yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] xbxjunkie:
Can the "fsg" and "backup" blocks be seen in Astro? I followed the steps for TERMINAL EMULATOR and everything went as listed, typed ther commands, got the small blue text and rebooted. Can these 2 files only be seen using RECOVERY and can't be seen using Astro?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] rsohne:
Followed instructions and failed to restore on step 1 but step 2 restored perfectly. Back to a working phone. Thanks so much!
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] mike216:
I'm on paranoid android with a Verizon galaxy s3.

I just did the terminal emulator su (enter)

nvbackup (enter)

Is that it? It's that easy to backup and I don't have to be on a touckwiz based rom? It's so simple it seems to good to be true? I would certainly appreciate any confirmation on this. Sorry guys just a little paranoid with my new phone
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Addiso:
Yes make sure to do the other ones too if you can just to ensure you restore in case one doesn't work

Sent from my Goonified Paranoid Jelly Droid Incredible 2
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] mike216:
Hey Goon, if I go from rom to rom wiping data my IMEI backup made in terminal should still remain? The only way I could erase it would be to format the SD? Thanks I certainly appreciate any confirmation on this
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Addiso:
Yea it remains in your internal sd no need to worry unless you format your whole phone with your media

Sent from my Goonified Paranoid Jelly Droid Incredible 2
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] GoodVibrant-ions:
Would not the easiest way to do this be to be rooted and just use terminal emulator?

Seems fairly cut and dry. I haven't had much luck with adb and my PC.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] mike216:
Thanks Goon!

Yes it seems to good to be true its sooo easy. Some good advice was to use as many methods as possible to have plan B or C on case one doesn't work!
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] KgTheraad1:
Is there any way to save a backup file on your computer if you format your phone and loose your file by mistake.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] xbxjunkie:
/\ this
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Addiso:
Yes but I'm not sure where it is located by memory but I know someone posted it somewhere :P

Sent from my Goonified Paranoid Jelly Droid Incredible 2
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Jms122589:
Hey so some one on the T-Mobile thread linked this and I think its great, we dont have anything like this. I did the backup A with terminal emulator. What i want to know is, Would it be safe for me to do the backup B and C on T-Mobile? I'm guessing it would be safe since B is just a script but I'm still just a little apprehensive thanks!
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] JawaH8r:
Would also like to know the answer to this. I searched this morning using Astro. Even checked hidden files. Looked in root directory with no luck.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] what be up:
Did you try es file explorer? I think I saw it with that one, but I'm not sure
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] xbxjunkie:
nope....tried that, still can't find 'em
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] emichroc:
This method worked for me. Thank you!
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] tomalrocks:
how do i make the backup to my external sd card (or how do i move the existing backup from my internal sd card to external)??
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] snael:
THANK YOU

I had to say thank you so much for this. I saw it when I first started rooting my S3 and followed plan A and B backups. I unfortunately lost my IMEI and was stuck roaming after numerous flashes I thought it would never happen. Plan B did not work for me however plan A did the trick and I am very grateful (yeah I did them backwards because I was trying to avoid putting SDK tools on my computer) but it is well worth it.

Thanks again!
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] shangrila500:
Which back up method did you use? If you used the synergy backup method then just look for the synergy folder on your internal SD and copy the zip file to wherever you want it or completely move it to your external. If you did method A then I have no earthly clue because its using the blocks that Samsung put there for this and I have yet to find exactly where they are. As for option C, well its already on your computer when you do it soooo.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] cruelink:
how about restoring efs of samsung galaxy sii with model unit version of m250S, can the procedure above be use for this version? this phone is korean local, only it was debranded to GT-I9100 and all procedures were done (like deleting whole efs folder, rebooting, then the new generated folder of efs will have a new .n_data.bin etc and will be replaced by saved or backed up efs files). none of this procedure works, chown 1001:radio /efs also dont work for this problem. please help, as i the phone already has hc-ktool, efsbackup apps, gsII repair tool etc. but none of them were able to restore the IMEI of the said unit. please help anyone to throw some light for this. thanks.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] mybook4:
FYI, over in the 1900Mhz bounty thread, marcustaz and I modified an i535's NV items significantly (we wrote new ones and modified an existing one). We made sure to perform a Synergy backup before starting.

