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[I9003] Request for EFS backup and Restore

I updated to XXBK3 as per the steps mentioned and everything went fine. When the phone booted, the simcard is not getting detected. I have factory reset the phone, changed the sim, tried my sim on another phone (works on another) but not this one.
Revert back to DDKB2 but still sim card is not getting detected. Kindly assist
Update: I have lost all folders in efs folder after flashing XXBK3. Unfortunately i dont have backup of efs folder
The only option left with me now if service center. Since there is no post for efs backup and restoer, i would request if someone can post settings/commands to backup and restore efs.

Hey, maybe you'll laugh, but there do not give any simcard wrong side. Once I flash phone at night and I'm still there giving the wrong side

fataLLik said:
Hey, maybe you'll laugh, but there do not give any simcard wrong side. Once I flash phone at night and I'm still there giving the wrong side
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I didnt understand you.
What i mean is i dont get network and when i try to open Mobile APN, i get message " Please insert SIM..."

This can happen if you have selected the option Phone EFS Clear in ODIN while flashing FW. This would delete the efs folder.
Follow my guide that I sent you for future. I have already backed up mine, but hope I wont need it.

What is the /efs folder? Should I also back it up? Only that folder or all folders under root are to be backed up?
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jesrani said:
What is the /efs folder? Should I also back it up? Only that folder or all folders under root are to be backed up?
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Efs folder contains information about your Phones IMEI no. If you clear it or corrupt it you lose your IMEI and it can only be restored by Service centre if you have not backed it up. Just copying the folder is not enough. You need to back it up in the form that it can be directly flashed to your phone to restore the IMEI and to put your phone back in usable condition, as in india service providers do not support phones without IMEI nos.

Dude can u give us a walkthru of how to back up efs
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Sure I will.
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http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=859914
This process works absolutely fine. Just tried it.

trip007in said:
Efs folder contains information about your Phones IMEI no. If you clear it or corrupt it you lose your IMEI and it can only be restored by Service centre if you have not backed it up. Just copying the folder is not enough. You need to back it up in the form that it can be directly flashed to your phone to restore the IMEI and to put your phone back in usable condition, as in india service providers do not support phones without IMEI nos.
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Is the link given by manu1991 okay in your opinion? According to Post#2, "An alternative to the backup part is to use Root Explorer and zip the whole /efs folder onto your external sd card. (or wherever you want)". Is this possible and reliable? I tried the option to zip folder in "Super Manager" but got an empty file.

No root explorer should not be used to back up this folder. Follow the link and back up your efs folder.
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manu1991 said:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=859914
This process works absolutely fine. Just tried it.
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Ok, I tried this and made the tar.gz file directly in my external sd card. I got a file of size 35Kb? Checked with 7-zip, seems to contain all files. Also made the .gz file using terminal emulator and got same size. In Super Manager the /efs folder seems to be 5Mb in size. I also extracted the .gz file and the uncompressed size is indeed about 5Mb. Can it really be compressed to 35Kb or is there some mistake?

jesrani said:
Ok, I tried this and made the tar.gz file directly in my external sd card. I got a file of size 35Kb? Checked with 7-zip, seems to contain all files. Also made the .gz file using terminal emulator and got same size. In Super Manager the /efs folder seems to be 5Mb in size. I also extracted the .gz file and the uncompressed size is indeed about 5Mb. Can it really be compressed to 35Kb or is there some mistake?
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yes, it can. If the files has a lot of zeroes inside. BTW here is only 3 files are very big:
nv_data.bin, .nv_data.bak and .nv_core.bak and as I can see they are have a lot of zeroes.

jesrani said:
Ok, I tried this and made the tar.gz file directly in my external sd card. I got a file of size 35Kb? Checked with 7-zip, seems to contain all files. Also made the .gz file using terminal emulator and got same size. In Super Manager the /efs folder seems to be 5Mb in size. I also extracted the .gz file and the uncompressed size is indeed about 5Mb. Can it really be compressed to 35Kb or is there some mistake?
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Yes it is compressed. Just pull out the efs folder out of the archive and see check the size, its 5.03MB for me.

Thanks falex and trip
I also made image of stl3 and it is about 6mb.
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EFS / IMEI changes to Fake frequently.
With regards to your post on EFS restore, thanks for the excellent instructions I managed to get IMEI back but noticed that it gets changed quiet frequently when I am on any version of Gingerbread so I downgraded my self to Froyo and I notice that the IMEI doesnt change, Could you kindly advise me so to get it working when I am on gingerbread. Does it have anything to do with bootloaders. The restore method I used is to flash via Odin and no other commands there on.
ThanK You In advance.

i have the same troubles
i try many methods
last i failed
now i just play t959 as a pda

I believe the Nitrality app has an EFS backup feature

Good morning from Argentina!
I have a problem to restore my /EFS I have Froyo LUBKB1 (Argentina) coming from KPQ and the /efs is broken.
I have a backup from a functional EFS directory but when I try to copy it with Root Explorer, it seems that it copies it but when I reboot, EFS directory is empty.
Is there any possibility to create the .img with ADB from a directory which is in the sdcard?
Regards

Try this man: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1308546

[Q] /EFS Folder

I just came from the SGS4G and had no problem finding this...but i was wondering if anyone could tell me where to find the /EFS folder on the g2x so that i can back it up. ive had bad experiences not backing up this folder (ex. imei being wiped and phone not finding service, had to send it back to be replaced)

EFS Folder is only for Samsung devices, I believe.

ok thanks for reply, but if this is so where is the folder containing important imei data?

jdubb1106 said:
ok thanks for reply, but if this is so where is the folder containing important imei data?
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The IMEI is hardcoded into the chip, or so I was informed.

