Develop Bugs

Missing IMEI and EFS files. Can you help?

Hello everybody!
I read for a several days about my problem. My IMEI is missing (*#06# shows only 000000000-oes). I never made a backup of the /efs folder, and there is NO any original bin or​ bak files.
I tried several methods for repairing the IMEI, but without success.
I tried to copy other nv_data.bin file into the /efs folder, but after reboot (or removing the battery) the file is missing.
My question is - Is it possible to get needed files form other owner of such phone? Have in mind - I'don't know the original IMEI of the phone too. This phone was a gift to me from my employer and I never get a original box (where the IMEI should be written).
So the situation is:
1. I have not original IMEI
2. I have not bin files or bak files in /efs folder
3. The phone is rooted, and etc.
Any suggestions?

Try flashing the stock rom using odin. I got this problem once with my Galaxy S and that was the only solution that worked.
Sent from my GT-I8150 using xda app-developers app

veenone said:
Try flashing the stock rom using odin. I got this problem once with my Galaxy S and that was the only solution that worked.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I already did it ( without result. In fact flashing with stock EU rom take my phone to cyclic reboot. The Android OS can't load at full - loading styas at white characters (Samsung Galaxy W) and after 1-2 minutes it restarts again.
I tried several flashes with ODIN, finally I used ASIAN version of the stock ROM and the phone now is running. Thanks God!
If there is no other suggestions I can try again to flash stock rom. Please can you provide me some links? I think I used links to the stock rom, given in that forum but... if you tried and tested some, I'll be very appreciated.

The IMEI is also written on the sticker on the mainboard under the battery. Not sure it will help you that much though, if you also lost the other /efs files. Good luck though.

bigstoyan said:
I already did it ( without result. In fact flashing with stock EU rom take my phone to cyclic reboot. The Android OS can't load at full - loading styas at white characters (Samsung Galaxy W) and after 1-2 minutes it restarts again.
I tried several flashes with ODIN, finally I used ASIAN version of the stock ROM and the phone now is running. Thanks God!
If there is no other suggestions I can try again to flash stock rom. Please can you provide me some links? I think I used links to the stock rom, given in that forum but... if you tried and tested some, I'll be very appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe you can check out http://samfirmware.com/
They have very wide range of firmware collections for samsung phones.
I got my firmwares from there since a couple of years ago.
Just go to galaxy w category
Sent from my GT-I8150 using xda app-developers app

this link may help.. there's many cases that the IMEI lost.. next time search before posting
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1264021

IvanKurnia said:
this link may help.. there's many cases that the IMEI lost.. next time search before posting
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1264021
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Believe me... that was the first post I ever read ( - it didn't help...
Never-mind... I already give the phone to service specialist who have JTAG and box for repair.
Thank you everybody!

***WARNING*** PLEASE BACKUP your EFS!!

***WARNING TO ALL***​FLASHING ANY FIRMWARE CAN POTENTIALLY BRICK YOUR DEVICE ​
With that said, PLEASE use some precautionary measures to keep your device alive!​
There are many threads out there about making a backup copy of the "/efs" folder. that folder contains all of your IMEI information that is NOT replaceable! There are several cases all over the web, about people who have lost that information causing them not to have service, leaving them with "generic" IMEI's and some with all "0's"
I am posting this to help prevent thoes who are unaware of the consequences that happen when the EFS information is lost!
Here I will post a few guides and informational threads here in XDA to help with this.
EFS Tool for Windows
Guide for the Galaxy S II
A Story From the Vibrant
From the Galaxy Note​
I would also emphasize on making a nandroid backup of your complete system in recovery before starting to venture off onto any custom rom!
Here the folks at XDA have built a great community with a outstanding reputation to help one another advancing to the next level, also unlocking the extreme potential of our devices.
Be sure to "hit" the thanks button and when possible post a personal "Thanks" to the great devs and contributers we have here in XDA!
Feel free to add to this thread, any useful tips and such...
Thanks and God bless.

I have not yet confirmed this, but here are three links to what may be a way for those who have lost their EFS to repair it!
there are other guides on how to recreate the efs folder but these tools may enable us to insert the correct information!
http://forum.gsmhosting.com/vbb/f611/android-language-editor-android-language-project-1543222/
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1570342
Thanks to Pierreone, he has provided this link providing a individual from Poland that can repair your IMEI through TeamViewer for a small donation. This may be out only hope!!
http://forum.samdroid.net/f70/repair-imei-s2-5729/
Please if anyone tries these methods, report here to confirm success or failed!
Thanks.

