Database Develop

[Q] Trying to backup my EFS folder with SGS Tools and it fails

Trying to be charitable and cautious, I'm trying to back up my EFS folder before I go messing around and it is consistently failing. I'm using:
SGS Tools Vz 0.5.7
Busy Box Vz1.17.2
On my previous captivate this works just fine. Now I get
"could not create backup folder /sdcard/SGSToolbox/backup (date string)" and then the bluebox saying creating backup. This never goes away and to clear I have to reboot.
Any helpful hints?
I tried to download the latest and greatest SGS Tools but Google knows I have it installed and won't let me get the newest one. Haven't figure out how to get around that unless I just have to un-install my current one.
Rooted 2.2, KB2, running existz KB1 kernel.
Knowing there are no successful backups... just successful restores.

If you're willing to use your computer and can get the Android SDK and ADB going, just get into a command prompt in the ADB directory and type "adb pull /efs". That will back it up to your computer.

Or you could open a file explorer and copy the directory from there to your sd card

You could use an app called nitrality
Sent from my SGH-I897 using XDA App

Try to update your su binary, the simpliest way is use Root Explorer to backup whatever u want

Well just to be daring, I tried to install the ADB tools. Had to install the Java development software first. After I installed what I thought was the ADB suite, I can't seem to find the place to type in commands, dumb as that sounds. I may not have gotten the right package. Going to tinker with it though.
My SU is up to date.
I can see the folder with Super Manager so I guess I'll just copy with that. Interesting though I can't see anything in the /efs directory. Probably just something else I don't understand.
Still curious though as to why SGS Tools is failing... part of my nature.
Thanks to all that replied.

Make a note of where adb is installed (e.g. c:\users\person\Android-sdk-windows\platform-tools). Then hit the windows key and R, and type cmd. Once in the prompt, type CD (directory from before, no parentheses) and hit enter. From there, type your adb commands.

Ahhhh.... I get it. Was expecting something a bit more elegant. Gotta love DOS commands.

Well..there are a couple more elegant ways to do it.
Open up a new note in NotePad, just type:
Cmd
Exit
And save, but instead of a .txt file extension save it as a .bat, now drop that into your adb directoty, then just double click on that to open a prompt in that directory, so you don't have to do the cd command every time.
Or..the most elegant way is to add adb to your environmental variables so you can enter adb commands from anywhere

That's a good solution. I've got a set of files put into my C:\Users\(my username) folder called "adb", "adbr" (adb reboot), "adbrd" (adb reboot download), and "adbrr" (adb reboot recovery).
Each of these is a .bat file with a version of this text in it:
@ echo off
cd "C:\Users\(me)\Other\tools\android-sdk-windows\platform-tools"
adb reboot
That way, all I have to do is hit Win-R and type one of those file names and it does that command for me. Or, I can type cmd, then adb, and automatically be where adb is installed without cd'ing through a long file list.

My suggestion is Root Explorer. I was able to backup the EFS directory without problems also create a .tar file.

I used root explorer to do my backups, another option is the explorer inside the rom tollbox aplication its also very good

Now I have another adb question...
First off, now I'm just trying to learn and get better. I've built my bat files and I can get adb working. Thanks to those that helped with that. When I tried to pull the /efs folder it said there was no device recognized. I was in "mass storage" mode at the time.
Whenever I've seen people talk about using adb, I don't recall anything being said about if it should be in Download, debug or what. One of those assumed knowledge things.
So what do I have to do to the phone to let adb recognize it?
gnawing on the bone....
I'm also thinking of pulling a logcat or something when SGS tools fails... just to see. That's my next step.

Enable usb debugging in settings> applications> development

SGS Toolbox doesn't work with efs backups. Are there easier ways to do the backup?

Adb or root explorer.

I did both... just to say I did it and finally got adb working.

[Solved] X8 unable to enter xRecovery / Flashmode

Hello,
I've had my phone rooted for a long time and things were working out quite fine (yes, I have a recent xRecovery backup ) but a couple of days ago I wanted to try out something new, and wanted to prepare my system for the installation of a custom kernel.
Long story short: I used the busybox installer from the market, but it couldn't verify the installation process because of some previously installed busybox version (guess it came with my ROM...) So I used the uninstall option within the app and this is were things started to go down the drain:
Now when I reboot the phone, it's no longer possible to enter xRecovery as it was possible before (pressing back button repeatedly, during SonyEricson Logo) instead the it just reboots straight into Android. And in Android all that works is the log screen - all other applications / services crash. (I really can't do anything, as soon as I try to unlock the screen I'm bombarded with Error Messages, and sometimes the phone reboots because so many services fail)
I still can get into the reboot options menu when I press the power button > 1sec, but selecting "reboot into xRecovery" or "reboot into CWM" doesn't work -> it will just reboot normally again.
It also seems impossible to get the phone into flash mode. (Turn Phone off, Unplug USB, hold Back Button, Turn Phone on, Connect USB - and every possible variation I could find just leads to the phone booting into Android)
What I tried to do:
I still have root access when I connect to the phone with adb, so I reinstalled the busybox binary from the "SuperOneClick" package into the /system/xbin/ folder manually -> no change
I checked the debug log (from adb logcat) for errors indicate a problem, but there's no obvious message
I checked the dmesg output for errors / problems, but here everything seems to be fine
I reinstalled xRecovery manually (files from SuperOneClick) via adb by putting the files (xrecovery.tar+chargemon), into /system/bin -> no change
I tried to get into recovery / bootloader mode by using "adb reboot bootloader" and "adb reboot recovery" -> normal reboot
I checked the permissions of the binary files (su, busybox, chargemon) and they're all set to 06755
I checked if all symlinks of system programs that require busybox / su are pointing to existing binaries, and they all seem to be correct
Before I proceed and start trying some things that are not so easily reversible I've got a couple of questions:
What happens if I delete all files in the "/system/" folder? (the xRecovery files are in that folder and I guess xRecovery itself needs a couple of files to work properly)
Do you have any tips / ideas what I could try? I really don't mind resetting the phone as I have backups, it's just that I can't get into the mode where I can reset the phone
Thank you very much!

