Database Users

[Q solved] cannot mount sdcard in recovery

So this was solved by using a tool from sdcard.org to format my sdcard in a PC. Once formatted with that tool cwm started seeing correctly.
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I'm running 3.1 rooted
I've flashed Thor's 1.4.2 recovery.
I have two sd cards: a 2g and an 8g.
Both work when accessed on a PC and on the iconia.
Neither work in cwm so I can't flash any roms.
I have tried formatting the sdcards on two different PCs. for the 2g I tried both fat and fat32. The 8g is fat32. In every case cwm says it can't mount it.
Additionally, I can't seem to use a USB key, although that may be that i don't know how to use it.
Thanks for any help.
-Bert

When in CWM and you go to install zip from sdcard do you see any folders where you choose the zip. Just wondering if it isn't mounted already. Physical sdcard is in /mnt/external_sd
and not /mnt/sdcard.

PsychosisNC said:
When in CWM and you go to install zip from sdcard do you see any folders where you choose the zip. Just wondering if it isn't mounted already. Physical sdcard is in /mnt/external_sd
and not /mnt/sdcard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your reply. I'm prety sure It's not mounted already.
I'm attaching a screenshot to show the exact message I get when trying to browse for a zip. I get a similar message when I go to mounts and storage and try to mount the sdcard.

im bumping this because I'm really becoming concerned that the device is defective in some way.
I'm hoping that someone can give me some guidence on what I may be doing wrong.

So, brosell, did you figure out a solution? I have the exact same problem - cannot mount sdcard in recovery and I get the exact same message.
When the system is booted normally, the internal storage mounts ok as /sdcard
EDIT:
It seems CWM treats the external sdcard as /sdcard, not the internal storage. So, to flash an update, you need to place it on an external SD card

I always get that error, and I never had to mount anything using cwm, just booted it selected the zip to flash and flash. I still don't mount anything...?
And the zip goes on the external sd not the inturn

Can't format SC Card in Window. If won't mount.
Guys,
Unfortunately SD cards for Android must be formatted by Android. If the card is not properly formatted CWM can not mount it, nor can CWM format it. The best way to get it properly formatted is to put it into an Android Phone and use its format functions. There really is no way on the Icona Tab to reformat an improperly formatted card or a new formatted card. If you don't have an Android phone borrow a friends. You will know that it is properly formatted when you see a lost files folder created on the card by the Android phone formatting process. This is a common problem that many people encounter when performing their first ROM flash. If it was formatted under windows as FAT 32 you can access it and store on it in normal operation mode. But ClockWorkMod can not mount it in recovery mode. Hope this helps. Good luck.

Can mount SD card in Recovery
I should have also mentioned last night in my post here, that my experience has been that it is much easier to flash a new custom ROM from a USB thumb drive. Flashing a custom ROM from USB seems to be less problematic than from an SDCard that appears otherwise to be good and formatted with FAT32, but CWM can't mount it. You can fast format the thumb drive on Windows to clean it off. Then copy your custom .zip ROM to be flashed on to the thumb drive from within Windows then insert it into the USB port of your Icona Tab, boot into CWM recovery (I'm assuming you know how to do that so I won't go into it here.) I forget exactly where in the CWM menu it is, it might be under the CWM advanced sub-menu but it say's something to the effect of Install zip from USB. It always works for me with no problem. The advantage is that you do all your prep work on Windows and then flash from the thumb drive which I believe has an ISO standard across all platforms and usually comes already per-formatted. This is an alternative method if you can't get your SDCard properly formatted (see my previous post in this thread for how to get it properly formatted so that it will mount under CWM.) Again, good luck!