I just copy and paste in my pc the EFS folder, thats enough? and how you can identify if there is a problem in the EFS?

lorddavid said:
I just copy and paste in my pc the EFS folder, thats enough? and how you can identify if there is a problem in the EFS?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That should be enough, but I would make backups in at least to other ways just to be safe, it's better to be safe than sorry. a single file can get corrupt without your knowledge! find a on-line file host like Google drive and that way if your pc was ever to go down it will always be there. Just don't loose your password!!!
to know that there is a problem, check the about phone section in status, the device will show your phone info, look for the IMEI! if it reads all 0's or a generic number starting with "04" and ending like "40000" you have problems! that is a unique serial number that identifies your individual phone!
I'm also not sure that if you were to use it to call an emergency hot line like "911" they would be able to locate you in time! that may not be true tho!

dbrannon79 said:
That should be enough, but I would make backups in at least to other ways just to be safe, it's better to be safe than sorry. a single file can get corrupt without your knowledge! find a on-line file host like Google drive and that way if your pc was ever to go down it will always be there. Just don't loose your password!!!
to know that there is a problem, check the about phone section in status, the device will show your phone info, look for the IMEI! if it reads all 0's or a generic number starting with "04" and ending like "40000" you have problems! that is a unique serial number that identifies your individual phone!
I'm also not sure that if you were to use it to call an emergency hot line like "911" they would be able to locate you in time! that may not be true tho!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
mines is ok, has al ot of different numbers. Just a question, what ab out the serial number? mines has only 00000000000

lorddavid said:
mines is ok, has al ot of different numbers. Just a question, what ab out the serial number? mines has only 00000000000
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the serial number so far is not a problem! it's the IMEI that you need to worry about! some refurbished phones and others that have flashed a custom rom will display an all "0's" serial no.
this is simply a helpful warning to make a backup before doing any modding! and finding ways for others to repair what is lost! if your phone is ok, just make a backup and your good!
One day we will figure out how to completely restore a lost efs and edit what is needed to get back to the norm!

Thanks to Pierreone, I added a link to a thread that looks promising and has success reports!!

Whew, I got lucky. I don't have an EFS backup and have flashed several custom ROMs, but I referenced About Phone against the label under the battery and my IMEI is still intact!
Could someone post what the Generic IMEI is so people can know whether their device is intact?
This is a a bigger problem than it sounds, because in some countries, changing the IMEI may be crime and land you jail time! If the IMEI under About Phone doesn't match the under-battery label, you could be in deep ****.

roothorick said:
Could someone post what the Generic IMEI is so people can know whether their device is intact?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is 004999010640000.
Have it, because the unlock made my network disconnect every 10 seconds.

About the efs folder ?
First of all Thank You for the heads up... I'm finding out a lot about backing up the efs folder but not a lot of detail about what exactly is contained in it other than imei and serial... probably because it shouldn't be fooled with but I like to know how things work in detail... is there any detailed post or site where I can get a complete explanation about it ? Complete file list/tree? What else does it control ? Can it be edited ?

EFS Tool for Windows
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This utility works fine. Just wanted to mention 2 things that you need to set before running this successfully:
Settings -> developer options -> android debugging enabled
Settings ->Developer options-> Root access -> set to 'apps and adb'

I followed the guide from the Galaxy S2 forum, and after the first command:
busybox cp -a /efs /sdcard/efs/
Every line says "can't preserve ownership of..." and "operation not permitted"
Am I doing this right?
I did get an efs folder on my internal storage which is about 5mb in size after that command anyway
The rest of the guide, all of the other commands went through ok.

Holy crap, I wish I had listened to this warning! After flashing a great new rom and getting it 98% set up the way I like it I was deleting some junk apps the marketplace had auto installed, one of them (for wi-fi hotspots I think) was to blame and must have toasted my IMEI.
I thought, oh I'll just restore my CWM backup from an older setup - md5 error can't restore. DOH! After spending most of two days hunting for solutions (none of them linked in this thread worked, except I did get to where I could place calls with a generic IMEI but no data or text). I finally was able to recalculate the md5 manually and restore my old backup, which then got stuck at boot logo, then I flashed a new ROM and the IMEI still isn't back! After much reading I have come to understand NANDROID BACKUPS DO NOT TOUCH THE EFS. That is one thing that that I didn't understand, and the reason I thought I was safe. Please update the OP to state that so more people like me will listen to your advice.
Backup your EFS! Thanks for the warning
Sent from my SGH-I927 using xda app-developers app

Victory!!!! :victory:
I was so close to just paying at http://sam.123unlock.nl/ and using their service to re-write my IMEI (because they show an unlock video using our phone and their software), but I kept digging in XDA and trying everything I could find. I tried the SIII IMEI editor, NV reader-writer, manually restoring the .nv_data.bin, mobiletech videos backup script...blah blah blah. I tried restoring CWM backups, flashing back to stock everything, using kies, I was trying everything! During all this I at times had no IMEI, all 000s, and a generic #, each of which provided different levels of services. I considered keeping the generic IMEI which AT&T didn't seem to mind but then I finally stumbled on a solution.
In reading the http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=859914 post which is linked to in the "A Story From the Vibrant" in the OP I tried the abd EFS tar command and executed it on another Captivate Glide I have that had some water damage but is mostly still functional thinking I could overwrite the entire good EFS of that phone to my good phone with the hosed IMEI. I used AROMA http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1646108 and deleted the EFS from CWM (I felt like adb and terminal weren't effective since the OS was still awake) and then restored from my working EFS tar, then wrote on top of that the first backup of the hosed EFS I had from before I started messing with it (thinking I'd try that before trying just the other phone's E)FS.
When I rebooted I had the correct serial and IMEI back for the phone! It is now working 100%

I flash alot from to rom, if i use the aroma file manager n save the entire efs folder on my external drive ,if i were to ever run into problems can i go bak to aroma file manager n just restore the efs folder and make everythinfunction again ?

