Database Users

Make sure to backup your efs partition!

I just wanted to share a story of woe and redemption so that it doesn't happen to you.
As background, I had sim unlocked my phone using helroz's method a while back, and my phone has been working fine from team whiskey's early days till now. Recently, I was flashing my phone as most of us do. I noted that after flashing the dead horse kernel, my market was not working properly, so I decided to odin back to JFD. From there, I flashed Bionix, but afterward, noted that I wasn't getting any cell reception. After some investigation and several odins, I looked at my software info and found that my baseband was unknown. I flashed back to JFD however, and it worked fine. In fact, this was the only rom where the cell worked. The phone otherwise was functioning flawlessly, including wifi.
Further investigation showed that this has happened to others, and anecdotally, people have fixed it by odining over and over or doing some magic with their sim card. I did just that but to no avail. After some thinking, it occurred to me that maybe my /efs data was bad, so I took a look. Hitting *#06# showed the generic samsung IMEI while in JFD (it did not work in other versions as the baseband was not working), not my normal IMEI. That's odd. I still had the backup from trying to sim unlock it months ago. I tried to overwrite the /efs folder w/ my own, but I could not write it due to 'not enough space.'
Further investigation showed that indeed, my efs partition had been borked, and so I could not write data to it (I could copy however). The only way to fix this is by flashing/odin'ing a new partition. This only works if you have a backup, which I didn't. Basically, I had a fancy media player at this point.
I went ahead and looked on craigslist and found a vibrant w/ a broken screen, figuring I could swap out the guts. I immediately backed up the /efs folder and partition of the broken phone, just in case. On a whim, I tried to flash the efs partition from the broken phone to my phone. Lo and behold, the baseband came back. I was now able to write to that partition, so overwrote the /efs folder w/ my backup from before. My IMEI came back afterwards, and so now, I have 2 functioning vibrants. I'm not sure what data is stored in /dev/block/stl3, but I do know I was able to fix my phone using another phone's data. They both work w/ my sim, though I am unsure if they can connect simultaneously using different sims or if they are somehow cloned, but the IMEIs are different for sure.
The moral of the story is that this phone is nigh unbrickable and even when it doesn't boot, you can always try the jig. The only part of the phone you can't fix w/ a routine odin it seems, is the efs partition, so I would encourage everyone to make a backup and keep it safe. This is not done standard as an initiation into rooting and roms and such, but it should be. Normally, odin'ing a rom does not write to this area, but even w/o screwing with this, frequent flashing and odins can apparently corrupt it, leaving you high and dry. With this backup and odin, you could probably fix your phone from any jam.
Here are the relevant threads on how to do this:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=882039
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=859914
Keep those backups safe!

Thank you for sharing ur experience, I recently noticed that my data speeds have gone down after unlocking my vibrant using the method you mentioned above.Damn, I get edge speeds when I am on a HSPA network. Dunno whats the problem,called up simple mobile,am not data throttled.Sigh..
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

man this is scary, but your phone still works at JFD right?
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

It didn't for a while. Now, both phones are fully functional. I had a copy of the /efs folder of my old phone, but not an image of the partition. The problem is, when the partition gets screwed, you can't write to it, making the /efs useless.
That's why I'm trying to get people to make the backup. It takes a few minutes, but can be a lifesaver. I do believe you can flash a foreign stl3 partition and overwrite the /efs like I did, but unless you had a friend, no one would share it w/ you as it contains their imei info. Better to just back up your own. And if you lose your /efs, game over.

How exactly do you back up a partition?

Very cool of you to post this up. Is there any reason to back up your efs partition if you have no reason to unlock?
<---backing it up anyway.

It's not the unlocking. It seems that over time, some people (such as myself) screwed up the efs partition by just flashing/odin'ing various roms. It shouldn't happen, but it does. Consider that no roms write to the stl3 layer, yet mine was working one day, then one odin later, it didn't. I'm sure the number of people this happens to is quite small, but when it happens, it happens. It's like a 6 mb backup which isn't that big of a deal.

It's better to be safe than sorry.
I did an experiment on my Galaxy Tab, that I move the /efs folder to memory card.
Soon I found the reception goes way worse (at least 10dBm less) and the serial number changed to 00000000, then I immediately copied (restore) the folder and everything was back to normal.
I tried to examine the files with hex editor but I found nothing spectular.

vnamee said:
It's not the unlocking. It seems that over time, some people (such as myself) screwed up the efs partition by just flashing/odin'ing various roms. It shouldn't happen, but it does. Consider that no roms write to the stl3 layer, yet mine was working one day, then one odin later, it didn't. I'm sure the number of people this happens to is quite small, but when it happens, it happens. It's like a 6 mb backup which isn't that big of a deal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's really weird. I've never really looked into the occurrence because I always assumed it was isolated only to those that did some weird hacking in an attempt to unlock, or to those that were developing and found themselves doing some nasty, nasty things.
I just created efs_dev-block-st13.img and efs-backup.tar.gz so hopefully I'm all safe and sound now.
Thanks again! Once I get beyond GPS stuff I find myself clueless.

