[Q] How to restore only stock recovery after cf-autoot - Galaxy Tab S Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

SM-T705, CF-Autoroot:
cf-autoroot changes recovery. So after rooting I want to restore the correct recovery.img from my stock firmware package.
- Can this be done with dd (no sure because it is a sparsed image) or by flashify ?
ODIN:
Recovery must be converted to .tar first, http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2281287&page=5, http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=45629177&postcount=1) what Variant will work for W7,8.1.
One suggest file format for tar = ustar and the other one gnu ... waht is right for Odin ?
and how to under Linux ?
- I tried Odin with the help of the attached files ... seems to work ? How can the .img>tar conversion be done under Linux ?
- what about dd (must the stock.img be processed before in any ways (beacause ist sparsed) ?
- also flashify seems to work

- what about dd - must the stock.img be processed before in any ways (because ist sparsed) ? In any case it's smaller than a backup from Flashify or dd ...
In my case (Tab S, SM-T705) the partition has 10240 blocks. I did a dd from the partition and this file contains $1000000 Bytes. File size is 10MB = 10485760 Bytes.
Is the only way to fill every Byte from the end of the stock recovery with 00 by a hex editor ?
Would be super nice to get commands for Windows and Linux.

Related

Your own logo.img in param.lfs

Hello,
I wanna share some information about param.lfs. As some people I tried to study this file. I tried to port j4fs driver to linux, but with no success yet.
But I have something. For those ROM-makers who want to insert their own logo right in the file for flashing it as a part of a ROM you can do the following:
1. Prepare your jpeg file, process it through jpeg optimizer (like xat.com JPEG optimizer). Size must not exceed 3FD1(HEX), or 16337Bytes. 480x800, 72dpi
2. Load this file (jpeg) in a HEX editor (WinHex) and copy it as a block
3. Load param.lfs
4. Overwrite two blocks in param.lfs by your image (just paste block in overwrite mode). First one - from offset B4000, second one - from 7F000. To double check - overwritten blocks should start with FF D8
That's all. Tar param.lfs as it used to do: tar -H ustar -с param.lfs > param.tar
and flash it via odin as PDA, or add to firmware then. You will obtain your own logo.jpg and logo_kor.jpg in /mnt/.lfs
So, you don't need to use special scripts to change splash-screen (mount .lfs and copy your logo.img into it). It will work with any kernel. Even on stock firmware you may have your own bootlogo.
Caution: Be careful. If you make something wrong, phone won't boot, because param.lfs is used by bootloader. At least /mnt/.lfs will be empty.
You may have black screen. Anyway you will be able to enter in 3-button mode to flash stock param.lfs back.
Of course that won't change bootlogo with yellow triangle because it "resides" in sbl.bin and very dangerous to be changed.
P.S. I was going to write a patch script, but decided not to do that.
Cheers
As a newbye, I found that very interesting to read
Thank you
1.
My original logo is 18.100 bytes and wonder if 3BB0(HEX) limit is accurate :/ :\ - while $B4000-$7F000=217.088 bytes
2.
On my param.lfs image, I searched for "FFD8 FFE0" and found other position for the JFIF files
Complete signature seems to be
"FFD8 FFE0"
"0010 4A46 4946 0001" for "..JFIF.."
3.
Linux support for j4fs would be great
4.
I wanted to know how to deal such a special "behaviour" into param.lfs partition: we can create files but not overwritten files...
