Develop Bugs

[Q] [TMobile] IMEI Back up/ Restore

Simply put, do you have a verifiable way to do this?

Currently there is not. There is a thread in general discussing this problem. I hope we find a way soon. Take caution when flashing.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium

This is from the SGSII I9100 General section. I thought that since my phone was messed up, I'd give it a try,
but it was a no go. This does tell me a couple of things though. 1. CWM does copy the efs folder, and 2. I do not think the IMEI is there, but since I'm unsure when I lost my IMEI it is of course a guess.
[GUIDE] Recover your IMEI in 9 steps.
1. Running on a stock rooted ROM. Used Rom Toolbox. Created a folder called tempefs. copied the efs folder into tempefs.
2. Deleted the efs folder...rebooted the phone got a message that Factory Mode was on.
3. Went to restore the efs folder from my tempefs and it was GONE! I did not copy it to my external SD!
Phone still worked fine, but now a big box with System information is displayed.
4. Did a CWM recovery and back to normal except this time it restored CM9...so, the efs folder IS included, however, my IMEI # is still 0.
5. Started over...this time copied the efs folder to my external sd card.
6. Deleted the efs folder and rebooted phone. Note: Phone did not come back up into Factory Mode...running CM9.
Further, this "4) go to EFS folder using root explorer, and delete "nv_data.bin", "nv_data.bin.md5"." did not
apply.
7. Copied my imei folder from my external sd to the efs folder.
8. Copied my redata.bin file from my external sd to the efs folder.
9. copied my redata.bin file again
10. renamed my redata Copy.bin to redata.bak
11. Used Terminal and typed the following:
su <enter>
chown 1001:radio /efs/redata.bin <enter>
gave me this error message: Unable to chown redata.bin : Read only file system 10
12. I went in an changed the permissions of the file to all read all write and all execute and tried again.
same error message.
So, there ya have it. I have now received my replacement phone, so if any of you very smart dudes out there have any suggestions, I can compare stock vs. screwed at this point.

If you are willing to do some experimentation, we may be able to validate a backup/restore. Try doing this just as a proof-of-concept, though it may or may not be illegal (modifying an IMEI is illegal in several countries). You should only need to be rooted on the old phone for all the below
Without your SIM card in the old phone (we dont want the carrier knowing this happened :angel
1. Backup your old phones current /efs with the following command:
Code:
dd if=/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/efs of=/external_sd/efs_backup.img
(If you arent on a CM rom, you might need a different path for /external_sd/
2. Backup your new phones /efs with the same command. Done with the new phone (I aint trying to get that one messed up to )
3. Copy both files somewhere
4. Copy the new phone's efs backup to your old phone to something like /external_sd/efs_new.img and run the following to restore the new phones efs to your old phone:
Code:
dd if=/external_sd/efs_new.img of=/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/efs
Reboot (without the SIM) the old phone and see if it shows up with the new phone's IMEI info. If it does then I think we can say the above command can successfully backup and restore the efs data. At that point, restore the corrupted efs back over the old phone so that you dont have two phones with the same IMEI.
And use adb, not terminal emulator. You really do not want to make a typo with those dd commands. I strongly suggest people get a putty binary that has adb connectivity. And use bash on the phone.

I will check this out...I have 6 days to return my phone. Too damn tired tonight though. Thanks!
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium

lumbu said:
If you are willing to do some experimentation, we may be able to validate a backup/restore. Try doing this just as a proof-of-concept, though it may or may not be illegal (modifying an IMEI is illegal in several countries). You should only need to be rooted on the old phone for all the below
Without your SIM card in the old phone (we dont want the carrier knowing this happened :angel
1. Backup your old phones current /efs with the following command:
Code:
dd if=/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/efs of=/external_sd/efs_backup.img
(If you arent on a CM rom, you might need a different path for /external_sd/
2. Backup your new phones /efs with the same command. Done with the new phone (I aint trying to get that one messed up to )
3. Copy both files somewhere
4. Copy the new phone's efs backup to your old phone to something like /external_sd/efs_new.img and run the following to restore the new phones efs to your old phone:
Code:
dd if=/external_sd/efs_new.img of=/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/efs
Reboot (without the SIM) the old phone and see if it shows up with the new phone's IMEI info. If it does then I think we can say the above command can successfully backup and restore the efs data. At that point, restore the corrupted efs back over the old phone so that you dont have two phones with the same IMEI.
And use adb, not terminal emulator. You really do not want to make a typo with those dd commands. I strongly suggest people get a putty binary that has adb connectivity. And use bash on the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome idea, but it did not work. Any other ideas?