I want to cry!!
I tried re formatting! Nothing! Cmw is not on sd card! Nothing is working! Still stuck on acer start screen! Yes i am a noob! But i read alot into this stuff b4 i do it! I wish there was someone i can have come to my house and do this for me! I have tried everything!!!!!!!!!!! So frustrated!!! Someone pls help me!!!!

in CWM recovery, there are 2 options,sd and "internal sd" i think(for me atleast). i chose the internal sd and it mounts.

brosell said:
So this was solved by using a tool from sdcard.org to format my sdcard in a PC. Once formatted with that tool cwm started seeing correctly.
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-Bert
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank You Sir! been looking for this fix for a long time

brosell said:
So this was solved by using a tool from sdcard.org to format my sdcard in a PC. Once formatted with that tool cwm started seeing correctly.
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/QUOTE]
thanks brosell, for the solution,
I have a 512MB SD card in the g5360, was FAT formatted. reformatting the sdcard with the tool from sdcard.org worked for me as well, afterwards it could be mounted by the stock recovery
and could install update.zip (prior to install CMW)
kr, Erik
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

How to decrypt android marshmellow formated sdcard

i was on twrp 2.8.7.0 and installed http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s4/i9505-orig-develop/rom-kushan-cm-marshmallow-rom-t3258489. then formatted my sd card as internal storage. today i wanted to update to the latest build of kushan rom, but in twrp my sd card was listed as 0 mb and i couldnt enter it. so i decided to flash latest cwm trough rom manager. after flashing cwm my internal sdcard was wiped(not by me-automaticly) and now marshmellow tells me that te sd card is not supportet...please format.....
i think that as the cwm wiped my sd card "the unique? encrpytion key?" got lost and therefor i cant axcess the sd card. im i right?
if yes i hope the encryption key is not unique and i can recover the files on the sd card

k2828 said:
i was on twrp 2.8.7.0 and installed http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s4/i9505-orig-develop/rom-kushan-cm-marshmallow-rom-t3258489. then formatted my sd card as internal storage. today i wanted to update to the latest build of kushan rom, but in twrp my sd card was listed as 0 mb and i couldnt enter it. so i decided to flash latest cwm trough rom manager. after flashing cwm my internal sdcard was wiped(not by me-automaticly) and now marshmellow tells me that te sd card is not supportet...please format.....
i think that as the cwm wiped my sd card "the unique? encrpytion key?" got lost and therefor i cant axcess the sd card. im i right?
if yes i hope the encryption key is not unique and i can recover the files on the sd card
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As stated many many times. The only recovery you can use is TWRP. Your sdcard shows 0 mb because it became part of your internal storage. So reflash TWRP and try again.

after flashing cwm i did nothing but booting once the rom and notice that everything was wipped and then flash twrp.
the result is i cant axcess my sdcard as the rom sais that the sdcard needs to prepared.
so my question is, can i recover the data on the sd card?

Not if you're at the point where the card needs to be prepared. What you should have done if you wanted to decrypt the MicroSD, is pulled the data off both card and internal storage, then gone into Settings > Storage & USB and converted the card to portable storage.
One thing. With CWM running, did you have any nandroid backups? If you did, you likely will have to reinstall CWM to free up the internal storage reserved for the nandroid backups. CWM by default allocates space for its nandroid backups that cannot be touched by the system or TWRP. Once you do that, you can then reinstall TWRP.

OK THX. I just created a image of the SD card.maybe in the future there will be a toop to decrypt such SD cards. For the future:
Is the SD card lost everytime i update the Rom build?
Is the SD card lost Ehen i change the Rom to another Android 6 Rom?
What do i have to do when updating to a Newer build oft the same rom,vor change to another Android 6 rom? Pull everything from bouth cards? Really? Thats a pain in the ass even with a uhs 1 SD card.
Whats the best way for backing up the data, so i can cop them back without trouble? Maybe ADB?
Whats about changin the recovery? Thats a nogo i think and whats about updating twrp?
What is a absolut nogo? What i ahouldnt do to f*** up the card again?