At one point we wanted to revert back. We used the Synergy backup script and the number of items was restored back to the original configuration. I didn't comprehensively check all the nv data, but the number of items was the same.

Just thought I'd add more data.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] npro1464:
I did Part A through Terminal Emulator. It seemed too easy. Is there any way for me to check that I backed up my IMEI successfully? Is it harmful to do more than one backup method or do a backup method more than one time? Thanks!!
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] _pank:
Just used the terminal method and it worked perfectly... Thanks all.

Anybody every try Andromizer? I saw somebody mention this in Scott's clean rom thread so I downloaded it and made another backup using that app.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.j.y.daddy.customizer&hl=en
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] droidxxxxx:
Wow, thanks again for that backup guide.. it was very easy. I just have a little question.. Now that I have done all 3 parts.. and have the saved QPST backup on my hard drive.. if I understand correctly, I should be good. Will I ever have to manually back up anything as long as steps A and B don't fail? Are the automatic? I see the backup procedure for the third step, but not any for steps A and B..(Back up procedure meaning if I loose everything). Do A and B backup the lost data by themselves? If so thats really cool.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] mike216:
Awesome find bud! Has anyone successfully restored using the app?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] wethead4:
How do you know if you lost your imei number?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] clipsruck:
Go to settings/about device/status and it'll be in there.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] wethead4:
Would the phone still work without an IMEI number?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] mike216:
You will have no signal at all.and in settings about phone under IMEI info you will have nothing under it

If you lose your IMEI your phone will work but you will have no data or anyway to make calls our mms. So WiFi only. There are ways to restore it though
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] fls27:
Thank you for creating such a kick @$$ tutorial. I flashed CM10.1 the other day and this guide saved my phone!
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] GalaxySII5191:
Would that be the 12-18 nightly?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] mike216:
What restore method did you use? The easy terminal emulator method or another?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] gdanko:
Sending a an MMS message using chompSMS fails as soon as I hit send. To replicate: open chompSMS, create a new message, add a picture from the gallery, hit send.

Logcat is here: http://pastie.org/5591650
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] bamaredwingsfan:
Quick question, I did your backup in tutorial A. So the other day I did a wipe of the internal SD card. Do I need to make a new back up or does formatting the internal SD card not get deep enough to touch that?

Sent from my rOot3d Samsung Galaxy S3
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] SlimSnoopOS:
Completely irrelevant to this thread.

Nope. The IMEI and respective partitions needing to be backed up are located elsewhere. You can't override these partitions by formatting sd card via recovery. Now if you kept your IMEI Synergy backup folder on your internal sd card, then that would have been deleted obviously.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] bamaredwingsfan:
Good thing I zipped up the contents of the synergy backup folder into a backup an kept a backup copy on the external sdcard

Sent from my rOot3d Samsung Galaxy S3
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] OnceAMatrixMan:
Where are the backed up files? Or how can you tell it worked?? Thanks
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] dablitzkrieg:
I was wondering thr same thing. The Terminal emulator method seems too easy
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] OnceAMatrixMan:
And this is weird - ever since I backed up IMEI yesterday I am barely getting 4G, only 3G. Before that I practically never saw 3G. No other changes at all made.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] erikclaw:
ignore, figured it out
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] osuron07:
Just wanted to say thank you for this. I've been flashing different roms constantly and all of a sudden couldn't get/make calls or send/recieve txts and it took me forever to figure out why because I still recieved data. Turns out my IMEI was missing the last digit, I did a nvrestore, wiped and reflash my rom, IMEI is showing correctly in my rom and things seem to be back to normal, so thank you.