Code:
[alpha] adb shell
$ su
# mount -o remount,rw -t j4fs /dev/block/stl6 /mnt/.lfs
# mount | grep ".lfs"
/dev/block/mmcblk0p4 on /mnt/.lfs type j4fs (rw,relatime)
#
# cd /mnt/.lfs
# rm -f logo.jpg
rm: can't remove 'logo.jpg': Operation not permitted
# echo "1. Impossible to delete logo.jpg"
1. Impossible to delete logo.jpg
#
# cp /mnt/sdcard/logo.jpg /mnt/.lfs/logo0.jpg
# ls -l /mnt/.lfs/logo0.jpg
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 19524 Jan 1 1970 /mnt/.lfs/logo0.jpg
# echo "2. copy onto /mnt/.lfs/ is possible"
2. copy onto /mnt/.lfs/ is possible
#
# cp -f logo0.jpg logo.jpg
cp: can't create 'logo.jpg': File exists
# echo "3. copy onto logo.jpg is impossible"
3. copy onto logo.jpg is impossible
#
# chattr -i logo.jpg
chattr: reading flags on logo.jpg: Not a typewriter
# rm -f logo.jpg
rm: can't remove 'logo.jpg': Operation not permitted
# exit
$ exit
[alpha] echo "Really strange for a file system ?"
Really strange for a file system ?
Is there a simple way to delete logo.jpg ?
Ivan_Belarus said:
Caution: Be careful. If you make something wrong, phone won't boot, because param.lfs is used by bootloader. At least /mnt/.lfs will be empty. You may have black screen. Anyway you will be able to enter in 3-button mode to flash stock param.lfs back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First of all, thanks for sharing the info.
I tried it, no dice. Seems B4000 in the param.lfs I'm using (KI8) isn't the beginning of a JPEG. Tried other addresses that start with FF D8, with and w/o Exif, to no avail. All I have is an empty .lfs folder (as you said) and a boot message saying "logo.jpg" draw failed, but it boots eventually.
What am I missing?
TIA
param.lfs I'm using: http://www.mediafire.com/file/jw0x36z04fvp4eg/param.lfs
EDIT:
Wow! It took me a couple of hours, but I've finally found it in that param.lfs (XWKI8)!!!
In XWKI8 logo.jpg starts @ 7D800. Don't go beyond the length of the file you have already (in XWKI8, +/-15K), otherwise you'll get the "draw failed" boot error and an empty /mnt/.lfs - in this case, just reflash the stock param.lfs and you'll be ok.
Works great! I can sleep now!
Once more, thx a bunch Ivan_Belarus for sharing the info!
cheers!!!
geekmarc said:
1.My original logo is 18.100 bytes and wonder if 3BB0(HEX) limit is accurate :/ :\ - while $B4000-$7F000=217.088 bytes
2.On my param.lfs image, I searched for "FFD8 FFE0" and found other position for the JFIF files
Complete signature seems to be
"FFD8 FFE0"
"0010 4A46 4946 0001" for "..JFIF.."
4.I wanted to know how to deal such a special "behaviour" into param.lfs partition: we can create files but not overwritten files...
Is there a simple way to delete logo.jpg ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Wrong operation. I have given the offsets only: for logo.jpg and logo_kor.jpg. I you want full addressing they are: B4000-B7FCF. It comes to 3FCF+2=3FD1. The second one is: 7F000-839B2. It comes to 49B2+2=49B4. (I've written 3BB0 - sorry I looked at my own block size. Fixed)
2. Yep, the jpeg header is bigger than word FF D8. You can google for jpeg header. But main two bytes are FF D8. The end is marked by FF D9. There are many jpeg files inside. I provided offsets for two ones.
4. You may look at Init.V scripts of Siyah kernel for example (/sbin/siyah/imports.sh)- there you may find all the commands for replace logo.jpg
I attached my original param.lfs (unchanged). I used it without problems on KI8
Heh, I didnt compare different param.lfs but now I see that there are different builds of param.lfs (thnx to rizdroid). So, I guess we're able to locate quickly the required offsets via block sizes and names. We need to find two blocks of size 3FD1 (starts with FF D8, ends with FF D9) and 49B4. They will be logo.jpg and logo_kor.jpg images. Before these blocks (about -7E1) you can find text 'logo.jpg' and 'logo_kor.jpg' accordingly. Don't try to locate them only by name!
