[Tutorial] Extract System/Data Files From a FTF (Flash Tool Firmware)

In todays article I am gonna share a great piece of content I have discovered recently. A developer at the XDA community has created a great guide how to extract System/Data files from a Flash Tool (FTF) Firmware on Sony devices.

The developer named as linuxct has created a specific guide for Windows, Linux and OSX but here you will find only the tutorial for Windows since it’s the most used OS. If you are using Linux or OSX then you should visit the official thread (link below) to learn more.

Please follow all the steps carefully and be patient. You will need a bit of time to succesfullu extract System/Data files from a FTF Flash Tool Firmware. There is also a video showing the entire process step by step. If you don’t want to see the video then follow the gudie below.

How to extract System/Data files from a Flash Tool Firmware (FTF) on Windows

Extract the SIN you need

In this step you will need a archive manager such as WinRAR, 7-Zip etc. Using it open the FTF you want to exract; FTF is a Zip file with a renamed extension. Extract the SIN you want to unpack in any folder you like. It’s recommended to create a new folder on desktop so you can easily find it.

Dump the SIN

You should have installed Flashtools and Java JRE. In case you have installed them before make sure they are updated to the newest version. Make sure you are using the latest version and open Flashtools. Click on Tools, Sin Editor, click the […] and find the SIN file you extracted before.

Click on Extract Data button. After a couple of minutes the bar will start running. When it finishes you will see two kind of files: yaffs2 & .ext4/ext3/ext3 file. They require different procedures to see the content.

Convert the file to a readable format – UnYaffs2

If you get a .yaffs2 file from the previous step, you will need to extract it. Download this tool. It contains an executable file and a cygwin dll file. Extract the .rar file in the same folder where you put the SIN and where the .yaffs2 is located.

Go on that folder and press the shift key on the keyboard, keep it pressing and right click on a blank space on that folder. Open Command Prompt in the menu that will appear.

On the Comand Prompt window type the following code:

unyaffs2.exe <name-of-the-yaffs2>

Int the “name-of- the-yaffs2″ you must write the file name of the yaffs2 file. The file will be extracted and you can pick up the files you need.

Mount the image

To mount a EXT format image in Windows you can use various tools, in this case we are using Diskinternals Linux Reader. It is free and it supports all the formats .ext4/.ext3/.ext2.

Download it and simply double-click on it to open and mount the EXT file flashtool generated. It should work without any problem.

If you want to extract system/data files on Linux or OSX go to the official thread on the XDA forum.