IMEI=0 ..what are my options? - Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III

looks like i had some bad luck today. my IMEI reads 0. from what i'm reading if i can restore a nandroid from before this happened it is possible to fix this. as luck would have it just before i realized there was a problem i deleted a whole bunch of nandroids i had because when i made the backups i hadn't cleared the cache and their size was massive. i never even heard of this IMEI problem before so i never made a backup of my efs folder. so i have some questions about what to do next.
1) i have an incomplete nandroid on my external sd card that wasnt able to complete the backup process before running out of room. i know for a fact that the system was backed up. the backup failed only after it tried backing up the data folder. is there any way of only restoring the system part of the backup? i tried an advanced restore to only restore /system and it said md5 checksum failed.
2) is there a way of undeleting the nandroids i deleted? they're on my internal sd card. so far the undelete programs ive found for both windows and android only restore from the external sd card
3) is there any other ways of restoring an IMEI?
help is much appreciated.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1802024
Go there, and that will help you to fix the problem
As for #1 and #2 im not completely sure

Neverendingxsin said:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1802024
Go there, and that will help you to fix the problem
As for #1 and #2 im not completely sure
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WOW. that looks easy. maybe too easy. is there a catch? i had read somewhere that using this method forces the phone to constantly roam but i could be wrong.

n3k said:
WOW. that looks easy. maybe too easy. is there a catch? i had read somewhere that using this method forces the phone to constantly roam but i could be wrong.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It may or may not be "roaming" but as far as ive read the roaming part is cosmetic and isn't really happening. But because you didn't backup thats your only known method to get it restored

so i have good news and bad news.
good news: got the IMEI back
bad news: the mobile network state is disconnected, service state is out of service and mobile network type is unknown
in other words, that didn't fix my problem like i had hoped it would have. i can get 4g service. but nothing else.

n3k said:
so i have good news and bad news.
good news: got the IMEI back
bad news: the mobile network state is disconnected, service state is out of service and mobile network type is unknown
in other words, that didn't fix my problem like i had hoped it would have. i can get 4g service. but nothing else.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same thing happened to my dad.

Did you reprovision your device after restoring?

You may be able to extract the nv info from your partial backup. How to do this is beyond my pay grade.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

honestly now that the imei is fixed you may need to perform a reprovision. to do this, go to a touchwiz rom (any should work) and dial this in the phone:
*2767*3855#
it should fix your data services now that imei is intact but beware it will also perform a factory reset (like the ones performed in clockwork mod before flashing roms) as in it will dlete your apps but it is worth it. it will wipe then reboot (dont worry it will take a while so dont panic if bootanim takes a while) when it is done your data services should be back let me know if it works

Stryker1297 said:
honestly now that the imei is fixed you may need to perform a reprovision. to do this, go to a touchwiz rom (any should work) and dial this in the phone:
*2767*3855#
it should fix your data services now that imei is intact but beware it will also perform a factory reset (like the ones performed in clockwork mod before flashing roms) as in it will dlete your apps but it is worth it. it will wipe then reboot (dont worry it will take a while so dont panic if bootanim takes a while) when it is done your data services should be back let me know if it works
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i think i heard about this trick somewhere before. doesn't it wipe the entire internal sd card?

n3k said:
i think i heard about this trick somewhere before. doesn't it wipe the entire internal sd card?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had to do this to get my data services back after injecting my IMEI. Total pain but it was worth it to get service restored. Only problem now is that it shows the phone as roaming but that's no big deal since it's only cosmetic.

crshinn said:
I had to do this to get my data services back after injecting my IMEI. Total pain but it was worth it to get service restored. Only problem now is that it shows the phone as roaming but that's no big deal since it's only cosmetic.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
so to confirm, it does wipe the internal sd card right? im at work and i would love to reprovision this right now but if it wipes all content on the internal sd card i want to wait until i get home so i can back it all up first. im not worried about a simple hard factory wipe since i have everything backed up with titanium pro.

n3k said:
so to confirm, it does wipe the internal sd card right? im at work and i would love to reprovision this right now but if it wipes all content on the internal sd card i want to wait until i get home so i can back it all up first. im not worried about a simple hard factory wipe since i have everything backed up with titanium pro.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have everything on my external SD card so I don't know what reprovisioning does to the internal sd card. I wouldn't try it until you backup.

