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Help Forgot encryption passcode

Z

Zuul41

Lurker
Hello

So here's the problem: I thought that my Samsung S4 had broken for some reason so I put it in a box for a couple of months.
Then I realized it could be a faulty battery so I swapped it out and sure enough, It started booting :/ I'm using Cyanogenmod 13(not sure about the version number) and it asks me for the encryption passcode that I put in just a few days before it "broke".
So I have tried every possible code that I usually use but to no avail. Booting into safe mode does NOT work for some reason. Another thing I noticed is a non-blinking red light.

Can the encryption be bypassed or the phone to be reset another way other than safe mode?

thanks!
 
Bad news time, sorry. There is no way encryption can be bypassed. If it could be, it defeats the object. You can get the phone working again with a hard reset but you will lose all data.
 
Yes I tried the hard reset way but the phone boots into cyanogen mod dispite my efforts and goes directly to the enter pass code prompt.

The data on it is of no importance since I do back up pics and videos regularly. Is there a way to "hack" it from a Win 7 PC?

thanks!
 
Do you have USB debugging enabled on the GS4? Which way did you use to try the hard reset? Was it using power and volume buttons?
 
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Have to admit, I'm a bit stumped as you cannot hard reset using p0wer/vol and home keys to reset. Don't know if adb can help. Hopefully, someone more knowledgeable will pick up this thread.
 
I know right? When doing the sequence for hard reset, the Samsung Galaxy logo pops up as expected, but when I release the Power button, nothing happens, when I release rest of the buttons the Cuanogen mod logo pops up, and then the pass code request for encryption shows up. I've tried it 20 times already.

I'll look for adb when I get home tonight (EU).

thanks for your replies!

edit: Well....something freaky is going on. I thought I'd try one last time and went through possible passcodes I usually use, and sure enough, it accepted a code I had tried at least 15 times :/ After it accepted the code it hard reset. Now, everything seems to be working EXCEPT the loudspeaker at the back. It makes a annoying loud buzzer sound instead of the usual ringtones and button sounds. Everything just sounds like a buzzer. MP3's ..... buzzzzzzz. I can't figure out what or why this happened, but I'm glad I can still use the phone. The speaker where I put my ear to works just fine. I turned off every possible sound I could and the phone is quiet now atleast. POS.
 
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That sounds like you are not entering recovery mode, in which case you are not actually resetting it. That is very strange, unless something has corrupted your recovery.

I don't think ADB will help, but fastboot should let you do this: "fastboot format data" plus "fastboot format cache" will be equivalent to a factory reset. You can also use fastboot to reinstall your custom recovery if necessary.
 
OK so when I put in the correct code and the phone rebooted, it had deleted all apps and userdata, and the encryption was gone. I'm assuming this is part of what hard reset is about. The sound issue is still there so something must have happened to the hardware? I could try to install vanilla android on it and see if it is a software issue but that's not going to happen at least for a few days.
thanks for the reply!
 
Ah, I typed my reply while you were editing your previous post, so I didn't see that.

Yes, all a "hard reset" does is erase the /data and /cache partitions. So it will have wiped all apps and user data, set all settings to defaults, but done nothing at all to the ROM. So unless you had the sound problem before this started it's not obvious it's a software problem. But reflash the ROM, or try a different ROM, and if it's still there it's probably hardware.
 
Yes it has to be hardware related because I installed the latest CM12 nightly (had CM11) and the sound problem is still there.I think I might have spilled some beer on it...can't remember ;)
Even if it's annoying not being able to hear the phone ring, it's really not the end of the world for me :) Infact, it's kind of liberating haha...
 
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