Hi guys, a friend of mine bough a brand new Samsung Galaxy SII from Amazon. It was unlocked and came with no warranty. For one month the phone work flawlessly, but then one day the phone's battery went discharged so my friend plug it to a wall charger and turn it on... that was the last day the phone worked fine. She didn't rooted, she didn't upgrade it, she didn't flash it, she didn't temper with it in ANY way.
When the phone turn on it did it in flight mode, no IMEI. She pass me the phone, and for the last 3 hours I've been reading about this problem with /EFS folder.
Now my concrete question is:
Is there some way to fix this???.
PLEASE, BEFORE YOU ANSWER READ THIS:
NO, the phone can't be sended to Samsung because it's and international phone with no warranty.
2. NO, the phone can't be sended back to original seller because it was bough 4 months ago.
3. NO, there is no backup of /EFS folder, because she didn't know about this /EFS folder corruption thing, but mostly because she didn't temper with the phone in any way, so PLEASE don't embarrass yourself suggesting to restore /EFS folder.
4. NO there is no .nv_data file, .nv_data.bak, nor nv_data.bak.md5, so NO I can't rename them to nv_data.bin or nv_data.bin.md5, so once again PLEASE don't embarrass yourself suggesting this...
5. NO, GSII_Repair doesn't work.
6. NO, turning off phone, removing SIM, turning on phone, wait until phone fully boots, turning off phone, re-insert SIM, and turning on phone DID NOT WORK.
7. NO, flashing a stock rom didn't work.
8. NO, flashing a new kernel didn't work.
9. NO, there is no backup of /EFS folder in SD Card...
10. NO, she/I can't turn phone back to carrier because it's an unlocked phone.
11. YES, I did try the SIM card in another phone, worked ok, so it's NOT a SIM card issue.
12. YES. I try with 3 more working SIM cards, none work with this phone, so YES it's a phone issue.
13. YES, I search the forum, actually I read the first 10 result pages, every post. No stright answer to solve this problem.
14. YES, I know Odia could (or could not...) fix this, but I want to leave it as a very last resource.
So far, the only 2 things that could work are this and this, but both will give me a generic IMEI, and that will bring troubles with the law when my friend try to sell this phone.
Any other suggestions?
Throw it in the bin. Yes, I'm serious given all the caveats you've put in your OP. What miracles are you expecting ? There aren't any.
The only ways this phone is getting fixed is by a Samsung authorised repairer, or by replacing the motherboard with a 2nd hand one (Which will mean the phone now has the IMEI of the phone the board came from).
Wow! U really wrapped up this case!
I do hope u have rooted the phone before u checked the contents of the EFS folder. I have seen some members report seeing an empty EFS folder when they haven't rooted.
Am asking just to be sure.
"To err is human, to forgive is divine"
Sent from my SGS II
I am gonna suggest something that I have read here (which I personally find it ridiculous but since you're desperate...) some people have written posts regarding copying or backuping your current efs folder and then performing a delete operation to the original efs folder, also several others have said it's working for them, so you find these kind of posts and try their method since you got nothing to lose..
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda app-developers app
king_below_my_lord said:
I am gonna suggest something that I have read here (which I personally find it ridiculous but since you're desperate...) some people have written posts regarding copying or backuping your current efs folder and then performing a delete operation to the original efs folder, also several others have said it's working for them, so you find these kind of posts and try their method since you got nothing to lose..
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That only works when you have the .nv_data file. After you delete the /EFS folder and reboot phone, you need to rename .nv_data file to nv_data.bin... But as I did say before: I don't have the .nv_data file nor the nv_data.bak file sooooo, it wil NOT work.
skyx26 said:
That only works when you have the .nv_data file. After you delete the /EFS folder and reboot phone, you need to rename .nv_data file to nv_data.bin... But as I did say before: I don't have the .nv_data file nor the nv_data.bak file sooooo, it wil NOT work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm is that so? I never read those posts fully though since I recently read a guide where the OP was insisting that a stock rom flash and efs deletion worked for him(he had no backups) and he didn't do anything else like editing nv_data file, but as bungle was saying you have few options left, before converting it to a expensive media player.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda app-developers app
have the same problem did you fixed??
need hel got the exactly same problem but i do have the mine shows the imei but no signal with a circle
Did you followed these steps? http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1264021
If you are willing to pay, this guy seems to be able to do it: http://forum.samdroid.net/f70/repair-imei-s2-5729/
You are better off going to a repair shop and buying a motherboard tho.
