SD card encrypted, cannot retrieve

[beyondreprieve]

That makes sense FoxKat. I'll hold off for your advise. I really appreciate all of your help on this matter. I have the most precious photos and videos of my 4 yr old son. It's heartbreaking to potentially lose all of them. Some videos are original songs he composed which are irreplaceable. Being a single mom, he's my life, to say the least.

Thank you all for your help and suggestions.

 

[FoxKat]

That makes sense FoxKat. I'll hold off for your advise. I really appreciate all of your help on this matter. I have the most precious photos and videos of my 4 yr old son. It's heartbreaking to potentially lose all of them. Some videos are original songs he composed which are irreplaceable. Being a single mom, he's my life, to say the least.

Thank you all for your help and suggestions.

I have a 9-year old boy and I know what you're feeling right now.

I'll do everything humanly possible to help you retrieve those previous moments on time. Please take a moment during the day tomorrow to call *611 and see if the rep can pull down the ESN for the previous phone and get it and your current ESN to me on PM (private message). If there is any way to unlock those pics and videos, I'll find it.



Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk with speech to text translation. Please excuse any minor grammatical/punctuation/spelling errors.

 

[SallyC]

Yeah, we have a 8 1/2 year old grandson who used to break out in spontaneous songs when he was 3-4. He'd usually do this while we were driving somewhere. They would detail exactly what he was thinking about or felt at the moment and were awesome. I have some on video (holding the camera over my shoulder, pointing back at his car seat!) that we still talk about! I'd hate to lose those.

May the Force be with you, FoxKat!:icon_ bananaancingNexusdancedroid

 

[Trash Can]

May the Force be with you, FoxKat!:icon_ bananaancingNexusdancedroid

Two days ago, you could have said "May the 4th be with you." Sorry, saw that on FaceBook and thought it was pretty funny.

Getting back on topic, there's got to be a better way for Moto to encrypt this stuff. I mean, it really works, but almost too well. Good luck!

 

[FoxKat]

That makes sense FoxKat. I'll hold off for your advise. I really appreciate all of your help on this matter. I have the most precious photos and videos of my 4 yr old son. It's heartbreaking to potentially lose all of them. Some videos are original songs he composed which are irreplaceable. Being a single mom, he's my life, to say the least.

Thank you all for your help and suggestions.

More potentially helpful information...

1. Anything on the SD card prior to enabling SD encryption remains unencrypted.

2. All items saved from the device to the card are encrypted, however, items transferred to the card via USB (device in storage mode and connected to a PC) are not encrypted.

3. Turning SD card encryption off leaves encrypted information as is (still encrypted), but nothing is encrypted from that point forward. Device apps can still read the previously encrypted content.

This is direct from a Motorola manifest. This means that the encryption process is deep-rooted in the phone's operating system since even when the encryption is later turned off, apps can still read the encrypted data. The fact that encrypted data is not actually unencrypted when encryption is turned off means we do need the phone to read that data no matter what (unless there is an app that can be run either on a phone or on a PC while running the phone clone.

This means, if the card can be read by a USB or internal SD Card reader, you may be able to retrieve any of the data that was saved to the card prior to encryption. It also means that if we can get the card recognized by the phone, the files must be transferred via USB to the computer since they remain encrypted if they were encrypted originally.


If you could describe to me exactly what you see when you insert the SD Card, it would be potentially very helpful.

 

[SallyC]

FoxKat, since she said she still has access to the old phone, why can't she just turn back on encryption and transfer the files via USB to her pc? I know she had to reset the phone, but that doesn't change the ESN does it? And if the encryption is based on the ESN...?

I admit to total ignorance about this so I don't think I actually thought of a solution you didn't ohmy, I'm just trying to understand why that won't work.

 

[FoxKat]

FoxKat, since she said she still has access to the old phone, why can't she just turn back on encryption and transfer the files via USB to her pc? I know she had to reset the phone, but that doesn't change the ESN does it? And if the encryption is based on the ESN...?

