Related
This Guide is for any user that has a Rom installed. This will back-up almost everything the user has put on the phone.
So, here are some things you need.
Heimdall One Click KB2 - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1266172 (thanks to AdamOutler)
1) First, make a nandroid backup.
2) Make an /efs backup (adb pull /efs) (also can use an app called nitrality available in market)
3) Now, you will need to Plug in your phone to the computer. Take ALL the folders on your SD card and copy them to your laptop. (Mine was user/android/sdcardbackup)
4) Remove Micro-sd card, and SIM card
5) Open up your dialer and dial this code *2767*3855# THIS WILL WIPE YOUR SD CARD and /DATA
6) Reboot the Phone
7) put your Phone in download mode, open heimdall One Click and insert the phone and make sure that heimdall recognizes it
8) Flash the new firmware Bootloaders not required
9) Have the Phone Boot up Completely (takes a long time)
10) Check to see if your /efs has been edited. Use this thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=881162 (and your efs backup) to get it back.
11) You might want to dial *2767*3855# Just in case if there is anything left.
12) You should be running KB2, have your SD cleared, and ready to be turned into samsung.
Post Questions and comments below!
i decided to save this one, no clue why, just wanted to feel important...
Better include this or your phone might come back with a voided warranty.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=881162
bigbooty said:
Better include this or your phone might come back with a voided warranty.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=881162
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It isnt supposed to erase the /efs but ill include it, thanks!
sepherian said:
It isnt supposed to erase the /efs but ill include it, thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. Flashing different roms jacks with your efs. A while back I decided to clean up my phone. Internal storage was a cluster. Just for the hell of it I decided to odin back to stock and master clear, then try the 2.2 kies update. Never had tried it. Well got the unregistered device thing and kies wouldn't update it. Found the thread above and downloaded hex editor and followed the instructions, edited my NV_DATA.BIN and reloaded stock jf6 and this time kies upgraded with no problems.
Flashing many different roms changes your product code even though SG tools said I had a sgh-I897, NV_DATA.BIN said I had something else.
When my cappy messed up, my imei got corrupted. Luckily I messed with around with sgs unlock a few months before and still had my back up and was able to restore it before turning it in. first thing I did with new cappy was back up efs. Product code was different also. Flash enough roms and it can mess up something as someone might be a novice coder and mess your device up.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Edit: fixed Imei
Nucleartx said:
When my cappy messed up, my meid got corrupted. Luckily I messed with around with sgs unlock a few months before and still had my back up and was able to restore it before turning it in. first thing I did with new cappy was back up efs.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
meid? i think you mean imei?
bigbooty said:
No. Flashing different roms jacks with your efs. A while back I decided to clean up my phone. Internal storage was a cluster. Just for the hell of it I decided to odin back to stock and master clear, then try the 2.2 kies update. Never had tried it. Well got the unregistered device thing and kies wouldn't update it. Found the thread above and downloaded hex editor and followed the instructions, edited my NV_DATA.BIN and reloaded stock jf6 and this time kies upgraded with no problems.
Flashing many different roms changes your product code even though SG tools said I had a sgh-I897, NV_DATA.BIN said I had something else.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I know. This Flash is not intended to mess with the /efs AT ALL, i have checked the package and it has no reference to /efs in the scripting. The post including the package also says this:
This package does not wipe:
EFS(Where your serial number and carrier information is stored)
Data(where your market apps are stored)
SDCard (where your pictures are stored)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So as you can see the number i have them call wipes the data and SD but they have their nandroid and SD backups. The number i have them call also doesnt touch the /efs. Trust me, I tested this method before i posted it and i didnt make an efs backup and my IMEI was perfectly fine afterward. I assume that nothing here messed with my /efs at all.
The only thing that would change the NVdata.bin would be an unlock tool. And i doubt that it even changes it.
OP was updated with more accurate steps.
Hi guys,
One miraculous day, my efs folder became corrupt, when it just so happened to be the week after the hard drive on my computer took a dump! What a week this has been.. I was wondering if it is possible for someone to zip their EFS folder and send it to me to see if I can't get this phone to connect back to the network again. I honestly think there are applications on androids marketplace that will wipe things if you have superuser installed.. because it was like BAM, one morning I wake up and my efs folder was deleted the day after I had installed some new apps.
So my question is - Will someone send me a backup of their EFS? If that won't conflict with their phone of course -- I would send it back to Samsung, but their 3rd tier support has no idea what I'm talking about - they just hear root and think I'm a piece of trash.
