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[Need Help] Galaxy 3 Backup Tool

Hi,
i hope anybody can help me to make a Galaxy 3 Rom Backup Tool.
I made a little script for the German Forum, and it works fine but i can not flash the backupped Rom files.
Can somebody help me how i can push the backupped /data partition in datafs.rfs to the Phone without getting a Bootloop?
Here is a link to the Script http://www.multiupload.com/TAIJ9Z53J7
Sry for my english ^^

Nice work!
Will try ASAP...
And btw your english is good enough!

Ok, translated for you :
Code:
Install Total Commander and connect your Galaxy 3 to your PC in USB debugging mode
Next run Backup.bat
Your backup is finished when the window closes by itself. You can find the data in the folder backup on your SD
Copy the whole folder to your PC
Open the ROM Image.tar in total commander
Now you can flash your backup as One Package in Odin.
WARNING: please mention my name when you upload or translate the tool
Thanks for the code, I was just thinking along the same lines. You can skip the Total commander thing if you'd include something like 7zip commandline which is free. You can then call it from your batch file. Or tar it in the phone itself or is this too slow/bad for SD ?
You pull the files over with adb pull, but instruct to copy them from the SD as well.
As for why it bootloops : need to test it, but will probably wait for a fresh rom.
You can also put it back with dd ?

hmm
with which adb command i can put all 5 files in a flashable .tar file?
and how i can put the whole /data partition from the datafs.rfs in the /data folder and overwrite the files in the data folder?

Hmm, I see it's Busybox responding on my Galaxy, maybe it's not installed by default, but it was included in a custom ROM ?
Code:
BusyBox v1.18.4 (2011-03-20 15:16:04 CDT) multi-call binary.
Usage: tar -[cxtzjamvO] [-X FILE] [-f TARFILE] [-C DIR] [FILE]...
Create, extract, or list files from a tar file
Operation:
c Create
x Extract
t List
Options:
f Name of TARFILE ('-' for stdin/out)
C Change to DIR before operation
v Verbose
z (De)compress using gzip
j (De)compress using bzip2
a (De)compress using lzma
O Extract to stdout
h Follow symlinks
m Don't restore mtime
exclude File to exclude
X File with names to exclude
T File with names to include
You'd have to remount /data r/w to make any changes to it. But if you're dd-ing, it'll talk to the block device directly. Not sure how to clear it though, maybe dd does it by itself. Have a google for linux commands.

hmm ok,
and why i get a bootloop when i want to flash the files with odin?

one more question ^^
how i can pull the complete /data partition to SD card?
And Creating a .tar file with 7zip commandline works, but the File is not flashable.

you can find the info in i9000 forum
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=943588
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=960946
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=965190

Okay i have a 1 click Rom backup now ^^
But its still the problem that i get a bootloop after flashing...

Ok, I tested it and /data was wiped, phone can't mount sd card etc. etc.

tgm28 said:
Ok, I tested it and /data was wiped, phone can't mount sd card etc. etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use THIS from HERE.
Quoting deskjeti.
deskjeti said:
Hi,
I made a Backup & Recovery Script in the German Android Hilfe Forum for the Galaxy 3.
The Tool make a flashable Rom with 3 Clicks and Restore the Backup with one Flash and one Click.
The Script restores all Apps, app Data Google Account and Wifi key´s.
How To:
Unzip the zip file wherever you want and plug in your Phone with USB Debugging Mode.
Run the Step1 and wait, after Step1 is finished run Step2 and if Step2 finished Run Step3
In the "Alexgalaxys G3 Recovery v2 Final" Folder now is a CustomRom.tar.
Flash it as One Package.
If the Phone is started plug the Phone in Usb debugging mode and Run the Recovery.bat after it is complete you have to reboot you Phone.
Link: http://www.multiupload.com/NV0CFVYV2I
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Although I edited the files to just be one click.

[Q] [T] nexus s i9020 scrambled voice calls

Recently, whenever I flash a rom that is not stock, I am having trouble making and receiving phone calls. The first call is all scrambled distorted and subsequent calls are no voice at all. This never used to happen to me at all with any rom. I COMPLETELY deleted everything off my phone via both CWM and ADB shell's parted rm command. I then reflashed the img files (radio, recovery, and the zip) and everything worked fine in ICS Stock. This is a Telus phone. Has anyone dealt with this kind of bug?

