Backup/Restore EFS data of Samsung Android Device, to Fix IMEI and SIM not detecting issues

There are lot of rooting guides and flashing guides over there in the market and often most of android users use them in their android devices. Accidently sometime cause of wrong guidance or cause of an external error or we face troubles of loosing data and the main corruption of EFS partition. Yes EFS partition that’s the considering thing here. Let I first introduce you about this EFS.

What the hell is this EFS ?

EFS partition is actually a internal place in our android device such as android phone which contains some important and some basic info related to our device identity like Wi-Fi address, Bluetooth MAC address and the very main IMEI address (nv_data.bin).

Now if this EFS partition accidently corrupted then your phone’s IMEI no. will erased and you can not make voice call further. This kind of damage is often not accepted by the service center of your respected handset’s company.

Why should I backup EFS data ?.

When I called he told me that his phone galaxy s2 is not detecting sim after he flashed a firmware through Odin, I tried a lot but failed to revive phone 

I know it was problem of EFS data but it is not possible (at least for me) to retrieve IMEI data without having EFS backup. So it is very necessary to make a backup of this EFS partition just now to avoid such type of future troubles.

Now the question is “how to make a backup of EFS partition”. We researched some guides over the web related to this and found some good things.

There are three methods to make a backup of this EFS partition.

1^st EFS folder backup using root explorer

Just copy the whole EFS folder via root explorer to your SD card or anywhere in your PC. But according users criteria this method is not be good in EFS restore.

2^nd Using kTool by Hellcat

Note: This tool is only compatible with galaxy s2 and galaxy note

      

Using of a backup/Restore tool as “kTool by Hellcat” , this tool will backup your whole EFS partition including read / write permission that makes your phone compatible for this task.

Lets see procedure to make a backup/restore of EFS partition by “HC- kTool”

Required things :

• Pick up Hellcat kTool from Android Market here
• Root access in your Galaxy S2 and Note

Be aware of :

• This procedure is valid for only Samsung Galaxy S2 and Note handsets.
• We are not responsible for any kind of damage and error while applying the process. Do at your own risk.

Video Guide , thanks robifis

 

Procedure to Backup EFS :

1. Install the Hellcat kTool from android market in your Galaxy S2.
2. After installing the kTool just launch it.
3. At the home screen of kTool you will found some interface tabs, main the backup and restore tabs.
4. Now first for make a backup of your phone’s EFS partition just tap on the tab “Backup EFS to /sdcard/efs.img”.
5. After that you will see a progress circle showing with “Dumping EFS…..” written.
6. This whole process of backup will done in few seconds and you will see a prompt showing “Backup done, verify?” with accepting yes or no.
7. So tap on “yes” and then “Run Check” to checkout the brief info about the backup.
8. You will see the info just like in below manner.
9. After checking tap on “close” and come back to the main menu of kTool.
10. Now you can also save a copy of this backup file in your PC just by connecting the phone to the PC via USB cable.

Procedure to Restore EFS :

1. For restore the EFS partition anytime from the backup just tap on the option “Restore EFS from backup (DANGEROUS)” at the main menu of ktool.
2. After that a prompt will appear written with some warnings and asking you to choose the type of backup file i.e the IMG or TAR to restore from backup.
3. Here choose anyone as desire, but only then when you hardly need this means your EFS partition is already corrupted.
4. But at now just cancel it.

Some other functions: By HC-kTool you can also directly reboot to recovery mode and download mode. So be try them at your own.

So as soon as possible make a backup of your EFS partition and avoid the risks occurs during any flash of corrupted ROMs.

Via JayCeooi

3^rd Using EFS Pro tool by xda

This is a small windows software it is Compatible with Windows XP, Vista, 7. it can backup efs and restore as well. This tool provides option to save backup on your pc or phone sd card, I recommend both.

Make sure you have Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0 installed on your PC before using EFS pro.

Features:

• Supports Backup and Restore of Partition Image (*.img) and Compressed TAR Archive (*.tar) formats.
• Automatically detects saved EFS Backups on Device and PC for hassle free restoring.
• Re-Scan option to refresh Backup list for restoring Backups.
• Automatically Re-Mounts ‘/efs’ folder with Read/Write permissions during restore for users ‘stuck’ with Read Only permissions.
• Automatic detection and prompting of Mass Storage Mode.
• Automatic detection and termination of SAMSUNG Kies application on startup.
• Supports Multiple Backup handling.
• Option to Format ‘/efs’ partition before restoring an EFS Backup.
• Displays Device, ROM and BusyBox information on startup[Source]

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How To Limit Conversation Message Storage On Android Phone

Android is the best utilized mobile operating software among smartphone users. As per the time cause of various kind of apps and their use in most of our daily work it’s become a part of life. Although we are in age of chatting and video conferencing but no one can replace messaging. I love sending messages (thousands) to friends, we enjoy this traditional yet awesome service.