Any help would be greatly appreciated - I have not seen anything about trying someone elses efs so I thought it could be a bit experimental as well.. Thanks
-Brett
Salmiery said:
Hi guys,
One miraculous day, my efs folder became corrupt, when it just so happened to be the week after the hard drive on my computer took a dump! What a week this has been.. I was wondering if it is possible for someone to zip their EFS folder and send it to me to see if I can't get this phone to connect back to the network again. I honestly think there are applications on androids marketplace that will wipe things if you have superuser installed.. because it was like BAM, one morning I wake up and my efs folder was deleted the day after I had installed some new apps.
So my question is - Will someone send me a backup of their EFS? If that won't conflict with their phone of course -- I would send it back to Samsung, but their 3rd tier support has no idea what I'm talking about - they just hear root and think I'm a piece of trash.
Any help would be greatly appreciated - I have not seen anything about trying someone elses efs so I thought it could be a bit experimental as well.. Thanks
-Brett
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is an interesting request, Brett.
I thought the efs.rfs file contains one's phone imei number/network id etc.
idk for sure...
I thought using someone else's imei is kinda like "let me borrow your ss# so i can check the ss office to see if mine is working.
I didn't know if you found this link and tried it?
http://forum.samdroid.net/f28/complete-imei-restore-how-1817/
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=882039
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=953436
Fortunately for me, I had a efs backup on my hd.
I think I also saw scripts in Zeus and Doctor ROM that backs up efs also prior to flash..
good luck
I wasn't trying to steal anyone's IMEI.. I just have tried multiple techniques, but I have not tried the first link..
I've been having trouble getting a shell with adb, does it need to be in download mode?
I was trying to see if it were possible to copy someone's existing files, and use a hex editor to change things, but reading into it, the IMEI is not able to be edited easily without knowing the encyrption type.
I'm just frustrated and have been back and forth with both at&t and also samsung (Their support is a joke, no one I spoke with even knew what the EFS folder was..)
I will try this technique and will report back later when I get home from work tonight. I've been reading a lot of similar issues with the null/null IMEI in the infuses and the guy at the AT&T store said that this was the reason they stopped selling the phone in their store.
Thanks for the help, I'll let you know what happens.
-Brett
Goodluck.
From the tone of your post, I didn't suspect any malice...I had a gist of what you were trying to do.
From reading some of links, there may be some method of recovery.
I hope that you're able to get it back.
I posted one a while back. I think it was in the q&a section. I won't be at my computer for a couple of days or I'd upload it for ya. Try searching or scrolling thru there.
Edit: I just uploaded an EFS.zip, unzip and flash the included efs.tar thru Odin or heimdall.
I had the same problem but i fixed it through Odin. There is an option in odin where you can click on the side (sorry i just reformated the comp so i dont have odin installed) that says something about the EFS. Try that, it fixed it for me.
On a related note. I thought I read somewhere that typical backups such as tibu and nandroid do NOT back up the efs folder. Is this correct? Should we all be doing this manually to protect against corruption?
Try searching here or on market. I remember there was this app called "nitrality" something. This app backs up EFS that we can restore in case we mess it up.
diablo009 said:
Try searching here or on market. I remember there was this app called "nitrality" something. This app backs up EFS that we can restore in case we mess it up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did try to dl that app and ran it. It didn't work for me. The app hung up the system until you fc it.
If you're versed in linux or Term emu, you can use script to back up your efs.
If you had flashed zeus or doctorz, there are scripts build in that backs up your efs.
if you had root explorer, you can find efs folder in your root. long press on the folder allows you to create zip or tar of this as well.
Any harm in just copy/paste the whole folder to external SD with root explorer? Then copy paste to windows over USB? Will permissions get messed up?
I think I've already backed it up but there have been a couple threads on this. Wonder if it should be part of superthread or a sticky...do this first :...
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using XDA App
rxnelson said:
Any harm in just copy/paste the whole folder to external SD with root explorer? Then copy paste to windows over USB? Will permissions get messed up?
I think I've already backed it up but there have been a couple threads on this. Wonder if it should be part of superthread or a sticky...do this first :...
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no problem with copy/paste that I know of.
Being cautious, I have a zip, a tar, and the whole folder on my PC, USB and box.net.
Hypothetically,
I have access to another Infuse on the same family plan at that, if i were to copy the efs folder to mine what would that do?
I want to make sure not to have the same IMEI number on the network though, but this could save me a lot of hassle...
any thoughts?
Read the threads on the links I provided...you will get more understanding.
I have multiple times, but the first post that seemed like it would be the best fix, I have to get him to send me a fixed nv_data file and he seems to be unresponsive at the moment.
