yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] brfield:
Just backed up my entire internal with

dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0 of=/external_sd/mmcblk0.img

pulled it to my pc, it's a 4GB file that winrar compresses to 1.41GB with default settings.

Checked MD5 on Phone and PC, they match.

I'm ready for a failure *knocks on wood*. Hopefully the IMEI is in there lol
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] deeznutz1977:
ill re root and let you know Edit; yes it looks just like the picture
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] zmore:
Sorry to tell you, but your backup is flawed. Your internal SD is either 16 or 32GB; not 4GB. The reason yours is 4GB is because it got truncated by FAT32 not being able to support files larger than 4GB. The newer exFAT format -- which is default on new 64+ GB sdcards -- can handle it though.

See my post the IMEI thread in the dev section for a howto on using netcat (nc) to stream your backup over the network if you don't have a large enough card, or can't/don'twantto reformat it.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] lowandbehold:
What if he only had 4gb worth of data on it? It isn't going to back up blank memory, right?
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] zmore:
dd images aren't compressed.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] brfield:
None of these work on T-Mo CM10

---------- Post added at 01:37 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:33 PM ----------

If I recall correctly, my SDcard is already exFAT. I'm using a 64GB CLassh 10 UHS-1
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] naturefreak85:
Right, some codes are Universal for Samsung also. There are Universal GSM codes, Universal Samsung Codes, and Universal CDMA codes. Then there are specific codes that are universal across all devices on AT&T/T-Mobile/Verizon/Sprint Individually.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] thacounty:
What ROM are you running? I only ask because AOSP doesn't support exfat, but if you are on stock you could be using either.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] brfield:
Well, this is crazy. It was exFAT when I had it in my G2, and until now, I presumed it was. I'm on CM10.

Going to reformat as exFAT in windows and see what the phone does.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] naturefreak85:
ExFAT will not work in CM at all. Licensing such is too difficult (saw it in one of the threads by Cyanogen himself), so it's Fat32 support only.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] brfield:
Well this blows.

I understand why, but it's some BS that M$ wouldn't open source or at least release under a respectable license the exFAT format. And the stock kernel in CM10 doesn't have NTFS either. FUUUUUUUUUU......
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] drothenberger:
The internal SD card is either 16 or 32 GB. If you got a 4 GB file, it was truncated, most likely because your external SD card is formatted as FAT32. FAT32 has a maximum file size limitation of 4 GB.

There is a script here that you can use to back up each partition separately. It skips /system and /data, so each partition falls below the 4 GB limit.

There are a few parts of the internal SD card that are not part of a partition, but these are identical across phones for the same carrier and so are unlikely to contain the IMEI number.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] naturefreak85:
NTFS is also not open sourced. No support in Mac and even *nix support is limited. ext3/4 is supported at least in Mac to an extent, I think HFS+ is quite well supported in both *nix and Mac, but not Windows. Welcome to a really bad fragmentation that will keep getting worse. Each company wants to stick to their own Formatting for it's various benefits, but it locks people into an ecosystem. That's a reason I'm working on building up a NAS with 6 TB storage. Keep everything on the network, 4+ GB files and no worry about Platform Compatibility.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] brfield:
And now my SDCard doesn't work in CM10. Windows sees it.

Tried to format in recovery, failed to mount.

Format in Win 7 to Fat 32, CM10 reports broken card.

Format in recovery, success.

CM10 still report broken card, won't let me format it.

Looks like I might have to boot up Ubuntu.

That's a good 30 second boot that I don't want to do.

And yes, I really am too lazy to boot into Ubuntu and format it right now. :P
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] wavrunrx:
try it in windows 7 again, but UNCHECK "quick format"
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] harlenm:
I'm an idiot, but I can't figure out how to add my info to the spreadsheet.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] rakhov:
I have been crawling over these threads for days and cannot hold my silence any longer. I am getting my hands a little dirty as we near some possibility on resolving this. I am hoping that I can can provide some information that seems to be lacking on most of these peoples write-up's. I am planning on doing this as thorough and documented as possible. It is my belief that a lot of these inconstant symptoms come from people doing what they are used too (as I was tempted to do) , and maybe not paying so much attention to details. You brave souls though I do respect.

I right now stand with a stock AT&T SG3. With a /05 IMEI. I am not sure what other information would be relevant to take note of before doing anything, but anything that would be important to note please inform me so I can either write it down or screenshot it.

