How To Recover Deleted Photos From Samsung Galaxy S4 Internal Phone Memory?

[::: VA ::: 531]

A friend of mine has galaxy s4 brand new official gsm.

He is not very tech friendly and this is his first touch phone with android.

He has been doing his work on blackberry for years.

now he went to a europe trip and happily clicked 1-2 gb of pics but when he tried connecting his phone to his laptop to transfer. the ppt and mpt options of samsung usb connect confused him(why cant the simply put the option of usb mass storage). he tried few softwares and drivers . i dont know what he did being a noob , he managed to get all the pics disappear accidentally. they were residing not on memory card but internal memory.

can anybody please suggest or help how to recover these pictures. they mean allot to him which is obvious. now its easy to recover things from pen drive, memory card and hard drives but not sure how internal memory works. at least it didnt get detected in the usual recovery softwares at all (premium ones too) . or may be i looked in the wrong softwares.

guys urgent help and guidance needed.

[KanagaDeepan 1,084]

Simple Method 1:

First you need to install latest drivers for S4 in that computer. The mode to be selected is MTP (Media device mode - can be changed from notifi pane).

Then goto the folder My_Computer->DeviceModel->Phone->DCIM->Camera... There you will have all photos taken..

SIMPLER Method 2:

If there is some problem in installing drivers or your PC is old or you don't want to install drivers (say in friend's PC) then select Camera mode (PTP). It will work in all computers, but your phone will be shown as DigiCam only. Then My_Computer->Camera->Phone->DCIM->Camera and copy those files to PC...

SIMPLEST Method 3:

Another idea is using memory card in phone and open MyFiles->Phone->DCIM->Camera copy necessary photos to card and then transfer from card to PC via card reader....

---------------------------------

MTP is better than Mass-storage mode for casual users as in mass storage mode

1] some widgets may stop working (rare case, but still)

2] some apps may stop working (esp installed or moved to card)

3] there is a possibility to do harm to few accessible system/other settings file

4] U MUST use safely remove method to avoid loss of data

5] Windows OS has full access to card (even internal one) and some naughty program/virus can molest it easily

6] Chance of getting autorun.inf based virus copied to card (and will be spread to another PC when u connect again as mass storage mode)

Therez no such problems in MTP mode and you can remove safely without the need to use "safely remove method" [actually there will be no such option] and you will have very very limited access to other files [even folders with some apk files will NOT be shown eventhough if its your files got by BT or download -- in that case PTP will be helpful afaik], further apps installed in SD will continue to work without any issues...

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Edited June 22, 2013 by KanagaDeepan

[itguru 0]

Try AirDroid from play store, if he has WiFi.

Sent from my XT901 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

[::Hitesh:: 1,763]

^^^

Deepan bhai, now he dont want the procedure to transfer photos from phone to pc

all photos are gone [as far as he says], and looking for recovery from phone internal memory.

so he needs to mount internal memory to pc for recovery.

[::: VA ::: 531]

Deepan ji, are you trying to be funny???? or having a laugh at my expense.

Lol................I didnt explain myself clearly or you simply ignored the recovery part of the topic.

you just explained how to connect the device which is child's play.

I am talking about recovering deleted files from mtp/ptp storage. as i said with local drives or memory cards

its pretty easy. but recovery softwares dont recognize this kinda storage.

Mods: please change the topic to recover deleted pics from galaxy s4

[sathishq 27]

Install all s4 drivers and make phone detect as usb storage then run Pandora recovery.I have faced the same problem with s3,it resolves the issue. Wheather are you able to view photos from phone gallery?

[ami1 237]

^ Yes, mounting as USB storage and then running recovery software is the only option

There are some apps to mount as USB storage that I use for Nexus 7. Similar ones should be there for S4.

Worst case, install the app (i have forgotten all android app names now, been on z10 for some months so..) which lets you install different ROMs and where you boot while pressing the volume keys etc to get into RECOVERY mode. Then there is an option to mount internal memory as USB storage and it appears on PC. The app is made by some Kaushik or someone and is very famous but the name eludes me right now.