zonly1 said:
Awesome idea, but it did not work. Any other ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We can go through each block device one by one to try to find where the data is stored. But this could lead to an actual brick of the old phone, and I dont want you to do anything that might cause T-Mobile to charge you for something that they say voided the warranty. The rest of the backup commands (excluding /system, /data, /cache and recovery) would be:
Code:
dd if=/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/aboot of=/external_sd/aboot_backup.img
dd if=/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/backup of=/external_sd/backup_backup.img
dd if=/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/boot of=/external_sd/boot_backup.img
dd if=/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/fota of=/external_sd/fota_backup.img
dd if=/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/fsg of=/external_sd/fsg_backup.img
dd if=/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/grow of=/external_sd/grow_backup.img
dd if=/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/modem of=/external_sd/modem_backup.img
dd if=/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/modemst1 of=/external_sd/modemst1_backup.img
dd if=/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/modemst2 of=/external_sd/modemst2_backup.img
dd if=/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/pad of=/external_sd/pad_backup.img
dd if=/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/param of=/external_sd/param_backup.img
dd if=/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/persist of=/external_sd/persist_backup.img
dd if=/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/rpm of=/external_sd/rpm_backup.img
dd if=/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/sbl1 of=/external_sd/sbl1_backup.img
dd if=/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/sbl2 of=/external_sd/sbl2_backup.img
dd if=/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/sbl3 of=/external_sd/sbl3_backup.img
dd if=/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/ssd of=/external_sd/ssd_backup.img
dd if=/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/tz of=/external_sd/tz_backup.img
I really dont know what each of these does, so if I were you I wouldnt listen to me or try this. But if you want to experiment and are not worried about what T-Mobile might do, backing each of these up on the new phone and going through restoring one by one on the old one should let us figure out what device actually needs to be backed up.
Or we could wait for some people smarter than me who can figure this out without risking a brick.
------
Edit
-----
Before trying to restore, try backing them up on both phones. Then do an md5sum on each image to see which might be the same between the two. Cross those off the list of what to try restoring.

There's a user names Geek that is working on a fix...looks promising! Thanks for all the help!
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium

[Q] About i9195 backup and restoring EFS

Hi all, I'm a new I9195GT owner (for a week already) and have been researching and having some satisfaction rooting and restoring all my apps with Titanium from my previous smartphone.
The phone works fine and I'm quite happy with it. I've already done a full backup with CWM recovery for any trouble I might come across in future but I don't know if a full backup from recovery contains all important and sensible data like EFS and NV data. Those two things are totally new for me as I'm coming from a HTC Desire which didn't require attention to those sensible points.
So I would be very grateful if anybody clears some doubts I have relating EFS and NV data:
- Does a full backup from recovery contain EFS and NV data, so in case that flashing a custom ROM results in corrupted EFS data, I would fix it just by restoring the full backup from recovery?
- What is the best and safest way for backup EFS and NV?
I've seen this post from arco68 which states a command I guess should be executed from Terminal directly in the smartphone, but I don't know how should that .img file restored to the phone in case it becomes corrupted.
I've also seen this post about the EFS Professional tool from lyriquidperfection but in the whole post I havent found anybody confirming it works in the S4 Mini i9195.... so it sounds good but I don't want to brick my new device being the first one to run the tool with the i9195
Thank you very much

As far as I know CWM does not back up EFS.
The good idea is to use TWRP recovery instead of CWM. TWRP does backup EFS.
You can get TWRP for 9195 here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2449107