I think I'm going to root the 2nd infuse, back up her efs folder (MULTIPLE times lol) and fix it so it's generic and not an exact replica of hers..
Do you see any problems there? I'm definitely not an expert at all with this.
Salmiery said:
I have multiple times, but the first post that seemed like it would be the best fix, I have to get him to send me a fixed nv_data file and he seems to be unresponsive at the moment.
I think I'm going to root the 2nd infuse, back up her efs folder (MULTIPLE times lol) and fix it so it's generic and not an exact replica of hers..
Do you see any problems there? I'm definitely not an expert at all with this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In order to see what is on the root of a phone, you may need to root it.
Once rooted, you can look for the efs folder.
I haven't used z4root in a while on an unrooted phone, I don't know if this program will let you see the root folder or not. It's possible.
The efs on my phone shows several programs and folders.
One of the folder is /imei. I suppose this is where the unique id is located.
read the thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1372455
as you can see, the efs contains unique id...i'm not sure of even how to make up a different imei file from using someone else's efs folder.
if your phone boots up but does not connect, if you go to settings/about phone/status
does it list the imei?
if it does, are you able to use a script in terminal emulator to back it up?
if you can't find the script, you can try flashing doctor or zeus rom, they have scripts to back up your efs folder. then try locating it on your phone.
the other thought i had was for you to call your provider to see if they can give you your previous imei number.
I'm only reasoning from what I have read...these are new territory to me.
Right, I have rooted my phone and for whatever reason the EFS folder is completely empty... The folder is there, but completley empty.
I have the IMEI number, its on the back of the phone as well as AT&T gave it to me.
The fact that my entire folder is empty, and I hadn't backed anything up because I never flashed the kernel or rom makes me think that the android marketplace does have malicious code that simply says:
if(phone==rooted){
wipe efs foler
}
continuing to pull my hair out and attempt new things, if anyone has any ideas let me know.
Salmiery said:
continuing to pull my hair out and attempt new things, if anyone has any ideas let me know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check out Post # 5, I just edited my post.
its not simply a folder its actually a partition, on Linux you can mount drives/partitions however you like so it can appear to be under another directory and be an entirely different device.
you can make a .rfs image from the dd command through adb or terminal emulator.
if it is corrupt you "may" be able to salvage it through options of the dd command.
I gotta look up the device path and whatnot but if there is anything on there, visable or not, you might be able to recover the unique files and paste them over the files from someone else's efs backup. if not I have heard but never tried it, but I heard that fromatting the partition will cause the system to generate a generic efs, but I don't know for sure.
edit: the device location is /dev/block/stl3
you can dump it to the SD card with
dd if=/dev/block/stl3 of=/sdcard/efs.rfs bs=4096
if there are bad blocks I think but not quite sure you can add noerror to the end
dd if=/dev/block/stl3 of=/sdcard/efs.rfs bs=4096 noerror
but if the information has actually been deleted unless it was overwritten it is mostly intact. it is not well known that delete doesn't actually delete the data, even after a format data can be recovered with the right program. if the dumps come up empty there is also dd_rescue and foremost but I don't know if those commands are available on android, but you may be able to loop mount the dump on a Linux box or in cygwin and try the ddrescue or foremost commands.
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linux-newbie-8/learn-the-dd-command-362506/
hopefully you can recover something. and learn something along the way. this is also useful for recovering deleted files and securely deleting stuff you want gone for real.
i remember I lost my efs on my captivate. There are tools in the forum to get it back.
Salmiery said:
Hi guys,
One miraculous day, my efs folder became corrupt, when it just so happened to be the week after the hard drive on my computer took a dump! What a week this has been.. I was wondering if it is possible for someone to zip their EFS folder and send it to me to see if I can't get this phone to connect back to the network again. I honestly think there are applications on androids marketplace that will wipe things if you have superuser installed.. because it was like BAM, one morning I wake up and my efs folder was deleted the day after I had installed some new apps.
So my question is - Will someone send me a backup of their EFS? If that won't conflict with their phone of course -- I would send it back to Samsung, but their 3rd tier support has no idea what I'm talking about - they just hear root and think I'm a piece of trash.
Any help would be greatly appreciated - I have not seen anything about trying someone elses efs so I thought it could be a bit experimental as well.. Thanks
-Brett
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Uh, NO than you. My EFS folder has nothing to do with yours. Don't know how that would work...
