Android encryption has failed: what to do? How to fix basic errors on Android What to do when your phone says encryption failure

The FBI tried through court to twist the hands of Apple, which did not want to create code to bypass its own security system. A critical vulnerability has been discovered in the Android kernel, allowing superuser access to bypass all security mechanisms. These two events, although unrelated, coincided in time, clearly demonstrating the differences in the security systems of the two popular mobile operating systems. Let's put aside for a moment the issue of a critical vulnerability in the Android kernel, which is unlikely to ever be fixed by most manufacturers in already released models, and consider the data encryption mechanisms in Android and Apple iOS. But first, let’s talk about why encryption is needed in mobile devices at all.

Why encrypt your phone?

An honest person has nothing to hide - the most popular leitmotif that sounds after every publication on the topic of data protection. “I have nothing to hide,” many users say. Alas, much more often this only means the confidence that no one will bother to get into the data of a particular Vasya Pupkin, because who is interested in them at all? Practice shows that this is not so. We won’t go far: just last week, the career of a school teacher who left her phone on the table for a moment ended with her dismissal. The students instantly unlocked the device and took out photographs of the teacher in a form that is condemned by the puritanical morality of American society. The incident served as sufficient grounds for the teacher's dismissal. Stories like this happen almost every day.

How unencrypted phones are hacked

We won't go into detail, just keep in mind: data from an unencrypted phone can be recovered in almost a hundred percent of cases. “Almost” here refers rather to cases where the phone was attempted to be physically damaged or destroyed immediately before the data was removed. Many Android and Windows Phone devices have a service mode that allows you to drain all data from the device’s memory via a regular USB cable. This applies to most devices on the Qualcomm platform (HS-USB mode, which works even when the bootloader is locked), on Chinese smartphones with MediaTek (MTK), Spreadtrum and Allwinner processors (if the bootloader is unlocked), as well as all smartphones manufactured by LG (there in general a convenient service mode that allows you to merge data even from a “bricked” device).

But even if the phone does not have a service “back door”, data from the device can still be obtained by disassembling the device and connecting to the JTAG test port. In the most advanced cases, the eMMC chip is removed from the device, which is inserted into a simple and very cheap adapter and operates using the same protocol as the most common SD card. If the data was not encrypted, everything can be easily extracted from the phone, down to the authentication tokens that provide access to your cloud storage.

What if encryption was enabled? In older versions of Android (up to 4.4 inclusive), this could be bypassed (with the exception, however, of devices manufactured by Samsung). But in Android 5.0, a strong encryption mode finally appeared. But is it as useful as Google thinks it is? Let's try to figure it out.

Android 5.0–6.0

The first device running Android 5.0 was the Google Nexus 6, released in 2014 by Motorola. At that time, 64-bit mobile processors with the ARMv8 architecture were already actively promoted, but Qualcomm did not have a ready-made solution on this platform. As a result, the Nexus 6 used the Snapdragon 805 chipset, based on Qualcomm's own 32-bit cores.

Why is it important? The fact is that processors based on the ARMv8 architecture have a built-in set of commands to speed up stream data encryption, but 32-bit ARMv7 processors do not have such commands.

So watch your hands. There are no instructions for accelerating crypto in the processor, so Qualcomm has built a dedicated hardware module into the system logic set to perform the same functions. But something didn’t work out for Google. Either the drivers were not completed at the time of release, or Qualcomm did not provide the source codes (or did not allow them to be published in AOSP). The details are unknown to the public, but the result is known: the Nexus 6 shocked reviewers with its extremely slow data read speed. How slow? Something like this:

The reason for the eight-fold lag behind its “younger brother”, the Motorola Moto X 2014 smartphone, is simple: forcibly enabled encryption, implemented by the company at the software level. In real life, Nexus 6 users on the original firmware version complained about numerous lags and freezes, noticeable heating of the device and relatively poor battery life. Installing a kernel that disables forced encryption immediately solved these problems.

However, firmware is such a thing, you can finish it, right? Especially if you are Google, have unlimited finances and have the most qualified developers on your staff. Well, let's see what happened next.

And then there was Android 5.1 (six months later), in which the necessary drivers for working with the hardware accelerator were first added in the preliminary version of the firmware, and then removed again in the final version due to serious problems with sleep mode. Then there was Android 6.0, at the time of its release users had already lost interest in this game and began to disable encryption by any means, using third-party kernels. Or don’t disable it if a read speed of 25–30 MB/s is enough.

