Rooted my Samsung phone, so I could back up the EFS (IMEI, etc.)

[Lanny]

With Samsung Android phones it is called the EFS. With other brands, they call it something else. We lost a Samsung phone, about 1.5 years ago, when my wife was away on a trip and she installed the WhatsApp App.  Something happened on that trip and that phone never worked as a phone again, despite lots of hours of work on my wifes part and my part.  We have WhatsApp on all of the phones in the house and that is not why that phone got corrupted.

 

Now, I am using a Samsung phone again...  This morning, I rooted it, so I could install an App that can backup the EFS section of the phone, which is the critical section. If that section gets corrupted and you do not have a Backup, that's the end of that phone working as a phone...  The EFS contains the IMEI, the Modem information, etc., so is critical for the phone to communicate as a phone on the network of the carrier. 

 

Now, I will keep my fingers crossed that the EFS section never gets corrupted. If it does, I hope the Backup will work properly... 

 

Later, now that I have Root access, I will look on the Google Play Store, for a Free App that can remove "Bloatware" such as Evernote, which I do not use, to free up some space.

Edited April 14, 2017 by Lanny

[Lizzie in Ma]

I used to root all my Samsung phones, too much bloatware.  Now we have Motorola phones and an Alcatel, straight up Android, super inexpensive buying the Amazon Prime versions and almost no bloatware.  Hope your backup works!

[Miss Tick]

Huh. I thought bloatware was just part of life, like a birthmark. Truthfully, for me out probably is because I only understood about 20%of what you two are saying.

[Lanny]

I used to root all my Samsung phones, too much bloatware.  Now we have Motorola phones and an Alcatel, straight up Android, super inexpensive buying the Amazon Prime versions and almost no bloatware.  Hope your backup works!

 

We have 3 Motorola phones and a Lenovo (Lenovo owns Motorola Mobility) in the house.  All went well with my Samsung, until this morning, when I Flashed the Firmware, with what I thought would (hopefully) work properly. I turned the phone into a "Soft Brick".  It is in a "Boot Loop".   I wrote up the issue and posted on the appropriate forum and hopefully someone will see my post and tell me which Firmware I should use, instead of the one I chose, or how to eliminate the "Boot Loop". As I told my wife awhile, ago, "temporarily, my phone is not working".

 

ETA:

I'd Flashed Firmware onto a Samsung, probably a couple of years ago and that went well, and I'd done that a number of times, when we had Sony Ericsson phones, which are famous for getting WSOD (White Screen of Death. 

 

This is the first time I have screwed up and do not have the solution to get it working, so I asked for help on a forum.

 

ETA #2: We have an Alcatel "Dumb" phone. I think it still works but it is stored away.  Interesting to know they have a rather pure version of Android on them, like the Motorola phones.

Edited April 15, 2017 by Lanny

[Lanny]

Huh. I thought bloatware was just part of life, like a birthmark. Truthfully, for me out probably is because I only understood about 20%of what you two are saying.

 

Bloatware is the (often unwanted) Apps that the manufacturers and carriers place onto the phone.  On the Samsung I was working on, for example, it was impossible to Delete the Evernote App, until I rooted the phone yesterday.  Rooting gives one "Super User" privs on an Android, like "Jailbreak" on an iPhone.

[Lizzie in Ma]

We have 3 Motorola phones and a Lenovo (Lenovo owns Motorola Mobility) in the house.  All went well with my Samsung, until this morning, when I Flashed the Firmware, with what I thought would (hopefully) work properly. I turned the phone into a "Soft Brick".  It is in a "Boot Loop".   I wrote up the issue and posted on the appropriate forum and hopefully someone will see my post and tell me which Firmware I should use, instead of the one I chose, or how to eliminate the "Boot Loop". As I told my wife awhile, ago, "temporarily, my phone is not working".

 

ETA:

I'd Flashed Firmware onto a Samsung, probably a couple of years ago and that went well, and I'd done that a number of times, when we had Sony Ericsson phones, which are famous for getting WSOD (White Screen of Death. 

 

This is the first time I have screwed up and do not have the solution to get it working, so I asked for help on a forum.

