if I have offended anyone with my stupidity compelling someone to respond with a condescending and negative remarks, i am sorry.

gardensofgrief said:
My device and detailed list of what happened: I started with i537 4.4.2 ne3 rooted with towelroot. i proceeded to follow the thread about upgrading to 5.0.1 lp oc6 and keep root. Followed everything precisely, sucessfully upgraded, but when i proceeded to restore from Titanium, I didnt realize until it was too late that i backed up user AND system apps and data. after that i got neverending "process.gapps..." has stopped working and so on. I realize now i should have only restored my user apps and data. Anyways, i managed to freeze play services so that i can flashfire LP again, btw i used the deodexed version. As i was doing that and clicked flash, i had forgotten to set the screen timeout to 10 min. or more. Now, all that happens is the samsung custom screen with padlock boots up, but just goes black from there and nothing else. I can boot into download mode. Unfortunately I dont have a laptop with me at the moment, i am using ps4 to post, but i wanted to make sure what my next plan of action should be. From what i have gathered im assuming i need to recover via odin. Do I need to recover back to ne3, towelroot, and then start the process again, or can i just recover to oc6 ? Am I forgetting something crucial? with my lack of attention, probably. Thank you in advance and if I have offended anyone with my stupidity compelling someone to respond with a condescending and negative remarks, i am sorry.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're good. Once you flash back to NE3 with Odin it'll be like you're starting from scratch. So just make sure you follow the directions and definitely don't restore system apps. Typically when I'm updating between different versions of Android I'll let my apps install from the Play Store and then restore any missing data from TiBu, this way I can ensure I'm starting fresh.
Good luck.

Devo7v said:
You're good. Once you flash back to NE3 with Odin it'll be like you're starting from scratch. So just make sure you follow the directions and definitely don't restore system apps. Typically when I'm updating between different versions of Android I'll let my apps install from the Play Store and then restore any missing data from TiBu, this way I can ensure I'm starting fresh.
Good luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I figured that was my mistake when i kept getting notifications non-stop. Ive messed around with root since the epic 4g, but this was actually my first time backing up. All other times I preferred starting fresh and having everything wiped. I dont really know why i decided to change that this time, but i did and without really thinking about it i backed up both user and system.
I just got my laptop with me now and ive downloaded odin 3.07, and full package or something 4.4.2 ne3. now I am searching topics to find a guide. its been years since i used odin and I need to make sure im doing this right.
Thanks

This is just great. I was using odin to restore to ne3 and right after it finished the download mode and started to reboot my computer crashes. now I cant do anything. It wont boot into download mode or recovery mode. The only sign of life is if i plug into my laptop it shows the battery icon with a pinwheel that isnt moving. I cant believe this just happened.
*edit* i just left it alone for a few minutes and tried to boot into download mode which was successful.

Can't access storage without root

So, today I upgraded to 6.0 and had a hell of a time (took me 7 hours) and the problem was that when I installed su from twrp it'd soft brick my phone, anyway, that's not the problem, the problem is everything is saving to /storage/emulated and I can't access it without root. I noticed this when I was on OGInsta and I wanted to download a picture, it gave me an error code about how it couldn't find the directory, so I went to my file manager, everything was fine but I accidentally hit up instead of home and it brought me to an empty page. I started messing with the settings of my file manager assuming something went wrong with it, new version etc, and I found it had a root option. I clicked it and gave it root access and went back and I could see the files where I was previously. To make sure I tried to save something on kik, didn't work. I tried accessing my storage from the rar app and it wouldn't. I don't know what's going on or how it even got this way.

How did you install 6.0, what version of su did you install, and how did you fix the soft brick?
Sounds like you have very little idea what your doing and running a ton of random stuff. Probably best to do a system restore, take a step back learn what your doing and do it again properly... but if you can recount the steps you have done it may be fixable.

