[Q] /efs folder and how do you reuse an old copy - Galaxy Tab Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I am puzzled and confused about the /efs folder.
I have a P1000 which was running a January nightly build of CM10; this worked, including the telephone function, sort of...
I then upgraded to Android 4.2.2, CM10.1 from 21030728 - which works much better BUT it lost all the telephone capabilities (it shows Baseband version unknown). After much digging I think understood correctly that I must have ruined my /efs folder.
I do have previous /efs folder copies (not made with any particular tool) on my external SD card but even using something like Root Browser or Root File Manager to copy an old version (in which the telephone worked) to write over the existing /efs folder I do not regain access to the phone function.
My questions are these, if anyone can explain to me what is happening for I would like to understand:
1. I tried to delete the existing /efs folder (using Root Browser and Root File Manager) but it does not delete: why?
2. I am clearly doing something wrong when trying to copy an old version in order to write over the existing one (which does not work): what and why and how do I get around this to make it work?
3. How does Android protect the /efs folder and is there a way to get round this?
i have read far and wide but so much seems to be contradictory or inconsistent. Or is there a place where all is explained (and if so where?).
Thank you in advance.

Related

Accessing apk files

Thank you in advance, this is a great community.
I am running cognition 3.04 and making my first attempt at transparent widgets. However, I am uncertain if I am properly set up to access and reinstall apk files. I can find them on my phone using the file explorer in Andriod Mate. However, it appears that when I plug my phone into the usb or use any other file exploring software, the base directory is /mnt/sdcard/ . I feel that I am missing a critical component of this process, as I do not have ready access to the files I need to alter and eventually replace.
Thank you again,
Dez
Dezdemona said:
Thank you in advance, this is a great community.
I am running cognition 3.04 and making my first attempt at transparent widgets. However, I am uncertain if I am properly set up to access and reinstall apk files. I can find them on my phone using the file explorer in Andriod Mate. However, it appears that when I plug my phone into the usb or use any other file exploring software, the base directory is /mnt/sdcard/ . I feel that I am missing a critical component of this process, as I do not have ready access to the files I need to alter and eventually replace.
Thank you again,
Dez
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You would need to copy them from ur /system/app folder to some folder on ur sdcard to see them on computer.
Below is the file system layout.
/ (root)
/system
/system/app
/...
/...
/...
/sdcard
/sdcard/...
/sdcard/...
/sdcard/...
/sdcard/external_sd
/sdcard/external_sd/...
/sdcard/external_sd/...
/sdcard/external_sd/...
When u connect to computer, it mounts only the internal and external sd cards. It does not mount the system areas like system, data, etc.

[Q] Upgraded to "Overcome - Gingerbread", /efs folder empty

Hi guys,
Looking for helps here.
First I want to thank the guy created the "Overcome for Gingerbread", it comes w/ a great details instruction and I successfully upgraded.
My tab was original from Bell Canada, the phone feature was locked. I was able to unlock it by modifying the nv_data.bin file...
But now after I upgraded to Gingerbread, my phone feature is disabled again so I suppose I should do the whole unlock process again. However when I looked for the nv_data.bin file, the directory /efs is empty?!?!?!. Can someone help me here?
Thanks,
Edit: I found a nv_data.bin file on my laptop (not sure if it's the orginial one), trying to copy it to the /efs folder on the tablet, but I got error "not enough space"...
What program u using to copy with. Put that file on the SD card first from your PC.
Then get EF File Explorer rooted, and copy that from the SD card to the /efs directory
The nv_data.bin edit unlocks the tablet to allow use on other carriers like rogers, fido etc.
It does not provide phone usage, you need to flash a european rom to enable the phone,
then you need to flash a suitable modem to allow 3G data and phone, then edit your apn info.
Are you sure efs is empty, maybe your no longer rooted and can't see it?
You get the not enough space error because you have most probably renamed the original file and are trying to copy the new one in the directory. Delete the file and also the.md5 correspondent (it will be recreated on reboot.
P
Thanks for all the replies guys, but my problem is still there.
@Sonictab: I'm rooted and I'm sure that my /efs folder is empty.
@StarLog: I'm using Super Manager to copy the file
Now I can't even download files from the browser nor using the market place to download any apps. Something went wrong and I'm not sure what. Should I downgrade?

[Q] Automated creation of an "update.zip"

Hi all!
I've been tinkering with rom changes recently,
and I find it a bit fraustraring to restore all my apps semi-manually
(using titanium backup),
I noticed titanium has the option to create a "update.zip" file
but it's discribed as an option to install titanium itself,
I know there is a manual way to make a directory tree and place the right files in the right places and all, but I'm not a progremmer, I have no idea what files go where in android (I barely have a clue where they go in ms-windows).
Is there an automated way to batch up all my apps with their data into one file?
It would be possible I'm guessing, however its not as simple as putting the folder structure / apps in a zip. You have to write a updater-script so that CWM can install the files.
This tutorial should help you out, and explains the commands that can be used.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=994940

:( EFS folder empty = 12mb of 12 used! How to restore unzipped backup?

