[Galaxy S III Mini General] rob.rossi97:
Don't Apply Update to an Encrypted Phone!!!!

I made what I think is a fatal error in applying this update...two errors, actually...

1. Didn't have contacts, texts, various docs, etc stored on internal memory backed up to the could, external computer, etc

2. Applied update before decrypting the phone (I keep it encrypted for security reasons obviously but this may have just bitten me in the butt)

So here's happened when I applied the update. First, there was no warning not to apply it to an encrypted phone (found this out from an AT&T Device Support Center technician, who also told me the update was pushed direct by Samsung and not AT&T and really did try to help me out of this jam). I selected yes to apply the update, then it prompted me for my password 2 or 3 times at it went thru the update/reboot process. No problem, right? Well when it appeared to have completed, it went back to the lock screen on bootup, I typed in my password, the green "android crypto unlock" image came on, then...nothing. screen went black and phone locked up. Restarted several times and same thing happened. Restarted in safe mode and same thing happened. Tried hooking up to my computer and accessing thru Windows and Samsung Kies...nothing. Phone connects to computer, but it isn't recognized and no access (neither before nor after typing password into phone). Went into the phone's system recovery mode and rebooted from there and same thing happened - get to unlock screen, type password, and locks. In the phone's system recovery screen, I get the following at the bottom of the screen:

#MANUAL MODE#

-- Appling Multi-CSC...

Applied the CSC-code : ATT

Successfully applied multi-CSC.

E:failed to mount /data (Invalid argument)

can't mount '/data'(Invalid argument)

E:failed to mount /data (Invalid argument)

E:Can't mount /data/log/recovery_log.txt

I have not yet done a "wipe data/factory reset" nor had AT&T wipe and reset the phone at their Device Service Center as I really really really need to recover some data that is now locked on the phone and I can't seem to get past the encryption even with password as it appears the encryption corrupted the OS update installation. Neither 3 hrs with a very helpful AT&T tech nor an hour on the phone with Samsung tech was able to get me into the phone to at least recover data. If i can just recover the data, at that point I have no problem doing a factory reset (and taking a harsh lesson learned) and rebuilding the phone. But I want to exhaust all possible options at data recovery before I go that route, and any help any of you out there can provide would be greatly appreciated. Maybe a way to extract an image of the phone's internal storage to a computer and then decrypt that image to extract the data? Maybe a way to remotely decrypt the phone's internal storage over USB connected to a computer and then extract data that way?

I asked both Samsung and AT&T if they had an FTP site or something where I could download the update to a microSD card and try re-applying the update from external storage (which at least in theory would preserve user data during the update) in the system recovery boot module but both said they couldn't do it. Which I think is BS, since that 700MB file has to come from somewhere. I'm guessing they only want the update distributed via OTA or Kies not as a separate installer package that could be easily shared.

That's about it. I'm really hoping someone can help me out of this jam, but am prepared for the worst - data loss and associated harsh lessons learned. Thanks for listening and I hope no one else out there makes the same mistake I did.

Rob