I have recently setup my Galaxy S10 Exynos (model SM-G973F) with /e/ using TWRP which I installed using Odin.
I have noticed that it has been replaced with /e/'s own recovery system which has limited functionality. I was hoping to use TWRP for backups
I saw this post which is a couple of years old now, and one of the commenters, Mr.D, recommended “re-flashing” TWRP and I was wondering if anyone has had experience with this and how successful/problematic it was?
There is also some discussion about what exactly is included in a TWRP backup of an /e/ phone (internal data excluded or not) and whether the phone being encrypted is a problem. If anyone has any advice on this or can point me to any /e/ specific resources to look into I’d really like to learn more before I potentially cause myself some problems.
Thanks once again, I’ve found that setting and will reflash TWRP with Heimdall and use it. I’ll re-read the TWRP encryption details as well. Will post results.
Hi again, I’ve just sat down to attempt to re-flash TWRP but I’ve just realised this will wipe the device. I don’t have anything in internal storage that I’m concerned about, but I don’t want to lose all the apps (particularly with the App Lounge not functioning currently).
I can’t find any first-hand information or someone using on how reliable /e/'s Seedvault backup is? I have used Insular to create separate Personal and Work profiles. So I wonder how likely I am to require starting from the beginning again.
Any advice from anyone with experience or insights?
I’ve just flashed TWRP for my phone using Odin and the instructions on the XDA forum link above and it worked in the sense that it is booting into TWRP, but beyond that it is stuck in a bootloop and won’t boot into /e/. When I reboot the phone from TWRP into system, it goes through the Samsung start screen, then vibrates once and reboots again back into TWRP. I don’t know how to get it out of the bootloop.
Just to give some more detail on what I did… I booted the phone into download mode, connecting it to my PC, added the twrp .tar to AP and vbmeta.tar to CP, then clicked Start in Odin and held the recovery key combination for my S10. Odin process completed successfully and phone booted into TWRP and that’s where I am currently, only able to boot into TWRP.
It looks like the data is all still there so I’m hoping there is a way to get it to boot into /e/ (dirtyflash?). I have a backup phone with everything I need on it but it would be great not to have to start again with /e/ from the beginning.
in TWRP documentation for A/B devices with super-partitions also called dynamic partition we find some advices :
reinstall boot.img (foundable into the /e/.zip) using TWRP install feature.
Alternate Installation Method: Once booted, navigate to the Advanced > Install Recovery Ramdisk option. This will ask you to select the image you want to install TWRP from. Select the TWRP image you just downloaded and copied into device storage. Proceed to install this image.
You also need to use the “Fix Recovery Bootloop” option present in the same Advanced Tab. Use that option after you have installed the recovery ramdisk successfully to avoid boot loops happening from installing TWRP Permanently.
Thank you both aibd and piero. I’m learning as I go here which has caused some silly mistakes. I appreciate the advice from both of you.
So it seems I should be using heimdall which will give me more precise control. I have a little linux knowledge so should be able to get through it. So I should not have included vbmeta.img in the flash.
So an A/B device is one with two partitions for updating seamlessly with less issues. Was my device a A-only device until installed TWRP and then /e/ or was it always an A/B device?
Of the two pieces of advice you have given me and some reading I have just done, I have guessed the best way forward would be to try:
Reinstalling boot.img from the /e/ package via TWRP and see how that goes first.
If that doesn’t work, try sideloading the complete /e/.zip using adb
Does this sound like a good approach or should I just try the first option and report back?
I was not able to copy the boot.img file using Windows Explorer so I attempted to copy it using the adb “push” command and I received this output:
* daemon not running; starting now at tcp:5037
* daemon started successfully
adb: error: failed to copy 'boot.img' to '/sdcard/boot.img': remote couldn't create file: Required key not available
boot.img: 1 file pushed, 0 skipped. 37.1 MB/s (57671680 bytes in 1.482s)
I attempted to sideload boot.img to the system but that didn’t work. I was able to sideload the complete /e/.zip package via TWRP and adb which completed successfully on the phone, however it only got to about 48% in the cmd window (with output “Total xfer: 0.94x”).
I then rebooted the phone but the same bootloop is happening as I had before.
When I look at the “sdcard” directory on the phone via TWRP or the internal storage in Windows Explorer, I have around 20 folders that are all random characters. I’m wondering if this means anything to you.
Apologies for all the questions, if there is anything you’d recommend I do or read from this stage to help move this forward I’d be happy to instead of constantly bothering you for answers.
I would suggest you do not risk to compromise your sdcard – internal storage – at this point, but of course @piero is only suggesting you have a look !
is to investigate the difference between the recovery partition on these devices and the boot.img and recovery.img.
I suspect your sdcard is behaving as expected. The linked TWRP is 3.6. I found no TWRP for Android 13.
The TWRP I installed was “twrp-3.7.0_9-1-beyond1lte.img.tar”
I haven’t been able to load any files to the phone, either using Windows Explorer, or adb “push” command, to test if I can run the boot.img.
If there are no other options for getting files onto the phone I’m happy to be a test case and see if I can backup and restore.
If there is no TWRP for Android 13 does this mean I don’t have the option of wiping and reinstalling /e/ to start again? If that is the case, is it possible to use TWRP to bring it back to Android 12?