Database Develop

[Q] Will reset delete all my files?

Hi,
Just got my new Nexus 6 64GB. Rooted and I transferred my titanium backup files from my Galaxy Note 3. Everything went fine. 3 hour later all my apps are up and running and I'm peachy.
After that I was doing some reading a I stumbled upon the tutorial on how to disable encryption. I gave it a go and upon restart it asked me for my pin number. I enter the pin and then I get the message saying that the phone has to be reset. I hit reset and after the procedure finished phone rebooted and all my files where completely wiped clean. In all my previous phones I could do a reset and keep all my downloaded and backed up files. Is there a way to do this too with the nexus or every time I screw something up I will loose everything?

Stock recovery always resets /sdcard too. Custom recovery only /data and /cache, etc.
However, ALL your data is on an encrypted file system so the only way to decrypt is by reformatting the places that contain ALL the data

rootSU said:
Stock recovery always resets /sdcard too. Custom recovery only /data and /cache, etc.
However, ALL your data is on an encrypted file system so the only way to decrypt is by reformatting the places that contain ALL the data
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does this apply even if I disabled the encryption?
I love the phone but this is an issue for me. Please give me your opinion on which is the best way to go. I was thinking to not install a custom recovery so I can be able to do the OTA updates even thought I never owned a phone that I didn't root and install custom recovery and ROM from day one (Only have used Samsung Note Phones all these years). Is there a ROM that is based on the Original with encryption disabled and has some good tweaks and will be updated as soon as there is an update? Thanks for your help.

slekkas said:
Does this apply even if I disabled the encryption?
I love the phone but this is an issue for me. Please give me your opinion on which is the best way to go. I was thinking to not install a custom recovery so I can be able to do the OTA updates even thought I never owned a phone that I didn't root and install custom recovery and ROM from day one (Only have used Samsung Note Phones all these years). Is there a ROM that is based on the Original with encryption disabled and has some good tweaks and will be updated as soon as there is an update? Thanks for your help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All phones that have "internal storage" their stock recovery wipes "sdcard" when you factory reset.

slekkas said:
Does this apply even if I disabled the encryption?
I love the phone but this is an issue for me. Please give me your opinion on which is the best way to go. I was thinking to not install a custom recovery so I can be able to do the OTA updates even thought I never owned a phone that I didn't root and install custom recovery and ROM from day one (Only have used Samsung Note Phones all these years). Is there a ROM that is based on the Original with encryption disabled and has some good tweaks and will be updated as soon as there is an update? Thanks for your help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The ROMs have nothing to do with encryption. When you want to turn encryption off, all your data will be reset, there is no way around it.
However, once you have disabled encryption, then you can stay on a stock rooted ROM, or go to any ROM you like, your internal files will not be touched (data will be deleted though). If you were to stay on the stock rooted ROM, and then accept an OTA update, your phone will automatically encrypt on first boot afterwards. Most ROMs update within a day (if not hours) after the OTA update, so best bet is to flash than to accept OTA if you want to stay unencrypted.
When you wipe your phone in recovery yo flash a different ROM, you do a custom wipe, where you uncheck "internal storage", so your files/pictures/etc don't get deleted.
The cool thing about the N6 is the restore option. If you were to completely wipe right now and go to a different ROM, on first boot, upon logging in you will be asked if you want to restore a backup (if you have enabled backup apps, data, WiFi passwords for your google account). If you select yes, all your apps will automatically be downloaded from the play store, you won't have to do it manually. However, I have seen data for the app is not restored, but you can log into most apps and most games save your progress on the cloud now.

Backing up N6 with Helium

Hi,
Dropped my N6 as per the drop thread. Received my replacement unit from Motorola. Trying to get Helium backups going. Since the phone is encrypted it keeps popping up asking for a password. I put one in and say start backup, nothing happens. I tried both PC Download and internal backup. Last tried I only picked 8 small apps and its not finishing. I thought maybe the pattern lock sequence have something to do with it, so I changed it to a pin code. Still no dice.
Has anyone successfully ran Helium on an encrypted (5.1) N6? I tried the Motorola migrate app, but that one I cant get in receive mode on new phone. I have my old N6 backuped with Google but when I try and restore from the new phone it only finds my tablet backup. This should all be so simple but yet very hard.

Not sure about helium. I guess you're unrooted / locked bootloader?

rootSU said:
Not sure about helium. I guess you're unrooted / locked bootloader?
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Click to collapse
Correct. Gave up for now, doing manual backups of tasker etc. Spent too much time getting Helium/Migrate/Google Backups to work.

