[Galaxy S III Original Android Development] curiousrom:
Hacked LineageOS Reboots, Bootloops, Xposed & Corrupted Data

This is a hacked version of LineageOS by microG. It's pretty irresponsible (or light-headed maybe? ;) ) to link directly to such a firmware download and not to a proper web page about it or not include any warning or info with your link IMO.

From https://lineage.microg.org/ : "LineageOS unofficial fork with built-in microG gapps implementation".

The Lineage Team does not support the signature spoofing necessary for microG to work nor Xposed which modifies System files, apk's & other user apps. From this post by harryyoud Lineage Team Member: "It [microG] is not and will not be supported in LineageOS. It is insecure, could get us in trouble with Google, means more testing, and is only useful to a very small subset of users."

Since this thread is about the Official LineageOS 14.1 for i9300 I suggest you post questions about your problems with that microG firmware here instead as you will probably get more relevant answers as well: LineageOS for microG.

To all users looking for links to the Official LineageOS see post #1 in this thread or in Bunch of Links: S3 i9300 LineageOS, Developer & Oreo Project.

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Xposed & Data Corruption Maybe

Well it took you long enough after clever questioning by [MENTION=5975813]Ashraf Iraqian[/MENTION] (Thanks :good:) to finally mention essential troubleshooting info like "hybrid 10vb1 w/ exp.". I guess that "exp." means Xposed + using a beta custom Hybrid kernel? And that does not even mentions Xposed modules that may mess up Lineage.

Edit: Upon reflexion maybe "w/ exp. los" stands for the experimental LineageOS? Anyway the rest of the post remains valid for Lineage + Xposed users.

You can read more in this post by jrizzoli Lineage Team Member but here is a partial quote:

"Xposed is known to... developers for breaking stuffs, adding huge security holes and much more.

As an app developer I could get crash reports, 1 star reviews and free hate because the app is not able to use an Android API that's supposed to work in a specific way (in order to get the device sold with Google services) just because the user installed an hack that allows other user-installed apps to edit the whole way the system works...

...As a lineage developer I see Xposed as a terrible thing that allows user apps... to get access to the whole system. You can tell me you won't install untrusted apps, but it's the same as leaving your house's door always open and pretend that thieves will never come to your place. Also, as I explained earlier, modules can lead to Android API breakage..."

So I don't think that "it just suddenly out of no where corrupted" as you wrote above. :eek:

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

If you installed Xposed and have problems go here: [DISCUSSION] Xposed for Nougat and if you installed the Hybrid kernel go here: [KERNEL][7.x][i9300] Hybrid.

"...im absolutely furious over it because i got a lot of whatsapp messages i wanna keep" - Well when playing with kernels & system mods you need a solid backup strategy as problems are a real possibility & that includes from WhatsApp FAQ Backing up to Google Drive and Restoring your chat history which includes a method using a local backup located in your internal /sdcard/WhatsApp/ folder which you could retrieve while in TWRP > File Manager to copy to your external Micro SD card or to a computer as MTP & ADB is enabled in TWRP by default.

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If you suspect corrupted files in /Data/ a normal wipe in TWRP may not be enough as that erases files but does not properly format the Data partition. That is why I recommend Format Data in step #14 of Samsung stock firmware & LineageOS super clean install post.

Make sure to backup the entire content of your internal sdcard personal files which is not included in a full TWRP backup BTW as everything will be erased with a Format Data done in TWRP (screenshot)

From this TWRP FAQ: What is a data/media device?:

"When you choose a factory reset, instead of formatting, we use rm -rf commands to remove all the folders except for the media folder so that we can remove all of your apps and settings while leaving your "sdcard" intact. In TWRP we also have a wipe internal storage option that rm -rf's the media folder and a "Format Data" option that formats to recreate the entire file system in case something goes completely wrong or to remove device encryption."

If you suspect a hardware problem see S3 i9300 eMMC Chip Check as I do have a defective eMMC memory chip on my S3 i9300 & posted about a workaround here: S3 Black Screen Freezing Fix - Sudden Death Syndrome.

Guys you are free to do what you want with your phone (screenshot) but I will stick to the stock official LineageOS & it's included kernel + Open Gapps Pico + Lineage su add-on (super user) as my daily driver for now, thank you! ;)

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