Some guys say yes, others say use the tar command to preserve file permissions. I backed it up both ways. When I used aroma I deleted the files and replaced them rather than over-writing the corrupted ones and it worked fine for me.
Sent from my SGH-I927 using xda app-developers app

So I just got my captivate glide bought it used and I followed thegreatones instructions to get CM 10.1 using the factory image to get it to 4.X then flashing the rom.. and after i flashed CM 10.1 my imei was gone. SIGH. I don't have a backup, which of the paid services works the best? who has tried them?

I managed to make EFS Pro work but the glide is not listed and I don't see any partition to backup. Am I missing something?

Timelord83 said:
So I just got my captivate glide bought it used and I followed thegreatones instructions to get CM 10.1 using the factory image to get it to 4.X then flashing the rom.. and after i flashed CM 10.1 my imei was gone. SIGH. I don't have a backup, which of the paid services works the best? who has tried them?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't tried any but I would first give AT&T a call. They can probably assist you. And I believe there's a 14 day return date, I believe AT&T only checks the physical aspects of the phone.
jzamoras said:
I managed to make EFS Pro work but the glide is not listed and I don't see any partition to backup. Am I missing something?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It worked for others. Check to make sure you have all Glide drivers installed and reread the OP please Thanks!

Finally I used an older EFS Tool and it worked!

Hope someone can help me with no signal and loss of IMEI number

Hello,
I hope someone has some idea as to what I can do to fix my T889 Note 2 as right now it has no signal, does not register on the TMobile network and even worse, after playing with it some more it seems I have erased the IMEI in the EFS folder... Here is what I did:
I was initially using the Jedi X 7.2 ROM with Perseus Kernel, and everything was just fine. But I guess I was itching for something else :laugh: ... Reading thru the threads here I saw that some of us had flashed AT&T roms like Cleanrom without any problems. They said Cleanrom did not include an AT&T radio so it would work just fine for the T889. But just to be sure, after full wipe and flashing Cleanrom, I have also flashed a Tmobile Modem and Perseus Pernel for T889. That's when the problems started....
After flashing Cleanrom I had NO signal and the network unknown message... At that point the phone still showed the IMEI number... I have tried going back to Jedi X and Odin back to stock, nothing helped.... It still showed Unknown Network, and Not registered on network, impossible to make calls....
Reading some more thru other XDA threads I saw that someone had posted a solution that had worked for him by going into the Service menu (by pressing *#197328640#) and then going to UMTS, then COMMON then NV REBUILD and then ERASES ALL EFS1/2/3....
At that time I was pretty desperate and seeing that it had worked for someone else with a similar problem I tried it immediately... Now that I really give it some thought, I can't believe I pressed Erase all EFS !! :laugh:
That's when I also got the phone showing me IMEI 0.... I guess now I have lost my IMEI as well? I have not made any backups, so restoring is not an option for me at this point !!
Would anyone have any ideas to help me revive this phone? thanks a lot :victory:
P.S. I should add that I still do have the IMEI number of course, it's written on the back of the phone and the original box as well...

chriss29 said:
Hello,
I hope someone has some idea as to what I can do to fix my T889 Note 2 as right now it has no signal, does not register on the TMobile network and even worse, after playing with it some more it seems I have erased the IMEI in the EFS folder... Here is what I did:
I was initially using the Jedi X 7.2 ROM with Perseus Kernel, and everything was just fine. But I guess I was itching for something else :laugh: ... Reading thru the threads here I saw that some of us had flashed AT&T roms like Cleanrom without any problems. They said Cleanrom did not include an AT&T radio so it would work just fine for the T889. But just to be sure, after full wipe and flashing Cleanrom, I have also flashed a Tmobile Modem and Perseus Pernel for T889. That's when the problems started....
After flashing Cleanrom I had NO signal and the network unknown message... At that point the phone still showed the IMEI number... I have tried going back to Jedi X and Odin back to stock, nothing helped.... It still showed Unknown Network, and Not registered on network, impossible to make calls....
Reading some more thru other XDA threads I saw that someone had posted a solution that had worked for him by going into the Service menu (by pressing *#197328640#) and then going to UMTS, then COMMON then NV REBUILD and then ERASES ALL EFS1/2/3....
At that time I was pretty desperate and seeing that it had worked for someone else with a similar problem I tried it immediately... Now that I really give it some thought, I can't believe I pressed Erase all EFS !! :laugh:
That's when I also got the phone showing me IMEI 0.... I guess now I have lost my IMEI as well? I have not made any backups, so restoring is not an option for me at this point !!
Would anyone have any ideas to help me revive this phone? thanks a lot :victory:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im in the same boat a few days ago. I already did a lot of things a nothing fix it hope someone can help us
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda app-developers app