As of right now my steps are:

Document any important information pre-flash/root

Install root via Odin using "no flash trip method" unless there is another suggested way

use netcat method to do block level backup of device

test functionality of stock/root without any other modifications

Install twrp/clockwork recovery, and make note of process

test various functions of recovery and how they affect imei status

try different roms
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] zmore:
It was made invite-only because of a vandal. PM the OP for access.

(or, maybe the spreadsheet can be made world-editable again, now that we have more admins around to revert if more trolls show up)
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] wavrunrx:
yeah, its invite only now; PM

LORDMORPHUS for access
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] zonly1:
Good luck!!!!!!!!! :good:
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] kssxs:
My apologies if this has already been asked/posted:

Are there a full set of instructions that, using your method, will allow us to do a complete backup image of the phone, including any and all partitions and all data on the internal storage (excluding the SD card)? I'm wanting to backup the entire device to my PC, BEFORE I start messing around with it.

Any help would be appreciated!
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] androholic:
I've received a few pm's regarding an invite to add info to the spreadsheet, and I just want to let anyone looking through the thread for the first time know that I am unable to process that request. If you would like to add your info to the spreadsheet, and we appreciate it, please contact Lordmorhous. Also, any info you would like to share regarding the imei issue is best shared in the thread as opposed to a pm directly to myself. Everyone that has contacted me thus far has been extremely polite, and did a very good job of providing detailed & organized information, however I am far from qualified to deal with this issue! Any ideas that I've provided are pure opinion or speculation, and the more qualified ppl are posting here in the thread. So, if you have anything to add or questions, please post them in the thread for the community to address, as I'm am only coincidentally the OP of the thread that most ppl with this issue have chosen to gather & brainstorm in:)
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] mt3g:
100% agreed

T-Mobile SGS III
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] sabre31:
This is bad this makes me regret getting a Samsung phone now.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] es7241:
It's either this or locked boatloaders lol
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] sabre31:
I know your right these companies are making it difficult for us. I am starting to realize that it's galaxy Nexus or bust it seems if you want to enjoy android any longer.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] Product F(RED):
I know this is the carrier-branded forum, and I know that the EFS Backup tool in the international section doesn't seem to work on AT&T and T-Mobile models (I have an i9300), but have you tried this app? I ran it on my international and it worked fine:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.hellcat.droiddev.ktool
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] drksilenc:
no that does not work either hellcat is in the other forum posting and he says it wont work.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] Product F(RED):
Blame the carriers man :/ It's not their place to f*ck with the software on such a low level like that.

And in response to the guy a few posts above, I used to love HTC. I owned the original Evo and Evo 3D, but once they started bootloaders I kissed them goodbye. At first I chose the SGSII (Sprint) for the Exynos processor and camera, ignoring the plastic body. I liked it, but mostly because it was so open and easily rootable. Then the One X came out (International Tegra 3) and I was considering it; I still think it looks better than the SGS3, and the Tegra 3 is no slouch. But what turned me away wasn't the non-expandable memory or non-removable battery. It was their stupid bootloader stance. I shouldn't have to tell the manufacturer that I'm tinkering with my phone in order to be able to do what I want with it. What if my phone has a hardware issue (like the wifi issue on the Tegra 3 One X) and I need to return it? Even if I set it back to stock firmware with an RUU (equivalent of an ODIN flash), they won't take it because they'll look up the IMEI and see that I rooted it. On top of that, the bootloader says "TAMPERED" and "RELOCKED" on top when you try to go back to stock after rooting. So that's why I won't buy an HTC ever again unless they reverse what they did.

Also, I had the Galaxy Nexus (before Jelly Bean was released, I sold it though), and while it was a nice phone, it has a horrible camera and less than 16GB of usable storage, which isn't enough for me. It also has an old processor that, while it's great for doing simple things, is not that great 3D-performance wise. I'm still waiting for a Tegra 3 or Exynos-based Nexus phone. The reason they went with TI-OMAP is because Exynos doesn't do LTE on-chip and it also doesn't do T-Mobile's 42Mbps on-chip.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] androholic:
Yes, I love my nexus, but if you want to venture outside of that there's always gonna be small bridges to cross, and the gsm nexus also had a similar issue. But, I believe it's been solved, and this will be too. I don't think manufacturers or Google are trying to make things harder, it's just that code & software are ever changing. There are alot of knowledgeable ppl out there that pic these things apart, and it only seems impossible to us at the moment because one of them hasn't had a chance to check into this yet, or just need a little more time. It will all work out, but the devs at samsung & the devs on XDA don't communicate w/ each other, so it takes time to analyze their work apparently. I wouldn't have any regrets if I were you. I really didn't post a thread to bring anyone down, it's just best to be informed, and now you are, so just follow directions and if something goes wrong you'll know where to look, and at the very least you'll pull off a warranty exchange I'm sure...
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] Lieu10ant:
oh ****!!!! that's a HUGE issue
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] Kevinl86:
I bought my ATT Pebble Blue BNIB for $415 on eBay which is a KILLER deal if any of you have been looking to purchase out of contract.

