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About to root, do I need to backup my IMEI? How do i do it?

So I'm about to root my S3 and am wondering if I need to backup my IMEI. I found the thread showing how to, but then the first post was updated saying not to use this method. I read through the thread and some people say to still use it, others not too.
If I need to back it up to avoid any potential issues I'll def do it, but I just don't know where to go to do it correctly.
Suggestions??

mpetruzz said:
So I'm about to root my S3 and am wondering if I need to backup my IMEI. I found the thread showing how to, but then the first post was updated saying not to use this method. I read through the thread and some people say to still use it, others not too.
If I need to back it up to avoid any potential issues I'll def do it, but I just don't know where to go to do it correctly.
Suggestions??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
make sure you follow the Verizon section of this thread (read, read, and then read all the instructions):
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1801997

mpetruzz said:
So I'm about to root my S3 and am wondering if I need to backup my IMEI. I found the thread showing how to, but then the first post was updated saying not to use this method. I read through the thread and some people say to still use it, others not too.
If I need to back it up to avoid any potential issues I'll def do it, but I just don't know where to go to do it correctly.
Suggestions??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't need to back up your IMEI if you are simply rooting. I believe it is only AOSP roms that people have had IMEI issues with. Stock roms like Synergy, Bean's, and NoSympathy's are safe.
That being said...I backed mine up anyways

Thanks I didn't realize that the issues were only in the aosp roms.
What method did you use to back it up?? I've read good things about cm and was thinking about maybe trying it.

mpetruzz said:
Thanks I didn't realize that the issues were only in the aosp roms.
What method did you use to back it up?? I've read good things about cm and was thinking about maybe trying it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just used this method. I ran it in a terminal emulator on my phone, and then sent the backup to Dropbox.

Help, deleted nv_data.bin

I was helping a friend to unlock his phone, and I accidentally delete nv_data.bin and dont have a backup. I know the original imei, is therea way to regenerate the imei? If I dont have backup. Please if somebody know i need help

Try one clicking back to stock

ok, i will download in my house, but, i was reading that one clicking dont touch the efs partition, and that file was there

Was the phone on gingerbread or ICS/JB? If it wasn't on gingerbread (Assuming it was a rom not based on CM7) you'll be able to restore the files by using a one click

the rom is in 2.2.1. Thats ok? I download T959VUVKJ6_STOCK-UVKJ6-One-Click.
So, if I use it, this will restore the nv_data.bin? I ask before doing anything because i have fear of make the this worse

lorddavid said:
the rom is in 2.2.1. Thats ok? I download T959VUVKJ6_STOCK-UVKJ6-One-Click.
So, if I use it, this will restore the nv_data.bin? I ask before doing anything because i have fear of make the this worse
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes it will. Keep in mind that it will also factory reset your phone

I do it and gave me a imei thats only 000000000000000.
I insert the sim and work, But, this will give problems in the future?

pisherthefisher said:
Yes it will. Keep in mind that it will also factory reset your phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No it won't. lol The OP is already on a BML partition structure. That trick only works if you loose it switching over to MTD.
Sorry OP your IMEI is gone and short of some fancy hex editing their is no way to get it back. Your phone will still work with zeros but data might be an issue. If you wanna try the hex edit way look in the dev thread for OLD unlock threads. Good luck.

So, i will have issue with 3g data or something like that?
I see a way that i can input the imei with a z3x box i think, and in my city there is someone with that box, that can work?
i search and only found: ;
REF] How to unlock SGS 4G or Vibrant 4G (IMEI Problems fixed)[Updated 11-19-11]
[Carrier Unlock] SGS4G AROMA Unlocker
I search in the dev forum. Do you remember something more about that post to search? :/

IMEI Repair, HELP NEEDED

Hey all,
Ive been flashing things since early HTC Hero days and never had this issue before. I flashed a new kernel (Uber nightly if that matters) the other day and the IMEI is now 0, no network signal, cannot connect to services, random reboots, etc. Tried completely clean flash stock rom using guide at beginning of general thread running bat file (by windows), still nothing. The file seems to be corrupt until I can reenter the numbers so device recognizes and can get network. Went completely back to stock yet still have unlocked bootloader. Tried looking over the internet for some solutions, only found Octoplus IMEI repair but do not know if I need the box or not in order for it to work. Any alternatives or if anyone knows if the software works without having to buy the box. Want to avoid sending back to Google or LG. Links and suggestions are appreciated.
EDIT: no previous backup had been made to the file.