I like to think I have decent knowledge on what I am doing, I've been rooting phone's and made xposed apps (for myself) since kitkat. I've never had so much trouble with something. And to answer your questions, I figured using nexus root toolkit would he fine, as it always has worked before but I couldn't get it to root my phone. It would soft Brick it for an unknown reason, I left it on for about an hour at one point to make sure it was bootlooping. So then I used adb, flashed boot.img and then recovery. Went into recover and flashed SU 2.52 beta. (this is also how I solved the soft Brick the nexus toolkit was giving me)

scryan said:
How did you install 6.0, what version of su did you install, and how did you fix the soft brick?
Sounds like you have very little idea what your doing and running a ton of random stuff. Probably best to do a system restore, take a step back learn what your doing and do it again properly... but if you can recount the steps you have done it may be fixable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Also, to clearly, I have 2 storage paths. One is "sdcard/" and the other is "storage/emulated/0" I'm not sure if the "storage" folder is new in 6.0, I know 4.+ and 5.+ used "sdcard/". Too see "storage/emulated/0" I need to grant root access to the file manager. And any app the does not have root, cannot access that directory.

YoureVexing said:
I like to think I have decent knowledge on what I am doing, I've been rooting phone's and made xposed apps (for myself) since kitkat. I've never had so much trouble with something. And to answer your questions, I figured using nexus root toolkit would he fine, as it always has worked before but I couldn't get it to root my phone. It would soft Brick it for an unknown reason, I left it on for about an hour at one point to make sure it was bootlooping. So then I used adb, flashed boot.img and then recovery. Went into recover and flashed SU 2.52 beta. (this is also how I solved the soft Brick the nexus toolkit was giving me)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you might have knowledge in making apps, but you are missing lots of knowledge when modding your phone. you are going to have to use an app like root explorer, and find where your storage was placed, then move it to the right location. or you can reflash the factory image. ive always just moved my storage back when its happened to me. anyways, flash the factory image the right way, not through a toolkit. then flash any custom kernel(if flashing marshmallow), and supersu.

YoureVexing said:
I like to think I have decent knowledge on what I am doing, I've been rooting phone's and made xposed apps (for myself) since kitkat.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why are comments like this always made by people who take 7 hours to flash a factory image, and make statements like
YoureVexing said:
So then I used adb, flashed boot.img and then recovery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ADB cannot flash factory images.
I didn't need your resume... Just answers to the questions I asked....
Do as simms said and flash factory image with fastboot to fix whatever you did, then a kernel and the lastest supersu.
The emulated storage folder has been there at least since kit kat. My S4 and Moto X, neither of which saw LP both had it.

scryan said:
Why are comments like this always made by people who take 7 hours to flash a factory image, and make statements like
ADB cannot flash factory images.
I didn't need your resume... Just answers to the questions I asked....
Do as simms said and flash factory image with fastboot to fix whatever you did, then a kernel and the lastest supersu.
The emulated storage folder has been there at least since kit kat. My S4 and Moto X, neither of which saw LP both had it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It took me 7 hours because I could figure out what was wrong with it and why twrp kept soft bricking my device. And I'm not worried about emulated. I know that has been there. I'm saying there is 2 folders, /sdcard and /storage. Every app is trying to use the path "/storage/emulated/0/*insert app folder here" and it cannot do that without root. I'm confused as too why all the apps are trying to do that for a default location instead of /sdcard. I've already tried to reflash everything. I even looked up like 5 tutorials to make sure I was doing it right and I was.

Can't really help you with your current situation (other than to advise you to flash a factory image and start over), but if it confirms your sanity the exact same thing happened to me using the rootkit to root my Nexus 6. I should've known better than to use rootkit, but I'm not really used to fastboot having been on Samsung devices and using Odin for everything. I corrected it by flashing a factory image, flashing the modified boot image, flashing TWRP, and then SuperSU. But the whole process was quite a fiasco from what I'm used to and for what I expected from a Nexus phone.