I admit to total ignorance about this so I don't think I actually thought of a solution you didn't ohmy, I'm just trying to understand why that won't work.

Wow sally, I totally glazed right over that. I did read that she tried to install the card and that it told her she needed to format it, but I completely missed the fact that she still has access to the old phone. You are correct, the ESN is hard-coded into the phone, a unique identifier that is essentially the same as a manufacturer's serial number - not much different than the VIN on your car. Yes, if she turns on encryption and inserts the old card, 1 would expect it that should work fine.

I'll confirm that fact and see if I can get instructions on how to make this work.

In the meantime, if the op will reply to tell if that she still has access to the old phone, that will certainly play a big part in this.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk with speech to text translation. Please excuse any minor grammatical/punctuation/spelling errors.

 

[beyondreprieve]

OK, so here's the update... I tried once again putting the SD in my old phone. It didn't work before, just asked that I format. This time though it asked for my password immediately to decrypt. Now, of course I was excited, but then it wouldn't accept my password. I then tried every single password I've ever used, or would use, to no avail. This is good and bad, of course. If I can decrypt it, it's saved, but what in the world do I do about a phantom password?

Thank you FoxKat for all your extensive research and care. I appreciate it beyond words. I feel bad this changes the research though, and makes the prior seem fruitless. I wholeheartedly agree this is a major flaw with Motorola. The latter issue being the most ridiculous.

So any help on my new situation?

 

[FoxKat]

OK, so here's the update... I tried once again putting the SD in my old phone. It didn't work before, just asked that I format. This time though it asked for my password immediately to decrypt. Now, of course I was excited, but then it wouldn't accept my password. I then tried every single password I've ever used, or would use, to no avail. This is good and bad, of course. If I can decrypt it, it's saved, but what in the world do I do about a phantom password?

Thank you FoxKat for all your extensive research and care. I appreciate it beyond words. I feel bad this changes the research though, and makes the prior seem fruitless. I wholeheartedly agree this is a major flaw with Motorola. The latter issue being the most ridiculous.

So any help on my new situation?

Like you said, this is good and bad. Let's just hope the good outweighs the bad and we end up with you getting access to those precious moments in time. As far as making the prior research fruitless, nothing could be further from true. We all learn every day here and even if the information doesn't succeed in resolving your issues, it may point us in the right direction for another member's issues. We're all about helping anybody and everybody we can.

First, please press the menu button (bottom left), then choose Settings, then select About Phone, and then Status, and look for MEID in that menu. It should be a rather long number. Please copy that number down and post it to me in a Private Message. Then do the same with the new phone.

So when you inserted the card, had you already set up password access to the phone as you had before? If not, go back and remove the card, then setup a lock screen with the original password, just like it was before you reset the phone. Then reboot the phone. You can either press and hold the Power button and then select Power off phone. Once powered off, press and hold the Power button and wait for the red Motorola logo. There is an alternative that is faster. You can press and hold Power and Volume Down for 10 seconds or more, and it will shut down and restart automatically.

Once booted up completely, activate the phone the way you normally would, press the Power button, then enter your lock screen password. Once you are in the phone, and at the home page, insert your SD Card and keep your fingers crossed. If it asks you for a password, enter the one you are MOST SURE is correct. Please be careful not to try too many different passwords, since the phone has a sort of "self-destruct" feature built into the encryption and if you enter the wrong password too many times (nobody knows how many is too many, but I would say keep it under 5), it will wipe the card!!

PLEASE report back with GOOD NEWS!! Good luck! :biggrin:

If you have no success, keep the faith. I am still going to press Motorola for a solution.

 

[beyondreprieve]

OK, so yeah, this is fun. Ugh. I have tried starting the old phone sans SD card, asks for encryption code, sans SD and SIM, same. It's completely locked up. I've tried all of the soft keys, can't get out of that screen. So I therefore can't retrieve that number you need. Next? I can get the IMEI HEX, if that helps. That because it's the only freaking number imprinted on my old phone outside of model. I may still have the old box, if the numbers on that would be helpful?