someone help me out here... im trying to do this for the galaxy nexus but whenever i open my param.lfs file in a hex editor all i get is 0's theres nothing in it
Ivan_Belarus said:
1. Wrong operation. I have given the offsets only: for logo.jpg and logo_kor.jpg. I you want full addressing they are: B4000-B7FCF. It comes to 3FCF+2=3FD1. The second one is: 7F000-839B2. It comes to 49B2+2=49B4. (I've written 3BB0 - sorry I looked at my own block size. Fixed)
2. Yep, the jpeg header is bigger than word FF D8. You can google for jpeg header. But main two bytes are FF D8. The end is marked by FF D9. There are many jpeg files inside. I provided offsets for two ones.
4. You may look at Init.V scripts of Siyah kernel for example (/sbin/siyah/imports.sh)- there you may find all the commands for replace logo.jpg
I attached my original param.lfs (unchanged). I used it without problems on KI8
Heh, I didnt compare different param.lfs but now I see that there are different builds of param.lfs (thnx to rizdroid). So, I guess we're able to locate quickly the required offsets via block sizes and names. We need to find two blocks of size 3FD1 (starts with FF D8, ends with FF D9) and 49B4. They will be logo.jpg and logo_kor.jpg images. Before these blocks (about -7E1) you can find text 'logo.jpg' and 'logo_kor.jpg' accordingly. Don't try to locate them only by name!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO !!!!! YEAH !!!!!! :good::good::good::victory::victory::victory:
@Ivan_Belarus, Thank you very much for the guide and help !!!!!
I was stack with that process of HEXing the param.lfs you provided because the image i made is SMALLER then 16337Bytes.
So I solved the "'logo.jpg' draw failed" problem I got ( becuase I changed only part of logo.jpg ) by filling "20" ( hex value ) all the cells between after my image FF D9 ( not included) and the original logo.jpg END ( FF D9 included ) as you wrote in your post: 1st jpg end is at B7FCF and the second is at 839B2.
I used the param.rar you provided.
To be clearer, for an example, let say I got this original param.lfs HEX segment:
Code:
[COLOR="red"]FFD8[/COLOR]FFE100184578EE55184D5331DA8831930800450007[COLOR="red"]FFD9[/COLOR]
But the image i want to implant is SMALLER , so it starts with "FFD8" and ends EARLIER with "FFD9" like:
Code:
[COLOR="red"]FFD8[/COLOR]FFE1008374597335734753745[COLOR="red"]FFD9[/COLOR]
So, I need to change param.lfs HEX segment so that it will include "20" after my image "FFD9":
Code:
[COLOR="red"]FFD8[/COLOR]FFE1008374597335734753745[COLOR="red"]FFD9[/COLOR][U][COLOR="Blue"]202020202020202020[/COLOR][/U]
About the need to TAR the param.lfs, because i'm on windows I used 7zip, so no need for linux of any sort.
rizdroid said:
First of all, thanks for sharing the info.
I tried it, no dice. Seems B4000 in the param.lfs I'm using (KI8) isn't the beginning of a JPEG. Tried other addresses that start with FF D8, with and w/o Exif, to no avail. All I have is an empty .lfs folder (as you said) and a boot message saying "logo.jpg" draw failed, but it boots eventually.
What am I missing?
TIA
param.lfs I'm using: http://www.mediafire.com/file/jw0x36z04fvp4eg/param.lfs
EDIT:
Wow! It took me a couple of hours, but I've finally found it in that param.lfs (XWKI8)!!!
In XWKI8 logo.jpg starts @ 7D800. Don't go beyond the length of the file you have already (in XWKI8, +/-15K), otherwise you'll get the "draw failed" boot error and an empty /mnt/.lfs - in this case, just reflash the stock param.lfs and you'll be ok.
Works great! I can sleep now!
Once more, thx a bunch Ivan_Belarus for sharing the info!
cheers!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry to resurrect a REALLY old thread, but how did you manage to flash PARAM partition. It is in my .pit file from heimdall, but when I flash the partition, I simply see the old bootscreen.
hackintosh5 said:
Sorry to resurrect a REALLY old thread, but (...) .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is OK to ask questions even if the thread is sooo old
But unfortunately I can't help you.
