Database Users

massive fail

so basically i was out, looked at my phone and saw an SD card realted notification. opened it up and it said my SD card was now ready to be unmounted.
Somehow, it had just decided to format itself. This is where the problem is, i had lots of work files saved onto it and now they're gone. I know its most likely impossible to recover them, but was still hoping there might be some way.
if anyone can help ill be forever in your debt.

put it in your pc and try some recovery software e.g Recuva. It's helped me safe work and music files in the past. Don't know how well it works with removable devices though.

hmm, i tured it but sadly it couldnt detect any of the files. I did however come across a different program that did manage to find some but then said i had to pay $20 for the full version.
Any good free ones?

you had very important files with zero backups anywhere else personally id call that the massive fail and the phone was teaching you a lesson 'always make backups'
generally after a format files cannot be recovered unless it is a quick format where it just 'maps' out the disk if it performs a full format you will not be recovering anything from it and its a futile exercise

How big is the card, and how full was it? It may be feasible to write the whole card to an image file which I could then take a look at for you.
All the imaging programs I know off the top of my head for Windows are commercial but if you can get me a DD image of the card (google is your friend) I have a few tricks I can try if you are totally desperate, the data is very important, and you have no other solutions. (if it's just a bunch of MP3's I don't have time for that)
Either that or have a look here for starters:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_carving
you also might be able to get somewhere with this, if you don't find a free automated tool:
http://www.winhex.com/winhex/
I did hear that some SanDisk products came with a free recovery tool, maybe that's worth looking into?
Good luck.

MadBeef said:
How big is the card, and how full was it? It may be feasible to write the whole card to an image file which I could then take a look at for you.
All the imaging programs I know off the top of my head for Windows are commercial but if you can get me a DD image of the card (google is your friend) I have a few tricks I can try if you are totally desperate, the data is very important, and you have no other solutions. (if it's just a bunch of MP3's I don't have time for that)
Either that or have a look here for starters:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_carving
you also might be able to get somewhere with this, if you don't find a free automated tool:
http://www.winhex.com/winhex/
I did hear that some SanDisk products came with a free recovery tool, maybe that's worth looking into?
Good luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sadly everything you've talked about in that post is way over my head and general understanding of computers and software.
I did however manage to recover some files using "Art Plus Digital Photo REcovery" software but some of them were corrupt so in windows image viewer, the dreadded "drawing failed." came up.

dlau77 said:
Sadly everything you've talked about in that post is way over my head and general understanding of computers and software.
I did however manage to recover some files using "Art Plus Digital Photo REcovery" software but some of them were corrupt so in windows image viewer, the dreadded "drawing failed." came up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry dude, maybe try some more free recovery tools, a bunch came up on google when I tried but most will be trialware or crap. Try to avoid anything that writes to the card itself, stuff that recovers off the card and saves to your PC is best. Was it just photos that you wanted to recover?
If you can figure out how to get a DD image of the card (try google "dd for windows") hit me up on private message and I'll see what I can do. It will be a bit of a mission for me to figure this out using free tools I have never used and then teach you how, but if you can figure it out on your own I'm willing to look at the DD image and recover what I can from it.
If you are about to give up and format the card it may be worth running Windows built in disk recovery tool as a last resort. To do this, open a Command Prompt (usually found in Start Menu -> All Programs -> Accessories) then run this command with your SD card plugged in:
chkdsk x: /f
Where x is the drive letter of your SD card.
If you are Vista or Win7 you may need to right click on Command Prompt in the Start Menu and run it with administrative privileges.
If it asks you to save or delete any lost chains (or anything else lost) choose to save. These are files it has found but doesn't know the filename or type of file they are, so you get files like FILE0001.CHK etc. Then you may be able to guess which type of files they are (based on size, etc) and change the file extension to .JPG or whatever you think, then try opening them.
At least you got some stuff back tho well played
Good luck dude sorry for confusing you earlier.