EDIT: App is called Clockwork Mod Recovery. Once you are in its boot menu (and you have all drivers installed) it will let you mount as usb storage (since the OS is not yet loaded so there's no MTP issue)

EDIT 2: See here for apps to mount as usb mass storage for Samsung Devices ( http://www.xda-developers.com/android/usb-mass-storage-app-for-recent-samsung-devices/ )

You may already have tried these but if not then See here

Sorry, I am in the middle of some work so haven't checked the links, but they 'look' promising.

REMEMBER - Try to avoid running the phone for anything except recovery. Best is to install CWM first and copy/backup the whole partition to some file. In case things go wrong I'll post how to mount that file as a partition and try recovery on that.

Best of Luck.

Edited June 23, 2013 by ami1

[KanagaDeepan 1,084]

Deepan ji, are you trying to be funny???? or having a laugh at my expense.

Well, I tried my best to give genuine help/ guidelines reg mtp and ptp mode (many long time Android users who are comfortable with mass storage mode find ptp, mtp confusing and think it's unnecessarily complicated).

 

Lol................I didnt explain myself clearly or you simply ignored the recovery part of the topic.

you just explained how to connect the device which is child's play.

 

I am talking about recovering deleted files from mtp/ptp storage. as i said with local drives or memory cards

its pretty easy. but recovery softwares dont recognize this kinda storage.

 

Yes, I misunderstood recovery part as transfering photos (which he can't locate the required folder in mtp mode) from internal memory to pc.

Further there is no "deleted" word in (old) title or post, which may have helped...

Anyway sorry for that unhelpful post earlier, but I promise it's not to make fun of you.

All due to very clear misunderstandings...

[::: VA ::: 531]

everyone who has tried to tell me to load it usb mass storage.

but how is that even possible with this mtp/ptp device.

it shows in my computer but thats not a local drive as no letters are assigned to it.

its the usual treatment. unless its detected as a drive with a letter then only i can use recovery softwares.

i read on few forums though that if i can make a raw image of the whole internal memory than mounting it

virtually i can scan with recovery soft wares.

but how to go about making this image???

[sathishq 27]

Dear Rim Addict,

Try to connect your phone with Linux (Eg: Ubuntu) based PC, It will show you the Mobile in mounted Folder, then you can copy your files from that folder.

You can see some extra(hidden) files in linux , usually that will not be visible in Windows. Lets try and update me.All the best

[Greens 21]

Data recovery sticks are available, if the photos are data s are worth the value

http://www.paraben-sticks.com/phone-recovery-stick.html

[ami1 237]

everyone who has tried to tell me to load it usb mass storage.

but how is that even possible with this mtp/ptp device.

it shows in my computer but thats not a local drive as no letters are assigned to it.

its the usual treatment. unless its detected as a drive with a letter then only i can use recovery softwares.

i read on few forums though that if i can make a raw image of the whole internal memory than mounting it

virtually i can scan with recovery soft wares.

but how to go about making this image???

Even for MTP devices when the OS is not loaded and you have only booted to Clockwork Recovery mode then you can mount the internal drive as USB Storage.

You do need to install CWM first and then boot to recovery and navigate the CWM menu to mount usb storage.

Install the ROM Manger App and then run the app and select download and flash latest CWM Recovery.

Then reboot the phone while holding volume buttons OR select reboot to recovery in the ROM manager app if that appears (I don't remember if that appears in free or paid ver)

Phone will show an android logo and a small menu (which is navigated by pressing volume up/down buttons and pressing home button for 'enter')

Look for mount usb storage and select that. Ensure you have phone connected to PC first and you have drivers.

[::: VA ::: 531]

Dear Rim Addict,

Try to connect your phone with Linux (Eg: Ubuntu) based PC, It will show you the Mobile in mounted Folder, then you can copy your files from that folder.