Android 7.0

Okay, but could Android 7 fix a serious problem with a flagship device that is almost two years old? It’s possible, and it’s been fixed! The ElcomSoft lab compared the performance of two identical Nexus 6s, one running Android 6.0.1 with the ElementalX kernel (and encryption disabled), while the other was running the first preview version of Android 7 with default settings ( encryption enabled). The result is clear:

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The world's most popular OS is known for its instability. Every Android user has encountered one error or another at least once, but not everyone has found a solution. It’s definitely not worth changing your device right away because of this. Next, we will look at the main errors on Android and how to solve them. Often there is no error, but only a small function that can be solved in a couple of simple steps.

Sometimes Android may produce system errors when running. There's nothing wrong with that

This section contains problems that are usually easy to fix or not required at all. Often the cause may not even be the device itself. But there are also some that make users nervous.

Low memory

This cannot be called a bug, but rather a limitation of the capabilities of your device. Yes, indeed, on old, and even new, devices, the internal memory sometimes runs out abruptly. The problem is solved very simply.

If you use applications such as Instagram, VK, then the cache is definitely to blame, which they accumulate very quickly and in large quantities.

1. Go to “Settings”, select “Applications”.
2. Often those that take up the most memory are immediately brought to the top. Click on them.
3. Select the “Clear cache” item.

There is nothing wrong with the “insufficient space in device memory” error; it can be easily resolved

This cleaning can free up up to several gigabytes of free space. You can also completely erase the data in the application, but then you will have to “log in” again.

Due to full memory, errors with different numbers may occur. For example, error 919, when the application cannot start due to insufficient space.

On some devices (not all), you can transfer some programs to a memory card. This will free up even more space. This is done from the same item in the settings. It is better to monitor the availability of free space more often so that the gadget always works properly and without brakes.

Wi-Fi Authentication Error

Also one of the most popular problems on Android. Although in fact, very rarely the problem lies in the device. More often than not, the cause is the router, or more precisely, its incompatibility with your device. The problem is resolved quite quickly.

The first method, the most obvious, is simply to check that the entered password is correct. After all, authentication is nothing more than checking the security key. Therefore, try to forget the problematic network and then re-enter the password.

If everything is fine with the password, but Wi-Fi still doesn’t want to connect, then the reason clearly lies in the router settings. The fact is that its data encryption type may be older than that used on the Android device, or the device does not support any network standard.

In this case, you need to go to the router settings.

1. Open the browser. In the address bar, enter “192.168.1.1” or “192.168.0.1”.
2. In the window that appears, enter your username and password: most often these are admin and admin. If you have others, then enter yours.
3. Now you need to find your Wi-Fi security settings. Here we set the mixed encryption type or network authentication “WPA-PSK/WPA2-PSK2 mixed”, and also select automatic selection of the network standard.

After this, problems with connecting to Wi-Fi should disappear.

Syntax error

The error is that the file that installs a particular application is incorrect or was not launched correctly. Additionally, there may be a failure during installation, which also results in a syntax error.

The fix is ​​pretty easy. First, make sure that the file you downloaded is in apk format. Because it is files of this format that are application installers on Android. Secondly, delete this downloaded file and re-download it and then reinstall it. It makes sense to try downloading the file from another site. This usually clears the error.

loading error

This often happens on older devices, but on new ones this problem no longer occurs. The problem is that the standard download manager malfunctions, making it difficult to download anything from the Internet. The error is fixed quite easily.

You just need to download a new download manager. ES Explorer may be perfect for these purposes. It has a good built-in download manager.

Android Keyboard AOSP

This keyboard itself is not the best. In addition, it is not very well optimized on some firmwares, which causes errors. Solving them is simple.

• Disable voice input in your keyboard settings.
• Reset the settings, erase the cache and data of the application that is responsible for the keyboard.
• Just download any other keyboard from Google Play Market.

Errors with Google Accounts

There can be two errors: the account does not want to synchronize or does not want to be added. The first can be present on both old and new devices, while the second is gradually becoming a thing of the past. Fixing all this is not that difficult.

• Check the quality and stability of your Internet connection: the mobile network or Wi-Fi must work normally, otherwise the reason may lie there.
• If an account has already been added but is not syncing, simply disable it, restart your device and log in again.
• If your account refuses to connect, first make sure your login and password are correct.
• Disable two-step sync in your account settings.
• Enable automatic synchronization and background data transfer, then restart your device.