In your case, i suggest you never ever, ever fiddle up with busybox again... leave that up to chefs.
Also, i think you should try removing the battery for a couple minutes, then put it back and press back, then (while holding it) insert usb cable. That's a surefire way to get into flash mode (At least for me, sometimes it happens to boot normally even if i press back if i don't remove the battery). Also, just to be sure, before connecting your phone in flash mode, press Windows + R [In your keyboard, obviously] and type "devmgmt.msc" [Without the quotes] and see if you get a new device under USB devices. If it has a yellow triangle, right click it and choose update drivers, then point it to the flashtool folder for drivers, it should be able to find them. Good luck.

Use PCC
PCC Brought my phone to its original state when I had soft bricked my phone. It worked as a charm , and it was back to the state like nothing ever happened. Also my phone got unrooted. Everything stock like I had bought it from the store.
Use PCC , thereafter get your phone rooted again , as you had initially done.

Dude are you kidding me???You are doing it wrong man...
to get into flashmood
1. turn your phone off
2.press and hold the back button
3.without leaving the back button insert ur phones cable ..
you don't. need to turn on your phone after doing this....
use pcc or seus to repair it it's a soft brick......

@all that replied: Thank you for your help, I managed to fix the problem, will explain it in next post in case somebody runs into a similar problem
@Drknzz
about the fiddeling: that's how you learn stuff - in the last 36 hours I was forced to dig deep into android, and it was fun - and now I've got a pretty good picture of the system
Your your tip about removing the battery for a cpl of minutes didn't work for me.
I also tried XperiaRebootOptions, but this app also fails putting the phone into FASTBOOT mode - so I'll have to keep searching for an explanation
@Mayank77
I can't use PCC, because I'm running Linux as my O/S of choice and try to keep my VirtualBox locked (when I was very desperate this morning I tried it in a VirtualMachine, but PCC wouldn't connect properly to my phone)
@noobismyname
thanks, but doesn't work in my case

a little description of how you can solve problems (using Linux) with incompatible versions of su and busybox that can occur when Market Apps like BusyBoxInstaller are used in combination with ROMs that require specific Versions of the above tools.
In special cases this might lead to the problem, that you can no longer enter xRecovery or put your phone into fastboot mode (depending on your ROM) but you still have debug access to your phone.
Requirements
Nandroid / xRecovery Backup on your local machine
Android SDK -> adb
Image extraction tool unyaffs
root access to phone
Steps
Extract the backup image
The backup files created by xRecovery use an uncommon format because of the filesystem used in android. Use the tool unyaffs (code dot google dot com/p/unyaffs) to extract the image to a directory of your choice.
log into you phone with adb
open up a terminal, and use $adb shell to connect to your phone. Change to root user $su root
If required: make the partition writeable
$mount -o remount,rw -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock0 /system
compare files
open a second terminal window and navigate to the folder where you extracted the backup image. Start comparing the content of the directories with each other. Important files are: /system/build.prop, /system/bin/su ->symlink to system/xbin/su, /system/xbin/busybox, ...... (depending on what you messed up)
the command $busybox ls -l /system/targetdir | grep sought_file [/] comes in handy, because it will output the files alphabetically sorted and not in arbitrary order like the default adb ls proproamm
[*]use adb to push files to your device
if you find a missing / missmatching file use $adb push /file/on/your/pc /data/local/tmp to copy the backup file to your mobile
[*]copy files to target directory
use (as root) $ cp /data/local/tmp/file /system/..... to copy your backup into the correct place
[*]check permissions
check the permission of every file you copied and in case you're unsure: they should belong to root, group root, access permission 755 (or 06755 in case of busybox and su)
$ls -l /target/dir | grep filename to check
$chown root /target/file
$chgrp root /target/file
$chmod 755 /target/file
[*]make sure changes are written to disk
flush all pending filesystem changes $sync
[*]reboot
exit the adb session with ctrl+c
and use adb reboot to restart & enjoy your phone

Need Help please [solved] !!!