draikz said:
How exactly do you back up a partition?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You need to read the two links in the OP and download adb. You also need root and busybox.

all you need is to root your phone, such as w/ superoneclick which will put busybox on there. Then all you need is adb.exe.
Open up a command prompt where adb.exe is located. You can adb su or just go adb shell and then su.
The only commands you need are:
cat /dev/block/stl3 > /sdcard/stl3.bin (backs up sector management layer of partition)
cat /dev/block/bml3 > /sdcard/bml3.bin (backs up block management layer of partition)
tar zcvf /sdcard/efs-backup.tar.gz /efs (tars /efs folder)
cp stl3.bin efs.rfs (just makes copy of stl3.bin to new name efs.rfs)
tar -cf efs.tar efs.rfs (makes an odin flashable tar of partition)
I kept a copy of stl3.bin, bml3.bin, efs-backup.tar, and efs.tar.

vnamee said:
all you need is to root your phone, such as w/ superoneclick which will put busybox on there. Then all you need is adb.exe.
Open up a command prompt where adb.exe is located. You can adb su or just go adb shell and then su.
The only commands you need are:
cat /dev/block/stl3 > /sdcard/stl3.bin (backs up sector management layer of partition)
cat /dev/block/bml3 > /sdcard/bml3.bin (backs up block management layer of partition)
tar zcvf /sdcard/efs-backup.tar.gz /efs (tars /efs folder)
cp stl3.bin efs.rfs (just makes copy of stl3.bin to new name efs.rfs)
tar -cf efs.tar efs.rfs (makes an odin flashable tar of partition)
I kept a copy of stl3.bin, bml3.bin, efs-backup.tar, and efs.tar.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've got backups of stl3.bin, bml3.bin and efs-backup.tar.gz
When I try to make the partition an odin flashable tar it tells me: "No such file or directory".

You have to cd into the directory, or else it should be:
cp /sdcard/stl3.bin /sdcard/efs.rfs (just makes copy of stl3.bin to new name efs.rfs)
tar -cf /sdcard/efs.tar /sdcard/efs.rfs (makes an odin flashable tar of partition)

This is kind of old news, but nevertheless important.
Months ago in the Q&A section there were two threads about the importance of the EFS, and how a corrupted nv_data.bin and EFS can cause many problems including losing the ability to use a different carriers sim, yet nobody paid attention to those threads, but I thought the info was vital.
Would using ROM Manager and backing up your current rom, also backup the /efs?

vnamee said:
You have to cd into the directory, or else it should be:
cp /sdcard/stl3.bin /sdcard/efs.rfs (just makes copy of stl3.bin to new name efs.rfs)
tar -cf /sdcard/efs.tar /sdcard/efs.rfs (makes an odin flashable tar of partition)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I did. I'll do it again and post up exactly what I type and put in. Maybe it's just operator error.

Here ya go.
It might have been operator error because that time I watched efs.tar get written to /sdcard

It should be efs.rfs, not efs/rfs. It's a file, not a directory.

SamsungVibrant said:
Would using ROM Manager and backing up your current rom, also backup the /efs?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nandroid does not back up the /efs partition, at least not that I can tell. All those files in the backup folder are of the various partitions, and efs partition is not part of it.
The reason I made this thread to begin with is because when I had this problem, I looked high and low, and found scant info. In the future, if someone else has this problem, this will come up in a search and won't have some lame magical fix that may or may not work.

vnamee said:
It should be efs.rfs, not efs/rfs. It's a file, not a directory.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pinky slip!!! For whatever reason, it took 3 tries but I finally got it to backup. Thanks for the help! I would never think to back this stuff up. Everyone does Nandroid's like crazy, which is good, but losing this stuff is losing your phone!

Excellent write-up vnamee thank you..........

[GUIDE] Backup your /efs folder before flashing any ROM (IMPORTANT!)