Iluvatar2000 said:
It is OK to ask questions even if the thread is sooo old
But unfortunately I can't help you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its fine! Thanks for your time!

ext4 extraction from system.sin issues

Hi,
As you probably know, ext4 image can be extracted from system.sin but cannot be mounted. When trying to mount it, it fails with :
[ 1476.821582] EXT4-fs (loop0): bad geometry: block count 262144 exceeds size of device (144631 blocks)
I open this thread just to share what I did around the issue and maybe have some helpful quotes about it
Here is what I did (under linux)
# First create an zero filled file. Size is system partition size (262144 blocks of 4096 each)
dd if=/dev/zero of=/home/xperia/virtualfs bs=4096 count=262144
# Attach file to loopback
sudo losetup /dev/loop0 /home/xperia/virtualfs
# Format it with same features as system partition on phone
sudo mkfs.ext4 -O has_journal,^ext_attr,^dir_index,^flex_bg,^huge_file,resize_inode,filetype,extent,sparse_super,large_file,^uninit_bg,^dir_nlink,^extra_isize -v /dev/loop0
# Write extracted system.sin.ext4 extracted image to loopback
sudo dd if=system.sin.ext4 of=/dev/loop0
# Mount filesystem
sudo mount /dev/loop0 /mnt
It can be mounted and I can have folder structure but I can't work with files. Editing default.prop gives me a non readable file.
But we can go a step ahead as we can now mount the image.
Still some issues have to be worked out.
The poit is, why we cant mount system.img on ICS but we can on GB?
maybe someone can contact with sony t oask
im extracting the .sin to .img like always but its impossible to mount.. what are you using to extract the .sin to a .ext4?
BTW, thanks for the info, i've been trying to modify system.img since ICS appeared.
EDIT: of, ext4 can be extracte with flashtool ~.~
maybe we need to read something from system.partinfo
Yakandu said:
The poit is, why we cant mount system.img on ICS but we can on GB?
maybe someone can contact with sony t oask
im extracting the .sin to .img like always but its impossible to mount.. what are you using to extract the .sin to a .ext4?
BTW, thanks for the info, i've been trying to modify system.img since ICS appeared.
EDIT: of, ext4 can be extracte with flashtool ~.~
maybe we need to read something from system.partinfo
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes Flashtool can extract image from system.sin.
partinfo is partition information used by loader in flashmode to identify where to flash image on phone. (Something like start nand address of system partition)
so, any ideas why ext4 cant be mounted? maybe its encrypted or something..
Sorry for double post, i found a solution
Flash the system through a .ftf with flashtools
Flash a custom kernel with recovery (or the nozomi recovery)
Backup nandroid
We get a system.ext4.tar ··· move it to your developement folder
Create a folder (mkdir system)
Enter nautilus with root acces
Extract system files to the created folder
Modify whatever you want
Make a flashable system.img with: "./mkuserimg.sh -s /system ./system.img ext4 ./temp 1024M"
AND ITS WORKING!
Yakandu said:
Sorry for double post, i found a solution
Flash the system through a .ftf with flashtools
Flash a custom kernel with recovery (or the nozomi recovery)
Backup nandroid
We get a system.ext4.tar ··· move it to your developement folder
Create a folder (mkdir system)
Enter nautilus with root acces
Extract system files to the created folder
Modify whatever you want
Make a flashable system.img with: "./mkuserimg.sh -s /system ./system.img ext4 ./temp 1024M"
AND ITS WORKING!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This solution is already known
But my goal is to be able to mod a system partition without having to flash it before. And more, understand why extracted system image cannot be mounted and how to work this out
oh, ok xD
i didnt know that solution, its new for me
Yakandu said:
Sorry for double post, i found a solution
Flash the system through a .ftf with flashtools
Flash a custom kernel with recovery (or the nozomi recovery)
Backup nandroid
We get a system.ext4.tar ··· move it to your developement folder
Create a folder (mkdir system)
Enter nautilus with root acces
Extract system files to the created folder
Modify whatever you want
Make a flashable system.img with: "./mkuserimg.sh -s /system ./system.img ext4 ./temp 1024M"
AND ITS WORKING!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you already tried flashing this img on your device? I have already tried this solution twice but didn't succeed (@Spectre51 that's why I haven't replied your PM yet). system.img was succesfully created but I got boot loop when I flashed it on my device.