Hello,
Got the same problem, no imei.
My phone was dead after a trip. I live in china and usually its pretty cheap to fix hardware here. So did I. For 100 Yuan they got my phone start again but from this point no imei any more... I complained returned it, but they couldnt do anything and i didnt want to give them more money to try more.
So i got a sgs2 totally useless...
My question is, i have a 2nd sgs2, i would like to know if there is a way to backup 100% a phone to replicate it to an other. (does the EFS can be transposed to an other phone or they are to be unique and fit exactly to one phone ?)
I tryed all kind of tutorial to restore it i never could.
Thank you all !
You can't transfer IMEI's from one device to another, an IMEI is a unique number which identifies a particular piece of hardware, and doing so is illegal in most countries (and not allowed to be discussed on XDA due to same). If you attempt to do it, you'll end up with two permanently blacklisted/unusable devices.
Basically you have two options:-
1) A Samsung service centre will be able to 're-write' the IMEI to the device, in most cases/countries you'll keep your existing IMEI. Like most repairs by Samsung service centres in most countries, this could be somewhat expensive. Many local mobile repair shops have similar equipment, and will possibly be able to do this more cheaply than a Samsung service centre.
2) You could replace the motherboard with a 2nd hand one sourced from a 'donor' phone, which you'd either replace yourself, or pay a local mobile repair shop to do it. In this case your IMEI will change to that of the phone which the board came from.
Another 'possible' option might be to purchase the equipment (that Samsung authorised repairers/others) used to re-write the IMEI. However, if you don't know what you're doing you can easily bork the phone to the point of requiring a motherboard replacement, plus you'll be left with an expensive piece of equipment you'll probably never use again.
If I were in your situation, I'd be going to a local mobile repair shop to have the IMEI re-written to the device, and if that wasn't possible for whatever reason, I'd be going option 2.
MistahBungle said:
You can't transfer IMEI's from one device to another, an IMEI is a unique number which identifies a particular piece of hardware, and doing so is illegal in most countries (and not allowed to be discussed on XDA due to same). If you attempt to do it, you'll end up with two permanently blacklisted/unusable devices.
Basically you have two options:-
1) A Samsung service centre will be able to 're-write' the IMEI to the device, in most cases/countries you'll keep your existing IMEI. Like most repairs by Samsung service centres in most countries, this could be somewhat expensive. Many local mobile repair shops have similar equipment, and will possibly be able to do this more cheaply than a Samsung service centre.
2) You could replace the motherboard with a 2nd hand one sourced from a 'donor' phone, which you'd either replace yourself, or pay a local mobile repair shop to do it. In this case your IMEI will change to that of the phone which the board came from.
Another 'possible' option might be to purchase the equipment (that Samsung authorised repairers/others) used to re-write the IMEI. However, if you don't know what you're doing you can easily bork the phone to the point of requiring a motherboard replacement, plus you'll be left with an expensive piece of equipment you'll probably never use again.
If I were in your situation, I'd be going to a local mobile repair shop to have the IMEI re-written to the device, and if that wasn't possible for whatever reason, I'd be going option 2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you soooo much for taking your time to answer completly to this question. It seems that i should try again and go to an other shop see if they can do something. At least i wont lose my time anymore trying to fix that myself.
I was thinking also of selling it to those kind of shop. Last time the guy who said he couldnt fix it was trying to buy it at 500 Yuan (60euro) I guess they will use the parts of my phone to fix others (or relaly fix the IMEI and sell it haha).
No problem. Yeah, many local mobile repair shops would have the equipment to re-write the IMEI to the device, so see if the original shop can do this. Yes, selling it to them for parts is another option I guess, but as you say, they might just as easily end up repairing it & selling it for a fair bit more than they paid you for it.
Guys please help me same problem but my phone have orignal imei number only one problem my phone dont yave any network it shows no network i already did restored my efs backup but no success plz help
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
No IMEI S2
Merry Xmas dudes...
I bought my missus an S2 for xmas.... the phone had no network or IMEI so i thought i could fix it easily !!! Which i did !!!!! i put a tesco sim in and I used s2 repair and s2 unlock which worked first time.....