One question though, does nvrestore wipe your previous backup for any reason? I want to make another nvbackup asap if it for some odd reason does in case this happens again.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] rampantandroid:
Thanks for the guide - just had to do a nvrestore after flashing CM10.1 completely horked my phone. I've got 4G working on 4.1.2 again. Whew!

---------- Post added at 10:19 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:19 PM ----------

Reboot. I found that when I did my restore, I got 3G ONLY. No 4G. Freaked out and then decided a reboot might be wise - finally connected to 4G again.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] GoodVibrant-ions:
Just want to verify, backing up using method 2 (flashing the synergy_rom_hwkeys.zip) is ok even if I'm not running any rom and I'm on a stock but rooted device?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] SlimSnoopOS:
Yup, although you need to be rooted AND unlocked for the Synergy zip to properly flash. I actually backed up using this method while stock rooted and unlocked. It's all good from there.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] GoodVibrant-ions:
Excellent. Thanks for the quick reply. And that is the correct .zip file to download? The one labeled synergy_backup_hwkeys_signed.zip?

Seems a strange file name for what I'm intending to use it for.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] SlimSnoopOS:
Uhh, well I've seen worse file names on xda lol. Yes, that is the correct one to download. It will create a synergyrom zip once you successfully flash it and then you'll have two folders titled "backup" and "logs" once its all said and done.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] GoodVibrant-ions:
Great. Thanks again.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] lyriquidperfection:
EFS Professional v2.0.9 has now been released!

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1308546
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] biyobe:
I'm running a 4.2.1 ROM and trying to do the backup and keep getting an error "Backing up EFS if unlocked" "EFS Backup Failed" and the backup.zip doesn't show up, nor does a folder /sdcard/synergyrom/backup. Do I need to be on 4.1.x? I do have an unlocked bootloader. Fortunately backup method A is saving me, but would like to get that extra sense of security with having a zip i can flash
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] xderiwx:
Hi everyone,

Just read through the whole thread and had a couple quick questions just to be completely sure of some things, since these threads move on so fast.

1) Is the procedure outlined in the OP still the recommended/preferred way of backing up your IMEI data? While searching Ive seen various ways and threads, so I just wanted to make sure.

2) I believe it was stated in the thread that once doing method A, its good forever and you dont need to redo the 'reboot nvbackup' process, after using it in the 'nvrestore' process, should you ever need it to restore your IMEI settings? Can anyone confirm?

3) I believe it was stated by SlimSnoop,that your method A backup through terminal emulator will not be erased by flashing a rom or formatting data. Is there anything that can erase it through recovery? Just curious as I was watching some rom installation videos where some go an extra step beyond just wiping cache, dalvik and wipe data/factory reset, by also going into mounts/storage and formatting system, data and cache. Just wanted to make sure that if I followed those rom installation steps, that I didnt lose the method A backup. For method B, i would be moving the synergy backup to my external as soon as possible to avoid having it wiped, should I ever forget its there and wipe data. :)

Thank you to the OP and also everyone who has contributed in anyway!!

P.s. For those who have followed the steps and backups and ended up still losing IMEI, is there anyone that HAS NOT been able to use either A or B to restore?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] SlimSnoopOS:
Yes, hasn't failed yet.

Maybe I'm not understanding your question but should the "nvrestore" command not work, there's always part B. Then you can backup your IMEI once you verify that calls/texts/data work for you.

Hey, I got a shoutout! haha. Correct, backup part A is untouched if you mount/storage and format system/data/cache or any combo of what you wrote. You really have to try to screw up those IMEI partitions. I will not say "nothing you flash in recovery can permanently corrupt your IMEI partitions" cuz there are absolutely no guarantees. Only flash files from trusted sources and respected devs. Do not flash another carrier rom OR an international GSIII rom. You will brick your GSIII either briefly or indefinitely.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] xderiwx:
Thanks for the info, i appreciate it!