Thanks for the idea. I'm ready to install TWRP recovery but, before installing it and replacing CWM,
Is it possible to launch TWRP recovery from CWM recovery, as temporary? And when rebooting CWM is back.
I remember doing something like this in my previous device: from 4EXT recovery launching a CWM recovery for some particular reason I don't remember
Sent from my GT-I9195 using xda app-developers app

batareikin51 said:
As far as I know CWM does not back up EFS.
The good idea is to use TWRP recovery instead of CWM. TWRP does backup EFS.
You can get TWRP for 9195 here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2449107
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
TWRP Recovery does not backup full EFS. IMEI is not included at least. Even though it lists a possibility of EFS backup, all it does is backups /efs partition. which does not contain IMEI in it. This concerns specifically I9195, which I own too and am researching this issue and also lost IMEI issue.

farewellartist said:
TWRP Recovery does not backup full EFS. IMEI is not included at least. Even though it lists a possibility of EFS backup, all it does is backups /efs partition. which does not contain IMEI in it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I already had installed TWRP and made backups and nandroids....
So how can we safely backup IMEI in a way we can restore it in case it gets corrupted?

sergiosch said:
I already had installed TWRP and made backups and nandroids....
So how can we safely backup IMEI in a way we can restore it in case it gets corrupted?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good question, I've been looking for answer for weeks.

sergiosch said:
I already had installed TWRP and made backups and nandroids....
So how can we safely backup IMEI in a way we can restore it in case it gets corrupted?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Guys!
The most simple method to backup our IMEI (efs folder) is:
1.Install rootexplorer
2.open it with superuser permission
3. Copy efs folder from root main folder to your sd card.
4.Upload from sd card to clouds to be sure you have a backup a different places.
5. Push thx for me

radicspeter said:
Guys!
The most simple method to backup our IMEI (efs folder) is:
1.Install rootexplorer
2.open it with superuser permission
3. Copy efs folder from root main folder to your sd card.
4.Upload from sd card to clouds to be sure you have a backup a different places.
5. Push thx for me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did already that too, not with rootexplorer but TotalCommander which also has root access to any partition, I guess it performs the same backup just copying everything.
But then I don't know why it is valid to do "raw" directory/file copy with root explorer but it is not valid an EFS partition backup with TWRP recovery. I'm a newbie with this but, it seems the same to me....
Can anyone tell exactly in which file is stored imei? Isn't the same structure/process valid for other Galaxy brand smartphones so we can follow them?

radicspeter said:
Guys!
The most simple method to backup our IMEI (efs folder) is:
1.Install rootexplorer
2.open it with superuser permission
3. Copy efs folder from root main folder to your sd card.
4.Upload from sd card to clouds to be sure you have a backup a different places.
5. Push thx for me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I repeat, EFS FOLDER / PARTITION even on a raw byte level DOESN'T CONTAIN phones IMEI. This concerns specifically Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini LTE (I9195).
---------- Post added at 03:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:31 PM ----------
sergiosch said:
I did already that too, not with rootexplorer but TotalCommander which also has root access to any partition, I guess it performs the same backup just copying everything.
But then I don't know why it is valid to do "raw" directory/file copy with root explorer but it is not valid an EFS partition backup with TWRP recovery. I'm a newbie with this but, it seems the same to me....
Can anyone tell exactly in which file is stored imei? Isn't the same structure/process valid for other Galaxy brand smartphones so we can follow them?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Normally, phones IMEI in previous galaxy devices (don't know about current S4, I own S4 Mini LTE), was stored in nv_data.bin file which was located in /efs folder on root. (which is a mount point for mmcblk0p10 partition in S4 Mini LTE). But, in this device, there is no nv_data bin file and IMEI is not stored nowhere close to efs partition. Not too many people own S4 Mini's and almost everybody whom I asked an information based their knowdledge on another devices and were feeding me false information I heard over and over again.
To clarify something, I know, that EFS partition doesn't contain IMEI, because:
No file in efs mount point contains IMEI.
No IMEI found checking EFS Professional backup (tar) on HEX level using various search methods. Even through-looked it, file is not that big.
No IMEI found through-looking .raw backup made using cygwin (which contains every single byte of partition, even though it is not a part of a file), which is 95+% warrant, that IMEI is not in EFS partition.

