Develop Bugs

[REF] Backup /efs folder. IMPORTANT.

This guide is based on a guide by Candanga on the i9000 forums, and some commands from supercurio
Please hit thanks on their posts and show them some love for the write up.
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I’ve compiled a quick guide to instruct how to make a copy of the /efs folder. I’ve found in many threads suggestions about backing up this folder but the methods itself are very general. Most of the times they suggest to “root and copy the folder” with Root Explorer or similar, but usually it’s not that easy or it just doesn't work for everyone.
This guide ASUMES you have read this Excellent Guide by Darkstrikerfirst:
H E R E <-- Make sure to read the ADB Guide.
I recommend doing this with a Mobile just taken out of the box or with any Official ROM of its Service Provider. If you have already Flashed your phone with another ROM but its working fine, then you can use that /efs also.
Why the /efs folder?
This is a very sensitive system folder that contains Phone-specific information such as the IMEI (encrypted in the nv_data.bin), wireless devices MAC addresses, product code (also in the nv_data.bin), and much more. Often users trying to change product codes or trying to unlock the mobile will end up corrupting data in this location.
Why back it up?
Well, let’s resume it saying that backing-up this little folder will keep you away from Samsung service centres.
***WARNING: I take no responsibility to any damage caused by the methods cited and/or written here. Their sole purpose is to back-up data and not to alter in any way the integrity of the original files of the mobile***
What you will need:
Rooted SGS II to get permissions as a SU (Super User) and perform the backup
I would suggest learning a little about the terminal commands used (in case you are not familiar with them), as it’s better to know what you are doing rather than typing strings like a little chimp without knowing what they are; if you are a little lazy, then you have a good chance bricking your mobile. <- Busybox Commands(or Google them)
Terminal Emulator by Jack Palevich (available from the market) <-Terminal Emulator or use ADB which is included in the SDK Development Tools
The standard prompt of terminal (adb) is a $ sign. Once you enter “SU” it will become a # Sign.
***NOTE: Make sure to keep an eye on the screen of your SGS II during this process, because it may request SU permissions [currently doesn't on CF-root]; else, you will get an error (just if it’s the first time). In Terminal Emulator you will need to reset the app after granting permissions cause it usually freezes***
*Remember: to use ADB you need to enable USB DEBUGGING under Applications/Development in your SGS II.
Here are 3 methods, I recommend that you do both Clean and RAW.
Basic, unix permissions lost :
Code:
su
busybox cp -a /efs /sdcard/efs/
Clean :
Code:
su
busybox tar zcvf /sdcard/efs/efs-backup.tar.gz /efs
After this, you will end up with the file efs-backup.tar.gz in your INTERNAL SDCARD in sdcard/efs/, which is a “tarball” or a ZIP of the /efs folder. That file is your backup. You can expand it with Winrar.
You can also back up the mmcblk0p1 (where /efs is stored) under /dev/block which can greatly support in recovering your IMEI in case of a screw-up:
RAW :
Code:
su
cat /dev/block/mmcblk0p1 > /sdcard/efs/efs_dev-block-mmcblk0p1.img
Same thing, the target is the INTERNAL SDCARD in sdcard/efs/, so go ahead and copy the file.

+1 just do it....

Can this not be tasked by using a root file explorer and copying efs folder as i have always done .
jje

JJEgan said:
Can this not be tasked by using a root file explorer and copying efs folder as i have always done .
jje
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From the thread:
I’ve found in many threads suggestions about backing up this folder but the methods itself are very general. Most of the times they suggest to “root and copy the folder” with Root Explorer or similar, but usually it’s not that easy or it just doesn't work for everyone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And just copying the folder won't preserve permissions etc.

JJEgan said:
Can this not be tasked by using a root file explorer and copying efs folder as i have always done .
jje
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As long as you don't copy it to /sdcard, because it's VFAT and you'll lose the permissions settings on the files. If you copy it to /data or something then that's fine.

bumpity bump

RyanZA said:
As long as you don't copy it to /sdcard, because it's VFAT and you'll lose the permissions settings on the files. If you copy it to /data or something then that's fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks the SGS 1 EFs i copied was copied to external sd card and then copied off to PC . Did likewise on SGS 2 using Super Manager .
So according to what you are saying that was not going to back up if needed .
jje

JJEgan said:
Thanks the SGS 1 EFs i copied was copied to external sd card and then copied off to PC . Did likewise on SGS 2 using Super Manager .
So according to what you are saying that was not going to back up if needed .
jje
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It would probably have worked, but it would have made your EFS files readable and writable by any app that tried - not the end of the world since it's unlikely that any apps would try, but you still might as well avoid it if you can. I don't think there are any executables in EFS or anything that this will actually break though.