crshinn said:
I have everything on my external SD card so I don't know what reprovisioning does to the internal sd card. I wouldn't try it until you backup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
looks like i was right. it does wipe the internal sd clean. i thought i had read this earlier and i finally found the post i had read: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=30357448&postcount=2

well i reprovisioned it and... it worked! it has that annoying roaming notification going on but i could care less at this point.
i'm not saying that backing up my internal sd card was a waste of time... but it was a waste of time. as far as i can tell it didn't touch any files on the internal sd. i downloaded titanium backup from the play store and it restored all my apps just like before.
thanks for your help guys! :victory:

n3k said:
well i reprovisioned it and... it worked! it has that annoying roaming notification going on but i could care less at this point.
i'm not saying that backing up my internal sd card was a waste of time... but it was a waste of time. as far as i can tell it didn't touch any files on the internal sd. i downloaded titanium backup from the play store and it restored all my apps just like before.
thanks for your help guys! :victory:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Another victory for root!

Related

[Q] Clockwork and wiping data question...

Ok simple question I know but its in not easy to get a DEFINITIVE answer for (yes I have searched). When the time comes for me to install a custom ROM to my beloved Nexus S, it is highly recommended to do a full system wipe....fine, but does this leave my precious SD saved files intact or is it literally a nuclear option wipe? Apologies for this simplistic question but I prefer caution to bravery
You're forced into it anyway, unlocking the phone wipes it.
Rusty! said:
You're forced into it anyway, unlocking the phone wipes it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for that, I am unlocked and rooted, did that the day I got it and realised that procedure would kill the SD card. Does the same apply to, for example, loading cyanogen off rom manager? I mean would my nandroid backup of my current rom still be in the Clockwork backup folder on the SD card after a wipe? (I got it saved to my laptop anyway) Thanks
It leaves your sd contents intact. The wipe just clears out everything for the operating system like your apps. Just always make a backup to pc just in case.
Very good, thank you for the advice. I will backup all possible things and all will be fine. I worried that with the SD card being internal on the Nexus S that it made a wipe that much more complete!
willcpfc said:
Very good, thank you for the advice. I will backup all possible things and all will be fine. I worried that with the SD card being internal on the Nexus S that it made a wipe that much more complete!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Since you're rooted I suggest you get Titanium backup. Go for the paid version, it makes restoring everything much easier.
icandy75 said:
Since you're rooted I suggest you get Titanium backup. Go for the paid version, it makes restoring everything much easier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Got it I do titanium backup's, Nandroid backups with Clockwork, and just for completeness save the lot to the laptop....I should pop it all on a memory stick just in case my laptop packs up! Where others boldly go......I follow behind with caution
That's actually quite funny. So far I have yet to have an issue with my NS wiping SD card so I would say you SHOULD be safe. I did however loose EVERYTHING twice when testing different roms and kernels with my Vibrant so now like yourself I backup EVERYTHING. When restoring with Ti I suggest you only restore you apps and not full system. That has been known to cause issues.
Agreed. Titanium for apps only. I guess it would not be the end of the world to lose everything but it would be a hell of a job to put it all back how it used to be......and that scares me man!! And thanks for the advice to my reassuring but simple questions.
If you have Titanium Pro, you can also backup to dropbox so you always have it with you on the go. Well, sort of anyways.

A word of Caution

After installing a custom ROM, I discovered I should have repartitioned my internal sd card, and fix permissions.
So, I carefully backed-up my data and started the process.
Everything was going as expected. Right up to rebooting the system. BEFORE REBOOTING THE SYSTEM RESTORE THE DATA. I didn't, and lost everything.
This is the best website I've found for newbie like me. Use it, study it, and don't make the mistake I made.
http://viewsonic-gtablet-for-dummies.webs.com/repartition.htm
Have fun and be careful out there.
Don't forget to donate too.
Or use a program like Titanium Backup to back your data up onto an external SD card rather than the internal one?
Or am I missing something here?
Titanim can save your apps and data but not what you have saved on your SD. With a repartition it is a clean wipe of your SD so all is lost, even the backup you have made through cwm that you might have forgotten to move to your PC pre format. Keep a nand backup on your PC at all times, I do a weakly backup and toss it on my PC. That way if I have a bad flash and need to repartition I'm not loosing much. Also I have a starting point other than a stock rom to work with after a full restore.luck favors the prepared ;-)
captirwin said:
This is the best website I've found for newbie like me. Use it, study it, and don't make the mistake I made.
http://viewsonic-gtablet-for-dummies.webs.com/repartition.htm
Have fun and be careful out there.
Don't forget to donate too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
I wanted to switch to a ROM with a 1.2 Bootloader, but I was weary of all the steps involved. I went to this site, and he saved me a lot of time. After fighting to get my tablet to connect to my PC, it only took a few minutes to get to 1.2BL with a new ClockWorkMod version.

