DroidForums.net | Android Forum & News
This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!
SD card encrypted, cannot retrieve
- Thread starter beyondreprieve
- Start date
I just had to post. I wish I had read this BEFORE I did a factory restore on my motorola droid razr. Every article I read online on how to do a factory restore never mentioned this issue. Before restoring the phone I did unmount & remove the micro SD card, then did a factory restore as a technician told me to try to solve some errors I was having. I spent hours putting everything I could onto the micro SD card so I could save it. After the restore was completed I inserted the micro SD card in the phone (same phone but wiped clean) and tried to mount it. Was told, like the OP, that it was encrypted and it did ask me for a password. I tried a few version of the one I would have used, but no luck. It did say 1/5 tries, so I didn't want to push my luck and see what happens after the 5th try.
After reading your thread and seeing how you were trying to work thru the problem for this person (you've never met) I was impressed and hopeful you had found the answer. I did one of the things you talked about, which was making sure the phone password/pin was turned on (as I had before the restore) and ensuring it was the same. After setting that back up the way I had it previously, I restarted my phone (shut down and restart) and then logged on to the phone with my pin/password.
To my surprise the phone automatically "prepared" the SD upon startup and all the files are now totally accessible again on my phone. I didn't have to do anything else to the card once the phone was restarted. Granted this was the same phone, and my card was removed before conducting the restore, but I'm so thankful I have my life (16GB) back, baby pictures and all. I was shown the pop up (see picture in thread) about encrypted data...blah blah blah, but had no idea what that meant and the SD card was out of the phone, so what could it hurt? lol. Obviously I'm not too big on technology, so I assumed it's a standard "are you sure" pop up, and said ok.
I just wanted to post that the original directions solved my problem. I'm so thankful everyone kept at it. I know it was a while ago, but this thread saved my family memories! Hope the original "helpers" see this and know they got a big thank you, smile & "Whoppie--it worked!!!!!" From me!
After reading your thread and seeing how you were trying to work thru the problem for this person (you've never met) I was impressed and hopeful you had found the answer. I did one of the things you talked about, which was making sure the phone password/pin was turned on (as I had before the restore) and ensuring it was the same. After setting that back up the way I had it previously, I restarted my phone (shut down and restart) and then logged on to the phone with my pin/password.
To my surprise the phone automatically "prepared" the SD upon startup and all the files are now totally accessible again on my phone. I didn't have to do anything else to the card once the phone was restarted. Granted this was the same phone, and my card was removed before conducting the restore, but I'm so thankful I have my life (16GB) back, baby pictures and all. I was shown the pop up (see picture in thread) about encrypted data...blah blah blah, but had no idea what that meant and the SD card was out of the phone, so what could it hurt? lol. Obviously I'm not too big on technology, so I assumed it's a standard "are you sure" pop up, and said ok.
I just wanted to post that the original directions solved my problem. I'm so thankful everyone kept at it. I know it was a while ago, but this thread saved my family memories! Hope the original "helpers" see this and know they got a big thank you, smile & "Whoppie--it worked!!!!!" From me!
Dear @Katm78 , you have MADE MY DAY!!! I have goosebumps over my entire arms from reading this as I type. I am SO happy that this information was so critical and helpful for you and that it allowed you to recover your data.
As you can see, I and others were very intently looking for a solution for the OP, but unfortunately were unable to find a solution. It's due to hashcodes that are unable to be reproduced without the original phone, and also not being unable to export the hashcode and later restore it to unlock the encryption. YOU are SO fortunate that you were able to get this data back and I am VERY THANKFUL that you took the time to send this information here and allow others to benefit. Without people like you who are successful at resolving things and then coming back to report, we are left to hope and pray and wonder.
This is also a HUGE failure on the part of the phone manufacturers who implemented this encryption technology without thinking things through and hypothesizing what could happen if a phone dies with an encrypted SD card. I hope that THEY are reading this and making changes to the encryption technology so that future phones have the ability to protect that data not just from being seen or stolen, but also from being lost purely by accident. It's crazy to think that they didn't make a contingency plan for people who's phones fail. I mean, it happens all the time. Also they REALLY need to retrain the technical support staff to NOT do FDR without FIRST making sure the data is unencrypted and backed up to a safe place like your home PC.
This is one of the reasons that I really like USB OTG as a new technology. You can take an external USB OTG reader, plug it into the MicroUSB port on the bottom of you phone, insert an SD card into it, and then using one of a number of free file managers that recognize the USB OTG as a drive - move all your data off the main phone (and/or off the removable SD Card). And by way of the encryption it will be automatically unencrypted during the transfer. That way, even if encryption fails, you still have the unencrypted copy to fall back on.
Congratulations and I hope that this information will benefit others like you and save their data from utter destruction at the hands of the encryption they chose to usebeingrotect it.
As you can see, I and others were very intently looking for a solution for the OP, but unfortunately were unable to find a solution. It's due to hashcodes that are unable to be reproduced without the original phone, and also not being unable to export the hashcode and later restore it to unlock the encryption. YOU are SO fortunate that you were able to get this data back and I am VERY THANKFUL that you took the time to send this information here and allow others to benefit. Without people like you who are successful at resolving things and then coming back to report, we are left to hope and pray and wonder.