Sorry you had to go through this man.. i was going through the same thing when i first got my phone. Xda didn't have a forum for the T-Mobile Note II so i decided to root and flash one of the international version Roms without even making a backup first (dumb of me) then i went ahead and flashed "Android Revolution HD" Rom and lost signal and IMEI showed Unknown.. so i asked for help but no answers.. and then "cmenard" dropped a stock Rom which i'm going to link you to.. i flashed that and flashed the modem on top and that solved the problem for me. So i will go ahead and give you the link to the Stock Rom and the modem i flashed to get my phone to work. Please follow the instrucations. Hope this helps!
Stock Rom: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1957209
Modem: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1957380
Have a wonderful day!
-Addis

AddisG said:
Sorry you had to go through this man.. i was going through the same thing when i first got my phone. Xda didn't have a forum for the T-Mobile Note II so i decided to root and flash one of the international version Roms without even making a backup first (dumb of me) then i went ahead and flashed "Android Revolution HD" Rom and lost signal and IMEI showed Unknown.. so i asked for help but no answers.. and then "cmenard" dropped a stock Rom which i'm going to link you to.. i flashed that and flashed the modem on top and that solved the problem for me. So i will go ahead and give you the link to the Stock Rom and the modem i flashed to get my phone to work. Please follow the instrucations. Hope this helps!
Stock Rom: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1957209
Modem: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1957380
Have a wonderful day!
-Addis
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dude i lost my imei when i had my gs3 back in july.. I had no one to help me... thanks for hooking the dude up i can only wish someone like you helped me back then... you da man!!!!:good:

appreciate your kind words bro! I hope this helps him get his phone to work again. :fingers-crossed:

I would love to know if this worked for the people that posted no IMEI... If you could post if this worked... It would let me know to keep these two files in a special recovery folder. Thanks

Thanks very much Addis !!! I truly hope this works, will try as soon as I get home from work, in about an hour or so... After trying so many things I have doubts about everything now, but I am keeping my fingers crossed

(UPDATE) : Have managed to download the rom, I am not sure if the file is corrupted or anything, but I keep getting an error message: E:Can't open / external_sd/deodexed_UVALJ1.zip (bad)
Weird, since other roms have flashed just fine....

guys, one thing you MUST DO with gsm devices... back up your IMEI... this is actually stored in a partition on your device, and as of recent there is a handy little app in the themes and apps section to back it up. it is a free app found on the market and offered here on xda. before this there was a tool somebody created to back up and restore this partition
here is the app... download this, back up your IMEI (your efs partition). https://play.google.com/store/apps/...omizer&feature=nav_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDNd

chriss29 said:
(UPDATE) : Have managed to download the rom, I am not sure if the file is corrupted or anything, but I keep getting an error message: E:Can't open / external_sd/deodexed_UVALJ1.zip (bad)
Weird, since other roms have flashed just fine....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, probably a bad file... I'll upload it tonight after work for you or try downloading it again. Have a blessed day guys!
Sent from my SGH-T889

AddisG said:
Yes, probably a bad file... I'll upload it tonight after work for you or try downloading it again. Have a blessed day guys!
Sent from my SGH-T889
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you Addis, no need for you to upload, it seems I finally got a proper download... Flashed it with TeamWin Touch Recovery and no changes, I will try to flash it with CWM also, but that has given me problems with this file.... let's see... Thanks for your help, I will hit your thanks button as soon as I finish writing this...
If all else fails, I will just go ahead and return everything to factory settings and send it in for repair....
P.S. I should mention that I have used a tool found on the GS3 AT&T threads which has worked for my T889 to re-inject my IMEI number back... So now my IMEI number shows up again... But that's about it... Network is still listed as UNKNOWN and Status is listed as Disconnected...
Bestplayer55 I will send you a link to the thread where I have found the program used to reprogram your IMEI, in the evening when I get home.... While it has helped me get my IMEI back, I am still stuck without network or signal, but it may help you more

chriss29 said:
Thank you Addis, no need for you to upload, it seems I finally got a proper download... Flashed it with TeamWin Touch Recovery and no changes, I will try to flash it with CWM also, but that has given me problems with this file.... let's see... Thanks for your help, I will hit your thanks button as soon as I finish writing this...
If all else fails, I will just go ahead and return everything to factory settings and send it in for repair....
P.S. I should mention that I have used a tool found on the GS3 AT&T threads which has worked for my T889 to re-inject my IMEI number back... So now my IMEI number shows up again... But that's about it... Network is still listed as UNKNOWN and Status is listed as Disconnected...
Bestplayer55 I will send you a link to the thread where I have found the program used to reprogram your IMEI, in the evening when I get home.... While it has helped me get my IMEI back, I am still stuck without network or signal, but it may help you more
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you gone into the settings menu, more settings, mobile network and tried connecting to T Mobile that way? If that doesn't work then try to reflash stock T Mobile ROM with Odin and it should reset your network.
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda premium

chriss29 said:
Thank you Addis, no need for you to upload, it seems I finally got a proper download... Flashed it with TeamWin Touch Recovery and no changes, I will try to flash it with CWM also, but that has given me problems with this file.... let's see... Thanks for your help, I will hit your thanks button as soon as I finish writing this...
If all else fails, I will just go ahead and return everything to factory settings and send it in for repair....
P.S. I should mention that I have used a tool found on the GS3 AT&T threads which has worked for my T889 to re-inject my IMEI number back... So now my IMEI number shows up again... But that's about it... Network is still listed as UNKNOWN and Status is listed as Disconnected...
Bestplayer55 I will send you a link to the thread where I have found the program used to reprogram your IMEI, in the evening when I get home.... While it has helped me get my IMEI back, I am still stuck without network or signal, but it may help you more
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
MAN!! i cant wait to do the same and get mi imei back!!! have a good day!

