Database Info

My IMEI problem fixed :D

hi guys im not sure if this will work on all our galaxy s 4g's but this is how i fixed my imei problem.
step1. used odin v1.85 to flash back to KB5DeodexV21
step2. using root explorer i went into efs folder
step3. copied nv_data.bin
Step4. still in the same folder open root then afs and finally settings.
step5. paste nv_data.bin and reset the device
hope this helps! God Bless

chino1987 said:
hi guys im not sure if this will work on all our galaxy s 4g's but this is how i fixed my imei problem.
step1. used odin v1.85 to flash back to KB5DeodexV21
step2. using root explorer i went into efs folder
step3. copied nv_data.bin
Step4. still in the same folder open root then afs and finally settings.
step5. paste nv_data.bin and reset the device
hope this helps! God Bless
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this only works if you have it backed up, many of us dont have it backed up or we deleted it for whatever reason. im glad you fixed yours, i have to send it to tmobile

I didnt have a back up i flashed mine back to this rom and it restored the files since i had deleted them by mistake
Sent from my SGH-T959V using XDA Premium App

juan16h said:
this only works if you have it backed up, many of us dont have it backed up or we deleted it for whatever reason. im glad you fixed yours, i have to send it to tmobile
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
why didnt u guys just snag the recovery image out of that folder open it extract the phones default backup of the iemi and copy it back it would have saved u all like a major headache.

RaverX3X said:
why didnt u guys just snag the recovery image out of that folder open it extract the phones default backup of the iemi and copy it back it would have saved u all like a major headache.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What if you dont have the folder backed up? Will it still work with this method?
Sent from my SGH-T959V using XDA App

nv_data.bin not found
I did what u did , but nv_data.bin file not found
i used hc-ktool to backup efs , and also nv_data.bin not found

Restoring IMEI from backup

Hi,
I have .nv_data.bak.md5 and .nv_data.bak files in the /efs folder...
They are dated as far as a year ago. they should be ok.
When I try to erase the nv_data.bin, something it re-creating it...
I can see that in the nv.log:
nv_data.bin does not exist.
default MV restored
how can I copy the backup ??

bump... please... help

SOLUTION!
I've wiped everything and installed a stock rom from my phone (Nexus S)
This was the first time that I saw a valid IMEI, but... it was a general IMEI 000444 something.
I had to root the phone again, installed root explorer and paste the good efs folder from back, reboot and it worked...
This time I was able to paste the file without getting restored from somewhere (No idea where it came from)
Gil.

Terrifying when your IMEI goes wrong, but good to see how you solved it, thanks
Sent from my SNES

[Q] Generic Imei number

Hi,
for some reason i lost my Imei number. Im not sure when or how, but i would guess it was due to flashing.
Now i do have a backup of my efs folder, but somehow putting that one back doesnt work.
I get the following error in my nv.log:
Backup NV restored.
"MD5 fail. Original MD5 '17f88xxxx etc'
Computed MD5 'fbe9xxxxx etc'
Anybody with a solution to this?
I was thinking it might be because with ICS my radio was changed to the new one, so it makes a different MD5 checksum. Does this make any sence at all?
[edit]
ok this is really weird. Apperently ICS causes this. When i restore a nandroid back to GB and restore my backed up imei files, they stick and i have my imei back. As soon as i go back to ICS the problem is back.

Lowroad said:
Hi,
for some reason i lost my Imei number. Im not sure when or how, but i would guess it was due to flashing.
Now i do have a backup of my efs folder, but somehow putting that one back doesnt work.
I get the following error in my nv.log:
Backup NV restored.
"MD5 fail. Original MD5 '17f88xxxx etc'
Computed MD5 'fbe9xxxxx etc'
Anybody with a solution to this?
I was thinking it might be because with ICS my radio was changed to the new one, so it makes a different MD5 checksum. Does this make any sence at all?
[edit]
ok this is really weird. Apperently ICS causes this. When i restore a nandroid back to GB and restore my backed up imei files, they stick and i have my imei back. As soon as i go back to ICS the problem is back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're rooted, use Root Explorer & navigate to efs folder, then delete your nv_data.bin file, then rename your nv_data.bak file to nv_data.bin, therfore changing it from a bak file to a bin file, then reboot & see if this helps! If this fails try this technique here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqLK_2I-SBM Works with nexus s!

