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I have a Galaxy S2 running on ICS. It is not rooted.

Recently it keeps crashing. No app will start with the exception of lock screen and the notification curtain. My menu button does not work so during my research on this problem the "download GO Launcher and set as default > clear data" solution will not work. I want to keep this post as short as possible so here are some links on my first problem:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1417244

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1541223

(These two posters fixed their problems due to their menu buttons being able to function).

Looks like my only fix is to do a factory reset (though if anyone has a few suggestions, please post them!).

Unfortunately not being able to access any apps means I cannot do back ups. I want to restore my phone to the pre-crash state as much as possible. I have a valuable memo on the "Memo" app that comes with TouchWiz. Can this be done?

EDIT: Forgot to mention that it's best not to void my warranty by flashing or rooting. My S2 has some screen burn ins that I need to get fixed and they'll be checking.

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    If y'all came to Sprint you wouldn't have to worry about ROMs and rooting. They give support and repair regardless of root now. Jussayin ;)
    – jlehenbauer
    Commented Jun 21, 2012 at 19:37
  • Good to know, however: I only buy my phones unbranded for some time. SEMC (and others?) don't allow to unlock a bootloader if it's a branded phone (for fear of sim unlocking I guess)
    – ce4
    Commented Jun 21, 2012 at 21:26

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
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Basic walkthrough for any phone:

Alternative 1:

  1. Flash a CWM recovery
    For Samsung, use Heimdall. download for 'Galaxy S2' or 'SGH-i777', depending on what you own
    Heimdall also supports a dump command that can be used to backup all flash beforehand
    Command to flash: heimdall flash --recovery CWM-recovery.img
  2. Enter the newly installed CWM recovery
  3. Do a backup in CWM to your external sdcard (be sure there's enough space left)
  4. switch off & check the backup on your PC (it's located in /clockworkmod/backup/ on the sdcard)
  5. If you're sure your backup is OK, enter CWM again and do a full wipe
  6. Reboot your phone, do the first-time-init (Google Account and such)
  7. Install Titanium Backup + its Pro key
  8. in Titanium Backup: extract from nandroid backup

Alternative 2:

  • Applicable if your fastboot mode supports the extended command 'boot'
  • Compatible devices: Google's Nexus Line, HTC Desire with patched HBOOT loader and others

Steps:

  1. Enter fastboot mode and load a recovery into RAM (without flashing): fastboot boot recovery.img
  2. Continue with step 3 from 'Alternative 1'

Alternative 3 (Samsung only, but broken on Galaxy S i9000):

not tried yet, see this as an idea as for now. You're on your own with errors on extraction & restore

Heimdall implements a 'dump' and command and a means to print the partition table (PIT):

heimdall dump --chip-type NAND --chip-id 0 --output nanddump.out.img
heimdall print-pit or heimdall download-pit --output nand.out.pit

You may then cut the NAND dump into pieces (one for each partition) and name them accordingly. If successfull, you can then access your data and continue at Alternative 1, step 8 or 4

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    If you want to wait, I have a chance to test with a S2 tomorrow. But at least, the heimdall dump will work without any changes: 'heimdall[.exe] dump --chip-type NAND --chip-id 0 --output out.img' The stored data in the complete dump is however not easy to extract and generate a backup from it.
    – ce4
    Commented Jun 21, 2012 at 19:46
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    I added 2 more ways for getting your data back (2nd was in a comment I deleted)
    – ce4
    Commented Jun 21, 2012 at 21:23
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    @meiryo: had no chance to test on friday (it's a pool device). Do you still need those findings? (tomorrow is the next chance)
    – ce4
    Commented Jun 24, 2012 at 20:25
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    Very sorry for the late response (I lost my password for this account) but resorted to method 1 and it worked well. Thanks for your efforts :)
    – meiryo
    Commented Aug 9, 2012 at 16:05
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    Nice! Thanks for letting me know. You can buy Triangle Away to reset the flash counter and revert to an orig. Recovery if you want to send it in for replacement under warranty
    – ce4
    Commented Aug 9, 2012 at 16:31
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As you are running ICS, you might want to take a look at the question Full Backup of non-rooted devices. All you need for that is the Android SDK on your computer. Starting with ICS, full backups are supported this way even if you are not rooted. Details can be found in the linked question's answers.

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