I've flashed about 4 roms since Saturday and now I'm on the CM10 Official. If it happens, it happens. It is what it is I guess.

And for anyone wanting the know. The CM10 is MOST DEF a daily driver as is, it is functioning at least 98% for me with camera and root.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] jgalan14:
I agree I'm loving jellybean freaking crazy fast :)
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] androholic:
I've formed an idea on a possible solution*I installed twrp recovery via terminal emulator & have done some testing. I immediately made a backup & checked where it was stored after rebooting my phone and it is stored on the internal SD card. Although, if you check a box under mounts twrp will read from your external sd card & install any zips you may have stored there. I then rebooted back into twrp recovery & wiped cache, dalvik, and did a factory reset. To my surprise I was still able to restore my backup because twrp doesn't wipe your internal sd card storage or media? To my recollection cwm wipes everything including your internal sd card, at least on the gs3? So I believe perhaps cwm is what is wiping the area of our device that contains our imei data? This is at least possible, because I haven't read any reports of anyone using twrp having this issue. I've even scoured different sites asking users in twrp related topics if anyone has heard of the issue, and I've been all over searching high & low for ppl with our problem. My next step is to take the leap into installing many roms from the Tmo development section later this evening (hopefully). I may try to install & restore from them all. I will report my results back & if all is well each individual may make their own decision as to whether they feel comfortable installing twrp & flashing away! As for why cwm is wiping the imei(if it in fact is) I haven't the faintest clue, nor do I know how those already effected will recover other than a warranty exchange, but maybe we can at least prevent any other instances?
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] OTAw:
So Is this only happening to those who are flashing roms and/or kernels? Or is it for any rooted device period?

I'm asking because I'm staying with stock right now but might only want to root just for extra control options over my device.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] Product F(RED):
Happens when you flash a ROM. I feel for you guys, I really do :/ Hang in there homies.

- Your i9300 cousin
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] jgalan14:
Man I still remember you on the evo forums :) good times
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] drksilenc:
i remember fred as well lol
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] OTAw:
Thanks!
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] Product F(RED):
Most of my posts on XDA came from Myn's Warm Two Point Two thread xD It's funny; I'll be commenting on an article on Engadget or some other website and someone replies, "Hey Fred! I remember you from XDA!"
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] cashyftw:
Ahh man, that's not cool. Guess I'm never going back to stock lol.

Sent from my Aokp Galaxy s3! (:
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] mobilehavoc:
What if you use Odin to flash a rooted system tar. That seems like it should be safe right ?
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] David Dee:
Lord Morphous' call, but I suggest the spreadsheet is unlocked now that the spammer has been taken care of and MrHighway is watching. I think entering every new piece of data is too much to ask of anyone and quite frankly won't get done.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] MMontanez347:
sorry if this has been answered before....ive been following this thread for days and for the first time i didn't check this thread out yesterday only to find a "solution" over in the Verizon forum....if this question has been asked then I apologize in advanced..

Im on T-mobile with my IMEI intact but I want to make a full backup incase I ever lose it down the line (this IMEI issue is why ive been scared to flash anything recenenty) can I use the method from this forum to backup my efs/IMEI/etc and restore it if i ever lose it when flashing a rom? and also has anyone confirm this working? it'd be nice to know if this imei issue was fully resolved...thank you

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1791291
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] zonly1:
I do not think there is ANY way to currently back up your IMEI information at this point, I hope there will be a solution soon!
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] lordmorphous:
In the interest of ease of data collection, I have opened the spreadsheet back up to full access. Hopefully the vandals will stay at bay. Thanks to everyone who keeps their eyes on it with me.