CrackDaddy said:
If you're rooted, use Root Explorer & navigate to efs folder, then delete your nv_data.bin file, then rename your nv_data.bak file to nv_data.bin, therfore changing it from a bak file to a bin file, then reboot & see if this helps! If this fails try this technique here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqLK_2I-SBM Works with nexus s!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for the ideas!
However, i dont have any bak files. I dont think i need them, since i do have the original .bin file.
The original does work, but in ICS it doesnt stick. As soon as i reboot its back to 00049 again.
In GB it does stick, but obviously i prefer to stay on ICS
Very weird problem.. cant be the only one having this issue?

Lowroad said:
thanks for the ideas!
However, i dont have any bak files. I dont think i need them, since i do have the original .bin file.
The original does work, but in ICS it doesnt stick. As soon as i reboot its back to 00049 again.
In GB it does stick, but obviously i prefer to stay on ICS
Very weird problem.. cant be the only one having this issue?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You should have bak files!? bak files are for recorded changes! You say you have a backup of your cfs folder? if you do, open that & do as I mentioned, then try repacing that folder with the one on your device, reboot & see if that helps!

CrackDaddy said:
You should have bak files!? bak files are for recorded changes! You say you have a backup of your cfs folder? if you do, open that & do as I mentioned, then try repacing that folder with the one on your device, reboot & see if that helps!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well as I said, i have done that and it does work in ics... Until i reboot. Then its back to 0049...
In gb it does stick after rebooting, which seems strange to me.

not an ideal solution but why not just script the file copy. so when you reboot you dont need to do it manualy...

[Q] Can anybody explain what happened to my efs folder

Today I discovered that my Nexus S (9023) had no valid IMEI number. I suspect this happened while I was playing around with TWRP (I'm already back to CWM for the record).
Anyway, I saw no reason to panic, since I had backed up /efs back in june and I still had that backup.
At first, I tried to extract the tarball and copy it's contents to the /efs folder. This lead to my phone not even recognizing my sim card anymore. I tried several other methods of restoring my efs folder including this and this (edit: and this). I didn't succeed with any of these methods to get my sim recognized or have a valid IMEI number. In fact, I even ended up getting an efs folder inside the efs folder and another one inside that one (so ultimately leading to a /efs/efs/efs folder).
Then I wondered what would happen if I were to just delete the whole /efs folder. To be sure, I only renamed the thing to /efs_back. The result was amazing. Immediately, I had a valid IMEI number (the one that actually belongs to my phone). The efs_back folder was now gone however and /efs was back (with just the right content).
So what I can't help wondering is how my /efs folder was miraculously restored. Does the 9023 have some sort of self restoring feature, or did I do something right after all?

Today my IMEI was gone again, but I did not flash anything. I tried again renaming /efs to /efs_back and again, it was immediately replace by a /efs folder, but this time, I needed to reboot to get my IMEI back.
Can somebody please explain what's going on? I'm running CyberGR-MOD ver.8. Should I report my issues in the CyberGR-MOD thread?

Krekker said:
Today my IMEI was gone again, but I did not flash anything. I tried again renaming /efs to /efs_back and again, it was immediately replace by a /efs folder, but this time, I needed to reboot to get my IMEI back.
Can somebody please explain what's going on? I'm running CyberGR-MOD ver.8. Should I report my issues in the CyberGR-MOD thread?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Once you get it back, delete the bin files in the folder, then rename the bak files to bin files (ie: the bak files will become bin files after renaming!), reboot & see how you go from there! If all is well then it should stick on each reboot & you should then copy your efs folder to somewhere safe! Your bak files record the changes, so when you've deleted the bin files needed for connection & rename/change the bak files to bin files, the correct information that recorded the change should stick on each reboot!

CrackDaddy said:
Your bak files record the changes, so when you've deleted the bin files needed for connection & rename/change the bak files to bin files, the correct information that recorded the change should stick on each reboot!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't quite understand. Aren't the .bak files exact copies of the .bin files? And what do you mean by change? What change are you referring to?
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

..