Try running CPU at 1GHz (or lower). I found voice distorted if I overclock.

Backup your EFS it's muy importante!
_android_ said:
Try running CPU at 1GHz (or lower). I found voice distorted if I overclock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well it wasn't overclocking or a radio image issue as I tried both. I can't proove it but I think a custom rom overwrote my /efs partition and essentially made my phone on the network invalid, luckly I was able to find a proper backup of the /efs and reinstall it I just hope this doesn't happen again and I encourage all of you to BACKUP YOUR /EFS PARTITION it's very simple just type adb root, then adb remount then finally adb.exe pull /efs/ boom there it is in your pc.

Well I thought I had the problem licked, turns out for some reason, and I do hope someone knows the answer to this problem, if I flash back to stock 4.0.4,*#06# shows my proper IMEI, if I flash a custom rom (any custom rom) and my IMEI goes back to IMEI: 004999010640000

ethan_hines said:
Well I thought I had the problem licked, turns out for some reason, and I do hope someone knows the answer to this problem, if I flash back to stock 4.0.4,*#06# shows my proper IMEI, if I flash a custom rom (any custom rom) and my IMEI goes back to IMEI: 004999010640000
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Install your custom rom, then paste back your /efs folder from your backup?

polobunny said:
Install your custom rom, then paste back your /efs folder from your backup?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tried that, didn't work. I don't know maybe it has something to do with the permissions/owner of the files. To make matters worse now that partition is showing signs of corruption but I don't know how to repair it. It is a YAFFS partition.
/dev/block/mtdblock6 /efs yaffs2 rw,nosuid,nodev,noatime 0 0

I got my imei back yeah!!
oh i am so relived
It took me a while to understand how the imei system woks but i think i have the gist of it now. i don't know if this works for other models but it must considering i took information from a multitude of sources to work out a solution here's what I did
Before starting this tricky set of commands please make sure your phone has the following settings:
ROOTED
HAS BUSYBOX INSTALLED
HAS EITHER ROOTEXPLORER OR ADB
YOUR PC HAS A PROPER UNIX TEXT EDITOR (NOTEPAD++ OR JEDIT)
Ensure you have one good copy of nv_data.bin somewhere on the phone. it could be located in either /efs or /data/radio
Ensure you have a nv.log with at least one line that looks somewhat like this:
MD5 fail. orignal md5 'XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX' computed md5 'XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX' (rild)
where the X's are a bunch of number and letters.
Copy the good nv_data.bin, nv_data.bin.md5 and nv.log to both the sdcard and then via usb put them on your hard drive in a folder called efsbackup
(use either rootexpoler or adb shell to copy the files to the sdcard first)
Open the nv.log and look for the second sting of lines. after the words computed md5 (the first string is the md5 the phone found and the second string is the md5 it was expecting for. if the md5 it was expecting can't be found, it uses the default IMEI 004999010640000
Open nv_data.bin.m5d with a proper unix text editor (I suggest Notepad++ or jedit) and remove the sting of numbers and letters and replace it with the string from the nv.log (the second string after computed md5) and save the file
Go back to the phone and put the phone into Airplane Mode (this turns off the radio)
Copy the files nv_data.bin and nv_data.bin.m5d back to the sdcard overwirting them
Using either rootexplorer or adb shell copy the nv_data.bin and nv_data.bin.md5 back to the original folder (either /efs or /data/radio (for me it was /data/radio that did the trick))
Using either rootexplorer or adb shell ensure both files have the following attributes Owner:radio Group:radio Owner:RWX Group:R Other:R
Using adb shell type ps (this lists all the running processes) find the one that end with rild and remember the pid
Using adb shell type kill pid# where pid# is the rild process (this restarts the radio)
Go back to the phone and take the phone out of Airplane mode
Reboot the phone
Open up the dialer and dial *#06# (the universal way to get your IMEI it SHOULD be equal to the one written under the battery):good:
If you have any problems please list them below and i will do my best to solve them

[Noob Friendly][Guide] How to extract .ext4 file while using linux !

