Failed to Mount Cache (Invalid Argument)

A year or two back, in the good old days, I was trying to wipe the cache partition of my girlfriend’s Nexus 5. I powered off the phone as it was taking too long to clear the cache partition. So when I tried to reboot the phone. It got stuck on the start screen, where the logo kept on loading, but the phone wouldn’t start. It took me a while to figure out its fix. When I went back to the recovery menu. There, I saw this error failed to mount cache (Invalid Argument). I spent some time looking for its fix, and in the end, I was successful. If you face the same issue, try the guide below to fix the failed to mount cache error.

This error can arise error on an Android phone because of various issues, such as corrupted system files, a faulty SD card, or problems with the cache partition itself. Sometimes, it shows up after trying to clear the cache partition.

Fix Failed to Mount Cache (Invalid Argument) error on Android Phone:

When this error (Failed to mount cache) occurred on my girlfriend’s LG Nexus 5, I didn’t have any clue on how to fix it. I tried a lot of things; one thing I didn’t try was factory reset, as it would have deleted all her data. She didn’t even have a backup of the data, so a factory reset wasn’t an option. It had all our memories and messages we couldn’t afford to lose. Finally, I came across failed to mount cache error while trying to wipe the cache partition of her nexus phone. So, I was sure there must be some issue with the cache formatting.

To fix failed to mount cache issue, you have to go to the recovery menu, mount the system, and then clear the cache again. Then, it will fix the problem.

Suppose you don’t know how to do that. Then, follow the step-by-step guide below to fix the failed to mount cache invalid argument error:

Note: The following guide won’t erase your data from the phone. So don’t worry about losing your pictures and contacts while trying the fix below.

  • First of all, you will have to get into the recovery menu from the boot menu.
  • Press and hold the Volume down and the power button.
  • A screen will appear with Android on the back and “Start” written inside the box, which is pointing towards the power button.
  • Now press the Volume Down button twice. It will show the recovery menu inside the box.
  • Press the power button to select.
  • Now, your phone will reboot, showing you an Android icon on the back.
  • Press and hold the Power button and tap on the Volume Up button.
  • Now, you will see the recovery menu. On the bottom of the screen, you will see this error Failed to Mount Cache (invalid argument)
  • Now, use the volume buttons to navigate to Mount System/Cache. Next, press the power button to select it.
  • Now, navigate to Wipe Cache Partition and press the power button.
  • Wait for a while. It will wipe your cache partition even if it fails to clear the cache partition. Then, you will be good to go.

Note: This step can take up to 30 minutes, depending on your phone. So just hold your horses and let it clear wipe the partition.

  • Now select the option “Reboot System Now” from the same screen.

Note: If your phone fails to clear the cache again. Just mount the system/cache and reboot the system. It will work out.

Update (August 24th,2023): I used the above guide to fix my phone when I had the same error. If it is not working for you, then you should try flashing stock firmware/software on your phone:

  • Use this guide to flash stock firmware on Google Pixel phones.
  • Use this guide to install stock firmware on Samsung Galaxy phones.
  • For the latest Samsung smartphones, use this guide to install stock firmware in order to fix failed to mount cache errors on your Android smartphone.

Your phone will reboot, and it will start working correctly. I have personally used this method to fix failed to mount cache partition on my Nexus 5. I hope this works for you guys as well.

Use ADB commands to Mount Cache Partition:

So, if the above solution doesn’t work for you, you can manually mount the cache partition using ADB commands. For that, you need to have the know-how of ADB commands and ADB and Fastboot tools installed on your Windows PC.

  1. First of all, you need to install ADB and Fastboot tools on your Windows or Mac computer.
  2. Once installed, connect your phone and make sure your phone is detected by using the following command. 
    • adb devices
  3. If you see your phone connected and displayed as in the screenshot below.
  4. Enter the following command: 
    • adb shell "mount /cache ; mkdir -p /cache/recovery"
  5. Now, restart your Android device.

dm verity verification failed oneplus 3t failed to mount cache

If none of the above steps work, the issue may be hardware-related, in which case you should contact the manufacturer or take the device to a professional for repair.

I personally had this issue on the LG Nexus 5. I have seen many people asking me how to fix failed to mount cache errors in several different Android devices like ASUS and Samsung, which I have no clue about. You guys can try the guide above. If it doesn’t work and your phone is still bricked, try to flash stock firmware on your phone. There are cases when this error arises because of some hardware issue; you can not fix it by tweaking the software or operating system.