Hi Androxyde,
I figured it out, basically we have to dig further in sin format as new ext4 sins skips part of the file. See my thread for more details.
PS: Thanks for flashtool, it's a great tool!
LeTama
letama said:
Hi Androxyde,
I figured it out, basically we have to dig further in sin format as new ext4 sins skips part of the file. See my thread for more details.
PS: Thanks for flashtool, it's a great tool!
LeTama
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
:good:

Question to only experienced users/developers!

Hi!
On any S4 mini (GT-I9195) which has the OLD bootloader without Knox is it possible to backup bootloader partition and restore it to any other S4 mini which has the NEW bootloader?
I mean usind the dd command like this:
Code:
dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p2 of=/sdcard/sbl1.mbn.img
dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p3 of=/sdcard/sbl2.mbn.img
dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p4 of=/sdcard/sbl3.mbn.img
dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p5 of=/sdcard/aboot.mbn.img
dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p6 of=/sdcard/rpm.mbn.img
dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p7 of=/sdcard/tz.mbn.img
And the restore to device with Knox again with dd command, like for example:
Code:
dd if=/sdcard/aboot.mbn.img of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p5
Should the above work or it will brick the phone?
Update #01:
My friend has S4 mini with older bootloader (no Knox) and successfully executed the backup commands above (where if=/dev/... ).
Now I have all those files but I'm not sure whether the restore commands will work and the device "survives".
Attached there is a package of files -> old bootloader
Update #02:
Recevied another old bootloader package from another friend with I9195. Attached.
Can anybody with MJ7 firmware try the reverse DD commands?
Risky operation, device can be bricked!
I think... think... think... my opinion:
Look. If I read something about PIT Magic :
PIT files contain the Partition Information Table (PIT) for Samsung Android phones. Different firmware versions may require different partition layouts so the necessary PIT file 'tells' Odin how to set up the phone partitions correctly for the specified firmware to be installed.
The PIT file contains all the relevant information for each required partition such as Partition Name, Flash File Name, Block Size, Block Count etc. and also contains some unknown properties that maybe identifiers or flags of some sort.
What see Odin on Pit file? Many data about files that it must flash like block size, block count, attribute, etc.
Binary Type: 0 (UNKNOWN)
Device Type: 2 (MMC)
Identifier: 5 -------------------------------->> Partition Number.
Attribute: 5 (READ / WRITE)
Update Attribute: 1 (FOTA)
Block Size: 132.864
Block Count: 4.096
File Offset (Obsolete): 0
File Size (Obsolete): 0
Partition Name: ABOOT
Flash FileName: aboot.mbn
I don't agree that command dd on terminal emulator can make the same like Odin. We must include some parameters like BS, Count, Attrib, and more in my opinion.
See example for extract a Pit file.
I attach a cmd to extract the pit file 16 GB from the phone, a out.pit made by this cmd and the pit file extracted by PIT Magic. All from i9195.
Then I Quote You : Risky operation, device can be bricked!

Cricket S3 SCH-R530C "sbl1.mbn" file needed.

Hello guy, i have a S3 SCH-R530C hard bricked(pls don't ask me how i hard bricked it!).
A guy from xda sent me a tutorial how to unbrick it without JTAG(Will post the tut at the end), but when i download the package the sbl1.mbn is missing.
Does anyone have it ?
