[Q] GT-i9300 imei null/null, unknown baseband - Galaxy S III Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I have an i9300 with a blank efs folder. The phone corrupted and was stuck in a boot loop. This happened when battery run out while file sharing was in progress via bluetooth to another android samsung. I flashed it with 4.22 android jelly bean immediately XXUFME3 but it remained stuck on boot loop, I never backedup efs file. Later found the original ROM although it comes up as custom rom, which is i9300XXEMB5_i9300OXAEMB5 but still no luck as it stuck in boot loop. My sister has the same identical phone both were purchased together in Dubai. I did factory reset etc, no luck still in boot loop.
I later gave it to a mobile shop who flashed it with a rom for free, didn't charge me because it came up as imei null/null and baseband unknown. The phone now boots and has Build number of IMM76D.I9300BUALE6 and is german language I believe. I had read some threads by now and I immediately rooted the phone and backed it up, but my efs folder is blank.
Last night I flashed the phone 2 times with i9300xxemb5 rom and rooted it and it still boot looped even factory reset or cache delete don't solve boot loop, Then I restored the working rom of build i9300BUALE6 from CWM and powered phone on and got a baseband of i9300XXEMB5 and Build of i9300BUALE6 also got an imei of 004999xxxxx0000/01 and the phone found the network and my efs folder which had been blank all this time was full of files. In my haste I realized the sim was not plugged in and removed battery, when I restarted with sim, baseband was gone and imei was null/null. I repeated my steps in hopes I could get this fluke opportunity but nothing yet. Was this a miracles I didn't seize by not backing up the efs folder?
My sister's phone is an identical model bought together with mine is,
AP:i9300xxemb5
CP:i9300xxemb5
CSC:i9300oxaemb5
So my question is I need the original stock rom for my sisters phone that won't get stuck in a boot loop on my phone
My phone is now
AP:i9300buale6
CP:unknown
CSC:i9300vfgale6
Also can this be fixed by backing up my sister's efs folder or backing up her phone and flashing it on my phone. I can't get warranty for this phone now since it has binary counter of 12, don't have proof of purchase and also I am not in Dubai but in Africa. What Rom file should I try to flash. Also because this is a custom rom I am not getting samsung serial port in device manager can't use NV writer. Any help is appreciated.

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If you don't have an efs backup then you need a service centre, you cannot repair it. Trying to use another phone's efs folder won't work and is illegal in many countries.
Read the sticky on efs:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2393289

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If its a custom rom their is a very small chance that it included backup pf EFS .
Look for EFS tar file on phone .
I say slim chance and judged by the OP probably no chance .
004999xxxxx0000/0 that's just the generic non working IMEI .
jje

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JJEgan said:
If its a custom rom their is a very small chance that it included backup pf EFS .
Look for EFS tar file on phone .
I say slim chance and judged by the OP probably no chance .
004999xxxxx0000/0 that's just the generic non working IMEI .
jje
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Click to collapse
Sorry to hijack this thread but I dropped my S3 i9300 on water and have the imei null /null and baseband unknown problem, therefore SIM cards are not recognized. Do you think my problem can be solved by doing something without taking it to samsung service? Meanwhile I ordered a SIM /SD tray replacement but my bet is it won't solve the problem.
Thank you.

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No.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 4

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rootSU said:
No.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 4
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Click to collapse
Thanks again for your input but I was hoping to get a second opinion
Cheers

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I see...
@JJEgan - you've been chosen
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 4

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hi from what you explained it seems that right now your phone has no baseband. One thing you can do to possibly recover your imei and network settings is to flash a stock rom that uses mg4 or mg2 baseband. use a rom from sammobile and flash with odin make sure you use a rom with an mg2 or mg4 baseband. good luck

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ashraf sharif said:
hi from what you explained it seems that right now your phone has no baseband. One thing you can do to possibly recover your imei and network settings is to flash a stock rom that uses mg4 or mg2 baseband. use a rom from sammobile and flash with odin make sure you use a rom with an mg2 or mg4 baseband. good luck
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Click to collapse
Thanks a lot for the reply.
A user from another thread suggested to install the Perseus Kernel first. Do you think that would help?
Cheers

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Badelhas said:
Thanks a lot for the reply.
A user from another thread suggested to install the Perseus Kernel first. Do you think that would help?
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A custom kernel has no connection with the lost of IMEI or it's a solution for the recovery of an IMEI. So no, no custom kernels will help you with your problem.
Either try ashraf's suggestion or ultimately bring it to a Samsung service center for repair.

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SignetSphere said:
A custom kernel has no connection with the lost of IMEI or it's a solution for the recovery of an IMEI. So no, no custom kernels will help you with your problem.
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Click to collapse
Thanks for the input, M8. So you think I could try to flash a stock rom that uses mg4 or mg2 baseband?

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Badelhas said:
Thanks for the input, M8. So you think I could try to flash a stock rom that uses mg4 or mg2 baseband?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can try but i doubt that it'll restore your IMEI. If that doesn't work then you have no choice other than to bring it to Samsung for repair.