Hi everyone!
The reason why I post this threat is that there is no clearly mention about the /efs folder in the rooting/how-to guides in here. In my opinion, it's the MOST IMPORTANT thing to know for all Samsung devices with Android OS before flashing any custom ROM. There is a really good threat posted in Original Android Development by Rawat, which I'm going to quote right here. Unfortunately, it's not a sticky threat so it's gone somewhere deeper in the forums.
I really beg you for a sticky of this thread, or Rawats to prevent all new users of damaging their phones.
My point is: many of you can agree, the /efs folder is very sensitive. If it get corrupted and you have no backup of it, well.. let's just say it's nearly impossible to get you phone working again. It contains your IMEI number and some other important things! There have been some situations when it get corrupted after flashing some ROMs. Without a backup, your IMEI is gone. The only way to get your phone working again is to send it back to Samsung Service.
Here is the guide, originally posted by Rawat! Thank you very much:
This guide is based on a guide by Candanga on the i9000 forums, and some commands from supercurio
Please hit thanks on their posts and show them some love for the write up.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I’ve compiled a quick guide to instruct how to make a copy of the /efs folder. I’ve found in many threads suggestions about backing up this folder but the methods itself are very general. Most of the times they suggest to “root and copy the folder” with Root Explorer or similar, but usually it’s not that easy or it just doesn't work for everyone.
This guide ASUMES you have read this Excellent Guide by Darkstrikerfirst:
H E R E <-- Make sure to read the ADB Guide.
I recommend doing this with a Mobile just taken out of the box or with any Official ROM of its Service Provider. If you have already Flashed your phone with another ROM but its working fine, then you can use that /efs also.
Why the /efs folder?
This is a very sensitive system folder that contains Phone-specific information such as the IMEI (encrypted in the nv_data.bin), wireless devices MAC addresses, product code (also in the nv_data.bin), and much more. Often users trying to change product codes or trying to unlock the mobile will end up corrupting data in this location.
Why back it up?
Well, let’s resume it saying that backing-up this little folder will keep you away from Samsung service centres.
***WARNING: I take no responsibility to any damage caused by the methods cited and/or written here. Their sole purpose is to back-up data and not to alter in any way the integrity of the original files of the mobile***
What you will need:
* Rooted SGS II to get permissions as a SU (Super User) and perform the backup
* I would suggest learning a little about the terminal commands used (in case you are not familiar with them), as it’s better to know what you are doing rather than typing strings like a little chimp without knowing what they are; if you are a little lazy, then you have a good chance bricking your mobile. <- Busybox Commands(or Google them)
* Terminal Emulator by Jack Palevich (available from the market) <-Terminal Emulator or use ADB which is included in the SDK Development Tools
The standard prompt of terminal (adb) is a $ sign. Once you enter “SU” it will become a # Sign.
***NOTE: Make sure to keep an eye on the screen of your SGS II during this process, because it may request SU permissions [currently doesn't on CF-root]; else, you will get an error (just if it’s the first time). In Terminal Emulator you will need to reset the app after granting permissions cause it usually freezes***
*Remember: to use ADB you need to enable USB DEBUGGING under Applications/Development in your SGS II.
Here are 3 methods, I recommend that you do both Clean and RAW.
Basic, unix permissions lost :
Code:
su
busybox cp -a /efs /sdcard/efs/
Clean :
Code:
su
busybox tar zcvf /sdcard/efs/efs-backup.tar.gz /efs
After this, you will end up with the file efs-backup.tar.gz in your INTERNAL SDCARD in sdcard/efs/, which is a “tarball” or a ZIP of the /efs folder. That file is your backup. You can expand it with Winrar.
You can also back up the mmcblk0p1 (where /efs is stored) under /dev/block which can greatly support in recovering your IMEI in case of a screw-up:
RAW :
Code:
su
cat /dev/block/mmcblk0p1 > /sdcard/efs/efs_dev-block-mmcblk0p1.img
alternative
Code:
dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p1 of=/sdcard/efs/efs_dev-block-mmcblk0p1.img
Same thing, the target is the INTERNAL SDCARD in sdcard/efs/, so go ahead and copy the file.
--------------------------------------
original thread by Rawat @ xda: click here

matee89 said:
Without a backup, your IMEI is gone. The only way to get your phone working again is to send it back to Samsung Service.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not 100% true, there are other ways, for example I know how to generate valid nv_data files.
matee89 said:
RAW :
Code:
su
cat /dev/block/mmcblk0p1 > /sdcard/efs/efs_dev-block-mmcblk0p1.img
Same thing, the target is the INTERNAL SDCARD in sdcard/efs/, so go ahead and copy the file.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think using dd is better than cat, I dont know why but I have a feeling cat could do some character conversion in some circumstances, so :-
dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p1 of=/sdcard/efs/efs_dev-block-mmcblk0p1.img
or better still do both, cannot have too many backups

Thanks for info Odia! Well, the backup is still important. Saves a lot of time for newbies, so i think that this guide should be sticky. Everyone can see it clearly then

There is already a thread about this...
rawat thread
And there's an app on the way apparently..
app thread

Yes, but this thread is not sticky. If you at least read a little part of mine post you should see that I quoted Hawats thread and put a link to it. My point is that this should be more visible for everyone. To be honest, it should be sticky like the rooting guides and other how to's, because it can give you serious problems with the device when files inside /efs get corrupted. Myself I haven't know about the purpose of /efs since yesterday, because it wasn't clearly mentioned in here. Just want to help other newcomers to Samsung devices.
This app will do exacly the same thing like you will do right now following this guide. It's not released yet, so this guide should be used meanwhile.

matee89 said:
Thanks for info Odia! Well, the backup is still important. Saves a lot of time for newbies, so i think that this guide should be sticky. Everyone can see it clearly then
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure the backup is important, is why I added some input to your thread about using the dd command to make double sure the backup taken was valid.
Can an admin or mod make Rawat's thread sticky pls?

Okay, shall edit and post the alternative backup method with dd comand instead of cat.
Would be great with sticky. I don't think that majority of people who's flashing ROM's know how important this folder is. From what I've heard the nandroid backup in CWM recovery does not backup the /efs so it's needed to be done manually.

before using this comands you should use mkdir /sdcard/efs if you don't want to get an error
I made clean, raw and dd back up. Now I have two files of 20 MB each and one of 28Kb is it ok?