Please help!!

I tried to flash 2.3.5 to my galaxy s 4g and it was a bad rom so I tried to put it back the stock+root ROM using ODIN. Now whenever I turn my phone on it just keeps rebootiing I have been trying to get it fixed but whatever I do it just seems to keep rebooting. Sorry if there is a fix and I didnt see it but its late and im very stressed now that my phone isnt working.....
What do you mean you flashed a bad ROM? Can you be more specific?
Try doing a battery pull and reflashing it in Odin.
yea, just follow the NOOBS GUIDE TO ODIN in the BIBLE. from there, you should be fine. instead of using KB5, i would recommend using Raver's KC1 (search for it). that will give you a fresh start.
Sorry I was really tired and stressed out last night but I got it to work finally. I just put 2.3.4 on it and it worked right away. I do have another question though. This is the first time I have ever actually flashed a ROM on my phone. Is there a way to get all the apps back that were on my SD card or do I have to re-download all of them? Also if I have to re-download all the apps is there a way I can get my saves back for the game?
onlyonthursday said:
Sorry I was really tired and stressed out last night but I got it to work finally. I just put 2.3.4 on it and it worked right away. I do have another question though. This is the first time I have ever actually flashed a ROM on my phone. Is there a way to get all the apps back that were on my SD card or do I have to re-download all of them? Also if I have to re-download all the apps is there a way I can get my saves back for the game?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I maybe be wrong. But your apps are saved on your phone. some off the data from these apps might be saved on your sd card, and some may not. In the future, prior to flashing a rom, in stall a program called titanium backup from the market. It will backup all your apps and data in one click to your sd card. then once u flash a new rom install TB first and restore those apps. they will all have there log ins, games will be where u left them, ect.
But for now, yes u have to use the market to restore the apps one by one.
Mizun0h said:
I maybe be wrong. But your apps are saved on your phone. some off the data from these apps might be saved on your sd card, and some may not. In the future, prior to flashing a rom, in stall a program called titanium backup from the market. It will backup all your apps and data in one click to your sd card. then once u flash a new rom install TB first and restore those apps. they will all have there log ins, games will be where u left them, ect.
But for now, yes u have to use the market to restore the apps one by one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I figured I would. I will see if I can look through the files and get any save files. Is it ok to re-format my SD card after saving every thing i need? Just so I can start off fresh?
you can back everything up by making a nandroid backup.
go into cwm, backup and restore and select backup. then when you want to restore after flashing a rom, go to backup and restore, then go to advanced and then restore data. that should do it
jager555 said:
you can back everything up by making a nandroid backup.
go into cwm, backup and restore and select backup. then when you want to restore after flashing a rom, go to backup and restore, then go to advanced and then restore data. that should do it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is only to help me before I flash right? I'm kinda screwed as of right now and have to start from scratch. No big deal to me really just means I lost all my saved games. Is it ok to re-format my SD card right now?
if you reformat, you will lose everything on the sd...so its up to you. after you've flashed the rom, you can take it out and reformat and the rom will run fine, if that is what you mean.
jager555 said:
if you reformat, you will lose everything on the sd...so its up to you. after you've flashed the rom, you can take it out and reformat and the rom will run fine, if that is what you mean.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ya i know I will lose everything. I already backed up everything. But I have one problem. My phone won't let me click on re-format for the SD card. Should I use my comp to re-format it?
make sure you unmount it first. or you can boot into cwm and format the sd
First Go into Download Mode
this is how you do it: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1069032
Then You Already know How To odin So just do your normal Procedure and you should be okay heres the Bible incase you need Anything else its all here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1117554&highlight=bible
if anything just msg me but ill keep reading your thread to see if u fixed it... =)

