Intro to Android HFS and Backup

SulkyAndroid17 · Apr 17, 2014

In TWRP or Odin you would choose the ROM to flash. Right now, you just need to get to recovery.

gpup · Apr 17, 2014

Right, but it looks like the phone already has a ROM in mind since it's giving me the option to continue. How would one figure out which ROM it has in mind? I wish I had a second phone to try this on before risking losing all my data!

SulkyAndroid17 · Apr 17, 2014

My opinion means nothing and you should probably wait until someone with your device chimes in. So if you're not in a hurry, I'd wait. I'm foggy on Samsung, but I don't think anything will happen if you hit continue. Unless you downloaded the ROM, there's nothing it can install. I'd expect a ROM for the S4 to be more than 1Gb. You should know if you downloaded it or not.

But remember, this is risky. Take your time and get it right the first time.

gpup · Apr 17, 2014

Additional info: On the "Downloading...Do not turn off target!!" screen, in the top right it shows:

Could not do normal boot. [in red]
ODIN MODE [in red]
PRODUCT NAME: SSH-I337 [in white]
CURRENT BINARY: Samsung Official [in white]
SYSTEM STATUS: Custom [in white]
KNOX KERNEL: 0x0 [in white]
KNOX WARRANTY VOID: 0x0 [in white]
CSB-CONFIG-LSB: 0x30 [in white]
WRITE PROTECTION: Enable [in grey]
eMMC BURST MODE enabled [in grey]

...I never did anything with Odin on this phone (only installed it on my PC but never used it), but I do see it says something about Odin mode...

gpup · Apr 17, 2014

Yeap, good advice. I don't think I downloaded a custom OS. If there's not one to install any chance it would just delete the current OS?

Anyway, I posted this info on the other page you mentioned before and also tried emailing the developers from TWRP Manager and Goo Manager. I'll give it a few days and if no one gets back to me maybe I'll just take another leap of faith and try Continue. If nothing else maybe I'll try CWM and see if that works instead but then again, I don't have good instructions for installing that one either....dunno what else at this point.

Thanks again for sticking with me and all the suggestions.

SulkyAndroid17 · Apr 17, 2014

I wouldn't think it would wipe the current OS. That would be awfully mean. I assume the warning is because this will void your warranty. But so does root. Only someone with your phone could tell you the true answer though.

gpup · Apr 17, 2014

After some quick research, pressing continue just brings me to that same screen "Downloading....Do Not turn off target!!" So still can't get into recovery mode. My build number is MK2. Not sure if that's older or newer than MK3 and if TWRP (or CWM for that matter) should work with MK2.

I found some forums of people with the exact same problem as I have:

[Q] Galaxy S4 SGH-1337 will not boot into recovery mode... - Page 5 - xda-developers
TAR files to flash MF3 via ODIN - Page 2 - xda-developers
The Cure for Kies Update Error Triangle Screen - xda-developers

But as far as I can tell, there is no solution!

I read one place that safestrap is the only recovery that works with MK2 and MF3. But it also seems like I need to install a custom ROM in order to use safestrap. Has anyone used safestrap and do you know the answer? Will safestrap allow me to back up my phone? That was the whole reason I went down this road to begin with. Otherwise, does anyone know how to reinstall the stock recovery without wiping the phone? It seems that's what I need to do. Then, still not sure how I'll back up. Perhaps if I pay for TWRP Manager, their live backup tool will work for me?? No idea really! I wish Google didn't make it this hard to create a backup.

argedion · Apr 17, 2014

Sounds like to me your bootloader is not unlocked. If you have adb tools installed on your computer you could try to fastboot flash the recovery file.

fastboot flash recovery twrp.img

*replace twrp.img with the actual img file you have.

If this fails it would seem that your boot loader is not unlocked. IN that case you will need the safety strap which you spoke of earlier or to find instructions for unlocking the boot loader.

gpup · Apr 17, 2014

I will try with adb tools first. Could someone confirm argedion's instructions? I don't have to worry about the block number or anything? As per this page:

http://teamw.in/project/twrp2/174

The command is: dd if=/sdcard/recoveryfilename.img of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p21

Why don't I need to use that one?

That should only replace my recovery module, right? Shouldn't affect anything else?

If my bootloader is locked, should I be able to restore the stock recovery module somehow?

If my boot loader is locked, if anyone is familiar with Safety Strap, there are a few gaps in the documentation I found:

1. Somewhere I read that installing Safestrap requires a custom ROM. Is that true, or can I use it with the stock ROM?

The description says it creates "multiple ROM slots."

2. Is that equivalent to partitioning? If my internal storage is almost full will I still be able to use this tool?

3. It says "Once a ROM-slot is active, all actions you would normally perform using TWRP are directed to that ROM-slot." So does that mean if I activate the new ROM slot and perform a backup, it will only backup the data in that ROM slot? In other words, I want to make a backup of my phone. To do that will I need to transfer everything into the new ROM slot?

4. Where can I download the APK for my phone and what other files do I need? Just the module?

johntaylor · Sep 6, 2014

There might be instances wherein you would face HFS+ partition lost which can also results to serious data loss. In such critical situation you can use HFS+ partition recovery.

Intro to Android HFS and Backup

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