 

ETA #2: We have an Alcatel "Dumb" phone. I think it still works but it is stored away.  Interesting to know they have a rather pure version of Android on them, like the Motorola phones.

 

Ugh, I hope you get an answer that works!

[Lanny]

Ugh, I hope you get an answer that works!

 

Thank you. This is not the outcome I was hoping for, for that phone.  Yesterday, I posted in a huge web forum, but it was my first post there, so I was restricted in where I could post it. Hopefully, with time, people there, will read that particular forum where my Thread is...  This morning, I sent an email to Samsung Colombia Support, via their web form. system.  Fingers crossed, that via one of those 2 methods, someone will tell me which is the latest Samsung Firmware that will work properly on this phone.  It is still a "Soft Brick" that cannot be used.  If it was totally dead (that's the worst case with computers and electronics) it would be a "Hard Brick" that can only be used as a Paperweight.  If I can Flash the correct Firmware into it, it will work properly again. Fingers crossed for this phone.

[Lanny]

MY PHONE IS WORKING AGAIN!     i got an idea, in the late morning, that if I Flashed the original Firmware, hopefully the phone would work again. The phone was originally configured by Samsung  for Claro in Panama.  Then, before we got it (my wife bought it from a Niece who was here, before Xmas 2015, because we were short a phone) someone changed the Firmware to that of Movistar in Argentina (I think Argentina).  We live in Colombia...

 

I lost all my stuff and am having trouble getting logged into the Google account for the phone and the Google Lost My Phone service, but those issues are much easier to resolve, than what I have been fighting since yesterday morning.

 

So, on Easter Sunday, this phone was revived.   :mellow:

 

This was my last idea about how to restore this phone to service...

Edited April 16, 2017 by Lanny

[Lanny]

I have the Samsung Galaxy phone completely restored to where I want it now.  I had to Root it, again, after Flashing the Firmware. Since it is the same exact phone, when I went to Google Play Store, on the web, I had trouble getting it to Download Apps to the phone, because I had not written down the "name" of the phone in the settings. I had not thought about that. Fortunately, I was able to read the name they had for it (very faint type color) and I changed the name I'd entered into the phone settings, when I was doing the "first boot" setup after Flashing the ROM.  There were also issues related to the Password for my Google email account for the phone. All is well now!   If there was a later Firmware that would work properly, especially a "generic" Firmware,  I would prefer that, but it is now better than the way it was before I Rooted it and then changed the firmware. I got rid of a lot of the Bloatware with the free version of Titanium Backup. My wife has a license for the Pro version of Titanium Backup she is not using. If she can find the license information, I will contact them, to see if they can transfer the license to me. 

 

Yesterday (Sunday) in the morning, I filled out the web form to send an email to Samsung Colombia Support, asking if they knew which Firmware I could install, to get the phone working again. I was hoping they would answer early this week. I was astonished, when the phone rang in the late afternoon...  By then, I'd restored the phone so that it was working again, but I really did not expect a reply the same day, especially on a Sunday.  

 

BTW: I rooted the phone, without using my Windows Workstation,  by Downloading the Kingo Root APK to the phone.   They suggest trying it on the phone first, and if that does not work, then downloading their App for the PC. In my case, the Android APK worked.  https://www.kingoapp.com/

 

Mission accomplished   :hurray:

[Lanny]

My wife had purchased a license for the Pro version of Titanium Backup, during December 2015,  which is a must have App,  on a Rooted Android phone. She bought a new phone early in 2016 and that phone isn't rooted.  We contacted them and they transferred her license to me today, which was very kind of them.  My phone is from late 2014 and has Android 4.4.2 (KitKat).  That's the version of Android that Google severely restricted what one can do with the SD card.  So, I can't move some of the Apps to the SD card as I would like to do.  I'd been reading about that on the web, and was pretty sure that if we got the license transferred, that I would not be able to move Apps to the SD card, so that was not a shock when I tried it. On an earlier or later version of Android, one can do that, but not on KitKat.

[Lanny]

It's working well. It has Android KitKat 4.4.2 which Google decided should not be able to move Apps to the SD card. It would be nice to be able to do that. Looking into being able to do Nandroid Backups which copy everything on the phone

 

 

Sent from my SM-G355M using Tapatalk

[Rockhopper]

So what does it mean to "root" a phone? Or to "flash" its firmware?

