*** The Official Samsung Galaxy S4 Thread ***

fornowagain said:
Actually I didn't know they'd moved the NV files till I read that. Normally I'd just zip EFS and fix permissions later, but reading that I'll grab those blocks now.
Click to expand...



woosh! lol

I'll do more reading about it.

fornowagain said:
There may have been a minor change or two from stock, csc area codes nothing really or it wouldn't work.
Click to expand...
so are you saying it's still ok for me to backup efs even after I've flashed a custom rom?


If at some point I restore my pre-rooted stock nandroid - would my EFS be better that way?
 
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tom_e said:
I just select the efs option using the advanced/custom backup option in TWRP or CWM
Click to expand...
Don't think CWM has an EFS backup/restore, iirc PhilZ & as you say TWRP does. Doubt either of those is going to grab partitions 13/14/15 for the nv_data files.

For ref: Partition structure and mounts.
Code: 
major minor  #blocks  name

 179        0   15388672 mmcblk0
 179        1      12772 mmcblk0p1
 179        2      52764 mmcblk0p2
 179        3        128 mmcblk0p3
 179        4        256 mmcblk0p4
 179        5        512 mmcblk0p5
 179        6       2048 mmcblk0p6
 179        7        512 mmcblk0p7
 179        8        512 mmcblk0p8
 179        9      16896 mmcblk0p9
 179       10      13952 mmcblk0p10
 179       11       3072 mmcblk0p11
 179       12       3072 mmcblk0p12
 179       13        780 mmcblk0p13
 179       14        780 mmcblk0p14
 179       15        780 mmcblk0p15
 179       16    2826240 mmcblk0p16
 179       17       8192 mmcblk0p17
 179       18    2119680 mmcblk0p18
 179       19       6144 mmcblk0p19
 179       20      10240 mmcblk0p20
 179       21      10240 mmcblk0p21
 179       22      10240 mmcblk0p22
 179       23       6144 mmcblk0p23
 179       24       3072 mmcblk0p24
 179       25          8 mmcblk0p25
 179       26       9216 mmcblk0p26
 179       27     512000 mmcblk0p27
 179       28      20480 mmcblk0p28
 179       29    9728000 mmcblk0p29
Code: 
lrwxrwxrwx root     root              1970-01-02 04:23 aboot -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p6
lrwxrwxrwx root     root              1970-01-02 04:23 apnhlos -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p1
lrwxrwxrwx root     root              1970-01-02 04:23 backup -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p23
lrwxrwxrwx root     root              1970-01-02 04:23 boot -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p20
lrwxrwxrwx root     root              1970-01-02 04:23 cache -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p18
lrwxrwxrwx root     root              1970-01-02 04:23 carrier -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p28
lrwxrwxrwx root     root              1970-01-02 04:23 efs -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p10
lrwxrwxrwx root     root              1970-01-02 04:23 fota -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p22
lrwxrwxrwx root     root              1970-01-02 04:23 fsg -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p24
lrwxrwxrwx root     root              1970-01-02 04:23 hidden -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p27
lrwxrwxrwx root     root              1970-01-02 04:23 m9kefs1 -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p13
lrwxrwxrwx root     root              1970-01-02 04:23 m9kefs2 -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p14
lrwxrwxrwx root     root              1970-01-02 04:23 m9kefs3 -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p15
lrwxrwxrwx root     root              1970-01-02 04:23 mdm -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p2
lrwxrwxrwx root     root              1970-01-02 04:23 modemst1 -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p11
lrwxrwxrwx root     root              1970-01-02 04:23 modemst2 -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p12
lrwxrwxrwx root     root              1970-01-02 04:23 pad -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p9
lrwxrwxrwx root     root              1970-01-02 04:23 param -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p19
lrwxrwxrwx root     root              1970-01-02 04:23 persdata -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p26
lrwxrwxrwx root     root              1970-01-02 04:23 persist -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p17
lrwxrwxrwx root     root              1970-01-02 04:23 recovery -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p21
lrwxrwxrwx root     root              1970-01-02 04:23 rpm -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p7
lrwxrwxrwx root     root              1970-01-02 04:23 sbl1 -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p3
lrwxrwxrwx root     root              1970-01-02 04:23 sbl2 -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p4
lrwxrwxrwx root     root              1970-01-02 04:23 sbl3 -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p5
lrwxrwxrwx root     root              1970-01-02 04:23 ssd -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p25
lrwxrwxrwx root     root              1970-01-02 04:23 system -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p16
lrwxrwxrwx root     root              1970-01-02 04:23 tz -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p8
lrwxrwxrwx root     root              1970-01-02 04:23 userdata -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p29


