Hello all!
This is my first post, and now I need your help.
I have a Galaxy SIII, but he is having trouble functioning as a phone. Says I'm unsigned.
Finding enough on the internet, I discovered that the problem is the IMEI.
The IMEI appears on the phone's settings is not the same as that described in the label behind the cell.
Searching further, I saw that it would be necessary to backup the EFS folder, but I can not find this folder, already tried all the ways it seeks, even with apps that do this but they are also not there.
Somehow, this folder has been deleted from my device.
And now, what should I do?
Is there a generic folder that can be used to retrieve the IMEI?
Please ask your help because I am very frustrated with this.
newtonBR said:
Hello all!
This is my first post, and now I need your help.
I have a Galaxy SIII, but he is having trouble functioning as a phone. Says I'm unsigned.
Finding enough on the internet, I discovered that the problem is the IMEI.
The IMEI appears on the phone's settings is not the same as that described in the label behind the cell.
Searching further, I saw that it would be necessary to backup the EFS folder, but I can not find this folder, already tried all the ways it seeks, even with apps that do this but they are also not there.
Somehow, this folder has been deleted from my device.
And now, what should I do?
Is there a generic folder that can be used to retrieve the IMEI?
Please ask your help because I am very frustrated with this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To late .
EFS folder is used to restore IMEI from a backup of your EFS .
Return phone to the seller or take to a service centre for repair .
Wrong IMEI can be stolen phone user flashing firmware or phone failure .
Try a factory reset first .
jje
JJEgan said:
To late .
EFS folder is used to restore IMEI from a backup of your EFS .
Return phone to the seller or take to a service centre for repair .
Wrong IMEI can be stolen phone user flashing firmware or phone failure .
Try a factory reset first .
jje
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried the factory reset, but it did not work.
Is not there any way to do this?
just restore the efs backup you've made. if you didn't, try restoring any nandroid backups, maybe they have efs included. if that doesn't work, try looking in the sdcard for some files that have "efs" in the name, some kernels back it up automatically. use adb to view the files (Google it). if that doesn't work, try flashing a stock rom and factory resetting from recovery.
and that is absolutely everything you can do.
Related
just updated my rom and was messing about with kernels and now my phone hhas gone odd.
it works fine on vodafone(original network) but wont work on any other network.
it always shows signal but with any sim other than voda i get emergency calls only.
so iv had a look about on it and my imei has changed to what i believe is a test imei or something. i have restored my backed up efs and it hasnt changed. its still the same.
i have now put it back to official samsung firmware 2.3.6 then rooted it with cf-root kk5
baseband- i9100xxkl1
kernel- [email protected]#2
build number- gt-i9100-eng 2.3.6 gingerbread xxkl1 test-keys
any ideas?
Read the thousands of EFS IMEI posts .
Starter .
IMEI.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1372169
jje
JJEgan said:
Read the thousands of EFS IMEI posts .
Starter .
IMEI.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1372169
jje
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i wasnt asking how i fix it, i was asking why its happened?
as in why did restoring my efs still leave me with this odd imei number?
If we knew how it happened it would not be a problem .All that is known is that it is a result of flashing roms .
jje
Flashing the ROM has corrupt your EFS file that contains your phones IMEI number therefore changing it to a false one.Thats why we do backups.Not overly common but common enough.The problem now is to get back your original IMEI by correcting the EFS folder.WHAT type of backup do you have?TAR,ZIP,e.t.c.?
Odia has a good rep at getting phones back up and running.Worth a try.
thats the thing. i understand flashing rom can somehow corrupt the backed up efs but it cant when my back up was on my laptop.
the backup i used was an .img file generated by hellcats ktool app. i also restored it with this app.
i also have the .tar.gz efs backups that are generater automatically but how do i flash this, other than adb. id use adb but it seems to have got a little confussed on my laptop, and dont ever work since i got my sgs2 :/
djmaz said:
thats the thing. i understand flashing rom can somehow corrupt the backed up efs but it cant when my back up was on my laptop.
the backup i used was an .img file generated by hellcats ktool app. i also restored it with this app.
i also have the .tar.gz efs backups that are generater automatically but how do i flash this, other than adb. id use adb but it seems to have got a little confussed on my laptop, and dont ever work since i got my sgs2 :/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Heres a link.give this a try.Its an EFS backup tool.Make a backup of your current(wrong)EFS folder in img or tar.It will appear in a folder called EFSProBackup.You need this folder to restore.Open the folder and delete the backup.Put your original backup you made that you have in your PC inside and use the restore option.this program supports backup/restore of img and tar formats so you could try and use it to restore your original ones.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1308546
download the release zip
Id try the img restore first:the option to format current EFS before restore is at your own risk.Please read carefully.
