Hello,
I have screwed up my IMEI after some risky operations. I have a backup of EFS partition (folder), which is useless, since it doesn't contain my IMEI, which I haven't checked previously and just dumbly/blindly relied on it containing my IMEI. The big question is, where is IMEI stored on galaxy s4 mini LTE (I9195)? I tried to restore using several methods, like:
EFS Professional Qualcomm Tools, by writing my original IMEI, but it still doesn't do any changes, nor before restart of the phone, nor after.
NV Items Reader/Writer - same result as EFS Qualcomm. Same goes to QPST tools.
Tried reboot nvrestore through adb/console, but i haven't had made backup previously.
I guess it stores it in some other partition. Also, after research done, there have been claims that phone stores backup of nv_data in some partition and automatically restores it if there are differences between backup and real imei. Or phone just restores backup automatically on each phone bootup. Either way, I must've screwed really big, since on my adventures both are wiped and my nulled IMEI seems to be right for the phone.
I include a PIT file.
Seems like I am the only one unlucky in this situation, cause there are no similar topic on this forum or internet altogether concerning EFS and I9195.
.PIT FILE
any1?
well i had a i9000 before. and there was always a efs backup made when you installed cm for example. i screwed my imei also more than once on this phone and restored it by installing an factory image from samsung. i has to be a complete image with all parts for odin i think.
OT: here are less developers around. this phone isn't so much supported as i thought it would be. but i really dont want to buy a 5inch just to have developer support so i hope someone will be able to help you.
x10isrooted said:
well i had a i9000 before. and there was always a efs backup made when you installed cm for example. i screwed my imei also more than once on this phone and restored it by installing an factory image from samsung. i has to be a complete image with all parts for odin i think.
OT: here are less developers around. this phone isn't so much supported as i thought it would be. but i really dont want to buy a 5inch just to have developer support so i hope someone will be able to help you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are right, it does make a some kind of backup, which manually could be made through adb with command "reboot nvbackup", but my problem is that either I don't have that backup, or it somehow has made a backup of efs after it was corrupted. Somewhere in this forum i saw someone writing that reboot nvbackup command backups efs to fsg and backup partitions, but I through-Hex-checked it, no trace of any content of efs/nvdata.(Or it is encrypted somehow.). Also I did recieved backup and fsg partitions of healthy phone, and checked-through it. Same story.
In despair I stormed every single partition on the phone I could reach. The only partition containing contents of efs (also IMEI) was mmcblk0p24, which stores userdata and mounts on root as /data. I doubt it's legitimacy, since as far as I know, it gets wiped after factory reset, so it couldn't be the place sensitive data are stored. Now I am waiting to receive a healthy phones userdata.img.ext4 partition backup to get memory addresses of IMEI location and to be able to write my IMEI in my userdata.img.ext4 backup. Cross fingers, but doubt this will work.
Also, I didn't check loop# and ram# partitions under /dev/block/. This will be my next step, if writing and restoring userdata fails, which probably will.
farewellartist said:
Hello,
I have screwed up my IMEI after some risky operations. I have a backup of EFS partition (folder), which is useless, since it doesn't contain my IMEI, which I haven't checked previously and just dumbly/blindly relied on it containing my IMEI. The big question is, where is IMEI stored on galaxy s4 mini LTE (I9195)? I tried to restore using several methods, like:
EFS Professional Qualcomm Tools, by writing my original IMEI, but it still doesn't do any changes, nor before restart of the phone, nor after.
NV Items Reader/Writer - same result as EFS Qualcomm. Same goes to QPST tools.
Tried reboot nvrestore through adb/console, but i haven't had made backup previously.
I guess it stores it in some other partition. Also, after research done, there have been claims that phone stores backup of nv_data in some partition and automatically restores it if there are differences between backup and real imei. Or phone just restores backup automatically on each phone bootup. Either way, I must've screwed really big, since on my adventures both are wiped and my nulled IMEI seems to be right for the phone.
I include a PIT file.
Seems like I am the only one unlucky in this situation, cause there are no similar topic on this forum or internet altogether concerning EFS and I9195.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You've found the address of IMEI? I also did not find my IMEI in a full backup of EFS partition. I also do not believe that it is in mmcblk0p24, if it were, would lose the IMEI on a factory reset.
Sorry for bad English... :silly:
lrdslr said:
You've found the address of IMEI? I also did not find my IMEI in a full backup of EFS partition. I also do not believe that it is in mmcblk0p24, if it were, would lose the IMEI on a factory reset.