What is it? Because I want to download the mokeeOS, but the installation is confusing me, so I wanna know if the efs matters
Sent from my SGH-T959V using XDA
1. Yes efs matters a lot
2. I don't know a whole lot but it holds the network info, imei number, and alot of other really important things
Sent from my SGH-T959V using xda premium
Although there is a way to make sure you have a backup, flash this file in cwm
sourceforge.net/projects/teamacid/files/fb/cwm/cm7-efs-backup.zip/download
And there will be two files in the root of your sd card
Efs-backup.tar and efs-backup.tar.md5 ( I suggest save it to your computer, it saved my ass )
And you can restore this backup at anytime by flashing this
sourceforge.net/projects/teamacid/files/fb/cwm/cm7-efs-restore.zip/download
Good luck
Sent from my SGH-T959V using xda premium
Efs is the files system that holds the unique identifiers for your device. Without it, your phone is basically useless. You won't be able to connect to any network properly do things like phone calls, internet, texting, are all degraded, if they even work at all... Make sure you know what you are doing before messing with it. Fb created a vet good guide on the wiki. Follow it to a T!
Sent from my SGH-T959V using XDA
I would suggest using a root browser to copy the EFS folder to somewhere safe on your PC and copy a 2nd back-up to your SD card. I lost IMEI going from CM7 to moKeeOS but was able to easliy restore it with a back-up and a root browser.
The flashable EFS back-up/restore from FB should still be used, but with EFS/IMEI I don't think you can be too careful and backing it up manually as previously stated is a good idea.
Yeah, I keep multiple copies of it on my PC. The reason being is that I copy it whenever I do a backup before a flash. So I have a directory with the date with 3 folders: efs, nandroid, and sdcard. I used adb to copy them:
Code:
cd efs
adb pull /efs/
Probably overkill, but better to be safe than sorry, eh?
Ok, but once you lose IMEI and don't have a backup (I received this phone for repair), then what can I do?
serialteg said:
Ok, but once you lose IMEI and don't have a backup (I received this phone for repair), then what can I do?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's pretty much screwed without the OEM Samsung/Tmo software. You would have to send it to Samsung for repair, or you might get lucky and get an engineer to hook you up, but that is unlikely...
thomas.raines said:
It's pretty much screwed without the OEM Samsung/Tmo software. You would have to send it to Samsung for repair, or you might get lucky and get an engineer to hook you up, but that is unlikely...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for the answer. that OEM software isn't available in the forums or anywhere else for us? because I swear I flashed something OEM'ish without root with heimdall.
also, the imei is on the battery part of the phone, can't i fix it?
i read somewhere that you could use a phone just fine without imei on the about phone.
you can use the phone without imei, but it doesn't function as well as it would with it. Also, i was using titanium backup and it said my device's id was changed, and it showed my actual imei. If i were to restore it, would that fix the imei?
EFS help on the SGH-T959V
Basically, I've had a hell of a time with some EFS drama this weekend, made a total noob mistake, but in a stroke of luck I was able to "recover" so to speak my EFS even after it was supposedly "wiped."
After some thorough research and READING and bit of thought, I realized that the PIT mapping layouts between BML and MTD are indeed different, and that in theory if one remaps to BML (in layman's terms a stock partition map) then the EFS data originally on the phone gets correctly remapped (at least in my case it did).
To reiterate:
1. I did a nandroid backup. Basic ****. I hope to god you at least did this step too.
2. I used the cm7-efs-backup.zip script to backup my EFS. This was my first mistake. In my case, I don't know why I'm still researching, this script failed to make a backup .tar on my sdcard or anywhere else for that matter. It didn't throw any error messages either on the screen in the process. Not trying to attack the authors of that script, I'm just saying it didn't work for me this time.
3. I pushed the TWRP boot.img with Heimdall
4. I used the cm7-efs-restore.zip script which also "succeeded" but did nothing to restore any sort of EFS obviously because there was no backup to begin with.
5. I flashed R11 unofficial cm7 and booted up. Everything was fine but the IMEI was corrupted and I confirmed that the new MTD EFS partition was empty. On T-Mobile I could place no calls and only got sporadic and intermittent data access.
It was at this point I was sure I had ruined my phone.
After some more careful reading I realized that the original EFS was still present on the firmware, however the new MTD layout I flashed (wisely) stores its EFS partition in a different physical location. In theory, I thought if I reverted to BML and a stock ROM then I would recover the original EFS. In my case, this was successful.
1. I accessed the most recent "boot.img" file from my most recent nandroid and pushed that back to the device with Heimdall
2. At this point you have to flip your USB drivers back to USB Composite Device.
3. I then used a Heimdall one click to return to a rooted stock KJ6 "Gremlin Remover"
4. Upon restart, everything was fine (sigh of relief)
At this point, I'm still trying to determine why my EFS cannot be backed up with a few automatic tools. I made a backup of the file structure, but even lyriquidperfection's EFS Pro 1.4.7 can't make a backup of the EFS. It can access the ADB Server, but the backup 'fails'.