This DD thing worries me, a complete novice at computing attempting to type code... daunting stuff!
So i tired the command prompt task you suggested and all i got was this screen,
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
didnt ask me to save anything. I read somewhere that the most important thing to do if a card formats itself unintentionally, you MUSNT take any new pictures with it. Sadly, on the night, when i discovered what had happened i thought it was a glitch and took 2 photos to see if they would appear and they did.

dlau77 said:
This DD thing worries me, a complete novice at computing attempting to type code... daunting stuff!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can understand that - it's a fairly simple concept though, all you are doing is copying every byte of the SD card to a file on your PC, it's just the black screen matrix style commands that are frightening you haha I've just had a call from one of my mates "my drive is hosed I need a bunch of files off it" haha but if I get a chance I will look at the DD for Windows stuff and make it easier for ya. I'm back at work tomorrow though so don't want you to get your hopes up
dlau77 said:
So i tired the command prompt task you suggested and all i got was this screen,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From that it's just saying there isn't any filesystem damage at all. Worth a try.
dlau77 said:
I read somewhere that the most important thing to do if a card formats itself unintentionally, you MUSNT take any new pictures with it. Sadly, on the night, when i discovered what had happened i thought it was a glitch and took 2 photos to see if they would appear and they did.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's true, but it's not the end of the world. If it was an unintentional format (maybe I misread your 1st post, from the chkdsk results it does look that way tho) it may be hard to recover now, as you seem to have written quite a few files to it since the format. (sorry I'm trying to guess here)
If you are only after photos though, if you have recovered some already with that software you mentioned before, that software may be doing the same thing I would be doing anyway, so you may have already recovered all that is possible If it's other stuff you're after, which you haven't tried recovering, there may still be hope.

What I learned about upgrading to a 16GB SD Card

What To Know When Getting a Bigger SD Card I found out the hard way after getting a 16GB PNY Class 10 card for my x10. I had my backups and all that. I copied from the old card to the new one. Then things began acting odd. process.android.media error was really bothering me on startup. So I looked around and found a few suggestions, like clear data drom download manager and media storage. These didnt help at all. I got to looking around under the app management, because I noticed a few app shortcuts were gone. So it was a step in the right direction. I clicked the on SD card tab, started scrolling and said well the last app I moved was this... so I clicked it and went to move it back to the internal memory. It errored out and said something to the effect it was not installed. I went on a witch hunt from that point forward. Apparently Gingerbread will let you know something is amiss. It will have a generic icon and or a checkmark next to the app. I figured thus far the ones with a checkmark could be moved, the ones with a generic icon, were missing and therefore I had to click on each one and uninstall. After doing this all was well. As I really didnt want to move every app back to the internal storage, besides I would have ran out of room too.
The first mistake I realized I made was that, I should have busted out the sd card reader. I was doing this at my mothers and said well its easier. No... Because of the swapping and therefore powercycling the x10. The os scanned or tried to load some apps. There is where it all started going downhill. I thought well I am staying on the same rom, whats the harm.
Important steps / tips I learned.
1. Use a card reader, to transfer all files from old to new card. This also helps with making sure you have a backup too.
2. Consider uninstalling all apps from sdcard, or move them. Depending on situation. I use Titanium Backup & My BackUp Root, so I opt for uninstalling them.
3. Restore your uninstalled apps, or move them back afterwards.
4. Find an app or script to verify all apps are installed correctly? (Dont know if it exists) Otherwise launch each one or verify there are no missing icons or checkmarks present.
Now on to the new adventure of partitioning. I have came across some tips here and there. None really all that dramatic. I am still looking for a guide/line for setting up more than 2 partitions. This is how I have my desktop, but android is a little different. So far I have learned that if you use a Mac, you should bootcamp, dualboot, VM, or boot a linux cd for partitioning. I have not found the right app or terminal commands to make it easier to do. Perhaps I need a better rom. I am fairly happy with zmodv3 hotfix 3. I also think the unlocked bootloader is a blessing and a curse (kernel hell). I still like the CM based ROMS, but am thoroughly turned off by all this MIUI stuff. I may own a Mac, but think iphones are shaat.
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Suggestions and links are welcome. Please no flaming or bashing about what I have wrote. We all know about opinions.... Besides I have to sart posting sooner or later.
After some more tinkering 11/11/11- I have discovered that there is an issue with xrec 0.3gb ready, on zmod hotfix3. If you use xrec to make a full backup after reboot there is that error again. This can be resolved by clearing market and storage data. It works fine via CWM 4or5 recovery.