Hi XDA's,
I know there have been many threads about IMEIs with 0049.... My situation is a little different though.
My phone was soft bricked whilst flashing ROM's. When I restored it I found that the base band was unknown and the IMEI was 0049.... A common problem after reading up on a number of threads.
Where my situation is different though is that after flashing back to old stock(from what I read a common solution to the problem) I am able to use my phone however my IMEI is still 0049.... and not what is on the back of the phone. Additional info - even when the moden was corrupted I could always use my WIFI and BT.
I know that it is possible to edit IMEI through a terminal su function and have already tried it with no success.
Could someone check my code or offer constructive advice on how I can fix this as I would like to learn how to correct this issue. I would like to have the correct IMEI for my phone displayed in the software? I originally bought this phone under contract with Vodafone when the S2 first came out and have all my papers.
Thanks.
Without a good EFS backup, your chances of fixing this are close to zero. By all means try the stuff in threads here which claim to be able to restore/recover it from nothing, you may luck out if it's one of those cases where the IMEI 'disappears' temporarily for whatever reason (flashing some roms seems to cause this, hence the advice to try going back to stock in the first instance).
But more than likely it's a service centre or local mobile repair shop job.
Thanks, I have been able to find a copy of an EFS backup in my /sdcard however I did not intentionally create it - one of the ROMs I flashed seemed to have made it.
I'm not experienced but as far as I understand my EFS is working - I just need to edit the IMEI.
Currently I can boot and make\receive phone calls however the IMEI is showing 0049.... not what is displayed under the battery(3590*******).
No. You do not need to 'edit the IMEI' or anything of the sort (which is impossible without specialist equipment regardless of what some thread might say). If you've got a generic IMEI, it's because the EFS files are corrupt/broken. Your EFS is not 'fine'.
You need to restore the EFS backup that was fortunately made by whatever kernel you flashed (which you should have done manually yourself as soon as you rooted your phone). Use an app like Hellcat's kTool (or others) to restore the backup (there's a thread on here devoted to the app/that process; search).
Most carriers block phones with generic IMEI's in civilised parts of the world (Tier one carriers at least; some MVNO's may not), if you don't fix this problem you will more than likely find yourself without connectivity at some point soon.
MistahBungle said:
No. You do not need to 'edit the IMEI' or anything of the sort (which is impossible without specialist equipment regardless of what some thread might say). If you've got a generic IMEI, it's because the EFS files are corrupt/broken. Your EFS is not 'fine'.
You need to restore the EFS backup that was fortunately made by whatever kernel you flashed (which you should have done manually yourself as soon as you rooted your phone). Use an app like Hellcat's kTool (or others) to restore the backup (there's a thread on here devoted to the app/that process; search).
Most carriers block phones with generic IMEI's in civilised parts of the world, if you don't fix this problem you will more than likely find yourself without connectivity at some point soon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, already tried k-tool but I was not able to find the backup with k-tool only create a new one and restore that new one. I will read the k-tool thread to get a better understanding of how to work the app. Probably just need to copy & paste the old EFS to some folder.
Yep the copy/paste thing has been known to work sometimes so definitely try that. Also (though I've never used it), some people swear by EFS Pro for fixing these things. If you do manage to fix it, make sure you keep a copy of that EFS backup somewhere safe (keep one copy on your PC & back that up, keep another other copy on the external SD card in your phone if you have one).
Hey Guys
My i9300 was running stock rom and i decided to flash the illusion rom. but i downloaded and flashed the wrong file. so now my imei number is lost and i get no signal.
I have backup of IMEI from the software EFS pro but it does not restore. the software shows all ok but the IMEI on phone is still unknown.
Also there is a file on my sd card with the backup of efs. maybe a rom previously flashed may have taken the backup. I can try and restore that.