Yes, it seems okay. I saved my efs backup files on my PC as well in case something happens to the internal sdcard storage.

Thank you for that. I will backup mine tonight.

Thank you got the backup with my Note

Re: mp1806
Probably some of the ROMs that you flashed had an automatic backup script included, so you already got a working efs backup on your sd card. If you want to be completly sure if the backup is correct, you can make it manually by following the steps in my first post. Later you can even copy your backup to your PC if you like to.

There is three or four apps by now that aid you in creating EFS backups.
Most have been mentioned in the other (older) EFS backup thread.
It's one app i forgot the name of, EFS-Pro that works from your computer and my own one (see sig).
If you search for "efs backup" on the market you will find "Nitrality" (or however it's spelled, forgot the exact name right now) and my one.
Mine also offers an option to check the EFS backup if it's OK or corrupted, so can be really sure to have a good one when the check succeeds.
Point beeing:
No real need to tinker on the shell anymore

Great Thanks for this

Hi, I am using the RAW method on my Galaxy Note, rooted, but I keep getting a file not found error. Anyone able to help? I got the su and the prompt changed correctly, but after:
cat /dev/block/mmcblk0p1 > /sdcard/efs/efs_dev-block-mmcblk0p1.img
It just says file not found. What am I doing wrong?

Another way is to use ktool made by Hellcat to backup your efs and even restore.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1314719&highlight=ktool
Anyone knows if this tool is as good as command line way?

(nvm)

Odia said:
Not 100% true, there are other ways, for example I know how to generate valid nv_data files.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you please let me know how to generate it? I HAVE LOST THE EFS FILES ON MY PHONE!

Samsung Tool
Samsung Tool is the easiest and more safe method

how do you restore it?

Flashing Now Fails

I've been flashing N7 with no issues as recently as over the weekend. Today I tried to flash a new ROM and it failed. Tried a second, different ROM, same result. Do not know what I did. Any thoughts?

Error log would help greatly.

How do I get/generate the log? Haven't had to do it before.
Thanks,
Paul

The logs= errors displayed on the screen provided by the interface you use to flash the rom (recovery, computer...)

Does this help any?
TWRP V2.4.4.0
Updating partition details
E: Unable to open zip file
Error flashing zop
Updating partition details...

do I need to create a partition? Never get more details despite the tease.
Thanks,

First -
Try and download a different (NEWER) TWRP. Re-flash TWRP. Try again
or
Have you tried completely wiping the device? And pushing a ROM from ADB or using a USB OTG and Memory stick?
I had issues with my nexus becoming VERY unstable. Leading to issues.
I completely, and I mean completely, wiped. To the point that all that device basically had was a recovery, and a bootloader.
I proceeded to flash again, BOOM all fixed up.

Is there a new TWRP?
I did a factory restore after wiping everything thing, if that is what you mean?
It was working as expected last week, don't know what I did to screw it up

Boot recovery try the operation, choose advanced then copy log to sdcard. The paste the log results.
sent via electromagnetic radiation.

ibsk8 said:
Boot recovery try the operation, choose advanced then copy log to sdcard. The paste the log results.
sent via electromagnetic radiation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did this, and it said it copied but I am unable to locate it. It says 0\media\data But that folder structure doesn't exist, at least according to file expert

Will a complete wipe/restore create a partition?

pmgreen said:
Will a complete wipe/restore create a partition?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
None of the instructions currently found in this forum alters the partitioning of the N7. Not fastboot & not the custom recovery, either.
You are chasing a red herring I think. That message you see is about the recovery performing a scan to check to see if there is a change in file systems (or partitioning of external devices) ... which might have occurred in preceding (custom recovery) operations, but didn't in this particular case.
pmgreen said:
Does this help any?
TWRP V2.4.4.0
Updating partition details
E: Unable to open zip file
Error flashing zop
Updating partition details...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Focus your efforts here; it certainly looks like a first-order problem.

bftb0 said:
None of the instructions currently found in this forum alters the partitioning of the N7. Not fastboot & not the custom recovery, either.
You are chasing a red herring I think. That message you see is about the recovery performing a scan to check to see if there is a change in file systems (or partitioning of external devices) ... which might have occurred in preceding (custom recovery) operations, but didn't in this particular case.
Focus your efforts here; it certainly looks like a first-order problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Think reinstalling TWRP would help? It was working fine so I'm a bit stumped what changed and why

pmgreen said:
Think reinstalling TWRP would help? It was working fine so I'm a bit stumped what changed and why
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can also soft-boot a recovery without actually flashing it, e.g.
Code:
fastboot boot custom-recovery.img
I suppose you could then poke around and see if it is having troubles mounting any of the normal partitions (/data, /system, or /cache). Look in the kernel boot log of the recovery (cat /proc/kmsg or "dmesg") to see if anything looks strange, etc.
There have been a couple of reports from folks who developed problems that looked like eMMC flash media errors - loss of partitions, failure to mount /data, et cetera. At the moment though, your symptoms are very generic and non-specific, as in "it doesn't boot".
I suppose you saw no errors at all reported on the screen during that stock-install-via-fastboot procedure?

