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Help Data security and E: failed to mount /efs (invalid argument)

L

Lam123

Lurker
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Hello everyone.
I am curious about something.

Until 2 days ago I owned a samsung galaxy note 2 which was functioning very well with no issues over the years. The next day I woke up and found that my phone won't start even though it had enough charge.

Eventually the phone started but got something similar to this screen (google images).

After trying a few things I gave up and bought a new phone. Traded in the note 2. The problem is I couldn't boot the phone to wipe all my personal stuff or do a factory reset and I am getting a bit paranoid about data security which I know about enough to make me worry.

If they repair that phone would they be able to access all that stuff? Or would it be deleted anyway naturally in the repair process? Would the phone even get repaired or just recycled in that condition? I handed the phone in in the same condition as shown in the picture as there was nothing I could do and I am not tech-savvy.

(I also chose the wipe data/factory reset from that list in the picture but I didn't feel it has formatted it as it was completed in less than 10 seconds.)

Thank you and excuse my lack of knowledge.
 
Hello there!
That screen appears to be what is commonly called "recovery" mode.
In that mode, as you can see, you have the option to factory reset which, even though it did not take long, did exactly that.
If you turned in your old device to a reputable place, I wouldn't worry about it, but let me ask, did you get the same errors when you reset? (the errors on the image and in your thread title)
Did you remove your sd card? (if applicable).
 
Thank you for your reply. Yes same error as in that example picture. It wouldn't go away no matter what I press even after pressing factory reset. The place is reputable and the gentleman promised they wipe data but don't know why I got a bit paranoid. Didn't remove anything as there was nothing to remove. Took my sim card out that's all. Tried to hook it to my laptop through usb but laptop didn't detect it.
 
Forgive me here as it's been a bit since my Galaxy S3, but in order to fix that, I would surmise they will try to flash the phone with a program called ODIN. The firmware flash will wipe out anything of yours for sure....if they can even do that.
I'm a little cloudy on the /efs bit, but I think that particular partition, when corrupt, is very difficult to recover from.

Anyway, was the device rooted?

Edit: ya know, I should summon member @Jfalls63 , he's pretty good with Galaxy's :)
 
The device was not rooted. My use of the phone is very basic and just social use. Nothing into the developer stuff. Not tech-savvy. Never even downloaded anything in my life from anywhere other than play store and all popular apps like facebook and whatsapp etc...

That's what I was wondering. In order to get the phone in working order (if possible) sure they must go through a wipe or something? Don't even know what efs is lol.
 
I'm pretty sure that if phone was able to be usable again they would have to reflash the firmware and unless they found a no wipe version, all user data would be wiped .
If the place you traded was reputable I wouldn't worry.
I have picked up broken phones and found previous owner data still on them when I got them to boot. First thing I did was FDR and reflash to get rid of it.
Looking at pic I would guess EFS partition failure and probably EMMC going bad.
 
Thank you all for your answers. Yes place I used was reputable but they outsource to third party for someone to do that job. Oh well phone is gone anyway. I would only worry about all my important accounts linked specifically banking and such. Also all my photos. I found a picture I took earlier of my phone to show a friend.

But thank you all and appreciate your answers.
 

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I came across this issue and Used octoplus kit to fix efs. For privacy of content, if ever the guys refurbishing go pass this screen without flashing then they can access them. So Ye, change passwords
 
I also forgot to mention that I played about with it hoping I can fix it and after reading Some posts on this website I downloaded kies and done something called Firmware Upgrade and Initialization.
 
The Firmware Upgrade and Initialization tool is used to reflash your firmware by selecting the firmware based on the device model and serial number. If you tried it and the flash failed, chance that it can be reflashed by other means is slim. More than likely EMMC chip failure on motherboard.
 
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