 

I have a Motorola that has been endless trouble. Currently all my text contacts and suggested alternate words are in Thai or a related language. I can't send emails, snd contacts don't save. Sometimes the phone goes into a bout of epilepsy. But I don't have s warranty and I can't replace it right now.

 

Are these things that might help it?

[Audrey]

It's working well. It has Android KitKat 4.4.2 which Google decided should not be able to move Apps to the SD card. It would be nice to be able to do that. Looking into being able to do Nandroid Backups which copy everything on the phone

 

 

Sent from my SM-G355M using Tapatalk

 

You need Marshmallow.  It's soooo smooth.  I love it.  Will your phone support it?

[Lanny]

So what does it mean to "root" a phone? Or to "flash" its firmware?

 

I have a Motorola that has been endless trouble. Currently all my text contacts and suggested alternate words are in Thai or a related language. I can't send emails, snd contacts don't save. Sometimes the phone goes into a bout of epilepsy. But I don't have s warranty and I can't replace it right now.

 

Are these things that might help it?

 

I will try to help but I am not a Guru with Android phones, I'm a "Newbie", but I know a little more than you do at this time.

 

To "Root" an Android phone (I think this applies to Android Tablets too) means to gain complete access to the Operating System (Android) so you have "Super User" privileges.  That enables one to do a lot of things than cannot be done on an unrooted device.  Also, it means that one can really screw up their phone, so you need to read up on this, before you change anything  A riooted phone gives you absolute power, but that means you can screw things up too...

 

I now have a number of Apps that only can be installed on a phone that is Rooted, because they require Root Access. Titanium Backup is one of those.  That's one of the most popular Apps for Rooted Android phones.

 

"Flashing" the Firmware means that you Replace the existing Firmware (which may be  corrupted, or you want to replace it with something else, newer or that you think is better or in your case to try to restore your phone to proper operation, as I did a few days ago).  For Samsung, I downloaded the Firmware from SamMobile.com  For Motorola you would get the  Firmware somewhere else.

 

Wonderful that you have a Motorola. We have 3 of them in the house (the first was purchased at the end of January 2016) and we have one Lenovo (Lenovo owns Motorola Mobility) purchased during July 2016.  All of them are troublefree.  Lots of "bang for the buck" with Motorola or Lenovo and with low-end Samsungs. They connect very well to the Cell towers, etc.

 

The first thing I would try (first I would try to back up your Data if it is not corrupted and in Thai) would try to do a "Factory Reset" in the Settings, to try to Restore it to what it was like when it left the Motorola factory.  That will wipe out your Apps and Data and Settings.  I would try that first. That is the easiest and quickest thing to try and that is what you would do if you were going to sell a phone or give it to someone as a gift.  

 

There is a web site I have found very helpful, it is on the Technical side, so you might not find it helpful, but I would start here:  https://www.xda-developers.com/

 

I found a lot of other web sites, that explained what I needed to do and how I needed to do it, in a way that was much easier for me to understand and follow step-by-step, but probably all of them will refer to xda.

 

I have never Flashed a ROM on a Motorola or Lenovo, but believe the process will be similar to how it works on a Samsung, but that you will use a different tool and get Firmware from a different place, if you decide to go that route.

 

I would look in the "Settings" of the phone and copy down the *exact* model number, Baseband, version of Android, etc. Look in "About Phone" or something like that in the "Settings" for the phone. .

 

Your phone may be at this time what they refer to as a "Soft Brick".  The Hardware is working but the Firmware is corrupted. A phone that is absolutely dead is known as a "Hard Brick" which means it can be used as a Paperweight and cannot be restored to life. A Soft Brick has hope. A Hard Brick is trash.

 

Proceed slowly.  I would not pay someone to do this, because new phones are so inexpensive now. We can (most days of the month) go into the super store where we buy phones that were Unlocked and Unbranded when they left the factory and have a one year manufacturers warranty here in Colombia (prices here include VAT tax) and buy a low end Lenovo with 4G and a 4.5" Display and Android 6.0, for approximately USD $73 at today's exchange rate.   If and when my (late 2014) Samsung dies, that's what I will go for.  I don't need better cameras, etc., for the ways I use the phone. 