Bestplayer55 said:
MAN!! i cant wait to do the same and get mi imei back!!! have a good day!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello again,
Bestplayer55 and anyone else who might need this, this is the tool I have used:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1801997
It's written for the Galaxy S3 for AT&T and other carriers, but it worked for me on the T889 Note 2. Try to read all the instructions carefully .
One of the things you have to do is change a setting in the hidden menu which you access by dialing *#7284# using the stock dialer. In the hidden menu or PhoneUtil menu select USBSettingsMenu choose the correct mode and click ok. The correct mode for the Galaxy S3 is called RMNET + DM + MODEM mode, there was NO SUCH setting for my NOTE 2, but there is one that's very similar, so I chose that....
Then you jump to the section called IMEI Injection ... Pay attention to the way the IMEI is entered, it's a specific sequence, almost backwards....
You have the Instructions in the original thread there, or here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2077805
In the end thanks to Peoplearmy for developing this tool.
P.S. I just got home from work, so I will keep trying to flash different roms, now that I got my IMEI number back... Hopefully I can restore service as well...

Rhiannon224 said:
Have you gone into the settings menu, more settings, mobile network and tried connecting to T Mobile that way? If that doesn't work then try to reflash stock T Mobile ROM with Odin and it should reset your network.
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks a lot for the suggestions, I believe I have tried them before I lost my IMEI number, but I will try them again, it won't hurt !!

Phone is going back to Samsung for repair.... Nothing I have tried has worked ... Let's see what they can do

Hey I was messing with this on my T-Mobile Note II and I changed my RAT mode to WCDMA and now I'm unable to get LTE.
I've done EVERYTHING. I've even ODIN restored it. It WILL NOT connect to LTE anymore. Nothing I do to it makes it want to connect to LTE.
What do I do? Why won't it connect to LTE anymore even after flashing the factory image?
Will erasing EFS1/2/3 do anything to help or is that a really bad idea?
I have no clue what else there is to do. I've tried loading NV defaults but it gives an error for whatever reason.

[Q] No Imei and "baseband unknown" Please help! Really weird!

So, this is a long process I've been through-- First thanks so much for just taking the time to read this and any input would be awesome
I tried to flash a new slimkat 4.4.2 rom today and it flashed fine came up had service all was well except I think i did it as a "dirty" flash. I don't want to think any errors possible would be from that so i immediately did a "clean" flash and wiped everything except external sd-card in TWRP
Rebooted and noticed i didn't have any signal or data. First thought was modem so I started flashing MJ4 and reboot, nothing, so I flashed MK6 and reboot, nothing, so i changed to CWM recovery and flashed them, nothing, then at this point i just want a phone back doesn't even matter so i always seem to have several ROMS on my phone so i flashed another Sky Note 4.3 and reloaded nothing... So i started really wondering now and looking at my baseband to see what it said and noticed "Unkown Baseband" and Imei "unkown" (All while at work) So I came home did a little research while trying various other roms and none worked. So I read one way is to use Kies and do a "firmware upgrade initialisation"
Now it rebooting and completed going back to 4.1.2 CAMA4 and i still have nothing.. So I flashed UCALJ modem (Which should work as well) and I still have no data or signal because of unknown IMEI and Baseband. I don't really care about using triangle away or not, but i can get around and flash roms and everything thats what I don't understand.
Oh I did use CF-autoroot to install TWRP to install the modem as a .zip
Any ideas I would love you forever!!!

Bradbetheman said:
So, this is a long process I've been through-- First thanks so much for just taking the time to read this and any input would be awesome
I tried to flash a new slimkat 4.4.2 rom today and it flashed fine came up had service all was well except I think i did it as a "dirty" flash. I don't want to think any errors possible would be from that so i immediately did a "clean" flash and wiped everything except external sd-card in TWRP
Rebooted and noticed i didn't have any signal or data. First thought was modem so I started flashing MJ4 and reboot, nothing, so I flashed MK6 and reboot, nothing, so i changed to CWM recovery and flashed them, nothing, then at this point i just want a phone back doesn't even matter so i always seem to have several ROMS on my phone so i flashed another Sky Note 4.3 and reloaded nothing... So i started really wondering now and looking at my baseband to see what it said and noticed "Unkown Baseband" and Imei "unkown" (All while at work) So I came home did a little research while trying various other roms and none worked. So I read one way is to use Kies and do a "firmware upgrade initialisation"
Now it rebooting and completed going back to 4.1.2 CAMA4 and i still have nothing.. So I flashed UCALJ modem (Which should work as well) and I still have no data or signal because of unknown IMEI and Baseband. I don't really care about using triangle away or not, but i can get around and flash roms and everything thats what I don't understand.
Oh I did use CF-autoroot to install TWRP to install the modem as a .zip
Any ideas I would love you forever!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I gots more love than I know what to do with.....
Do you have a backup of your /efs? Hopefully when (if) you did a backup in TWRP you choose to back up efs also ..... ???