YoureVexing said:
It took me 7 hours because I could figure out what was wrong with it and why twrp kept soft bricking my device. And I'm not worried about emulated. I know that has been there. I'm saying there is 2 folders, /sdcard and /storage. Every app is trying to use the path "/storage/emulated/0/*insert app folder here" and it cannot do that without root. I'm confused as too why all the apps are trying to do that for a default location instead of /sdcard. I've already tried to reflash everything. I even looked up like 5 tutorials to make sure I was doing it right and I was.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
/sdcard is a simlink, its the same folder.

internetpilot said:
Can't really help you with your current situation (other than to advise you to flash a factory image and start over), but if it confirms your sanity the exact same thing happened to me using the rootkit to root my Nexus 6. I should've known better than to use rootkit, but I'm not really used to fastboot having been on Samsung devices and using Odin for everything. I corrected it by flashing a factory image, flashing the modified boot image, flashing TWRP, and then SuperSU. But the whole process was quite a fiasco from what I'm used to and for what I expected from a Nexus phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The rootkit wasn't working for me, it's been a charm for my nexus 5 and from 4.+ and nexus 6 on 5.+, on 6.0 it wasn't working so I tried to flash it on fastboot and I still got the same thing. I'll try it once more I suppose, thank you.

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Sm-n900a best rooting option?? Need current info.

Hello guys and Gals, this will be my first time posting so please bear with me. I have been trying to find the best option to root my Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Sm-n900a for a while now, seems to be one of the harder phones to root... this will be my first time attempting to root a device, so I want to make sure I do everything correctly. I have watched multiple videos and read a lot of threads on the subject but it is hard to find anything that is current and has the proper links to be files needed. if anybody has a good step-by-step walkthrough or video and the time to help me I would greatly appreciate it, if you do respond to the thread please dumb it down I am still learning terminology. I am determined to get this done come hell or high water. so if anybody has a good step-by-step walkthrough or video and the time to help me I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you for helping me put a nail in this coffin i I have been trying to do this far too long.

I just did this over the course of hours. I can't say I'm pleased with any of the explanations on xda-developers or found by Google. Unfortunately, writing up a good, full explanation is beyond me right now.
I did this from the Android 5.0.1? Lollipop "OC3" version (seen as the last 3 characters of the "Baseband version" under Settings -> General -> About device). Apparently this version cannot be rooted, however, you can downgrade your version of Android to one that you can root: Android 4.4.2 KitKat ("N900AUCUCNC2"). Apparently you can do something to stay rooted while manually updating to Android 5.0 Lollipop "OC1," but updating to the current AT&T version "OC3" revokes your root access.
I followed the process listed at https://forum.xda-developers.com/note-3-att/general/root-att-note-3-android-5-0-t3318130/post65467618, but if you are satisfied with having rooted Kitkat 4.4.2, you don't need to do steps 11 and 12. If you want the more recent Android 5.0 OC1, then do steps 11 & 12.
One thing I can do is help you understand some of the things I never saw explained. In the list of instructions you will see some programs you will need. A brief summary of each:
Odin - A program that runs on Windows that will manage some low-level aspects of your phone over a connected USB cable. It is used to install an OS (Kitkat 4.4.2 in this example) after your phone has been Wiped from the boot loader menu (gotten to by turning your phone on holding down VolumeUp + Home buttons). It is nice to have a MicroSD card onto which you can move various things before wiping the phone. (You never need to wipe your MicroSD card. Make sure you don't wipe it when using the Wipe feature in SafeStrap).
Towelroot - This is actual program that roots your phone using a known problem in the phone. After running the program, tap the only button there is to do it. I think this is a safe operation—as in, I think it will tell you if it can't rather than scrozzle your OS.
SuperSU - A program that manages which apps on your phone have root access. After it is installed, when you run a newly installed program that requires root access, SuperSU will pop up a dialog asking you if you want to grant it root access. I saw no indication you can get by without it, even if you don't need to "manage" app root access.
SafeStrap - This is a program that does various things, most importantly installing other operating systems that you previously loaded onto your phone as a file and then letting you choose which one you want to boot to whenever your phone boots up. It installs like a normal program, however from within the program you can "Install Recovery" or "Uninstall Recovery." "Recovery" is a bit of software it inserts into the phone boot process. While booting, if you want to use that software, you tap "Recovery" in the lower left. Tap "Continue" if you just want to boot with the currently active OS (chosen from within the Recovery software under the "Boot" options). With Recovery, you create a new slot for an OS, MAKE IT THE ACTIVE OS, Wipe it (Advanced, NOT format), then can back up a menu and install an OS from your MicroSD card. The purpose of all these shenanigans is so you don't have to lose your working Android install while installing something else.
Titanium Backup - A software backup program that requires root access to work. It also has a ton of other features loosely related to backing up. It is the simplest way to prevent AT&T from updating your version of Android to the unrooted current version. Having said that, it is anything but simple because of the user interface. You might investigate alternative methods for preventing auto-updating.
Be aware that whatever software (e.g., file manager) you use to hunt down files and folders on your phone is probably not going to be showing you everything. There are hundreds of programs that your phone uses, some of which are hidden. Titanium Backup does appear to be capable of showing a true full list of apps (including system apps). This is pertinent, because the AT&T Software Update program is hidden very well.
Potential costs:
$10-20 US approximately for a MicroSD card. There's fast ones that are in that price range. Google for reviews.
$5.99 for Titanium Backup from the Google Play store.