USB Mass Storage not showing

Hey so not sure if this is sense thing or Android OS thing, but basically when plugging in my phone to the PC, Mount SD card is not an option.
I know this isn't the card, phone hardware, pc, or cable. Has to be something in the OS. I've searched all over and I can't find a option in the UI to enable / disable this....
Troubleshooting steps:
1. Tried Different Cable.
2. Tried different PC.
3. Formatted SD card and re-enabled.
4. Tried Differnt SD card (at this point I thought it was phone hardware)
5. I loaded ICS and noticed mass storage was there and working fine.
6. Loaded CoreDroid (was using RCMix3D). Option was there.
7. Did a Titanium Restore and tada option gone again.
8. Loaded RCMix3D again, option there again, until I did a titanium restore.
9. Tried with and without USB Debugging.
So this tells me something I changed somewhere disabled this (no idea how I did it because I wouldn't intentionally do that). Any help would be appricated such a weird thing... and I've seen a couple threads where this was a problem, but never saw a solution posted ... and I think this is not Sense but Android as it seems to be an issue on different models other than HTC as well.
Thanks for any help in advance!
What are you restoring with Titanium? Titanium should be used to backup user data and user apps ONLY. That is it. Sounds like you are restoring system files/apps too which is a big no no and is possibly causing your problem.
I have been doing system files too ... probably a good call on that one!! I'll reflash my rom now and let ya know, I've always done system files, but it makes sense why that is the issue.... still don't know how it's happening..
Corruption maybe?
xtremedelta said:
I have been doing system files too ... probably a good call on that one!! I'll reflash my rom now and let ya know, I've always done system files, but it makes sense why that is the issue.... still don't know how it's happening..
Corruption maybe?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well, to be plain and simple about it, restoring SYSTEM data from TiBu has ALWAYS been a no-no going from ROM to ROM.
restore MISSING apps and data only....never system stuff.
So that didn't work. Did an App Data only restore, not even an app restore, but that didn't fix it. I did check and USB Mass storage was working before the restore right after I flashed the new rom...
So maybe an app breaking it? Weird scenario for sure. I mean worst case scenario is I only do a restore on apps I know I need data from. Other than I dunno.
xtremedelta said:
So that didn't work. Did an App Data only restore, not even an app restore, but that didn't fix it. I did check and USB Mass storage was working before the restore right after I flashed the new rom...
So maybe an app breaking it? Weird scenario for sure. I mean worst case scenario is I only do a restore on apps I know I need data from. Other than I dunno.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
*/MISSING APPS AND DATA/*
thats the key....dont just 'restore apps and data'
xtremedelta said:
So that didn't work. Did an App Data only restore, not even an app restore, but that didn't fix it. I did check and USB Mass storage was working before the restore right after I flashed the new rom...
So maybe an app breaking it? Weird scenario for sure. I mean worst case scenario is I only do a restore on apps I know I need data from. Other than I dunno.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What didn't fix it? Your ROM is screwed up and you have to start fresh and quit making the mistakes you are making. Did you wipe and reflash your ROM? And it worked, you can connect to mass storage? Then it is fixed. Then when you go to use Titanium backup to restore your apps choose "Restore all apps with data". Then on the next screen you have to uncheck everything that is NOT in white text. Red is system apps and Green is your accounts and settings. While restoring the green items in most cases is safe, it can still cause many conflicts. So lets not do the green restore yet. We can go back and pick through the green items later.
After you restore the white items only report back if mass storage is working correctly.
Agoattamer said:
What didn't fix it? Your ROM is screwed up and you have to start fresh and quit making the mistakes you are making. Did you wipe and reflash your ROM? And it worked, you can connect to mass storage? Then it is fixed. Then when you go to use Titanium backup to restore your apps choose "Restore all apps with data". Then on the next screen you have to uncheck everything that is NOT in white text. Red is system apps and Green is your accounts and settings. While restoring the green items in most cases is safe, it can still cause many conflicts. So lets not do the green restore yet. We can go back and pick through the green items later.
After you restore the white items only report back if mass storage is working correctly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks... thats pretty much what I've been doing. When I saw the Rom was working pre-restore I knew what was breaking it (especially when only restoring app data. I just didn't know what EXACTLY was breaking it, and wanted to see if anyone else heard of this. I've been starting fresh and I'll admit to the system data restore (didn't know that was a "no no") but other than that ,, yea I'm trying to quit making the mistakes I'm making.... Thanks for the advise tho.
Similar issue.
i dont wana be a F****** noob and post everywhere. so this is the closest i could find. anyway, htc inspire, at&t, no option to mount as usb drive. i have had my phone rooted running rcmix3D. changed the boot logo option and it got stuck at the boot screen. eventually restored to a previous save (still rooted). i have to sd cards. 32G and 8G. i have booth backed up to my computer from a previous version as well. my 32 will not read on my phone after the fix. i tried reformatting it on my phone through the hboot and it will not mount. so i pluged it into my computer and it freezes "my computer" whether i double click it or right click it it does the same. so i am trying to mount my phone as a usb drive to get my computer to read the sd card to whip it. i have been trying via hboot but i get the error "E:unable to write to ums lunfile (no such file or directory)" excuse the long reply
If I gather what you are saying, your sd card is corrupted or damaged? Your phone and your computer won't read it? But you want to put it in your phone and have your computer read it in mass storage mode? Sounds like to me the card is fried no matter how you look at it. If it is under warranty, contact the manufaturer. If not, then toss it and get a new one.
you go it. i did call the manufacturer and they said it was a hardware issue. did not specify what kind. but they suggested to to return it. if the store wouldn't take it to just call them back and they would exchange it. pretty much the only solution to the "I/O device error" thank you for the responce though