Thanks from this, I'm about to order a newer card off eBay.
Sent from my x10 running TEAM.

I just got myself a new card yesterday and I just backed up using titanium, then copied everything to the new card, then do a fresh install of my rom (CM nightly).

This Info was very helpful. Thanks

Can I use a 32GB sd-card partitioned as 2x16GB?

Thanks you, this information help me alot.

krecha-one said:
Can I use a 32GB sd-card partitioned as 2x16GB?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are a few guides on that. Use windows or a linux based boot cd. Make 2 partitions and they must be primary fat32 (safest). It depends on the phone really. Have not used a 32GB, allot say it works fine and some out there say no. If you need exact walkthru just google it.

aR_ChRiS said:
I just got myself a new card yesterday and I just backed up using titanium, then copied everything to the new card, then do a fresh install of my rom (CM nightly).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not very happy with my rom right now, will be changing. But that is a good Idea to reinstall the rom. I just didnt want to wipe everything for a rom Im not real happy with. I had to get a bigger card to make a backup with. The shuffling from x10 to desktop was really bothersome.

can the
can the x10 go upto 32gb?

Big problem, my streak wont turn on

Hi,
So I was about to flash cwm in fastboot, did that... and I just kind wanted to try to wipe user data and cache with fastboot also (yes I know I can do that later but i'm an a-hole)... it wrote on the screen user data erasing done, but it kinda hung on the cache erasing step, so I closed the cmd window and start a new one in order to reboot the streak from fastboot.... didn't work and said: "failure to reboot", so I took the battery off and then replaced and I stuck with the streak that can't turn on... tried to pull the battery SIM and sdcard but no luck...
Any help please? thanks

There's several BIG BOLD WARNINGs about not using fastboot erase.
The only way to fix it is to dissemble it and reformat the innerSD

Thanks man (didn't notice the worning cause like I said erlier: I'm an a-hole)
So how can I do that my friend?
BTW, are there any chances that it could be fixed by anysoftware tool?

Thanks man (didn't notice the worning cause like I said erlier: I'm an a-hole)
So how can I do that my friend?
How about QDL tool my friend?

You must disassemble it to fix it, there is no other way

I've found a good tuto. now after I take it apart, how can I find the innerSD?
And also, is it a 100% succeeding chance? and thank you Sir!

Did some research and found this: GPG JTAG Box... do i need it to get the streak to work?
Besides, if I open my streak, could I easily rremove the inner SD card? and what exactly should I do with because I didn't find anything related to this specific subject?
Come on guys, this topic is unique, and most likely people would go in this road too (if they're a-holes like me of course)

Just unformat it

TheManii said:
Just unformat it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sir do you mean format it? if that's so, I'll format it with an xperia arc... is it Ok?
Sorry to ask all this dumb questions, I'm really frustrated and I need the steack to work before tomorrow (travel)

Remove all partitions and leave it completely blank,
then put it back in the streak and it should reformat it

So it's not completely dead, isn't it? please man confirm it!
Edit: Should I consider
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
instead of opening the phone?
ps: why can't the youtube link be visible?

Hi. i've succeeded to get the inner sd card and i formated it (fat32) then i put it again... but no luck

I think he means delete all partitions, so there are no formatted partitions on the sd card.
Sent from my Dell Streak using xda premium

I've deleted all partitions with no results... I'm losing hope folks, ans it's really sad to get the streak end up like this (with such naive/silly manœuvre)
Any thaughts folks! thank you