Thanks i did lose IMEI at one flash on SGS1 but a second flash recovered it .
I do like full backup of original firmware and anything else before playing with phone .
jje

I've done all 3 forms of backup myself. . Clean, raw and basic

thanks for the info. have had close calls previously and having backups would have helped ease the stress

Updated first post

Vodafone Fimrware backup BUKE1
Guys,
Have got a new samsung from Vodafone UK , but the firmware kernel seems a bit different, BUKE1. Is this something now and is the above method correct to backup the entire firmware so that it might be useful for vodafone samsung users. Is there an easy guide to backup the firmware ?
Regards
VJ

Guys can someone give me a bit of advice pleeeease
I followed this guide but am a bit worried i might have messed it up, i'm comfortable with command prompt as i'm a software dev but haven't used linux commands much.
Anyway i used the ADB shell from the Android SDK tools and entered the first command to backup the efs directory to the internal sdcard....
Basic, unix permissions lost :
Code:
su
busybox cp -a /efs /sdcard/efs/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And i got a lot of
Code:
cp: can't preserve ownership of 'sdcard/efs/...' : Operation not permitted
messages flashing up?
However i checked to see if the backup had been made and it had? What does this mean?
Next i compressed it using...
Clean :
Code:
su
busybox tar zcvf /sdcard/efs/efs-backup.tar.gz /efs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which seemed to work as i have the file in the place i expect
When i did the next step...
You can also back up the mmcblk0p1 (where /efs is stored) under /dev/block which can support greatly to recover your IMEI in case of a screw-up:
RAW :
Code:
su
cat /dev/block/mmcblk0p1 > /sdcard/efs_dev-block-mmcblk0p1.img
Same thing, the target is the INTERNAL SDCARD in sdcard/efs/, so go ahead and copy the file.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It completed really quickly, with no messages telling me it was done but when i checked root explorer i couldn't find /dev/block/mmcblk0p1?
What has it done with it? I have dev/block/ but there is no mmcblk0p1? Although i do have /sdcard/efs_dev-block-mmcblk0p1.img. Should i have both?
From what i understand cat concatenates files and prints them to standard output, so i'm assuming the > is piping the std output to the internal sdcard?
Sorry for the questions but i thought i understood what i was doing but the last step and the "can't preserve ownership of.." messages from the first step threw me
Could someone explain this to me a little ;p

These aren't steps but rather separate methods achieving different things. Don't bother about the first one - it notes unix permissions lost , which is why you are seeing the can't preserve ownership messages. The files still backup but correct r/w permissions do not. You may as well chuck the files really, since you managed the tarball (second instruction). Just grab this and backup to external storage, in case you ever need it.
The raw backup will be under sdcard as you have found - stash this away somewhere safe too. You won't find mmcblk0p1 in root explorer as it is a partition, not a folder.

Thanks for the swift reply simion_levi
These aren't steps but rather separate methods achieving different things. Don't bother about the first one - it notes unix permissions lost , which is why you are seeing the can't preserve ownership messages. The files still backup but correct r/w permissions do not. You may as well chuck the files really, since you managed the tarball (second instruction). Just grab this and backup to external storage, in case you ever need it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do if i move the tarball to the external drive i can get rid of the sdcard/efs directory i copied to the internal card? The tarball has all the correct permissions?
The raw backup will be under sdcard as you have found - stash this away somewhere safe too. You won't find mmcblk0p1 in root explorer as it is a partition, not a folder.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok i didn't realise it was a partition, so i've just created an image of the partition that the efs folder resides on? Should i copy this to my external sd card as well?
Cheers brother

No problem! Yes, you've got it - backup the tarball and the partition image to computers, external drives etc so you can recover back to the phone in case of future catastrophe. The sdcard/efs directory can be deleted as the tarball contains exactly the same files (but with correct permissions).

Awesome, will get it done later. Out of interest how do you recover the partition image in the event of a disaster occurring?
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App

One question please, since i stumbled on this one almost by luck.
Is there anything else to save before departing from stock?
Thanks.

Okay, so this guide assumes I already rooted my phone, but as a newbie I am completely in the dark about what does and what does not potentially harm the /efs. I would rather backup EVERYTHING before I flash/change anything, but from what I have read so far I need at least root to do backups.
Would it be safe to flash the Lite'ning Rom v1.1, coming from stock I9100XWKE2/I9100XENKE1/I9100XXKDJ/I9100XWKE2, and then backup mmcblk0p1?
Thanks!

[Q] Backup one galaxy nexus to another?