Sorry for bad English... :silly:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I think, that I have found it, but this is difficult. I haven't slept for over 40 hours, I'll convert this thread into research thread after I get some sleep. But for now, short version.
Using Cygwin, i have backed up healthy phones every single partition in .RAW format (which backs up not only files, but every single bit of memory) , including phones whole memory partition (mmcblk0), all 7 loop and 15 ram partitions and then hex checked them. What I've discovered is: that none of partitions contain IMEI nor in HEX or STRING format except mmcblk0p24, which contains 24 entries in my case in STRING format. BUT the whole phone memory block (mmcblk0) contains 60+ entries ..
If we weight information (considering all backups were made in .RAW format) that none of the partitions contain IMEI and IMEI is stored in whole memory block, I think we probably can conclude, that IMEI is not stored in any file on the phones memory. (And this is concluded based on information I got on backing up mmcblk0 using cygwin in .bin format. After hex checking file, it also contained around 24 entries, which is roughtly the same as userdata partition.) It is stored in phones memory not as a file, but as written bits in memory, which are not FRS recognizable.
I only I could restore .RAW format backups, this problem could easilly be solved. Damn, if I mange to solve and fill lacking information bits that spoils a big picture, I won't hesitate to spare one day of my life to actually create a tool to solve this. This has been a long and painful process,
Hi, I know this is an old topic, but I 've got same issue and I'd like to know if someone successed to re-write the IMEI on S4 mini LTE.
Thanks.
Related
I did the Root66 stock Rom with root flash. I had Super User Pro installed with the OTA survival mode block ticked- then did the OTA update back in the day for the multiwindow. I of course lost root but didn't worry about it. 2 months later- my phone reset a bunch of times and wiped my MEID, IMEI, Baseband Version- etc.
I never did an efs backup before this because i didn't know too. Anyway- I have a Note 2 here now that will not connect to the cell towers at all but is seemingly in great condition. I used root explorer to copy my efs folder to my computer and i need to know what files are missing and what values i need to change to get my phone back to working. I think this would be usefull information to everyone that encounters this issue.
reference threads:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1997150&page=5
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2143130
threads that fix this for other phones not ours:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1968360
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=859914
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1089039
we should have a thread that lists what files are supposed to be in our efs folder and where our important details are stored in those files- i.e.- what string to use a hex editor on to restore our values back to the phone.
Thanks everyone for your help.
dd807 said:
I did the Root66 stock Rom with root flash. I had Super User Pro installed with the OTA survival mode block ticked- then did the OTA update back in the day for the multiwindow. I of course lost root but didn't worry about it. 2 months later- my phone reset a bunch of times and wiped my MEID, IMEI, Baseband Version- etc.
I never did an efs backup before this because i didn't know too. Anyway- I have a Note 2 here now that will not connect to the cell towers at all but is seemingly in great condition. I used root explorer to copy my efs folder to my computer and i need to know what files are missing and what values i need to change to get my phone back to working. I think this would be usefull information to everyone that encounters this issue.
reference threads:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1997150&page=5
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2143130
threads that fix this for other phones not ours:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1968360
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=859914
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1089039
we should have a thread that lists what files are supposed to be in our efs folder and where our important details are stored in those files- i.e.- what string to use a hex editor on to restore our values back to the phone.
Thanks everyone for your help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
bump- can't believe no one wants to help wih this.
I'll pull some files off my phone and send you copies of you want me to. I'm not a developer and can't help with what you're doing but will send you copies of stuff if that's all you need.
ohh I have the same problem
AndroidStephen said:
I'll pull some files off my phone and send you copies of you want me to. I'm not a developer and can't help with what you're doing but will send you copies of stuff if that's all you need.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the same problem my phone create a new efs folder but of course dont have imei no baseband and 0 storage
I have the N7105 , I have on my screen info pop telling me some specs ... we need help with another efs files if you can put a zip file we will appreciate ...... thank you
I wouldn't be giving anyone your intact efs partition. That contains all of your device specific information such as IMEI, ESN, MEID basically everything someone needs to clone your phone. And its not as simple as editing the files in efs and pushing them back to the device. You would need something like CDMA WS or equivalent to actually reprogram the values into the device. Most likely your information isn't missing it's just become hidden due to a corrupt partition. You can try doing a full repartition and restore with the lj1 firmware and then once the device boots ##786# and master reset, when it reboots after the master reset all of the missing values should be back. The repartition will un hide them and the master reset will allow the device to re read the efs and load the values properly. Once yoi get the values back the device will need to be reactivated and reprovisioned with your user info such and phone #, MIN, username and password, etc.