Please help me how to do so. its a tar.gz file
Please help me restore my IMEI number. i have no phone signal and dont want to go to service center because my phone is rooted and its voided warranty.
also i had a nandroid backup i restored it and all my data has been restored but not the IMEI
thanks in advance.
Can't help you to get your IMEI back, but to use https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=eu.chainfire.triangleaway , use Odin (or mobileOdin) or unroot it you don't need a IMEI.
Tar files are flashed via Odin .
jje
Actually this may be simpler than expected.
tar.gz can be flashed from odin since now it has an /efs field. That alone may be enough. But please do another backup before trying anything. Really, just copying all the files over to somewhere safe is enough.
But Tar.gz is a compressed file (like zip). Have you tried to check what's inside that tar.gz? I'd decompress it to somewhere and compare it to what's inside your /efs partition on your phone. If it seems the same, i'd do a new /efs backup and try replacing the contents of the /efs with the uncompressed backup.
You may need to do this through adb on recovery mode - once, brain went full retard and wiped my /efs partition by not thinking about what i was doing, phone instantly rebooted on the spot to never normally boot again until fixed (had an awesome weekend trying to figure how to fix it , posted somewhere around here how i did it). Doing it from recovery is just to avoid that. Also, all this is assuming some file on your /efs is just corrupted and your backup is in good shape.
If you're still feeling unsure you can (and should) search for related stuff around here in xda. There is PLENTY of info about lost/corrupted /efs around, happens quite often.
Hey guys,
Thank you very much for your replies
It's quite shocking but an official firmware flash via odin solved the problem.
I guess my imei was just corrupted.
Thanks
Hey guys, I had the same problem, but now I know what went wrong, thanks!
after playing around unnecessarily with roms it seems I messed up my IMEI.
by checking if IMEI is valid via dialer, i got a number which starts with 0049, which as I understand is bad. I have done a little reading on ESF backup and restore, but the ways to restore EFS always require backup from the same apllication...So I searched for a backed that maybe occoured automatically, so I found one in the root internal storage folder and discovered a folder named "esf_backup", probably created during rom installations, the question is can i restore the tar.gz file in this folder? Or has my phone been messed up way beyond repair?
thx upfront
Yes you can, read the hundred or so other exact same posts to find out how.
Have a look at EFS Pro.
jje
If it's not .img you can restore by simply copying whole efs from backup to phone by root explorer
sent from the state where marijuana is NOT illegal !
Hi everyone
i lost my IMEI, when i tryed recover that, i damaged EFS partition, days later i recover my imei but now i lost the capacity for create a PIN, Pattern or Password, Settings App are crash when i try to set some Lockscreen option. i has read and i think the problem is some file lost or damage into efs partition (folder).
so if somebody can give me a EFS Folder Backup for comparation files or try to replace my folder for backup.
if you want to help me you could be relax because yo can erase imei file,i dont want this file, it doesnt worry me.
my phone is a SM-g925i
Thank for everyone for any help!
Arnolcas said:
Hi everyone
i lost my IMEI, when i tryed recover that, i damaged EFS partition, days later i recover my imei but now i lost the capacity for create a PIN, Pattern or Password, Settings App are crash when i try to set some Lockscreen option. i has read and i think the problem is some file lost or damage into efs partition (folder).
so if somebody can give me a EFS Folder Backup for comparation files or try to replace my folder for backup.
if you want to help me you could be relax because yo can erase imei file,i dont want this file, it doesnt worry me.
my phone is a SM-g925i
Thank for everyone for any help!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can´t just replace the imei with another efs.img , your safest bet it´s to take it to a guy with a z3x or octopus box so he can re-wirte your original imei, i have a phone with a similar issue, imei 35000000000 (invalid) that is common on modded phones, you can try flashing the original stock firmware with odin, but it will probably not fix the issue, now, if you just want the phone to recover the pin function, flash it but it wont fix the imei issue.
KrizzT said:
You can´t just replace the imei with another efs.img , your safest bet it´s to take it to a guy with a z3x or octopus box so he can re-wirte your original imei, i have a phone with a similar issue, imei 35000000000 (invalid) that is common on modded phones, you can try flashing the original stock firmware with odin, but it will probably not fix the issue, now, if you just want the phone to recover the pin function, flash it but it wont fix the imei issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
only a ineed creciver the pin function! but i cant!