BUT like the noob i am i decided to do an update via kies ( the phone is gingerbread .XWKI4 GT-I9100, 2.3.4 and rooted)
Yes this was a very bad mistake.... this put it back to the way it was NO IMEI number, etc . I tried the repair again last night and it did not work anyway i wrapped it and gave it the missus this morning and the tesco payas you go worked ??? It also showed IMEI number ????even though it was not there last night ???
I then put my missus pay as you go stesco sim in and it went back to NO IMEI number and that is where i am at now ????
I did not know about backup of the EFS but then again i bought it like this ???
CAN ANYONE PLEASE HELP ME ???
it also has BASEBAND VERSION = Unknown
Using the box
MistahBungle said:
Throw it in the bin. Yes, I'm serious given all the caveats you've put in your OP. What miracles are you expecting ? There aren't any.
The only ways this phone is getting fixed is by a Samsung authorized repairer, or by replacing the motherboard with a 2nd hand one (Which will mean the phone now has the IMEI of the phone the board came from).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Or you can just get yourself one of those special boxes like the octopus box or the Z3x box and a UART cable which can help you write an IMEI. Yes, I know that writing an IMEI is illegal but then again what the hell! Illegal is awesome and its fun. Break the ****ing rules and rise against the authorities! that's what we, the lovers of linux,android and the open source community should do!
So you trust someone who didn't have the presence of mind to do an EFS backup when they rooted their phone (I.E a n00b) to use an Octopus box without completely stuffing it up, do you ? I don't, which is why the advice is always to take it to someone who already has one/knows how to use it & pay them $30-$50 to fix it guaranteed.
no imei on custom rom.
hi guys
this is what happend to me.i flashed a custom rom on my s duos and it was nt getting any network.at first i thought baseband.but then i checked the imei (*#06#).guess wat nothing pops up.screwed i thought.
desperado i restored it to my nandroid backup.hurray! got my imei back identical to the one on the back of the battery.no network trouble call,sms,data all fine.but when i checked efs folder it appears to be empty.so as i am a noob and my friend who without second thought gave me his efs folder of s duos.i tried to use it.damn it says "the same file name
exists do u want to overwrite it " this is wat i get when i try to copy the efs contents of the similar device to my phones empty efs folder.
so do i have my efs in my phone nw otherwise sims wouldnt work?
any chance efs is hidden??
ps.i was nt able to copy the efs of the other device som emmc restricted acces.rooted s duos.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/general/rooting-roms/imei-000-044999-repair-t2806129
Related
The phone part of my gs2 has stopped working without notice during standby ;
Sim cards are not recognized, the baseband is listed as "unknown", so are imei and everything associated with phone and data.
Wifi works, like everything else, it works like normal except for phone and data.
I was on cognition 1.31, I tried to restore a previous working nandroid backup, but with no success ; So I tried to flash separately various modems via Odin , but with no success either...
If I put the phone in offline mode it stays that way handgun it's impossible to disable it.
What can I try next before taking it to service?
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA App
Restore your backed up EFS folder as it looks looks wrong/no IMEI .
Service will require no root no custom rom and rom counter at zero for warranty .
jje
JJEgan said:
Restore your backed up EFS folder as it looks looks wrong/no IMEI .
Service will require no root no custom rom and rom counter at zero for warranty .
jje
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried that too, copying he efs folder that I copied on the external memory with root explorer, it's the right procedure?
I have the USB jig, so I have no problems restoring it to stock-like conditions.
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA App
Bump?
Nothing seems to work..
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA App
Is the phone stolen? Who did you buy it from?
666fff said:
Is the phone stolen? Who did you buy it from?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Obviously is not stolen, I bought it from a local reseller in June, sealed and with my provider's sim/documentation ,it worked like a charm until now..
But how can this matter? Should I contact my network provider?
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA App
I have the same problem. The phone is not stolen I went to the shop and I called the provider to check if the IMEI is not in stolen or lost blacklist but it is not.
I went to carphone warehouse and of course they also straight away told me that it is probably stolen but later that backed from that idea and they do not know what to do with the phone they advised to send it to Samsung.
I wonder why the idea that the phone is stolen,
It has no IMEI no baseband . Stolen phone would have baseband and IMEI may be changed but some. Stolen IMEIs are in database and phones with this IMEI cannot use the network (also I know that the changing IMEI is not legal but easy to do) but ours are not. So why the idea that it is stolen?