So many questions, but I'm going to answer just the last two, as their answer covers every other question in your post.
What is an absolute no go? What shouldn't I do to f*** up the card again?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The answer to this is so easy it's astounding. The answer is to not combine the card with the internal storage. Here's why. If you switch ROMs regularly in order to try them out, every single time you combine the storage the card has to be prepared for use, which means all data on it gets wiped. If you do a clean install of your current ROM and combine the storage, all data on the card is wiped. The reason the card gets wiped is because Android 6.x creates a virtual volume which spans both internal storage and the MicroSD. In order to ensure the data is secure Android encrypts the volume. This encryption is part of the reason Google throws up a warning to restore the card if you pull it out of the device.
By not combining the storage, you avoid the encryption problems, but you do have to deal with the issue of apps not seeing the MicroSD card. Unless an app with this issue is no longer being updated, this problem will resolve itself. Developers have to adapt to the new setup.
The encryption also impacts performance, though on my tests with it I didn't notice anything. The one thing it will do is impact the ability to perform backups. In my tests, the encryption prevented TWRP from doing anything useful, meaning no ability to install flashable zips or updated TWRP recovery images from the storage and no ability to do nandroid backups. TWRP could see the directory structure of the combined storage but could not see any files within the folders to install. Nandroid backups instantly failed with an "out of storage" error, even though I had some 15GB of space available on the MicroSD. TWRP's developers will need to adapt to this and custom ROM developers will have to recommend that users not combine storage.

Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
So many questions, but I'm going to answer just the last two, as their answer covers every other question in your post.
The answer to this is so easy it's astounding. The answer is to not combine the card with the internal storage. Here's why. If you switch ROMs regularly in order to try them out, every single time you combine the storage the card has to be prepared for use, which means all data on it gets wiped. If you do a clean install of your current ROM and combine the storage, all data on the card is wiped. The reason the card gets wiped is because Android 6.x creates a virtual volume which spans both internal storage and the MicroSD. In order to ensure the data is secure Android encrypts the volume. This encryption is part of the reason Google throws up a warning to restore the card if you pull it out of the device.
By not combining the storage, you avoid the encryption problems, but you do have to deal with the issue of apps not seeing the MicroSD card. Unless an app with this issue is no longer being updated, this problem will resolve itself. Developers have to adapt to the new setup.
The encryption also impacts performance, though on my tests with it I didn't notice anything. The one thing it will do is impact the ability to perform backups. In my tests, the encryption prevented TWRP from doing anything useful, meaning no ability to install flashable zips or updated TWRP recovery images from the storage and no ability to do nandroid backups. TWRP could see the directory structure of the combined storage but could not see any files within the folders to install. Nandroid backups instantly failed with an "out of storage" error, even though I had some 15GB of space available on the MicroSD. TWRP's developers will need to adapt to this and custom ROM developers will have to recommend that users not combine storage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thx for your very detailed answere. but whats about when i am using i.e. kushan rom build 07.12.2015 and i update to kushan rom build 11.12.2015. will the sd card have to be prepared to use also? and what about when i update twrp to a marshmellow support twrp. di i need prepare the sd card then again?
TWRP could see the directory structure of the combined storage but could not see any files within the folders to install. Nandroid backups instantly failed with an "out of storage" error, even though I had some 15GB of space available on the MicroSD.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is the point where my trouble began. as so as the sd card is prepared as internal you cant even see files of the real internal storage. flashing zips you can still do with adb sideload. another question could we backup the internal flash inlcuding prepared sd card with this:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1818321
?
If yes, is there also a way to restore the backup made?

To make things crystal clear, once the card is set for portable storage you will not have to reconfigure the card again unless you choose to combine the storage. Upgrading a ROM to a newer version will generate a message in the notification bar that you have to prepare the card, but you simply select the portable storage option and the notification goes away. Upgrading TWRP doesn't require doing anything to storage.
Should you choose to combine storage, upgrading a ROM may cost you whatever is on both the internal storage and microSD. Upgrading TWRP with combined storage would require you to flash it using Odin, because you wouldn't be able to copy the TWRP image to the device storage.
Backing up the internal storage doesn't require anything more than a copy operation from the S4 to the PC, so no special tools should be required. That applies regardless of whether the storage is combined or separate. However, for best results with TWRP, the storage should not be combined.

Sorry for reviving this old thread, but I've the same issue.
I flashed a new rom without getting the decryption code or backing anything up(No NANDs, no sd backup). Is there still currently no way to retrieve the files that are encrypted on this SD?