farewellartist said:
I repeat, EFS FOLDER / PARTITION even on a raw byte level DOESN'T CONTAIN phones IMEI. This concerns specifically Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini LTE (I9195).
---------- Post added at 03:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:31 PM ----------
Normally, phones IMEI in previous galaxy devices (don't know about current S4, I own S4 Mini LTE), was stored in nv_data.bin file which was located in /efs folder on root. (which is a mount point for mmcblk0p10 partition in S4 Mini LTE). But, in this device, there is no nv_data bin file and IMEI is not stored nowhere close to efs partition. Not too many people own S4 Mini's and almost everybody whom I asked an information based their knowdledge on another devices and were feeding me false information I heard over and over again.
To clarify something, I know, that EFS partition doesn't contain IMEI, because:
No file in efs mount point contains IMEI.
No IMEI found checking EFS Professional backup (tar) on HEX level using various search methods. Even through-looked it, file is not that big.
No IMEI found through-looking .raw backup made using cygwin (which contains every single byte of partition, even though it is not a part of a file), which is 95+% warrant, that IMEI is not in EFS partition.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks mate. Pretty clear :good:
I was also not confident about some tutorials I read in other forums claiming that just doing a copy of file structure from /EFS folder would backup our IMEI. Your explanation is appreciated.
Hope to find some way to effectively backup sensitive data as IMEI is....

sergiosch said:
Thanks mate. Pretty clear :good:
I was also not confident about some tutorials I read in other forums claiming that just doing a copy of file structure from /EFS folder would backup our IMEI. Your explanation is appreciated.
Hope to find some way to effectively backup sensitive data as IMEI is....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Found it! Making guide right now. Basically IMEI is contained in both mmcblk0p11 and mmcblk0p12 partitions. Samsung apparently has developed a new error-safe phone nv data preservation system, I'll explain in details in tutorial.

farewellartist said:
Found it! Making guide right now. Basically IMEI is contained in both mmcblk0p11 and mmcblk0p12 partitions. Samsung apparently has developed a new error-safe phone nv data preservation system, I'll explain in details in tutorial.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great news! looking forward to read that guide :good::good:

sergiosch said:
Great news! looking forward to read that guide :good::good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do you mount those partitions? I've tried with no success. All I get is "mount: No such device".

deliog said:
How do you mount those partitions? I've tried with no success. All I get is "mount: No such device".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't mount, just backup.
Through terminal emulator, enter commands
su
dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p11 of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p12

And how to restore later if IMEI gets corrupted/null?
Sent from my GT-I9195 using xda app-developers app

sergiosch said:
And how to restore later if IMEI gets corrupted/null?
Sent from my GT-I9195 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See this: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2569532

sergiosch said:
Great news! looking forward to read that guide :good::good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could you (or someone) PLEASE post or send PM with backups of partition mmcblk0p11 and mmcblk0p12? While researching this issue, I trashed 2 OF MY PHONES and nulled my IMEIs because of delusion caused by memory of having a backup, which I didn't. It's a pity to give away such a fortune for spares. I need NV blocks to hex compare them with blocks I got from another healthy I9195. Since IMEI numbers of different phone blocks will be different, difference will show on hex level too, which will help me determine exact address of IMEI location, after which I could modify my trashed NV blocks at determined memory address with my original IMEI, which could save me from watching at useless brick. And also would help me at development of I9195 IMEI Restore tool.
Disclaimer: I am not modifying my IMEI nor doing any actions which end-target is modification of original IMEI and differing it from original one. I am modifying nulled (trashed, unoriginal) IMEI to its ORIGINAL state which ultimately couldn't be called nothing else but RESTORING. I won't use IMEI from gathered NV blocks. I just need a another healthy block to fix my issue and help develop tools so others could be able to sleep at nights without issue that causes me sleepless nights.

