Wipe/Delete Mycelium Data on Android?

[MythiCoin]

Is it possible to completely wipe Mycelium and all it's data from an android phone.  Uninstalling it doesn't do this.  When I uninstall, re-install, and then re-run Mycelium, it opens to the same empty HD wallet I started with before uninstalling.  Is there a file path one can go to that contains files that can be deleted that will get rid of all the Mycelium data on the phone.

I saw a post that talked about the Mycelium data being stored in a sqlite3 file.  I found 2 of those, but they did not have the current date on them, suggesting that whatever was stored by Mycelium when the wallet was set up wasn't stored in either of those.

If you're interested in the longer story ...  I need a phone wallet for some temporary storage.  I downloaded and ran Mycelium.  When it wanted to start giving me seed words I wasn't in a place where I could write them down so I stopped the program.  When I was ready, I re-started the program and it took me back to the page on which I was to hit the "next" button to start issuing seed words.  When I hit "next", initially nothing happened.  I thought maybe I hadn't touched it solidly, so I hit "next" again, and then, apparently, a third time.  Finally at this point the screen changed to show me the third seed word.  Somehow, seed words 1 and 2 got passed when I was hitting next.  So then I hit the android back button hoping it would take me to the previous seed word, but at this point, the seed word process stopped and I was taken to the "Accounts" tab/page which showed:

Account 1
Contains one private key.
0 BTC
Backup missing

Anyway I only saw 1 of the seed words and have no idea what the others are.  So then I tried to add another HD account but Mycelium wouldn't let me do that.  So then I tried to uninstall it and re-install it hoping I could just start over.  But no luck there either.  When I reinstall it opens to the same empty "Accounts" page showing “Account 1”

Any suggestions on how to proceed would be greatly appreciated.  Otherwise I’m just going to have to use a different app or storage device.

[HI-TEC99]

I'm not very familiar with mycelium, but you might need to set a pin, then wait 288 blocks (2 days) before your wallet will let you backup your HD account wallet words. Your wallet won't let you repeat a backup faster as a security measure. This link explains backups.

http://support.mycelium.com/hc/en-us/articles/207045535-How-do-I-make-a-backup-

To create a backup, either tap the «Secure My Funds» button on the main page, or choose «Backup» from the pop-up menu. You will be shown a list of words, one after the other. Write those words down with pen & paper. You will then be asked to retype the words to confirm that they were written down correctly.



Once the backup has been completed, you cannot see your word list again unless you have a PIN set. This is to prevent others from getting to your current or future funds, should they get access to your phone.

*snip*

After setting a PIN and a waiting time of 288 blocks (2 days) you can create additional backups of your HD accounts

The github says the wallet file location is probably  /data/data/com.mycelium.wallet/databases/walletbacking.db

However, you won't be able to see it unless your phone is rooted.

https://github.com/mycelium-com/wallet/issues/233

Its in the app-data folder - it will be probably /data/data/com.mycelium.wallet/databases/walletbacking.db (but might be in a different base folder, depending on your phone version and setup).

Its a sqlite database file - there are various programs out there to inspect them.

But if the masterseed would be there, then mycelium would also pick it up and just start normally.

According to this thread your wallet file should be getting deleted each time you uninstall and reinstall mycelium. I never tried it, so I can't confirm whether it's correct.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=788172.0

[MythiCoin]

Many thanks HI-TEC99,

It turned out to be easier than your well documented and much appreciated explanation.  When I tried to set a PIN, it wouldn't let me do it until I had done a backup, which it gave me the option of doing.  Being new to this process, I didn’t understand that backing it up consisted of re-listing the seed words so they could be copied down, which was the step I had missed previously.   Anyway, after successfully backing up and verifying the seed words, it then gave me the option of setting the PIN, which I did.  So as far as I can tell, I am good to go.  Again, mostly ignorance on my part.  Thanks for getting me over the hump.  

However, one last question ... when I was “poking around” trying to delete the account, it gave me the option of changing the account name from the default “Account 1”, but now I can’t seem to get it to let me change the name.  Did that option cease to exist when I backed it up?  Of course I can live with that name.

