[Samsung Galaxy S8 Questions and Answers] carnelianfox:
Hi guys, I stumbled on this thread on Friday 12-01-2018 cos I ran into the exact same problem. I was shocked no one responded with a solution. Well after scrambling with trials and guesses, I found one that worked. if you haven't already solved this problem, the simplest solution is to do the following:

Please note: This works for already rooted devices running TWRP recovery

1. Allow the phone to run out of charge while stuck on the encryption screen

2. Plug the phone to charge up without pressing the power button

3. Unplug the power cord and press Vol up+ bixby + power button at together to boot into recovery mode

4. Press Backup (yes you can still backup your data to external SD)

5. After backup, go back to the main TWRP menu and press WIPE

6. Press FORMAT DATA

7. Reboot the phone (you'll receive a warning that No OS Installed... this is good cos it means you've successfully formatted the phone)

8. On rebooting, the phone is just stuck on the Samsung Galaxy Logo (powered by Android) - this means you have successfully formatted the phone

9. Remove your external SD, connect it to your PC and copy your firmware into it, then re-insert it into your phone

10. Reboot to recovery using Step 3 above

10. Reinstall your firmware, allow your phone to boot up completely. This will take a while as it is a fresh install

11. Reboot into recovery and restore your data.

Hope this helps. It worked for me.

---------- Post added at 11:25 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:25 AM ----------

Hi guys, I stumbled on this thread on Friday 12-01-2018 cos I ran into the exact same problem. I was shocked no one responded with a solution. Well after scrambling with trials and guesses, I found one that worked. if you haven't already solved this problem, the simplest solution is to do the following:

Please note: This works for already rooted devices running TWRP recovery

1. Allow the phone to run out of charge while stuck on the encryption screen

2. Plug the phone to charge up without pressing the power button

3. Unplug the power cord and press Vol up+ bixby + power button at together to boot into recovery mode

4. Press Backup (yes you can still backup your data to external SD)

5. After backup, go back to the main TWRP menu and press WIPE

6. Press FORMAT DATA

7. Reboot the phone (you'll receive a warning that No OS Installed... this is good cos it means you've successfully formatted the phone)

8. On rebooting, the phone is just stuck on the Samsung Galaxy Logo (powered by Android) - this means you have successfully formatted the phone

9. Remove your external SD, connect it to your PC and copy your firmware into it, then re-insert it into your phone

10. Reboot to recovery using Step 3 above

10. Reinstall your firmware, allow your phone to boot up completely. This will take a while as it is a fresh install

11. Reboot into recovery and restore your data.

Hope this helps. It worked for me.

---------- Post added at 11:26 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:25 AM ----------

Hi, I stumbled on this thread on Friday 12-01-2018 cos I ran into the exact same problem. I was shocked no one responded with a solution. Well after scrambling with trials and guesses, I found one that worked. if you haven't already solved this problem, the simplest solution is to do the following:

Please note: This works for already rooted devices running TWRP recovery

1. Allow the phone to run out of charge while stuck on the encryption screen

2. Plug the phone to charge up without pressing the power button

3. Unplug the power cord and press Vol up+ bixby + power button at together to boot into recovery mode

4. Press Backup (yes you can still backup your data to external SD)

5. After backup, go back to the main TWRP menu and press WIPE

6. Press FORMAT DATA

7. Reboot the phone (you'll receive a warning that No OS Installed... this is good cos it means you've successfully formatted the phone)

8. On rebooting, the phone is just stuck on the Samsung Galaxy Logo (powered by Android) - this means you have successfully formatted the phone

9. Remove your external SD, connect it to your PC and copy your firmware into it, then re-insert it into your phone

10. Reboot to recovery using Step 3 above

10. Reinstall your firmware, allow your phone to boot up completely. This will take a while as it is a fresh install

11. Reboot into recovery and restore your data.

Hope this helps. It worked for me.