Or maybe you have a better tutorial for debrick ? Anything will help. Thank you
Copy past tutorial, all credits goes to "robbiejobs"
First part:
You'll need these files :
1.) R530U debrick img https://app.box.com/SCH-R530U
2.) R530C stock image ( I guess the version doesn't matter, but you better try with 4.3 first ) http://terafile.co/88b027e65750/R530...RICMK3_CRI.zip
---
Extract R530CVVUCMK3_R530CCRICMK3_CRI.zip you'll get some .tar.md5 file, extract that file too and then grab these files
sbl1.mbn
sbl2.mbn
sbl3.mbn
aboot.mbn
rpm.mbn
tz.mbn
Second part:
I've waited for almost 2 years to have R530C debrick image, no one have that file. I almost give up, and then my stupid idea came up... ( You'll need linux terminal, and basic linux command knowledge )
1.) Download odin package for your device ( make sure it's the same version with your latest firmware before got bricked )
2.) Extract the .tar.md5 file ( WinRar / 7zip will give error message, just ignore it )
3.) Grab debrick image for your device, or at least the same variant ( R530C / U / M ) firmware version doesn't matter.
4.) Clone the debrick image to your microSD card.
5.) Now back to extracted folder of your firmware, copy these files :
sbl1.mbn
sbl2.mbn
sbl3.mbn
aboot.mbn
rpm.mbn
tz.mbn
to your working directory
6.) List your debrick microSD partition using parted ( mine was /dev/sdb, make sure you have the right partition before doing these commands )
I forgot the command, but it's something like
Code:
parted /dev/sdb
Code:
(parted) print
7.) Now you can see the partition list (sbl1,sbl2,etc)
8.) And then do this :
sudo dd if=sbl1.mbn of=/dev/sdbX
sudo dd if=sbl2.mbn of=/dev/sdbX
sudo dd if=sbl3.mbn of=/dev/sdbX
sudo dd if=aboot.mbn of=/dev/sdbX
sudo dd if=rpm.mbn of=/dev/sdbX
sudo dd if=tz.mbn of=/dev/sdbX
9.) After finishing all the command, remove your microSD from card reader, cross finger.. and Good Luck.
Sorry for my "not-so-easy" tutorial, I wish I could explain it a little easier to understand.. but my english sucks
This forum is for the GSM/LTE version of the s3. Try posting your question here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s3-verizon
audit13 said:
This forum is for the GSM/LTE version of the s3. Try posting your question here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s3-verizon
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was not sure where to post it, since there is no cricket , but thank you.

How To Guide How to backup your partitions with command line (requires root)

How to backup partition images with dd on the command line (root required)​
We don't currently have a working custom recovery for the Xperia 10 III, but if you have root there's a simple method to dump partition images.
This is a very good idea and you should do it at least once, especially if you like to mess around the device a lot.
You won't be able to do this before you root, so by the time you do some partitions will not be stock anymore. Use XperiFirm instead to get the clean stock images.
Special partitions:​
The userdata partition holds all your personal files and system settings. It's huge (about 105 GB) and obviously you can't dump it into itself. You can dump it on an SD card if it's 128+ GB.
The super partition is a physical partition that contains several logical partitions (including system and vendor) That's why you won't find those in the partition list. This is done on Android 10+ devices to allow those logical partitions to be resized or rearranged as needed. You don't need to split out the internal logical partitions, you can flash back the entire super partition. The stock firmware also comes with a super image, not individual logical partitions.
Using a helper script:​There's a Magisk module called Backup (by Draco) which gives you a command line shell script you can use if you prefer. It mostly does the same things I described above. The script is here if anybody wants to just grab it directly.
On the plus side, the script knows to dump only the active A/B image (which is the one that interests you most). On the flip side, it doesn't have a feature to skip userdata.