farewellartist said:
Could you (or someone) PLEASE post or send PM with backups of partition mmcblk0p11 and mmcblk0p12? While researching this issue, I trashed 2 OF MY PHONES and nulled my IMEIs because of delusion caused by memory of having a backup, which I didn't. It's a pity to give away such a fortune for spares. I need NV blocks to hex compare them with blocks I got from another healthy I9195. Since IMEI numbers of different phone blocks will be different, difference will show on hex level too, which will help me determine exact address of IMEI location, after which I could modify my trashed NV blocks at determined memory address with my original IMEI, which could save me from watching at useless brick. And also would help me at development of I9195 IMEI Restore tool.
Disclaimer: I am not modifying my IMEI nor doing any actions which end-target is modification of original IMEI and differing it from original one. I am modifying nulled (trashed, unoriginal) IMEI to its ORIGINAL state which ultimately couldn't be called nothing else but RESTORING. I won't use IMEI from gathered NV blocks. I just need a another healthy block to fix my issue and help develop tools so others could be able to sleep at nights without issue that causes me sleepless nights.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't done yet any of the backup processes you explain, so I don't even have the files you're asking for, but with all the gratitude and admiration I feel for the developers I wouldn't feel any confortable sending sensible data from part of a nandroid backup.... speaking just for myself of course, if I could choose how to help a developer I would preferr doing a donation to help him recover the hardware he has broken to help others. Some months ago I heard a friend telling that he had been scammed with a phone he bought in some cash converter and only worked for one day, then it became with null IMEI, and he suspected someone had "stolen" or "shutdown" his IMEI for unknown reasons...
sorry to say that, maybe I'm an ignorant but I just don't feel confortable with what you are asking directly to me

EFS folder lost, Access nexus service menu?

Hello everyone!
Yesterday, I tried to upgrade to a Kit Kat rom. I used the Galaxy nexus toolkit, and did a full backup... plus an EFS backup. Afterwards, I did the full format/wipe from CWM recovery, and installed the ROM.
Well, apparently one of the options wipes your EFS file folder; I have no way of connecting to my network. My IMEI is the stock number, and I've spent hours scouring the internet trying to find a way to restore it. The majority of the responses are "try a factory reset and restore" or "too bad so sad, should've backed up". Well, I did try several options. The first being the EFS restore. Apparently, the backup is stored on the phone and wasn't sent to my computer, like the rest of the normal backups. That option is now out. Oh, how I miss SD storage.
The second was a full restore to stock, again, nothing. Third, I had an old nandroid backup. After doing these I saw that the EFS tree is left untouched, as it is so delicate. The only way to do this is give up and send it in for servicing, or to do a phone NV Backup swap with QPST.
I need to get access to the service menu (or any way to change the USB/Modem) as listed here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1946915
Unfortunately, *#7284# does nothing on an i9250, nor does anything besides *#*#4636#*#*... which isn't what I need. The terminal command doesn't appear to work, either.

I don't understand very well but, have you tried to restore your EFS backup from recovery? Did you make the backup from recovery or from toolkit?

lkeops said:
I don't understand very well but, have you tried to restore your EFS backup from recovery? Did you make the backup from recovery or from toolkit?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have done a recovery from the toolkit (as the files are stored on the computer and not the phone) which is where I made the backup from, as well.
However, the EFS partition is apparently never included in this backup, as it is supposed to be immune to changes and formatting. I proved them wrong.

Well I did that same blunder last month with my nexus and then I tried all remedies plus own experiments but couldn't get results. All I heard is that to send phone to service centre. If you find any other solution so do mention here, I gave up after so many tries

what9000 said:
I have done a recovery from the toolkit (as the files are stored on the computer and not the phone) which is where I made the backup from, as well.
However, the EFS partition is apparently never included in this backup, as it is supposed to be immune to changes and formatting. I proved them wrong.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@what9000 you may want to check out this thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2508320
Specifically post #6 AND #9
I have personally never used the nexus backup tool, but if it does does backup the /radio folder, you may be in luck.

