This is seriously bugging me ever since someone mentioned the PDS partition was a culprit for not being able to update PRL/Data profile, and can cause other issues with the phone. I do not know of anyway to restore the partition as I don't have any nandroid backups.
Looking with a root browser, its empty, im not sure if the files are hidden in some way, but I'm able to view /system/ , but nothing appears in /pds/
No one has had this issue or knows what it means?
I'd also like the answer to this. I had it working fine on a different rom, then flashed CM9 to it and since then haven't been able to get it to update, even with my lock code and MSID and programming manually. I also don't have any backups..
mattred said:
I'd also like the answer to this. I had it working fine on a different rom, then flashed CM9 to it and since then haven't been able to get it to update, even with my lock code and MSID and programming manually. I also don't have any backups..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A discussion was started in one of my other threads it might help
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1517192
Still searching for a fix for this...cmon xda...please save the day!
I understand that the pds partition has information that is unique to each phone. Would there be a way for someone to upload their pds without their personal information and then I could fill in the blanks with mine? Then could I flash it to my phone?
Flash the PDS partition fix from the Atrix forums to create the partition, then hopefully someone will be kind enough to either share us their PDS files or tell us how to edit our own.
This is what worked for me...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1575035
Related
Moved to Q-A
GrainOsand said:
I accidentally flashed odin with phone efs clear checked....now I have no 3G and a little triangle in the nitification bar.....Can anyone help? ADRYN?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll go ahead and get a couple things out of the way that other people will probably tell you about with varying levels of aggravation (don't shoot the messenger, I couldn't care less):
This is a question. It goes in Q & A. The development forum is for development.
Odin is a dangerous tool, and you have to be careful with it.
If your MEID number is still valid in Settings -> About Phone -> Status -> MEID, then you are probably ok.
You may be able to *228, option 1. If that doesn't do it, try *22899.
If that doesn't work, activate an old phone on your account, then after a few minutes, reactivate your Samsung Fascinate. This will hopefully restore any of the EFS data that wasn't getting pushed by the *228 activation.
If your MEID in the Settings menu doesn't match the one printed on your phone under the battery, then the EFS data was corrupted and unable to rebuild after you cleared it. The only realistic option at that point is having it sent to Samsung.
thanks gizmo
question were u able to fix it i haven't done it i am always intrigued by stupid mistakes lol jk
BlackHoleSlam said:
question were u able to fix it i haven't done it i am always intrigued by stupid mistakes lol jk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
its no big deal.
http://forum.androidcentral.com/ver...t-happens-when-you-use-phone-button-odin.html
gunnermike said:
its no big deal.
http://forum.androidcentral.com/ver...t-happens-when-you-use-phone-button-odin.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, he deleted the OP that made it a little clearer... He actually cleared the EFS.
The phone section in ODIN is just a specialized field for flashing a radio file (PDA is like an all purpose). At least, this is what I gather from other's experiences. (Fully admitting that I have a bad memory).
But the "Phone EFS Clear" checkmark is for clearing the efs partition so that it will rebuild the files that contain your MEID number. It also clears the information that is pushed to your phone during activation.
Given that everything was set up properly, he should be ok after activating again... but that's not always the case. If you clear the EFS data and the files that repopulate the data with your MEID are corrupted, then there is no way to regenerate that info without shipping your phone to Samsung.
Given that no one much talks about the EFS partition on the Fascinate, I've only learned this info from the other Galaxy S variants, where backing up the EFS is a major first step before changing anything.
There is a small possibility that these principles don't apply to the SF, but I'm thinking that until someone proves otherwise, it's better safe then sorry.
OP el-solve-ed his problem. Thread closed.
While there are many how to threads on pretty much everything, theres not much going into deeper details. While ofc any of us wishing to learn has google and can find many answers, its just from here the the answers mean a little more. My fear is, my self included, is that there are many of us with misconceptions on some of the inner workings or just bad knowledge. Just to be clear this is to clear up exactly what some of the terms we hear and use actually mean as well as some of the practices.
For example
Regarding Odin
How many partitions exist on the internal memory, and what are there functions.
