Before installing TWRP I looked for a way to backup my entire device and could find nothing that would work before rooting or flashing a recovery to replace the stock recovery. I finally just went ahead and flashed TWRP and created a backup with that. There were errors that had to do with the Samsung calendar app data that made the backup fail. I excluded data from the backup and was able to complete what was reported as a successful backup. I did not allow TWRP to install root access before reboot.
I then installed via Odin the Chainfire SuperSU successfully and thought was free and clear. When I rebooted everything worked fine, except the phone would not connect to network and reported "Searching for Service."
Upon investigation into that I discovered the other issues that all seem to be tied to the EFS partition. I tried restoring the EFS partition from the TWRP backup I created immediately after installing TWRP, but that fixed nothing. It seems that the TWRP installation itself was what killed the EFS partition data.
If I understand correctly, flashing the stock Sprint ROM L900VPUCOH3, should fix the problem, but then I would still have to restore the IMEI, which I can’t do without a rooted device. Also, even if it worked, I couldn’t backup the EFS partition only, without a rooted device. So my logic is that if I could get a functioning TWRP EFS only backup for my device, I could restore that, reset the IMEI and be back in the ballgame.
Before I started down this path my phone was lagging badly and freezing up. I did a soft reset and got the speed back, but then the apps began crashing randomly and intermittently, both the native ones and the downloaded ones. I then did a factory reset and everything worked right. I reinstalled my downloaded apps and kept my speed and stability. It took several days for me to download, configure and add all my accounts back manually and everything remained fast and stable. I would really hate to have to start from scratch all over again.
Any assistance would be appreciated. Below is what I looked like before I got maimed:
Software Version
L900VPUCOH3
Hardware Version
L900.09
Model number
SPH-L900
Android version
4.4.2
Baseband version
L900VPUCOH3
Kernel version
3.0.31-3084104
dpi@SWHD8903 #1
Mon Aug 24 17:13:18 KST 2015
Build number
KOT49H.L900VPUCOH3
SE for Android status
Enforcing
SEPF_SPH-L900_4.4.2_0033
Mon Aug 24 17:29:53 KST 2015
This is what I look like now:
Software Version
Unknown
Hardware Version
(blank)
Model number
SPH-L900
Android version
4.4.2
Baseband version
Unknown
Kernel version
3.0.31-3084104
dpi@SWHD8903 #1
Mon Aug 24 17:13:18 KST 2015
Build number
KOT49H.L900VPUCOH3
SE for Android status
Enforcing
SEPF_SPH-L900_4.4.2_0033
Mon Aug 24 17:29:53 KST 2015
If there is another approach that would rectify the situation then I am all ears. I can fix a computer, but phones are an entirely foreign animal to me. I’ll be the first to tell you I don’t know enough and welcome the learning experience, I just wish it it wasn’t under life or death circumstances.