Krekker said:
I don't quite understand. Aren't the .bak files exact copies of the .bin files? And what do you mean by change? What change are you referring to?
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The bak file records any "changes" to the bin file (before you had a problem, ie: before your imei got corrupted!), meaning that if anything goes wrong with the bin file, the bak file will have the "correct" information stored on it before that "change" happened! Why not just try what I've said? because at this stage you have nothing to lose that you haven't already lost!
PS: if this fix doesn't correct your problem, try following this guide here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=881162 This works with the Nexus S also, good luck!

The problem is not how to fix my IMEI. I'm just very confused about why a simple renaming of the whole /efs folder fixes the problem and what caused my IMEI to get corrupted in the first place.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

As the great member Election day taught me a great way of backing up the efs folder as .img by using the cat command in cwm recovery..as soon as you get a valid imei use that method.

Krekker said:
The problem is not how to fix my IMEI. I'm just very confused about why a simple renaming of the whole /efs folder fixes the problem and what caused my IMEI to get corrupted in the first place.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aside from user intervention, who knows why /efs managed to get corrupted - anything i say is just speculation.
As for the renaming, most likely some kind of factory-backup that was restored when you (effectively) deleted it. This is just fuel for figuring out whether these /efs backups mean anything when the phone can fix itself, but most of us are perfectly happy without the worry of sorting out our IMEI's

IMEI CORRUPTED [Solved]

For those of you whom have flashed a rom for this phone, only to find you want to go back to stock, you may eventually run into a problem.
You lose data connectivity, EDGE2, 3G, 4G.
If you take a look into About Phone area in the Settings, you click status, and you will find your IMEI is corrupted.
Worst case you have to use a HEX Editor to change the values back to default, but I found a simple workaround that any new user can follow
Must be rooted.
Download Root Explorer or ES File Explorer
Change your settings to allow root options
Go to the root of your SD
Navigate to the efs folder
You will see a folder called imei, but you don't want that, you want the root folder
Now go into the afs folder
Now Settings
you should now be in /efs/root/afs/settings
nv_data.bin is the file you are looking for, copy it to the root of your internal or external sd card.
Now delete the nv_data.bin from /efs/root/afs/settings and reboot
Check your IMEI number as you did prior to the walkthrough, chances are, if you are lucky, the OS grabbed the imei during the boot.
Good luck, hope this helps someone like it did me.

imei
andrew2163 said:
For those of you whom have flashed a rom for this phone, only to find you want to go back to stock, you may eventually run into a problem.
You lose data connectivity, EDGE2, 3G, 4G.
If you take a look into About Phone area in the Settings, you click status, and you will find your IMEI is corrupted.
Worst case you have to use a HEX Editor to change the values back to default, but I found a simple workaround that any new user can follow
Must be rooted.
Download Root Explorer or ES File Explorer
Change your settings to allow root options
Go to the root of your SD
Navigate to the efs folder
You will see a folder called imei, but you don't want that, you want the root folder
Now go into the afs folder
Now Settings
you should now be in /efs/root/afs/settings
nv_data.bin is the file you are looking for, copy it to the root of your internal or external sd card.
Now delete the nv_data.bin from /efs/root/afs/settings and reboot
Check your IMEI number as you did prior to the walkthrough, chances are, if you are lucky, the OS grabbed the imei during the boot.
Good luck, hope this helps someone like it did me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you possibly tell my step by step how to fix it in a hex editor and what hex editor to download? I actually have a couple of apps that wont work without the imei

I hate this phone. 2 days now and still no help on how to rewrite my imei back to my phone. debating on trashing it and buying another phone now.

Omg thanks!!!!
DUDE, THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!
I literally spend 7 days trying to get this phone fixed. A T-Mobile representitive finally identified my IMEI as the problem and told me I would have to buy a new phone myself, since rooting it kills the warranty.
BUT
After searching around a bit, I found your post.
YOU FIXED A PROBLEM NO T-MOBILE REPRESENTATIVE EVEN KNEW ABOUT!!!
Saved me a bunch of money!!
Seriously man, great post. Big help!

Can someone tell me in here what should I do if my "efs" folder is EMPTY and I've no backup?
Sorry if I'm resurrecting this thread from the grave.

efs folder not found
What to do if there is no efs folder or a file called nv_data.bin?

I did a low level format to my phone in order to unbrick it, could this fix my imei?
Could this brick my phone again?