So here is a shell command that will use the backup script to dump all partitions, but only those matching your device's active A/B slot, and skips userdata:
Code:
backup $(ls /dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/ | grep -v userdata | sed 's/_[ab]$//')
And here's one that also skips super:
Code:
backup $(ls /dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/ | grep -v userdata | grep -v super | sed 's/_[ab]$//')
How to dump partitions manually:​If you can't/won't use the helper script you can do it by hand. All the following commands need root:
Find the names of all the partitions:
Code:
ls /dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/
Dump one specific partition identified by NAME:
Code:
dd if=/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/NAME of=NAME.img
Dump all partitions except userdata:
Code:
ls /dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/ | grep -v userdata | while read NAME; do echo dd if=/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/${NAME} of=${NAME}.img; done
Find the active slot:
Code:
getprop ro.boot.slot_suffix
Get checksums for all the images after the dump:
Code:
md5sum *.img
Confused about _a and _b partitions?​You should read about A/B Seamless Updates.
Long story short, some partitions have two copies eg. boot_a and boot_b. When you boot up the device you use the partitions in one slot (eg. the _a partitions). When an OTA update is being downloaded, it writes into the partitions for the other slot (eg. the _b partitions). Your phone can stay in use while this happens. If the OTA fails nothing is broken, you just keep using the good slot partitions. After the OTA is successful you switch to the other slot and also have the previous version in the other slot in case you need to switch back.
This means that some of the _a and _b images for the same partition can be different for you! So it's strongly recommended to do the checksums, and also to find out which is your active slot, so you know which partitions you're using right now.
I used a 128 GB card to take a backup of userdata. The backup script had some trouble with the backup location being on the storage card for some reason and I didn't have time to figure it out, but the dd command I gave above worked fine.
Code:
# time dd if=/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/userdata of=userdata.img
112111374336 bytes (104 G) copied, 2342.274225 s, 46 M/s
39m02.31s real 1m11.78s user 14m44.72s system
Code:
# adb pull /storage/1234-ABCD/backup/userdata.img ./
/storage/1234-ABCD/backup/userdata.img: 1 file pulled, 0 skipped.
87.2 MB/s (112111374336 bytes in 1225.663s)
So that's 104 GB that took 39 minutes to be written to a new Samsung Evo U3/V30 microSDXC (46 MB/sec real write speed) and 20 minutes to be read to the PC (Samsung Evo M.2) with adb pull over USB (87 MB/sec read speed). Just so you know what you're in for.
I was looking into whether I could speed up the process of taking userdata snapshots by dumping the partition directly to the PC, but you need to be root to access the device block. The stock ROM doesn't allow the command adb root, but I found this blog post which made me realize you can run a su -c command that asks dd to write to stdout and just pipe the output to a file. The post author has also made this helpful Python script which lets you do pulls and pushes with root-only files.
If you want to run the command directly (I've only tested on Linux, no idea if it works on PowerShell but it might):
Code:
# adb shell "su -c" "dd if=/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/userdata" > userdata.img
If you want to use the Python script:
Code:
# adb-root.py pull /dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/userdata userdata.img
Using the same fast SSD on the PC side as above, I now get:
Code:
218967528+0 records in
218967528+0 records out
112111374336 bytes (104 G) copied, 1077.681097 s, 99 M/s
real 17m57.910s
So that's roughly 15 minutes compared to 1 hour total with the previous method and you don't need to have a 128 GB SD card anymore.
Are you able to switch to a different backup location? Say a USB OTG if possible.
mikeshutte said:
Are you able to switch to a different backup location? Say a USB OTG if possible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With dd yes, simply move to the directory you want before you call dd.
The backup script is bugged and seems to ignore the -d parameter for the backup location so it always uses /sdcard/backup. (I think it might be expecting a different version of getopts...) Normally I would say to try creating a symlink from /sdcard/backup to the OTG storage but the ln utility is also behaving strangely and I can't make any symlinks (even with root).
wirespot said:
With dd yes, simply move to the directory you want before you call dd.