If you have any issue or query regarding how to fix failed to mount cache. Let me know in the comments if this guide fixed the error. Don’t forget to drop feedback in the comments below. If you know of another method to help fix this issue, please let us know so we can update the guide.

Ayybee
Ayybee
Data and AI Consultant at one of the Big 4 firms. Outside of work, I enjoy writing about IT trends, emerging technologies, and the latest in smartphones. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions or just want to connect!
Facebook Instagram Linkedin

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

80 COMMENTS

  1. i m facing same issue , while clearing cache partition my phone get stuck & then i restarted the phone. But phone was not getting on & stuck on cyanogen welcome screen. ( using oneplusone ) then i tried as u guided & still not resolved Actuually i am not able mount cache partition. i am using twrp 3.0.0-0 recovery , in which i selected mount option — then i tried to select cache partition but its not selecting.

    what could be issue ??

    • You answered yourself.. You are not able to mount it bacK. I have no idea why youre unable to mount cache partition.

      • I have ZenFone 2 laser while hard reset I’m getting an error E:failed to mount/asdf(invalid argument)
        How do I fix it?

      • Asalam o aliqum,
        Sir,My S6 edge is completely dead,it does not respond even after pressing volume down + power keys or volume up+home+power keys,it does not respond,the screen is totally black.
        It just stopped working when I was using it,at first it showed its light but after it no lights appeared and not a single response and is not even effected when I connect it to Laptop via Usb cable nor do the laptop shows that any device is attached.My all important works are stored in it,I am so depressed,I can’t even reboot it and have to go to Samsung Centre and end up with factory settings…What should I do?

  2. Also i dont want loose my data , is there is any option to copy this data to external device ??

    can i mount usb device in recovery mode using some linux commands & copy my phone data into that ??

      • Hey! Really desperate here…so well I put my sisters phone on update and well it was updating to 6.0.1 so ofcourse the error thing happened and well I did do all the steps you put in and it still didn’t exit the bootloop….the phones status is locked and it was never really connected to my laptop so the drivers and settings aren’t installed. It is almost impossible to ADB the update and fix it and THE DATA CAN ABSOLUTELY NOT BE LOST.

        Do you see any other way?

        (not sure if the first time I posted this it did really post or not.)

  3. First of all thank you for taking the time to post this.

    I went through all your steps and I am stuck on the last one. It just gets stuck on the formatting /cache message at the bottom of the screen and I cant get out. I have left it for half an hour but it does not leave the screen! WAIT WAIT… it just completed and gave me the option to reboot while I was writing this! Looks like its fixed. Thanks man! you are the best! No idea why the format took half an hour but seems to run perfectly.

    All the best

  4. i have same problem. I tried your procedure,but unfortunately didn’t solve it. Same issue still existing

  5. 1st of all thanks for this post..
    I followed your procedure but problem not solved.
    When I click on mount system cache it give same error failed to.mount cache..
    Then I select wipe cache then also I give same error failed to mount cache.. Then I select reboot from same menu.. Phone get restart but my problem is not solved it get stucked in logo.

    Plzzz help me

    • Hey, I was like oh this doesn’t work for me either. But as I was searching or answers it worked. Just give it time after you reach the final step. It may say it has failed and it will look as if nothing has changed, but give it time and it eventually gives you the option to restart your phone.

  7. I have the same issue, i followed your instructions and the problem is remained, the phone it get stuck in the animation(flying dots) screen

    I charged my Nexus 5 (which is not rooted) when I was going to turn it on it got stuck in the “flying dots” animation. it does not work. I also tried going into recovery mode and doing a wipe cache partition, no result as well. However, when going to the recovery mode, there is the following message at the bottom of the screen:

    E: failed to mount /cache (invalid argument)

    E: can’t mount /cache/recovery/log

    E: can’t open /cache/recovery/log

    E: failed to mount /cache (invalid argument)

    E: can’t mount /cache/recovery/last_log

    E: can’t open /cache/recovery/last_log

    E: failed to mount /cache (invalid argument)

    E: can’t mount /cache/recovery/last_install

    E: can’t open /cache/recovery/last_install

    E: failed to mount /cache (invalid argument)

    I tried also give a factory reset,and the results are the same as previous description.

    please help!!

    • If even the factory restore is not fixing the problem. You should flash stock firmware that is Android Marshmallow 6.0.1 factory image on your phone. it means you will have to install the operating system again.

      Edit: See the guide above, I have updated it. It has the link on how to flash stock ROM if above solution is not working.