I've done exactly the same, I'm hoping theres a way to decrypt it.

k2828 said:
i was on twrp 2.8.7.0 and installed http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s4/i9505-orig-develop/rom-kushan-cm-marshmallow-rom-t3258489. then formatted my sd card as internal storage. today i wanted to update to the latest build of kushan rom, but in twrp my sd card was listed as 0 mb and i couldnt enter it. so i decided to flash latest cwm trough rom manager. after flashing cwm my internal sdcard was wiped(not by me-automaticly) and now marshmellow tells me that te sd card is not supportet...please format.....
i think that as the cwm wiped my sd card "the unique? encrpytion key?" got lost and therefor i cant axcess the sd card. im i right?
if yes i hope the encryption key is not unique and i can recover the files on the sd card
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you found solution to decrypt the Sdcard.
I was facing this problem for almost 1 year I need only sdcard not data in it but I am unable to format it due to encryption but any device able to read the data and copy from that.
Even I can play Music out that SD card

Unless you're immortal, you're not decrypting the MicroSD card via brute force. Currently, the amount of time required to find the decryption key is longer than the current age of the universe.
If looking to simply format an existing card, use SDFormatter from http://www.sdcard.org.

Problems after extending SD Card as Internal memory- can't Backup (and others)

I have an unlocked bootloader, but I'm not rooted. I upgraded to MM via OTA and set my SD Card to be used as internal memory. I've had some problems since:
1) The first real issue is that Evernote is giving me a database read/write error and not working. It seems that to resolve that, I'll probably need to root. So, I went to do a MM nandroid before rooting
2) When i went into TWRP (i a had flashed 2.8.7.1-clark), and tried to create a backup, I received a Failure: E: Unable to mount storage (one note: the top of my screen shows TWRP 2.8.7.0, not .1, so i double-checked that i was using the correct version from https://dl.twrp.me/clark/, and I am. The file name is 2.8.7.1, but it appears on screen as .0. Is anyone else seeing this?)
3) When i go into the Mount screen and select storage, it is showing Internal as just 2+GB free (which is correct), but 0MB for my Micro SDCard. So, it can't mount it.
4) Looking around, the fixes for this seem to be a bit severe in terms of formatting the SD Card again, etc. (ex. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2354029)
So, my questions are:
1) If anyone knows of a solution to that Evernote issue, that would be great
2) More importantly, what my options are for fixing the Backup problems
3) Specifically, with my SDCard now supposedly acting as internal memory, if i format the card per the common fixes, will that cause other unexpected problems with apps and other functions that are now using my SD Card as usable storage?

How did you set SD card as internal storage. Me: stock, no root, MM
Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk

I'm giving up on combined storage until twrp is fixed.

You just go into settings, storage, then click on the SD card. I'm back to lollipop at the moment, so I cant say exactly what to do next, but I think from there it should be clear. It may be an option up in the overflow menu at the top right. It will make you reformat your card as part of the process .

Thanx Chuck! Need to b.u. before formatting as internal...

I had the same issue with the SD card set as internal, couldn't make a twrp backup, so I had to reformat as storage and it works. Only bad part is now I can't move apps to SD
Is there a twrp fix in the works??

chuck-fu said:
2) When i went into TWRP (i a had flashed 2.8.7.1-clark), and tried to create a backup, I received a Failure: E: Unable to mount storage (one note: the top of my screen shows TWRP 2.8.7.0, not .1, so i double-checked that i was using the correct version from https://dl.twrp.me/clark/, and I am. The file name is 2.8.7.1, but it appears on screen as .0. Is anyone else seeing this?)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't have MM installed, so I don't know about the rest of it. But I've flashed the 2.8.7.1 IMG twice now and my TWRP still says 2.8.7.0 on the top of the screen. So either we're both making the same mistake, or TWRP didn't update their version number in the recovery.

