I was with 3 and I legitimately unlocked my phone to move over to vodaphone.
The it wouldn't work. Wouldn't recognise the sim.
I sent it back to Vodaphone and they wouldn't touch it because there was a crack in the screen.
I got it home and did a bit of a google search and figured out it had something to do with the EFS file.
I rooted the phone and figured out that its completely empty.
I've tried a 1000's things. Looked at 1000's threads and I'm at a loss.
Is there ANY way to fix this at all?
I'm completely at a loss now.
Can I create a new nv_data.bin file and anything else that needs to be in the efs folder?
Happened to me before.
Well of course the way out will be send to service centre.
However, try a full flash to stock rom.
If it doesn't, try factory reset the phone, flash stock rom.
Since you have no backup, pretty tough here.
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S II using XDA App
Maybe try GS_II Repair from the Market. No idea if/how it works (It's touted on here/on Market as your last best chance before sending it back to Samsung) as I've never used it & always backup my EFS.
If worst comes to worse, pm Odia, and apparently will repair it (edit: remotely) with a "donation". Instal app "team viewer" first;
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.teamviewer.teamviewer.market.mobile
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1103357
Apparently been quite successful, nearly but not 100%
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
nicregi said:
Happened to me before.
Well of course the way out will be send to service centre.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is that how yours was fixed? I've already done that. They won't fix it.
MistahBungle said:
Maybe try from the Market. No idea if/how it works (It's touted on here/on Market as your last best chance before sending it back to Samsung) as I've never used it & always backup my EFS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep tried that. Didn't work.
So follow Up In The Air's suggestion & get in touch with Odia & see if he can help, or send it back to Samsung. I'm betting Odia will be cheaper if he can indeed fix it.
Please Help!
Did your issue got resolved?
I am facing the same problem now. Although i didn't root my s2. Been using it stock since i bought it. Only today i got this no network error (baseband and imei unknown) when i was changing between some sim cards.. Anyone any ideas?? My warranty is still applicable since its just been 5 months. So will samsung cover it under their warranty?
I read in a thread that a user got their imei back by switching off, removing sim, switching back on.
Then they were able to backup efs with correct imei.
Then they switched off, put sim back in, switched on. Can't remember if it was a sim issue but you could try that.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
aceofclubs said:
I read in a thread that a user got their imei back by switching off, removing sim, switching back on.
Then they were able to backup efs with correct imei.
Then they switched off, put sim back in, switched on. Can't remember if it was a sim issue but you could try that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tried that like a dozen times already.. Heres some more details regarding my problem:
1. My S2 wont detect any sim card (tried like 3-4 sims)
2. When i checked under settings>about i found imei and baseband version are missing and has been changed to "unknown" (*#06# returns a blank number)
3. Its just 5 months old and is in stock condition. (Not rooted and still running 2.3.3)
4. Cant turn off the flight mode (constantly shows in the upper right corner)
5. Cant connect my phone to kies (version 2.0.2.11071_128) on pc either
What do i do now guys? I dont have a proper service centre in my town. I was wondering if i can fix it on my own without making my warranty void..
Try GS_II Repair from Market, and failing that, contact Odia on here who might be able to recover your IMEI for a small 'donation'. Or you could send the phone in for warranty repair given you haven't been messing around with it like most of us here
You'd probably want to use the third option (send it in for warranty service). If you try and fix it yourself & stuff it up, you'll void your warranty & then you'll end up paying to have it fixed.
kreygor said:
Tried that like a dozen times already.. Heres some more details regarding my problem:
1. My S2 wont detect any sim card (tried like 3-4 sims)
2. When i checked under settings>about i found imei and baseband version are missing and has been changed to "unknown" (*#06# returns a blank number)
3. Its just 5 months old and is in stock condition. (Not rooted and still running 2.3.3)
4. Cant turn off the flight mode (constantly shows in the upper right corner)
5. Cant connect my phone to kies (version 2.0.2.11071_128) on pc either
What do i do now guys? I dont have a proper service centre in my town. I was wondering if i can fix it on my own without making my warranty void..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any fix will probably void warranty .Try factory reset first.