This is also a HUGE failure on the part of the phone manufacturers who implemented this encryption technology without thinking things through and hypothesizing what could happen if a phone dies with an encrypted SD card. I hope that THEY are reading this and making changes to the encryption technology so that future phones have the ability to protect that data not just from being seen or stolen, but also from being lost purely by accident. It's crazy to think that they didn't make a contingency plan for people who's phones fail. I mean, it happens all the time. Also they REALLY need to retrain the technical support staff to NOT do FDR without FIRST making sure the data is unencrypted and backed up to a safe place like your home PC.
This is one of the reasons that I really like USB OTG as a new technology. You can take an external USB OTG reader, plug it into the MicroUSB port on the bottom of you phone, insert an SD card into it, and then using one of a number of free file managers that recognize the USB OTG as a drive - move all your data off the main phone (and/or off the removable SD Card). And by way of the encryption it will be automatically unencrypted during the transfer. That way, even if encryption fails, you still have the unencrypted copy to fall back on.
Congratulations and I hope that this information will benefit others like you and save their data from utter destruction at the hands of the encryption they chose to usebeingrotect it.
Last edited:
vikas kapoor
New Member
Hi every one I have a problem in which I had encrypted my sd card and removed the card from my mobile without dycrypting it. i formatted my phone and after re inserting the sd card i am not able to view my pictures and other files. i am able to see the thumbnails but in an encrypted format. i tried encrypting and decrypting it, it is getting encrypted and decrypted but the file format is the same. I am using the same device and the same password. my device is samsung note II N7100.
Can any one help me bail out of this situation.
Regards
Vikas Kapoor
Can any one help me bail out of this situation.
Regards
Vikas Kapoor
Hello , I've been following each post on this topic because am now a victim of the same issue.
please have any one find the solution to this problem, I ignorantly encrypted my sdcard on my Samsung Note 4, after a while my phone developed problem which made me reset the phone, after the reset, the phone can still see all the files and pictures stored in the sdcard but am unable to open the file. My pictures are all showing black question mark. please can any one help with any solution because I have some official important files and pictures in the sdcard which I can not afford to loose.
please have any one find the solution to this problem, I ignorantly encrypted my sdcard on my Samsung Note 4, after a while my phone developed problem which made me reset the phone, after the reset, the phone can still see all the files and pictures stored in the sdcard but am unable to open the file. My pictures are all showing black question mark. please can any one help with any solution because I have some official important files and pictures in the sdcard which I can not afford to loose.
BattlingBlackBerry
New Member
Hi @FoxKat , it is truly impressive to see the lengths you went to, to try and help the OP with this problem. After a recent absolutely unfathomable experience with BlackBerry, you have redeemed my faith in humanity when it comes to the Android community.
I am in the exact same situation as the OP but for different reasons, and in a somewhat different scenario. Priceless, irreplaceable media on my micro SD card, which I encrypted based on the default prompts I received on Day 1 when initially setting up my BlackBerry PRIV and inserted this micro SD card to expand the phone's storage capacity (Android 6.0.1; now at Android security patch level May 5, 2017). In my case, my phone was working perfectly well, with all of these files accessible, until I installed a firmware "security" update from BlackBerry at the end of April. Since then, my micro SD card shows as "Corrupted" within the device, but I know that it isn't as at least one other user had an identical issue with the exact same micro SD card and phone model after the exact same firmware update. Coincidence? I think not...
BlackBerry has been of zero help, and could clearly give zero sh*ts about me or my files, despite me even going to such lengths as physically travelling to their headquarters (with an extra factory-sealed micro SD card that I offered them for testing purposes, to replicate and resolve the issue, but which they declined). I literally have nowhere else to turn and no one else to turn to for help with this seemingly intractable problem. Please let me know if you are willing to help, and if so, I can post some further details as needed/directed by you. Thanks in any case for taking the time to read this post.
I am in the exact same situation as the OP but for different reasons, and in a somewhat different scenario. Priceless, irreplaceable media on my micro SD card, which I encrypted based on the default prompts I received on Day 1 when initially setting up my BlackBerry PRIV and inserted this micro SD card to expand the phone's storage capacity (Android 6.0.1; now at Android security patch level May 5, 2017). In my case, my phone was working perfectly well, with all of these files accessible, until I installed a firmware "security" update from BlackBerry at the end of April. Since then, my micro SD card shows as "Corrupted" within the device, but I know that it isn't as at least one other user had an identical issue with the exact same micro SD card and phone model after the exact same firmware update. Coincidence? I think not...
BlackBerry has been of zero help, and could clearly give zero sh*ts about me or my files, despite me even going to such lengths as physically travelling to their headquarters (with an extra factory-sealed micro SD card that I offered them for testing purposes, to replicate and resolve the issue, but which they declined). I literally have nowhere else to turn and no one else to turn to for help with this seemingly intractable problem. Please let me know if you are willing to help, and if so, I can post some further details as needed/directed by you. Thanks in any case for taking the time to read this post.