dicksteele said:
I gots more love than I know what to do with.....
Do you have a backup of your /efs? Hopefully when (if) you did a backup in TWRP you choose to back up efs also ..... ???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lesson learned... no backup

I'm going to try and repair (backup and re-put) my EFS folder there, but how do i tell if its a complete EFS folder or if it is damaged? On the note 2 ATT is there a way to manually put in your IMEI? or reasons why this couldn't be my problem please

Bradbetheman said:
I'm going to try and repair (backup and re-put) my EFS folder there, but how do i tell if its a complete EFS folder or if it is damaged? On the note 2 ATT is there a way to manually put in your IMEI? or reasons why this couldn't be my problem please
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Last time this happened to me, a very long night, I had a guru on hangouts with me and we tried everything we could think of..
Only thing that got me back was a restore of an old backup, as a wild ass last resort.... Lost my mind when it worked
This problem is not weird, unfortunately it's common.
Starting surfing for your error and read read read.... I've had a long fricking day ..
Like a maniac I'm trying to port over a 7100 ROM.. I get that error also.
Only thing that gets it back is restoring a backup rom that had an efs backup in it.

dicksteele said:
Last time this happened to me, a very long night, I had a guru on hangouts with me and we tried everything we could think of..
Only thing that got me back was a restore of an old backup, as a wild ass last resort.... Lost my mind when it worked
This problem is not weird, unfortunately it's common.
Starting surfing for your error and read read read.... I've had a long fricking day ..
Like a maniac I'm trying to port over a 7100 ROM.. I get that error also.
Only thing that gets it back is restoring a backup rom that had an efs backup in it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In my EFS folder i can't find any .nv_**** files so I'm assuming they are gone and I don't have a back-up. I've been reading and reading with nothing coming out of it other then how to fix it on alot of other samsung phones. I can't seem to find a way to re-build and manually enter my own IMEI (because i know the IMEI) Driving me nuts!! but thanks for your reply

EFS folder anyone?
Any chance i can get a copy of someones EFS folder so that i can edit the .nv_data and add my IMIE? Please of a ATT Note 2
Thanks so much and just PM link

Bradbetheman said:
Any chance i can get a copy of someones EFS folder so that i can edit the .nv_data and add my IMIE? Please of a ATT Note 2
Thanks so much and just PM link
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sadly no...
It is both illegal...and unethical for someone to give you a copy of an EFS folder...
It contains the user data and carrier information for the device...making the folder private...and unique to it's owner ....g
Sent from my SGH-I317 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Have you tried restoring firmware from Kies or flashing official firmware via Odin?
Sent from my GT-I9505G using Tapatalk

nikzDHD said:
Have you tried restoring firmware from Kies or flashing official firmware via Odin?
Sent from my GT-I9505G using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have done official firmware and over odin and before that Kies recovery. Also, knew it wasn't smart but didn't know it was illegal.
Any idea's for programs that will scan for deleted folders? or other ways to re-build EFS or .nvdata?

Bradbetheman said:
I have done official firmware and over odin and before that Kies recovery. Also, knew it wasn't smart but didn't know it was illegal.
Any idea's for programs that will scan for deleted folders? or other ways to re-build EFS or .nvdata?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was going to try this but didn't have to because I found a backup with my efs. I was going to try putting a new sim in and see if phone would see it and rebuild.
Actually was going to pull the sim out of my wife's note 2 and try it.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

So I tried from my wifes sim today with no avail. Still don't have my phone and wondering if there is any way to recover it? Do i try to set it back to stock everything fix the flash counter then call samsung? I don't think its under warranty anymore since i've had it for almost 2 years. I know its a long shot but I wonder if taking it to one of those "cell phone repair" places would be any help? I'm out of options and actually had to drop back to my old HTC Inspire

Bradbetheman said:
So I tried from my wifes sim today with no avail. Still don't have my phone and wondering if there is any way to recover it? Do i try to set it back to stock everything fix the flash counter then call samsung? I don't think its under warranty anymore since i've had it for almost 2 years. I know its a long shot but I wonder if taking it to one of those "cell phone repair" places would be any help? I'm out of options and actually had to drop back to my old HTC Inspire
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea, the sim deal was to simple to work...
So never heard I don't think. What were you on before you flashed slimkat? Did you do the 4.3 OTA update?