kona786 said:
so are you saying it's still ok for me to backup efs even after I've flashed a custom rom?

If at some point I restore my pre-rooted stock nandroid - would my EFS be better that way?
Click to expand...
I'm saying you should grab them as soon as you can with a new phone. Sooner the better. Custom rom might have changed a couple bits in a NV file or two, usually to do with the CSC. If the phone works fine then grab them anyway. And yes a NANDroid should restore the EFS, that's it's job. But a badly cooked rom can corrupt an SD including the backups so best to have the phones identity data stored to push back in case of a fubar.

-----------

  • Root
  • Install a Terminal Emulator from the play store
  • Open TE, grant root access
  • type su
  • Copy and paste each line of code below into TE

Code: 
dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p10 of=/mnt/sdcard/efs.img.ext4

dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p13 of=/mnt/sdcard/m9kefs1.bin

dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p14 of=/mnt/sdcard/m9kefs2.bin

dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p15 of=/mnt/sdcard/m9kefs3.bin

  • Type exit
  • Open File Explorer
  • Zip up the files sat in SD root, copy to PC.

 
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kona786 said:
Thanks for explaining that. I'll do it later tonight.

What I meant with the Nandroid was that before I flash another custom ROM i'll revert back to my stock ROM and do another EFS backup from that.

Cheers.
Click to expand...

Yeah I see what you mean. Then yes that would have the earliest or 'least' modified EFS file versions.
 
fornowagain said:
Yeah I see what you mean. Then yes that would have the earliest or 'least' modified EFS file versions.
Click to expand...

Cool.

What would I have to do to get my EFS back to original factory state? Flash a stock rom through odin? can it be pre rooted?

Also do I need to do it, or is an EFS backup from my current state good enough?

Last thing - in what situation would I need to restore EFS? and how likely is it to happen?


Thanks.
 
kona786 said:
Cool.

What would I have to do to get my EFS back to original factory state? Flash a stock rom through odin? can it be pre rooted?

Also do I need to do it, or is an EFS backup from my current state good enough?

Last thing - in what situation would I need to restore EFS? and how likely is it to happen?


Thanks.
Click to expand...
It's probably still very close to its original state, it's only area code changes and file dates really, roms shouldn't really mess will that folder.

To recover the phone, just a working one is fine, well.. because it works. For instance Kies reads the files for firmware and area codes and so best to grab em early as it can effect updates in stock form.

Flash a dodgy rom that writes the wrong partition, you could have all kinds of mount issues. At least with a full stock flash you can restore most to function, then restore the phones identity with the EFS. I've only had to use it myself once, most roms are so well tested it's not an issue. If I'm honest it's usually my own messing around that causes most problems!
 
I have a problem. Ive installed the drivers and Kies but when i plug my phone in, Odin box does not turn Yellow. It turns a light cyan colour. [COM7]

What am i doing wrong?!
 
photoshop said:
Cheers

Ive extracted the Pre-rooted rom on my pc. Which file do i point to in Odin (using PDA method)?
Click to expand...
How do you mean extracted? It comes in a Rar file, which you extract but don't go any further. There should only be one file ending in 'tar.md5'

ref note: If it's a stock firmware directly from the Samsung Servers you may also find a dll file, ignore it.
 
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