About to wipe and 're-build' N6. Couple of Q.

Couple of quick (probably stupid) questions about wiping and rebuilding the phone:
I haven't done a "flash-all.bat" in quite a few iterations of Android updates. I keep hearing from different people how smooth and how fast and bug free their phone is after doing a "Flash-all.bat" on it.
Is this true or do you all think it's just a placebo effect?
I've already done a Titanium Backup of my apps. Do you all recommend doing it that way or, re-installing the apps and re-set everything up from the Play Store all over again?
I've backed up my "userdata" folder to my PC. Is there a way, after wiping the phone to completely erase the SD card and/or check for errors? Or, not necessary?
I've seen some discussion that people are no longer using Chainfire's SU any more and have moved on to something else (the other SU name escapes me at the moment)?
An unlocked Bootloader now trips SafetyNet? So there is no real reason to try and install "SUHide" and the like in order to get Android Pay working? I've not messed around
with trying to bypass the SafetyNet and just resigned myself to never being able to use A.P. Should I even mess with all of that?
Anything else you all might recommend on a "restart" of a device, I'd be eager to hear!
Thanks all!

1. FlashAll is way too drastic. It deletes every single file you had on your emmc. Doing factory reset from TWRP only deletes the apps and settings and leaves all your photos, documents, downloads, etc.
2. I let Google install my apps after a new setup and then let TB restore the data for those that Google couldn't. Since MM even Google manages to restore some data too.
3. Unless you want to sell it, there's no need to wipe it completely.
4. PHH's superuser is completely open source and more and more people use it.
5. Yep, you need a custom kernel for SafetyNet if your bootloader is open. There is one already for 7.0 too
Sent from my Nexus 6P running Nougat DP 7.1 using Tapatalk

istperson said:
1. FlashAll is way too drastic. It deletes every single file you had on your emmc. Doing factory reset from TWRP only deletes the apps and settings and leaves all your photos, documents, downloads, etc.
2. I let Google install my apps after a new setup and then let TB restore the data for those that Google couldn't. Since MM even Google manages to restore some data too.
3. Unless you want to sell it, there's no need to wipe it completely.
4. PHH's superuser is completely open source and more and more people use it.
5. Yep, you need a custom kernel for SafetyNet if your bootloader is open. There is one already for 7.0 too
Sent from my Nexus 6P running Nougat DP 7.1 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) Ok, so I will just do a "factory reset" in TWRP then.
2) I will have to take a look at the TB Backup, I've only done "Backup all user apps". I'll check if there is just a setting for "Data for user apps" then.
3) Ok. Point taken. Just thought wiping the internal storage might get rid of any "ghosts in the system" so to speak.
4) Thank you for refreshing my memory. Forgot the name of the other SU.
5) I'll check to see if Franco Kernel has that, or plans on implementing it. I've been using F.K. forever so hopefully he will get around to releasing one.
** Unrelated note: Your 6p, in hindsight, was it worth the upgrade from the 6? Since the new Pixels are out, I'm assuming the 6P are going to start dropping in price at this point **
Thanks again for the suggestions / help

usafle said:
** Unrelated note: Your 6p, in hindsight, was it worth the upgrade from the 6? Since the new Pixels are out, I'm assuming the 6P are going to start dropping in price at this point **
Thanks again for the suggestions / help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This was indeed worth it, it was a store display model activated for a couple of months, I got it for half price.
But I needed a daily device while I develop Nougat for my N6. Then switch them and develop it for the 6P.
But as a device I'm very pleased with it, it's faster, the camera is better, and the 7.1 DP is already better than the official 7.0.
Sent from my Nexus 6P running Nougat DP 7.1 using Tapatalk

LineageOS: Encrypted phone, all data gone

I thought that while encrypting my phone, the result would be that my data is preserved, just encrypted. So I went through the encryption process only to find that all my data is wiped, so that I have to restore everything from backups, as far as I have them.
Did I overlook something, or is this a bug? I have LineageOS 14.1, installed yesterday, official.