If you know someone else with a streak you could do an exact copy of their internal sd card, that might work. Just copying the files over wouldn't suffice, you've need to copy the partitions exactly.
Sent from my Dell Streak using xda premium

gregianos said:
If you know someone else with a streak you could do an exact copy of their internal sd card, that might work. Just copying the files over wouldn't suffice, you've need to copy the partitions exactly.
Sent from my Dell Streak using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sadly I'm the only owner of the steak in my region (perhaps the only one in north africa...lol) so my only solution would be the users of dell steak here in xda...
Edit: Can anyone please post a link to the inner sd card content/partitions... cause i didn't find any!
Also, what I dont' understand is, what is the affected part after i did the fastboot -w command? if it's in the inner sdcard then it sure can be recovered by reformating/adding content to the inner sd card (comon sens)?! please correct me if I'm wrong...
Update: I did a full scan to the inner sdcard (after i formatted it) and the minitool partion wizard repport showed this:

From what i understand, you must get rid of everyone of those partitions listed. I have previously used a program called killdisk to prepare a usb stick for Chrome os, this should be similar. Its a free program that systematically wipes every sector on the disk one by one.
The freeware version is available at http://www.killdisk.com/ I've never used it on an sd card so I would use extreme caution.
Sent from my Dell Streak using xda premium

[Q] Nexus System Partition Size

Hi, I'm not sure if this is specifically a Nexus question or a general Android question but I have both a Nexus 4 and Nexus 7 and have observed the same behaviour on both
I have posted in the General section with nor response so now I'm posting on specific forums
Basically what's happening is when I delete stuff from the SDcard the free space seems to be allocated to the system partition WTF?!
Take a look at the screenshots I'm going to try a couple of things - one of the suggested things was clearing the data in the Google Services Framework data >> Settings - Apps - All - Google Services Framework - Clear Data - which freed up some of it but not all, the next thing from here for me would be to flash the factory images again and see what I start out with
Both devices are on CM10.1 if that helps, is anyone else is having the same issue??
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
The discussion on Google+ http://goo.gl/lNyLW
Ok so this is my partition sizes now after flashing the factory images back onto my nexus 7. No where near 5GB anyone have any idea what's causing this?

I am guessing you have a couple of CWM back up? Maybe 3-4 of them? Maybe you tried to delete some of them?
Buggy CWM Recovery. Especially if you still hang on to the older versions. Mostly because the way CWM save the backup files.

KyraOfFire said:
I am guessing you have a couple of CWM back up? Maybe 3-4 of them? Maybe you tried to delete some of them?
Buggy CWM Recovery. Especially if you still hang on to the older versions. Mostly because the way CWM save the backup files.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just use TiBU and DataSync now, stopped doing nandroids a while back now
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

It's not "system data" for sure. It's some apps with root permission saving its file to locations it shouldn't be doing.
Some how l still think it is CWM, even as you stopped using it in a distance past (which is like 1-2 months ago). I recommend flashing newest CWM and see if there're still old back up files.
If you still can't find anything, try this
bassmadrigal said:
If you are rooted and have adb set up on your computer, you can find out what folders are using the most space by using the commands below, then change into that directory and run the command again.
Code:
adb
su
cd /
du -hd 1
--find the largest folder and change directory (cd) into it - if you find you no longer want to continue in the folder you are in, you can cd .. to get to the previous folder or cd / to get back to the root of the filesystem--
Code:
cd large_folder
du -hd 1
rinse
repeat
????
profit
This will allow you to find what folders are using the most space and can eventually lead you to any large files and can then let you find out if you can delete them or if you need to keep them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

isnt this what they were saying was the reason for no SD card and use of MTP ?; basically if i recall correctly the nexus devices do not truly assign partitions instead there is a storage 'pool' that anything can use dynamically.
We got tired of seeing OEMs include many GB of internal storage for music, while users were still running out of space for apps and data. This approach lets us merge everything on one volume, which is way better.
-- Dan Morrill, Android engineer at Google
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
so i guess there is no partitions its just all 1 volume.
source: http://www.androidcentral.com/why-nexus-devices-have-no-sd-card

noobdeagle said:
isnt this what they were saying was the reason for no SD card and use of MTP ?; basically if i recall correctly the nexus devices do not truly assign partitions instead there is a storage 'pool' that anything can use dynamically.
so i guess there is no partitions its just all 1 volume.
source: http://www.androidcentral.com/why-nexus-devices-have-no-sd-card
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wish that was the case but it not, the space goes to the system partition and I cant access it on the sdcard

[Q] Possible Write Protection Situation? Can't Install Nothing.. Need Help!

