[INFO] Backup the pds partition of your Atrix! - Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

It is a wise idea to backup the /pds partition of your Atrix. It is /dev/block/mmcblk0p3. It holds very important information unique to the phone, like the wifi and bluetooth mac addresses. We still don't fully understand it, but it can resolve issues with the touchscreen not taking input properly. This has happened to a number of people, and now that everyone can have the unlock, I am sure people will do things that will cause the same problem.
Steps:
1. Pick your favorite method: adb, ssh, terminal emulator, etc
2. Become root if not already, REQUIRED
3. dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p3 of=/tmp/pds.img
4. Pick your favorite method to get the file off the phone: scp, sd card, etc
The file should be about 2mb. Keep it in a safe place.

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edgan said:
It is a wise idea to backup the /pds partition of your Atrix. It is /dev/block/mmcblk0p3. It holds very important information unique to the phone. We still don't fully understand it, but it can resolve issues with the touchscreen not taking input properly. This has happened to a number of people, and now that everyone can have the unlock, I am sure people will do things that will cause the same problem.
Steps:
1. Pick your favorite method: adb, ssh, terminal emulator, etc
2. Become root if not already, REQUIRED
3. dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p3 of=/tmp/pds.img
4. Pick your favorite method to get the file off the phone: scp, sd card, etc
The file should be about 2mb. Keep it in a safe place.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Everyone can't have the Unlock... Bell is denied for now.
This is sweet though. Thanks for the tip.

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Can Root Explorer be used to do this?

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no pds is mounted but root exp sees an empty partition, btw would be possible to know which files exactly are in the directory?
me and others messed up this partition using tenfar's recovery, now we have problem with temp throttling, i guess (cpu reaches only 50% of max freq)

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Once you go through steps 1 to 3, you can go to /tmp in root explorer and copy pds.img file to sdcard or wherever you want to copy the pds file

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Uhhh, is this still possible to back up after unlocking and flashing the 2.3.4 build?
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App

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neer2005 said:
Uhhh, is this still possible to back up after unlocking and I flashing the 2.3.4 build?
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't see any reason why you wouldn't be able to.
Screwed up my PDS on my old Atrix. Made sure to immediately back mine up when I got a new one too lol

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Backed up the pds file to my ext-sd card using adb shell and got a 2.00mb file. Is this right?
Thanks for the info!

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yes
now share it

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Thanks I just make a backup image... but how do you restore it?
dd if=/tmp/pds.img of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p3

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edgan said:
It is a wise idea to backup the /pds partition of your Atrix. It is /dev/block/mmcblk0p3. It holds very important information unique to the phone. We still don't fully understand it, but it can resolve issues with the touchscreen not taking input properly. This has happened to a number of people, and now that everyone can have the unlock, I am sure people will do things that will cause the same problem.
Steps:
1. Pick your favorite method: adb, ssh, terminal emulator, etc
2. Become root if not already, REQUIRED
3. dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p3 of=/tmp/pds.img
4. Pick your favorite method to get the file off the phone: scp, sd card, etc
The file should be about 2mb. Keep it in a safe place.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i cant seem to find the file once i created it!

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ok, seems simple enough, but stupid question... can someone explain the commands "dd=" and "of=".
I was able to see the file @ dev/block with winscp but how do I convert it to a .img file, etc.
Thanks for your help.

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samcripp said:
i cant seem to find the file once i created it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's in /tmp.
I suggest people use this command:
*MicroSD Installed*
dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p3 of=/sdcard-ext/pds.img
*No MicroSD Installed*
dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p3 of=/sdcard/pds.img
These commands will create the pds.img file in the root directory of your MicroSD or your Internal SD card respectively.

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What is pdf partition?

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I believe and if I am wrong I am sure someone will correct me but
dd = I'm not sure
if = input file
of = output file
dd essentially takes a disk and copies it.
Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk

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Not to sound newbish, but I am, I keep getting Cannot Open for Read: Permission Denied
Could someone assist? Thanks.
Realized:
SU is what I needed to type, methinks...will try.
Worked:
Yeah, once I put SU and got that done, it worked out.

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_Dennis_ said:
I believe and if I am wrong I am sure someone will correct me but
dd = I'm not sure
if = input file
of = output file
dd essentially takes a disk and copies it.
Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From Wikipedia: "dd is a common Unix program whose primary purpose is the low-level copying and conversion of raw data............. dd can also be used to copy regions of raw device files, e.g. backing up the boot sector of a hard disk, or to read fixed amounts of data from special files like /dev/zero or /dev/random.[4]"
So, I am a n00b on using adb (etc..) so I will explain the way I did it using adb.
1. Make sure you have adb.exe installed on your computer and connect the phone to the computer. (I got my adb.exe from the Gladroot script. Here is a link: http://goo.gl/jHiJc)
2. Open a command window
3. Browse to the directory where the adb.exe is and type the following (press enter after each line):
adb shell
su
dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p3 of=/sdcard-ext/pds.img
Now, if you DON'T have a SDcard in your phone, take out the "-ext" from that last line.
The file (pds.img) should now be in either the internal sdcard or on your physical sdcard, as nexxusty described.
I hope that helps some as it took me a while to learn this.
Sorry if this is too noob for some, but I started from zero knowledge of this

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garekinokami said:
Not to sound newbish, but I am, I keep getting Cannot Open for Read: Permission Denied
Could someone assist? Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only thing I can think of is if you didn't give ADB superuser permission. You have to physically click allow on the phone after you type "su". Could that be it?

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wirednix said:
Only thing I can think of is if you didn't give ADB superuser permission. You have to physically click allow on the phone after you type "su". Could that be it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol Yes. 10 Char.

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Aye I know what it IS....not what dd MEANS lol. Thank you for the guide.....I completed this in terminal emulator.