bftb0 said:
You can also soft-boot a recovery without actually flashing it, e.g.
Code:
fastboot boot custom-recovery.img
I suppose you could then poke around and see if it is having troubles mounting any of the normal partitions (/data, /system, or /cache). Look in the kernel boot log of the recovery (cat /proc/kmsg or "dmesg") to see if anything looks strange, etc.
There have been a couple of reports from folks who developed problems that looked like eMMC flash media errors - loss of partitions, failure to mount /data, et cetera. At the moment though, your symptoms are very generic and non-specific, as in "it doesn't boot".
I suppose you saw no errors at all reported on the screen during that stock-install-via-fastboot procedure?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only error is that it can't open the zip. I've tried downgraded TWRP, then upgrading back. Tried flashing the existing rom.
Nothing has worked. The N7 is functional, just will not allow me to flash

pmgreen said:
The only error is that it can't open the zip. I've tried downgraded TWRP, then upgrading back. Tried flashing the existing rom.
Nothing has worked. The N7 is functional, just will not allow me to flash
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, if the source material can't be opened, then there is nothing to be flashed.
So maybe it is better to call this a "can't open files" problem instead of a "can't flash" problem.
Are there any special characters in the file name ... or spaces? If so, try renaming the file so the name only contains [a-z], [A-Z], [0-9] plus dash, underscore, and dot.
The other thing that can happen is if you drop a file in /data/media/0 as the root user, it will show up under /sdcard, but can't be read by non-privileged users via the /sdcard/ path. I'm not sure what the exact details are here - much less why this would effect the recovery (as you would expect everything to be running as root there) - but you can detect this problem by using a terminal emulator, and looking for differences in ownership or file permission:
Code:
$ su
# cd /data/media/0
# ls -ld *
use chown and chmod as appropriate to fix files as needed

bftb0 said:
Well, if the source material can't be opened, then there is nothing to be flashed.
So maybe it is better to call this a "can't open files" problem instead of a "can't flash" problem.
Are there any special characters in the file name ... or spaces? If so, try renaming the file so the name only contains [a-z], [A-Z], [0-9] plus dash, underscore, and dot.
The other thing that can happen is if you drop a file in /data/media/0 as the root user, it will show up under /sdcard, but can't be read by non-privileged users via the /sdcard/ path. I'm not sure what the exact details are here - much less why this would effect the recovery (as you would expect everything to be running as root there) - but you can detect this problem by using a terminal emulator, and looking for differences in ownership or file permission:
Code:
$ such
# cd /data/media/0
# ls -ld *
use chown and chmod as appropriate to fix files as needed
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks bftb, you are correct it's a can't open zip. No error than fail and it can't open the zip. It says updating partition but nothing changes
The file names are from the developers, once of which I recently successfully flashed. Tried coping the log to the SD card, but unable to find /data/media/0. Do I need to recreate a partition?

(FYI there was an auto-correct typo in my prior post - "su" not "such". Derp)
pmgreen said:
Do I need to recreate a partition?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. (There is no way to do that with the tools we have anyway)
Unless what you mean by "recreate" is rebuild/reinitialize a filesystem in a partition - that's a possibility.
You need to try and figure out why you can't read files.
As a workaround, you can put files on a USB key (FAT formatted, not NTFS) and using TWRP access them by putting the USB key on the other end of a OTG cable.
Your posts are a bit vague - I can't even tell if you have tried other ROM files, whether you checked them to see if they are the correct size/checksum, etc.

pmgreen said:
Tried coping the log to the SD card, but ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
At this point, your best approach is still to follow the initial advice of 'ibsk8'. Look in the log file for any further details about errors that occurred.
The logs are typically in /cache/recovery/ or (while the custom recovery is running) in /tmp
Use "adb pull" to get the log file to your PC and have a look at it. If you can't find anything obvious in there, then cut-n-paste the file to http://pastebin.com and provide the link to us.

bftb0 said:
At this point, your best approach is still to follow the initial advice of 'ibsk8'. Look in the log file for any further details about errors that occurred.
The logs are typically in /cache/recovery/ or (while the custom recovery is running) in /tmp
Use "adb pull" to get the log file to your PC and have a look at it. If you can't find anything obvious in there, then cut-n-paste the file to http://pastebin.com and provide the link to us.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not familiar using ADB pull. Tried using a root file manager to access the log but don't see.
Greatly appreciate your help, let me know what other info I should paste.
Thanks,

[Q] N910F EFS messed up, lost network access help???

Well, first of all.... I made a clean copy of my EFS folder before having this problem but.....using the lovely and simple commands copy and paste and now the files don't have the correct permissions and owners so nothing changes when I copy them back so my question is...
Could you guys please provide me a list with all the N910F EFS files + permissions and owners?
*EDIT*
My IMEI, serial number, baseband..... are all correct.
Thanks:crying:

Have u tried flashing stock rom through odin.Many users have fixed this problem by using the method
Sent from my SM-N910G using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

RISHI RAJ said:
Have u tried flashing stock rom through odin.Many users have fixed this problem by using the method
Sent from my SM-N910G using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I tried 3 different stock roms, I also downgraded to stock kitkat and then flashed a stock lollipop rom and... same problem.