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Badelhas said:
Thanks a lot for the reply.
A user from another thread suggested to install the Perseus Kernel first. Do you think that would help?
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know about perseus kernel but I don't think it will help. your imei and efs foder was intact before flashing4.2.2. I understand that the problem began before flashing 4,2,2. but if you ever had a rom that used an mg4 or mg2 modem and then used an older modem your phone would lose its network connection and would probably display a generic imei number. if it says null usually that means it is corrupted or no modem is installed . either way if you send to service center you need to flash a stock rom and reset your flash counter . since some people have recovered their efs and imei by flashing newer modems or firm wares that use them why not try it before sending phone to service center

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ashraf sharif said:
I don't know about perseus kernel but I don't think it will help. your imei and efs foder was intact before flashing4.2.2. I understand that the problem began before flashing 4,2,2. but if you ever had a rom that used an mg4 or mg2 modem and then used an older modem your phone would lose its network connection and would probably display a generic imei number. if it says null usually that means it is corrupted or no modem is installed . either way if you send to service center you need to flash a stock rom and reset your flash counter . since some people have recovered their efs and imei by flashing newer modems or firm wares that use them why not try it before sending phone to service center
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Click to collapse
Thanks but you didn't read my first post. I did not flash any rom (or even root) before the problem, which started from dropping the phone on water...so I have no warranty left This means I can take the phone anyway I want (custom kernel, rooted) to samsung service cause they will charge me anywat.
But I think I will try to flash a rom like the other user sayd because I flashed the Perseus Kernel and the phone is now unstable and reboots randonly...
Cheers

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my mistake that post was for the op of this thread

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I don't care anymore that my original answer was
deemed not acceptable enough and warranted a second opinion. I am once and for all, going to put this nonsense to bed.
If you lost your imei because you submerged your phone in water it is a hardware issue. It is INCONCEIVABLE that flashing a rom, kernel or baseband will restore the imei. A SOFTWARE solution will NOT repair DAMAGED HARDWARE. This is obvious!
If your Blu ray player cannot read disks because the disk tray fell off, upgrading the laser driver wont help. This is exactly the same.
Depending which hardware failed, replacing the tray may help although given the symptoms, it seems much more likely that your radio stack is damaged. Take it somewhere to get it repaired and stop wasting time pretending software will fix your issue. It's IMPOSSIBLE
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 4

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And so say all of us .

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Hi, SignetSphere
Sorry for hijcking but your sign here says
Device: Samsung Galaxy SIII GT-I9300
ROM: Stock (XXEMH1 Odexed 4.1.2 Jellybean)
Kernel: Boeffla 3.0
Baseband: I9300CEEMG2
Recovery: PhilZ Touch 5.11.2
Mods: Jkay Deluxe 14.95 & ViPER4Android Audio Effects
Theme: Dream Themes 1.9 by orangerot
by highlighting i want to emphasise these points (do let me know have i understood correctly)
1) i'm on stock XXEMG5 and yours is MH1 which means yours is ahead of mine and how's it better or it's just region specific???
2)you are on MG2 baseband/modem does that means you also have to be restricted to MG2 baseband/modem only when flashing roms????
thanks in advance.....

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gauravinvouge said:
Hi, SignetSphere
Sorry for hijcking but your sign here says
Device: Samsung Galaxy SIII GT-I9300
ROM: Stock (XXEMH1 Odexed 4.1.2 Jellybean)
Kernel: Boeffla 3.0
Baseband: I9300CEEMG2
Recovery: PhilZ Touch 5.11.2
Mods: Jkay Deluxe 14.95 & ViPER4Android Audio Effects
Theme: Dream Themes 1.9 by orangerot
by highlighting i want to emphasise these points (do let me know have i understood correctly)
1) i'm on stock XXEMG5 and yours is MH1 which means yours is ahead of mine and how's it better or it's just region specific???
2)you are on MG2 baseband/modem does that means you also have to be restricted to MG2 baseband/modem only when flashing roms????
thanks in advance.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see you're still struggling to understand this.
2) If the ROM is MG (M = 2013, G = July) or Newer, the ROM changes EFS format. This means if you flash one of these ROMs without backing up your EFS, you are restricted to using an MG modem or newer as only Modems from July 2013 can read new EFS format. I'm really not sure how I can make this any simpler to understand.
However, if you flash the modem separately from the ROM, EFS is not changed. So for example, if you are on ME7 ROM, you can flash MG2 modem without affecting EFS.
I hope this is clear now.

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rootSU said:
I see you're still struggling to understand this.
2) If the ROM is MG (M = 2013, G = July) or Newer, the ROM changes EFS format. This means if you flash one of these ROMs without backing up your EFS, you are restricted to using an MG modem or newer as only Modems from July 2013 can read new EFS format. I'm really not sure how I can make this any simpler to understand.
However, if you flash the modem separately from the ROM, EFS is not changed. So for example, if you are on ME7 ROM, you can flash MG2 modem without affecting EFS.
I hope this is clear now.
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Click to collapse
Dear rootSU,
you've been very patient with me and i really appreciate your efforts at making me understand and i've understood a lot because of you only,but what puzzles me is that
1)this restriction is for those who've not backed up EFS whereas in my case i had in the very beginning only made an EFS backup.
2)and if i flash ME7 ROM then since am coming from MG5 to ME7 my imei would again be corrupt and i'll have to flash MG2 baseband...right??even if i have an EFS backup(EFS PRO won't restore my imei in this case despite a backup)?
thanks in advance