I like to break stuff!
-EViL-KoNCEPTz- said:
I wouldn't be giving anyone your intact efs partition. That contains all of your device specific information such as IMEI, ESN, MEID basically everything someone needs to clone your phone. And its not as simple as editing the files in efs and pushing them back to the device. You would need something like CDMA WS or equivalent to actually reprogram the values into the device. Most likely your information isn't missing it's just become hidden due to a corrupt partition. You can try doing a full repartition and restore with the lj1 firmware and then once the device boots ##786# and master reset, when it reboots after the master reset all of the missing values should be back. The repartition will un hide them and the master reset will allow the device to re read the efs and load the values properly. Once yoi get the values back the device will need to be reactivated and reprovisioned with your user info such and phone #, MIN, username and password, etc.
I like to break stuff!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for this reply- I already tried to flash back to stock with a Pit file and the and repartitioning checked in odin. didn't work. thats why i started this thread. ulitmately i think it was a hardware failure becuase it didn't happen when i was flashing the phone- is just happened when i was sitting on the couch watching tv. my phone reset a bunch of times in a row and then no signal. i finally got a new phone so i guess it doesn't matter.
Hi all, I'm a new I9195GT owner (for a week already) and have been researching and having some satisfaction rooting and restoring all my apps with Titanium from my previous smartphone.
The phone works fine and I'm quite happy with it. I've already done a full backup with CWM recovery for any trouble I might come across in future but I don't know if a full backup from recovery contains all important and sensible data like EFS and NV data. Those two things are totally new for me as I'm coming from a HTC Desire which didn't require attention to those sensible points.
So I would be very grateful if anybody clears some doubts I have relating EFS and NV data:
- Does a full backup from recovery contain EFS and NV data, so in case that flashing a custom ROM results in corrupted EFS data, I would fix it just by restoring the full backup from recovery?
- What is the best and safest way for backup EFS and NV?
I've seen this post from arco68 which states a command I guess should be executed from Terminal directly in the smartphone, but I don't know how should that .img file restored to the phone in case it becomes corrupted.
I've also seen this post about the EFS Professional tool from lyriquidperfection but in the whole post I havent found anybody confirming it works in the S4 Mini i9195.... so it sounds good but I don't want to brick my new device being the first one to run the tool with the i9195
Thank you very much
As far as I know CWM does not back up EFS.
The good idea is to use TWRP recovery instead of CWM. TWRP does backup EFS.
You can get TWRP for 9195 here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2449107
Thanks for the idea. I'm ready to install TWRP recovery but, before installing it and replacing CWM,
Is it possible to launch TWRP recovery from CWM recovery, as temporary? And when rebooting CWM is back.
I remember doing something like this in my previous device: from 4EXT recovery launching a CWM recovery for some particular reason I don't remember
Sent from my GT-I9195 using xda app-developers app
batareikin51 said:
As far as I know CWM does not back up EFS.
The good idea is to use TWRP recovery instead of CWM. TWRP does backup EFS.
You can get TWRP for 9195 here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2449107
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
TWRP Recovery does not backup full EFS. IMEI is not included at least. Even though it lists a possibility of EFS backup, all it does is backups /efs partition. which does not contain IMEI in it. This concerns specifically I9195, which I own too and am researching this issue and also lost IMEI issue.
farewellartist said:
TWRP Recovery does not backup full EFS. IMEI is not included at least. Even though it lists a possibility of EFS backup, all it does is backups /efs partition. which does not contain IMEI in it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I already had installed TWRP and made backups and nandroids....
So how can we safely backup IMEI in a way we can restore it in case it gets corrupted?
sergiosch said:
I already had installed TWRP and made backups and nandroids....
So how can we safely backup IMEI in a way we can restore it in case it gets corrupted?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good question, I've been looking for answer for weeks.
sergiosch said:
I already had installed TWRP and made backups and nandroids....
So how can we safely backup IMEI in a way we can restore it in case it gets corrupted?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Guys!
The most simple method to backup our IMEI (efs folder) is:
1.Install rootexplorer
2.open it with superuser permission
3. Copy efs folder from root main folder to your sd card.
4.Upload from sd card to clouds to be sure you have a backup a different places.