There may be alot of guides out there how to make flashable zip of your ftf released by Sony ! But extracting ext4 files can be a headache !
I tried searching alot ! learned alot ! there were so many information that a Noob(like me) can be so much confused !
You can extract .ext4 file on windows also but that may cause BOOTLOOP also ! [PERSONAL EXPERIENCE]
So here are the simple steps to extract .ext4 files easily in linux !
1) open terminal
2) type
sudo nautilus
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this will open dialogue box with admin privilage
3) place ext4 file on the desktop and create a folder named mounted in the same directory
4)than type following in terminal,
sudo mount -o loop /root/desktop/system.ext4 /home/USERNAME/Desktop/mounted
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
(Basic Structure of that command is: sudo mount flag loop ext4 directory mounted directory !)
HERE;
/root/desktop/system.ext4 is the directory of .ext4 file
/home/USERNAME/Desktop/mounted is the directory of destination folder !
AND DONE ! You can grab those files and put in system folder of your zip file !
NOTE THAT: THIS EXTRACTED DATA WILL BE ODEXED !

ShivangDave said:
...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, This was the guide which i was really looking for but unfortunately the code is not working for me in can you please check it again ?
Edit: Thanks it worked ! Great. The explanation for the code given by you helped me solving it ! Thanks a lot bro

M4ST3R-V said:
Hi, This was the guide which i was really looking for but unfortunately the code is not working for me in can you please check it again ?
Edit: Thanks it worked ! Great. The explanation for the code given by you helped me solving it ! Thanks a lot bro
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad to hear that

ShivangDave said:
Glad to hear that
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
desktop is spelled with a capital D

thank you! using today this noob guide, very helpfull!!!

Buddy..I wanna try making a zip from ftf.
So I have extracted the system.sin into a folder system...
Now I need meta-inf to be kept along with system into a zip right....
So if I go wrong somewhere will I brick my phone..
Also can I simply delete all the unwanted apps from apps folder?
Please..I know you are a guy who knows all these stuff..I saw many guides,yet I am afraid if somethin bad will happen to my device..
Plz help me... I need you badly.
Hit the thanks button..it does not cost you anything.
it's worth something for me...
sent from my Sony Xperia e dual

mathewsj114 said:
Buddy..I wanna try making a zip from ftf.
So I have extracted the system.sin into a folder system...
Now I need meta-inf to be kept along with system into a zip right....
So if I go wrong somewhere will I brick my phone..
Also can I simply delete all the unwanted apps from apps folder?
Please..I know you are a guy who knows all these stuff..I saw many guides,yet I am afraid if somethin bad will happen to my device..
Plz help me... I need you badly.
Hit the thanks button..it does not cost you anything.
it's worth something for me...
sent from my Sony Xperia e dual
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2183077

ShivangDave said:
There may be alot of guides out there how to make flashable zip of your ftf released by Sony ! But extracting ext4 files can be a headache !
I tried searching alot ! learned alot ! there were so many information that a Noob(like me) can be so much confused !
You can extract .ext4 file on windows also but that may cause BOOTLOOP also ! [PERSONAL EXPERIENCE]
So here are the simple steps to extract .ext4 files easily in linux !
1) open terminal
2) type
this will open dialogue box with admin privilage
3) place ext4 file on the desktop and create a folder named mounted in the same directory
4)than type following in terminal,
(Basic Structure of that command is: sudo mount flag loop ext4 directory mounted directory !)
HERE;
/root/desktop/system.ext4 is the directory of .ext4 file
/home/USERNAME/Desktop/mounted is the directory of destination folder !
AND DONE ! You can grab those files and put in system folder of your zip file !
NOTE THAT: THIS EXTRACTED DATA WILL BE ODEXED !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nautilus is just for ubuntu, mention that you need to swap nautilus with your file manager if you're using a different distro other than ubuntu(e.g lubuntu= pcmanfm )
Also when using GUI and sudo, it's best to use gksudo instead of sudo.

Hi,
It works fine, so thanks for that, but I end up with a ''volume of 682 MB''. Unmounting and ejecting doesn't work and simply deleting it, also won't work. Does anyone have any idea how to remove this ''device'' from my system? It's quite annoying and takes in space.
Thanks!