Well, it has been repaired. Thank you all for your help, in the end I managed to pull some things together in a mash up of fixes.
It appears that upon a new restore from a nandroid backup, I was still getting no signal. However, I did a *#06#, and my IMEI was intact. I read that the Radio folder gets backed up, but not the factory folder. Upon a new install, I imagine the radio folder is wiped, which is why every install from then on had a bunk imei (it had nothing to pull from as my factory folder is toast)
However, it looks like the efs backup I had *did* save the folder structure... I found the efs.tar backup in my galaxy nexus toolkit folder. It had the folder zip, but couldn't restore it due to permissions... didn't feel like messing with that at the moment. I copied them in with root explorer, grabbed the nv_data files from the /radio/ folder, deleted the files from /radio, and restarted. Lo and behold, they were restored from the factory folder with the correct IMEI.
I just put a fresh copy of kit kat 4.4.2 on and have cell service again. Oh happy day, I don't have to use my old HTC Sensation! :highfive:
This also marks the first time a backup actually saved my skin. Usually I vaporize the backup accidentally before it has an opportunity to prove itself useful.

Ok, have bumped phone... TWRP, and working great, but have question

So I restored my phone from a TWRP backup, very nice, very fast.
However, I discovered I have to (re)setup my Cal account options, and other apps accounts/options as well.
Is the restore supposed to be an 'exact' copy of my phone?
Thanks.

1. Questions go in Q&A forum not General.
2. Whenever I have restored using TWRP it has been an exact copy of what I backed up.

samorgs said:
1. Questions go in Q&A forum not General.
2. Whenever I have restored using TWRP it has been an exact copy of what I backed up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hum. My backups include boot, system and data. No cache or EFS. They are all restored.
Am I missing a setup thing or ?

samorgs said:
1. Questions go in Q&A forum not General.
2. Whenever I have restored using TWRP it has been an exact copy of what I backed up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hum. My backups include boot, system and data. No cache or EFS. They are all restored.
Am I missing a setup thing or ?
I am unable to move this thread to QA

JeffDC said:
Hum. My backups include boot, system and data. No cache or EFS. They are all restored.
Am I missing a setup thing or ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In order to have an "exact" copy you would have to restore the "cache" too, but since you didn't back up your cache your only choice would be is to redo your settings.

Please post questions in the Q&A section
Thread moved

Amb669 said:
In order to have an "exact" copy you would have to restore the "cache" too, but since you didn't back up your cache your only choice would be is to redo your settings.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Excellent, thank you.

JeffDC said:
Excellent, thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay well your cache has nothing to do with settings saved on your phone. Your cache can be deleted at any time while running any ROM and it wont change settings in your phone, unless for some odd reason your phone has not written the data to storage yet before a reboot. Your cache is used to temporarily store files that your phone will need in the future to help open apps quicker without having to look up the required files each time for the operation. Instead, the phone can look to the cache to quickly load commonly used files back into the RAM.

acparker18 said:
Okay well your cache has nothing to do with settings saved on your phone. Your cache can be deleted at any time while running any ROM and it wont change settings in your phone, unless for some odd reason your phone has not written the data to storage yet before a reboot. Your cache is used to temporarily store files that your phone will need in the future to help open apps quicker without having to look up the required files each time for the operation. Instead, the phone can look to the cache to quickly load commonly used files back into the RAM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. Any thoughts on why my restore did not have my 'accounts' setup, like my default google account for 'Cal(anded)", and others? I had to spend a bit of time re-setting up a number of 'accounts and preferences.