ANTONIOPS said:
Yes, I tried 3 different stock roms, I also downgraded to stock kitkat and then flashed a stock lollipop rom and... same problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
same problem here also, except, i have original imei intact and can make calls, send sms etc. flashed original firmware through odin and through kies, no luck, efs file 0mb. I have lost finger print scan and my serial number is wrong.

I had a similar problem a while back, came across this info here, the 'dev' files mentioned are for a N910G, just type 'mount' at a terminal to see which 'dev' file the efs partition mounts on. I used Method 1, but Method 2, does essentially the same thing in the end, so which ever you find easiest. Damn saved my phone, I even bought a replacement online before I found this solutionl.
Fix screwed up EFS Partition.
-------------------------------
posted by Steve Lazarus on XDA Dev on 5th October 2013
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2471421
(Used METHOD 2 on 09-01-2015, worked a treat, RaSTuS)
(Will try METHOD 1 next time)
METHOD 1
1. Install stock Firmware via Odin then rerun autoroot (to regain root)
2. Install TWRP via Odin, reboot to recovery.
3. Install SuperSU from external SD Card.
4. Do an "adb shell" when phone is in recovery mode to run commands via TWRP.
From the ADB shell: Reset the EFS partition with the following commands:
mke2fs /dev/block/mmcblk0p13 (for N910G Note 4)
mkdir /efs
mount -t ext4 /dev/block/mmcblk0p13 /efs
Do a factory reset, reboot system
Afterwards, no more boot looping, the phone successfully registered on the
mobile network, and my IMEI is there and correct. Seems like the EFS partition
can rebuild itself now I guess...
Gotta love the XDA community !!!
METHOD 2
You can also try just running Commands via TWRP before using Odin to revert to
stock, re-rooting etc..Worked for me while I was doing some restore testing with
Jovy's modded kernel ..Just trying to save you some time..
Using TWRP Terminal Command To Complete this evolution...
1. Reboot to recovery
2. Hit "Advanced" Select "Terminal Command".
3. Hit "Select" (lower right corner) to select root (/) folder.
4. keyboard will open, type in the following commands, make sure you put the
spaces and / where they need to be, it needs to look exactly as outlined.
mke2fs /dev/block/mmcblk0p13 (for N910G Note 4)
Hit Go - The command will run.
Clear the input box, type the following command:
mkdir /efs
Hit Go - The command will run.
Clear the input box, type the following command:
mount -t ext4 /dev/block/mmcblk0p13 /efs
Hit Go - The command will run.
You can now back out of the terminal command, and follow the rest of the
directions.

rastus.rob said:
I had a similar problem a while back, came across this info here, the 'dev' files mentioned are for a N910G, just type 'mount' at a terminal to see which 'dev' file the efs partition mounts on. I used Method 1, but Method 2, does essentially the same thing in the end, so which ever you find easiest. Damn saved my phone, I even bought a replacement online before I found this solutionl.
Fix screwed up EFS Partition.
-------------------------------
posted by Steve Lazarus on XDA Dev on 5th October 2013
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2471421
(Used METHOD 2 on 09-01-2015, worked a treat, RaSTuS)
(Will try METHOD 1 next time)
METHOD 1
1. Install stock Firmware via Odin then rerun autoroot (to regain root)
2. Install TWRP via Odin, reboot to recovery.
3. Install SuperSU from external SD Card.
4. Do an "adb shell" when phone is in recovery mode to run commands via TWRP.
From the ADB shell: Reset the EFS partition with the following commands:
mke2fs /dev/block/mmcblk0p13 (for N910G Note 4)
mkdir /efs
mount -t ext4 /dev/block/mmcblk0p13 /efs
Do a factory reset, reboot system
Afterwards, no more boot looping, the phone successfully registered on the
mobile network, and my IMEI is there and correct. Seems like the EFS partition
can rebuild itself now I guess...
Gotta love the XDA community !!!
METHOD 2
You can also try just running Commands via TWRP before using Odin to revert to
stock, re-rooting etc..Worked for me while I was doing some restore testing with
Jovy's modded kernel ..Just trying to save you some time..
Using TWRP Terminal Command To Complete this evolution...
1. Reboot to recovery
2. Hit "Advanced" Select "Terminal Command".
3. Hit "Select" (lower right corner) to select root (/) folder.
4. keyboard will open, type in the following commands, make sure you put the
spaces and / where they need to be, it needs to look exactly as outlined.
mke2fs /dev/block/mmcblk0p13 (for N910G Note 4)
Hit Go - The command will run.
Clear the input box, type the following command:
mkdir /efs
Hit Go - The command will run.
Clear the input box, type the following command:
mount -t ext4 /dev/block/mmcblk0p13 /efs
Hit Go - The command will run.
You can now back out of the terminal command, and follow the rest of the
directions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried that and those solutions didn't work because I'm the biggest idiot in this galaxy:laugh:, some time ago I deleted the EFS golden backup in the service menu and I think that's why it didn't rebuild after I erased the main EFS partition but the good thing is that I made a clean backup of it so I can copy the files back to the EFS folder, the thing is that I just copied and pasted them so now all files have root as the owner and I know some of them had system, radio, wifi... as owners but I can't remember which ones, I think I could fix it if I see a list with the files, permissions and owners. Thanks anyway:good::good:
*EDIT*
Oh!! also I forgot to tell you that my imei, baseband, serial number bla, bla, bla are correct.