Never mind , a reboot fixed it...
Sent from my C1505 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

ShivangDave said:
1) open terminal
2) type
Code:
sudo nautilus
this will open dialogue box with admin privilage
3) place ext4 file on the desktop and create a folder named mounted in the same directory
4)than type following in terminal,
Code:
sudo mount -o loop /root/desktop/system.ext4 /home/USERNAME/Desktop/mounted
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First off let me say that I am in no way a Linux user, but I tend to be quite resourceful when it comes to researching. This one is beginning to stump me. Second, I am using crunchbang {a Debian (Wheezy)} build and therefore I had to modify the coding a little bit.
This is what I did just to even get it to accept my query without issues
Code:
sudo nautilus
This pulled up my Desktop in File Manager with root privileges. I created the mounted folder and put the system.img.ext4 in the Desktop location. Debian, or crunchbang, does not have a physical Desktop for placing files, as far as I have learned, just this folder located in the root folder. Anyways, after doing those two things I did this
Code:
sudo mount -t ext4 /root/Desktop/system.img.ext4 /root/Desktop/mounted
This was the first code I tried that didn't return any error about the location, fs, or anything. Feeling hopeful that I had finally figured out and was going to be able to access my system.img I look at my Desktop folder and open up the mounted folder, what do I see? Lost+Found folder with nothing in it, and a hidden folder called .Trash-0 which contains two folders "files" and "info". "files" contains a folder just like the non-hidden lost+found with nothing in it and the "info" folder which contains an 0byte file titled lost+foundinfo. My system file is over 2GB in size, so I am at a standstill because I do not know how to proceed.

jacodaburr said:
First off let me say that I am in no way a Linux user, but I tend to be quite resourceful when it comes to researching. This one is beginning to stump me. Second, I am using crunchbang {a Debian (Wheezy)} build and therefore I had to modify the coding a little bit.
This is what I did just to even get it to accept my query without issues
Code:
sudo nautilus
This pulled up my Desktop in File Manager with root privileges. I created the mounted folder and put the system.img.ext4 in the Desktop location. Debian, or crunchbang, does not have a physical Desktop for placing files, as far as I have learned, just this folder located in the root folder. Anyways, after doing those two things I did this
Code:
sudo mount -t ext4 /root/Desktop/system.img.ext4 /root/Desktop/mounted
This was the first code I tried that didn't return any error about the location, fs, or anything. Feeling hopeful that I had finally figured out and was going to be able to access my system.img I look at my Desktop folder and open up the mounted folder, what do I see? Lost+Found folder with nothing in it, and a hidden folder called .Trash-0 which contains two folders "files" and "info". "files" contains a folder just like the non-hidden lost+found with nothing in it and the "info" folder which contains an 0byte file titled lost+foundinfo. My system file is over 2GB in size, so I am at a standstill because I do not know how to proceed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
change the directory if possible, and change the command according to it.. Because I'm in no way a crunchbang user let me know if i can help in any other way though...
sudo mount flag loop ext4directory mounteddirectory

ShivangDave said:
change the directory if possible, and change the command according to it.. Because I'm in no way a crunchbang user let me know if i can help in any other way though...
sudo mount flag loop ext4directory mounteddirectory
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
trying to use that code with flag and/or loop returns this
Code:
Usage: mount -V : print version
mount -h : print this help
mount : list mounted filesystems
mount -l : idem, including volume labels
So far the informational part. Next the mounting.
The command is `mount [-t fstype] something somewhere'.
Details found in /etc/fstab may be omitted.
mount -a [-t|-O] ... : mount all stuff from /etc/fstab
mount device : mount device at the known place
mount directory : mount known device here
mount -t type dev dir : ordinary mount command
Note that one does not really mount a device, one mounts
a filesystem (of the given type) found on the device.
One can also mount an already visible directory tree elsewhere:
mount --bind olddir newdir
or move a subtree:
mount --move olddir newdir
One can change the type of mount containing the directory dir:
mount --make-shared dir
mount --make-slave dir
mount --make-private dir
mount --make-unbindable dir
One can change the type of all the mounts in a mount subtree
containing the directory dir:
mount --make-rshared dir
mount --make-rslave dir
mount --make-rprivate dir
mount --make-runbindable dir
A device can be given by name, say /dev/hda1 or /dev/cdrom,
or by label, using -L label or by uuid, using -U uuid .
Other options: [-nfFrsvw] [-o options] [-p passwdfd].
For many more details, say man 8 mount .

