Wrong EFS - Galaxy S III Mini Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I have two GT-I8190s. I made a backup via TWRP of everything on the old phone (EFS included) and I just transferred everything to the new phone, this means that the original EFS on the new phone has been overwritten by the old phone. I just wanted to have a one to one copy and didn't know about the partitions and their meaning, and that TWRP can practically flash the EFS partition. But I have a functional IMEI that matches the sticker, but no CSC, even after I have flashed a stock rom. What can I do to get the original EFS back as much as possible?

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Nandroid backup - does it get EVERYTHING ?

Folx,
I got bitten by the rooting bug. However, as I do use the phone quite a bit, I want to play it safe , so that if the ROMs I am about to try, don't quite work out, I want to get back to stock img and the apps I have and the settings I have etc.
So - as I perform Nandroid backup - does it backup everything ? In other words, if/when I have to restore from the said backup, will I get EVERYTHING back - all the apps and settings, as if nothing has changed ?
Or will I have to reinstall and configure all the apps anew ?
Yes, you will get your apps and settings back.
However I think it doesn't backup other partitions like "radio", because I recently had a problem with my radio and nandroid restore didn't help, I had to flash it again. Anyway, yes, as far as apps, settings, SMS, contacts etc. are concerned you're good.
BlueScreenJunky said:
Yes, you will get your apps and settings back.
However I think it doesn't backup other partitions like "radio", because I recently had a problem with my radio and nandroid restore didn't help, I had to flash it again. Anyway, yes, as far as apps, settings, SMS, contacts etc. are concerned you're good.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It creates img files of boot, data, system (and your ext partition on your sd card if you are using one). Anything found in those will be imaged and backed up. It is way too dangerous and pointless to backup the radio. Radio isn't a partition btw.
Don't confuse nandroid backups with other (titanium for example) backups that can carry your settings from one rom to another...
So I have to have the radio image in order to safely restore a NANDROID backup? This thread is old and I don't know if things have changed by now...
PS: Unsure if I have to start a new thread to get an answer to this...
If you won't have a radio image intact, your phone won't boot at all. It won't even turn on.

Restoring original backup

OK, when I first started into this stuff, I tried to follow all the guidance that has been given before flashing my first ROM. I did a ROM Manager backup of my ROM the way I got it from AT&T. I did not write down my ID # or anything else. I'm assuming the backup has all the information that came with it. My question is how to re-load that original ROM. I've flashed quite a few ROMs now using the Odin one-click to go back to stock and Master Clear and never had a problem. I'm running P9 right now (w/ no problems) and decided to try something else. After seeing some of the threads on here about your original phone IDs, I wanted to try and recover that info by restoring the original backup. I did that straight from P9, but now I just get locked up on the DG boot screens. I'm going to One Click it again but I'm wondering how I can restore back to my original with the backup that I have. Any guidance would be appreciated.
Thanks
My apolopies if this is already posted somewhere but I can't find it
You will get assistance in the Q&A section, this is not a ROM development related issue.
If you backed up correctly you would restore factory settings in recovery mode.
The best thing to do is to always save your original backup zip in clockwork to your SD card in case it gets overwritten.