jje
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
MistahBungle said:
Try GS_II Repair from Market, and failing that, contact Odia on here who might be able to recover your IMEI for a small 'donation'. Or you could send the phone in for warranty repair given you haven't been messing around with it like most of us here
You'd probably want to use the third option (send it in for warranty service). If you try and fix it yourself & stuff it up, you'll void your warranty & then you'll end up paying to have it fixed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks dude. Duly noted your point. Here are some more inputs from me:
1. So i tried GS_II repair from market but it requires for the phone to be rooted which mine isn't.
2. And first thing i tried after i faced this problem was doing a factory reset. Have done it over a dozen times by now and it does not solve it.
3. I faced this problem when i was changing between some sims cards within a couple of minutes. (Hope this doesn't void my warranty since i wasn't actually messing with it!)
4. As i mentioned in my earlier post, my town doesn't actually have a proper authorised service centre. So sending it for service would mean missing my baby S2 for over a month or two (which i find hard since i am so used to it by now)!
So my question is, can i flash an official stock firmware which matches with mine (i found one already here on xda, thanks you guys!) without having to root my phone or making my warranty void, and more importantly, will it solve my problem?
No reflashing a rom won't help, your best bet is to send it off to Samsung before you do anything that might void your warranty.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk
^ Precisely. As long as you have warranty you should use that to your advantage and keep from doing rash decisions that void your warranty. Good luck!
Seriously dude, don't try and fix it yourself. Regardless of how long you'll be without it, at least you'll get it back working and it won't cost you anything other than postage (I presume ?).
If you stuff up whatever you try to do to fix it, you might brick it, which means you'll be without your phone while Samsung fixes it anyway, only you'll be paying for it to be fixed. And given you've already spent however much you paid for the phone, do you really want to spend another couple of hundred bucks to have it repaired when you can get it fixed for nothing ?
As the very wise two posters above me have said, just don't risk it.
Thanks guys.. i have decided to send it for warranty repair then. I will make the visit tomorrow. Will be missing it lots! One hell of a great phone, it was like my mini computer
If i ever knew changing sim cards would screw it up so bad, i would never have done it!
Hopefully will post here later with the good news..
Gave my cell to the service center guys, told me to return later today so that they can examine it. Last i saw it they were fiddeling with it by some IMEI writer on a pc. Hope i get it back up and running soon.
While i was briefing them about my missing IMEI no. they told me that the reason behind it could be me using screen-lock-pattern on my phone. Is it true? Any one experienced it before?
Cool. Hopefully they sort it for you soon
That's interesting. I use a pattern lock mostly & have never seen a relationship between it and the IMEI going missing. What I have noticed tho (and I've seen other people report on here) is the IMEI/baseband go missing occasionally if you reboot the phone whilst connected to a charger.
This rights itself if you do a reboot (occasionally two) with the phone off charger. The first time it happened it scared the crap out of me I had an EFS backup so it would have been recoverable, but it happened out of the blue & I had no idea what caused it. I re-flashed my modem as a first step as the baseband was missing, and that seemed to fix it tho I suspect simply rebooting did the job.
kreygor said:
Gave my cell to the service center guys, told me to return later today so that they can examine it. Last i saw it they were fiddeling with it by some IMEI writer on a pc. Hope i get it back up and running soon.
While i was briefing them about my missing IMEI no. they told me that the reason behind it could be me using screen-lock-pattern on my phone. Is it true? Any one experienced it before?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The screen unlock codes are stored in the efs, both patern and pin so maybe that's correct, but efs and thus imei corruption seem to be random, I got it once updating my rom, I keep about 5 backups so I was ok, scary thought.
If you are going to root, first thing you should do after rooting is make an efs backup, hellcats ktool from the market is a good choice, easy and works well.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk
Related
Hey,
I've recently bought Galaxy S2.