I have Imilika's AOSP ICS ROM V6,
I changed the buid.prop
ro.sf.lcd_density=213
for tablet mode. after I reboot, my GNote is not booting. I cannot go to recovery mode or download mode.
Please help. I don't know what to do

Got it
OK, I was really sad about what happens to my phone, but finally I managed to fix it .
As I told you, my phone was not booting to recovery or download modes (key combinations not worked). finally I try to connect to PC via USB and luckily my PC could detect my phone . So i realized that the problem is the display not coming but phone is halfway booted.
So, I tried to change my build.prop via adb but failed due to cannot grant root permission (becoz display is off).
Finally I issue a adb commad to reboot in recovery mode.
"adb reboot recovery"
yeah, that command directly take me to the CWM recovery. then I flash AOSP v6 again.
Now, my phone is working again.
P.S. I just note this down for others if they get same problem future !

I have question.. I don't understand the term adb. What that actually and why need that? I did so many flashing so far and I didn't use this adb yet!

priyanv said:
I have question.. I don't understand the term adb. What that actually and why need that? I did so many flashing so far and I didn't use this adb yet!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you don't know what ADB is, you probably shouldn't be flashing so regularly. Anyway, ADB stands for "Android Debug Bridge" and it is a protocol for device control, development, and debugging.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk

priyanv said:
I have question.. I don't understand the term adb. What that actually and why need that? I did so many flashing so far and I didn't use this adb yet!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
adb is a connection type. we can run shell commands (in the phone), file transfer via adb by using our PC. for that we should have to enable usb debug mode in our mobile.
Actually you might used adb, when you root your phone in the first place . If you have CF-Root zip file, just extract it. you will see a folder called "files", in there you can see adb.exe .
If you need test run,
connect phone via USB(make sure you've enabled USB debug), open command prompt, navigate to that "files" directory.
run "adb shell ls" (to run "ls" command in phone)
run "adb push <anyfile in the PC> /system/sdcard/" (copy files from PC to sdcard)
like that

OK now I got it.. But why do we need to push some file like this when we are able to transfer files like mass storage??? Or what else can be done??? Sorry for the basic questions..

priyanv said:
OK now I got it.. But why do we need to push some file like this when we are able to transfer files like mass storage??? Or what else can be done??? Sorry for the basic questions..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its functionality is not only to copy files from pc to mobile and vice versa.You can use it to get logs due to bad flashing,zip align apps,reboot into recovery,DL mode,normal reboot etc...

[Q] ADB Pull/Push from Android System Recovery

I'm trying to pull and push my build.prop file because I think I borked either the line endings and/or the access permissions on it.
However, I can only get to the Android System Recovery <3e> screen.
When I type "adb devices" nothing shows up. If I choose "apply update from ADB", I can see the device, but I guess I cannot push/pull while it's in that side load mode.
Any thoughts/suggestions on how to use ADB to fix that build.prop file?

[Q] Need Help With Recovering After Modifying build.prop

I've a rooted Nexus 6 running Lollipop 5.1. I edited /system/build.prop in an attempt to get Miracast working. I added the following line:
persist.debug.wfd.enable=1
However, now my phone won't boot. It's stuck at the "Google" screen. I think the permissions on build.prop are wrong but when I try to connect with adb via USB, my computers don't recognize the device. I press volume down + power and then plug the phone in. Nothing comes up when I issue ./adb devices. I've tried on both a Windows 7 desktop and a Macbook.
Am I missing something with adb and my connection procedure? Am I just hosed? Is there any way to get this device running again, even if it means a factory reset?

EvaUnit02 said:
I've a rooted Nexus 6 running Lollipop 5.1. I edited /system/build.prop in an attempt to get Miracast working. I added the following line:
persist.debug.wfd.enable=1
However, now my phone won't boot. It's stuck at the "Google" screen. I think the permissions on build.prop are wrong but when I try to connect with adb via USB, my computers don't recognize the device. I press volume down + power and then plug the phone in. Nothing comes up when I issue ./adb devices. I've tried on both a Windows 7 desktop and a Macbook.
Am I missing something with adb and my connection procedure? Am I just hosed? Is there any way to get this device running again, even if it means a factory reset?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have a custom recovery? If so, you can adb push a stock build.prop to /system after mounting /system in recovery (think it's adb shell mount /system). Your other option is to use fastboot and flash system.img. It would be best to use whatever 5.1 build you are on. I would think you'd be able to boot fine after just flashing system.img, but you could also erase cache and userdata if it doesn't. Whatever you do, don't lock your bootloader, at least until you know you can boot up normally.

mwalt2 said:
Do you have a custom recovery? If so, you can adb push a stock build.prop to /system after mounting /system in recovery (think it's adb shell mount /system). Your other option is to use fastboot and flash system.img. It would be best to use whatever 5.1 build you are on. I would think you'd be able to boot fine after just flashing system.img, but you could also erase cache and userdata if it doesn't. Whatever you do, don't lock your bootloader, at least until you know you can boot up normally.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's stock recovery. I'll give fastboot a try.

Worked like a charm. I don't know why I didn't think of it last night. I was so fixated on that file, heh. Thanks a bunch, man!