[Q] Nandroid backup

Hi all
Is Nandroid backing up all the apps I've got at that moment? Or it just saves system files?
Like a complete and exact "photo" or are there things that I should do on my own if I mean to recover exactly as it was...
I assume that no wipe is necessary...
Thanks!
What's the truth about Nandroid backup?!
i guess there's no need to open a new topic, because i got kinda the same question
before you guys start to redirect me to the "search" function, i want to assure you that i have been using it, but i have found myself in a very strange situation, one question, two different answers... and because i'm new to the whole root stuff, i want to learn everything correctly before starting to make modifications to my phone
The question is: Nandroid backup, does it also back up the kernel or not?
I mean, if i root and install a custom rom that also comes with a custom kernel, will i be able to use my previous Nandroid backup to restore my phone to the old rom & kernel?
Searching the forums, i have found 2 totally different answers!
Answer 1: Nandroid does not backup the kernel: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=806340
Answer 2: Nandroid does backup the kernel: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=844352
So, please make me and all of us root noobs understand once and for all, does it backup the kernel or not?, will we be able to restore from a custom rom+kernel in case we need to?
and does it backup apps?
OK...As I understand it....
What does Nandroid Backup?
The ROM Itself..Obviously.
All your system settings, emails, SMSes, etc
All the Apps you have installed, so no need for TB
The Kernel you have installed (though there is controversy about this, and to be honest, I have never restored a nandroid backup when I had a different kernel already installed...however it really doesn't matter since kernels are easy to flash)
What does Nandroid NOT backup - This is VERY IMPORTANT
The modem (not a big deal)
The File System setting (A BIG DEAL)
This I think is where the confusion arises concerning the kernel being included in the nandroid backup. For many people the kernel is all about the lagfix. If you have installed a lagfix on your phone via the kernel, say changing the file system to Ext4, and then flash a Nandroid backup that includes a stock kernel or other kernel that does NOT support Ext4, you are in for a world of hurt...and in this case hurt means endless bootloops.
The way you avoid this is, if you need to flash a Nandroid with a kernel that does not support your lagfix...go into recovery, disable whatever lagfix, tell it when it asks that you wish to REBOOT INTO RECOVERY after the change....then flash the nandroid you wish.
This is why it is very important to keep regular nandroid backups, and to wait and see if a ROM/Kernel are stable for you before applying lagfixes or other tweaks.
So, let me see if i got this right, Nandroid does backup up my current kernel along with my rom, but if i apply any changes (lagfix) to my kernel afterwards or change it with a custom one with lagfix, nandroid won't be able to restore it anymore...
so the whole problem here is that nandroid is not able to backup / restore The File System setting, this being the rfs / ext4 transition
If this is the case, it seems that the Nandroid type backup is not as powerful as i thought, you can't really change from one rom to another in just a few clicks, but then again i guess that all the customs roms already come with some type of lagfix and you can make a nandroid restore between them, the problem would be when you want to revert back to a stock kernel, then you'll have to disable the lagfixes or simply flash a stock kernel and then restore the stock nandroid backup
so, i got this right guys?
maranello69 said:
So, let me see if i got this right, Nandroid does backup up my current kernel along with my rom, but if i apply any changes (lagfix) to my kernel afterwards or change it with a custom one with lagfix, nandroid won't be able to restore it anymore...
so the whole problem here is that nandroid is not able to backup / restore The File System setting, this being the rfs / ext4 transition
If this is the case, it seems that the Nandroid type backup is not as powerful as i thought, you can't really change from one rom to another in just a few clicks, but then again i guess that all the customs roms already come with some type of lagfix and you can make a nandroid restore between them, the problem would be when you want to revert back to a stock kernel, then you'll have to disable the lagfixes or simply flash a stock kernel and then restore the stock nandroid backup
so, i got this right guys?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes as I understand it.
You see Nandroid can't convert your file system or change anything, all it can do is flash a disc image onto your phone. If that image can work with your file system, you are golden. If not, it is like flashing a Mac OS image onto a Windows machine....nothing will work right.
However the good news is that most custom kernels support Ext4...so really the only problem comes when you try to flash back to a stock image...or vice versa.
got it then, thanks for your answers
and, if i still got your attention, maybe one more question
i just downloaded a stock firmware from samfirmwares.com, and all i got is a .tar file, can i use it somehow to flash just the kernel from it or i have to flash the whole firmware?
if i flash the whole firmware, will it also change my PHONE and CSC?, because the .tar file must be put just in the PDA section in odin
maranello69 said:
got it then, thanks for your answers
and, if i still got your attention, maybe one more question
i just downloaded a stock firmware from samfirmwares.com, and all i got is a .tar file, can i use it somehow to flash just the kernel from it or i have to flash the whole firmware?
if i flash the whole firmware, will it also change my PHONE and CSC?, because the .tar file must be put just in the PDA section in odin
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it will flash the PDA, csc, modem and kernel...the whole shooting match. The single file firmwares are designed like that to avoid mismatches and issues. Once you flash it, flash a kernel that supports cwm (I suggest speedmod or something by CHAINFIRE) via odin, then flash a new csc and modem if you wish from recovery.
Remember that installing a new csc will do a factory reset so do it before reinstalling apps.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA Premium App
great stuff man
finally i got enough info and i can start my root & flash procedure, guess i'll also learn a few other tricks along the way, this community is definetly the place to be if you want to learn how to "really use" your device
the whole info about the issues with the Nandroid type backup should be integrated in one of those massive info topics, so the root noobs like me know what they're dealing with
maranello69 said:
great stuff man
finally i got enough info and i can start my root & flash procedure, guess i'll also learn a few other tricks along the way, this community is definetly the place to be if you want to learn how to "really use" your device
the whole info about the issues with the Nandroid type backup should be integrated in one of those massive info topics, so the root noobs like me know what they're dealing with
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good luck
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA Premium App
Hey guys i actually used the search button (yay) and this is definitely the most informative one regarding the topic.
However i still have one more question: does it backup files and folders as well? Ie. my Nexus S storage is mainly used up by my videos and music (about 7-10GB) which are in their own folders and not tied to any apps in particular. Hence if it does include those i wouldn't have enough storage space to create a nandroid backup am i right?
Edit: thanks to the search button i didn't realise that i posted on a Galaxy S forum please forgive me, the question should still be relevant to the topic though
frenccw said:
Hey guys i actually used the search button (yay) and this is definitely the most informative one regarding the topic.
However i still have one more question: does it backup files and folders as well? Ie. my Nexus S storage is mainly used up by my videos and music (about 7-10GB) which are in their own folders and not tied to any apps in particular. Hence if it does include those i wouldn't have enough storage space to create a nandroid backup am i right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As I understand it, it does save folders and files, so yes if you have large data folders on your internal SD it will make GIGANTIC nandroid backups. You may want to store such files one your external SD.
I know that there is a version of CWM that does not backup /data/media in Nandroid on the Galaxy Tab 10.1...perhaps there is something similar that I don't know about for Galaxy phones. Does anyone know?