Have you tried flashing an original rom with the Pit file? That's your last resort, EFS is unique to each phone by using someone's else's this is illegal as your modifying the IMEI. I've had efs issues in the past but always had a backup to hand. Try flashing everything with a pit file if that doesn't work then you will have to take it in for repair, Samsung official could do it but don't know what they will charge as it's out of warranty or maybe a local phone repair shop could do it or someone with jtag services can do it perhaps too.
Sent from my GT-I9505G using Tapatalk

nikzDHD said:
Have you tried flashing an original rom with the Pit file? That's your last resort, EFS is unique to each phone by using someone's else's this is illegal as your modifying the IMEI. I've had efs issues in the past but always had a backup to hand. Try flashing everything with a pit file if that doesn't work then you will have to take it in for repair, Samsung official could do it but don't know what they will charge as it's out of warranty or maybe a local phone repair shop could do it or someone with jtag services can do it perhaps too.
Sent from my GT-I9505G using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was on another 4.4 rom before I went to slimkat
What is a pit file? I don't know much about it and is there a "trusted" guide on how to use one with the Note 2? I mean I'm familiar with Odin so I know its there but I've never had to use one

Bradbetheman said:
I was on another 4.4 rom before I went to slimkat
What is a pit file? I don't know much about it and is there a "trusted" guide on how to use one with the Note 2? I mean I'm familiar with Odin so I know its there but I've never had to use one
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here's the info...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2609871
A couple of other people are having worse problems like not being able to flash a recovery in ODIN or a ROM saying it can't read partitions. That's a good choice for a PIT flash.
But I'm reading and reading and everything is saying, yep that will work.... IF you then have the efs backup to restore

dicksteele said:
Here's the info...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2609871
A couple of other people are having worse problems like not being able to flash a recovery in ODIN or a ROM saying it can't read partitions. That's a good choice for a PIT flash.
But I'm reading and reading and everything is saying, yep that will work.... IF you then have the efs backup to restore
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks so much for the help!! I'm just worried that its not going to fix it and only make it worse possibly. I can't find how to pull my PIT file to analyze it so my next option is... Call a professional tomorrow... I'm going to call because apparently a "Z3X box" will fix my phone in like 3 minutes. I will post back though letting people know in the future whether they can or not. Because of legal reasons I don't know if they can even write my own IMEI back to the device. Will post back though regardless after tomorrow when I call them.

This happened to me a while back and I just flashed back to stock using Odin and all was fine
Sent from my GT-N7105 using Tapatalk

GREAT NEWS!
So I got desperate and realized this was going to take a professional. I called around to my local "cell phone repair" shops that really only know how to change the screen and asked about recovering the EFS file. It started out: "Hi can I talk with someone knowledgeable about the Android file system?" and every time the person said they were an "expert" So I said "I deleted or corrupted my EFS file and I need a repair for it" and EVERY time they told me they had no clue what I was talking about. I read and read everything I could find on the internet and most pointed me to some international "send you phone here" and of course I'm very skeptical of shipping my phone just about anywhere. So I found a person in the US at mobiletechvideos.com and looked him up with the BBB and found reviews from multiple sources.
I can say mobiletechvideos.com is legit and awesome! Josh fixed my phone and repaired the IMEI in less the 10 minutes remotely. I have my note 2 back! Please do not hesitate to give this guy a try he is legit and really down to earth guy. This thread can end here because whatever he did I have no clue but it worked!
Also a lot cheaper then I though it was going to be

Bradbetheman said:
GREAT NEWS!
So I got desperate and realized this was going to take a professional. I called around to my local "cell phone repair" shops that really only know how to change the screen and asked about recovering the EFS file. It started out: "Hi can I talk with someone knowledgeable about the Android file system?" and every time the person said they were an "expert" So I said "I deleted or corrupted my EFS file and I need a repair for it" and EVERY time they told me they had no clue what I was talking about. I read and read everything I could find on the internet and most pointed me to some international "send you phone here" and of course I'm very skeptical of shipping my phone just about anywhere. So I found a person in the US at mobiletechvideos.com and looked him up with the BBB and found reviews from multiple sources.
I can say mobiletechvideos.com is legit and awesome! Josh fixed my phone and repaired the IMEI in less the 10 minutes remotely. I have my note 2 back! Please do not hesitate to give this guy a try he is legit and really down to earth guy. This thread can end here because whatever he did I have no clue but it worked!
Also a lot cheaper then I though it was going to be
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is great news. Congrats ! How in the world did he do it remotely ?????

CM 12.1, IMEI Missing?

I was messing around on my ATT I747 phone switching users, when I finally got the new account on the phone, the IMEI is missing. The IMEI and Bluetooth are blank/unknown. I've tried using NV tools, but the *#7284# phoneutil isn't working. I've reinstalled the NJ1 modem, nothing works.
I'm on the 9/4 Nightly.
Does anyone have a suggestion?
Thanks!

Are you running the latest bootloader and modern?

audit13 said:
Are you running the latest bootloader and modern?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe so. I reinstalled the NJ1 bootloader/modem from this post:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s3-att/general/ucufne4-to-ucufnj1-update-t2941792

AveryTW said:
I believe so. I reinstalled the NJ1 bootloader/modem from this post:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s3-att/general/ucufne4-to-ucufnj1-update-t2941792
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And the ESF/Factory folder doesn't have the NV_Data files I'm reading that for some people returning to stock it worked, but I'm not sure how to do with that 12.1?