I'll check back in after I figure out why.
Hopefully this info will help anyone else who has switched to MTD and has a missing EFS.
nick.tansy said:
At this point, I'm still trying to determine why my EFS cannot be backed up with a few automatic tools. I made a backup of the file structure, but even lyriquidperfection's EFS Pro 1.4.7 can't make a backup of the EFS. It can access the ADB Server, but the backup 'fails'.
I'll check back in after I figure out why.
Hopefully this info will help anyone else who has switched to MTD and has a missing EFS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had similar issues yesterday. If your trying to install the twrp and then downgrade to the version with wifi dont flash the boot.img with heimdall. Follow the instructions for installing via cwm.
Just install the zip that has twrp in it. But follow the directions for normal cwm installation.
Also when trying to make a backup of your efs, make sure system is mounted. I initially did not have any problem but I was on antonx's kernel and when you flash with that recovery it would mount properly. What is happening is system isnt getting mounted. So its making a null backup.
The most important thing to do is when you are trying to make a backup of your efs is mount system!
Hi have you tried the updated EFS Pro v1.7.13? It can now automatically detect the mount point of the '/efs' folder for back up and restore. Also many many bug fixes and new code to communicate with adb.exe alot more quickly and efficiently.
Head over to the forum and check it out.
I already solved this problem, but this would seem useful other people with the same problem. But what forums are you exactly referring to?
Sent from my SGH-T959V using XDA
mierkat09 said:
I already solved this problem, but this would seem useful other people with the same problem. But what forums are you exactly referring to?
Sent from my SGH-T959V using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This one.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=18524176
Update 9/1/2012: A user has successfully restored with this method! Continue to "Testimonials" for more info!
Update 9/2/2012: TrevE has now come up with a way to leverage Samsung's built-in restore to your advantage! Read below for more!
Update 9/3/2012: Changed adb commands to reduce Operation not permitted problems.
Thanks to the efforts of some great developers, there is now *possibly* a more comprehensive method to backup your IMEI. While I have not personally tested a restore using this method, a user in IRC has done a manual NVRAM wipe and restored it using this method, without the roaming issues caused by a occasionally-bungled QPST restore or manual IMEI injection. In addition, posts in this thread indicate a successful restore from an actual occurrence of the problem, all without the use of QPST and also without any roaming issues!
Before I go any further, the same old disclaimer still applies; you accept all responsibility for what you do to your own device!
Theory:
The theory is that the S3 has, in the boot process, a routine which is "tripped" when it detects an error condition. This routine is designed to "save" your IMEI by restoring images from two built-in backup blocks. The problem is, it actually does the opposite; for whatever boneheaded reason, the default backup blocks contain dummy images with an IMEI of 0 and no carrier identification. This is why your phone forgets what carrier it's on and what its IMEI number is; the restore routine actually overwrites the phone's only copy of the IMEI data with a dummy. Because much more data is lost than just the IMEI, this is also why a QPST injection (not a QCN restore) persistently leaves you on roaming.
In an initial attempt to solve this problem, users have attempted to "dd", or create an image of, a single block supposedly containing the IMEI when the phone is still in a good state. This is the efs.sbn method that you may have seen. However, upon further inspection, it turns out the IMEI data is actually spread across five different block devices, hence why the efs.sbn method is either ineffective or leaves you on roaming! After the block devices were identified, a SynergyROM team member created an easy-to-use recovery zip that allows you to image these five blocks, allowing you to reflash them should the Samsung boot process overwrite your IMEI! Re-flashing these blocks after they've been crapped up virtually ensures your phone has been fully restored to its pre-IMEI-loss condition, thereby preventing roaming or data issues seen consistently with a manual injection, or intermittenly with a QPST restore. You do not need SynergyROM to use this tool; I've done it from full stock.
But wait: there's more. About a week after the development of this tool, several unused boot entry points were discovered that revealed a way to control Samsung's built-in "safety" feature and actually make it work properly! Two backup blocks were put in by Samsung themselves; "fsg" and "backup". The great news is that, although these images may contain dummies by default, you can instruct the bootloader to write your good NVRAM data to them so that the good data is what's written to NVRAM in the event of an error. That is, instead of restoring a dummy image over your good IMEI...it restores a good backup instead and you don't lose a thing! How awesome is that?