    • Hey bro
      I Have Exactly the same problem as you have.
      I’m so confused what has happened to my phone…
      My Phone Is Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3
      I Installed the Official 4.4.2 KitKat Android using Odin again. But The Problem Still Remained.
      Wipe Cache Partition is just 2 secs for me not 30 minutes… everything it shows are Errors! Failed to mound /cache …. (Red Font) and Cache Wipe Complete. (Yellow Font) But nothing happened….

      • I am sorry but it looks like your phone is bricked. There isn’t any solution to this problem that I know about.
        If you end up finding any solution. do update us.

    • I have the exact same issue on my Nexus 7 2013. Tried to wipe cache and restore factory settings and all I get is the same thing you get (below). The guys at ubrokeifix were not able to fix it. Is there any other way such as popping it open and replace the flash memory as it seems the partition table might be corrupt (I don’t know). Google discontinued the Nexus 7 and there are only rumors about a replacement. Any help?

      – Wiping data…
      Formatting / data…
      E: failed to mount / cache (Invalid argument)
      Formatting / cache…
      E: failed to mount / cache (Invalid argument)
      E: Can’t mount /cache/recovery/log
      E: Can’t open /cache/recovery/log
      …repeats several times…

      This seems to be a very common issue. I am disappointed that Google is not being more helpful.
      Thanks.

  9. I m facing the same issue on my karbonn sparkle v when i was updating my system by ota 6.0 to 6.0.1 marshmallow. it couldn’t be updated completely and all of the sudden it stopped. and thereafter, i did the wipe cache partition then

    there are the following messages at the bottom of the screen:

    E: failed to mount /cache (invalid argument)

    E: can’t mount /cache/recovery/log

    E: can’t open /cache/recovery/log

    E: failed to mount /cache (invalid argument)

    E: can’t mount /cache/recovery/last_log

    E: can’t open /cache/recovery/last_log

    E: failed to mount /cache (invalid argument)

    E: can’t mount /cache/recovery/last_install

    E: can’t open /cache/recovery/last_install

    E: failed to mount /cache (invalid argument)

  10. Thanks for your post. It did not work for me, unfortunately. How do I install the operating system again?

    • You have to flash stock ROM into your phone. Tell me which phone you have, then I will write a detailed guide on how to install operating system again and email it to you.

      • HELLO FRIEND, I HAVE THE SAME ISSUE AFTER INSTALLING WRONG ROM

        E: failed to mount /cache (invalid argument)

        E: can’t mount /cache/recovery/log

        E: can’t open /cache/recovery/log

        E: failed to mount /cache (invalid argument)

        E: can’t mount /cache/recovery/last_log

        E: can’t open /cache/recovery/last_log

        E: failed to mount /cache (invalid argument)

        E: can’t mount /cache/recovery/last_install

        E: can’t open /cache/recovery/last_install

        E: failed to mount /cache (invalid argument)
        MY PHONE IS A COOLPAD F1.
        I CANNOT CONNECT IT , MY PC DOES NOT RECOGNIZE MY DEVICE
        PLEASE HELP

      • Yeah. I know. If i do a flash i will loose my warranty ? ? now i need to wait for a month… In spain people are too slow!

    • If your phone is running on Pure Android or the recovery menu has this option to mount the cache again. Then yeah go for it. Otherwise find a method to flash stock ROM on Micromax Android one.
      If you cant find a method for your phone. I will try to write a detailed guide on it and I will update you.
      Let me know if you fixed it your self or you need my help.

      Best of Luck

  15. I had exactly the same problem on the Nexus 5 running 6.0.1. I followed the advice and was worried at first as the “mount” command returned an error as well. But I proceeded to wipe the cache – and the phone is now rebooting well. Thank you very much for your help!

  17. Hey! Really desperate here…so well I put my sisters phone on update and well it was updating to 6.0.1 so ofcourse the error thing happened and well I did do all the steps you put in and it still didn’t exit the bootloop….the phones status is locked and it was never really connected to my laptop so the drivers and settings aren’t installed. It is almost impossible to ADB the update and fix it and THE DATA CAN ABSOLUTELY NOT BE LOST.

    Do you see any other way?

  18. I have the same problem on Asus Zenfone 5 A501CG, but i am not getting the mount cache partition option in the recovery menu..
    Plz help!

  19. Worked for me! I wasn’t able to get the phone out of the flying lollipop, and this got it booted and it’s doing an update right now. Thank you!!!