Netalpha virus

A new problem encountered by Android users. This malware makes it difficult to work with your phone and prevents you from removing it. The problem is quite serious because it involves only two solutions, one of which is very radical.

• Reset the system to factory settings. More details on how to do this are at the end of the article.
• If you have root rights, you can download Lucky Partner and remove the ill-fated application.

Com.android.snap

Occurs when using various applications: popular photo editors, instant messengers. This inscription often appears on a black background, which is very distracting, and programs may simply close.

This glitch is believed to be caused by malware, so many people advise simply installing an antivirus. However, you can do without it using systematic methods.

1. Go to the settings menu, to the “Applications” item.
2. We look for the “com.android.snap” application there.
3. We delete its data, clear the cache and stop it.
4. You also need to uncheck the “Send notifications” checkbox.

After this, the program will stop annoying you, and you will no longer see this message on the black screen. If you have an antivirus installed on your device, you can remove the bug using it. But, as practice shows, this error rarely occurs on devices with antivirus software.

Besides com.android.snap, there is also com.android.systemUI. What they have in common is that they are Trojan-type viruses. Accordingly, the program is neutralized in the same way.

Com.android.phone

If the system says that the application is com.android. phone an error occurred, which means the problem lies in the program that is responsible for making calls on your tablet or smartphone. The error appears for various reasons. Therefore, the solutions will be different for everyone.

1. Try unchecking the automatic synchronization of date and time via the Internet in the settings, and then put them back. After this, restart your phone and set the correct date and time yourself.
2. Erase data and delete the Phone app cache.
3. You can simply download any “dialer” that will replace the standard one, since the application store is full of them.

Android.process.acore

If an error occurs with android.process.acore, then the problem is no longer related to either the dialer or viruses. The reasons may be the following:

• the necessary system files are missing;
• some system application has stopped working;
• There are several applications on the device that perform almost the same functions, and they do not synchronize correctly with system applications

The difficulty of solving a problem depends on the cause of its occurrence. Most often, it can be solved by simply deleting all contacts through the device settings. If you synchronize all your contacts with Google before doing this, you won’t lose anything at all.

There is an option to reset all applications through the corresponding menu item. This also often solves the problem without losing any data. If you have applications installed to optimize Wi-Fi performance, then you should also try to remove them. Often the reason lies precisely in them.

Adroid.process.media

The Android Process Media error occurs for two reasons: Media Storage or Download Manager. Both can be solved quite simply. There are two general methods that almost always work flawlessly.

First way

1. Clear cache and data from Google Services Framework and Google Play Market applications.
2. Stop the Google Services Framework (you need to do it in this order).
3. Clear the cache of this utility again.
4. Open Google Play and find the problematic application. When you receive an error message, click OK.
5. Reboot your gadget and restore disabled Google services.

Second way

1. Stop syncing your Google account completely. This can be done from the account settings: in the “Synchronization” item, you must clear all the checkboxes.
2. Erase the data and stop the Gallery utility.
3. Similarly, disable the “Download Manager”.
4. Reboot your device.

After using one of these methods, the problem will disappear.

Invalid batch file

The error often occurs when updating an application. If this happened during an update, you need to clear the cache of this application. In addition, you can try to manually download the apk file of the program and install it again. If this does not help, delete your Google account, reboot the device and log in again.

PACKADGE FILE INVALID

1. We delete the cache and data of the problematic application.
2. We go to Google Play and install it there.
3. We clean Google Play and Google Service Framework data.
4. We update the application via the mobile Internet, not Wi-Fi.

Installation unsuccessful error

1. Reinstall the problematic application.
2. Clear the cache and delete Play Market data.
3. Disconnect the memory card from the device.
4. Delete the folder.android_secure.
5. Reinstalling the application.

Error number...

These errors can be more serious. However, they are often resolved in a few simple steps. It all depends on the number of this very error. Moreover, Google provides a minimum of information about solving various errors.

11, 101, 504, 506, 491, 495, 413, 941, 921, 920, 481, RH01: Google Play and account problems

These applications or account problems are solved using almost the same methods. Android may issue “Error code 11” when using the Play Market. Problems often arise under specific numbers with this particular Google service. It has been noticed that error 11 often occurs when installing or updating WhatsApp.