5. Push thx for me
radicspeter said:
Guys!
The most simple method to backup our IMEI (efs folder) is:
1.Install rootexplorer
2.open it with superuser permission
3. Copy efs folder from root main folder to your sd card.
4.Upload from sd card to clouds to be sure you have a backup a different places.
5. Push thx for me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did already that too, not with rootexplorer but TotalCommander which also has root access to any partition, I guess it performs the same backup just copying everything.
But then I don't know why it is valid to do "raw" directory/file copy with root explorer but it is not valid an EFS partition backup with TWRP recovery. I'm a newbie with this but, it seems the same to me....
Can anyone tell exactly in which file is stored imei? Isn't the same structure/process valid for other Galaxy brand smartphones so we can follow them?
radicspeter said:
Guys!
The most simple method to backup our IMEI (efs folder) is:
1.Install rootexplorer
2.open it with superuser permission
3. Copy efs folder from root main folder to your sd card.
4.Upload from sd card to clouds to be sure you have a backup a different places.
5. Push thx for me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I repeat, EFS FOLDER / PARTITION even on a raw byte level DOESN'T CONTAIN phones IMEI. This concerns specifically Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini LTE (I9195).
---------- Post added at 03:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:31 PM ----------
sergiosch said:
I did already that too, not with rootexplorer but TotalCommander which also has root access to any partition, I guess it performs the same backup just copying everything.
But then I don't know why it is valid to do "raw" directory/file copy with root explorer but it is not valid an EFS partition backup with TWRP recovery. I'm a newbie with this but, it seems the same to me....
Can anyone tell exactly in which file is stored imei? Isn't the same structure/process valid for other Galaxy brand smartphones so we can follow them?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Normally, phones IMEI in previous galaxy devices (don't know about current S4, I own S4 Mini LTE), was stored in nv_data.bin file which was located in /efs folder on root. (which is a mount point for mmcblk0p10 partition in S4 Mini LTE). But, in this device, there is no nv_data bin file and IMEI is not stored nowhere close to efs partition. Not too many people own S4 Mini's and almost everybody whom I asked an information based their knowdledge on another devices and were feeding me false information I heard over and over again.
To clarify something, I know, that EFS partition doesn't contain IMEI, because:
No file in efs mount point contains IMEI.
No IMEI found checking EFS Professional backup (tar) on HEX level using various search methods. Even through-looked it, file is not that big.
No IMEI found through-looking .raw backup made using cygwin (which contains every single byte of partition, even though it is not a part of a file), which is 95+% warrant, that IMEI is not in EFS partition.
farewellartist said:
I repeat, EFS FOLDER / PARTITION even on a raw byte level DOESN'T CONTAIN phones IMEI. This concerns specifically Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini LTE (I9195).
---------- Post added at 03:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:31 PM ----------
Normally, phones IMEI in previous galaxy devices (don't know about current S4, I own S4 Mini LTE), was stored in nv_data.bin file which was located in /efs folder on root. (which is a mount point for mmcblk0p10 partition in S4 Mini LTE). But, in this device, there is no nv_data bin file and IMEI is not stored nowhere close to efs partition. Not too many people own S4 Mini's and almost everybody whom I asked an information based their knowdledge on another devices and were feeding me false information I heard over and over again.
To clarify something, I know, that EFS partition doesn't contain IMEI, because:
No file in efs mount point contains IMEI.
No IMEI found checking EFS Professional backup (tar) on HEX level using various search methods. Even through-looked it, file is not that big.
No IMEI found through-looking .raw backup made using cygwin (which contains every single byte of partition, even though it is not a part of a file), which is 95+% warrant, that IMEI is not in EFS partition.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks mate. Pretty clear :good:
I was also not confident about some tutorials I read in other forums claiming that just doing a copy of file structure from /EFS folder would backup our IMEI. Your explanation is appreciated.
Hope to find some way to effectively backup sensitive data as IMEI is....
sergiosch said:
Thanks mate. Pretty clear :good:
I was also not confident about some tutorials I read in other forums claiming that just doing a copy of file structure from /EFS folder would backup our IMEI. Your explanation is appreciated.