Anyhow.
Is your EFS folder Read Only as mine and you can not change there anything?
I wonder if there is anyway to be able to completely remove EFS partition and create it again.
This is only Linux and I bet that there is the way.
I got myself second handheld directly from provider and now I am looking dor the way to clone the partition but no success.
Well if you've got all the documents and receipts then I would certainly take it back!
Same advice but still we do not know why it happends to so many SGS2? is it hardware or software error?
As i have 2 same phones i thing that the content of my EFS folder is not corrupted and i will do the test and copy it from the brokrn one to the working one and see if IMEI will change to the one fron the broken one? i think it will anf i know that i can not di this other way around because it is RO. Si if it will work that means it is the hardware
619619 said:
TSim cards are not recognized, the baseband is listed as "unknown", so are imei and everything associated with phone and data.
What can I try next before taking it to service?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your Baseband processor is dead, thats the only reason "Unknown" will be displayed, if it was because your EFS was corrupted you would have the U1 default IMEI displayed.
Service is your ONLY option.
Yes thay is what is happened i wonder how much it cost to fix the Baseband processor?
Finally a definitive answer, as soon as I come back home I'll take it to service, hoping that it won't take too long, this is the worst period for service, everything is closed due vacations ...
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA App
mahatma said:
Yes thay is what is happened i wonder how much it cost to fix the Baseband processor?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You should have warranty, since the phone is too young for the warranty period to be over,and it's not some kind of damage that's related to you, but it's their fault.
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA App
I've got exactly the same problem. I bought mine from Phones4u when it came out in late april, but i'm now in Hong Kong on a short term contract, and my phone is lost its IMEI and baseband after the battery died.
I took it to Samsung HK service centre and not suprisingly its not covered by warranty in HK as its a UK phone, but they will repair it for about £150, they said they need to replace the whole board, and takes a month to get in.
I rang Samsung UK service centre, and they told me to send it in to the UK for repairs.
Its really shocking that running out of battery can corrupt the phone like this, and how on earth can mobile phones not be covered under international warranty? a mobile phone is mobile right?
Now i having to use my old iphone with all my data such as sms and chat history gone.
So I've flashed my phones a couple of times without backing up the EFS folder (a mistake I will not make again) and my question now is if the warranty covers an IMEI number change that occured when I flashed it.
I have not rooted the phone and have also only flashed official firmwares (some leaks) but not custom Roms.
IMEI number: 00499901064000
You normally shouldn't post your IMEI number anywhere online, but I'm pretty sure that one is the generic samsung one you get if your efs is corrupt (or sometimes you get no imei at all)
Back to your actual question: I'm not sure if the warranty covers that exactly, but what you can do (assuming you have no signal etc) is claim you were updating your phone via KIES and when it booted you had no signal etc, that's what I did when my aunt's EFS was corrupted during an unlock and Orange swapped it out for a new one.
Try GSII_Repair app from market
If that works than you are lucky
if it doesn't then check the flash counter if its zego or more(if you had rooted before sometime) and take it to Samsung and say happened while updating through kies
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2 Beta-5
D3_ said:
You normally shouldn't post your IMEI number anywhere online, but I'm pretty sure that one is the generic samsung one you get if your efs is corrupt (or sometimes you get no imei at all)
Back to your actual question: I'm not sure if the warranty covers that exactly, but what you can do (assuming you have no signal etc) is claim you were updating your phone via KIES and when it booted you had no signal etc, that's what I did when my aunt's EFS was corrupted during an unlock and Orange swapped it out for a new one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah man I went to the store and asked about it (because I wasn't able to make calls from my phone) and we just switched out sim cards and it started working again.
But the guy I was talking to was actually about to send it in for repair but we decided to try out the SIM card switch first.
For future reference, warranty will NOT cover the phone if the IMEI has changed/is corrupt. Had this issue exactly as you had, flashed an official Samsung firmware release on the phone (without backing up EFS >.<) and lost the IMEI altogether. Samsung would not cover the phone under warranty regardless of the fact it was un-rooted/official firmware.
NiTi9 said:
Ah man I went to the store and asked about it (because I wasn't able to make calls from my phone) and we just switched out sim cards and it started working again.