GregJ7 said:
I just did this over the course of hours. I can't say I'm pleased with any of the explanations on xda-developers or found by Google. Unfortunately, writing up a good, full explanation is beyond me right now.
I did this from the Android 5.0.1? Lollipop "OC3" version (seen as the last 3 characters of the "Baseband version" under Settings -> General -> About device). Apparently this version cannot be rooted, however, you can downgrade your version of Android to one that you can root: Android 4.4.2 KitKat ("N900AUCUCNC2"). Apparently you can do something to stay rooted while manually updating to Android 5.0 Lollipop "OC1," but updating to the current AT&T version "OC3" revokes your root access.
I followed the process listed at https://forum.xda-developers.com/no...att-note-3-android-5-0-t3318130/post65467618, but if you are satisfied with having rooted Kitkat 4.4.2, you don't need to do steps 11 and 12. If you want the more recent Android 5.0 OC1, then do steps 11 & 12.
One thing I can do is help you understand some of the things I never saw explained. In the list of instructions you will see some programs you will need. A brief summary of each:
Odin - A program that runs on Windows that will manage some low-level aspects of your phone over a connected USB cable. It is used to install an OS (Kitkat 4.4.2 in this example) after your phone has been Wiped from the boot loader menu (gotten to by turning your phone on holding down VolumeUp + Home buttons). It is nice to have a MicroSD card onto which you can move various things before wiping the phone. (You never need to wipe your MicroSD card. Make sure you don't wipe it when using the Wipe feature in SafeStrap).
Towelroot - This is actual program that roots your phone using a known problem in the phone. After running the program, tap the only button there is to do it. I think this is a safe operation—as in, I think it will tell you if it can't rather than scrozzle your OS.
SuperSU - A program that manages which apps on your phone have root access. After it is installed, when you run a newly installed program that requires root access, SuperSU will pop up a dialog asking you if you want to grant it root access. I saw no indication you can get by without it, even if you don't need to "manage" app root access.
SafeStrap - This is a program that does various things, most importantly installing other operating systems that you previously loaded onto your phone as a file and then letting you choose which one you want to boot to whenever your phone boots up. It installs like a normal program, however from within the program you can "Install Recovery" or "Uninstall Recovery." "Recovery" is a bit of software it inserts into the phone boot process. While booting, if you want to use that software, you tap "Recovery" in the lower left. Tap "Continue" if you just want to boot with the currently active OS (chosen from within the Recovery software under the "Boot" options). With Recovery, you create a new slot for an OS, MAKE IT THE ACTIVE OS, Wipe it (Advanced, NOT format), then can back up a menu and install an OS from your MicroSD card. The purpose of all these shenanigans is so you don't have to lose your working Android install while installing something else.
Titanium Backup - A software backup program that requires root access to work. It also has a ton of other features loosely related to backing up. It is the simplest way to prevent AT&T from updating your version of Android to the unrooted current version. Having said that, it is anything but simple because of the user interface. You might investigate alternative methods for preventing auto-updating.
Be aware that whatever software (e.g., file manager) you use to hunt down files and folders on your phone is probably not going to be showing you everything. There are hundreds of programs that your phone uses, some of which are hidden. Titanium Backup does appear to be capable of showing a true full list of apps (including system apps). This is pertinent, because the AT&T Software Update program is hidden very well.
Potential costs:
$10-20 US approximately for a MicroSD card. There's fast ones that are in that price range. Google for reviews.
$5.99 for Titanium Backup from the Google Play store.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Life got pretty busy there for a minute... I was able to get Titanium Backup I have had a good SD card for a while now safestrap SuperSU towelroot everything that I need. But this being my first time and not really ever using the software, it's giving me a little bit of anxiety. Before trying process the root I had a couple of questions that I definitely would like to get a solid answer on they might sound stupid but I'd rather sound stupid then not have a phone and ask lol. Okay how about we know I have a Note 3 SM n910a AT&T original carrier swapped over to Metro PCS I'm on one of their $50 plans which I think is unlimited everything but no tether so I have been using PDA and foxfi tethering from my phone to my computer... my roommate has a hotspot but he is rarely home. I need to know if it is possible to complete the root in that situation also the person from the thread that you sent me to confused me as far as making sure you have the ROM pre-downloaded. It just confused me I'm to the point I want to have somebody jump on TeamViewer with me and just make sure I don't screw up too bad.. I did go look at them custom robs as well if anybody would like to share their favorites or what they think is a good easy ROM to be able to play around with it and not mess it up too bad I would love any suggestions from anybody