Finally, with regard to uninstalling and reinstalling the program, I did it twice, with the same outcome.  Account 1 was already there after each reinstall.  This suggests that if one wanted, at some point, to sell or give your phone to someone else, you'd have to do something like a factory reset to make sure your data wasn't hanging around for the next person to try to hack.

Again thank-you HI-TEC99 for your help!

[HI-TEC99]

 

However, one last question ... when I was “poking around” trying to delete the account, it gave me the option of changing the account name from the default “Account 1”, but now I can’t seem to get it to let me change the name.  Did that option cease to exist when I backed it up?  Of course I can live with that name.

Like I said, I'm not very familiar with mycelium, all I know about changing the account name is on this webpage. It explains labelling your account, although I'm not sure if that's the same as changing its name.

http://support.mycelium.com/hc/en-us/articles/207045635-How-do-I-manage-my-accounts-

To label your account, press it to select it, and press the tag icon at the top.

[gentlemand]

This suggests that if one wanted, at some point, to sell or give your phone to someone else, you'd have to do something like a factory reset to make sure your data wasn't hanging around for the next person to try to hack.

Factory reset isn't good enough. They could still fish out your data if they knew what they were doing. What I did when I sold a tablet with Mycelium on it was factory reset first, then video something until the internal memory was full and then deleted three times in a row. That should hopefully overwrite any old data well enough.

[Jeffrey1018]

Does anyone know how to restore without a backup.  In the post above it says if you know what you are doing.  I uninstalled Mycelium and reinstalled.  ON the support page it says my BTC is lost but in reading in this forum it seems that there may be a glimmer of hope.

[Jeffrey1018]

Many thanks HI-TEC99,

It turned out to be easier than your well documented and much appreciated explanation.  When I tried to set a PIN, it wouldn't let me do it until I had done a backup, which it gave me the option of doing.  Being new to this process, I didn’t understand that backing it up consisted of re-listing the seed words so they could be copied down, which was the step I had missed previously.   Anyway, after successfully backing up and verifying the seed words, it then gave me the option of setting the PIN, which I did.  So as far as I can tell, I am good to go.  Again, mostly ignorance on my part.  Thanks for getting me over the hump.  

However, one last question ... when I was “poking around” trying to delete the account, it gave me the option of changing the account name from the default “Account 1”, but now I can’t seem to get it to let me change the name.  Did that option cease to exist when I backed it up?  Of course I can live with that name.

Finally, with regard to uninstalling and reinstalling the program, I did it twice, with the same outcome.  Account 1 was already there after each reinstall.  This suggests that if one wanted, at some point, to sell or give your phone to someone else, you'd have to do something like a factory reset to make sure your data wasn't hanging around for the next person to try to hack.

Again thank-you HI-TEC99 for your help!

I also uninstalled Mycelium and reinstalled but my previous wallet was not there.  I thought all was lost based on the Mycelium support which said if you uninstall without backup but then i saw yhour post.

Does anyone know if there is still any hope to recover my btc?

[gentlemand]

Does anyone know how to restore without a backup.  In the post above it says if you know what you are doing.  I uninstalled Mycelium and reinstalled.  ON the support page it says my BTC is lost but in reading in this forum it seems that there may be a glimmer of hope.

There may be people out there who know how to do it. I was being theoretical and paranoid.

You could always try something like this - https://www.easeus.com/android-data-recovery-software/free-android-data-recovery.html

but I would assume that whatever data might be left there is encrypted so won't be accessible. No seed, no access most likely I'm afraid.

[bob123]

Does anyone know if there is still any hope to recover my btc?

Trying some sort of android recovery (like mentioned by gentlemand) is the only possibility in this situation. But it is definitely worth a try!

but I would assume that whatever data might be left there is encrypted so won't be accessible. No seed, no access most likely I'm afraid.

(Un)fortunately not. Mycelium does not encrypt anything.  
Each application on an (unrooted) mobile is only able to access some 'global' files and the files inside its own data folder.

The pin you need to enter when opening mycelium is not an decryption key. The pin is stored inside the mycelium directory unencrypted (which no other app can access on an unrooted mobile).
It is a simple check if the pin entered is the same as the one in the file.

So any files recovered from this folder are unencrypted, which does indeed give a relatively high chance to extract useful data (wallet file / private keys).