ScaryBugThing said:
I don't have MM installed, so I don't know about the rest of it. But I've flashed the 2.8.7.1 IMG twice now and my TWRP still says 2.8.7.0 on the top of the screen. So either we're both making the same mistake, or TWRP didn't update their version number in the recovery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's a known issue that the version displayed stays on 2.8.7.0 after updating.
Sent from my Moto XPE

[Quick Solution] Adoptable Storage inaccessible to Recovery

Hey guys, Kyuubi10 back again!
I was suffering with an issue lately after flashing MM on my M8. I loved the idea of using the SD Card as internal memory...but (There's always a "but"), I was unable to flash anything I downloaded since Recovery was unable to access the new adopted storage.
So I started looking around to see if I can find the new path to the download folder.
Result:
The Adoptable storage mounts itself in "/mnt/expand/#######/media/0"
"########" Stands for a bunch of alphanumeric characters...Which I'm assuming is unique for everyone.
As a linux user this was very clear for me since "/mnt" is where usually you mount "virtual" storages. This made the problem evident, recovery was not programmed to "mount" virtual storages during it's boot up.
Therefore virtual storage wasn't accessible through recovery.
Quick solution:
Copy and paste files from virtual storage to internal storage.
so I copied from "/mnt/expand/#######/media/0" to "/data/media/0".
"/data/media/0" is where you would usually have everything that is now in "/expand/####/media/0". Recovery was built to automatically scan "/data/media/0".
So once I did that I could easily find and flash stuff again
I hope I helped someone which was having the same problems as me.
Wish you a happy 2016 guys!!!
P.S. All of you who have flashed MM on your devices leave a small comment telling us your experience with MM.

Worked with GT-I9195; CWM didn't see anything past /data/media/0/clockworkmod/. Put the new recovery (TWRP, which supports adoptable storage) .zip in there and flashed it without any issues.

miguel497 said:
Worked with GT-I9195; CWM didn't see anything past /data/media/0/clockworkmod/. Put the new recovery (TWRP, which supports adoptable storage) .zip in there and flashed it without any issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Neat....Most people would have used fastboot in order to flash the custom recovery XD
lol Still, I'm glad to have helped...even though in an different way xD

Internal Storage Not Getting Detected In Recovery and On PC

My Moto G4 Plus doesn't detect the internal storage in the recovery . I even tried using the PC but even on that the internal storage doesn't show up...I can't do anything with my phone now as no updates or installation to the ROM can be made and booting to the ROM is resulting in a bootloop..Someone please find a solution.
[emoji26] [emoji26] [emoji26]

Naveenthemi said:
My Moto G4 Plus doesn't detect the internal storage in the recovery . I even tried using the PC but even on that the internal storage doesn't show up...I can't do anything with my phone now as no updates or installation to the ROM can be made and booting to the ROM is resulting in a bootloop..Someone please find a solution.
[emoji26] [emoji26] [emoji26]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check if internal storage is mounted in recovery [ TWRP recovery > Mount > select /data partition ]
If still not?
Have you tried downloading files on external storage?
Move files to external memory card or USB OTG stick and mount them in recovery and try to flash.

____Mdd said:
Check if internal storage is mounted in recovery [ TWRP recovery > Mount > select /data partition ]
If still not?
Have you tried downloading files on external storage?
Move files to external memory card or USB OTG stick and mount them in recovery and try to flash.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't even access the ROM ..I'm stuck in recovery and the internal storage doesn't show up no matter what I mount..The data in the internal storage is not at all accessible ..Do u have any other methods to fix this?
Thanks

Internal storage dead
I had same issue with one of my previous phone, turns out internal storage was dead and only solution was to change motherboard.
But don't spend a buck on this phone now. Time for a new phone ,party!!

Naveenthemi said:
I can't even access the ROM ..I'm stuck in recovery and the internal storage doesn't show up no matter what I mount..The data in the internal storage is not at all accessible ..Do u have any other methods to fix this?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You might try flashing the stock ROM in fastboot. If that doesn't fix things, little else will.
Before you ask for a link, use the search function on the forum.

Try this!
Flash the stock Recovery and then do a factory reset! and then check if the internal is showing up! did you encrypt your phone??

abhi212b said:
Try this!
Flash the stock Recovery and then do a factory reset! and then check if the internal is showing up! did you encrypt your phone??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep..that's the problem...now I have fixed it by going to a service centre...