Can I make a backup of an encrypted phone without decrypting first?

  • Thread starter Android Central Question
  • Start date
A

Android Central Question

TL;DR: Forgot my Android encryption password, only have 10 tries left before data wipe, how can I backup my phone to get 10 more tries if I don't manage to find the password within 10 tries?

For context:
*ROM: Lineage 14 official build
*Custom recovery: TWRP
*Bootloader: Unlocked
*The phone is not rooted.
*No SD card port.

*The phone is encrypted with a password (not a PIN)

*I don't remember the exact encryption password, so I can't get past the password prompt after booting. But I am sure I can find it if I keep trying. It might take me more than 10 tries to enter all variations though.

*I can't access or mount /data from TWRP (nor can I get past the password promt after booting) without the password.

*After entering the wrong password multiple times, the password prompt says I only have 10 tries left before the data gets wiped, and I must avoid this at all costs. (Since Android 6 or 7, there is a limited number of tries before the phone gets wiped)

My question is: How can I make a backup of the phone in it's current state, so that even if I don't manage to enter the right password after booting the phone 10 times, I can restore the phone in it's current state and still have 10 more tries (and eventually repeat this if I still don't manage to find the password after 20 tries)?

I have found some tutorials that show how to backup /dev/block/mmcblk0, but they require root (I can't install anything in my phone since it's encrypted...). And I am not even sure if it will work to restore the phone in it's "10 tries left".

I also don't have access to /data partition from TWRP without entering the password (it shows "0MB") so I can't backup the /data partition from TWRP.

Thanks
 

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