What I meant in question 2, was that while reading through the whole thread I seen someone mention that the 'part A' backup basically doesnt expire. Cant remember the exact wording. :) I just wanted clarification on that to be totally sure. So what I was wondering was if you happened to lose your IMEI, and you used the 'nvrestore' in terminal, the backup of part A will still be saved and doesnt reset back to dummies after using it to restore IMEI? And same thing with the synergy zip, if you used it to restore your IMEI, that same zip you made the first time will still be good and useable in the future, should you need it again?

Hope that came out clear enough, its really early. :)

Thank you!
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] SlimSnoopOS:
Ahh, gotcha. As long as you performed "adb reboot nvbackup" first, if it comes time, you should be able to "reboot nvrestore" on successive attempts. It only resets to the "dummy" IMEI if you perform nvrestore without having done a backup. Then it's just restoring a bad IMEI and you've messed yourself up.

The Synergy zip is good whenever as long as you followed the OP steps. The contents of the Synergy zip aren't one time use.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] xderiwx:
Beautiful, thank you!

Off to try Beans 10... Hopefully.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] stupidchicken03:
Think mine worked.. Did everything thru ADB and I got the blue letters, but it only took maybe 2-3 seconds. Does that sound right?

Anyway to see/tell if the backup was successful?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] crjjr:
+1 on this. Exact same issue, and I too want that extra backup in the form of a .zip.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] ilprobu2:
Me too did terminal direction.. is there somewhere to c if it worked where are the files

s3 driving an S4
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] xderiwx:
After flashing the zip and making a successful restore zip, do we need to keep the original synergy_backup_hwkeys_signed.zip file?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Real_JESRadio:
Video of Team Synergy method of backing up IMEI!

Here is s a short video on backing up your IMEI using method B in the OP! Thank you TeamSynergy! http://youtu.be/Stg4bHoWVbY
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] andybones:
This just saved me from dreaded roaming from flashing 4.2.1 slim ROM.

Thank You!!

the adb rvreboot worked wonderfully, just had to adb reboot recovery and restore a nand and all is back to normal.

saved me hours if not days!
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] SlimSnoopOS:
For part A, I haven't seen anyone in this thread post a way to easily view your backed up partitions.

Not as long as you have the Synergyrom folder containing two folders.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Jetlife_Jones:
Thanks

Tanks for everything... I'm backed up, just in case!!!!!
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] xderiwx:
Yep, I definitely have the synergyrom folders containing the key backup and logs folder. :) I wanted to clear up a little space so I wanted to make sure that the original file wasn't needed for the keybackup....zip to work properly.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] adcurtin:
EFS Backup Failed

I'm also getting the "EFS Backup Failed" message. I'm running CM10.1 M1 (and my phone keeps reverting to WCDMA preferred on boot, seems like a good idea to backup this stuff).
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] swiggs98:
Same issue I have on cm10.1 gs3 (sprint). Would love to know how to fix this issue and unlock efs. Method A worked fine but having B as wellwwould be wise.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] jcyoun33:
Where's that zip file? It's not attached to the op? I accidentally deleted my synergy backup folder... Lol
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] cr4ck3r4lif3:
It's in the op under "part b". Look for the hyperlink
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Assassin74:
I'm on the Darth stalker ROM. Can I still just flash this in recovery using twrp and it will work?? Is that all I have to so? And how so you restore using this backup method?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] papa54:
IMEI

OK this is crazy and maybe i missed the 2nd grade about IMEI, but what the heck is it and where can it be found to check it. and to see if its still there or gone.. i have no roaming problems. I have also flashed every rom available and everything seems to work OK so of what use is the IMEI to me ?I'm not trying to be a smart aXX but damn theres a lot to read about something i have no knowledge about to begin with.