XxLightxX said:
Life got pretty busy there for a minute... I was able to get Titanium Backup I have had a good SD card for a while now safestrap SuperSU towelroot everything that I need. But this being my first time and not really ever using the software, it's giving me a little bit of anxiety. Before trying process the root I had a couple of questions that I definitely would like to get a solid answer on they might sound stupid but I'd rather sound stupid then not have a phone and ask lol. Okay how about we know I have a Note 3 SM n910a AT&T original carrier swapped over to Metro PCS I'm on one of their $50 plans which I think is unlimited everything but no tether so I have been using PDA and foxfi tethering from my phone to my computer... my roommate has a hotspot but he is rarely home. I need to know if it is possible to complete the root in that situation also the person from the thread that you sent me to confused me as far as making sure you have the ROM pre-downloaded. It just confused me I'm to the point I want to have somebody jump on TeamViewer with me and just make sure I don't screw up too bad.. I did go look at them custom robs as well if anybody would like to share their favorites or what they think is a good easy ROM to be able to play around with it and not mess it up too bad I would love any suggestions from anybody
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just ended up stayin on kk rooted on mine. Everytime i goto lolipop i brick it. Its almost a hassle to try. I would odin the kk firmware and use towel root. Install xposed and some root apps. If ures is anything like mine dont debloat it. I debloat lightly. And next reboot get all kinds of spen and other force closes. The note 3 in general seem unstable. But i need to restore m8ne back stock now as its keeps force closing. I will be starting mine over for the 100th time it feels like. Dont let my ramblings discourage you. It is a awsome device and having a lgg5 iphone 5 and a few others my note 3s outer glass is destroyed. Got it like that. I would take the note 3 over the rest if i could get it to run rite more than 2 or 3 days at a time. Ive. Always set all my devices the same way. Debloated them the same but this one is really touchy.... Im on here a lot if u gots any ?s just hollar at me.

