S3 won't progress past boot screen + sd card issues encryption issues.

[Snickersthecat]

I'm a bit of a noob in these matters so bear with me.
So today I installed the most recent updates for my Android S3.
1) After updating the phone I am repeatedly stuck on the Samsung logo screen.
2) I go into recovery mode and attempt to return it to the factory settings to no avail.
3) I attempt to back up and restore to a previous point and I notice there is an error stating the sd card won't mount.
4) I attempt to mount/unmount the /sd card and /data with no success.
It seems that this is preventing my phone from functioning normally. I should note I encrypted the data on my phone previously and it seems other users have had problems with encryption as well.

Should I take it to the retailer where it was bought from and let them figure it out? (A buddy of mine rooted the phone, but I never bothered with altering anything so I'm not sure if that would void the warranty).
Is recovering any of my data a lost cause?
Should I reinstall the OS with Odin and wipe the entire phone clean?
Will that even be a solution to my problem or is the issue potentially with something entirely apart from mounting?
What do I do now?

EDIT: Took it to the retailer, couldn't do anything. Factory reset can't get rid of encryption. Essentially it's wiping the phone clean or sending it into Samsung. Any idea on how to wipe it clean?

 

[GSDer]

Welcome to the forums!
(Sorry, for some reason the Tapatalk app kept messing up my attempts to quote your post.)

The answer to these:
- Is recovering any of my data a lost cause?
- Should I reinstall the OS with Odin and wipe the entire phone clean?
is yes.

Once you encrypt your device you're SOL if you can't decrypt it.
But you can nuke it using Odin and get it back into a usable state.

Sent from my rooted, debloated, deodexed Sinclair ZX-80 running CM -0.001 using Tapatalk