Hope to find some way to effectively backup sensitive data as IMEI is....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Found it! Making guide right now. Basically IMEI is contained in both mmcblk0p11 and mmcblk0p12 partitions. Samsung apparently has developed a new error-safe phone nv data preservation system, I'll explain in details in tutorial.
farewellartist said:
Found it! Making guide right now. Basically IMEI is contained in both mmcblk0p11 and mmcblk0p12 partitions. Samsung apparently has developed a new error-safe phone nv data preservation system, I'll explain in details in tutorial.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great news! looking forward to read that guide :good::good:
sergiosch said:
Great news! looking forward to read that guide :good::good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do you mount those partitions? I've tried with no success. All I get is "mount: No such device".
deliog said:
How do you mount those partitions? I've tried with no success. All I get is "mount: No such device".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't mount, just backup.
Through terminal emulator, enter commands
su
dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p11 of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p12
And how to restore later if IMEI gets corrupted/null?
Sent from my GT-I9195 using xda app-developers app
sergiosch said:
And how to restore later if IMEI gets corrupted/null?
Sent from my GT-I9195 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See this: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2569532
sergiosch said:
Great news! looking forward to read that guide :good::good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could you (or someone) PLEASE post or send PM with backups of partition mmcblk0p11 and mmcblk0p12? While researching this issue, I trashed 2 OF MY PHONES and nulled my IMEIs because of delusion caused by memory of having a backup, which I didn't. It's a pity to give away such a fortune for spares. I need NV blocks to hex compare them with blocks I got from another healthy I9195. Since IMEI numbers of different phone blocks will be different, difference will show on hex level too, which will help me determine exact address of IMEI location, after which I could modify my trashed NV blocks at determined memory address with my original IMEI, which could save me from watching at useless brick. And also would help me at development of I9195 IMEI Restore tool.
Disclaimer: I am not modifying my IMEI nor doing any actions which end-target is modification of original IMEI and differing it from original one. I am modifying nulled (trashed, unoriginal) IMEI to its ORIGINAL state which ultimately couldn't be called nothing else but RESTORING. I won't use IMEI from gathered NV blocks. I just need a another healthy block to fix my issue and help develop tools so others could be able to sleep at nights without issue that causes me sleepless nights.
farewellartist said:
Could you (or someone) PLEASE post or send PM with backups of partition mmcblk0p11 and mmcblk0p12? While researching this issue, I trashed 2 OF MY PHONES and nulled my IMEIs because of delusion caused by memory of having a backup, which I didn't. It's a pity to give away such a fortune for spares. I need NV blocks to hex compare them with blocks I got from another healthy I9195. Since IMEI numbers of different phone blocks will be different, difference will show on hex level too, which will help me determine exact address of IMEI location, after which I could modify my trashed NV blocks at determined memory address with my original IMEI, which could save me from watching at useless brick. And also would help me at development of I9195 IMEI Restore tool.
Disclaimer: I am not modifying my IMEI nor doing any actions which end-target is modification of original IMEI and differing it from original one. I am modifying nulled (trashed, unoriginal) IMEI to its ORIGINAL state which ultimately couldn't be called nothing else but RESTORING. I won't use IMEI from gathered NV blocks. I just need a another healthy block to fix my issue and help develop tools so others could be able to sleep at nights without issue that causes me sleepless nights.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't done yet any of the backup processes you explain, so I don't even have the files you're asking for, but with all the gratitude and admiration I feel for the developers I wouldn't feel any confortable sending sensible data from part of a nandroid backup.... speaking just for myself of course, if I could choose how to help a developer I would preferr doing a donation to help him recover the hardware he has broken to help others. Some months ago I heard a friend telling that he had been scammed with a phone he bought in some cash converter and only worked for one day, then it became with null IMEI, and he suspected someone had "stolen" or "shutdown" his IMEI for unknown reasons...
sorry to say that, maybe I'm an ignorant but I just don't feel confortable with what you are asking directly to me
Hello everyone!
Yesterday, I tried to upgrade to a Kit Kat rom. I used the Galaxy nexus toolkit, and did a full backup... plus an EFS backup. Afterwards, I did the full format/wipe from CWM recovery, and installed the ROM.
Well, apparently one of the options wipes your EFS file folder; I have no way of connecting to my network. My IMEI is the stock number, and I've spent hours scouring the internet trying to find a way to restore it. The majority of the responses are "try a factory reset and restore" or "too bad so sad, should've backed up". Well, I did try several options. The first being the EFS restore. Apparently, the backup is stored on the phone and wasn't sent to my computer, like the rest of the normal backups. That option is now out. Oh, how I miss SD storage.
