Hacking PS4.05 REBUILD DATABASE removes all PKGs from main menu. HOW TO REVERSE?

[bobovieri]

I JUST RETITLED AND MADE A NEW THREAD WITH NEWER INFO ON THIS.
IT'S THE REBUILD DATABASE FUNCION ON THE PS4 THAT MOVES THE PKGs IN PURGATORY. SO GO TO THAT THREAD IF YOU WANT TO HELP, THANKS<3<3<3

So I had 850 GB of PKG installed. They all worked flawlessly.
While installing a new PKG, something went wrong and the PS4 shut down on its own:
I started the installation as usual, since it takes some time I left the room, I just found it switched off when I got back.
Which is already weird because, usually, when the installation is not successfull it gives an error message and stays on that blue page.

Anyway, I thought "no big deal", so I restarted the PS4, but after it checked the disc for errors, it entered the main menu and gave me a message like "rebuilding the index" or something like that, and the home menu now shows only the games installed from a disk, not the PKG icons (with or without lock).

On the hard drive all the PKG are still there, I can see them if I go on debug setting>game>add content management>entitlement control>
there is a list of the installed games from disc, of the NEW PKG that I installed after this has happened, and a folder named "OTHER" containing all the other PKG which were removed from the home menu. I also managed to install the PKG that I was trying to when this happened, and the game works normally.

How do I tell the PS4 that these are installed games and I want them back in the home menu?

The PS4 knows they are there, but they are not recognized as games or app or anything else. How do I solve this and what caused it?

One more hint, if somebody is able to tell me how to fix it: the PKG are considered "deleted apps" by the PS4.
If I look at my screenshot gallery, the screenshots taken from these games are in the category "deleted apps".

I don't know what the hell happened, I wonder if it might happen again: redownloading everything doesn't seem like a knowledgeable solution.
The PKG are in the PS4 hard drive, as an alternative to making the PS4 understand it, is there a way to copy the PKG back to USB and reinstall them?

 

[Tilde88]

They are gone. You need to reinstall them all.
This most likely means that saves are also gone.

May want to just replace that HDD.

Good luck

It seems that the partition that holds the data got corrupt. Then the system updated itself via update file (not sure how as it would need an update file in a USB drive, but you say you did nothing). After it reinstalled the OS, it killed the original decryption key. That is why it works fine when you reinstall it... Because you reinstalled it.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

Also, no. There is no way to move it back to USB and reinstall. The PKG is extracted into the system, not copied over as you think. You will have to re-use the PKG files you downloaded

 

[bobovieri]

They are gone. You need to reinstall them all.
This most likely means that saves are also gone.

May want to just replace that HDD.

Good luck

It seems that the partition that holds the data got corrupt. Then the system updated itself via update file (not sure how as it would need an update file in a USB drive, but you say you did nothing). After it reinstalled the OS, it killed the original decryption key. That is why it works fine when you reinstall it... Because you reinstalled it.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

Also, no. There is no way to move it back to USB and reinstall. The PKG is extracted into the system, not copied over as you think. You will have to re-use the PKG files you downloaded

Hey Tilde, thanks for the reply. But the files are not really "gone", I can see them on the HDD, they are there under the "add content management" menu with their original name, and the HDD knows they are there when it considers how much free space it still has. They are not recognized by the main menu as games.
The save files are all there, as "save files for deleted apps". If I reiinstall the games, I can use those save files.
All around the PS4 thinks they are deleted. Only, I didn't delete them and I have no clue why the f'in' PS4 decided to put them in a folder called "other" and treat them as deleted.

It didn't reformat nor reinstall the OS, I'm 100% positive on that, it took about a minute or two to do this "rebuilding index". Maybe it said "rebuilding library", or "rebuilding library index". Anyway, there was no update file in HDD nor USB so how could it even do a OS reinstall on its own?

Searching online I found many references to PS4 doing this out of the blue for downloaded games. The official solution offered by many user is this: if the PS4 deletes one of your game on its own, go to the PS store, login and redownload that game. Of course, you have to have (1) an account with them (which I don't have) and (2) downloaded the PKG from them (which I didn't do). So this official Sony solution doesn't work for jailbreakers.
I can't believe the PS4 is so unstable to delete HDD games on its own like this. Can somebody offer a solution for jailbreaked PKGs?

 

[cearp]

850GB already... wow.
How many games was that?

Sorry for your loss.