Hi all:
I got a new galaxy nexus that i'd like to use as my main phone, but I don't want to go through the trouble of setting it up again, my current gnex is just perfectly setup. They both have the same version of android (4.0.4).
I was going to to a clockwork mod backup of the current phone, move it to the new phone and restore there, but I think I'll mess up the IMEI if I do that?
What additional steps do I need to carry out to preserve the phone's IMEI?
Thanks in advance.

pcbroch said:
Hi all:
I got a new galaxy nexus that i'd like to use as my main phone, but I don't want to go through the trouble of setting it up again, my current gnex is just perfectly setup. They both have the same version of android (4.0.4).
I was going to to a clockwork mod backup of the current phone, move it to the new phone and restore there, but I think I'll mess up the IMEI if I do that?
What additional steps do I need to carry out to preserve the phone's IMEI?
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If both have absolutely the same ROM, restore just the data backup, not the system backup, and you should be fine.

You can copy the IMEI on the original nexus to the other? Wouldnt that be best?
Is so follow these steps (it may look much, but i dont think it would take long if u want to keep your original imei number!
You must have:
-Root
-Root explorer for copying files to and from EFS folder
-Android SDK for the ADB tools or Terminal in your phone.
IMEI is stored in ".nv_data" file in ORIGINAL SHIPPED EFS folder too, so you just have to do these:
1) make a copy of your EFS folder to your sdcard using root explorer and then make a backup of the folder to your computer [ to have another copy if you had to format sd card sometime ]
2) delete the EFS folder (BE SURE YOU HAVE BACKED IT UP IN A SAFE PLACE AS SAID IN STEP 1) from the root of your phone using root explorer.
3) reset the phone, after that, go to the root, and you can see that the EFS folder is still there, don't make any mistake, this EFS folder is new and generated by the android OS.
4) go to EFS folder using root explorer, and delete "nv_data.bin", "nv_data.bin.md5".
5) go to your backed up EFS folder on your sdcard, copy the "imei" folder to the EFS folder at the root of your phone, then again go to the backed up EFS folder at yout sdcard and copy the " .nv_data " file to your EFS folder at the root of your phone using root explorer, NOTE: the dot in first of nv_data is not a mistake, copy the ".nv_data" file.
6) make another copy of the ".nv_data" file in EFS folder in your phone, so you would have 2 copies of ".nv_data" in EFS folder
7) rename one of ".nv_data" files to "nv_data.bin" and another one to "nv_data.bin.bak"
8) at your PC open CMD at the ADB tool path, or run Terminal at your phone enter these commands:
adb shell ( use this command of you use ADB, if you're using terminal, skip this line )
su ( ALLOW THE MESSAGE CAME AT YOUR PHONE's DISPLAY BY SUPERUSER PROGRAM )
chown 1001:radio /efs/nv_data.bin
9) reset your phone.... after that you have your original IMEI. you can check your IMEI by dialing *#06#.
Sent from my LT26i using xda premium

HinotoriBR said:
If both have absolutely the same ROM, restore just the data backup, not the system backup, and you should be fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to work, my IMEI gets clobbered to some generic IMEI when I do this.
Off to trying try sikiduck's suggestion.

Sikiduck said:
IMEI is stored in ".nv_data" file in ORIGINAL SHIPPED EFS folder too, so you just have to do these
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stupid question... there is no efs folder. Do you mean /factory? There are nv_data files in /data/radio as well.
I'll play with these a bit and see.

You got root?

Sikiduck said:
You got root?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I do. I tried playing with the nv_data files, but I can't get the original IMEI to come back no matter what I do.

[Q] Where is the nv_data.bin located on S3 i747m android 4.4.2

Hi,
I have a rooted Galaxy S3 i747m that I need to find the nv_data.bin file.
It has stock 4.4.2 KitKat.
I have used Root Explorer and other file managers however I cannot see this file. It is NOT in the EFS folder as far as I can see. I have put it every search mode I could, mounted R/W...
Does 4.4.2 even use a nv_data.bin file or does it use another file? Is is it encrypted? Hidden?
I have searched all over but all I can find is people telling me to check my EFS folder, root my phone, etc.. but I still can't find it.
I know this is a pretty important file so possibly Samsung has done something to make it inaccessible?
Still with all the expertise in this forum there must be someone who can tell me where it is, how to find it, or which other file replaced it (if this is the case).
Please do not ask me why I want to find it,what I need it for I am not asking for any other information, I just want to find it because I want to know where it is and how I can get to it ...simple. I believe when we own something we should be able to access it without restrictions and I am curious about why I cannot find it.
I have used an NV reader to see the information so I presume the file is somewhere.
I can provide any other information about the phone if that helps.

Screwed up my M8, trying to remove the Carrier IQ. HELP!!