The second was a full restore to stock, again, nothing. Third, I had an old nandroid backup. After doing these I saw that the EFS tree is left untouched, as it is so delicate. The only way to do this is give up and send it in for servicing, or to do a phone NV Backup swap with QPST.
I need to get access to the service menu (or any way to change the USB/Modem) as listed here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1946915
Unfortunately, *#7284# does nothing on an i9250, nor does anything besides *#*#4636#*#*... which isn't what I need. The terminal command doesn't appear to work, either.
I don't understand very well but, have you tried to restore your EFS backup from recovery? Did you make the backup from recovery or from toolkit?
lkeops said:
I don't understand very well but, have you tried to restore your EFS backup from recovery? Did you make the backup from recovery or from toolkit?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have done a recovery from the toolkit (as the files are stored on the computer and not the phone) which is where I made the backup from, as well.
However, the EFS partition is apparently never included in this backup, as it is supposed to be immune to changes and formatting. I proved them wrong.
Well I did that same blunder last month with my nexus and then I tried all remedies plus own experiments but couldn't get results. All I heard is that to send phone to service centre. If you find any other solution so do mention here, I gave up after so many tries
what9000 said:
I have done a recovery from the toolkit (as the files are stored on the computer and not the phone) which is where I made the backup from, as well.
However, the EFS partition is apparently never included in this backup, as it is supposed to be immune to changes and formatting. I proved them wrong.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@what9000 you may want to check out this thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2508320
Specifically post #6 AND #9
I have personally never used the nexus backup tool, but if it does does backup the /radio folder, you may be in luck.
Well, it has been repaired. Thank you all for your help, in the end I managed to pull some things together in a mash up of fixes.
It appears that upon a new restore from a nandroid backup, I was still getting no signal. However, I did a *#06#, and my IMEI was intact. I read that the Radio folder gets backed up, but not the factory folder. Upon a new install, I imagine the radio folder is wiped, which is why every install from then on had a bunk imei (it had nothing to pull from as my factory folder is toast)
However, it looks like the efs backup I had *did* save the folder structure... I found the efs.tar backup in my galaxy nexus toolkit folder. It had the folder zip, but couldn't restore it due to permissions... didn't feel like messing with that at the moment. I copied them in with root explorer, grabbed the nv_data files from the /radio/ folder, deleted the files from /radio, and restarted. Lo and behold, they were restored from the factory folder with the correct IMEI.
I just put a fresh copy of kit kat 4.4.2 on and have cell service again. Oh happy day, I don't have to use my old HTC Sensation! :highfive:
This also marks the first time a backup actually saved my skin. Usually I vaporize the backup accidentally before it has an opportunity to prove itself useful.
I have an AT&T S3 which, during some shenanigans I don't remember, was encrypted with a password I could not retrieve. I used Odin to erase the phone's NAND because I had a nandroid backup. This backup, however, was corrupted. I was able to use Odin to flash a stock firmware, but I now only have access to EDGE instead of LTE.
I have restored EFS and NV backups from another AT&T S3 with my IMEI and serial written to them, and my serial and IMEI display correctly in my phone's status window.
I have tried flashing every available modem for the phone.
I have tried numerous APN settings and *#*#INFO*#*# settings.
I have tried damn near every solution to similar problems in this forum.
Any more ideas?
Where did you get your EFS and NV, and how did you restore them?
shortydoggg said:
Where did you get your EFS and NV, and how did you restore them?
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I used EFS Pro + Qualcomm tools to backup the EFS folder and NV data from a working AT&T S3. Doing this brought back my IMEI, but did not much else otherwise.
EDIT: To clarify, I used the tools to write my specific imei and serial to the backup before restoring that to my phone.
Ok, a lot of these usually don't get fixed, but I'm going to stick to here what worked for some.
First, I'm going to assume that you injected your IMEI correctly. I would next use the EFS Pro to format your EFS from the restore option at the top (then clicking format EFS), since that EFS came from another phone. Your EFS folder will automatically be re-created when you later reboot.
Next, I would download and unzip the attached file. Inject the .txt file with the nv reader /writer. The nv reader writer can be found in this thread.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=29514032&postcount=1
Follow steps 1-4, but instead of reading, you're writing the .txt file that you unzipped to your NV. It only contains missing information and should not touch your IMEI. Do not change the dec or hex range.