 

[bobovieri]

They are gone. You need to reinstall them all.
This most likely means that saves are also gone.

May want to just replace that HDD.

Good luck

It seems that the partition that holds the data got corrupt. Then the system updated itself via update file (not sure how as it would need an update file in a USB drive, but you say you did nothing). After it reinstalled the OS, it killed the original decryption key. That is why it works fine when you reinstall it... Because you reinstalled it.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

Also, no. There is no way to move it back to USB and reinstall. The PKG is extracted into the system, not copied over as you think. You will have to re-use the PKG files you downloaded

Also Tilde, one more thing: like I said in the OP, the games I installed from a disc, and not PKGs, are still there in the main menu and in the HDD, so the partition that holds the data is fine. And all the data is actually still there. Only thing gone is the "ticket" for the home menu, with the lock, that links to the PKGs installed on the HDD.

It seems to me that this is what happened: the PS4 rebuilt the home menuindex/libraryindex, and all the tickets/links to the PKGs (which have a lock on them untill I use the HEN) were considered as "not-installed-games" so they were just thrown away/moved to a "deleted apps" category. The PKGs itself is still on the HDD because the PS4 didn't think to throw it away because it thought "this game is not here at all, because its "ticket" has a lock on it, so let's just remove it from the menu".
Pretty much I just need that locked menu ticket to launch the installed PKG once I unlock it with HEN.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

OK EVERYBODY I KNOW WHAT HAPPENED SPECIFICALLY:
THE PS4 REBUILD THE DATABASE.

I just tried that from the safe mode to see if it would recover the "LOST" PKGs.
IT SAID "REBUILDING DATABASE - THIS MIGHT TAKE A FEW HOURS".
IT TOOK LESS THAN A MINUTE: IT REMOVED ALL THE NEWLY INSTALLED PKGs AHAHAH!

I'm back with only the games I installed from disc.

NOW CAN SOMEBODY PLEASE FIND A WAY TO REVERSE THIS?

 

[bobovieri]

So I had 850 GB of PKG installed. They all worked flawlessly.
While installing a new PKG, something went wrong and the PS4 shut down on its own:
when I restarted the PS4, after it checked the disc for errors, it entered the main menu and said "REBUILDING DATABASE - THIS MIGHT TAKE A FEW HOURS".
IT TOOK LESS THAN A MINUTE: IT REMOVED ALL THE INSTALLED PKGs from the main menu and library (not the games installed from a disc, only PKGs).

On the hard drive all the PKG are still there, I can see them if I go on debug setting>game>add content management>entitlement control>
there is a list of the installed games from disc, of the NEW PKG that I installed after this has happened, and a folder named "OTHER" containing all the other PKG which were removed from the home menu. I also managed to install the PKG that I was trying to when this happened, and the game works normally.

How do I tell the PS4 that these are installed games and that I want their link back in the home menu?

The PKGs are there on the HDD, but when the PS4 rebuilt the index it did not recognize them as games or app or anything else.

CAN SOMEBODY PLEASE FIND A WAY TO REVERSE THIS?

 

[KiiWii]

Probably an easier way, (and this is just a thought I had, no idea if this works) but can you FTP the app.pkg of the game back to the usb drive and reinstall through debug settings?

 

[subcon959]

There's nothing you can do unless you already had a backup of your app.db which you probably didn't because the scene is a big mess right now and it's hard to find good information.

 

[Tilde88]

Again, the files are gone. I know you can still see them, but the system cannot read them, because it cannot decrypt them. So they are worse than gone, they are taking up space.

Sadly, you must start over. There is no way to get the games back rather than re installing from pkg or wherever you originally got it. Save yourself the headache and don't waste more time on it. Trust me, they will forever be inaccessible.

 

[bobovieri]

There's nothing you can do unless you already had a backup of your app.db which you probably didn't because the scene is a big mess right now and it's hard to find good information.

Well ok, there's nothing I can do NOW. Shouldn't this issue be addressed? Rebuilding the database is a normal funtion of the PS4, eventually it WILL do it to everybody.
Shouldn't there be a tool to retrieve the PKG already installed on the PS4 hard drive? Or to build the database knowing these are games and not garbage?

I mean, it's not a big deal for me to download everything again, it took me a week to download anyway.
I just think this shouldn't happen so often, or better: when it happens, THERE SHOULD BE A WAY BACK.