What exactly does the PIT file do.
What all does the TAR file contain (full package) and how does it write to the partitions.
What is the csc option?
What else should we know about odin?
Why has nobody removed the phone option for our purposes here?
Voodoo, exactly what partition is it changing and how is it actually converting.
Which cache is used for what and where is it stored?
Just some things off the top of my head that i don't have a complete understanding of and wish to learn more. Again for this thread at least i am looking for some details from people that actually do understand. There are many of us that can spew out answers to these and more that are just close to right without a full comprehension.
This is for learning and not just getting enough to get you through a problem as im sure many of us are guilty of
I found the same problem when I first got into Android but this is more a forum for developers who know what they are doing.
MattRussNC said:
How many partitions exist on the internal memory, and what are there functions.
What exactly does the PIT file do.
What all does the TAR file contain (full package) and how does it write to the partitions.
What is the csc option?
What else should we know about odin?
Why has nobody removed the phone option for our purposes here?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are I think about 10-11 partitions on the internal storage. You have /system, /data, /cache, /dbdata, modem, bootloader, secondary bootloader, kernel, recovery, there is a partition dedicated for OTA updates, and another one as well, though I'm not sure what it is for. There may be more as well.
The PIT file is the partition information table, which tells Odin where each partition starts/ends.
The TAR file can contain any of a number of items for flashing, and they'll get flashed to the appropriate partitions based on their name.
factoryfs.rfs=/system
dbdata.rfs=/dbdata
cache.rfs=/cache
movinand.bin=/data
param.lfs=the .lfs partition, not sure exactly what it does
boot.bin=bootloader
sbl.bin=secondary bootloader
modem.bin=modem/radio/baseband
zImage=kernel
recovery.bin=recovery kernel
Adding a md5 sum to the tar file and renaming it to .tar.md5 allows for built in error correction.
Not sure what csc mode is, but I've never seen it used, so I'd avoid it.
Odin is a tool created by Samsung as far as I'm aware for flashing their phones. No one has the source, or knows exactly where the tool came from, so that is also likely why no one has removed the phone button, because you'd have to HEX edit the executable to remove it, and there is no telling what effects it may have, so it's better to just leave it alone.
MattRussNC said:
Voodoo, exactly what partition is it changing and how is it actually converting.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Voodoo converts the primary partitions of the phone, /system, /data, /cache, /dbdata. It converts by backing up the data to a file, reformatting the partition, then restoring the data from the file. If it didn't backup the data, it'd just be formatting the system.
MattRussNC said:
Which cache is used for what and where is it stored?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cache is similar to a temporary storage area for files that are created and used frequently/semi-frequently. The files there aren't fully needed, but help speed up the system.
phonefiend said:
I found the same problem when I first got into Android but this is more a forum for developers who know what they are doing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I do believe I would have to argue that most people that visit this forum knows what they are doing. While a great many here including myself that knows enough to get by, we would all be better off knowing more. Also since this is q&a forum I thought it would be a good place to ask and learn more then "how do root"
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA Premium App
Had no idea there was that many partitions. What was the reason that radios couldn't be flashed to the proper partition along with everything else? (as in why we always have to flash the modems on thee own)
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA Premium App
MattRussNC said:
Had no idea there was that many partitions. What was the reason that radios couldn't be flashed to the proper partition along with everything else? (as in why we always have to flash the modems on thee own)
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No one is completely sure how to flash a full modem file via recovery, and it may not be possible without using stock recovery. The only tried and true method that is know for flashing full modem.bin files is Odin (and Heimdall), so that's why it's always a separate step.
MattRussNC said:
Well I do believe I would have to argue that most people that visit this forum knows what they are doing. While a great many here including myself that knows enough to get by, we would all be better off knowing more. Also since this is q&a forum I thought it would be a good place to ask and learn more then "how do root"
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you misinterpreted my post. I'm just saying I also was looking for the same information you want but it didn't seem that the people in the know wanted to explain all the details you're looking for. It seems in your case someone at least tried to answer some of you questions, which is great.
phonefiend said:
I think you misinterpreted my post. I'm just saying I also was looking for the same information you want but it didn't seem that the people in the know wanted to explain all the details you're looking for. It seems in your case someone at least tried to answer some of you questions, which is great.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
People are much more likely to answer questions when they're posted in the correct section. You also tend to get questions answered if you join IRC and ask things, but don't expect to get everything handed to you, there is likely to be some work/searching on your own part as well.
imnuts said:
People are much more likely to answer questions when they're posted in the correct section. You also tend to get questions answered if you join IRC and ask things, but don't expect to get everything handed to you, there is likely to be some work/searching on your own part as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for the answers to those first off. My apologies if i placed this in the wrong section, i thought this part was open for these types of questions.
Im sure irc is a great place to learn a great deal, however i fear asking in irc things that have been discussed many times. While searching will absolutely give you a very basic knowledge it is often repeated from those that don't fully understand it and may have it a little off. This isnt a cut at anybody as it should fall to the lower tiers to answer to the common issues that arise. However that kind of information is normally only good for solving a problem. For when there is no trouble and one wishes to know more about what they just did instead of how they did it, things fall short. Just about every member here can root, cwm flash, and odin but how many of us truly understand the process in detail. i know i dont, but i would like to. Thats what im looking for in this thread. Not how to do what we do, but whats taking place underneath.
Thanks again for the answers so far.
if this is in the wrong area and doesn't getting removed please let it fade.
imnuts said:
People are much more likely to answer questions when they're posted in the correct section. You also tend to get questions answered if you join IRC and ask things, but don't expect to get everything handed to you, there is likely to be some work/searching on your own part as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're right about IRC being the place where questions may be answered. As far as searching, I can tell you a lot of the technical details aren't answered here.
MattRussNC said:
Thank you for the answers to those first off. My apologies if i placed this in the wrong section, i thought this part was open for these types of questions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is the proper place for questions. The problem is that many people will post their questions similar to this in the development forum, and that just gets the thread no where. And searching for technical info is difficult because usually you get flooded with useless stuff in your search.
imnuts said:
There are I think about 10-11 partitions on the internal storage. You have /system, /data, /cache, /dbdata, modem, bootloader, secondary bootloader, kernel, recovery, there is a partition dedicated for OTA updates, and another one as well, though I'm not sure what it is for. There may be more as well.
The PIT file is the partition information table, which tells Odin where each partition starts/ends.
The TAR file can contain any of a number of items for flashing, and they'll get flashed to the appropriate partitions based on their name.
factoryfs.rfs=/system
dbdata.rfs=/dbdata
cache.rfs=/cache
movinand.bin=/data
param.lfs=the .lfs partition, not sure exactly what it does
boot.bin=bootloader
sbl.bin=secondary bootloader
modem.bin=modem/radio/baseband
zImage=kernel
recovery.bin=recovery kernel
Adding a md5 sum to the tar file and renaming it to .tar.md5 allows for built in error correction.
Not sure what csc mode is, but I've never seen it used, so I'd avoid it.
Odin is a tool created by Samsung as far as I'm aware for flashing their phones. No one has the source, or knows exactly where the tool came from, so that is also likely why no one has removed the phone button, because you'd have to HEX edit the executable to remove it, and there is no telling what effects it may have, so it's better to just leave it alone.
Voodoo converts the primary partitions of the phone, /system, /data, /cache, /dbdata. It converts by backing up the data to a file, reformatting the partition, then restoring the data from the file. If it didn't backup the data, it'd just be formatting the system.
Cache is similar to a temporary storage area for files that are created and used frequently/semi-frequently. The files there aren't fully needed, but help speed up the system.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was wondering some of those terms my self.
thanks for all the Great info,
One thing been bugging me lately. Most likely every one has experienced the need to either wipe the caches more then once or flash multiple times for success. How is it that wiping cache is not 100%. Why does flashing a rom more then once sometimes yield different results when done the exact same way?
i believe the phone button in odin is to flash radio/modem alone
which we unfortunately do not have (yet)
the phone button and other buttons are still there because the gsm ones, like the captivate and vibrant, are using it
jk0l said:
i believe the phone button in odin is to flash radio/modem alone
which we unfortunately do not have (yet)
the phone button and other buttons are still there because the gsm ones, like the captivate and vibrant, are using it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've only flashed the modem/radio by itself in the PDA button like everything else. As far as I know, we only flash things for the Fascinate through the PDA button (except of course for the atlas v2.2 PIT file.) That includes ROMs bundled in an ODIN package, modems/radios, and recoveries.
jk0l said:
i believe the phone button in odin is to flash radio/modem alone
which we unfortunately do not have (yet)
the phone button and other buttons are still there because the gsm ones, like the captivate and vibrant, are using it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The phone button is for completely different devices, likely their regular, non-smartphone, devices. It is not meant for flashing anything for the Fascinate.
Could have found a better place i guess but this will do. Noticed we are still without a FAQ aside from the outdated one as well as the guide. I thought perhaps some discussion on what should be included in a FAQ was in order to fill the gap.
Simple basic guides are important and have there place, however as one can use links to more details there is no reason not to have a comprehensive guide.
Just a thought. Most of us know the basics of what root is and how to gain that access. Most of us also has no idea exactly how get root manually without following instructions either. So what i was hoping for in the next guide
Q= What is root ?
A= Super user access needed for apps that need more control over your device like titanium backup
For more information click here
Then give the full out dev definition including the details that require reading up to understand. For those that want to learn.
Q= How do i root ?
A= Flash this package in odin (and give the dl link as well as a odin guide link)
For more information click here
Have the full process laid out by what needs to be done in shell without giving the copy and paste instructions. For those that want to understand what they are doing more than just doing it.
Just thought it would be nice if our next guide could be useful to more then just beginners.
I have just updated from Leo's 2.6 to 2.7.1 and when it booted up I noticed I had no signal at all so I rebooted with no difference. I then booted into CWM and flashed Cognition, which had the same issue when it booted. So I restored an old CWM MIUI backup with no difference.
I have removed and reinserted the sim card and tried my wife's too with no difference.
Any suggestions or is this phone a write-off needing a hardware repair? Is it possible the flashing of a rom can kill the radio?
Flash a modem
Enter networks APN settings manually
Check your IMEI is correct if not restore your backed up EFS folder .
jje
Just checked and the is no IMEI, wifi Mac or Bluetooth address. How can this have happened from a flashed rom.
I don't recall backing up my efs. Would anything have done this automatically?
Pagnell said:
Just checked and the is no IMEI, wifi Mac or Bluetooth address. How can this have happened from a flashed rom.
I don't recall backing up my efs. Would anything have done this automatically?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A few custom roms have started to backup EFS in the install script .
Flashing a rom is a well known breaker of EFS/IMEI .
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1068193
jje
maybe of some help?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1261948
Thanks that helped and I managed to solve the issue, although where previously the /efs folder was always read only, it's now the opposite.
Also, can someone tell me if, when first booted, the wifi and bluetooth have 'unavailable' next to their address in the status screen on a reboot until first used? Mine do now but I can't recall if they did before. However, as soon as they're used the wifi mac address appears for example.
Pagnell said:
Thanks that helped and I managed to solve the issue, although where previously the /efs folder was always read only, it's now the opposite.
Also, can someone tell me if, when first booted, the wifi and bluetooth have 'unavailable' next to their address in the status screen on a reboot until first used? Mine do now but I can't recall if they did before. However, as soon as they're used the wifi mac address appears for example.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What do you mean by status screen? ill have a look on mine for you.
EDIT: I see what you mean now and have checked. Yes mine are unavaliable at first boot before connecting.
Superb, cheers mate. Looks like my phone is fully functioning again. Scary 4-5 hours that was.
Just need to find out the default permissions for everything in the /efs folder now and set it back to what they should be.
Could someone please list the permissions of the files and folders in their /efs folder please? I just want to make sure mine are back as they should be should any rogue app try to mess around with the contents.
Cheers in advance.
Pagnell said:
Could someone please list the permissions of the files and folders in their /efs folder please? I just want to make sure mine are back as they should be should any rogue app try to mess around with the contents.
Cheers in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are a few differences depending on files and there is a fair few files.
Ill get some screenshots up shorty for you if nobody beats me to it
Ive got to get a little work done first, shhh! ive been on here all morning lol
Cheers.
right, here we go....
I think i got them all but if ive missed anything let me know
last 2 pics in next post.
and the last 2.
Brilliant, thanks.
One last question, do you have the permissions of the /efs folder itself if possible? Sorry to be a pain.
Pagnell said:
One last question, do you have the permissions of the /efs folder itself if possible? Sorry to be a pain.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no problem mate its
rwxrwx--x
Again, thanks.
Me and My girlfriend both have the SGS2, mine black, hers white.
Instead of all the settings/installations I thought maybe to backup my phone with CWM and restore it on her phone.
Is it possible?
Will it work...?
Won't it ruin anything important with the phone, such as imei issues or anything?
The reason for thinking about it is that she has some unsolved issues and I dont have too much time to spend doing all the checking and installing things..I just know mine works well and it seems the easiest way
It will work as long as the back up does not have EFS in it.
EFS contains information about imei.
The backup is consisted of a several .img files.
How can I tell if it contains EFS or not, and if it does, how can I 'tell' CWM not to backup this information?
list the files in back up and we will tell which ones are safe to transfer.
Sorry, The following are the backup files:
.android_secure, boot, cache,data, nandroid.md5,system.
As far as i am aware backup does not contain EFS but i am not 100% sure .
jje
I'm also interested in this as I would like to port my existing phone backup to another SGS2, but I have doubts re MAC address and also IMEI.
EFS info stated previously does not give much insight, but what I have as a regular CWM backup is: nandroid.md5 *giving proper checksum for other 4 files), boot.img, cache.ext4.tar, system.ext4.tar and data.ext4.tar files, totaling ~ 1.20GB. No EFS dedi files. I fear my second SGS2 might receive wrong info through backup flash, thus resulting conflicting one with another. As both phones will be used in the same household (my son would receive my old SGS2), and also IMEI is worrying me as I wouldn't want ending with both of them having the same one and resulting illegitimate while both SGS2 are legit!
I searched with google, but haven't found SGS2 related topics.
Anyone with more insight or willing to help?
TIA.
Cheers!
Edit: if none replies, I might give it a try as I already have CWM backup on both phones mounting the very same ROM.
Yeah it can be done. CWM doesn't back up efs so won't need to worry about that. It will put an exact duplicate on her phone though. All settings, contacts, messages, accounts etc will be copied across.
Sent from my GT-I9100
Fevves said:
I'm also interested in this as I would like to port my existing phone backup to another SGS2, but I have doubts re MAC address and also IMEI.
EFS info stated previously does not give much insight, but what I have as a regular CWM backup is: nandroid.md5 *giving proper checksum for other 4 files), boot.img, cache.ext4.tar, system.ext4.tar and data.ext4.tar files, totaling ~ 1.20GB. No EFS dedi files. I fear my second SGS2 might receive wrong info through backup flash, thus resulting conflicting one with another. As both phones will be used in the same household (my son would receive my old SGS2), and also IMEI is worrying me as I wouldn't want ending with both of them having the same one and resulting illegitimate while both SGS2 are legit!
I searched with google, but haven't found SGS2 related topics.
Anyone with more insight or willing to help?
TIA.
Cheers!
Edit: if none replies, I might give it a try as I already have CWM backup on both phones mounting the very same ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
dude at any point of time u cant change the IMEI no its no ware related to ur rom hence dont worry
but ensure that u put the bkp file under cwm/backup folder other wise u cannot install the bkp from recovery
Thanks for the info guys. That is all I wanted to "hear" (read) and it seems not so complicated after all (thank god, not like on some other Android devices and nandroid backup). Will clone my phone to other one as soon as I have some spare time and will report back.
Edit: Just cloned my older SGS2 to a newer one, did complete restore of internal memory on newer SGS2 and everything works as a charm, just enabled it on my home wifi network and that's it. Older SGS2 just got dalvik etc wipe so it can be clean for my kid
So it is really a piece of cake and is doable.
Thanks for advices and hints whoever posted here.
Cheers.
I had some major issues after flashing a new rom with latest version of philz advanced recovery...I lost my efs data and all data connectivity... After doing some reading I saw posts saying that flashing stock in Odin would fix my problem quickly and easily...went through that whole process and it fixed my connection...I was then stuck in factory mode and did more reading...according to everything I read I could fix this easily with a file edit...it stated That all I needed to do was navigate with a root explorer app to efs/FactoryApp/factory mode and change off to on...and then to efs/FactoryApp/keystr and also change off to on...easy right...wrong...my efs folder was completely empty...I searched and searched for an answer to my problems for 2 weeks...no luck...I came across many people with jflte and same issue...none ever found successful fix or just never posted it...I did try backing up my efs when I first rooted...but the app I used backed up mmcblk0p3...our efs is located at mmcblk0p10...so my backup was actually for sbl1...awesome...after countless hours of tinkering and reading I came across an old post from a gs2 forum and it did lead me to believe that my efs partition had been formatted to the wrong format to be mountable...after trying every tool I could find to reformat it to ext4...I gave up...I called a Samsung service center and was sending it in to be fixed...they said it would be updated when I got it back...I'm on mdk and was heartbroken to hear this...got a case of the f its and started tinkering more...went back to gs2 thread and someone has posted about an app on play store called gs2_repair...it works...it mounts the partition correctly in ext4 and from there I had to fix permissions or it would unmount on reboot...just following the 2 file edits I talked about previously got me out of factory mode and I was good to go...hope this helps somebody else!
jamesd1085 said:
I had some major issues after flashing a new rom with latest version of philz advanced recovery...I lost my efs data and all data connectivity... After doing some reading I saw posts saying that flashing stock in Odin would fix my problem quickly and easily...went through that whole process and it fixed my connection...I was then stuck in factory mode and did more reading...according to everything I read I could fix this easily with a file edit...it stated That all I needed to do was navigate with a root explorer app to efs/FactoryApp/factory mode and change off to on...and then to efs/FactoryApp/keystr and also change off to on...easy right...wrong...my efs folder was completely empty...I searched and searched for an answer to my problems for 2 weeks...no luck...I came across many people with jflte and same issue...none ever found successful fix or just never posted it...I did try backing up my efs when I first rooted...but the app I used backed up mmcblk0p3...our efs is located at mmcblk0p10...so my backup was actually for sbl1...awesome...after countless hours of tinkering and reading I came across an old post from a gs2 forum and it did lead me to believe that my efs partition had been formatted to the wrong format to be mountable...after trying every tool I could find to reformat it to ext4...I gave up...I called a Samsung service center and was sending it in to be fixed...they said it would be updated when I got it back...I'm on mdk and was heartbroken to hear this...got a case of the f its and started tinkering more...went back to gs2 thread and someone has posted about an app on play store called gs2_repair...it works...it mounts the partition correctly in ext4 and from there I had to fix permissions or it would unmount on reboot...just following the 2 file edits I talked about previously got me out of factory mode and I was good to go...hope this helps somebody else!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is actually really useful information. Im glad you figured this out, a lot of people have this issue and they usually dont ever find a solution (or post it if they did). Using the info you provided perhaps one of us on xda can create an all-in-one solution for this? If I have time ill explore doing this. Good to see people posting things that actually help the community for once.
Surge1223 said:
This is actually really useful information. Im glad you figured this out, a lot of people have this issue and they usually dont ever find a solution (or post it if they did). Using the info you provided perhaps one of us on xda can create an all-in-one solution for this? If I have time ill explore doing this. Good to see people posting things that actually help the community for once.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great!...I had hoped so...that's why I posted because it took two weeks of searching to figure out because there was no fix for our s4 so I tried a combo of many different fixes and lucked into something that actually worked...lol
didn't work for me