Another popular error due to which the Play Market also does not want to download the application is 504. It occurs on Android due to the same reasons as other problems with downloading programs, so the elimination methods are identical. The same goes for other errors.

Problems are solved in several ways, and each of them is suitable for most similar errors.

1. We set the correct time and check the operation of the Internet connection.
2. We check the amount of free internal memory: it should be higher than the volume of programs that have problems loading.
3. After that, try simply restarting your phone or tablet. Google Play Market errors on Android are often solved in this way.
4. Resetting the settings. Using the method indicated above, open the Play Market application window, then clear the data and cache. Then go to the Application Store again. Alternatively, you can also uninstall all updates in the same window, which will return the program to its original form when you purchased the device.
5. You can do the same with the Google Play Services program if the previous method did not help. If this does not help, then you can try to do a similar operation with the Google Services Framework.
6. The problem could also be that the Google Accounts app is disabled. We go into its window, if we see that it is turned off, then we turn it on. You should also enable the “Download Manager” if it was turned off.
7. We try to log out and log back into our Google account. This is done from the settings. There we find the “Accounts” item and select Google.

24

Error 24 occurs when installing an application on Android, when some kind of failure has occurred, and some of the files have already been installed. Or you had this application before, you deleted it, and then decided to download it again. The problem is resolved quite quickly.

1. Launch any file manager.
2. We find the directory “sdcard/Android/data/data”, it contains files related to this application. They will contain the name of the program in the name, so they will be quite easy to distinguish from the rest.
3. We do the same in the “data/data” directory.

After this, the error should disappear and the application should install without any problems.

498

This error occurs when loading an application. There may be several problems, but they are quite easy to solve.

1. Check your internet connection.
2. Clear the cache of several programs, and first of all - Google Play.
3. Wait a couple of hours. It is quite possible that the reason lies in Google servers. If so, they will fix it quickly.

After this, the error should disappear.

923

1. We delete the Google account and several unnecessary programs, clear the cache.
2. Clearing the system cache:
   1. Go to Recovery (ON button and volume control button and hold).
   2. Select Wipe Cache Partition.
   3. Reboot the device.
3. Reboot the device.
4. Login to Google again.

403

There is a so-called Dalvik cache. Due to its filling, we again do not want to install certain programs. To solve the problem, we clean the data and disable first “Google Accounts” and then the Google Play Store.

Rh01 /rpc:s-5:aec-0 /RPC:S-3

The system cannot receive information from the server. To fix the problem, you need to do the same as with other similar errors.

1. Clear the cache and remove unnecessary unnecessary applications.
2. Erase data and stop Play Market and Google Services Framework.
3. As described in the previous error (403), delete the cache through Recovery.

492

Content from Google Play is not loading again.

1. We clear the data and stop Google Play Services.
2. We do the same with Google Play Market.
3. Delete the dalvik cache if the problem is still present. However, this can only be done if you have root access.
4. If you don’t have root rights, then you’ll just have to do a full system rollback.

911

It also doesn't allow you to download apps.

1. We clear the data, cache, stop Google Play Market.
2. Try connecting to a different Wi-Fi network or using mobile data to download the app.

Rpc:aec:0]

Problems receiving data from the server. Deleting all synchronized accounts can help. Then we clear the cache and Play Store data, and then restart the smartphone or tablet.

A similar error is RPC:S-3. In this case, you only need to delete your Google account, after which you can try to connect another one or the same one.

927

This fault is independent of our device. The reason lies in the fact that the program is updated by the developers. Therefore, if we want to install or update it, we will not be able to do this. It's just worth trying to install it again after 30 minutes or later.

How to solve any errors

And finally, a method that is suitable for fixing any problems. But you should always resort to it last. This . A complete reboot of the Android system will delete all user data, so you should first transfer the most important data to a memory card or save it in cloud services.

1. Open the settings.
2. Select the “Reset and Recovery” item; on different devices it may be called differently and can be found either in the settings menu itself or in the “System” item.
3. Click "Reset".

After this, the device returns to factory settings, all problems disappear.

Now you know how to fix the vast majority of errors on Android. There are many more of them, but the rest of the problems have similar solutions, especially Google Play service errors, which are so rare that there is no data about them yet or have already been corrected by the developers.

An error like this can only appear if the user initially turned it on (on a tablet or other mobile device).

This function protects personal data stored in the memory of the Android device. Encryption in this case is performed by the ICS system using a master key with a depth of 128 bits. If a password or PIN code is set to unlock the screen, then Android by default selects it as the “source” for creating a decryption master key.