Backup your EFS-partition using tar and dd

This guide has been made with and for the i9505, but will most likely also work on other Galaxy S4-models.
Please be extra careful on models other than i9505 as the 'mmcblkXpXX' partition numbers might differ on your device. How to check this is written in the procedure.
As I could not find a procedure in this forum yet, I have made one myself.
Of course all of the below is 'USE AT YOUR OWN RISK'.
Requirements before you start
Install KIES software (and included driver) and connected your S4 atleast once (to see if it works)
Have ADB-executable available. It can be found in the ADT Bundle from Google. There are also much smaller packages with ADB-only which will work. I might create one myself later on and attach it to this thread..
Device is rooted and has busybox-installed (default with motochopper root method). Applications with a similar name in Play Store will allow you to install busybox manually.
Enable developer mode, go to Settings - More - Device-info - Tap 7 times on 'Build number' to unlock 'Developer options' in the previous screen. Then go to 'Developer options' and thick 'USB debugging'
Connect USB cable to your computer and smartphone with 'USB debugging' enabled
Preparations for both backup methods
Now open a ADB-shell, in Windows this would be: 'cmd' in Start-menu (or CTRL+R).
Change the directory to the ADT directory: sdk\platform-tools. In my case:
Code:
cd C:\Android\sdk\platform-tools
Then start the shell using adb:
Code:
adb shell
If you get the error:
'error: device offline'
Then, check your device and allow USB debugging for the presented device. Now try again the command 'adb shell'
If all goes well, you will see the following:
[email protected]:/ $
Now switch to root-user:
Code:
su -
It is possible that the phone now asks you to permit or deny root access. Of course, please permit.
When the switch succeeds, the '$' changes to '#', but you can also verify it by the id-command:
Code:
[email protected]:/ # id
id
uid=0(root) gid=0(root) context=u:r:shell:s0
If it shows root, all is fine.
Then, check with the following command if /efs is available and mounted:
Code:
mount | grep efs
It should show something like:
Code:
mount | grep efs
/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/efs /efs ext4 rw,seclabel,nosuid,nodev,no
atime,discard,journal_checksum,journal_async_commit,noauto_da_alloc,errors=panic
,data=ordered 0 0
Backup method using TAR
NOTE: In case you left the ADB shell, please return to it using command 'adb shell' and switch to root again via 'su -' as described above.
Run the folowing command to backup the whole efs-partition (all the files available on the system):
Code:
tar -cvf /data/media/0/efs.tar /efs
Your output will look like this:
Code:
[email protected]:/ # tar -cvf /data/media/0/efs.tar /efs
tar -cvf /data/media/0/efs.tar /efs
tar: removing leading '/' from member names
efs/
efs/imei/
efs/imei/mps_code.dat
efs/wifi/
efs/wifi/.mac.info
efs/FactoryApp/
efs/FactoryApp/test_nv
efs/FactoryApp/hist_nv
efs/FactoryApp/fdata
efs/FactoryApp/serial_no
efs/FactoryApp/factorymode
efs/FactoryApp/keystr
efs/FactoryApp/hw_ver
efs/FactoryApp/baro_delta
efs/FactoryApp/prepay
efs/FactoryApp/earjack_count
efs/FactoryApp/batt_cable_count
efs/bluetooth/
efs/bluetooth/bt_addr
efs/gyro_cal_data
efs/00000000.authtokcont
efs/carrier/
efs/carrier/HiddenMenu
efs/drm/
efs/drm/widevine/
efs/drm/widevine/5dsokxEEDXgQhkN50bp-Z2K5InM_/
efs/drm/widevine/5dsokxEEDXgQhkN50bp-Z2K5InM_/D3qpp0bxmJhbiZwIsCbXJ1434rc_
efs/drm/widevine/5dsokxEEDXgQhkN50bp-Z2K5InM_/RXFABDUxyT6Q+Zwx9ZhPGOq2Bq8_
efs/drm/playready/
efs/drm/playready/00004.PRV
efs/drm/playready/playready0.dat