 

[bobovieri]

Again, the files are gone. I know you can still see them, but the system cannot read them, because it cannot decrypt them. So they are worse than gone, they are taking up space.

Sadly, you must start over. There is no way to get the games back rather than re installing from pkg or wherever you originally got it. Save yourself the headache and don't waste more time on it. Trust me, they will forever be inaccessible.

Ok but it's an issue that should be addressed and solved. Rebuilding the database is a normal function of the PS4, eventually it WILL do it to everybody.
Shouldn't there be a tool to retrieve the PKG already installed on the PS4 hard drive? Or to build the database knowing these are games and not garbage?

I mean, it's not a big deal for me to download everything again, it took me a week to download anyway.
I just think this shouldn't happen so often, or better: when it happens, THERE SHOULD BE A WAY BACK.

 

[mikey420]

Well ok, there's nothing I can do NOW. Shouldn't this issue be addressed? Rebuilding the database is a normal funtion of the PS4, eventually it WILL do it to everybody.
Shouldn't there be a tool to retrieve the PKG already installed on the PS4 hard drive? Or to build the database knowing these are games and not garbage?

I mean, it's not a big deal for me to download everything again, it took me a week to download anyway.
I just think this shouldn't happen so often, or better: when it happens, THERE SHOULD BE A WAY BACK.

Extremely simple solution. Backup your app.db before and after every new install. When this happens restore it. I forget how to back this up but I'm pretty sure you can do so through ftp. As for your situation there is no fix. Sucks but it is what it is. Someone should really put together a backup tool for the PS4 to make it easy to backup critical system files and such.

 

[KiiWii]

@bobovieri

Did you atleast try my idea? Could at least save you redownloading.

 

[mikey420]

Ok but it's an issue that should be addressed and solved. Rebuilding the database is a normal function of the PS4, eventually it WILL do it to everybody.
Shouldn't there be a tool to retrieve the PKG already installed on the PS4 hard drive? Or to build the database knowing these are games and not garbage?

I mean, it's not a big deal for me to download everything again, it took me a week to download anyway.
I just think this shouldn't happen so often, or better: when it happens, THERE SHOULD BE A WAY BACK.

First of all why the duck do you have multiple threads on this when you were answered well withing a half hour of posting the other? I will be reporting this thread for this very reason.

Secondly there is a way back! As is always the case with these sorts of things making regular backups is essential and for good reason. Prior to installing any new PKG file make a backup of the app.db and keep it safe in case this exact situation occurs.

 

[subcon959]

We had the same issue on the Vita where all custom bubbles would disappear if it rebuilt the database. I'm not sure if they ever managed to find a solution.

If you don't have the storage to keep all downloaded pkg then backing up app.db is a must.

 

[bobovieri]

Probably an easier way, (and this is just a thought I had, no idea if this works) but can you FTP the app.pkg of the game back to the usb drive and reinstall through debug settings?

Hey KiiWii, how would I go about FTPing the pkg to USB?

 

[bobovieri]

First of all why the duck do you have multiple threads on this when you were answered well withing a half hour of posting the other? I will be reporting this thread for this very reason.

Secondly there is a way back! As is always the case with these sorts of things making regular backups is essential and for good reason. Prior to installing any new PKG file make a backup of the app.db and keep it safe in case this exact situation occurs.

Firstly, as you can see on the other thread, which I created AFTER this one, I understood what exactly happened, so I wrote the CORRECT title on that one and described the problem knowing what happened. The PS4 didn't "delete" the files from the main menu, it rebuilt the database. So if you must, you can delete THIS thread, not the second one as that is more correct.

Secondly, how do you backup the app.db?

 

[KiiWii]

Hey KiiWii, how would I go about FTPing the pkg to USB?

Use vortex ftp payload and (I use) filezilla.

I managed to find the app.pkg files on the internal hdd, and the usb that my hdd was plugged into.

I would try copy paste the app.pkg and try reinstall it through debug>game>package installer.

Worth a shot.

Hope it works, havent tested it myself but the file size looks similar to original pkgs.

@subcon959 perhaps we should suggest a payload fork that dumps app.db to available usb (or a backup location within the hdd itself) when its launched?

 

[Tilde88]

Lol this guy is trolling. I would advise to stop replying to this thread.

 

[KiiWii]

Secondly, how do you backup the app.db?

Lol this guy is trolling.

Even if he is its useful to know:

System_data/priv/mms

Back up:

app.db
appcont.db