Developers are now recommending a new IMEI backup regimen, leveraging Samsung's built-in IMEI backup and SynergyROM's manual backup, together with an optional QCN backup you can do for good measure. Of course I can't make any guarantees, but doing this backup should leave you in such a good spot that almost nothing can total your IMEI or leave you in a roaming state. Here are the new instructions on how to backup your IMEI, iron-clad. Do Parts A and B, in order, C is optional but will give you added peace of mind.
Backup:
Part A (Samsung's built-in backup):
1. If your phone does not have Terminal Emulator installed, you will need to use ADB. Download and install the Android SDK platform-tools for your platform. This is a bit non-trivial as it requires the installation of the Android SDK, however, you can find a guide for installing adb here. After installing, open a command prompt and navigate to the "platform-tools" folder within the SDK, where adb is stored. If you need additional help on this, simply ask in this thread.
If your phone is rooted and has Terminal Emulator installed, you don't need to do any of this. Simply open up the Terminal Emulator and go to step 2.
2. For ADB: Connect your phone to the computer and ensure it is in "Debug Mode" (Settings->Developer Options->USB debugging). Then. in the command prompt, type the following:
Code:
adb reboot nvbackup
For Terminal Emulator: The actual "beef" of the command is the "reboot nvbackup" line. Therefore, if you have Terminal Emulator installed, you can just run the command straight off your phone. Enter these two commands from the app:
Code:
su
reboot nvbackup
3. Your phone will reboot and copy the contents of two IMEI partitions to the two built-in backup blocks. You may see tiny blue text on the bootloader screen indicating that it is copying.
4. Allow it to finish and then reboot back into Android. The "fsg" and "backup" block devices now contain your IMEI information as they should have in the first place.
Part B (SynergyROM's "Plan B" manual backup):
1. Download the attachment at the bottom of this post. This is an update ZIP you can run right from recovery.
2. Reboot into recovery. On stock this can be done by turning off the phone and then turning it back on while holding UP and HOME.
3. CWM: Use VOL UP and VOL DOWN together with HOME to select "install zip from sdcard" then "choose zip from sdcard". Navigate to the folder you downloaded it to (most likely Download/). Select the zip you just downloaded to "flash".
TWRP: Touch "install" and navigate to the folder you downloaded the zip to (most likely Download/). Swipe to confirm flash.
4. Allow the backup to complete successfully. "Flash" is a bit of a misnomer; this is actually just a script that will safely backup your EFS and radio information to /sdcard/synergyrom/backup without touching your ROM at this point. When the script completes, reboot.
Part C: Backup with QPST:
Once the gold standard of IMEI backup, this method (in my opinion) should now be done only in the event of an unlikely complete catastrophe where neither Samsung's built-in restore nor SynergyROM's restore works. Simply follow the instructions here for extreme peace of mind; you don't need to do this if you don't want to, but I personally did.
Restore:
Do not do this unless your IMEI has been lost!
Performing Part A of the backup should ensure that you never lose your IMEI in the first place; the theory being that the Samsung built-in backup now has a good image to restore itself, as opposed to a dummy image. However, things may still happen. If you've still lost your IMEI, perform each of these methods in order of priority, "A" being the first.
Restore Plan A:
Run the following command from adb, just like when you backed up (have Android SDK installed, connect phone, and ensure USB debugging is enabled):
Code:
adb reboot nvrestore
This method triggers Samsung's built-in IMEI restore; except this time, you got good images on your side. Simply allow the phone to restore and reboot itself when completed. NEVER PERFORM THIS COMMAND WITHOUT DOING PART A OF "BACKUP" FIRST; THIS WOULD RESTORE THE DUMMY IMAGES INSTEAD AND WIPE YOUR IMEI!
Restore Plan B:
Sometimes a fluke happens and the nvrestore does not work. That's why this one is Plan B and not Plan A. Good thing you did Part B of "Backup"! Rather than instructing Samsung's bootloader to restore your NVRAM, this method will do so manually from recovery using a manually done backup.
It's just like when you backed up, except now you want to flash the zip containing your NVRAM info that the other zip built for you. This zip is located in /sdcard/synergyrom/backup. Simply navigate to this path and flash the zip beginning with "keybackup"; this will write images to 5 block devices from a time when your IMEI was all good. Reboot the phone; if all went well, you now have your IMEI back with no roaming!
Restore Plan C:
Both methods above may fail you in extremely unlikely circumstances. At this point, you'll need to try using QPST to get your IMEI back. If you did Part C in "Backup", you can follow instructions in that same thread to get you back up and running. In most QPST restores, you shouldn't have any issues with data or roaming.