It had problems with Android 2.3.3 and batter drain so I decided to upgrade to 2.3.4. I followed the instructions and I had to re-partition. Rebooted my phone into download mode, set re-partition option, PDA and clicked start (as said in the guide). It started doing stuff but after ~40-50 minutes there was no progress - it was stuck at "SET PARTITION". After an hour and 20 minutes still nothing and the phone started heating. So I unplugged the USB and removed the battery. Left it to heat down and tried to start recovery/download mode. It couldn't even start. As if it's really dead
How could you know for sure if a phone is bricked? What should I do know?
Is there anything I can try to see if I can bring it back to life or I should go to my provider and ask him to fix it?
I would be really grateful for any suggestions
Thanks in advance,
tftd
You have a bricked phone, you will need to buy another one.
I don't know which instructions you have been following, but it is not the ones here.
Over here, we tell people not to click 2 things. CLEAR EFS, and REPARTITION.
Clear EFS, kills the IMEI, and REPARTITION kills the phone.
Since the bootloader sits in the partition, you don't have bootloader, so no download mode either.
Yup, as the poster before me mentioned; your phone is totally hardbricked. Only way to fix it is through a jtag (requires some advanced hardware) or to send it to samsung on warrantee. Thats why they say not to play with pit files/partitions in the guides.
There is someone on youtube that can fix your device since he has the necessary tools, go to youtube and search for sgs2 jtag, you should find his video where he demonstrates the process, or you can do what the other posters said.
I'm on my phone using the xda application so I can't post the link for you.
Sent from my GT-I9100
Well from what i have read, bricking is really hard even if u check repartition.
Anyway iam a noob,but just search youtube and forums iam sure u will find something.
LiFE1688 said:
You have a bricked phone, you will need to buy another one.
I don't know which instructions you have been following, but it is not the ones here.
Over here, we tell people not to click 2 things. CLEAR EFS, and REPARTITION.
Clear EFS, kills the IMEI, and REPARTITION kills the phone.
Since the bootloader sits in the partition, you don't have bootloader, so no download mode either.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now that's something I shall remember for the rest of my Android Phone life.
I sent my phone to customer service and hope they can fix it.
@achillies400 that dude is trained in small electronics (youtube/com /watch?v=zN7le4GmxZs) I saw what he does but I'm from Bulgaria and I'm not quite sure if the phone would get to USA and back to Bulgaria in one piece ...
For all the people coming after me:
DUDES! DON'T EVER RE-PARTITION! NEVER EVER!!!!!!
Thank you all for giving suggestions and helping me! Pretty much appreciated!
tftd said:
Hey,
I've recently bought Galaxy S2.
It had problems with Android 2.3.3 and batter drain so I decided to upgrade to 2.3.4. I followed the instructions and I had to re-partition. Rebooted my phone into download mode, set re-partition option, PDA and clicked start (as said in the guide). It started doing stuff but after ~40-50 minutes there was no progress - it was stuck at "SET PARTITION". After an hour and 20 minutes still nothing and the phone started heating. So I unplugged the USB and removed the battery. Left it to heat down and tried to start recovery/download mode. It couldn't even start. As if it's really dead
How could you know for sure if a phone is bricked? What should I do know?
Is there anything I can try to see if I can bring it back to life or I should go to my provider and ask him to fix it?
I would be really grateful for any suggestions
Thanks in advance,
tftd
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
MobileTechVideos have a jtag maybe they can repair.
Otherwise sent your device to an Samsung ServiceCenter!
looks like your simplest solution is the Jtag.
Is the samsung service centre offering a free repair? or are there any costs involved?
netchip said:
MobileTechVideos have a jtag maybe they can repair.
Otherwise sent your device to an Samsung ServiceCenter!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah.. Still that's not an option for the moment - I live in Bulgaria .. :/
dullah said:
looks like your simplest solution is the Jtag.
Is the samsung service centre offering a free repair? or are there any costs involved?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Weelll... I hope it's free... though I'm prepared for a bill..