efs/drm/playready/playready1.dat
efs/drm/playready/playready.hds
efs/wv.keys
efs/log/
efs/log/boot_cause
efs/.files/
efs/.files/.dx1/
efs/.files/.dm33/
efs/.files/.mp301/
efs/ss_data
efs/h2k.dat
efs/hw_offset
This will add all files in /efs to the tar archive located on your internal memory as 'efs.tar'.
Now, the permissions of this tar are incorrect (for this location) so we have to correct them:
Change owner and group:
Code:
chown media_rw:media_rw /data/media/0/efs.tar
And the file permissions:
Code:
chmod 664 /data/media/0/efs.tar
Now, your tar-backup is ready and can be copied via MTP towards your computer or you can use adb to copy it over. First type 'exit' twice to exit the adb shell. CTRL+C is an alternative to leave the 'adb shell'.
Code:
adb pull /mnt/shell/emulated/0/efs.tar .
This will copy the efs.tar to your current directory, which is in my case C:\Android\sdk\platform-tools. You can also replace the last . with the directory where you would like to put the file in.
Backup method using 'dd'
NOTE: In case you left the ADB shell, please return to it using command 'adb shell' and switch to root again via 'su -' as described above.
From the output of the earlier executed command 'mount | grep efs', you can get the path of the EFS partition. It start with '/dev/block/..' is the part which you can use to find the original partition on your device.
As you can see, in my case this is, and I do not expect it to be any different on your device:
/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/efs
To check which 'mmcblk' partition it is, we should check out this link:
Code:
ls -al /dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/efs
This will show you the mmcblk which is the EFS-partition:
Code:
ls -al /dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/efs
lrwxrwxrwx root root 1970-01-05 23:39 efs -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p10
As you can see, the actual partition in my case is:
Code:
/dev/block/mmcblk0p10
I expect that this is the same for all i9505-devices, but it's better safe to check it. On i9500-devices this might be a different number as they have a different partition-layout, that's why we're checking this. It is very important to save this location, also for future restores.
Now, to backup the partition using dd, run the following command, please make sure that the part directly after 'if=' is the partition you found using the 'ls -l' command. In my case '/dev/block/mmcblk0p10':
Code:
dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p10 of=/data/media/0/efs.img
When it finishes, it will show you something like:
Code:
27904+0 records in
27904+0 records out
14286848 bytes transferred in 1.195 secs (11955521 bytes/sec)
This command reads the efs-partition, byte-by-byte to your internal memory, which you can transfer later on to your PC using ADB or MTP.
As the file created is owned by root:root and doesn't have the default permissions used for files at this location, it can be corrected with the following 2 commands:
Change owner and group:
Code:
chown media_rw:media_rw /data/media/0/efs.img
And the file permissions:
Code:
chmod 664 /data/media/0/efs.img
Now, your DD-backup is ready and can be copied via MTP towards your computer or you can use adb to copy it over. First type 'exit' twice to exit the adb shell. CTRL+C is an alternative to leave the 'adb shell'.
Code:
adb pull /mnt/shell/emulated/0/efs.img .
This will copy the efs.img to your current directory, which is in my case C:\Android\sdk\platform-tools. You can also replace the last . with the directory where you would like to put the file in.
To restore the files