But the guy I was talking to was actually about to send it in for repair but we decided to try out the SIM card switch first.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But the IMEI is still corrupted, isn't it? If the SIM change brought it back THAT would be amazing! ;-)
brittonberkan said:
But the IMEI is still corrupted, isn't it? If the SIM change brought it back THAT would be amazing! ;-)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes the IMEI is still corrupt although I can now make calls and use the 3G network
BJ van Beethoven said:
For future reference, warranty will NOT cover the phone if the IMEI has changed/is corrupt. Had this issue exactly as you had, flashed an official Samsung firmware release on the phone (without backing up EFS >.<) and lost the IMEI altogether. Samsung would not cover the phone under warranty regardless of the fact it was un-rooted/official firmware.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay, thank you for a clear response
Obviously his imei was not corrupt after all, as changing the Sim fixed the problem. If hazard a guess that either the original Sim had become dislodged, or damaged. Our maybe the guy in the shop factory reset the phone as well as put the Sim in the phone. Either way, the imei in the first post is the original, you should take it down. Otherwise, maybe some clever fellow will use it to make a clone of your phone! :-(
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2 Beta-5
mattisfaction said:
Obviously his imei was not corrupt after all, as changing the Sim fixed the problem. If hazard a guess that either the original Sim had become dislodged, or damaged. Our maybe the guy in the shop factory reset the phone as well as put the Sim in the phone. Either way, the imei in the first post is the original, you should take it down. Otherwise, maybe some clever fellow will use it to make a clone of your phone! :-(
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2 Beta-5
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No it's not, it's a generic IMEI that generates when your EFS is corrupted. You will still be able to use the phone using this IMEI number.
mattisfaction said:
Obviously his imei was not corrupt after all, as changing the Sim fixed the problem. If hazard a guess that either the original Sim had become dislodged, or damaged. Our maybe the guy in the shop factory reset the phone as well as put the Sim in the phone. Either way, the imei in the first post is the original, you should take it down. Otherwise, maybe some clever fellow will use it to make a clone of your phone! :-(
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2 Beta-5
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That can't be since it doesn't match with the IMEI number that is under the battery (which the shopkeeper explained was my real IMEI number). I think it's a generic one.
The IMEI you posted is the standard wrong IMEI usually due to damaged EFS .
The legal IMEI is the one under the battery .
jje
My phone's IMEI number is lost due to repeated trial of flashing with a bad USB cable. All the contents of efs folder is gone. Got generic IMEI (004999010640000) & network back by using GSII_repair app from market.
Is there any way to get original IMEI back (By creating or, modifying nv_data.bin) ??? (Don't tell me ODIA, he wants $40 which I can't afford to spend !!!)
I'll be going to Ukraine for studies. Will be taking my SGS2. Will the phone work on Ukranian operators (MTS, Life, Kyvistar, Beeline, etc.) with generic IMEI ???
Need help badly.. :crying: Thanks...
Apart from Samsung/a Samsung authorised repairer, Odia is your only other chance. I think you'll find he's a lot cheaper than those.
As to whether your phone will work with a generic IMEI, bearing in mind some network operators around don't allow phones with non-unique IMEI's to use their network, you'd have to ask the particular network operator.
Unfortunately, there is no other fix.
I think posting IMEI numbers is not advisable.. Dint u backup the EFS before doing stuffs??
i don think ur phone will work wiv out a original imei,its jus like a stolen phone...so try flashing ur stock rom and see if u got a backup of efs an yes as said aboue samsung or odia its ur choice...
He didn't post his IMEI. That's a generic one that appears when your EFS is borked. Given the details OP, I think we can safely assume there is no backup (like most people on here).
Frankly, if it were me, $40 is a small price to pay to have my phone working given I shouldn't be in that situation to begin with & I really should have had an EFS backup given how simple it is to do with a (free) tool like kTool (for the record, obviously I do have several copies in several different locations of said backup).
Prashanthme said:
I think posting IMEI numbers is not advisable.. Dint u backup the EFS before doing stuffs??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
MistahBungle said:
He didn't post his IMEI. That's a generic one that appears when your EFS is borked. Given the details OP, I think we can safely assume there is no backup (like most people on here).
Frankly, if it were me, $40 is a small price to pay to have my phone working given I shouldn't be in that situation to begin with & I really should have had an EFS backup given how simple it is to do with a (free) tool like kTool (for the record, obviously I do have several copies in several different locations of said backup).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't know anything about efs at that time.. My bad... Paying the price....