[Q] CWM Backups not restoring

I have made multiple backups, but none of them will seem to restore properly. It always fails while restoring system! Any ideas? This is kind of a problem, as when I bootlooped yesterday, I had to wipe data and reinstall my rom.
Did you try clearing data, cache and dalvik cache before restoring?
What rom were u coming from?
eL_MeXiCaNo said:
Did you try clearing data, cache and dalvik cache before restoring?
What rom were u coming from?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have cleared everything, did this from supercharged and Sonya, and possibly stock, but I don't remember
Maybe you have a corrupt SD card and it's not backing up correctly? Did you change the names of the folders?
Because if you came from stock and tried to restore and it didn't work then there must be a physical problem because it sounds you have tried every software method.
You can always send the backed up data to me and ll try to restore it. If it restores for me then theres a software problem on your end, if it doesnt that means your backup got corrupted somehow
eL_MeXiCaNo said:
Maybe you have a corrupt SD card and it's not backing up correctly? Did you change the names of the folders?
Because if you came from stock and tried to restore and it didn't work then there must be a physical problem because it sounds you have tried every software method.
You can always send the backed up data to me and ll try to restore it. If it restores for me then theres a software problem on your end, if it doesnt that means your backup got corrupted somehow
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
can I just send you /system? I don't want you to have my data
Sent from my MB865 using XDA
haha yea, thats what I meant, I don't need the data, the system is what counts
eL_MeXiCaNo said:
haha yea, thats what I meant, I don't need the data, the system is what counts
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, i'll PM you with a link to download it.
Are there any settings in CWM that could effect this? just an idea as this is drivng me insane and seems to be a problem that only I have. should I wipe the system partition before restoring? or is that a bad idea.
Still having problem
Just want to get this back up top since I'm still having this problem. since others were able to restore it I think it is something on my end. I am working on my reviews project so I want this working, so I am kind of desperate for help. I get this feeling that it is going to be something really simple, but someone please help me.
It might be your SD card. Try backing up your files, and then formatting the card. Then boot into CWM, make a backup, and try to recover it.
I've been putting off formatting since I have 25 GB of music that takes a while to transfer but maybe I'll try
Sent from my MB865 using XDA
lkrasner said:
I've been putting off formatting since I have 25 GB of music that takes a while to transfer but maybe I'll try
Sent from my MB865 using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just curious, exactly what erros do you encounter?
farshad525hou said:
Just curious, exactly what erros do you encounter?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Failed to restore /system
lkrasner said:
Failed to restore /system
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
interesting... Never had that happen to me before.
formatting my sdcard now, it's going to take a few hours to transfer all my stuff back (30+ GB), but i'll kep you updated, hopefully this works so I can try out all the roms for my review thread, then come back to where I am now.
EDIT: just realized I never even formatted the card when I got it as it is now named "MOT" so maybe the phone just didn't like that. transferring back now at 2.8 MB/s does that seem slow? or is it normal. anyways, do the math, this may take a while.
lkrasner said:
formatting my sdcard now, it's going to take a few hours to transfer all my stuff back (30+ GB), but i'll kep you updated, hopefully this works so I can try out all the roms for my review thread, then come back to where I am now.
EDIT: just realized I never even formatted the card when I got it as it is now named "MOT" so maybe the phone just didn't like that. transferring back now at 2.8 MB/s does that seem slow? or is it normal. anyways, do the math, this may take a while.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
:\ One of the corrupt files might have been transfered off your sd card, so right now you may be re-adding corrupt files to it. Are you moving or copy+pasting?
If you allow the phone to format the phone (which is what I do) it will name the SD card "MOT".
The End.
cogeary said:
:\ One of the corrupt files might have been transfered off your sd card, so right now you may be re-adding corrupt files to it. Are you moving or copy+pasting?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cut+ paste. I will try before adding the music to make sure. the rest only took 10 minutes. If it fails I will transfer less and see if I can figure it out.
Still having problem
this time it got most of the way through restoring system then failed. any ideas. could it be a corrupt system file.
If you're using Sonya with the built in CWM, you can install Rom Manager and flash the Bionic recovery. Plus that gives you one click back up and restore through Rom Manager.

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