If you're still interested in an easy way to root, use Wondershare Dr Phone. It worked for me on stock OC1 and then the just used Flashfire to flash whatever I wanted.

Question How do you run an ADB command on a bootlooping device?

I have uninstalled a system app that I shouldn't have (something to do with network conectivity according to the recovery log) and everything was fine until I updated my device. I hadn't restarted it since removing the system app but after tyhe update it will no longer go past the Samsung galaxy logo. I remember doing something similar to either this device or another and I remember that I was abler to get into the system enough to be able to reinstall the neccessary app and fix the problem. However, this time I cannot get into adb at all. adb won't show any devices when in recovery, download mode, or at any of the three stages of the boot screen. I have tried wiping the cache and everything but factory resetting it as I have data that I can't lose. Any help would be appreciated whether getting adb install-existing to work or to pull important files off of the device before a reset. The device runs android 12 not rooted.

(...)
Go back via odin to the original firmware including the correct BIT.
(...)

Flash in Odin using home CSC file, simple

You only need to run ADB in Windows PC terminal or DOS mode in order to Odin flash firmware. No need to run ADB commands in the phone.
Just be sure that you install the "Samsung ADB Driver" into your PC before
you try Odin flashing firmware.
Just be sure you download the proper firmware for your phone.
Good luck, have a great day and have fun!

Thank you to all the help, but eventually I got into the phone. For anyone who may encounter a similar problem in the future:
After the phone reboots enough, it resets all preinstalled apps and removes any user installed ones and goes into safe mode. From here, the phone goes through the initial setup screens but all data is still intact, just not apps. Concerningly, it doesn't ask for you to enter your password, it just puts you on the homescreen, which seems bad from a privacy perspective as any samsung repair tech can easily cause the phone to boot loop. From here, you can back up anything important and factory reset. There is no way to exit safe mode once you've gotten this far.
I don't remember why odin didn't work, it may have been that I couldn't get the firmware to download as Samsung likes to change that stuff all the time or it may not have reinstalled the system app neccessary.
I should've been more clear in the original post but I have not flashed any unofficial firmware just the U1 firmware to remove carrier bloat, but that was way before this occurred. In case it wasn't clear, the problem happened because through
Code:
adb shell uninstall --user 0 package.name
an important system app was removed (something network related) which caused android to crash when trying to start the service. In short: be careful what you remove when using adb and, for all you forum members: read the whole post instead of jumping to conclusions about the user's mistake and if it isn't clear, ask for more details. Again, thank you to all the helpful comments even if they didn't end up working.

ZenDeveloper said:
Thank you to all the help, but eventually I got into the phone. For anyone who may encounter a similar problem in the future:
After the phone reboots enough, it resets all preinstalled apps and removes any user installed ones and goes into safe mode.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
May I ask how long it took to "reboot enough"? I'm having issue updating to Android 13. It got into boot loop (the 2nd time actually. I mentioned about it in another thread a few weeks ago. Today I decided to try again). Anyway I am wondering if there's anyway I don't need to reset the whole thing. What you described interested me.
Thanks

hatoxda said:
May I ask how long it took to "reboot enough"? I'm having issue updating to Android 13. It got into boot loop (the 2nd time actually. I mentioned about it in another thread a few weeks ago. Today I decided to try again). Anyway I am wondering if there's anyway I don't need to reset the whole thing. What you described interested me.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry for the late reply,
I don't know how many times it needs to reboot to go into safe mode but it seemed like quite a bit maybe 20-30 times possibly like 100. But once it does it'll go through the initial setup screens and let you in without a password. It's very important to backup everything on your device before you mess with any system apps or update especially if you've previously messed with system apps. I however don't use google hence I didn't have a backup of anything and needed to get it off before hand.
It could also be possible that Samsung removed this back door in android 13 and just the act of trying to update it gets rid of it. I don't know I'm just throwing around ideas.

Rule #1 - if a OS is fast, stable and fulfilling its mission, let it be! Firmware upgrades/updates can and do break Samsung's.