crap i now feel like maybe i've screwed something up bad and yet all works.. i have not flash any "Nightlies" etc and presently am on >>>>"Darth Vader" rom<<< and when i saw the subject of IMEI i felt I needed to have it correctly.. but what if its there somewhere? any and all responses will be apppreciated ,, just remember i am not a young kid full of piss n vinegar<<< ok that being said i am a prior service/vietnam vet....
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Shamestick:
I did the commands from a terminal emulator but I'm not sure if it worked, would it be bad to do the commands another time? Also I flashed the synergy zip in twrp and it wiped my os and idk why. But hey that's what nandroids are for
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Ibkevin:
Has anyone tried this on a GNote 2?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] SlimSnoopOS:
No, it's a different phone!
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] 1ManWolfePack:
Bootloader has absolutely nothing to do with IMEI. Unlock it now before you accept some update and lose the chance. You can just unlock it and go about your business. Your phone won't magically change or get a new app.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Wisiwyg:
Mods.... Sticky!!
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] WildZontar:
Before that, I'd like to see if anyone has actually recovered their IMEI in this manner. I and many others are waiting for someone to come back and write whether or not the restore process was effective. I have not yet lost my IMEI, and the problem is sporadic and rare, so I cannot test this myself until it actually happens.

Please remember to write back if you've done the restore after losing an IMEI...whether or not it does work!
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] KennyCap:
Works on twrp files in xda download.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] tekrhino:
Are you guys familiar with Chainfire's Mobile ODIN app?

This thing can root new updates/firmware like OTA's or new leaked firmware without you having to worry about losing Root in the process.

I firmly support Chainfire's work by buying all his paid versions and I also believe he is a Elite Developer/Forum Moderator here with XDA.

You guys should check out his thread for Mobile ODIN.

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1347899

Our device is now supported and knowing Verizon they might pull some Crap like removing Root with any new OTA that may happen to roll out for our device.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] hopesrequiem:
Not to be rude by why did you post that here? That has nothing to do with this imei backup method??
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] tekrhino:
I made the post because the user I quoted in my post was mentioning about losing the chance to unlock by accepting an update.

That was it. Sorry if the post upset you in some manner. I'm just trying to be helpful here, same as everyone else.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] kuntri:
@tekrhino,

did u have to rename the file to "update.zip" ??

---

Edit:

Nevermind. Just flashed it anyway...

Edit #2:

Flashed Paranoid Droid AOSP JB CM10 based. restored backup & nothing.. still "unknown"
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] WildZontar:
This method won't recover your IMEI if it was already lost at the time of backup. The first step of this tool is a preventative measure; it does not fix an IMEI without having had a backup made from your unique device beforehand while it was working. Did you attempt to restore from a backup made before you lost your IMEI?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] mikejr83:
I haven't lost IMEI, but I have a question just in case I do. What is the order of precedence when trying the backup methods?

The dd efs method has been said not to work completely and the qpst may restore your IMEI but leave you with roaming. Should we attempt this method as a first resort when restoring or should we try the others first? In other words will any of the backups be detrimental to the attempt of trying another?

I too have done every backup method so far mentioned and hope to never have to use them, and but I'd be interested to know how/if they all interplay.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] tu3218:
I would love to know the answer as well. I've backed up using all methods too.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] davefields3:
So has anyone that has actually lost their IMEI tried restoring it using this method? I've seen a few "it works" posts, but it looked like they were just saying the backup worked.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] OmidoStyle:
I'd like to know as well, I made a backup using this method because it seemed the most complete, and the qpst method won't work for me unless I Odin back to stock first. I pray I never have to use this but I'd like some reassurance that in the event things get ugly, I have a way out
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] bgolden84:
You don't have to go back to stock. Try this. http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=30371622
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] ka1z0ku:
I have really borked up data since I got a messed up my EFS without a backup first and then manually restored parts of it (plus some help from Verizon guys). So now I have data connectivity but it constantly flashes the grey roaming triangle... any chance I could use someone else's backup .zip but input my own IMEI (which is unique to each device, right?) to go back to normal?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] MichaelTheCrum:
Try *2767*3855#
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] WildZontar:
In theory, it should work. In practice, it is untested. I'm still waiting for someone to write back with either a success or failure story; please report either if you're reading and have attempted a restore!