So I've tried doing a lot of research before starting a new thread on this, but to no avail. The other day I rooted my phone but before doing so I made an .ab backup of my apps using UBT. It wasn't until yesterday that I decided to flash a new ROM. So after it's all set up and such, I connect my device, launch UBT, use the restore command, and get "Restore failed!" Paths are correct, drivers all installed, but nothing seems to be working. So I tried using adb instead to restore, but just get the error of "unable to connect for backup." It's really just a pain in the ass to re-download all my apps and lose all the data that went along with the games and such, so any help would be greatly appreciated. Running 4.2.1
Negativezeroxxxx said:
So I've tried doing a lot of research before starting a new thread on this, but to no avail. The other day I rooted my phone but before doing so I made an .ab backup of my apps using UBT. It wasn't until yesterday that I decided to flash a new ROM. So after it's all set up and such, I connect my device, launch UBT, use the restore command, and get "Restore failed!" Paths are correct, drivers all installed, but nothing seems to be working. So I tried using adb instead to restore, but just get the error of "unable to connect for backup." It's really just a pain in the ass to re-download all my apps and lose all the data that went along with the games and such, so any help would be greatly appreciated. Running 4.2.1
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Hi, I know this post is a little old but I had a problem similar to yours and I managed to find a solution.
When setting the path did you remember to add the .ab at the end? i.e. C:\Android Stuff\Backup.ab
I kept getting Restore failed! because of it.
Hope it helps!
So I hope this thread isn't too useless. I've been researching how to restore my imei after losing 4g signal when my phone randomly (just sitting there on the desk, not touching it), decided to get stuck in a reboot loop.
Here's my specs:
Network: AT&T
ROM: CyanogenMod 11-20141112-SNAPSHOT-M12-d2lte
Modem: UCUEMJB
Recovery: ClockworkMod 6.0.4.3
Device Model: SAMSUNG-SGH-I747
Product Code: Not Active
PDA Version:
Baseband Version: I747UCUEMJB
CSC Version:
Kernel Release: 3.4.104-cyanogenmod-g9f57632
Kernel Version: #1 SMP PREEMPT Tue Nov 11 22:15:56 PST 2014
ROM Build: d2uc-user 4.3 JSS15J I747UCUEMJB release-keys
Android Version: 4.4.4
BusyBox Version: 1.22.1
SU Binary Version: 2.40:SUPERSU
So here's what I've learned. My IMEI was lost due to a weird Samsung backup procedure that backed up my /efs folder with essentially a blank copy of important information. I have my IMEI, but writing it to the phone is very difficult. From this tutorial I learned to download QPST, and somewhere else I heard about EFS Professional.
So I tried to use EFS Professional first, and have been able to connect my phone (Had to install adb first via the official android sdk). I was able to make a backup of my efs folder. I was also able to change the usb settings to DIAG + MODEM + ADB. Then I launched the Qualcomm NV Tools. From there, by unchecking "Send SPC" and "Read Phone" I was able to connect to the phone, but any other button I pressed didn't accomplish anything except disconnecting the phone again.
This is when I turned to QPST. I knew from EFS Professional which COM port my phone was using each time, and I added the COM ports to the QPST Configuration program for listening. But my phone was never listed as available in the ports tab, nor was it listed in my device manager under COM ports. I tried using the RF NV Item Manager anyway, entering in my IMEI "backwards" with an 8 in the first line and an "a" after the first real number in my IMEI, but my phone was never really connected, so of course nothing happened.
I learned this was probably because I have no IOTHiddenMenu / Qualcomm USB Settings Menu / whatever you want to call it with USSD codes, because I'm using an AOSP ROM (Cyanogenmod). This thread and this thread were useless in enabling DIAG mode, because of broken links and scripts that no longer work on newer versions of CM.
My next plan is to change ROMs to a TouchWiz ROM, but I haven't found a good one yet, especially considering I've upgraded my bootloader and I know that if I flash a ROM with a downgraded bootloader, I'll definitely brick my phone. So is there a ROM I can use with an upgraded bootloader that won't brick my phone and will allow me to enter DIAG mode so that I can connect to QPST via a COM Port, use the RF NV Item Manager, and put in my old IMEI? Or am I just going about this all wrong?
You do have to be on a TW ROM with a stock dialer for ussd codes to work. Based on everything you posted you should be on the mjb boot loader, but confirm that first. Enter this into a terminal or adb shell:
Code:
getprop ro.bootloader
If you are on an mjb bootloader, then this ROM should work for you http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=47816011&postcount=18. It's a rooted deknoxed at&t stock mjb.
Good luck.
---------- Post added at 12:04 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:57 AM ----------
You probably already discovered this in your research, but just in case. When you get your imei problem solved, before flashing something other than a TW ROM, enter this in a terminal or adb shell:
Code:
su
reboot nvbackup
That will fix Samsung's whoops and give you a working efs backup partition instead of a blank one.
Thanks! I'll try this and get back.
alexalexalex09 said:
Thanks! I'll try this and get back.