 

It could be that your phone has Firmware that includes Thai among the language choices when you do the first boot and configure the settings for the phone. Possibly it was originally meant to be sold in that part of Asia? 

 

There is one section of a cell phone that contains the IMEI and other *extremely* critical information. In a Samsung, I discovered a couple of weeks ago, that is the EFS section and I installed a Free App to backup the EFS section. I now have that Backup on the SSD in this Mobile Work Station and in my DropBox account.   We had another (older Samsung Galaxy) that got corrupted, when my wife was out of town with it. I don't know what happened or how many hours the 2 of us spent, trying to resurrect that phone.  It would not work as a phone after that trip.  Everything else worked.  Now, I am certain the EFS section got corrupted and we did not have a backup of the EFS section.  I now have a Backup of the EFS section of the Samsung phone I am currently using.  In a Motorola, it would be called something other than EFS, but the idea is the same. If that section gets corrupted and one does not have a Backup, the phone will probably never work as a phone again.  

 

I would probably start on Motorola.com      I would also try Googling for that exact model and the symptoms.  GL

[Lanny]

You need Marshmallow.  It's soooo smooth.  I love it.  Will your phone support it?

 

Yes, that would be nice. No, it isn't available for this phone.  I went back to the original (October 2014) Firmware, because when I installed later Firmware, which I tried twice (September 2016) it did not work properly.  In retrospect, I had the wrong Firmware, which I thought was Generic, but was not Generic, and I went back to the Firmware for the original CDA or CSC, I forget what it is called. It is for Claro in Panama.  Although now it is showing "COM" which is for Colombia. I think the newer Firmwares I tried were for "COL" which apparently is not Generic.

 

I did install a Phone Info App that I think is for Rooted phones, and it shows what is supposedly the latest Firmware that one can install. If I ever need to do what I did over the weekend, again, I might try that Firmware, to see if it does work. I think the Phone Info App is where I saw that information.

 

A later Firmware would be nice, because there are (probably and hopefully) improvements in the way the phone connects to the towers, with battery saving, etc.

 

Android 4.4.2 was deliberately configured by Google to make it impossible to move Apps to the SD card. I think it is also hard to move Data to the user card.

Previous and later versions of Android don't have that issue.  It is a PITA...   In the Titanium Backup Pro it doesn't even show that option, because it knows the phone is running Android 4.4.2. There is apparently one line in Android (Linux) which causes that problem.  I installed an App for Rooted devices to fix that line, but Titanium Backup still doesn't offer the option because it sees 4.4.2...

 

For me, this was a "learning experience" and if I ever need to do this again, it will hopefully go smoother, because I will (hopefully) select the right Firmware, the first time.

[Lanny]

You need Marshmallow.  It's soooo smooth.  I love it.  Will your phone support it?

 

I googled for my phone model. Someone apparently got that to work.  I don't know this web site.

http://thunderztech.com/android-6-0-1-marshmallow-rom-for-galaxy-core-2-sm-g355hg355m/

 

If I had an extra phone and could play around with this one, I might try it, but I am assuming this phone model doesn't have enough Memory for a larger OS to run well.   If not, I would try to install a later Firmware than the one I have in it now, which is the original Firmware from October 2014.

 

If this Samsung ever dies (I HAVE GREAT RESPECT FOR IT) the low end Lenovo I am looking at on the web site of the super store where we buy phones, has Android 6.0 which you say you love.

[Audrey]

I googled for my phone model. Someone apparently got that to work.  I don't know this web site.

http://thunderztech.com/android-6-0-1-marshmallow-rom-for-galaxy-core-2-sm-g355hg355m/

 

If I had an extra phone and could play around with this one, I might try it, but I am assuming this phone model doesn't have enough Memory for a larger OS to run well.   If not, I would try to install a later Firmware than the one I have in it now, which is the original Firmware from October 2014.

 

If this Samsung ever dies (I HAVE GREAT RESPECT FOR IT) the low end Lenovo I am looking at on the web site of the super store where we buy phones, has Android 6.0 which you say you love.

 

 

Yes, I found it a big improvement over the Lollipop variants.  Apps install and run smoother and I can see a noticeable difference in battery life lasting longer.