I didn't tell them I was flashing the rom... I told them it was heating up and suddenly it stopped working. Hope that's convenient enough
Check this link out.Its a list of places where you can get your phone jtaged incase it happens again.Near the bottom there is a contact for your country.
http://www.jtagbox.com/riff-jtag-bo...-bricked-phone-riff-box-owners-list/#comments
okay, I hope it all works out
my phone has a busted up screen guys, claiming on house insurance, if i was to Clear EFS, kills the IMEI, and REPARTITION kills the phone. that would make it unbootable right??
I wouldnt give up jet
I ended up in quite a simular situation, i failed during flashing another pir, witch resulted in a non bootable phone with none ability to charge the battery. I tried to charge the battery elsewhere and was actually able to detect the phone in odin(none visual respons on the phone but stil). there should be a hope of reflashing it from here. could anyone explain why the screen goes blank even if its in downloadmode? is it related to imei/rom?
I would try this before sending in the phone. I talked to some guys in a norwegian servicecetre. If they are not able to connect it via usb to a pc and flash it they probably just change the motherboard!(EXPENCIVE) JTAG didnt seem to be the sollution of choice. changing the motherboard was rarely the sollution,but apperantly one customrom ****ed up both bootloaders(rom and imei) witch made them helpless reflashing it.
I bricked my phone because repartition was checked
I bricked my phone because I checked repartition. DO NOT CHECK BOX NEVER EVER EVER.
I sent back to t mobile and just said it would not turn on or charge and they repaired it free.
Since I have had my phone repaired I have flashed lots of custom roms with no major problems. Difference I have never once since clicked repartition and I made a backup of my EFS folder using Galaxy s unlock from android market also unlocked my s2 no probs
If you can detect it in Odin. Usually it is always able to be fixed.
But you may have to use someone else's full backup dump. But they may not want to give you their efs information of their phone.
Look online for galaxy s3 boot-loader etc.
This is for future people that need help
Hi All,
I dropped my phone in water (very briefly) a couple of weeks ago. After drying out the phone I found that whilst the phone is turning on it is constantly stuck in flight mode.
I've tried a range of things:
- Checked another SIM in the phone (same problem exists);
- Forced restart of phone;
- In EFS folder (I didn't have a backup) deleted bin files and renamed bak files to .bin (using Odin / CWM guides)
- Downloaded flight app and turned off flight mode but turns the symbol to a circle with a line through it
Is there anything else I can try. Using settings on the phone to bring up the IMEI it doesn't find anything.
Is it time for a new phone or is there anything else I can give a go?
Thanks!
I had the almost the same problem with my galaxy s (1), I sended it to the ensurance company and it was unfixable. if you do not got ensurance maybe you could try to flash an other rom on your galaxy sII.
Tried the new ROM. Looks great....but unfortunately no better.
I can access wifi but not getting a phone connection.
Any other ideas?
Woggle1 said:
Tried the new ROM. Looks great....but unfortunately no better.
I can access wifi but not getting a phone connection.
Any other ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe a bit water got in near of antenna and it damaged it or at least block signal - so phone just in flight mode
If u have guarantee, try to use it.
Otherwise u can be so risky and try to open it by urself an have a look (inform first!)
CHEERS ;-)
Sent from my Galaxy S2 - I9100 with SensatioN Rom!
Be sure to flash it back to stock before, or may lose waranty.
Angelocruz said:
Be sure to flash it back to stock before, or may lose waranty.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Warranty was void the second it got wet.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
Ok I'll check. Yes, the warranty is void...so I've got nothing to lose (well sort of!).
I'll check the antenna. However, when I dial *#06# it comes up with blank for IMEI - is that likely to be a problem even it was internally water damage?
Woggle1 said:
Ok I'll check. Yes, the warranty is void...so I've got nothing to lose (well sort of!).