[Q] Important question about MD5 checksum for Nandroid!!

Hi all, just a quick question regarding Nandroid.
If I have two Motorola Milestones, both running the same exact firmware with the same baseband and everything (i.e a one-to-one copy), then if I make a Nandroid backup on one of the Milestone, will I be able to restore using the same backup on the other Milestone?
e.g. If I make a Nandroid backup on Milestone #1, can I use that backup on Milestone #2?
In other words, are Nandroid backup device specific, or do they work across the same phone as long as it runs the same firmware and baseband etc? I ask this because I noticed that there's a MD5 checksum used in the Nandroid backup. Surely that is used to verify the device or something?
The main reason I ask is because I need to restore the Milestone from one of the Nandroid backups I made. The problem is, the newest backup couldn't be restored properly. Well actually, it does restore and the whole operation completed successfully. But during one of the backup steps, it showed a "MD5 checksum mismatch", therefore not everything was completely restored.
However, using an older Nandroid backup restored completely fine, but of course it's a lot older from probably 2 months ago. Both backups were made on the same device and were backed up successfully so there shouldn't be any problem.......
So now, I just want to test my newest backup on another friend's Milestone, which has the same firmware/rom and baseband etc as me. I just wanna test it since that backup is very important to me and I wanna see if I can at least try to restore it somehow.
MD5 is used to check file integrity
the backup itself it's done from what i get at a partition level so meaning it restore partition at date of backup.
about the firmware
if you have different firmware versions after restore you have one version on both if u restore only data partition, you have to have same firmware from the same developer, and usually works.
yes it should work on every milestone.
I see, thanks a lot!