Hi all..
So Im pretty new at flashing androids, been using ubuntu for years and am quite familiar with the terminal as well as computers in general. I made the silly mistake of not doing a complete backup of my phone with CWM before flashing with CyanogenMod 9 and now my EFS folder is "empty" but still with Zero free space... giving the "usual" errors":
1) Corrupt or incorrect ( FAKE) IMEI number. (International Mobile Equipment Identity)
2) No Network and Signal ( calls, sms and mobile Internet not working)
3) No base Band or Unknown Baseband
4) Sim card lock missing
as described in the [A.I.O. Helpline] My Android Solutions.
CWM seems to have created a copy/paste backup of my EFS folder (not .zip and not .img, just a folder) on sdcard/efs/backup but the EFS folder is read only and root manager cant paste into it. I've read that deleting the EFS folder should recreate it, I tried in terminal with
Code:
rm -r /efs/*
and got the reply:
Code:
rm failed for /efs/lost+found, Directory not empty
How do I go about restoring the EFS folder?
Finally figured out how to copy/paste into the read only EFS folder! I have searched probably about a million threads, all say to "just copy paste" into the efs folder... but never how to do it when its locked because of read only permissions.
I think im one step closer.. but still not quite there yet.
The way to get write permissions is simply to open terminal and get root access and unmount the efs directory using:
Code:
umount /efs
After that, I could open the efs directory in Root explorer and mount it as R/W. Automatically, I get some default files there created by the system which I can delete and then I could copy/paste my backup into the efs directory. Bang, mobile network running, but baseband version is still unknown. Also, my IMEI number is the generic one, not my unique one
The problem now, is that on reboot my EFS directory goes blank again... anyone know how to continue from here?
Snarlster said:
The problem now, is that on reboot my EFS directory goes blank again... anyone know how to continue from here?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Solution:- Reason is you had Jumped from GB to JB (should be on ICS before JB), so now you need to
1) Download Root Explorer from Play Store and use it to
2) Search you internal SD card for sdcard/backup/efs
3) Copy nv_data.bin, nv_data.bin.md5 and nv.log paste them into /efs in your Phone memory
4) Reboot to get back your original IMEI
If it gets lost after reboot
Remedies for those who have a efs backup
If you Have a Backup and you want to restore it, this is one method Here or you can use the restore function in the app that you used to back it up
If restoring the efs folder or you have a nv_data.bin backup but if you write nv_data.bin or .nv_data.bak it's being deleted on every boot, than follow this [GUIDE] how to get IMEI to stick across reboots to make it stick.
BUT try this method first
Copy Paste EFS folder with root explorer, after paste , power down phone and reboot into recovery and wipe cache before rebooting....this worked for some
xsenman said:
Solution:- Reason is you had Jumped from GB to JB (should be on ICS before JB), so now you need to
1) Download Root Explorer from Play Store and use it to
2) Search you internal SD card for sdcard/backup/efs
3) Copy nv_data.bin, nv_data.bin.md5 and nv.log paste them into /efs in your Phone memory
4) Reboot to get back your original IMEI
If it gets lost after reboot
Remedies for those who have a efs backup
If you Have a Backup and you want to restore it, this is one method Here or you can use the restore function in the app that you used to back it up
If restoring the efs folder or you have a nv_data.bin backup but if you write nv_data.bin or .nv_data.bak it's being deleted on every boot, than follow this [GUIDE] how to get IMEI to stick across reboots to make it stick.
BUT try this method first
Copy Paste EFS folder with root explorer, after paste , power down phone and reboot into recovery and wipe cache before rebooting....this worked for some
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you, I had read each thread linking from those threads but it was good for me to do it again!
Flashing the EFS folder with Heimdall gave me the same results as copy/paste, setting the ownership/permissions made no difference in both cases, always empty on reboot.
FINALLY, these are the steps I took to get my phone "working".
1: Odin re-installed the stock I9000JVJV9_OJVJV9_JXJV6.tar file found on sammobile.com as well as the Pit file found on 4shared
2: This gave me an error on bootup... something about "failed to mount dbdata", this was solved with Odin as well by selecting only PDA and using the dbdata.rfs.tar found on hotfile.com.
After this, my phone booted up with the generic imei, a very welcomed change to the previous no imei thats been bothering me! Also, my baseband is showing, the EFS directory is full of files and google play is working... and fortunately, my carrier doesnt seem to care about the generic imei
I'm still going to get my imei back, but first things first! Its time to do some backing up!
Current plan is:
1: Install ClockworkMod
2: BACKUP
3: replace nv_data.bin with the backed up one.
4: reboot / see if my IMEI number is back.
5: BACKUP
6: install CyanogenMod
I hope this helpes someone down the road.. dont be shy on letting me know if my hours of pain helped you!
And... one more thing, my phone is Samsung Galaxy S GT-I9000
Thanks again for pointing me to the right direction
did you only used the PDA included on the I9000JVJV9_OJVJV9_JXJV6.tar file? and how did you use teh dbdata.rfs.tar? thanks.
efs Folder Contents
Hi Guys,
I am hoping you can help me with a problem.
I have a brand new GalaxyS2 i9100, which is on ICS 4.0.4 IMM76XWLPW - XXLQ6 Baseband version, Kernel 3.0.15-1056084 [email protected]#3(SMP PREEMPT Wed Aug 22 2:55:24 KST 2012). The phone is not rooted, but what I did was make a copy of my efs folder to my PC, obviously incorrectly, using My Phone Explorer.
I thought it was just a matter of uploading the folder to my PC and it could be used in an emergency, I thought it would just copy the folder.
What I have discovered, is that all the contents of the efs folder are now on my PC and the efs folder in my phone is empty!!!!
I am now unable to get the files, back into my phones storage.
When I enter *#06# into my phone, the IMEI number shows up and is correct.
I also have a copy of the original efs folder, on my External SD Card.
I have not changed anything else on the phone, other than removing the efs folder contents to my PC. Is there a way, to get all the contents back into my phones efs folder without having to "Root," using say....Emulator or something?
Would a "Hard Reset" on this unrooted stock phone, restore the efs folder to factory settings??
Thank You.
dixielee said:
Hi Guys,
I am hoping you can help me with a problem.
I have a brand new GalaxyS2 i9100, which is on ICS 4.0.4 IMM76XWLPW - XXLQ6 Baseband version, Kernel 3.0.15-1056084 [email protected]#3(SMP PREEMPT Wed Aug 22 2:55:24 KST 2012). The phone is not rooted, but what I did was make a copy of my efs folder to my PC, obviously incorrectly, using My Phone Explorer.
I thought it was just a matter of uploading the folder to my PC and it could be used in an emergency, I thought it would just copy the folder.
What I have discovered, is that all the contents of the efs folder are now on my PC and the efs folder in my phone is empty!!!!
I am now unable to get the files, back into my phones storage.
When I enter *#06# into my phone, the IMEI number shows up and is correct.
I also have a copy of the original efs folder, on my External SD Card.
I have not changed anything else on the phone, other than removing the efs folder contents to my PC. Is there a way, to get all the contents back into my phones efs folder without having to "Root," using say....Emulator or something?
Would a "Hard Reset" on this unrooted stock phone, restore the efs folder to factory settings??
Thank You.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would be careful with that, if you have your efs folder on your sd card, I think it would be better to copy/paste them with root explorer back before reboot... though this is just a guess. In any case, since you have the folder on your PC, then at least you have the backup you need if you get into serious trouble.
If it did reset, please tell us about it in case someone else needs this info later
efs file restore
Thank you so much. After days of not having calling and texting functions available from a corrupted efs folder, who would have thought that a simple copy and paste of the backed up efs to the system would help greatly?
Hey, this worked for me, but I still can't connect to some carriers.