The permission is giving me a hard time sticking, can someone verify they can edit for me?
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] MMontanez347:
so the post in Verizon dosent work then? such a shame....this IMEI issue is the only thing keeping me from flashing any ROM or MOD or etc, i really hope someone finds a way soon...
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] lordmorphous:
Well, I'm tired of being scared to flash my phone, so here is my plan. When/if I find something I want to flash, I'm going to back up all the partitions, except system, data, pre, and post (system and data would change and pre and post have been proven to be the same on everyone's phone). Presumably, if I lose IMEI in the process, one of the other partitions would change too..correct?
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] wavrunrx:
that is the thought, yes. :eek:
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] David Dee:
Mmontanez, I remember you from the Andromadus forums, nice to see I am not the only ex- vision person here, good to see you bro. The Verizon solution has not been ruled out, it needs to be tested on a device with wiped IMEI where the efs backup comes from that same device. You should back that up just in case it does eventually work.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] brfield:
Damn, that's a no-go.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] getsaf:
Is there some reason the CMW Recovery SD card format tools won't work? That'll give you an ext* format which can hold ginormous files.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] MMontanez347:
ahhhhh I knew the name David Dee was familiar!! really nice to see you too man! yeah reading the Verizon forum it seems noone has confirmed restoring it to work but its nice that there's at least a backup way! im fine on stock deodexed anyways but as soon as a stable Jellybean rom comes out, I will be flashing no matter what! heres hoping this IMEI issue can be fixed by then :fingers-crossed:
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] brfield:
It formats it, but then CM10 doesn't work with it. I don't think the CWM Recovery format is exFat, I believe it is just FAT.

I will try again in CWM and then try Ubuntu if all else fails.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] Artimus009:
Alright guys...I am tired of not being able to flash!!!! I am willing to go flash happy but before I do, what should I do in case I lose another imei? If I lose it, I'll just go and do a warranty exchange at the AT&T warranty place. If backing up the whole internal sd will fix it, then we're in business. I don't know how to do it. So if someone is willing to help me through it...I'm your huckleberry.

stock rooted and rocking kt747 kernel...still got my imei

Edit: one more thing...I also don't know when exactly I lost my imei due to still having data and able to make calls...I was flashing everything under the sun, moon, and stars. Also was flashing my backups to go back to stock. When I noticed it was gone, I was flashing the upgraded stock firmware.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] getsaf:
Ahh, didn't realize that. There's always an adb shell or terminal emulator if you don't want to go ubuntu.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] thacounty:
Make sure external SD is formatted exfat

Open an ADB Shell and run this command:

dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0 of=/external_sd/mmcblk0.img

Edit:

I'm with you. I am going back nandroid to make my SD exfat and backup the entire internal, then I will be flashing whatever I please, first being sv5 because I think that is the kicker here. No one has reported lost imei with SV 5. Could just be coincidence and that sv5 has been out for a much shorter time than sv1 or 2.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] Artimus009:
Will do in a few...got to give the kids a bath and put them to sleep.

stock rooted and rocking faux123 kernel...still got my imei
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] brfield:
Works when formatted by gparted in Ubuntu. Took like 2 seconds after confirming actions to finish.

Fat32 for now I guess. Need to build a kernel with the ex fat interface added.

Sent from my SGH-T999 running CM10.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] kssxs:
*BUMP*

Anyone? Need a complete backup method using netcat to backup to PC. I'm sure others would benefit from this method too, or will at least feel better by doing it ;) .

Please and thanks!
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] drothenberger:
http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=29031884&postcount=429
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] wavrunrx:
edited.

already answered

http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=29220942&postcount=702
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] MMontanez347:
as stated a few posts ago, use this method to backup your IMEI/EFS

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1791291

noone has confirmed this working yet so we need someone to make a backup, go flash crazy, lose their IMEI, and try the restore method to see if it works!

i just backed it up a few minutes ago and it was really easy to do, I recommend you do the same...and good luck :good:
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] wavrunrx:
yes, go flash crazy, but PLZ DOCUMENT EVERY STEP YOU MADE ON A NOTEPAD and inbetween EVERY step, check if IMEI is still displayed !!!

(not only do we want to find a FIX AND confirm it; but we want to find WHAT is breaking it !)
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] kssxs:
Thanks, I had found that through the search as well. How many memory blocks would you do those commands for?
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] David Dee:
You guys are brave, I am going to sit tight for awhile longer and hope this gets solved.... At least until cm10 gets out of the preview phase.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] Artimus009:
Will do. I just got the kids in bed and I am waiting for them to doze off. So far I'll tell you is that I installed CWM and rooted using Team Epic instructions in the sticky. I flashed faux123 kernel for stock and then flashed kt747 kernel for stock...that's it so far. Hopefully the imei trigger isn't already half way pulled...

stock rooted and rocking faux123 kernel...still got my imei
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] kssxs:
Which is why I'm still trying to get the backing-up procedure sorted out... just so I can be sure I'm ready to do whatever once the issue is resolved, and have a complete backup for peace of mind if necessary. $700+ is too much for me to mess around with ;) .