Found that after a reboot, the data was again gone. (after I spent considerable time setting the phone up yet again), now factory reset, running unencrypted, until I know what has been going wrong here. Sigh. Custom roms and encryption continue to be a toxic mix for me.

yahya69 said:
Found that after a reboot, the data was again gone. (after I spent considerable time setting the phone up yet again), now factory reset, running unencrypted, until I know what has been going wrong here. Sigh. Custom roms and encryption continue to be a toxic mix for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I first started playing around with encryption (Samsung Note 3) I discovered that to get encryption to work properly I had to format /data (you lose everything, including internal shared storage) and that it worked better on stock ROM rather than custom ROMs.
Sent from my OnePlus3T using XDA Labs

BillGoss said:
When I first started playing around with encryption (Samsung Note 3) I discovered that to get encryption to work properly I had to format /data (you lose everything, including internal shared storage) and that it worked better on stock ROM rather than custom ROMs.
Sent from my OnePlus3T using XDA Labs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
which I kind of accepted after learning it the hard way, but the problem was that after encrypting the device, all data was wiped each time the phone was rebooted, so something is buggy here.

yahya69 said:
which I kind of accepted after learning it the hard way, but the problem was that after encrypting the device, all data was wiped each time the phone was rebooted, so something is buggy here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I resolve this problem using latest official twrp.

dimon2242 said:
I resolve this problem using latest official twrp.
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Click to collapse
How did you? (What version of TWRP did you install) After all, it is not TWRP that does the encryption, or is it? So I don't see how this could be the cause.
With TWRP, I had the additional issue that it kept asking me for a password to mount /data, but it wouldn't accept the PIN that I had set in Android. I have no idea what other password it might want.
Oh, well, there is just too much fumbling in the dark in this whole mobile devices business. I have been a Linux user for some 20 years, and there, if things go wrong, you can actually view what is happening. On android, this is so much more difficult, even with logcat.

yahya69 said:
How did you? (What version of TWRP did you install) After all, it is not TWRP that does the encryption, or is it? So I don't see how this could be the cause.
With TWRP, I had the additional issue that it kept asking me for a password to mount /data, but it wouldn't accept the PIN that I had set in Android. I have no idea what other password it might want.
Oh, well, there is just too much fumbling in the dark in this whole mobile devices business. I have been a Linux user for some 20 years, and there, if things go wrong, you can actually view what is happening. On android, this is so much more difficult, even with logcat.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried default_password as the password in TWRP?
Also, if you can actual log into your system normally, then you can set the password again and require it on boot.

BillGoss said:
Have you tried default_password as the password in TWRP?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What "default password"? You mean, literally typing "default_password"? No I did not. What would that have done?
After all, again, it required a password for the /data partition, hence a password with whom it is encrypted. But I had used no password other than the PIN. And again, I can't see how my problem of data disappearing on each boot would be caused by TWRP.
Also, if you can actual log into your system normally, then you can set the password again and require it on boot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Again, what password do you have in mind? The PIN? Yes, the system asked for the PIN at boot, but nonetheless, all data was wiped on each boot.
For the time being,I run the system without encryption, because I have had enough of setting is up again and again anew (had to do this three or four times.)
Again, it looks like this is a bug. Because after initially encrypting the phone, my data should still have been there. But it was gone. The phone was now encrypted, but there was nothing on it. That's something that I am pretty sure is not supposed to happen.

just had the same using Samsung S5 Duos with latest lineage-os (20180427): this is a cluster-f**k, I cannot believe it. I advocate using Lineage-OS whereever I go. Of course, it's my fault, I did trust Lineage-OS too much so I didn't think of backing-up. I didn't believe something like this could happen.

chaos_prevails said:
I did trust Lineage-OS too much so I didn't think of backing-up. I didn't believe something like this could happen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You probably already realize this, at this point. But there is no such thing as an OS (on any device) that is so secure or stable, that backing up your data is not necessary. Even regardless of OS, memory corruption and data loss can happen for any number of reasons. Golden rule: If your data is important to you, back it up.

Of course, I know.
I took the loss of all data as opportunity to flash newest modem, CSC, and PDA firmware via latest stock-rom, and then re-flashed latest Lineage OS again. This time, it didn't factory reset my phone with encryption. Don't know if that had anything to do with my old firmware (I had G900FDXXS1CPK2 installed when factory reset-with-encryption happened).
Beside, I was lucky as no other migration method to my new phone worked out except going via a old-school micro-sd card copy. I could undelete almost all pictures on it

Question Question About Backing Up

Hi all, this forum has been great for providing answers, so ive got 1 last question before i do anything to my phone.
Obliviously installing a custom recovery like TWRP requires bootloader unlocking which wipes data. I want to perform a backup of my phone, a complete backup, system, apps the works so if anything is wrong i can restore the backup, no when i say backup i mean almost like a Nandroid backup you can perform with a custom recovery, is this possible?, or ate very least is there any 3rd party apps that will perform a backup of everything inc Apps and App data, so for instance, passwords etc are backed up as well for each app which saves a ton of time having to reinstall them and remember all the passwords. Nandroid backup were easy on previous phones because on some bootloader unlock wasnt required just to install TWRP. Can anyone help with this issue, id really like to have a full backup for peace of mind. Many thanks in advance.