My conversation are very long than a normal phone users , in less than a week i  have many conversation with several hundred msgs. A large matter in short space also makes the working process more difficult and slowdown the device. In android there is no problem to store more and more message but one day if you find that your processing and launching speed of messaging app is slower, it is due to large storage of messages in your conversation.

So i looked msg settings in my phone and found a little but very useful trick. To limit Message Storage On Android.

And you all know old messages are not often needed in our conversation. So today we tell you the way to set a limit for your messages in a single conversation.

Procedure to limit Conversation messages

1. First simply locate to your Home screen.
2. Launch the messaging block by tapping on the messaging shortcut or by the going to main menu.
3. Now checkout a slight lookup at your multiple conversations that how many quantity they.
4. If you find a huge mass of messages then you have to task this procedure.
5. Now open the pop up options of your messaging block.
6. Choose the option “Settings” from the pop up menu.
7. In Setting menu locate the option “Delete old messages” and enable it.
8. Again in the same menu you found the option to set limit so simply set the desire limit.
9. As recommend set the limit to 200 or below but if you have a high speed device than set it to higher than 200.
10. That’s all. Come to the messaging menu and check out the conversation, you find the conversation settled down in your desired limit.[source]

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AMA release Animal Tycoon 2 so you can raise more animals

AMA LTD has released a second addition to their Animal Tycoon series, appropriately namedAnimal Tycoon 2, onto the Android Market. For you Tycoon type of game fans out there, this brings a whole slew more buildings, decorative items and animals in this new title.

As you are probably guessing already, in Animal Tycoon 2 you build and expand your own zoo and populate it with all kinds of animals. To attract as many visitors as possible though you will need more than just animals of course. You will be able to build other structures that provide various services for visitors ranging from providing snacks and food to toilets.

It is a fine balance that you will need to keep to attract as many visitors as possible. You will need to take care of your animals, feed them and keep them happy. When your animals are happy you will attract more people to your zoo who will increase your income letting you expand your zoo and buy more animals.

Animal Tycoon 2 is pretty standard for a tycoon game so if you have played any other tycoon style games then you should be able to just jump right into this one. You can downloadAnimal Tycoon 2 off of the Android Market for free. You can check the game out in action in the video above.

Developer Website: AMA LTD

Android Market Link: Animal Tycoon 2

[Source]

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Can an Android 4.0 device replace a desktop PC?

Is Android 4.0 mature enough to replace a desktop PC? I’m writing this post with Chrome Beta for Android on my Asus Transformer Prime and I think it’s almost there. Previously I was disappointed with the Browser performance on the Prime, but the recent software updates to Android 4.0.3 combined with the Chrome browser are starting to live up to my expectations.

Before there was almost no way I could get any real content creation done on the Prime, but it is now passable. The performance still does not match my Samsung ultrabook, but I have noticed great improvements since I first gave this a try last year. The keyboard lag with heavy web apps like WordPress is gone, scrolling is smooth, and my Logitech USB mouse works great.

I’m not the only one that thinks Android 4.0 is passable as a desktop operating system. Android enthusiast Christian Cantrell hooked up his Galaxy Nexus to a computer monitor, wireless keyboard with touchpad, and speakers to demonstrate the user experience. He notes that Android 4.0 has most of the functionality he could need, but the performance of the dual-core OMAP4460 in the Galaxy Nexus leaves a little to be desired.

Most Android manufactures have not really tried to push the envelope for this type of user experience, with the exception of Motorola. Their Atrix 4G was ahead of its time, but it clearly hinted where Android was going. We predicted over a year ago that Android, Chrome, and Google TV would merge onto a single device, and we are almost there.

Motorola’s webtop experience and lapdock accessory were both cool ideas, but the final experience just sucked. Now that Google is taking over Motorola and hardware continues to advance at a rapid pace, we will finally see Sanjay Jha’s original vision come true. Your smartphone will become your most personal computer and eventually replace your desktop or laptop PC.