Restore Plan D:
The planets have lined up, the Cubs have won the World Series, and all three above methods have failed you in what is surely a sign of the apocalypse. Far more likely, though, is that you didn't have a backup of anything and your IMEI is gone for good. The good news is that you can still get your phone working; the bad news is that you'll be stuck on roaming and may have problems with data. You'll need to perform an "IMEI injection" which is a kludgy last-resort restore method that manually writes the IMEI to NVRAM; the link I provided in Part C of "Backup" will tell you how to do it.
Testimonials:
This method has been tested good by the following users in this thread!
amaury48 said:
Just flashed CM10 09-01 nightly and lost data, confirmed I lost my IMEI. I had used the process in the OP a while ago to backup my IMEI. Just would like to confirm that I just flashed the backup it created and happy to report all is well again. Thanks for the post of this tool........saved my butt......
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
alee said:
I'll join the club. Lost my IMEI while doing the latest CM10 nightly. Restored and was back in action in no time.
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Click to collapse
Nght12 said:
Hey, used your backup method and ended up having to use it later in the day. It works. I'd reply but I can't yet due to being a new member here
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Click to collapse
Please continue to let everyone know if this restore has worked for you after an IMEI loss!
Happy flashing!
TrevE said:
The other trickery we ran into is partitions do not like to be written to for whatever reason outside of package_extract_file right outa the zip. dd'ing directly back failed over and over, I have no clue why, poor esc must have flashed 100 zips before I gave up looking into it. So the updater zip restore uses only package_extract_file, actually writing partitions out properly. I have high hopes that it will actually work, but until tested otherwise do as many types of backups as you can
Click to expand...
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Your restore dd commands won't work.
con247 said:
Your restore dd commands won't work.
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Click to collapse
Good catch. I'll revise the guide appropriately.
So will this work on any ROM?
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app
Yeah I'm on stock rom just rooted an cwm. Can I flash this zip an since I don't have synergy, where will the backup be stored?
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app
Worked on CM10.
I'm all for redundancy of backups, so here's hoping this method fully works when restoring. I have not experience a loss of IMEI myself, but I definitely want to be safe. I know the original efs backup method was proven to be an incomplete backup, but I thought the QPST NV backup method was proven to work? Are you saying that restoring with tthe QPST method (where you have an NV backup before you lose IMEO) does not work and will still having roaming issues?
At any rate, it will be interesting to see if this is the "one true backup" to rule them all for IMEI. So basically, you flash the zip in recovery and it creates another zip with the backed up contents. And in the event of an IMEI loss, you just flash the new zip and should be good to go? At least, that's the theory, right?
Travisimo said:
I'm all for redundancy of backups, so here's hoping this method fully works when restoring. I have not experience a loss of IMEI myself, but I definitely want to be safe. I know the original efs backup method was proven to be an incomplete backup, but I thought the QPST NV backup method was proven to work? Are you saying that restoring with tthe QPST method (where you have an NV backup before you lose IMEO) does not work and will still having roaming issues?
At any rate, it will be interesting to see if this is the "one true backup" to rule them all for IMEI. So basically, you flash the zip in recovery and it creates another zip with the backed up contents. And in the event of an IMEI loss, you just flash the new zip and should be good to go? At least, that's the theory, right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You nailed it!
Nice, I'm assuming this is similar to what the Synergy ROM team is now including?
nyjumpman said:
Nice, I'm assuming this is similar to what the Synergy ROM team is now including?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its the same. Just a standalone version.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2
Confirmed successful backup using CWM.
I can confirm this backup method works using CWM.
I first tried it with TWRP via Goo Manager and the script didn't execute properly.
I tried flashing the file while still in TWRP and I couldn't even find the zip file anywhere, user error I'm guessing.. lol.
So I flashed CWM over TWRP via ROM Manager PRO and flashed the zip file with CWM via ROM Manager PRO and the zip script executed nicely. I found the backed up zip file where the OP said it would be.
Here's to hoping I never have to use the backed up file, but it's good to know I have it there if needed.
Thanks again OP!
xCHPx said:
So will this work on any ROM?
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This should work regardless of ROM as it is a recovery zip. I've tested it with CWM: I've never used TWRP so I don't know how well it would work in TWRP.
tu3218 said:
Yeah I'm on stock rom just rooted an cwm. Can I flash this zip an since I don't have synergy, where will the backup be stored?
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've tested a backup successfully on full stock, rooted. The backup will be stored in a folder called "synergyrom" but this just the name the tool gives to the directory (as the tool was created by the Synergy team) and has no impact on function or dependency on SynergyROM.