Imei, sim lock state etc is stored on a hidden partition. Not accessable even with nvflash.

tahahawa said:
Imei, sim lock state etc is stored on a hidden partition. Not accessable even with nvflash.
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so pretty much **** out of luck on backing those files up?

jdubb1106 said:
so pretty much **** out of luck on backing those files up?
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unless you own a jtag box and know where the pin outs are or have something similar, then pretty much.

ok thanks for the reply guys

Question requesting info for my learning process.

Hello everyone I been slowly learning being this is my first Android device. I'm currently on VB and wanted to try out cm7 and like roms. I'm just concerned with the efs problem people are having (which I'm sure it's user error not following directions) .. Also the other thing I'm confused about what is the process to update a cm7? Do I need to backup and restore efs again or is backup stored on the sd card. I will also have a copy of my efs on my computer. I been learning a lot here. And hope I don't get bashed for asking but I'm the type of person who likes to learn so someday I can contribute to others. Thanks again everybody.
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Make sure you back up your ENTIRE efs folder to your SDcard as well as a PC. If you do that you can mess up as much as you want and still get your IMEI back. If you follow directions in the CM7 thread you should be safe to convert. If you know how to use heimdall command line and have it installed I do it the old way which I think is much faster. Once your on MTD you can flash between ROMs without having to run any of the backup scripts again. Going back to BLM is as simple as a oneclick with bootloaders(although even that may be overkill).

I was planning to use cwm to convert to mtd and back up efs. But was also going mount /system after efs backup so I can then transfer and backup my /system including my efs files. Then I will continue with the process. Would this be good enough to convert?
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Back up your EFS folder first before you convert to MTD. Use a root explorer back up level folder twice. You'll see a folder called "efs". Copy it to your SDcard. Once that is done connect your phone to a PC and copy the folder from your SDcard to the PC. Now you have two backups of your ORIGINAL efs folder. Once that is done follow any of the ways to get onto MTD.

hechoen said:
Back up your EFS folder first before you convert to MTD. Use a root explorer back up level folder twice. You'll see a folder called "efs". Copy it to your SDcard. Once that is done connect your phone to a PC and copy the folder from your SDcard to the PC. Now you have two backups of your ORIGINAL efs folder. Once that is done follow any of the ways to get onto MTD.
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Thank you hechoen for clarifying that. So to upgrade to a new build do I just do the process as a bml rom? Just flash build and restore efs.. In that case?
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Yep. Once on MTD just reboot recovery wipe cache data system. Flash new build/ROM. I don't reflash the efs restore but that shouldn't be a problem if you want to.

Thanks so much man for your patience in making me understand how it works. So from what I understand once I'm converted to mtd my efs should restore from one rom to another. Btw I found the efs folder and backed up to sd card and onto the computer will convert to mtd once cm7 11 gets released.. :thumbup:
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No worries. Glad to help. Now that you have your original efs folder backed up flash away.

I say you wait until release 11. A lot of fixes and a much simpler flashing procedure.

FBis251 said:
I say you wait until release 11. A lot of fixes and a much simpler flashing procedure.
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Will do thanks for the input FB!! :thumbup:
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Imei restore on ics

I'm on aokp build 39 and was using devil kernel. After two days off use my Imei was borked. It's happened twice each time two days. Is there a way to restore Imei on my phone? Without being at a computer? I have the efs file backed up but am unsure what to do with it. I searched Google but couldn't find anything concrete.
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I've also found the post that does it in 9 steps. Just wondering other ways
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This may sound crazy but I have just taken the backup /efs folder and put it on the SD card and used root explorer to copy and overwrite the /efs in the root directory of the phone, rebooted, and everything was fine.
Not sure if its the right way to do it but it worked for me. This was a while back though when I first was experimenting with flashing roms, miui would always screw up the /efs so I would flash back to froyo and overwrite the /efs by using root explorer.
May be worth a try, good luck with it.

I can confirm this works. I used this method on icssgs a few months ago.
Phoned in.....

Wow. Sounds great. Thanks guys. If my Imei gets borked again I'll try that
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Lost my imei again today. Just deleted efs folder reboot. Copied my imei folder over reboot and all was well. Next time I'll try just copying my imei folder.
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Lost IMEI number

I was on CM11 and One day i lost the IMEI number of my phone and lost all network. I think i flashed an update, dont remember clearly. I think the EFS folder was corrupted. I gave the phone to samsung service center and they were not able to fix it. Can any one help me? I dont have any backup.

ANyone? I tried flashing the stock value pack, didnt work

Cm11 suppose to do a efs backup in SD card. Look for it, if found replace efs folder with it and reboot. May work. Good luck.
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sam_777 said:
Cm11 suppose to do a efs backup in SD card. Look for it, if found replace efs folder with it and reboot. May work. Good luck.
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Oh man!!! I flashed stock over it and there was no sd card, only internal sd! Any other method? Flashing regional stock or something?