You can see some extra(hidden) files in linux , usually that will not be visible in Windows. Lets try and update me.All the best

I have ubuntu live dvd. will try this. any idea if i can make a raw image of the mounted drive there in a simple way.

Even for MTP devices when the OS is not loaded and you have only booted to Clockwork Recovery mode then you can mount the internal drive as USB Storage.

You do need to install CWM first and then boot to recovery and navigate the CWM menu to mount usb storage.

Install the ROM Manger App and then run the app and select download and flash latest CWM Recovery.

Then reboot the phone while holding volume buttons OR select reboot to recovery in the ROM manager app if that appears (I don't remember if that appears in free or paid ver)

Phone will show an android logo and a small menu (which is navigated by pressing volume up/down buttons and pressing home button for 'enter')

Look for mount usb storage and select that. Ensure you have phone connected to PC first and you have drivers.

I believe the phone has to be rooted for cwm to work. whats the quickest way to root S4??

Data recovery sticks are available, if the photos are data s are worth the value

http://www.paraben-sticks.com/phone-recovery-stick.html

The link says that it works only till android 2.3.7

What we are dealing here with is 4.1.x on GS4

[ami1 237]

Connecting to Linux while Android is booted on the phone will only show MTP - to the best of my knowledge.

To avoid MTP you have to be in CWM/Recovery mode.

See this tomshardware link for rooting S4 - I don't have S4 so i can't say if that's the best way or not. Maybe some android gurus can tell better.

[mekturk 21]

Is the Android version 4.2 (I think S4 ships with 4.2)?

If yes, it might be difficult to recover the files as Android uses folder emulation for /sdcard. Basically one folder within the /data partition (internal memory) of the phone is used as sdcard, and external sdcard (if any) might be mounted to some alternate location. This was chosen by Google because it fits well with their multi-user support and manufacturers anyway started shipping with bigger internal memories as internal memory got cheaper.

Now, the problem with this approach is that /data (internal memory) uses linux filesystem (generally ext2) and if /sdcard (which is now actually a folder under /data) is directly exposed as USB mass storage, Windows PC's would detect them as unknown filesystem and offer to "format" the sdcard" - which is not what Google wants it's users to even accidentally do - so they removed USB MS support. MTP and CTP are filesystem-agnostic (not dependent on filesystem) and can be used with any filesystem internally.

I'm really not sure what options are there for you, but if what I said above is the case, you might have to look for ext2 recovery tools. Going little advanced you could probably use root / recovery and use 'dd' or Recovery's backup option to take .img or disk backup of internal sdcard (or /data if internal sdcard option is not available) - copy the backup disk image file to a linux PC, mount it and use linux based ext2 filesystem recovery tools to look for the photos in that disk backup.

Where is your friend based? It's an interesting engineering problem, if logistics is not an issue, I can try to help.

[vishbh 0]

I accidentally deleted photos which were stored on my android mobile phone memory card. I need help to get back those photos. Is there any suggestion to recover deleted photos from android mobile phone?

[jillgreen222 0]

Have you got Photo Stream turned on? If so, check there. I deleted some pictures before by mistake but found that they

were stored on the Photo Stream. You can then copy them back to the Camera Roll. Worked for me. Or you can recover deleted pictures with Photo Recovery.

Edited December 4, 2013 by jillgreen222

[ChairmanM 0]

If you really deleted them and do not have a backup, they are gone. There is an off-chance (very off) that if you put the SDcard into a PC you might be able to use a data retrieval program to get them back. But success at this point is very unlikely. When you use the phone you are overwriting old deleted data thereby making it irretrievable.

The thumbnail views you see are probably in the SDcard/DCIM/.thumbnails folder. In the DCIM folder is also the 100MEDIA directory. This is where your full camera images are stored. You might want to check there, manually.

Also, make sure you didn't just accidentally change the gallery settings and possibly didn't delete them at all (i.e. Gallery | Menu | Show/Hide Items.

[::Hitesh:: 1,763]

^^^

Photos were on internal memory not on SD card .

Sent by Moto G on Reliance CDMA