AveryTW said:
And the ESF/Factory folder doesn't have the NV_Data files I'm reading that for some people returning to stock it worked, but I'm not sure how to do with that 12.1?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See here for restoring IMEI after a bad flash, good luck http://droidmodderx.com/galaxys3/?page_id=79

Thanks for the reply, for some reason though in CM 12.1, the phoneutil stuff with *#22745927 and *#7284# things aren't working.

AveryTW said:
I was messing around on my ATT I747 phone switching users, when I finally got the new account on the phone, the IMEI is missing. The IMEI and Bluetooth are blank/unknown. I've tried using NV tools, but the *#7284# phoneutil isn't working. I've reinstalled the NJ1 modem, nothing works.
I'm on the 9/4 Nightly.
Does anyone have a suggestion?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When you went into About phone -> Status did you touch the IMEI information row. It actually opens a submenu where your IMEI is displayed. I've had a few moments of panic before I realized that early on with CM 12.1 ROMs. It looks a little odd since some of the other rows like IP address and wifi MAC display their values in little gray text right beneath them.
Also, your EFS folder will always appear blank if the file manager you viewed it with didn't have root access before you browsed into the folder.
Sorry if this is obvious. Just thought I'd point this out because I think the IMEI submenu was new with lollipop. I don't recall it on kitkat, but I could be wrong. Hope you get it worked out.

jason2678 said:
When you went into About phone -> Status did you touch the IMEI information row. It actually opens a submenu where your IMEI is displayed. I've had a few moments of panic before I realized that early on with CM 12.1 ROMs. It looks a little odd since some of the other rows like IP address and wifi MAC display their values in little gray text right beneath them.
Also, your EFS folder will always appear blank if the file manager you viewed it with didn't have root access before you browsed into the folder.
Sorry if this is obvious. Just thought I'd point this out because I think the IMEI submenu was new with lollipop. I don't recall it on kitkat, but I could be wrong. Hope you get it worked out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My IMEI says "Unknown". I viewed the directory with "Root Explorer" and did a full search. At this point, I'd even settle for a service that completely redoes the phone if someone knows of one

AveryTW said:
My IMEI says "Unknown". I viewed the directory with "Root Explorer" and did a full search. At this point, I'd even settle for a service that completely redoes the phone if someone knows of one
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can execute the needed commands from the command line, see here rootzwiki.com/topic/32397-tutorial-imei-backup-nv-with-qpst-us-variants/
Or if necessary suck it up and flash stock.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk

I suggest confirming that you have both the nj1 bootloader and modem. Perhaps one or the other did not flash properly.
If the bootloader and modem are correct, I would try a different custom ROM or flash the stock Samsung ROM as suggested.

I tried reflashing the modem/bootloader, still no dice. So, I think I'll just go back to NJ1 stock to get it working again, and then go from there. I'll flash the NJ1 bootloader/modem first (again), then the system/boot. I'll let you all know how it goes.
Thanks for the help!

I'm still not having any luck. I did a factory wipe, then flashed the NJ1 bootloader/modem/system image via TWRP from this post on XDA:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/gal...tt/general/ucufne4-to-ucufnj1-update-t2941792
After flashing the system image, TWRP tells me there is no OS when I go to reboot, and It just hangs on the AT&T logo. I'm really not sure what to do from here. I'm reading that if I try to downgrade to NE4 where there are more files in existance that it will brick. I would load the bootloader/modem via Odin instead of TWRP, but I can't find a NJ1 tar file.
I'm very sorry to keep asking for help, but I do appreciate it, and do plan on buying you both coffee if you let me.

Flash the nj1 zip file fromtne General forum via twrp.

audit13 said:
Flash the nj1 zip file fromtne General forum via twrp.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The one from Enewman17? That's the one I flashed from the last link I posted. Gets stuck in the AT&T screen, if I flash CM 12.1 the OS works but no IMEI. If I upgraded to NJ2 would that maybe force a redo of all the partitions? Or would that make it worse?

If it gets stuck at the logo, boot into stock recovery and do a full factory reset/wipe.

audit13 said:
If it gets stuck at the logo, boot into stock recovery and do a full factory reset/wipe.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, loaded stock recovery via odin, finally booted into stock 4.4.2 OS. IMEI and bluetooth are still missing. Looked in all EFS folders via Root Explorer, and there are no NV_data files. Baseband and build are both NJ1.

Maybe this will work: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1804117

audit13 said:
Maybe this will work: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1804117
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried that, but I couldn't get the tool to connect. I'm reading that a Z3X tool can sometimes fix it? I think connexion2005 has one, so I'm asking them. Spending 16 hours on a $100 phone, lol. I'm ready to do something else If you know of someone else that can fix, I'd greatly appreciate it.

Before flashing any s3, I always made a backup of the nv folder.
Fortunately, I have never had to make use of these backups.
I know of no other way to fix the issue.
Are you using a win8 machine? Maybe win7 would work.

I also have lost imei on Samsung s4 m191. I can't seem to find a fix, Is there one?