I'll check the antenna. However, when I dial *#06# it comes up with blank for IMEI - is that likely to be a problem even it was internally water damage?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It. Seems an imei corruption
Inviato dal mio GT-I9100 usando Tapatalk
Woggle1 said:
Ok I'll check. Yes, the warranty is void...so I've got nothing to lose (well sort of!).
I'll check the antenna. However, when I dial *#06# it comes up with blank for IMEI - is that likely to be a problem even it was internally water damage?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Blank IMEI is recoverable. There have been a ton of threads here on XDA about it. You can find with the search button. Or with google even - just include "xda" and your phone model in your search string. However, with water involved, you probably want to take the battery, sim, and sd card out and throw the whole thing taken apart into a bag of uncooked rice to draw all the moisture out for about a week. Use an alternative phone in the meantime. You may think it's dry, but it's probably not.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
hi.. did you end up sorting this out ?
Its internal chip damage......The same thing happened to my galaxy r. Went to the service center. They replaced the mainboard(well for me they did). My warranty was also void so they charged me for it. Approx 6000 INR(=~$109).
A friend of mind took his rooted S2 to Thailand recently and although he claims it didn't get water damage, the humidity or something caused it to shut down. He sent it back to Samsung who told him it was water damaged and they could not turn it on - there was nothing they could do.
He has since bought an S3 and given me his rooted bricked phone.
Samsung clearly didn't try very hard as I took it apart and dried and cleaned all the parts and it is now turning on an working almost perfectly.
All his stuff is still on the phone and everything is fine (wireless connection etc) except there is no IMEI number and the phone won't recognise a simcard. There is nothing in the EFS file.
I spent 3 hours last night researching on this site to see if I could rectify this and tried all the suggestions, but as he made no backup of the EFS, I didn't get very far.
Does this mean that the phone can never be used again? Can anyone suggest a way forward?
It is out of warranty but does anyone know if Samsung have ever fixed this problem for a customer? Surely they just need to put the IMEI back onto the phone, but I wonder if they would do this - they certainly should do, but I guess they will charge.
Any suggestions would be appreciated. I would love to get this phone back up and running.
I'm afraid there is nothing you can do my friend. You should ask samsung service center about it. It's your only hope.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
Contact a member on here called Odia. He might be able to recover your EFS for you, and the small donation he asks for will probably end up being cheaper than Samsung fixing it for you. They're the only two options you've got.
Thanks, I have contacted Odia and hopefully he might have a little time to help me out for which I shall cross his palm with silver.
No probs. Good luck ;-)
tomhirvin said:
Thanks, I have contacted Odia and hopefully he might have a little time to help me out for which I shall cross his palm with silver.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Help
tomhirvin said:
Thanks, I have contacted Odia and hopefully he might have a little time to help me out for which I shall cross his palm with silver.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
help
I also have the same problem.Desappeared imei, after a reboot, and for a few minutes, and disappeared.
I did not touch anything about the software because I just bought the S2.
I use a translator, if you solved a similar problem with Odia please let me know, and give me instructions
The service is under warranty, but are not able to fix yet. ~20 day
Thanks in advance.
help have the same problem.
help have the same problem, if Odia can contact me thankz!
No, Odia won't contact you. You have to PM him. And I'm not even sure if he still does this this kind of thing. If you do PM him, wait patiently for a reply, don't harass him because you think getting the phone fixed is urgent.
the same but with efs
Hi. I posted a very similar question no long ago. The phone got neither imei nor sim signal after got wet. The only difference is that my phone contains an efs.tar.gz file and an efs.img file. The tar one got inside everything about imei, nav_data.bin, etc but I haven't been able to restore efs folder and thus imei number with any of the methods posted in this forum. Anyone can help me telling me what to do with this efs.tar to get imei again?
lespou said:
Hi. I posted a very similar question no long ago. The phone got neither imei nor sim signal after got wet. The only difference is that my phone contains an efs.tar.gz file and an efs.img file. The tar one got inside everything about imei, nav_data.bin, etc but I haven't been able to restore efs folder and thus imei number with any of the methods posted in this forum. Anyone can help me telling me what to do with this efs.tar to get imei again?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In the Google Play Store, there is an app called kTool, with that app you can restore your EFS backup.