ASUS is likely to be one of the first companies to produce one of these so called ultraphones. Their upcoming Padfone will dock into a tablet, that can dock into a keyboard, that can connect to any display. This modular design will be copied over and over by every other OEM.

We might still be another generation away from mobile processors that can deliver the PC-like performance we crave, but there are software solutions to fill the gap. NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang demonstrated this at CES. Apps like Splashtop provide a virtualized OS that delivers the same exact experience you would expect from a desktop PC.

As I wrote yesterday, I still think Chrome will one day overtake Android as Google’s platform for connected devices, but that could be a decade away. Over the next five years, I see Android becoming the number one operating system on all web clients.

I realize this might sound crazy and Windows still has 70-80% market share depending on the source, but who would have predicted that Android would become the top smartphone OS as fast as it did. Smartphone sales already overtook client PCs in 2011, and that trend will continue to accelerate.

What do you think the Android ecosystem needs to deliver before you would give up your PC

[Source]

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Google+ gets Updated with What’s Hot, Who +1′ed, and Other Performance Tweaks

It seems like all the developers of the major social apps decided to update their app around the same time. Yesterday Seesmic got it’s first update in a very long time. Foursquare just got updated not to long ago, and now here is Google+ with a cool new update. The two biggest parts of this update are the additions of the What’s Hot list and the ability to see who+1′ed your post. We’ve got the full changelog below for you to check out.

Full Changelog:

1. Massive performance improvements across the app
2. What’s Hot!
3. View who +1′d a post or comment
4. Stream posts shortened to fit more per scroll
5. Infinite photos feed in ‘From your circles’
6. Stream no longer jumps to the top for an automatic refresh

If you don’t already have it downloaded on your device, hit the source link below to download it. Also don’t forget to circle the best Android site in the world, Android Authority so you can stay up to date with all the latest Android News, Reviews, How To’s and much more.[Source]

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Samsung to announce 2 GHz Galaxy Tab

Samsung might be holding their Galaxy S III from next month’s Mobile World Congress show, but that doesn’t mean this will be a quiet show for them. Thanks to a little digging around I did during CES and some other recent news, I now believe I know what Samsung will introduce in its place. Read on for the full rumor report.

The Rumor

Samsung will announce the next-generation of the Galaxy Tab at Mobile World Congress. It will feature a dual-core 2 GHz Exynos 5250 processor and feature a display larger than 10 inches with a WXQGA (2560×1600) resolution. The device will run the latest Android 4.0.x.

The Source

For once, I am the source of my own rumor report. I visited with Samsung System LSI during CES to discuss their upcoming Exynos processors and I saw one of their prototype tablets which was powered by Exynos 5250 and already running Android 4.0. I actually took pictures of the device (not really knowing what it was), but I was politely asked to delete them from my camera after the briefing was over.

One Android Insider’s take on the rumor

Last year at Mobile World Congress, Samsung unpacked the Galaxy S II and Galaxy Tab 10.1. Many of us were focused on the Galaxy S III for this year’s show, but Samsung is stillweighing their options and it’s not likely to be announced. However, that leaves open the possibility of them showing the next-generation Galaxy Tab.

Samsung already announced their dual-core 2 GHz Exynos 5250 processor last November, which is their first mobile processor to feature ARM’s latest Cortex-A15 CPU core. The chip is built on Samsung’s new 32nm High-K Metal Gate (HK/MG) low-power process and it also includes ARM’s next GPU, the Mali-T604.

Many competitors are also working on Cortex-A15 parts, but they were not expected to be widely available in products until late 2012 or early 2013 (see TI’s OMAP5). However, Samsung has been sampling their A15 part for quite some time and they just announced it will go into mass production in Q2.

I can’t say for sure how Samsung was able to deliver their A15 part so far ahead of the competition, but it could be because they chose the more mature 32nm process while others are using a 28nm process that is rumored to be having yield issues.

For those of you just joining us, I suggest heading over to ARM’s site and reading up onCortex-A15 and Mali-T604 if you want to know why this is such a big deal. Basically we should see twice the compute power, insane memory bandwidth(12.8 GB/s), 5x the graphics horsepower, and all day battery life.

Even though Samsung’s Exynos 5250 will not hit mass production till next quarter, they still have enough of the chips laying around to pop them into some demo devices and put them on display at Mobile World Congress. The fact that Samsung already has Android 4.0 up and running on the Exynos 5250 shows me how serious they are about being first to market with an A15 part.