The backup script is bugged and seems to ignore the -d parameter for the backup location so it always uses /sdcard/backup. (I think it might be expecting a different version of getopts...) Normally I would say to try creating a symlink from /sdcard/backup to the OTG storage but the ln utility is also behaving strangely and I can't make any symlinks (even with root).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok I'll give it a try and see what happens. Thanks for your help.
Hi, I'm used to TWRP backups, so I don't really understand this tool. I've backedup everything except the massive userdata partition. If needed, how would I restore this? Is the userdata partition required when I have all the others?
Thanks!
jakito said:
Hi, I'm used to TWRP backups, so I don't really understand this tool. I've backedup everything except the massive userdata partition. If needed, how would I restore this? Is the userdata partition required when I have all the others?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is basically the same thing that TWRP does, dd is a command line Linux tool that makes a "raw" copy of a partition.
Restoration is a bit more tricky. In theory you can simply dump the raw backup copy over the partition. The problem is that it's not ok to do it while the system is running. Typically it's done by booting into recovery (TWRP) and overwriting the partition from there.
Another method for restore is to use fastboot, which is an alternative tool you can boot into that only does one thing, write partitions. But fastboot is typically locked by the vendor to only write signed images, so it can only be used to write official release ROMs.
There are some limited uses for fastboot, such as overwriting the boot partition, which is not checked for signature anymore once you've unlocked the bootloader. So if you want to experiment with unofficial kernels and mess something up you can always restore a good boot partition with fastboot.
TLDR: for the time being until we get a working TWRP recovery the most you can do is take backups, but not restore them.
wirespot said:
This is basically the same thing that TWRP does, dd is a command line Linux tool that makes a "raw" copy of a partition.
Restoration is a bit more tricky. In theory you can simply dump the raw backup copy over the partition. The problem is that it's not ok to do it while the system is running. Typically it's done by booting into recovery (TWRP) and overwriting the partition from there.
Another method for restore is to use fastboot, which is an alternative tool you can boot into that only does one thing, write partitions. But fastboot is typically locked by the vendor to only write signed images, so it can only be used to write official release ROMs.
There are some limited uses for fastboot, such as overwriting the boot partition, which is not checked for signature anymore once you've unlocked the bootloader. So if you want to experiment with unofficial kernels and mess something up you can always restore a good boot partition with fastboot.
TLDR: for the time being until we get a working TWRP recovery the most you can do is take backups, but not restore them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see. Thank you nonetheless!
wirespot said:
This is basically the same thing that TWRP does, dd is a command line Linux tool that makes a "raw" copy of a partition.
Restoration is a bit more tricky. In theory you can simply dump the raw backup copy over the partition. The problem is that it's not ok to do it while the system is running. Typically it's done by booting into recovery (TWRP) and overwriting the partition from there.
Another method for restore is to use fastboot, which is an alternative tool you can boot into that only does one thing, write partitions. But fastboot is typically locked by the vendor to only write signed images, so it can only be used to write official release ROMs.
There are some limited uses for fastboot, such as overwriting the boot partition, which is not checked for signature anymore once you've unlocked the bootloader. So if you want to experiment with unofficial kernels and mess something up you can always restore a good boot partition with fastboot.
TLDR: for the time being until we get a working TWRP recovery the most you can do is take backups, but not restore them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know how I ended up but making a backup you can't restore is completely pointless.
Techguy777 said:
I don't know how I ended up but making a backup you can't restore is completely pointless.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, it's not. All your data is in there. You can mount your backup on a linux computer and pull out apks as well as app data. You can then restore these folder by folder with adb and a root shell on your phone.
That beeing said, does anyone know a proper backup software like Titanium Backup for Android 11 and above? Sometimes I read recommendations, but looking at the ratings it seems that no software manages to achieve the same level of comfort and control. Also they all seem to suffer from the same limitations.
Let's be honest: Google wants to make your life hard, so they can lock you in.
@xperinaut
I'm using Titanium on Android 11. Is it not working for you?

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