Travisimo said:
I'm all for redundancy of backups, so here's hoping this method fully works when restoring. I have not experience a loss of IMEI myself, but I definitely want to be safe. I know the original efs backup method was proven to be an incomplete backup, but I thought the QPST NV backup method was proven to work? Are you saying that restoring with tthe QPST method (where you have an NV backup before you lose IMEO) does not work and will still having roaming issues?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
QPST method is not perfect; it is better than a simple IMEI injection, but the boot bug writes crap over much more than just the IMEI. This is why either method may leave you on roaming (althogh a QPST restore only sporadically causes roaming). In addition, various DRM keys may be erased as well, leaving you potentially unable to play back HDCP/PlayReady titles; QPST does not restore these.
At any rate, it will be interesting to see if this is the "one true backup" to rule them all for IMEI. So basically, you flash the zip in recovery and it creates another zip with the backed up contents. And in the event of an IMEI loss, you just flash the new zip and should be good to go? At least, that's the theory, right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's correct. When you "flash" the backup zip, nothing actually is written to the ROM as far as I can tell; it runs just like a script/batch file and saves your backup zip to /sdcard/synergyrom. The tool itself creates a new flashable zip in this directory, one that does modify your unit, which you can then use only in the event that the bootloader craps up the NVRAM.
Just did this on cm10. Backed up without issue and I see the folder it created. Thank you. I've done qpst as well so now I feel very safe
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2
hopesrequiem said:
Just did this on cm10. Backed up without issue and I see the folder it created. Thank you. I've doneSame. Thanks for the info.ll so now I feel very safe
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Xparent Blue Tapatalk 2
So this requires an unlocked bootloader? I just did this but it skipped because my bootloader is still locked. Is that correct in that it needs to be unlocked for this backup process to work?
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app
Just did this, thanks!
I now have 3 different types of backups. I feel safe now if I ever lose it.
Safe-r, I should clarify.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2
Made my back up on unofficial cm10 0816. Thanks.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium
tu3218 said:
So this requires an unlocked bootloader? I just did this but it skipped because my bootloader is still locked. Is that correct in that it needs to be unlocked for this backup process to work?
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is no excuse to not be unlocked at this point.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2
tu3218 said:
So this requires an unlocked bootloader? I just did this but it skipped because my bootloader is still locked. Is that correct in that it needs to be unlocked for this backup process to work?
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol ur still locked???
here. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1839791
enjoy bro. now you got no excuces
Stryker1297 said:
lol ur still locked???
here. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1839791
enjoy bro. now you got no excuces
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Click to collapse
i know i know lol I've been hesitant because of the IMEI issue and the phone is pretty damn good as is. But I'm slowly leaning towards flashing custom roms to get rid of the bloat, and since there are more ways now to hopefully restore the IMEI in case its deleted.
I just OTA'ed to ICS, and the current root isnt working . I know that one of the prerequisites is to wipe data and cache to get it working, but i want to keep my data, and was hoping that there may be a way to either root the phone and then use titanium backup, or find some other way to back it up. I have tried ADB backup, that finishes in less than a second and creates a backup file that's 1kb big, so thats obviously not working, and suggestions would be helpful (With adb backup, i use the command "adb backup -all -nosystem -apk -f F:/backup.ab")
What method did ya use? This? http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1742879 I was able to root ma ics with that!
I Also rooted using Lifehacker7's linked post.
May be you are connecting phone in 'mass storage mode', when I rooted, it was in 'MTP Mode'.
May be you need to reinstall Motorola drivers.
NHS2008 said:
I Also rooted using Lifehacker7's linked post.
May be you are connecting phone in 'mass storage mode', when I rooted, it was in 'MTP Mode'.
May be you need to reinstall Motorola drivers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Reinstalled, and also tried in every USB mode (Surprisingly camera also worked).
Version: 6.7.2_GC-220-EDS-3-65
this rom can't be root by "http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1742879" method.
On the gfan forum they found another method by replacing boot.img "http://bbs.gfan.com/android-5201783-1-1.html"
I'm not sure if this method can be used in other ICS roms or not.
Maeur1 said:
I just OTA'ed to ICS, and the current root isnt working . I know that one of the prerequisites is to wipe data and cache to get it working, but i want to keep my data, and was hoping that there may be a way to either root the phone and then use titanium backup, or find some other way to back it up. I have tried ADB backup, that finishes in less than a second and creates a backup file that's 1kb big, so thats obviously not working, and suggestions would be helpful (With adb backup, i use the command "adb backup -all -nosystem -apk -f F:/backup.ab")
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try this method as laid out in the following link:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1779968
MAKE SURE THE MD5 MATCHES.
This SHOULD work. :laugh: