[Q] EFS? - Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

does efs change everytime we install a rom or changing a firmware versions?i have a lot of copies of my EFS file because i always back it up before ill try a new firmware or custom roms im just confused if its ok to delete the old EFS file that i saved.

heyjhay said:
does efs change everytime we install a rom or changing a firmware versions?i have a lot of copies of my EFS file because i always back it up before ill try a new firmware or custom roms im just confused if its ok to delete the old EFS file that i saved.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AFAIK every rom has to avoid EFS and not mess with it, since its crucial for your phone. Backing it up is a wise thing to do, and if you do each installation as instructed, you should have no worries. But do a backup of those EFS files on your PC if you intend to delete them from your phone, just in case.

Related

[Q] Full backup new phone

Hallo
How can i fully backup my new phone before rooting and before doing anything to have a safe copy of everything on it so i can go back to it later after bad flasjing ect?
What country are you in and what provider are you with?
UK Three
I want to have full backup of my phone incl IMEI efs and all
The latest official stock ROMs can be found here...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1113928
so no need to back yours up - just use them.
To backup efs, just back it up with a file explorer. I tend to have a copy of it on my external sd card, just in case.
But in this case i still need to root the phone befor backup?
Also that will not recreate the partitions in case they ar domadged as in my last phone
You don't need root for any of that. As for partitions, I can't answer you, as I don't know what you're going to flash that might repartition.
At the momment i got 2 SG2
One have no IMEI no baseband problem and i do not have copy of their EFS folder and i can not edit EFS as it is constantly in RO mode. I wish to avoid this situation on my new SG2 so i want to BACK ALL up to be able to recover in case if something like this happend again. How can i fo kind of RAW one to one copy of the phone. SOmething like Clone image of my computer?
EFS restore post ,
and have a look at Nitrality in the market backup EFS and restore .
jje

[Q] whats happened?

just updated my rom and was messing about with kernels and now my phone hhas gone odd.
it works fine on vodafone(original network) but wont work on any other network.
it always shows signal but with any sim other than voda i get emergency calls only.
so iv had a look about on it and my imei has changed to what i believe is a test imei or something. i have restored my backed up efs and it hasnt changed. its still the same.
i have now put it back to official samsung firmware 2.3.6 then rooted it with cf-root kk5
baseband- i9100xxkl1
kernel- [email protected]#2
build number- gt-i9100-eng 2.3.6 gingerbread xxkl1 test-keys
any ideas?
Read the thousands of EFS IMEI posts .
Starter .
IMEI.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1372169
jje
JJEgan said:
Read the thousands of EFS IMEI posts .
Starter .
IMEI.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1372169
jje
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i wasnt asking how i fix it, i was asking why its happened?
as in why did restoring my efs still leave me with this odd imei number?
If we knew how it happened it would not be a problem .All that is known is that it is a result of flashing roms .
jje
Flashing the ROM has corrupt your EFS file that contains your phones IMEI number therefore changing it to a false one.Thats why we do backups.Not overly common but common enough.The problem now is to get back your original IMEI by correcting the EFS folder.WHAT type of backup do you have?TAR,ZIP,e.t.c.?
Odia has a good rep at getting phones back up and running.Worth a try.
thats the thing. i understand flashing rom can somehow corrupt the backed up efs but it cant when my back up was on my laptop.
the backup i used was an .img file generated by hellcats ktool app. i also restored it with this app.
i also have the .tar.gz efs backups that are generater automatically but how do i flash this, other than adb. id use adb but it seems to have got a little confussed on my laptop, and dont ever work since i got my sgs2 :/
djmaz said:
thats the thing. i understand flashing rom can somehow corrupt the backed up efs but it cant when my back up was on my laptop.
the backup i used was an .img file generated by hellcats ktool app. i also restored it with this app.
i also have the .tar.gz efs backups that are generater automatically but how do i flash this, other than adb. id use adb but it seems to have got a little confussed on my laptop, and dont ever work since i got my sgs2 :/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Heres a link.give this a try.Its an EFS backup tool.Make a backup of your current(wrong)EFS folder in img or tar.It will appear in a folder called EFSProBackup.You need this folder to restore.Open the folder and delete the backup.Put your original backup you made that you have in your PC inside and use the restore option.this program supports backup/restore of img and tar formats so you could try and use it to restore your original ones.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1308546
download the release zip
Id try the img restore first:the option to format current EFS before restore is at your own risk.Please read carefully.

Can Odin delete IMEI number flashing stock roms?

Hi is is safe to flash stock roms with odin.
can the imei be erased flashing a stock roms?
if so, how can i prevent it?
back up efs with k tools or one of the other backup tools before doing anything, then copy backup to computer/dropbox/flash drive....as many places as you can!
Odin much safer than kies, straight forward to use, just make sure you know what you are doing before proceeding
Odin is the best! Go ahead, you will have no problems if you know how to flash correct.
Be sure to backup efs in first place.
It is better to be safe than sorry.
Is there any way to copy EFS folder without root? from pc or something?
i want to stay stock.
As far as I know, there isn't. You have to root and then use something like EFS backup pro for efs folder backup.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
0mega007 said:
Is there any way to copy EFS folder without root? from pc or something?
i want to stay stock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You need root access to backup the efs folder.

[Q]IMEI bug(?) Can't flash anything without losing it / can't restore

I've flashed roms and mods on my Sgs2 since I bought it 2 years ago. I've bricked it a few times and I always managed to fix it by myself, I only asked for help when my WiFi stopped working and I couldn't get signal at all only emergency calls (Never found fix for WiFi).
Anyway, I'm facing a similar problem now with my IMEI, I had this problem before and I learned how to fix it but now nothing works.
I've used EFS Pro, Restored a nandroid, flashed a stock samsung JB ROM (even though I don't think ROMs do anything to efs) I used kTool from Hellcat and the only way to make it work is doing my nandroid restore (CM9.. old nandroid backup) and copy pasting my efs folder I have backed up, however, If I copy paste the folder using another ROM (thats how I always fixed my corrupted imei) it doesn't work anymore, It only works once after restoring nandroid CM9, If i flash CM9 Odin it doesn't work, any ROM I install gives me corrupted imei. this problem started happening since I flashed stock JB ROM, I NEVER could use stock JB ROM without losing my IMEI, and I wasn't able to put it back by copy pasting efs folder (always used to work when i had this problem) another thing ~ I used NukeWipe Script ~ before moving to Android 4.2.2 now I only can use my phone with CM9 from my nandroid and fixing the imei there by copy pasting my backed up EFS. If I flash anything else my IMEI gets corrupted and I can't fix it with anything! hoping for some help, I would like to know how much will it cost me to fix this, take in mind that I'm from Mexico and USD is pretty expensive here
PS: I also tried the tutorial of Recover IMEI in 9 steps and it didn't work.
When I restore my nandroid I have a corrupted imei and no signal, my nandroid doesn't have a file explorer so I download one from market.. how do I download one from market if i have no signal at all and corrupted imei? I don't know ... I don't even have the 3G icon or any signal and it says no service but internet works fine.
PunkOz said:
I've flashed roms and mods on my Sgs2 since I bought it 2 years ago. I've bricked it a few times and I always managed to fix it by myself, I only asked for help when my WiFi stopped working and I couldn't get signal at all only emergency calls (Never found fix for WiFi).
Anyway, I'm facing a similar problem now with my IMEI, I had this problem before and I learned how to fix it but now nothing works.
I've used EFS Pro, Restored a nandroid, flashed a stock samsung JB ROM (even though I don't think ROMs do anything to efs) I used kTool from Hellcat and the only way to make it work is doing my nandroid restore (CM9.. old nandroid backup) and copy pasting my efs folder I have backed up, however, If I copy paste the folder using another ROM (thats how I always fixed my corrupted imei) it doesn't work anymore, It only works once after restoring nandroid CM9, If i flash CM9 Odin it doesn't work, any ROM I install gives me corrupted imei. this problem started happening since I flashed stock JB ROM, I NEVER could use stock JB ROM without losing my IMEI, and I wasn't able to put it back by copy pasting efs folder (always used to work when i had this problem) another thing ~ I used NukeWipe Script ~ before moving to Android 4.2.2 now I only can use my phone with CM9 from my nandroid and fixing the imei there by copy pasting my backed up EFS. If I flash anything else my IMEI gets corrupted and I can't fix it with anything! hoping for some help, I would like to know how much will it cost me to fix this, take in mind that I'm from Mexico and USD is pretty expensive here
PS: I also tried the tutorial of Recover IMEI in 9 steps and it didn't work.
When I restore my nandroid I have a corrupted imei and no signal, my nandroid doesn't have a file explorer so I download one from market.. how do I download one from market if i have no signal at all and corrupted imei? I don't know ... I don't even have the 3G icon or any signal and it says no service but internet works fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Back up your efs folder with another app like galaxy s unlock or something (some apps make a copy of the EFS folder while other apps make an image of it), copy them to your PC then flash stock with mobile odin and see what happens.
gastonw said:
Back up your efs folder with another app like galaxy s unlock or something (some apps make a copy of the EFS folder while other apps make an image of it), copy them to your PC then flash stock with mobile odin and see what happens.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I managed to get my imei back, codeworkx helped me, all i had to do was restore efs and then flash stock GB check if i still have my imei then flash ics then check if i had my imei then flash the old rom i had (mcm 4.2.1) and i had my imei but ... i tried to update to 4.2.2 nightly and my imei got corrupted, can't restore it while using 4.2.2, I couldn't use stock JB because of this, im guessing this is happening in 4.2.2 because they're using new stuff from stock JB.
Any ideas?
Could be, tattoo EFS on your arm just in case.
Sent from the little guy

Lost IMEI, have backup but does not restore IMEI!! HELP!!!

Hey Guys
My i9300 was running stock rom and i decided to flash the illusion rom. but i downloaded and flashed the wrong file. so now my imei number is lost and i get no signal.
I have backup of IMEI from the software EFS pro but it does not restore. the software shows all ok but the IMEI on phone is still unknown.
Also there is a file on my sd card with the backup of efs. maybe a rom previously flashed may have taken the backup. I can try and restore that.
Please help me how to do so. its a tar.gz file
Please help me restore my IMEI number. i have no phone signal and dont want to go to service center because my phone is rooted and its voided warranty.
also i had a nandroid backup i restored it and all my data has been restored but not the IMEI
thanks in advance.
Can't help you to get your IMEI back, but to use https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=eu.chainfire.triangleaway , use Odin (or mobileOdin) or unroot it you don't need a IMEI.
Tar files are flashed via Odin .
jje
Actually this may be simpler than expected.
tar.gz can be flashed from odin since now it has an /efs field. That alone may be enough. But please do another backup before trying anything. Really, just copying all the files over to somewhere safe is enough.
But Tar.gz is a compressed file (like zip). Have you tried to check what's inside that tar.gz? I'd decompress it to somewhere and compare it to what's inside your /efs partition on your phone. If it seems the same, i'd do a new /efs backup and try replacing the contents of the /efs with the uncompressed backup.
You may need to do this through adb on recovery mode - once, brain went full retard and wiped my /efs partition by not thinking about what i was doing, phone instantly rebooted on the spot to never normally boot again until fixed (had an awesome weekend trying to figure how to fix it , posted somewhere around here how i did it). Doing it from recovery is just to avoid that. Also, all this is assuming some file on your /efs is just corrupted and your backup is in good shape.
If you're still feeling unsure you can (and should) search for related stuff around here in xda. There is PLENTY of info about lost/corrupted /efs around, happens quite often.
Hey guys,
Thank you very much for your replies
It's quite shocking but an official firmware flash via odin solved the problem.
I guess my imei was just corrupted.
Thanks
Hey guys, I had the same problem, but now I know what went wrong, thanks!

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