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You were right about the bootloader - when I looked up the ro.bootloader property, it spit back what I thought was my modem identifier, I747UCUEMJB - so yes, MJB. I'll get a chance to flash the new ROM tomorrow or the next day and see how it goes.
So, two steps forward and three steps back. I did install the new ROM. Initially, it appeared to work, because I was able to dial *#7284# to access the service mode menu and change UART to MODEM, and then dial *#0808# to access the USB Settings menu and change that to RMNET+DM+MODEM. After that, the phone showed up under COM5 in the Device Manager. I opened up QPST Configuration and added COM5 (labelled it "COM5") under ports. However, the phone never showed up (Phone column read "No Phone").
I then tried EFS Professional, but it was unable to detect the phone. I opened up the command line and tried an adb shell, but it didn't connect. Of course, the phone was in RMNET+DM+MODEM mode, not and ADB mode. I then went back into USB settings, changed it to DM+MODEM+ADB, and reconnected the phone. The phone wasn't detected by the computer, and hasn't been since.
I've restarted the phone and the computer multiple times (Windows 7 32 bit), uninstalled the phone drivers, reinstalled them in two different versions, uninstalled and reinstalled QPST (removing the relevant registry entries in between installs), and went through a number of combinations of settings on the phone. I tried with UART set to MODEM and PDA, with USB settings set to DM+MODEM+ADB, RMNET+DM+MODEM, MTP, and MTP+ADB. I made sure superuser was installed correctly and that developer mode was enabled. I still have not gotten the phone to charge in that USB port or show up in Device Manager in any way, even though the USB port on the computer still functions (can access flash drives from it). I plan to do some more googling and troubleshooting about this, but I haven't had the time to yet. On Wednesday I'll hopefully have a minute to try using my work laptop to access the phone. I think once I get the phone to be recognized via USB again I'll be able to have QPST Configuration recognize it, then I'll be able to use that RF NV Item Manager to enter in the new IMEI.
Also, in potentially unrelated news, my install of Titanium Backup is unable to recognize any apps I backed up, even ones that have been previously restored. It sees them in the backup folder (backup folder location says this folder contains 52 backups), but no apps wee listed in the backup/restore tab. Maybe this has something to do with the mount namespace separation setting in SuperSU? I'll test that later.
Some newer ROMs will install but not give you cell service without the newest bootloader and modem.
Try flashing the last release of CM11. I would not touch the bootloader, modem, or EFS folder until you try an older ROM.
audit13 said:
Some newer ROMs will install but not give you cell service without the newest bootloader and modem.
Try flashing the last release of CM11. I would not touch the bootloader, modem, or EFS folder until you try an older ROM.
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Thanks for chiming in, but I don't understand how this applies. I was on CM11 when my IMEI was removed. When you lose your IMEI, the main symptom is that you can't connect to 4g anymore, and you're stuck on EDGE, which is what happened in my case. I can in fact make calls and send texts, and even load web pages without wifi. It's just slow and prone to call dropping.
As for your advice to install an older ROM, I just flashed a stock ROM, the one linked above. It didn't cause my current lack of USB connection, because I had a USB connection for a while until I changed the UART and USB settings.
I definitely will not touch the bootloader - I've been warned about the dangers of downgrading from an MJB bootloader. I'm not sure what you mean by not touching the modem, but I'm going to assume it's as scary/difficult as the bootloader, so I'll be sure to stay away from changing that too.
As far as not touching the EFS folder, as far as I see it, that's my only way out of this hole, because my end goal is to replace the IMEI that I randomly lost last week, and that's part of the EFS folder in some way that hasn't been explained to me (although I know it has to do with NV settings, maybe some file called nvdata.bin that I've never found, or the /EFS/IMEI folder?). So I think I have to ignore that bit of advice, unless you can give me a good reason to change my goal in all this.
alexalexalex09 said:
As far as not touching the EFS folder, as far as I see it, that's my only way out of this hole, because my end goal is to replace the IMEI that I randomly lost last week, and that's part of the EFS folder in some way that hasn't been explained to me (although I know it has to do with NV settings, maybe some file called nvdata.bin that I've never found, or the /EFS/IMEI folder?). So I think I have to ignore that bit of advice, unless you can give me a good reason to change my goal in all this.
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I should note that I took a look at my EFS folder while writing this last post, and it's completely empty now. So that's fun.
I suggested flashing back to an older ROM because you made some changes since your original post.
I suggested not touching the bootloader, modem, and EFS because flashing an incompatible bootloader/modem combination can hard brick the phone.
Since your bootloader and modem match, I'm out of suggestions other than perhaps visiting a repair shop to have it fixed.
audit13 said:
I suggested flashing back to an older ROM because you made some changes since your original post.
I suggested not touching the bootloader, modem, and EFS because flashing an incompatible bootloader/modem combination can hard brick the phone.
Since your bootloader and modem match, I'm out of suggestions other than perhaps visiting a repair shop to have it fixed.