After enabling the encryption function, each time the OS is rebooted, the device will request the specified password or PIN.

However, no system works without errors and periodically the Android encryption also fails here, which makes unexpected changes to the 16 kilobyte master key.

Such a failure can occur at any time, so to ensure you do not lose the necessary information, always save backup copies of your data. To do this, for example, you can make a backup to your Google account.

Otherwise, the cost of decrypting the card will be much more expensive than the cost of all the information stored in the phone’s memory (which will need to be decrypted). In the worst case, decryption will take so much time that the information will long ago lose its relevance.

Android encryption error: what to do?

So, what should you do if your phone says “encryption failed”? This message appears before the graphical shell is loaded for the reason that the module responsible for encryption (Cryptfs) is loaded one of the first. It allows all other modules to decrypt settings, read data from the cache and load a full version of the OS.

1. 1. First, you need to remove the microSD card from the device. Due to Google's policy, information on it is not encrypted by default, and, accordingly, this data may still remain accessible.

The worst thing you can do now is press the only soft button on the screen - Reset phone.

After activating it (in most cases), you can say goodbye to the information stored in the /data and possibly /sdcard folder.

1. 2. After removing the card, try rebooting your Android device using the mentioned button. If you were unable to resolve the encryption failure on your tablet the first time, try a few more times: perhaps the key is simply not loaded correctly due to an error in the code located on the external card.

Unfortunately, in most cases, rebooting does not fix the encryption failure, since either the internal card of the Android device or its controller is damaged.

1. 3. If restarting the phone/tablet did not help resolve the encryption failure, you should “roll back” the firmware and install a new version of the cryptographic module so that the device can be used.

To do this, you will need an external card, preferably at least 8 GB (you can use an “old one” if all important data has been backed up from it), on which temporary partitions /data and /sdcard will be saved.

1. 4. Insert the microSD card into your Android device.

The next stage is preparing the phone for flashing. To do this, you need to go into Android recovery mode. Depending on the model and manufacturer of the device, this mode can be accessed in different ways, but the most common key combination is to simultaneously press the power and volume down buttons and hold for one or two seconds.

In recovery mode, find the properties of the SD card and divide it into segments that will be allocated to the above sections. For the /data area, 2 GB of memory should be enough.

For "swap" select 0M. The card preparation process will take some time - during this time you can download the latest version of ICS that matches your phone/tablet model.

After downloading, save it to an already partitioned SD card.

At this point, the recovery mode option should enable the external media option.

When the connection to the computer is secured, do not forget to make a complete “backup” of the information stored on the Android device.

This time, starting the device will take a little longer, but after a reboot, the encryption failure will be “cancelled” and work with the device and external card will continue as before.

We store a lot of important and even confidential information on modern phones and tablets. These can be personal photos, correspondence, audio recordings, logins, passwords, bank card details and more. Often, users do not think about ways to protect such data until, for example, they lose a gadget. In the worst case, it falls into the hands of criminals who will gladly use your information for personal purposes. Sometimes that's the whole point of having your phone stolen. How to protect personal data?

Encryption and its meaning

To protect data, a regular screen lock password is most often used, for example, a graphic lock or a digital password. But often this method turns out to be unreliable. If desired, such protection can be bypassed and then all your personal data will be in full view. A more effective way is encryption. The user himself will not feel much difference, but if the gadget is lost, even if attackers can somehow bypass the lock password, they will not have access to your data. This encryption is done quite simply:
Explay Fresh - make a Hard Reset on your smartphone

"Settings"; "Security" and "Encryption".

After this, you will need to enter the code and wait some time until all the data is encrypted; this can take quite a long time, especially if the volume is large. It happens that over time you may see the message Android encryption failed, what should you do in this case?
What to do if your tablet/smartphone does not turn on or is frozen

Encryption failure: how to fix the problem?

To avoid such problems, you should always back up your data. For example, the Google cloud can be a reliable storage; this is the best option for all Android users.

If you didn’t do this and saw a message about encryption failure, the main thing is not to rush to press the “Reset phone” button.

First, remove the external memory card, the data on it is not encrypted, this is provided for by the OS developers' policy. Only after this you can press this button, but be prepared for the fact that you may lose your personal data.

Only in rare cases, after rebooting the system, the failure is eliminated; in other cases, it will be necessary to roll back until the failure was detected.