JeffDC said:
Thanks. Any thoughts on why my restore did not have my 'accounts' setup, like my default google account for 'Cal(anded)", and others? I had to spend a bit of time re-setting up a number of 'accounts and preferences.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I noticed you said that you also didn't backup the EFS partition. That shouldn't have anything to do with your accounts but I always backup and restore the EFS partition each time and I have never lost any account info. It could have to do with the fact that your EFS partition contains carrier and device-specific info like your device ID number that could have caused your backup to not recognize the device once you restored it. This probably lead to your phone erasing your account info out of security in case someone else had gotten a hold of your backup and restored it to their phone. This way, the person who hijacked your backup couldn't access sensitive information like account login credentials. I'm not sure if this is the case, but it seems to be the only explanation I have. Next time you do a backup, include the EFS partition and see if that fixes it on the next restore. Either way, I hope it doesn't erase it on you again man. I know it can be frustrating to have to manually fix little details like that every time. Best of luck!

acparker18 said:
I noticed you said that you also didn't backup the EFS partition. That shouldn't have anything to do with your accounts but I always backup and restore the EFS partition each time and I have never lost any account info. It could have to do with the fact that your EFS partition contains carrier and device-specific info like your device ID number that could have caused your backup to not recognize the device once you restored it. This probably lead to your phone erasing your account info out of security in case someone else had gotten a hold of your backup and restored it to their phone. This way, the person who hijacked your backup couldn't access sensitive information like account login credentials. I'm not sure if this is the case, but it seems to be the only explanation I have. Next time you do a backup, include the EFS partition and see if that fixes it on the next restore. Either way, I hope it doesn't erase it on you again man. I know it can be frustrating to have to manually fix little details like that every time. Best of luck!
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Thanks for the detailed response. Good info to understands.
Following the loss of the accounts, and everyone's help, I am backing up everything in the list, EFS as well.

If I TWRP backup everything except System will a Restore work later on?

I dont know what I did but I know it was my fault.
Whenever I try to create a full backup of all partitions I get "createTarFork() process ended with ERROR=255"
But when I exclude the System partition it works fine.
So if I restore everything else later on will everything work fine? I'm not exactly sure whats getting left out in the partition.
Btw, my bootloader is unlocked, I'm currently on FreedomOS 2.1, I have Magisk, Xposed, all the good stuff...
ALSO! I did an ADB backup on my computer with "adb backup -apk -shared -all -system -f"
I'd be fine with the ADB backup but "backup.ab is only 1.5 GB and my nandroid backups are usually around 11GB...

lit_lee said:
I dont know what I did but I know it was my fault.
Whenever I try to create a full backup of all partitions I get "createTarFork() process ended with ERROR=255"
But when I exclude the System partition it works fine.
So if I restore everything else later on will everything work fine? I'm not exactly sure whats getting left out in the partition.
Btw, my bootloader is unlocked, I'm currently on FreedomOS 2.1, I have Magisk, Xposed, all the good stuff...
ALSO! I did an ADB backup on my computer with "adb backup -apk -shared -all -system -f"
I'd be fine with the ADB backup but "backup.ab is only 1.5 GB and my nandroid backups are usually around 11GB...
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Team Win recommends using the system image backup instead of just system for dm-verity devices, but I still get the same problem as you when trying to perform a backup. What you could try is clean flashing the ROM and then just restore data from ur backup. That should work.

Airwolf79 said:
Team Win recommends using the system image backup instead of just system for dm-verity devices, but I still get the same problem as you when trying to perform a backup. What you could try is clean flashing the ROM and then just restore data from ur backup. That should work.
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Yeah I read in other places a fresh flash would work but I wanted to weight my options.
How does one go about doing the image backup? That sounds a lot better.

lit_lee said:
Yeah I read in other places a fresh flash would work but I wanted to weight my options.
How does one go about doing the image backup? That sounds a lot better.
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When you select backup in TWRP, it's one of the available boxes to check. Uncheck system, check system image. This hasn't solved my problem of backups not completing though. I always remove my fingerprints and pin before a backup, and I've been able to complete backups before, but usually the problem lies in encrypting the backup itself. However, I've still had backups hang at 95% even without encryption. Maybe someone else can shed some light on to why this is happening.

the createTarFork() process ended with ERROR=255 is not from system its from data and issues with parallel apps on ur OP5T
download Android Terminal and type
Code:
su
pm remove-user 999
then u can backup with twrp, never tried to do a restore yet though