Swift backup is the closest I have come across

gazza35 said:
Hi all, this forum has been great for providing answers, so ive got 1 last question before i do anything to my phone.
Obliviously installing a custom recovery like TWRP requires bootloader unlocking which wipes data. I want to perform a backup of my phone, a complete backup, system, apps the works so if anything is wrong i can restore the backup, no when i say backup i mean almost like a Nandroid backup you can perform with a custom recovery, is this possible?, or ate very least is there any 3rd party apps that will perform a backup of everything inc Apps and App data, so for instance, passwords etc are backed up as well for each app which saves a ton of time having to reinstall them and remember all the passwords. Nandroid backup were easy on previous phones because on some bootloader unlock wasnt required just to install TWRP. Can anyone help with this issue, id really like to have a full backup for peace of mind. Many thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately with a lock bootloader, you can't really create a full backup of data of apps. You can only back the APK file and some data. Even if you somehow did, restoring backups is also a problem as some backups aren't compatible with a different rom. Nandroid backups aren't an option too as restoring those from a different rom will cause issue due to incompatibly (someone tried before and caused destroyed system).
What I did in my preparation before is backed up important files through drive or cloud storages. I also rely on password managers for log-ins. I also created a separate Google Account solely for storage for my backup too. If you have, I highly advise backing up using SD Cards. They're quite an essential especially for phone modding and backup restores. Also before unlocking, make sure to have a plan on what to do after, do you stay on MIUI or try some mods or custom roms etc... So that you can switch afterwards before restoring your backup.
Lastly, if anything goes wrong, you can always reflash the stock MIUI ROM using MiFlash.

BigChungus321 said:
Unfortunately with a lock bootloader, you can't really create a full backup of data of apps. You can only back the APK file and some data. Even if you somehow did, restoring backups is also a problem as some backups aren't compatible with a different rom. Nandroid backups aren't an option too as restoring those from a different rom will cause issue due to incompatibly (someone tried before and caused destroyed system).
What I did in my preparation before is backed up important files through drive or cloud storages. I also rely on password managers for log-ins. I also created a separate Google Account solely for storage for my backup too. If you have, I highly advise backing up using SD Cards. They're quite an essential especially for phone modding and backup restores. Also before unlocking, make sure to have a plan on what to do after, do you stay on MIUI or try some mods or custom roms etc... So that you can switch afterwards before restoring your backup.
Lastly, if anything goes wrong, you can always reflash the stock MIUI ROM using MiFlash.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for all that useful info. I do have a 128gb sd card in the phone as well as the inbuilt 128gb, so plenty storage. Im just so used to other phones where backups where simple of bl unlock wasnt required to flash twrp etc, i did try the phones inbuilt backup system to backup the apps, it seemed to backup some info but not the apps which is odd, google backup ive never used so im unsure. ill try and look for a password manager and see if i can find a way to backup passwords at least. From what ive read everything with this phone seems impossible without first unlocking the BL, i just wish i didnt have to wait 7 days or wipe the phone to do it lol. My main aim is to downgrade back to Android 11 stock Miui, im not convinced custom roms available for this device are at a daily driver stage yet, as for mods, i may end up rooting at some point and get magisk, i think most mods i used would be mainly aesthetic, like changing splash screens etc etc, simple stuff. Anyway i have drivers installed, i have Miflash unlock installed. i shall start getting my passwords and some apps saved off etc and go from there. As always, thankyou once again for the detailed reply, youve been great help

Found Wondershare MobileTrans. Thankfully it backs up most stuff inc apps, havent found any other way as yet. Thanks again.