Root/system folder

hi again
I have small problem that I find quite annoying
Xperia SP on android 4.3 (....1.207 rom)
device is rooted with towelroot + SuperSU,
no matter which file manager with root capability I use and go into SYSTEM folder
and either create new folder and delete it, or copy something from SD to system Audio folder
things get broken...
Folder cannot be deleted even if its newly created, and has nothing init
nothing cannot be copied in Audio folder, as everything gets erased by ... system ?
and my annoyance goes to, if its rooted OS, and I as user have "full access"
why are these things happening ?
is there something I need to learn of how android deals with stuff specially ?
As far as i can remember, i haven't faced this issue in my past (was ages since i last used stock ROM). But i can safely say it might be related to your actual file manager. Can you list me the file managers you used?
I would also recommend trying to use Solid Explorer Classic for the sake of testing, and also Fx File manager.
Basically, when you want to do a change in the system directory, the system partition must be remounted as read-write because the folder resides on a different partition. Android by default mounts system partition as read-only on boot. A file manager is responsible to remount the system partition to read-write before performing an operation on the system partition, and i believe this is where the problem occurs - if the files aren't being copied.
If you can copy the folders but unable to delete, this is most likely a permission issue, and the file manager was probably isn't properly using its root rights.
Please respond with your test with Fx or Solid Explorer classic. You may also try Solid Explorer 2.0 if you wish. NOTE: Please enable Full Logging in SuperSU settings. I'd like to see what is going on (you can too).
Also it is worth to know that although root gives you ultimate rights to modify or alter the OS, there are always technical problems which are caused by various reasons. Plus, there are even barriers of which root power can't even do. For an ultra simple comparison, you can't use root to somewhat modify an app's source code live. But of course, root gives much more freedom to do things compared to no root.
ah yes, you were right, it did depend on file manager after all
tho for unknown reasons 5 of 6 all needed supersu acceess and had root capability, but nothing to operate
I finally found (blue) root explorer, and this one can do it all, sorry for opening this thread
I jumped bit late with whole android thing

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