Will JTAG or Z3x box be able to repair IMEI ???
No idea. Ask a repairer who has one if they can.
Edit to add - That's likely to cost you more than $40 even if it is possible. And if you're thinking of buying one of these cheap from somewhere & doing it yourself, don't. You'll bork your phone beyond repair if you try.
computechnopro said:
I didn't know anything about efs at that time.. My bad... Paying the price....
Will JTAG or Z3x box be able to repair IMEI ???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't know if this will help but you can give it a read
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=17587351
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
Hello everyone. I need your expertise on what I should do.
Here is my situation:
I had a S2 bought in May 2011. A month ago it didn't turn on anymore. I sent it to Samsung and they said that the motherboard was oxydized, so it'd have costed me 200 euro for a motherboard replacement. I declined, got it back, and opened it to clean the oxyd. Sadly it still doesn't turn on anymore.
A friend of mine gave me her S2 because "it doesn't have any phone signal, like it's stuck in airplane mode". I checked it, and she has missing files in her EFS folder (wifi mac is there for example, but the imei is not), for which she has no backups. GSII_Repair etc didn't work.
What should I do to make either of the two work again?
Can I use the backup of my EFS folder to make her's work again as far as phone signal goes?
Or should I open her's too, take her motherboard off and put it into mine?
Thanks a lot as always guys,
Roby
tylerdurden83 said:
Hello everyone. I need your expertise on what I should do.
Here is my situation:
I had a S2 bought in May 2011. A month ago it didn't turn on anymore. I sent it to Samsung and they said that the motherboard was oxydized, so it'd have costed me 200 euro for a motherboard replacement. I declined, got it back, and opened it to clean the oxyd. Sadly it still doesn't turn on anymore.
A friend of mine gave me her S2 because "it doesn't have any phone signal, like it's stuck in airplane mode". I checked it, and she has missing files in her EFS folder (wifi mac is there for example, but the imei is not), for which she has no backups. GSII_Repair etc didn't work.
What should I do to make either of the two work again?
Can I use the backup of my EFS folder to make her's work again as far as phone signal goes?
Or should I open her's too, take her motherboard off and put it into mine?
Thanks a lot as always guys,
Roby
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You cannot use your efs back up because it contains imei information which will conflict with the phone imei and may cause you to have a brick.
Changing the mother board from one phone to another will not solve the problem as the efs on the chip on the motherboard.
I believe you need jtag service to rebuild or replace the efs folder on the phone.
So if I actually bought a motherboard off ebay i'd still not have been able to do anything with it?
tylerdurden83 said:
So if I actually bought a motherboard off ebay i'd still not have been able to do anything with it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you bought an used intact motherboard with all the files on it. Yes, You can put it on your phone and it will work fine.
Is any of the phones been reported "stolen".......lol
Nope, mine got oxydized but i have the backup of the efs folder, hers lost the imei while doing a firmware update (with kies, its unrooted and never flashed with odin)
If it was me Id try to use her efs or brick both phones and sell them on eBay.Then if you list them as "not switching on" your doing nothing wrong.
You could get £250 total for both phones(unless screens broken) and buy a good phone with the dough.
Or brick her phone,put in her mb,and send it to samsung for warranty for your claim.
What is the warranty status of both phones?
I dont know about "oxidised"....maybe samsung thinks you should be using their product in a vaccum.
Dear xda-community,
some months ago I dared myself to root my Samsung SHW-M250S (Korean Version of Galaxy S2) and lost my IMEI on that phone. I couldn't find it and forgot to make a backup of my efs partition because of stupidity and not really reading the manuals properly (I used to have a HTC Desire S which didn't have the efs partition so it's a bad habit thing). Today I found out that I luckily registered my phone with the original IMEI in my google Settings and the developer IMEI on my current Galaxy S2.
My question is: Is there any possibility to insert my old IMEI into my rooted Galaxy S2?
IMEI is device specific.....by law.
Sorry mate, but nobody here is going to help you break the law......
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda app-developers app
Take it to a local mobile repair shop, some have the same equipment as Samsung service centres that can write the IMEI back to the device. Normally isn't very expensive (much cheaper than replacing a motherboard for example).