gazza35 said:
Thanks for all that useful info. I do have a 128gb sd card in the phone as well as the inbuilt 128gb, so plenty storage. Im just so used to other phones where backups where simple of bl unlock wasnt required to flash twrp etc, i did try the phones inbuilt backup system to backup the apps, it seemed to backup some info but not the apps which is odd, google backup ive never used so im unsure. ill try and look for a password manager and see if i can find a way to backup passwords at least. From what ive read everything with this phone seems impossible without first unlocking the BL, i just wish i didnt have to wait 7 days or wipe the phone to do it lol. My main aim is to downgrade back to Android 11 stock Miui, im not convinced custom roms available for this device are at a daily driver stage yet, as for mods, i may end up rooting at some point and get magisk, i think most mods i used would be mainly aesthetic, like changing splash screens etc etc, simple stuff. Anyway i have drivers installed, i have Miflash unlock installed. i shall start getting my passwords and some apps saved off etc and go from there. As always, thankyou once again for the detailed reply, youve been great help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alright. Also some points that I would like to add, since like you said, you're staying at A11 Miui which for the most part is now forgotten (or at least have the minority using it), you'll have to use the official twrp instead of the newer unofficial ones due to compatibility and it's the only recovery in a11 which can decrypt the storage (newer ones can only decrypt a12-a13, not a11...weird). Also, this is just a suggestion but obviously unlocking bootloader results in failing integrity API test (formerly safety net) so you'll have to really root and spoof the device to pass integrity API test and use banking apps etc... Good luck though and yeah you can't skip that 7 day wait, it's a good time to backup and prepare.

BigChungus321 said:
Alright. Also some points that I would like to add, since like you said, you're staying at A11 Miui which for the most part is now forgotten (or at least have the minority using it), you'll have to use the official twrp instead of the newer unofficial ones due to compatibility and it's the only recovery in a11 which can decrypt the storage (newer ones can only decrypt a12-a13, not a11...weird). Also, this is just a suggestion but obviously unlocking bootloader results in failing integrity API test (formerly safety net) so you'll have to really root and spoof the device to pass integrity API test and use banking apps etc... Good luck though and yeah you can't skip that 7 day wait, it's a good time to backup and prepare.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, sounds like a lot of Work, Another question for you, if i stay on A12, 12.0.3.0 which worked amazing until it upgraded, will i have to do the whole same spoofing thing?, i did forget about my banking apps. And where can i find Disable Dmverity and will that sort out the banking apps, i know itll let me keep cust recovery, I see reference to it but i cant find it anywhere, is there like a certain website or something where people download their mods and stuff.

gazza35 said:
Ok, sounds like a lot of Work, Another question for you, if i stay on A12, 12.0.3.0 which worked amazing until it upgraded, will i have to do the whole same spoofing thing?, i did forget about my banking apps. And where can i find Disable Dmverity and will that sort out the banking apps, i know itll let me keep cust recovery, I see reference to it but i cant find it anywhere, is there like a certain website or something where people download their mods and stuff.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, unlocking your bootloader will cause you to fail integrity test so you'll have no choice but to root and spoof if you're going to use banking apps. I can help you with this process if you want.
You can get the DM Verity file I used here:
https://zackptg5.com/android.php , it also includes some of my favorite mods like JamesDSP. You'll probably get something like DisableDMverity_forceencrypt zip or something like that so be sure to rename the zip file only to "Disable_Dm-Verity" zip (it's one of those zips where it uses the name of the zip to select what it's patching, it is recommended to keep force encryption enabled as to avoid data theft when you lose your phone). You flash the disable dm verity right after TWRP so you can boot to your rom afterwards. And yes dmverity won't help you pass integrity API.
As for themes/mods and such, I mostly get them here from XDA, Telegram groups, or Github. Mostly telegram tbh. But be sure to check whether it's safe to use as some bundles their modules (or once the app gets root access) will cause damage to your phone.

BigChungus321 said:
Yes, unlocking your bootloader will cause you to fail integrity test so you'll have no choice but to root and spoof if you're going to use banking apps. I can help you with this process if you want.
You can get the DM Verity file I used here:
https://zackptg5.com/android.php , it also includes some of my favorite mods like JamesDSP. You'll probably get something like DisableDMverity_forceencrypt zip or something like that so be sure to rename the zip file only to "Disable_Dm-Verity" zip (it's one of those zips where it uses the name of the zip to select what it's patching, it is recommended to keep force encryption enabled as to avoid data theft when you lose your phone). You flash the disable dm verity right after TWRP so you can boot to your rom afterwards. And yes dmverity won't help you pass integrity API.
As for themes/mods and such, I mostly get them here from XDA, Telegram groups, or Github. Mostly telegram tbh. But be sure to check whether it's safe to use as some bundles their modules (or once the app gets root access) will cause damage to your phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thankyou i think i have everything i need, ive backed up My 3rd party apps, all my Passwords, calendar, contacts etc etc, so, im ready to move forward and just wait for phone to be unlocked now. Youve been a great help, thankyou very much indeed.

RAMBO29 said:
Swift backup is the closest I have come across
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Click to collapse
But if the file get large size about 6-8 gb it was hard to transfer it to pd or sd card and something it shows error while transferring