 

[SallyC]

FoxKat, is IMEI the same as MEID? I don't think so. Because that's all I'm showing under Status, unless there's something else I'm missing.

EDIT: Okay, I am totally confused after finding that the number I have down as my MEID HEX is the same as what the sticker on my phone's box is calling IMEI HEX and NOT the same number I get according to Menu>Settings>About Phone>Status>IMEI. I have no idea why that is, but anyway....

I have read here that ESNs (Electronic Serial Numbers) are in two formats: MEID stands for Mobile Equipment ID, and supports up to 56 bits of data for serial number allocation. This is the same length as the popular IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity), and MEID was actually made to be compatible with IMEI. IMEI is used by the GSM phones, which are used by areas outside of the US. The only real difference between IMEI and MEID is that MEID allows for hexadecimal digits, whereas IMEI uses decimal digits only.

So MEID is used for devices that are CDMA, like our Verizon phones, and what beyondreprieve is looking for - but on our phones it will be found by going to Menu>Settings>About Phone>Status>IMEI.

And if she still has the box, is the number you want is the IMEI (HEX or DEC?)?

 

[beyondreprieve]

K. Have the original box. Can give s/w, pop, msn, IMEI, type, fcc id, um pretty much anything you need, I think/hope. Thank goodness I save these stupid cell boxes.

 

[FoxKat]

FoxKat, is IMEI the same as MEID? I don't think so. Because that's all I'm showing under Status, unless there's something else I'm missing.

EDIT: Okay, I am totally confused after finding that the number I have down as my MEID HEX is the same as what the sticker on my phone's box is calling IMEI HEX and NOT the same number I get according to Menu>Settings>About Phone>Status>IMEI. I have no idea why that is, but anyway....

I have read here that ESNs (Electronic Serial Numbers) are in two formats: MEID stands for Mobile Equipment ID, and supports up to 56 bits of data for serial number allocation. This is the same length as the popular IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity), and MEID was actually made to be compatible with IMEI. IMEI is used by the GSM phones, which are used by areas outside of the US. The only real difference between IMEI and MEID is that MEID allows for hexadecimal digits, whereas IMEI uses decimal digits only.

So MEID is used for devices that are CDMA, like our Verizon phones, and what beyondreprieve is looking for - but on our phones it will be found by going to Menu>Settings>About Phone>Status>IMEI.

And if she still has the box, is the number you want is the IMEI (HEX or DEC?)?

It is the IMEI on the phone...which is contradictory in terms since this is a CDMA phone. :icon_eek: The defining factor is whether the phone has a SIM card or not, and if it does, then it is SUPPOSED to then be a GSM phone - which it's not! How's that for confusing? If you look at the page from Motorola below (Identify your Motorola phone), it asks for an MEID if the phone is CDMA (bottom), but an IMEI if the phone is GSM, but the defining information is whether it has a SIM card or not.

See below:





:icon_eek:

Now to confuse matters even further, if you go to the menu you referenced, it says IMEI, and if you flip down the SD/SIM card door and look on it, it also says IMEI HEX and the number is the same. However, if you go to the dialer and type *#06#, it displays MEID and again, it's the same number (HEX), and also displays the Decimal version of it.

:blink:

Any way you slice it, it will be the number displayed on any of those three locations.

 

[FoxKat]

K. Have the original box. Can give s/w, pop, msn, IMEI, type, fcc id, um pretty much anything you need, I think/hope. Thank goodness I save these stupid cell boxes.

OK, click on my avatar (the picture of Maxwell Smart with the ShoePhone). Then in the next page it will have Send Private Message immediately below it. Send me a message with the IMEI/MEID number and PHONE NUMBER for the original phone, and then separate it and include the same for the new one.

Thanks.

 

[TisMyDroid]

Way to go FoxxKat. You will be a hero, in pure Maxwell Smart tradition, if you solve this for the op! I am rooting for you and know you won't give up until you succeed! You are awesome and this forum is awesome!

Sent from my DROID RAZR Maxx using Droid Forums