NANDroid backup

what is a nandroid? how do you perform a NANDroid backup of your current ROM? im going to cm7 stable from kj1. just wondering cause it says in the steps to install cm7. thanks..sorry for the noob ques..
its making a complete backup of ur current rom settings,apps and all. with i897 gingerbread roms i dont think u can restore a nandroid backup. but u would normally do a backup in recovery with cwm.
yes, nandroid on i897 ginger roms do not work.
but the procedure would be to make a backup. then if you flash a different rom from what the backup was made from you would have to flash the rom back that was backed up THEN restore the nandroid and it will be like you never flashed away from that rom.
DO NOT EVER restore a nandroid to a set up it was not backed up on, it will bootloop.
studacris said:
DO NOT EVER restore a nandroid to a set up it was not backed up on, it will bootloop.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
can you expound on that please...hahaha..sorry im reading it over and over..just need to clarify..what you mean? thanks btw guys for the reply..so basically nandroid backs up your rom..cause just the name sounded confusing..i mean why name it nandroid when they can just say in the intructions before flashing a rom to just "back up" your rom..haha..i thought nandroid was something else..cause i heard other people saying something about efs or whatever and backing it up but i dont even know what that is especially..thanks though for replies..got it..
Say you back up your current ROM, then flash another. You can't just restore ROM A onto ROM b. You have to flash back to ROM A and THEN restore the nandroid and it will be like you never flashed ROM b. All of you settings and everything will be intact.
Efs is totally different, that is a partition that contains your phones individual data, it's imei which you have to manually backup it's not included in a nandroid.
Components backed up by NANDroid
Which of these components does NANDROID back up?
- bootloaders?
- kernel?
- system apps and other apps?
- modems?
- other parts of the OS?
Thanks for sharing the knowledge.
The firmware and system settings.
No kernel
No bootloader
No modem
studacris said:
Say you back up your current ROM, then flash another. You can't just restore ROM A onto ROM b. You have to flash back to ROM A and THEN restore the nandroid and it will be like you never flashed ROM b. All of you settings and everything will be intact.
Efs is totally different, that is a partition that contains your phones individual data, it's imei which you have to manually backup it's not included in a nandroid.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Kindly clarify this please, i want to backup my stock rom before going custom.
So inorder to do a complete backup, we need to do a nandroid backup and also backup imei separately?? and then restore both of them when i flash back to stock??
ayush29k said:
Kindly clarify this please, i want to backup my stock rom before going custom.
So inorder to do a complete backup, we need to do a nandroid backup and also backup imei separately?? and then restore both of them when i flash back to stock??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They are two separate issues, really, but you are correct that you should back up both.
Nandroid lets you go back to a previous state, as long as you flash back to the correct ROM before you restore it. It will not let you restore data to your new installation, though. If you want to restore your applications in your new ROM, you can download Titanium Backup from the market which will let you batch save your applications now and restore them on your new ROM (It can also save and restore system data, but don't restore system data between ROMs, it causes all sorts of weird issues).
Backing up your EFS folder is something you should do, but hopefully will never have to restore. Your EFS folder contains information about your phone and should never actually get touched in any way when flashing ROMs. However, things go wrong and sometimes this folder ends up getting corrupted for whatever reason, which can lead to a corrupt IMEI code and no service. If this were to happen, you would restore you EFS from backup. I think it's safe to say most of us have never had to actually do this, but better safe than sorry. You can do a search for backing it up and find several threads about it.
Happy flashing!
lol...I was about to do nandroid backup! These post wre real helpful...thank you!
See this thread in the Development Forum for Corn Kernel... It has a working nandroid. BTW, that kernel is for i897 Gingerbread Roms.
Components backed up by nandroid
KarateKick said:
Which of these components does NANDROID back up?
- bootloaders?
- kernel?
- system apps and other apps?
- modems?
- other parts of the OS?
Thanks for sharing the knowledge.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
studacris said:
The firmware and system settings.
No kernel
No bootloader
No modem
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I run a nandroid backup I see it processing these:
- boot image
- recovery image
- system
- data
- datadata
- .android_secure
- cache
- sd-ext
Can anyone explain some of these terms to me? I am pretty new to all this.
This thread has all the goodies defined pretty well http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1093062
Guys , if I have two same model phones , one with alot of games and modded ROM and the other is standard , Can I take NANDroid backup from the first and restore in in the second ?
thanx in advanced
abdu_mka said:
Guys , if I have two same model phones , one with alot of games and modded ROM and the other is standard , Can I take NANDroid backup from the first and restore in in the second ?
thanx in advanced
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You will need to first get it on the same modded ROM and then flash the backup. They will then be identicle
Hello,
This is the thread I was looking for. It just tackles top backup/restore issues I want to be positive of before tinkering around.
Now, what app is capable of doing a nandroid backup, if any? RomManager?
If a nandroid backup consists of the firmware and system settings but no kernel, bootloader or modem, how are these three backed up then?
My goal is making a stock unrooted (if possible) backup.
A concerning restoring, from this thread I understand that the restore process is composed of:
1st restore ROM A (which?)
2nd restore nandroid (which?)
3rd restore data/apps (Titanium is able to)
4th restore EFS folder (how?)
Please, correct/suggest. I appreciate.
Greetings,
galaxymny said:
Hello,
This is the thread I was looking for. It just tackles top backup/restore issues I want to be positive of before tinkering around.
Now, what app is capable of doing a nandroid backup, if any? RomManager?
If a nandroid backup consists of the firmware and system settings but no kernel, bootloader or modem, how are these three backed up then?
My goal is making a stock unrooted (if possible) backup.
A concerning restoring, from this thread I understand that the restore process is composed of:
1st restore ROM A (which?)
2nd restore nandroid (which?)
3rd restore data/apps (Titanium is able to)
4th restore EFS folder (how?)
Please, correct/suggest. I appreciate.
Greetings,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First of all, you have revived an old thread with now false information. A nandroid does include modem and kernel. Bootloaders can't be backed up, and there really wouldn't be a point in that. No app can do a backup, and please don't use ROM manager; it's obsolete. As for your steps: You probably only need to flash a ROM first if the partition table is being changed. Meaning you can't restore a Samsung ROM over an AOSP ROM. You won't need to use titanium backup because you will have restored the phone to the exact state it was when you took the backup. Meaning there won't be anything to restore. Efs? Don't touch it, we never will be deleting it.
Sent from my CM9 ICS i897 Captivate
Modems and kernels ARE NOT backed up in a Nandroid...
Hello,
@korockinout13: I don't think I'm providing false info. Actually, i've been gathering from the thread. I think there's some disagreement on what a nandroid backup really backs up from the views expressed in the thread. Plus, it's pure netiquette not opening new threads for a topic already started somewhere else in a forum. It's power ecology. No hard feelings, though.
Thank you and b-eock for your replies. I think I'd rather use cwm instead.
My goal is still the same: making a stock unrooted (if possible) backup as there are no roms available for my brand new Mini:
pda S5570XWKQG
phone S5570XWKQ5
csc S5570YOGKQ3
android version 2.3.4
Kernel 2.6.35
Thank you both!
b-eock said:
Modems and kernels ARE NOT backed up in a Nandroid...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Someone told me about the modem part, so I'm not really sure about that. But if it doesn't backup the kernel, why does restoring a nandroid put you back on the kernel you had previously (i.e. Glitch)?

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