I realize there’s a chance I could be wrong about this rumor, but if Samsung was showing off this next-generation tablet behind closed doors at CES, then it should definitely be ready for show time at MWC. Given the fact that the Galaxy S III will be absent, it makes perfect sense that this tablet will be the star of the show for Samsung.

Update: As someone pointed out, my description is very similar to a device that Jonathan Geller of BGR reported on back in December. I guess this is confirmation that he was correct, since I saw a similar product with my own eyes.

Update 2: German site TabTech.de is reporting that Samsung will introduce the Galaxy Tab 11.6 at MWC. Their mockup is included below.[Source]

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How to Install Android on an iPhone in Six Easy Steps

If you've got an iPhone, are a little bored with iOS, and you're interested in moonlighting with Google's Android operating system, you can dual boot Android and iOS side-by-side on your iPhone in a few relatively simple steps.

What You'll Need:

All you'll need to get started is an iOS device; Right now, the iPhone 3G has the best support, and that's what we're using in this guide.

Step One: Jailbreak Your iPhone

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You've got a number of jailbreaking options, including PwnageTool, Redsn0w, and Blackra1n. Pick one that works on your platform, download it, and walk through the jailbreak process. (I'm not going to detail the jailbreak here since the latest jailbreaking methods often change a little, but at this point, jailbreaking an iPhone is a relatively simple process.)

Step Two: Install Bootlace in Cydia

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In order to do this, you'll need to launch Cydia from the homescreen, tap on the Manage button, select Sources, then tap Edit, then Add. The repository you'll need to add is repo.neonkoala.co.uk. Tap Add Source, let Cydia work its magic, and then tap on your newly added repository and install Bootlace.

Step Three: Run Bootlace and Patch the Kernel

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Leave Cydia, and launch Bootlace. If Bootlace isn't on your homescreen after you leave Cydia, restart your iPhone and it should be there. Then just launch Bootlace, and let it download and patch the kernel. When it's done, tap on Reboot and wait for your phone to reboot.

Step Four: Install OpeniBoot

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Now launch Bootlace again, tap the OpeniBoot button, and tap Install, then Continue. OpeniBoot will download and install.

Step Five: Install iDroid

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Once OpeniBoot is installed, tap the iDroid button, tap Install, OK, and then wait. iDroid—which is essentially the Android OS customized for your iPhone—will download and install. This will take a while, so be patient, and if your battery is low, you may want to plug in your phone before you start.

Step Six: Reboot and Play Around with Android

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Now you've installed Android on your iPhone. Time to play around with it. Just tap on the QuickBoot button from inside Bootlace, tap the Android icon (the one of the little Android proudly holding an Apple), and confirm that you want to reboot into Android.

How Does It Work?

The first thing worth mentioning is that Android on iPhone isn't close to ready to use as your full-time mobile operating system. That doesn't mean it never will be, but at the moment, this is more something you'd want to do to fulfill your curiosity, wear as a geek badge, or just have a little fun and (maybe) support a really great project.

You can see how far they've come along with each phone on the iDroid status wiki. As I mentioned above, the iPhone 3G is the best supported iOS device (and currently only it and the 2G work with the method above, I believe). The biggest issue right now with the 3G is power management (PMU on the wiki), which isn't fully functional. Most importantly, suspend isn't yet working, so your battery won't likely last long. It's still come a long way from where it's been in the past, though, and having followed this project excitedly for a while, the progress they've made in recent weeks has been really impressive.

Regarding a few nuts and bolts: Your iPhone's lock button acts as the Android back button; the iPhone home button acts as the Android menu button; the iPhone's volume down button acts as the Android home button; and the iPhone's volume up button acts as... I'm not really sure what. To lock the screen, press the iPhone's home and lock buttons at the same time. To power off, hold the lock and home buttons for a couple of seconds until the Power Off prompt appears. You can see a few other operating quirks by watching the video above.

As you can see in the video, performance isn't perfect (it's occasionally a little laggy), but again, with time, that could change significantly. Either way, the iDroid project—along with OpeniBoot and Bootlace—is something I remain extremely excited about. As a long-time iPhone user and recent Android switcher, the main thing that sets the two apart for me is the iPhone hardware, which always feels head and shoulders above whatever Android device I put my hands on. I know a lot of people (including myself) who'd kill to dual boot an iPhone 4 with iOS and Android[source]

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