My friend just gave me a Samsung Galaxy S4 GT-I9505 and he told me that it has a problem and may I can fix.
I've tried everything I know but there is no any progress so far.
Here is the problem;
1. Device is not booting. Hanging out at the first logo (Samsung Galaxy S4 GT-I9505)..
2. I thought it's a simple problem.. I can make factory reset and it may work.
3. I entered recovery and I've seen this;
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
4. The problem seems big than I thought. I thought maybe it may work if I put original firmware. Downloaded from sammobile and nothing changed. Then I decided to install a recovery.
5. I choose TWRP and installed it with these settings. Result on computer;
Result on Phone;
6. And tried to enter recovery, result was successful !!
7. Then Enter 'Advanced' > 'Terminal Command'
8. I just checked 'whoami' on terminal;
9. I can delete everything if I'm root right? So let's try.. 'ls' and get list..
10. Let's delete etc and efs folders. I have the power!
11. Let's reboot device, enter recovery again.. and let's see if I'm successfully deleted directories;
As you can see, device is always saying that Failed to mount /efs (no such file or directory) and more. I can only install recovery. And I can't delete or change anything else. Neither I can't install new firmware.
Do you have any idea? What is this? I want to fix this stupid situation.
I just tried to explain the situation with photos. Hope it wasn't boring.
Thank you for reading.

Have you tried with Kies?
Or maybe trying to flash a custom ROM?
Did you ask if he did something to cause this?
Edit: I once had an SD card which was broken. I could create/copy and delete stuff but as soon as I removed the SD from any device it was connected to, everything was back to it's previous state (deleted files were back and copied stuff was gone). I tried formatting but same thing happened.
Maybe something is wrong with the internal storage.
Try to convert to another file system format.

GDReaper said:
Have you tried with Kies?
Or maybe trying to flash a custom ROM?
Did you ask if he did something to cause this?
Edit: I once had an SD card which was broken. I could create/copy and delete stuff but as soon as I removed the SD from any device it was connected to, everything was back to it's previous state (deleted files were back and copied stuff was gone). I tried formatting but same thing happened.
Maybe something is wrong with the internal storage.
Try to convert to another file system format.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've tried with Kies 2.6 and Kies 3..
Kies 3 says 'unsupported device'
Kies 2.6 just waiting waiting and nothing..
I couldn't put any files to internal storage.. Also it doesn't recognize any sd card.
I don't know how to change the file system?

I mean to ext4 or f2fs, or whatever.
I don't know how to do it either. I never had the need to do it. I don't even know if you can in this situation, but you could try. There should be several guides on the internet on how to do it. Just google it.
Does a pc recognize the phone? Have you tried pushing something to it via adb?

GDReaper said:
I mean to ext4 or f2fs, or whatever.
I don't know how to do it either. I never had the need to do it. I don't even know if you can in this situation, but you could try. There should be several guides on the internet on how to do it. Just google it.
Does a pc recognize the phone? Have you tried pushing something to it via adb?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure it's recognize.. I'm able to install recovery with Odin.
But when you did turn-off and turn-on, everything is reversing.. Like never installed.

So it's basically exactly like the issue that I described about my broken SD card.
I think it may be an internal storage problem. Maybe it's broken. I don't see why or how something would trigger a write protection.

GDReaper said:
So it's basically exactly like the issue that I described about my broken SD card.
I think it may be an internal storage problem. Maybe it's broken. I don't see why or how something would trigger a write protection.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I really don't know what to do.. I just wrote it because maybe someone had same issue and know the solution..

yahyakoc said:
I really don't know what to do.. I just wrote it because maybe someone had same issue and know the solution..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If the internal storage is dead then I don't think there is much you can do. You could try taking it to specialized service