Now to restore the files, in case there is really a need to, like imei-number ****up or something with the MAC-address of your wifi, or whatever.. the following commands can be used:
Of course, once again. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!! Do not use this if not really necessary, as there are risks involved in doing this.
To restore the tar-backup, open 'adb shell' and switch to root using 'su -'. Now, first switch to the root directory, which is most likely not needed, but just to make sure the files will be extracted to the right location:
Code:
cd /
Before executing the next command, I assume that you have the efs.tar file in the root-directory of your internal SD-card.
Now, extract the tar file:
Code:
tar -xvf /data/media/0/efs.tar
This will extract the efs.tar file back to it's original location. It will show you something like:
Code:
[email protected]:/ # tar -xvf /data/media/0/efs.tar
tar -xvf /data/media/0/efs.tar
efs/
efs/imei/
efs/imei/mps_code.dat
efs/wifi/
efs/wifi/.mac.info
efs/FactoryApp/
efs/FactoryApp/test_nv
efs/FactoryApp/hist_nv
efs/FactoryApp/fdata
efs/FactoryApp/serial_no
efs/FactoryApp/factorymode
efs/FactoryApp/keystr
efs/FactoryApp/hw_ver
efs/FactoryApp/baro_delta
efs/FactoryApp/prepay
efs/FactoryApp/earjack_count
efs/FactoryApp/batt_cable_count
efs/bluetooth/
efs/bluetooth/bt_addr
efs/gyro_cal_data
efs/00000000.authtokcont
efs/carrier/
efs/carrier/HiddenMenu
efs/drm/
efs/drm/widevine/
efs/drm/widevine/5dsokxEEDXgQhkN50bp-Z2K5InM_/
efs/drm/widevine/5dsokxEEDXgQhkN50bp-Z2K5InM_/D3qpp0bxmJhbiZwIsCbXJ1434rc_
efs/drm/widevine/5dsokxEEDXgQhkN50bp-Z2K5InM_/RXFABDUxyT6Q+Zwx9ZhPGOq2Bq8_
efs/drm/playready/
efs/drm/playready/00004.PRV
efs/drm/playready/playready0.dat
efs/drm/playready/playready1.dat
efs/drm/playready/playready.hds
efs/wv.keys
efs/log/
efs/log/boot_cause
efs/.files/
efs/.files/.dx1/
efs/.files/.dm33/
efs/.files/.mp301/
efs/ss_data
efs/h2k.dat
efs/hw_offset
Then reboot your phone normally and see if it works again as you would expect.
If you restored the TAR-backup succesfully, you do not need to restore the dd-image. But in case your tar did not work or your /efs is not mounted due to corruption (in recovery) you can try the dd-recovery instead.
PLEASE BE AWARE THAT YOU SHOULD BE SURE ABOUT THE LOCATION OF THE EFS-PARTITION. THIS LOCATION WAS FOUND USING the 'ls -al /dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/efs'-COMMAND EARLIER DESCRIBED. If you do not know this location, there's a risk you are overwriting other partitions (MODEM, SYSTEM, RECOVERY, ETC).
If you are sure about the original location, /dev/block/mmcblk......, then use this path just straight after 'of='. On my device the partition is /dev/block/mmcblk0p10.
Code:
dd if=/data/media/0/efs.img of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p10
Output will be similar to:
Code:
27904+0 records in
27904+0 records out
14286848 bytes transferred in 1.195 secs (11955521 bytes/sec)
This will read the efs.img and put it back in the original location.
NOTE 1: This thread gives you two options of backupping the EFS-partition. It is preferred to do both, better safe than sorry.
NOTE 2: Luckily, I have never had to restore any of the backups myself (not on this phone and not on earlier phones). This means that I was never able to test the restores, which counts for the most of us.
NOTE 3: DO NOT RESTORE unless you are really sure this will solve your issue. This will never resolve any lag or other problems with your rom.
NOTE 4: It is normal that the DD-file is much larger (10MB in size) as it also copies unused space and other meta-data of the partition.
NOTE 5: USE AT YOUR OWN RISK! Although the backup part is nearly riskless.
Note X: Feel free to thank me for this post.

