Just hit “Cancel” at the password prompt. Unless you really want to do something with data in TWRP, but for OS installs it shouldn’t be necessary.
Thank you again for the tips. I will try to reinstall everything from scratch. I have been happily using /e/ for 2 years, but after this awful experience this morning, I am afraid I will pick another OS 
The rom is not to blame, you should know that a rom when updating by ota encrypts your phone. If you want not to be encrypted you should flash through twrp and use the dfe …
I am not sure if this is a bug, and how specific.
TWRP sometimes asks for the password, in the case that you didn’t set one, TWRP will use the default password, in which case the logic is that you now press cancel to get in the right place.
I hope you stick with /e/, if so, can you please give your full version number, from
Settings>About phone>Android version>/e/version. Long press to copy to keyboard works for most devices.
Please include if that is without the update and if possible did you see what update you were offered.
I consider it a separate bug that Updater does not seem to tell you in advance what it will deliver (accurately).
Perhaps we do not know for certain if you were using TWRP or /e/ Recovery?
Thanks
I think it isn’t clear-cut like this at all. Please elaborate or give a source.
I wish I could send my full version number, but I cannot access my phone anymore, at all.
Let’s rewind : this morning I had a notification that a new /e/ software was available. I trustfully clicked “download” then “install”. So this was just supposed to be a routine OTA update, nothing technical. I would not be suprised if many users will have the same problem, because I did not do anything special.
Now when the phone boots, it appears to be running normally. I get notifications on the lock screen. But I cannot unlock it. The fingerprint sensor seems to be disabled. And when I draw the security pattern, I get back to the lock screen.
As @piero suggested, I booted in recovery mode (TWRP), chose “Cancel” when asked for a password, clicked “Install”, but /data is empty.
If I download a previous /e/ image, and install it with from PC with heidmall, do you think I could recover my data ?
Just to double check, did you ever receive an update on this device since the last reinstall?
…and when you go to TWRP > Advanced > File Manager >
… should open in / … > data > lineageos_updates (exists?) > and/or is empty?
I bought this Samsung S9 with /e/ preinstalled two years ago. Since then, I receive monthly OTA updates, and I am used to installing them (just clicking “download” then “install”). It used to work fine, until today.
Using the TWRP file manager, the /data exists, but is empty.
Thanks for reconfirming empty /data.
- Please get your phone well / fully charged.
Edit: Once fully charged, just try one more time to boot into system.
It is easier than that, you want to download the ROM image (let’s try to make sure we get the right one … /e/ preinstalled should be “stable” so Oreo, is that what you expect?
Use you easiest method to put it on your SD card …
Then use TWRP:
Install > (if necessary up a level to / again) …
… > external_sd > scroll down, Select your e-0.nn-xx2021_etc_etc.zip …
untick Zip signature verification … tick reboot after installation is complete.
Swipe to confirm flash.
…and I hope you find your phone restored. Anything irregular, please ask again.
I am about to leave the house, so sorry that I will not be able to answer for a few hours 
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Does anyone know if Updater puts the image somewhere other than the old location of data/lineageos_updates mine is empty too!
Thank you for your support @aibd. I downloaded https://images.ecloud.global/stable/starlte/e-0.18-o-20210828132316-stable-starlte.zip, put it on an SD card, used TWRP install, swiped to confirm flash, an I get an error “Vendor image on the device is NOT compatible”.
I noticed on the lock screen, after normal boot, when I swipe down, I see “10 (QQ3A.200805.001)”. My guess is that I got an OTA update to Android Q, while I was running Android O.
Using the same method, I successfully installed https://images.ecloud.global/dev/starlte/e-0.18-q-20210828132307-dev-starlte.zip
Now after normal boot, the lock screen tells “To start Android, enter your password”. I know my drawing pattern, but I do not have any password to tell.
Don’t know exactly what went wrong this morning, but I also had a notification that an update of my system was available (Lavender 0.18-R currently).
But when I opened the update Manager I saw 4 or 5 updates all dated in October. I found it strange and I checked on e.global and realized that the latest file was still the one I have.
So i did not fall in the trap and understood those updates were not concerning my device. I just refreshed the updates installer and the all were gone (you are up to date).
So I assume that @abi downloaded one of these updates which in any case was not compatible with his smartphone.
Well these are just my deductions…
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Can’t you just dismiss the password and proceed anyway?
With e-0.18q, I cannot dismiss the password. If I enter “1234”, it says my password is correct, but the data could not be decrypted. And there is just a button “Wipe all my data”.
I gave it a try to e-0.19q, and I am back to the starting point : the lock screen asks for my drawing pattern, which is recognized, but then I get back to the lock screen.
Good point for checking the updates @stanwood, I am glad you did not fall in the trap.
Two things …
TWRP doesn’t necessarily support encryption, depending on the device and the Android version (the Android encryption mechanism changed over time) … https://twrp.me/faq/encryptionsupport.html
The TWRP version might play a role, too.
TWRP can’t necessarily prompt for a pattern, but you can translate the pattern to a password, see the bottom of this page … https://twrp.me/faq/openrecoveryscript.html
I just came in and saw your update! I do not want to contradict anything others have said to you … but, I was worried that you had been sent a q build at the start. I do not think you should pursue this with q.
In an attempt to explain too quickly, there are traps that prevent easy upgrade of OS from Oreo through Pie to 10. This is why we are advised to flash a Factory (Samsung in your case) ROM before attempting this.
The “trap” might well look as you describe, I believe it is in the Data partition.
As an aside / the fact that you saw /data empty should not alarm you, it is different from the Data partition.
The damage may not be done so please be prepared to wait it out! I think it would best best to find out if there was an error with the servers in your time period.
I think the best thing to do - I would do it - is email
helpdesk@e.email
Give them brief details and a link to your story here.
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I would recommend best not to do this. Deliberately putting q on top of Oreo is not a good plan. With any luck - it just won’t work.
That is the thing to which we have to find a fix for you.
Another request for you to reconfirm something! Do we know you had Oreo “yesterday”, or am I just assuming it?
I just emailed the helpdesk.
I am not sure I had Oreo yesterday, but I definitely got a major update this morning :
- The icons and notification on the lock screen are different
- When charging, it makes a new sound and displays a new icon
- The update took a longer time that usual, the long step being “Encrypting your device”
- The fingerprint sensor is not working anymore
- TWRP asks for a decryption password
My understanding is that I got a “Q” version by mistake, it encrypted my data, which is not mine anymore