please help guys i have same problem but my note is n910f
hello ... its my first comment here ... and i whant to ask ...if i have the same phone ...but ... its a n910f ... its working this metods ? please guys i need help ... thx ...

Hi, I have a N910C and my IMEI got changed when i flashed offical lolipop 5.1.1, and now it wont register on any network, the IMEI isn't fake or corrupted i tried imei analyzer and it says its valid but for a 2005 Phone. I tried deleting /efs entirely/ flash diff firmwares / factory reset / clean kies install, nothing worked. my .nv_data.bak/nv_data.bak is missing. Please help

N910F EFS lost
florinhrib said:
hello ... its my first comment here ... and i whant to ask ...if i have the same phone ...but ... its a n910f ... its working this metods ? please guys i need help ... thx ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i'm new too i'm from Algeria, i have a GN4 with no IMEI, i lost the EFS foldier, the wifi and blueth work but no finger print and no health app, please help

Just purchaced a Note 3 verizon, Pls suggest best practices to Root & unlock

Hello good peoples of Xda ,
I just purchased a Note 3 verizon I believe 900v on swappa It will arive in the next few day's and I want to get all my ducks in a row by that I mean aquire all the root and unlocking tools nessary for a best practices root and if nessary unlocking of my boot loader.
Goals for root are mostly to debloat the phone and hotspot mod's for no hassle teathering.
I may dip my toes into custom rom for this phone but mostly I am just looking for a clean lean experiance for my note 3. I have been pouring over the many many pages of the various rooting guids and I am just not sure witch method to use is the safest / most reliable .
thank you for your time and helpful suggestions.
This is what I have found so far.
ArabicToolApp : Root for lolipop
Odin3 v3.12.3 : flash tool is this latest ? best to use ?
Samsung usb drivers v1.5.45.0 : are these the proper drivers to install ?

You should start by figuring out which firmware release it has on it.
If it has PL1 (the newest security release, circa 2017/01/15), there will be no rooting for you... unless you manage to create a new exploit.
OB6 and OF1 - (one of) the yemen tool(s)**
NK1 - no root available ( and can't be rolled backwards w/ Odin, only NK1 or higher )
NJ6 - no root available? ( Try towelroot, or you can downgrade to NC4 using Odin )
MI9/MJ7/MJE/NC2(leak)/NC4 - Towelroot v3
For which bootloader unlock binary to use, see here.
Can't help you out with USB drivers, I don't remember what I used. afaik, they will either work 100% or not work at all, so you just need to get something working.
I've never used anything but Odin 3.0.9. Can't tell you if the version you mention is "better".
good luck
** i've never rooted OB6 or OF1, so can't give you any advice about which to use. Feel free to read the related threads. In my (casual) reading of those threads, it is nearly impossible to intuit out why some people have problems and others do not. Mostly because the reporting is not sufficiently detailed.

bftb0 said:
You should start by figuring out which firmware release it has on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your right, after thinking about my post I realized there were 2 many variables that I need to know before I ask for help. So once I recieve the phone and if it's fully functional I will find out what firmware it has and what the cid it has and will post a follow up if I need help.
P.S thank you for the concise jist of what is and is not possible with the various firmware's.

Recieved my phone.
I got my note 3 and boy is it just a wonderful device. SM-900v running OF1 firmware, and My Cid is 15 so is all good.
procedurs completed.
I got root from useing the yemem tool.
and have tryed some debloating removed the NFL apk as a test with Tit.backup.
dissabled ota updates, I made a copy of the update.zip (that was downloaded with out me asking it too. I assume that this update.zip is the new PL4 firmware )and deleted it. renamed the fota.apk's with a .bak
not really sure if I should unlock the the bootloader I would love to have twerp.
Could anyone point me at a good debloating script ?
LOVE LOVE LOVE my note 3.
I also have a zero lemon battery/case combo on the way.