You could buy this equipment yourself, but it would cost twice as much (or more) as paying someone who knows what they're doing to fix it properly, you'd probably never use it again, and if you mess it up, your phone is probably a bin job.
keithross39 said:
IMEI is device specific.....by law.
Sorry mate, but nobody here is going to help you break the law......
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda app-developers app
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Well... Since I didn't backup my EFS and got the develeoper one, does it mean I am owning an illegal phone?
MistahBungle said:
Take it to a local mobile repair shop, some have the same equipment as Samsung service centres that can write the IMEI back to the device. Normally isn't very expensive (much cheaper than replacing a motherboard for example).
You could buy this equipment yourself, but it would cost twice as much (or more) as paying someone who knows what they're doing to fix it properly, you'd probably never use it again, and if you mess it up, your phone is probably a bin job.
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Click to collapse
Gonna try that in the next weeks, see if it works
No, the device having the generic IMEI is not illegal, it's just in many countries these phones are essentially useless & have no connectivity (they will work in some countries with providers who use outdated telco equipment, though).
Most good phone repairs shops should be able to fix this for you, if not, service centre definitely will.
Edit to add - However, writing a different IMEI into a device is very much illegal in most countries (the EU in particular) and will result in both your device & the device the IMEI came from being blacklisted (rendered permanently useless). The only way you can legitimately get a different IMEI & use the phone OK is if you swap the motherboard with a 2nd hand board from a 'donor' device. When Samsung service centres replace motherboards to fix a whole host of things, in most countries they write the existing IMEI to the new board.
MistahBungle said:
No, the device having the generic IMEI is not illegal, it's just in many countries these phones are essentially useless & have no connectivity (they will work in some countries with providers who use outdated telco equipment, though).
Most good phone repairs shops should be able to fix this for you, if not, service centre definitely will.
Edit to add - However, writing a different IMEI into a device is very much illegal in most countries (the EU in particular) and will result in both your device & the device the IMEI came from being blacklisted (rendered permanently useless). The only way you can legitimately get a different IMEI & use the phone OK is if you swap the motherboard with a 2nd hand board from a 'donor' device. When Samsung service centres replace motherboards to fix a whole host of things, in most countries they write the existing IMEI to the new board.
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But what if I can prove that the IMEI I wanted to recover is stored e.g. in my google account? Is it still illegal then?
You didn't comprehend what I said to you.
The original IMEI can definitely be written back to the phone by a Samsung service centre & likely many mobile repair shops; this is OK.
You cannot write a different IMEI to a device, this is illegal.
The end.
MistahBungle said:
You didn't comprehend what I said to you.
The original IMEI can definitely be written back to the phone by a Samsung service centre & likely many mobile repair shops; this is OK.
You cannot write a different IMEI to a device, this is illegal.
The end.
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Click to collapse
Ok, that's what I wanted to know. Gonna search for a repair center in around me then... Thanks!
this is straight from a pageplus chat
nothing special just standard procedure for activating an "unknown device" that...well read below.
4G LTE devices (with MEIDs starting with 256 or 99000) are not compatible with our system.
They are able to be activated by dropping the last digit of the IMEI (99000)
they are not able to be programmed with OTA (*22890 or *228) and unable to be manually programmed.
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i might have chopped it i cant remember but i always keep the good parts
so are you saying a verizon network is breaking the law because it is their policy that dictates pageplus and straight talk in this procedure heck even verizon prepaid
dropping the last digit like they are telling me to do is what?
i dont think its illegal like you say.
no way they would tell 1000's of people to do it
i just tried to ota *22890 my note 3 after they gave me those directions along with my mdn/min/sid and "normally" i get voice/text/mms and data at this point
i just tried without successsfully changing mine and it wont OTA
the step in the directions above is REQUIRED i believe
Changing imei talk is not done on xda. :thumbdown: We all know what can be done with this but we can't talk about it here. Illegal or not info is out there, software is out there. but like I said on xda we don't talk about changing imei or modding it.
andrewwright said:
Changing imei talk is not done on xda. :thumbdown: We all know what can be done with this but we can't talk about it here. Illegal or not info is out there, software is out there. but like I said on xda we don't talk about changing imei or modding it.
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Click to collapse
agreed
BTW at op. Don't go to a service Centre mate. If I go to a local shop they would only charge me £20 in the UK. Have a look as its much cheaper than ss.