  24. I have Dell Venue 8 3830, My phone is softbrick from 3 months. Whenever I try to flash my tablet (I am using Fastboot) when Type command ” fastboot flash system system.img.gz ” It says sending files and after few seconds tablet screen becomes black and nothing happens please help me…!!!

  25. I had the same problem with a nexus 5! /cache wasn’t mountable anymore and thus not delete-able. 🙁

    Yet I had the hope that a corrupt /cache might be the reason for the device’s boot loop… In Recovery I unfortunately could not erase /cache using the corresponding menu entry, but fastboot should be able to help!

    What finally solved this issue for me was to follow guide [1] to get the device connected in fastboot mode to my iMac [2], followed by unlocking and erasing the cache.
    —
    $ cd ~/Library/Android/sdk/platform-tools/
    $ ./fastboot devices
    0712f42d0592ee04 fastboot
    $ ./fastboot oem unlock
    …
    OKAY [ 23.687s]
    finished. total time: 23.687s
    $ ./fastboot erase cache
    ******** Did you mean to fastboot format this ext4 partition?
    erasing ‘cache’…
    OKAY [ 0.480s]
    finished. total time: 0.480s
    —
    Once the cache was deleted the device restarted and came up re-flashed.
    After a system upgrade I eventually locked the device again:
    —
    $ ./fastboot oem lock
    …
    OKAY [ 0.057s]
    finished. total time: 0.057s
    —

    Sad result though was that the unlocking somehow wiped all old data from the device, which is what [1] also warns about.

    Well, at least the device is functional again.
    😀

    [1] http://androidforums.com/threads/guide-how-to-flash-a-nexus-factory-image-manually.706533/
    [2] Android Studio installed and thus fastboot in ~/Library/Android/sdk/platform-tools/

  26. Hi I have a nexus 5 and the phone got into this situation after a forced update last night.

    I really hate these “force feeding” from google as is always trouble. I need to recover my data at least

    I followed your tips, but I don’t see the “Mount the Cache” selection as you said.

    Any reason why i don’t see that option?

    Please advice,
    Thanks in advance

  27. You are so awesome! I do not believe I’ve read anything like
    that before. So wonderful to find somebody with some original thoughts
    on this subject matter. Seriously.. many thanks for starting this up.
    Thiss web site is one thing that’s needed on the web, someone with
    a bit of originality!

  28. i 2 have same problem rgarding to zenfone 5 T00J
    my catch is also cleared and after restarts my mobile it not opening it strucks in the asus logo while buffering in the starting

  30. Thanks. It worked for me. I cleared the cache partition. Though it was still showing error but after 2-3 minutes the option for rebooting appeared and then I could reboot the phone.

  34. Hello,
    My HTC one M9 is facing a boot loop issue. Tried to do a factory reset but the error ” cant mount cache” came up. The phone does not have an mount cache option in the recovery menu. please help

  36. Hi I have a karbonn sparkle v ,
    I get the same error when i do all the above steps.
    E: can’t open /cache/recovery/ last_log…
    E: can’t mount cache
    E: failed to mount /cache (invalid argument)
    But i don’t see the mount system/ cache option in the recovery menu .
    Also could you please provide a link from where i can download stock rom for Karbonn sparkle v Android one , if I need to do that!

    Please help.
    Thanks

  38. I get to the point of unlocking my bootloader and my phone automatically reboots back to the bootloop spinning dots. It stayed like this overnight and when I set it back to bootloader, it was locked again.

  39. hi man, stil the same after doing what u said, i have tried ADB sideload not workign, i tried cache not woring, i tried mount not working it allreads the same E: failed to mount / cache ( invalid argument)
    E: failed to mount / cache / recovery / last-install

  41. I have a samsung galaxy tab 2 10.1 and this didnt work with it. I have tried all of the options in the recovery menu and none work.

  44. first method worked! thanks u so much, i flashed cwm ported by me to my smartphone and i was with bootloop and that error, flashed stock recovery, sme errors, i make the first method and worked, sry for my bad english

  45. Thank you very much for your guide. I´ve tried many things to resolve the issue after falshing twrp in the old method with fastboot erase cache…. you´re guide was the way to the solution. After mounting system (new twrp) and wiping cache it´s today important to reboot into recovery and all runs well. I´ve reflashed my rom and i could use my phone as before. All the best for you.

  46. i have the same problem, but it wont work on j7 prime.. do you have another solution to this kind of problem?

  47. I have tecno f1 same issue e:failed to mount /cache even if i mount the system i get same error please help.and even i flashed it it failed
    Please help

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here