You need to have root access, though.
So my phone is not reading my sim card anymore and i'm desperate to fix this.
Stumbled upon this thread : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1264021
Did everything in there, IMEI still not on and it still doesnt work, i start reading supplies and see that 'SGSII_Repair' thing. I'm like YES. God has heard my prayers!! So i download it and all, but i cant use it anymore cause in the process of following that thread i've apperantly totally destroyed my IMEI. So i read the russian english(something) what the App said(SGSII Repair) and i thought it said i should delete my backup EFS folder cause it couldn't save it because there was one there already.
Turns out that wasnt the case. So now i've deleted my backup and im pretty much ****ed?
Any help?
...
MistahBungle said:
1) Stuff like this goes in Q&A.
2) If you don't have an EFS backup, you essentially have two realistic options given you've already tried something like GS_II Repair & it didn't work. One, service center. If you've never rooted your phone/flashed roms/messed with it your warranty should still be good (thought using GS_II Repair may change that; I have no idea if they can tell), so send it in for warranty service & hope they can't tell you tried to fix it yourself.
If you have rooted your phone/flashed roms/messed with it, go back to stock, reset flash counter, send it for warranty service & cross your fingers.
The other option is to contact a member on here called Odia by PM (and patiently wait for his reply. Do not hound him He will probably ignore you if you do) who can sometimes recover EFS/IMEI (for a small 'donation'; which will be much cheaper than Samsung/authorised repairer fixing it if they do decide to charge you for this repair which they're quite within their rights to do given you've voided your warranty by messing with it).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm sorry, i didn't know this belongs in the Q&A.
I'm trying to contac Odia, and the other option is going to be odd.. I had damaged my screen and got a new display for 180 euros, but that means they also have my original which has that sticker inside. This one has nothing.
...
Hi all.
I have a huge problem with my S2. When I type on my keyboard *#06# i get IMEI null/null. Ive tried everything mentioned here and nothing works. I don't know if i made a backup or not. Some app made a backup and i tried to restore and it didnt work. I rooted the phone and tried several custom roms and it doesnt work.
What can I do?
Regards, Brix
brixie11 said:
Hi all.
I have a huge problem with my S2. When I type on my keyboard *#06# i get IMEI null/null. Ive tried everything mentioned here and nothing works. I don't know if i made a backup or not. Some app made a backup and i tried to restore and it didnt work. I rooted the phone and tried several custom roms and it doesnt work.
What can I do?
Regards, Brix
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Edit: I've tried to install original stock rom without success
Any good local mobile repair shop should be able to fix this (re-write the IMEI to the device) for you fairly cheaply (for example, I can get it done for around AUD$30). A Samsung service centre can also do it, but will charge you a lot more.
If you've tried to restore a backup & failed for whatever reason, and flashing stock roms didn't work (it can if it was a temporary thing, which it is sometimes), you really don't have any other option apart from buying the equipment repair shops/Samsung use to do the repair mentioned above. Which is obviously more expensive than paying someone who already has the equipment to do it, you need to learn how to use the equipment without turning your phone into a paperweight permanently (or at least unfixable without a motherboard change), and you'll probably never use it again.
Best option is the first one (local mobile repair shop/non Samsung service centre) if you want it fixed easily, quickly, and guaranteed (assuming there's nothing hardware-wise wrong with the phone).
Hi Mistah.
Thanks for the advice. I will take my phone to thr repair shop. I think that too that its not SW fixable.
Regards, Brix
I doubt it is fixable by you, I mean, you can try the stuff in some of the threads on here (various 'guides' around the place), but given what you've already tried/said, they're unlikely to work. And you could spend days trying stuff for no result, be without a working phone for that time, and still end up having to get it repaired. And given how cheap (relatively speaking) it is normally, my choice every time is to get it done sooner rather than later, for those reasons.