Reservation for second post, just in case.

Isn't rooting and using rootexplorer to zip de efs folder to external SD card and just copying that with a microSD cabel way easier?

johan81 said:
Isn't rooting and using rootexplorer to zip de efs folder to external SD card and just copying that with a microSD cabel way easier?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, zipping is easier but you will lose your permissions (owner and file permissions (changed via chown/chmod)) so it is actually not a good backup. The permissions/ownerships are backupped with the tar- and dd-backup.
The dd-file includes more than just the file; it also contains the partition meta-data, in case your filesystem got corrupted and it is not possible to recovery it.

Good job man.

EFS Professional v2.0.35 is now support S4. You can also use this:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1308546

shaq1907 said:
EFS Professional v2.0.35 is now support S4. You can also use this:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1308546
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
dont seem to work crashes out while backing up
working now with new update

anybody knows how to adb read the the entire partition table of the galaxy s4?

[Guide] Whatsapp - manually restore messages with just /data/data/com.whatsapp (root)

I needed to restore my Whatsapp messages without having a proper whatsapp backup, in cloud or local, just a TWRP data partition backup (without userdata, thanks to encryption and some other unrelated problems), so, having only data/data/com.whatsapp directory with the unencrypted databases and files to work with, the usual solutions discussed here weren't an option. In my case, fully replacing the com.whatsapp folder and changing its permissions, as some other sources recommend, resulted in Whatsapp crashing for reasons I ignore. Such info was on the right track and after trying all kind of stuff I finally was able to restore my messages. My steps were as follows, hopefully it works for you too:
Requirements:
A backup of /data/data/com.whatsapp, it should have the databases and files subdirectories.
Rooted Android phone with Whatsapp uninstalled.
Basic terminal usage knowledge. (Should be possible to do it with a decent enough file browser but I won't cover it, feel free to adapt it)
If you need to manually extract com.whatsapp from a TWRP backup:
Locate the different data.ext4.win### files in the TWRP backup.
Rename them adding .tar at the end of the name and open them with Winrar/7zip.
If the .tar contains another data.ext4.win###, extract it and repeat the process.
Once you have access to the actual contents inside the files, locate the file which has the data/data/com.whatsapp directory.
Extract that com.whatsapp directory.
Once you have your copy of com.whatsapp:
Copy your backup of com.whatsapp directory to your phone (I will use /sdcard/com.whatsapp as example).
Install Whatsapp but DO NOT RUN IT. Try to use the same version. (Probably works between versions to some extent)
Install an Android terminal emulator and launch it. (Tested with termux)
Elevate, enter /data/data and show the permissions of the installed Whatsapp com.whatsapp directory:
Code:
$ su
# cd /data/data
# ls -ld com.whatsapp
You'll see something similar to:
Code:
drwx------ 10 u0_a117 u0_a117 4096 2020-03-09 17:28 com.whatsapp
Take note of the user/group, will have u0_a# format. (In my case will be u0_a117)
Enter into that directory:
Code:
# cd com.whatsapp
Copy files and databases directories from your transferred com.whatsapp copy in step 1 to your install location. (Don't forget the final space and dot)
Code:
# cp -R /sdcard/com.whatsapp/databases .
# cp -R /sdcard/com.whatsapp/files .
Change both directories owner and group to the one seen in step 5.
Code:
# chown -R u0_a117:u0_a117 databases
# chown -R u0_a117:u0_a117 files
Check the permissions to be 100% sure that the user/group are correct.
Code:
# ls -lad *es
Launch Whatsapp.
Whatsapp will ask you to configure your phone number. Once you're done, you'll see your messages right there.
If Whatsapp crashes after launching it, you wrote a wrong user/group when changing permissions. Whatsapp overwrites the contents of com.whatsapp before crashing, so you'll need to reinstall Whatsapp and start again. The user/group will be a different one each time you install it.

My system was buggy, not being possible to boot and backup via TitaniumBackup or similar..
I tried your method and worked perfectly via OrangeFox Recovery (with the terminal and the included file manager that facilitates copy/paste operations)
Thank you very much!!

Thank you for this tutorial. I have the same difficulty as the first respondent, in that my miui system is buggy and constantly restarting so no time to do a chat backup with the normal procedure. I also have orange fox recovery so I shall try to follow your instructions to the detail. Hopefully all will go well; I shall post back later with the results.

Yaagod said:
My system was buggy, not being possible to boot and backup via TitaniumBackup or similar..
I tried your method and worked perfectly via OrangeFox Recovery (with the terminal and the included file manager that facilitates copy/paste operations)
Thank you very much!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you introduce any variation or it worked straight off?
One thing that worries me is checking all the permissions

Thanks a lot! I'd just drop my device and it's screen broke, and I was able to "transplant" my WhatsApp installation to another device just fine!
I was trying something similar to this long ago (but also copying some whatsapp-related files from /data/user/0/) and it didn't work, maybe they were related to authentication? Anyway, if it works I don't care

Very nice guide.
you can skip the chown part and use
Code:
cp -rp databases files /data/local/tmp/
to keep the permissions and ownership.
And i think that
Code:
pm clear com.whatsapp
will do the work, you don't need to uninstall if the app opens after the installation.

.

It worked! You are great!
Thanks a lot

does this still work, iv tried exact but whatsapp keeps closing

I just want to say a big THANK YOU. I can confirm that it's still working.
As I have no root on my phone I have used the internal Terminal of TWRP Recovery instead of an app and executed the commands there. They were running without problems (except the command "su" of course) and WhatsApp recognized my previous data.

Custom ROM died yesterday, not able to do backups, recovery had problems too, so I managed to find some Whatsapp inside a TWRP Backup.
I'm unable to work with terminal, can't change directories, maybe because of Android 13. But with total commander app I'm able to move file and database folder and rearrange owner, group and permissions. at least I'm pretty sure to get it right. whatsapp still crashes.