[X3non]

This step-by-step guide will explain how to mount ext4 images in windows. This will come in handy when trying to retrieve files from a userdata.img

Requirements

• Download and install latest Linux Reader
  
• EXT4 image you intend to mount ; verify if the image is really an EXT4 filesystem image using this guide
  
• Download sgs2toext4 to convert sparse image to EXT4 (requires JRE)
  
• Download and install Java Runtime Environment
  

Steps on how to mount ext4 images (system, userdata & vendor) in windows

Follow the steps below to mount ext4 images (system, userdata & vendor) in windows

See the video below or @ https://youtu.be/su2c3cEG_Eg

1. Launch DiskInternals Linux Reader tool
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. Click Drives at the top left hand corner
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. Click 'Mount Image'
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. Tick 'Raw Disk Images' then click Next
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. In the new window, navigate to the location and select the image(s) you want to mount then click Open
   
   
   
   
   
   
6. The mounted images will be highlighted in red
   
   
   
   
   
   
7. To extract a file from within the mounted image. Lets say a file from within userdata.img , double click the mounted image to open it
   
8. Media files are usually stored in \Media\0\ folder within userdata.img (it might be different on your phone)
   
9. Navigate to the location of the files or folder you wish to extract then right click on the file / folder then click Save
   
   
   
   
   
   
10. Tick 'Save Files' then click Next
    
    
    
    
    
    
11. Click Browse...
    
    
    
    
    
    
12. Navigate to and select the folder location you wish to extract the file(s) to then click OK
    
    
    
    
    
    
13. Click Next
    
    
    
    
    
    
14. Click Next
    
    
    
    
    
    
15. Click Finish
    
    
    
    
    

Important Notice

• Credits to DiskInternals for Linux Reader tool
  
• You can convert sparse image to EXT4 image by dragging the image onto sgs2toext4 windows
  
• There's no guarantees that this guide will work for you as expected as images might not be in ext4 format or they might be encrypted (from devices with encrypted data) or corrupted during or before backup
  

Video Transcript

A good number of our members have been asking how to retrieve data from a userdata backup
The data includes pictures, music, videos and all what not
So in this video tutorial, i'm going to be showing how to mount an EXT4 image in windows
EXT4 images can include system, userdata and vendor
So, we're going to be using Disk Internals Linux Reader
Now before we begin, lets check if this images we have here are all in EXT4 format
So, we have a guide on how to check the file system of an image
This is the tutorial guide, you can visit the link or search the forum
So, we can see file system of system.img is in EXT4 format
Userdata is also in EXT4 format But vendor isn't
So we're going to convert vendor to an EXT4 format image
For this, we're going to be using sgs2toext4 file
We'll open this
Now, we'll drag vendor image onto the tool
So, down here you can see its converting
Now once it's done converting you'll see it will start reading 0 B/s
we can now close this tool
This is our EXT4 image
Now lets confirm if this image is really EXT4 format
So here we can see this is an EXT4 image
So we have our images all in EXT4 format now
Now to mount EXT4 images in windows, we're going to use Disk Internals Linux Reader
So i'll launch the tool
On the interface, click on Drives
click mount image tick Raw Disk Images then click Next
Navigate to the location of the images we wish to mount
So i want to mount all three of this
So here we go, this is system, this is vendor and this is userdata
So we can double click to open and check what is inside
But for the purpose of this tutorial, let me go over to userdata
Now in userdata to retrieve your files, you'll goto data that's once you open it, you'll goto media folder
in media folder, you'll goto 0 (zero). zero should normally be your internal storage
So here we can see some of my old files
In this case i want to retrieve
this is what i want to retrieve
so i'll right click
click save
save files
click Next
Now select the directory, the folder where you want to save the file or folders or whatever you've chosen
you can click browse, i want to save them on my desktop
then click OK
click Next
click Next again
Once it's done, you'll see completing the export wizard
click Finish
So we can now close the tool and here's our file

[abdulahi1229]

my backup is not in .img format its .backup

[X3non]

my backup is not in .img format its .backup

whatever the file extension is, you're to verify first the FS if its EXT4 or not (check the requirements section)
and if your backup is numerous e.g userdata1.backup userdata2.backup etc then you're to concatenate the files into one single file using cat command 

Code:

cat userdata.backup1 userdata.backup2 userdata.backup3 > userdata_full.backup

PS: when replying, stick to your thread @ https://www.hovatek.com/forum/thread-28249.html , you can refer to a different thread from your thread

[marquelito]

hey
when using cygwin to detect file system of the output sgs2toext4 img i get:

Code:

$ file system.img.ext4.img
system.img.ext4.img: data

this method including other using svaimgunpack don't work on new firmwares. i'm trying on Z Flip Firmware, and tryed too on note 10 firmware.
please i would be greatful if you could help

thanks

[X3non]

hey
when using cygwin to detect file system of the output sgs2toext4 img i get:

Code:

$ file system.img.ext4.img
system.img.ext4.img: data

this method including other using svaimgunpack don't work on new firmwares. i'm trying on Z Flip Firmware, and tryed too on note 10 firmware.
please i would be greatful if you could help

thanks

this guide is meant for only EXT4 filesystem. the image you have isn't ext4, infact it literally has no filesystem considering it's detected as data. You can't mount "data"

[SGANDHI20]

What if i only have userdata.img ?? i lost system.img and vendor.img can i still get my data back from uderdata.img?

[X3non]

What if i only have userdata.img ?? i lost system.img and vendor.img can i still get my data back from uderdata.img?

yes, so long as the userdata.img isn't encrypted or corrupt