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Thanks for the clarifications. I did visit a shop to see if they could fix it, and all I got were blank stares and people who don't want to deal with IMEI repairs. So back to my own attempts! I realized a couple days ago that my problem in connecting to the computer is that I've developed a crack on my phone's USB port. Also, I think my home desktop's messed up. So with a nice, sturdy cable I installed all the necessary program on my work laptop (Samsung Drivers, ADB, ES Professional, and QPST just for fun). I tried ES Professional first and by using the Qualcomm NV tools I was able to restore my IMEI! I rebooted the phone and now by dialing *#06# I see my IMEI followed by "/ 17".
So now onto the next problem: Still no 4g signal. Under Connections > More Networks > Mobile Networks, there are some errors. I only have one APN, named "ATT Phone" with an APN of "phone" and an MMSC of mmsc.mobile.att.net, and under network operator it simply says "Default Setup". Some research later, I realized this is a common problem, and I guess it has to do with my NV Data being messed up. Obviously, item 550 (0x226) is correct, which I was able to verify using a program called NV-items-reader-writer, but something else is screwed up. Peoplearmy has released a tool that can restore a backup up QCN file, which of course I don't have, so I'm in the process of seeking help from a generous soul who has an app that might help me. Apparently I could also use someone else's NV Items backup, replacing their IMEI with my own. But, I don't have one, so I'm stuck waiting on someone to be nice to me
I did try the method posted here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1808408&page=16
But it didn't work. This thread and this thread and this thread were helpful to me for research.
alexalexalex09 said:
Thanks for the clarifications. I did visit a shop to see if they could fix it, and all I got were blank stares and people who don't want to deal with IMEI repairs. So back to my own attempts! I realized a couple days ago that my problem in connecting to the computer is that I've developed a crack on my phone's USB port. Also, I think my home desktop's messed up. So with a nice, sturdy cable I installed all the necessary program on my work laptop (Samsung Drivers, ADB, ES Professional, and QPST just for fun). I tried ES Professional first and by using the Qualcomm NV tools I was able to restore my IMEI! I rebooted the phone and now by dialing *#06# I see my IMEI followed by "/ 17".
So now onto the next problem: Still no 4g signal. Under Connections > More Networks > Mobile Networks, there are some errors. I only have one APN, named "ATT Phone" with an APN of "phone" and an MMSC of mmsc.mobile.att.net, and under network operator it simply says "Default Setup". Some research later, I realized this is a common problem, and I guess it has to do with my NV Data being messed up. Obviously, item 550 (0x226) is correct, which I was able to verify using a program called NV-items-reader-writer, but something else is screwed up. Peoplearmy has released a tool that can restore a backup up QCN file, which of course I don't have, so I'm in the process of seeking help from a generous soul who has an app that might help me. Apparently I could also use someone else's NV Items backup, replacing their IMEI with my own. But, I don't have one, so I'm stuck waiting on someone to be nice to me
I did try the method posted here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1808408&page=16
But it didn't work. This thread and this thread and this thread were helpful to me for research.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got it! Problem solved!!
So what I realized after going back over those research threads quickly was that I was using Peoplearmy's QCN generator incorrectly. Here's how I fixed it.
1. Opened QPST, followed directions here to connect my phone and start up QPST Software Download.
2. Having already injected my IMEI, I used the backup tab to make a backup.
3. I opened Peoplearmy's SG3QCNGenerator and imported the QCN file that QPST just created. I left "inject IMEI" unchecked, since I already had my original IMEI. I clicked Save As to set the directory and name of the new file, and clicked the Verify IMEI button that appeared to verify that it was correct.
This was the step I had missed - because I never had a valid QCN file to import, I never was able to create a new QCN file. My error in thinking was that, since my current QCN file was obviously messed up, I couldn't use it to make a new QCN file, but that's the whole point of this software.
4. Once I had the new QCN file, I went back to QPST's Software Download program and used the Restore tab. The QCN file generated by Peoplearmy's tool didn't match my model number, but I approved it anyway. It restored the QCN file correctly, but it had an error when it tried to reset the phone.
5. I rebooted the phone manually, and I now have 4G signal!
So, to summarize the difficulties I had:
1. I didn't make an nvbackup before I flashed CM a year ago, and it didn't hurt me until now.
2. I lost my IMEI and couldn't restore it because 1) I was on CM, which stopped me from putting my phone in DM + MODEM + ADB mode and 2) The computer/cable I was using to work on my phone, for whatever reason, were being stupid.
3. I didn't understand that in order to fix my phone I needed to restore my IMEI and repair my nv items (.qcn file)
4. I didn't realize that I could use Peoplearmy's tool to take a messed up nv items qcn file, fix it, and restore it to my phone.
All the tools I ended up needing: Samsung Drivers, ADB, ES Professional, QPST, and Peoplearmy's SG3 Data Restorer. Hope this helps someone else out there.
:good: thanks for posting fix.
"all i can really do , is stay out of my own way and let the will of heaven be done"
Great job. Thanks for posting your solution back here so others can find it.