[Q] Restore internal sd data after unlocking bootloader

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exbarboss

Senior Member
Oct 21, 2010
74
11
Jacksonville
Hi 2 all,

Forgot to make nandroid and unlocked bootloader on my wife's m8. And 27GB of photos gone. I think she'll kill me after she wake up in the morning. Is there any way to get data back?
 

redpoint73

Inactive Recognized Contributor
Oct 24, 2007
15,255
6,968
Unlocking the bootloader is not supposed to do that. It will wipe user data (/data partition) but I believe the internal storage ("virtual SD") should have been untouched. So you shouldn't blame yourself too much. And a nandroid would not have helped you as not only is that partition not backed up with a nandroid, but the default location for a nandroid is the internal SD, so it would have been lost, anyway.

That said, I try to backup any important personal data (even on partitions that are not supposed to be impacted) to my computer whenever doing something major like flashing a ROM or unlocking the bootloader. Only reason I've started doing that is a similar bug on the One X (EVITA) where actions that are not supposed to wipe the internal memory, occasionally did so (which is what I suspect happened to you).

I think your only hope is to use data recovery programs (Recova is a free one). But I've had mixed results doing so (and have seen similar reports here) when trying to recovery photos and other data that were "accidentally" deleted or recovered. Its certainly worth a try, and also keep in mind that you should do so ASAP as the more you use your phone, the higher the chance that those memory sectors where the photos were saved will be overwritten by other data.

Also, is there anything left on the internal memory at all when you browse with a file manager? Sometimes, corrupted data will be saved to a folder named LOST.DIR and there have times where folks have often found many of their photos simply moved there.
 
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redpoint73

Inactive Recognized Contributor
Oct 24, 2007
15,255
6,968

Ah, that's true. I hadn't thought about the fact that the memory mounts as MTP now. The times I did the data recovery was on the old bulk storage mode on my One X (before it was switched to MTP). All I had to do was connect my phone to my PC and run Recuva.

Mind you, even mounted properly, data recovery programs will not always be able to recover all data. It was pretty hit or miss for me (and from other reports I've seen). But the linked method is also clever in that it makes a copy of the corrupted partition to your computer, so you sidestep the issue that those sectors may be overwritten as the phone is being used. Give you more times to try various data recovery apps, etc.
 
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exbarboss

Senior Member
Oct 21, 2010
74
11
Jacksonville
Ah, that's true. I hadn't thought about the fact that the memory mounts as MTP now. The times I did the data recovery was on the old bulk storage mode on my One X (before it was switched to MTP). All I had to do was connect my phone to my PC and run Recuva.

Mind you, even mounted properly, data recovery programs will not always be able to recover all data. It was pretty hit or miss for me (and from other reports I've seen). But the linked method is also clever in that it makes a copy of the corrupted partition to your computer, so you sidestep the issue that those sectors may be overwritten as the phone is being used. Give you more times to try various data recovery apps, etc.

Yeah I tried Recuva, WinHex, R-Studio - nothing helped. I looked at low level data with WinHex and most sectors were zeroed...
 

fragmamine

New member
Mar 11, 2016
1
0
Hello Guys, i have been attempting to flash the phone , but it doesnt go in flashmode ( i know it's volume down when plugging to usb ), but nothing happen with flashtool, any idea ?
Maybe driver, but it looks like the phone still in fastboot, and it s reconized by flashtool with the build number and kernel . i don t know how to go to this flashboot mode.
thank you
 
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    Unlocking the bootloader is not supposed to do that. It will wipe user data (/data partition) but I believe the internal storage ("virtual SD") should have been untouched. So you shouldn't blame yourself too much. And a nandroid would not have helped you as not only is that partition not backed up with a nandroid, but the default location for a nandroid is the internal SD, so it would have been lost, anyway.

    That said, I try to backup any important personal data (even on partitions that are not supposed to be impacted) to my computer whenever doing something major like flashing a ROM or unlocking the bootloader. Only reason I've started doing that is a similar bug on the One X (EVITA) where actions that are not supposed to wipe the internal memory, occasionally did so (which is what I suspect happened to you).

    I think your only hope is to use data recovery programs (Recova is a free one). But I've had mixed results doing so (and have seen similar reports here) when trying to recovery photos and other data that were "accidentally" deleted or recovered. Its certainly worth a try, and also keep in mind that you should do so ASAP as the more you use your phone, the higher the chance that those memory sectors where the photos were saved will be overwritten by other data.

    Also, is there anything left on the internal memory at all when you browse with a file manager? Sometimes, corrupted data will be saved to a folder named LOST.DIR and there have times where folks have often found many of their photos simply moved there.
    1
    Found very helpful post

    http://xdaforums.com/galaxy-nexus/general/guide-internal-memory-data-recovery-yes-t1994705.

    For M8 it works pretty much the same. I was able to get userdata partition from the phone, but because of I converted to GPE I lost everything. So I'm 99% sure that it will work right after unlock bootloader and factory reset.
    1

    Ah, that's true. I hadn't thought about the fact that the memory mounts as MTP now. The times I did the data recovery was on the old bulk storage mode on my One X (before it was switched to MTP). All I had to do was connect my phone to my PC and run Recuva.

    Mind you, even mounted properly, data recovery programs will not always be able to recover all data. It was pretty hit or miss for me (and from other reports I've seen). But the linked method is also clever in that it makes a copy of the corrupted partition to your computer, so you sidestep the issue that those sectors may be overwritten as the phone is being used. Give you more times to try various data recovery apps, etc.