PL1 not PL4
See here. Might be dated - stuff tends to move around from release to release.
You should probably also freeze SDM.* and SysScope.* (in addition to LocalFOTA)**
There is a small permanent downside to unlocking - the blowing of the Knox Warranty Flag means that you will never be able to use Knox Secure containers, even if you did a full stock flash with Odin. Not sure how important this is to folks using the phone as a personal device (as opposed to a corporate device).
Operating with a rooted-stock device with a locked bootloader usually progresses through a customary arc - especially with new rooters, but also with experienced folks - where the user one day does some incremental mod that boot-loops the Android UI. At that point there is no means to reverse the small change. (You can't get in via "adb" as it's daemon isn't started yet, and even if it were, the fact that it is in secure mode means that you would have to have a stable UI in order to confirm the connection.) As there is no rooted secondary boot available (i.e., a custom recovery), there is no way to perform repairs, and a trip back to Odin is in store for the owner. Worse yet, a backup has never been made... so all customizations are all lost and must be re-created completely from scratch.
** this is a good idea if you unlock and install a custom recovery: (although TWRP may detect it and emasculate it automatically)
Code:
su
chmod 0000 /system/bin/install-recovery.sh

bftb0 said:
PL1 not PL4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right PL1 ok.
Well I decided in for a penney in for a pound and have sucessfully unlocked my boot loader, had no issues.
my question now is how do I install twerp I have downloaded
twerp-3.0.2-0-hltevzw-4.4
and twerp 3.0.2-1-hlte.img.tar
I think I need to install the tar file.
but I don't know how. I have odin but not sure if that is the right program to use. I think I read where somone installed twerp with flashify or somthing like that.
What should I do ?

Truck'nfool said:
Right PL1 ok.
Well I decided in for a penney in for a pound and have sucessfully unlocked my boot loader, had no issues.
my question now is how do I install twerp I have downloaded
twerp-3.0.2-0-hltevzw-4.4
and twerp 3.0.2-1-hlte.img.tar
I think I need to install the tar file.
but I don't know how. I have odin but not sure if that is the right program to use. I think I read where somone installed twerp with flashify or somthing like that.
What should I do ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
man up and use a root prompt command line. It's a single command.
Code:
dd of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p15 if=/sdcard/twrp-3.0.2-0-hltevzw-4.4.img bs=2048
( assuming that you put the twrp .img file in the /sdcard folder. If it was in the download folder, then if=/sdcard/Download/twrp-3.0.2-0-hltevzw-4.4.img )
Note there are absolutely, positively no spaces anywhere in "mmcblk0p15". Critically important.
The above command writes a raw binary data (the .img file) to the 15th partition of the mmcblk0 device - the flash memory chip. You can do this with boot images (such as custom recoveries) or a few other binary images, but typically not with ext4 or other filesystems.
Note this command could be extremely dangerous if you made a mistake. If you were to write data someplace else it could be a permanent disaster. So cut-n-paste to be safest (without a new-line), and then double- and triple- check the command for typos before you hit the enter key.
FYI, you can see what the partition mapping is by doing a folder listing
Code:
ls -ld /dev/block/platform/*1/by-name/*
The partitioning scheme varies from android device to android device; but on the SM-N900V the recovery partition is the 15th partition. (On other devices it might be something different).

bftb0 said:
man up and use a root prompt command line. It's a single command.
dd of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p15 if=/sdcard/twrp-3.0.2-0-hltevzw-4.4.img bs=2048
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
are you talking about adb ?
So somthing like
adb shell
su
dd of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p15 if=/sdcard/twrp-3.0.2-0-hltevzw-4.4.img bs=2048
???

Truck'nfool said:
are you talking about adb ?
So somthing like
adb shell
su
dd of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p15 if=/sdcard/twrp-3.0.2-0-hltevzw-4.4.img bs=2048
???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That works.
Or a terminal emulator.
All you need is to put the file on your (internal, pseudo-) /sdcard, "su", and "dd".
For extra credit, make sure to compute a file checksum (e.g. "md5sum") every time you copy the original .img file to a new location and especially prior to flashing. That safeguards against a bad copy operation, crappy flash memory, etc.
Stock ROMs might not have a "md5sum" binary in /system/bin, but since you are rooted you could install a private busybox in someplace like /data/local/bin. I prefer to use a busybox which is SELinux-cognizant, e.g. v1.23.1 here as busybox_full_selinux_1.23.1.zip Note that I don't "install" this .zip so that stuff in /system/bin or /system/xbin get overwritten, but instead just keep it in a private area all on it's own.
Steps.
0) extract the "busybox" binary from the .zip file and get a copy to your SD card. Then
Code:
su
mkdir -p /data/local/bin
chmod 755 /data/local/bin
cp /sdcard/busybox /data/local/bin/
chmod 755 /data/local/bin/busybox
cd /data/local/bin
./busybox --install -s /data/local/bin
This allows it to be used as needed in a terminal/console shell.
e.g. using ls
1) Explicitly: /data/local/bin/ls -lZ *
2) Implicitly "as a last resort":
export PATH="${PATH}"':/data/local/bin'
ls -lZ *
3) Implicitly "as preferred":
export PATH='/data/local/bin:'"${PATH}"
ls -lZ *

I am now have root, unlocked bootloader and twrp Whoot!!
Well I now have twrp installed thank you vary much for all your help and direction I sincerly appreciate your assistance.
I installed termux and after updating the packages sucessfully used dd to install twrp.
1st thing I am going to do a full system backup.

No developer love for N900V not good