Reboot the phone and see what happens.
Dear,
I think that my question was raised many-time in this forum, and i really tried to read any thread similar to my issue, and i tried all solutions but no luck, and I am feeling that i am missing something, here my story :
Problems started with me when i bought a new battery for my phone ( i don't think that this cause the problem, because as my knowledge imei has nothing to do with battery), please correct me if i am wrong.
So, when i putted the new battery, I got this silly issue 'not registered on network', and then i knew that i lost my imei as well (it is dummy number like 0049... )
So what i did is i tried to flash the modem, i tried many version, but this did not resolve my problem.
Then i tried to install the firmware from the beginning and rested all data and wipe all data and cache, (here i think i missed to take backup of my efs files). does flashing a new firmware,reset or wipe data will remove the efs files?
Installing new firmware didn't work also.
So i tried to backup and restore efs files, but it did not work also.
Please can you help me resolving this issue, since now i am out of idea and i don't know what to do.
Thank you in advance
here
Thank you for your answer,
But i already tried to install many modem, and i did tried this one XXDME4 modem, but not luck.
i am struggling here,
Please help me
Please help :crying:
did you use odin and thr newest stock firmware from i.e. sammobile?
Hi,
Yes i did, but it did not solve the issue
EFS
I have been trying to understand the phone system. I could not locate the detailed information on net but have guessed based on my experience and if I would have designed the phone.
1. Downloader area: I think this is fused when the system is fabricated and cannot be changed. It's job is to receive the image and flash into phone's bootloader area. (This is equivalent to EEPROM in PC mother boards)
2. Bootloader area: This is where recovery gets loaded. This is where root of file system is created "/". and basic directories are created. Both 1 and 2 are located separately from 3.
3. Internal Storage: This is separate memory chip. This is usually partitioned in multiple partitions and one of them is EFS (encrypted file system). These partitions are formatted and mounted on various directories in basic file system. The /system mountpoint contains the OS. This is the reason, why we format it and then install the system files from partition mounted at /sdcard mountpoint. Normally this is known as usb storage (internal storage).
4. External sdcard: It is external storage card which is mounted on /external_sdcard or something similar.
I have galaxy note 2. It started rebooting once in a while for last two months. In August, it refused to boot up. I could boot up the bootloader and downloader section both. At that time, the memory areas were getting corrupted. Probably, my galaxy note 2 was one of those initial one with bad memory chip. Later in bootloader section, I could figure out that the EFS could not be mounted. In service center as well as with other technicians, it was told that memory chip is bad. One of the technician replaced the chip. I opted for this repair insted of mother board replacement as it was far cheaper. He also got the EFS restored from samsung service.
My understanding of EFS is that this file system is encrypted with a key. This key is encrypted further with private key of certificate of manufacturer. All programmes can use public key to get the key and hence the IMEI and other information. The certificate containing public key should be part of EFS filesystem header. At OS level, this whole process can be bypassed and you can have a mechanism for any IMEI or any other parameter. It is the OS which controls the radio and transmits the information to network.
So, get your phone checked if the memory has not gone bad. Even if you can reformat and use it, it will fail soon. Further, if you are not using customized OS (which bypasses EFS protection), or you have a tool to create an EFS on your own with your own certificate and information, than you need to get in touch with Samsung service. They will create the EFS image and put it back in your phone or give it to you for putting it back.
If certain memory area is bad and system is able to boot, then it creates the default EFS that is where you get changed IMEI.
aj1m said:
Dear,
I think that my question was raised many-time in this forum, and i really tried to read any thread similar to my issue, and i tried all solutions but no luck, and I am feeling that i am missing something, here my story :
Problems started with me when i bought a new battery for my phone ( i don't think that this cause the problem, because as my knowledge imei has nothing to do with battery), please correct me if i am wrong.
So, when i putted the new battery, I got this silly issue 'not registered on network', and then i knew that i lost my imei as well (it is dummy number like 0049... )
So what i did is i tried to flash the modem, i tried many version, but this did not resolve my problem.
Then i tried to install the firmware from the beginning and rested all data and wipe all data and cache, (here i think i missed to take backup of my efs files). does flashing a new firmware,reset or wipe data will remove the efs files?
Installing new firmware didn't work also.
So i tried to backup and restore efs files, but it did not work also.
Please can you help me resolving this issue, since now i am out of idea and i don't know what to do.
Thank you in advance
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Click to collapse