Tried to remove the tmobile Carrier IQ from my device, last week. I used Solid explorer, to do it. This is the list:
/system/app
QXDM2SD.apk
QXDM2SD.odex
HtcResetNotify.apk
HtcResetNotify.odex
Htcloglevel.apk
Htcloglevel.odex
Smith.apk
Smith.odex
Udove.apk
Udove.odex
/system/priv-app
IQ-tmobile-release-signed.apk ???????
IQ-tmobile-release-signed.odex ???????
IQToggle.signed.apk
IQToggle.signed.odex
MyBreeze.apk
MyBreeze.odex
/system/lib
system/lib/libiq_service_tmobile_2.2.so
/data/data
com.carrieriq.tmobile
com.carrieriq.tmobile.IQToggle
The two questionable files above were slightly different, on my device. They read:
IQ-tmobile-release-unsigned.signed.apk
IQ-tmobile-release-unsigned.signed.odex
Against my better judgment, I continued to delete all of those files. Now, I can't even get past the banner on the home screen. It says, "Unfortunately, System Manager Application has stopped." I went to my bootloader and did a factory reset. Then, went to TWRP and did another factory reset and wiped the cache, dalvik & data. I used Firewater to unlock, root & S-OFF from KitKat Stock 4.4.2 and would prefer to keep it if possible. I had absolutely no problems with that version. The pictures are below.
As you can see, everything seems to be perfectly unaffected. I get calls, texts, voicemails, and every notification. It won't let me go beyond the home screen. If anyone can find KitKat 4.4.2 Stock Rom for Tmobile USA, I'd greatly appreciate it.

I am guessing you didn't do a backup before hand?

bradley_e_smith said:
I am guessing you didn't do a backup before hand?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, I did a Titanium & NAND backup. But I didn't keep a copy of the NAND, in the internal storage. I just got an OTG Adapter. Gonna see if I can push the NAND onto the internal storage. Hopefully, it'll work. If not, I could definitely use your expertise.

Well then, all you need to do is to unpack the nand backup on your PC, and find the missing files and using TRWP mount / as rw and push the files back to your phone.

bradley_e_smith said:
Well then, all you need to do is to unpack the nand backup on your PC, and find the missing files and using TRWP mount / as rw and push the files back to your phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So, how do I do that?

Take your backup. the files that end in .win000, win001, win002, etc are tar files. So the easiest way would be to get a 'tar' program (cygwin has one built into it), and looking at each file look (tar -vtf [filename] -> will list the contents of the archive) for your missing files. By using -xvf option you can extract the file(s) you need.
BTW: On my lollipop backup of my M8 phone I didn't see any file that "IQ" in the filename, so kitkat must be different than lollipop.
-brad

how to recover ime no backup imei

hello friends and senior member of xda and junior member of xda developers.i have lost imei and then my bluetooth,wifi,and network doesnt work.Any body please help in this problem.i m stucked....

The only way is getting a riff box to restore your IMEI.
You can try mine, however im not held liable for any damage this may cause your phone.
Root your phone,
Install root explorer
delete entire efs folder on the root of your phone once you open root explorer
decompress the efs folder i attached
reboot your phone first
go back to root explorer and copy the files of the extracted efs.rar file (copy all of the files)
paste those files under the root of your phone and under the efs folder
copy and replace any files already under the folder
Reboot your phone once again
and Pray
I tested that on both different I9100, i havent tried it yet on N7100.
Test it on your own risk!
Dont forget to hit the thanks button if it worked

thank you for your respone.i will try your idea.

[email protected] said:
The only way is getting a riff box to restore your IMEI.
You can try mine, however im not held liable for any damage this may cause your phone.
Root your phone,
Install root explorer
delete entire efs folder on the root of your phone once you open root explorer
decompress the efs folder i attached
reboot your phone first
go back to root explorer and copy the files of the extracted efs.rar file (copy all of the files)
paste those files under the root of your phone and under the efs folder
copy and replace any files already under the folder
Reboot your phone once again
and Pray
I tested that on both different I9100, i havent tried it yet on N7100.
Test it on your own risk!
Dont forget to hit the thanks button if it worked
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i have tried but no luck because i have deleted it after reboot it doesnt gone then i del without rebooting its and paste the all that u give me.then i rebooted my phone then also doesnt work .anyother idea???

If you have the original imei, the easiest method would be to have a cell repair shop repair the imei using a hardware solution like a octopus box.

audit13 said:
If you have the original imei, the easiest method would be to have a cell repair shop repair the imei using a hardware solution like a octopus box.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
how much it will cost?

Sorry, I have no idea about the cost as I haven't used this type of service to recover the imei.

audit13 said:
Sorry, I have no idea about the cost as I haven't used this type of service to recover the imei.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i called and ask them they said it will not fix.

it cost me $27 dollars, since the one who serviced my phone to have my IMEI restored was a friend....

[email protected] said:
it cost me $27 dollars, since the one who serviced my phone to have my IMEI restored was a friend....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i have asked but no luck