Did you backup your imei?
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

havy15 said:
Did you backup your imei?
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, didnt previously make the backup of the file. I know it exists on the phone back and other places Ive seen but I need to inject that number back into system files so the phone recognizes it again. I didnt know of this issue before this but I wont be making this mistake again.

This probably won't help you after the fact, but I'll link this thread right here http://forum.xda-developers.com/google-nexus-5/development/modem-nexus-5-flashable-modems-efs-t2514095 and check the EFS Backup section.
You basically have to figure out a way to manually input the IMEI back into the EFS Somehow, the thread I linked might point you in the right direction.

{Mod edit: Quoted post has been deleted}
Do you know how to get the tool to recognize the device, etc on how to use it. I downloaded demo to look into this yet no luck thus far on how or where device is to write to. I have drivers ,ADB, etc installed.

{Mod edit: Quoted post has been deleted}
Even after reading, still no idea on how the program recognizes the Nexus. Still blank unless you know how

RevelationOmega said:
Even after reading, still no idea on how the program recognizes the Nexus. Still blank unless you know how
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For now I would keep trying re-flashing factory images again, this time using the long method 2.
I have had this issue. It happened to me on November when I got the phone and wiped cahe. I fixed just Reformating cache on twrp and flashing a CM Rom. It returned my IMEI
Other solved cases http://forum.xda-developers.com/google-nexus-5/help/lost-imei-please-help-t2529103
..... http://forum.xda-developers.com/google-nexus-5/help/efs-backup-imei-lost-t2703948

try flashing a new bootloader for the device. i take no responsibility for what happens to your device after you flashed the new bootloader.

But wasn't changing imei illegal?
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app

{ESO} said:
But wasn't changing imei illegal?
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it is

{ESO} said:
But wasn't changing imei illegal?
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is illegal to change it for another one. but the issue Op has is something about recovering his own withing allowed parameters.

RevelationOmega said:
Hey all,
Ive been flashing things since early HTC Hero days and never had this issue before. I flashed a new kernel (Uber nightly if that matters) the other day and the IMEI is now 0, no network signal, cannot connect to services, random reboots, etc. Tried completely clean flash stock rom using guide at beginning of general thread running bat file (by windows), still nothing. The file seems to be corrupt until I can reenter the numbers so device recognizes and can get network. Went completely back to stock yet still have unlocked bootloader. Tried looking over the internet for some solutions, only found Octoplus IMEI repair but do not know if I need the box or not in order for it to work. Any alternatives or if anyone knows if the software works without having to buy the box. Want to avoid sending back to Google or LG. Links and suggestions are appreciated.
EDIT: no previous backup had been made to the file.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey did you get a solution for your problem...Me too lost my IMEI and didn't have the EFS backup. Can we inject the IMEI? if yes, can you please provide the steps?

rajvernekar said:
Hey did you get a solution for your problem...Me too lost my IMEI and didn't have the EFS backup. Can we inject the IMEI? if yes, can you please provide the steps?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sadly, no. The imei number file is specific to the phone and to get it "injected" was considered illegal since people who steal the phone could, by theory, inject the new imei to sell a phone as new. There is things out there (sort of) on this yet nothing good can be done. I use TWRP now since the back up allows EFS folder as well, versus CWM that didn't. I haven't had the problem since on nexus 6 or lg g3. The only way I know how to "solve" it was warranty through Google for nexus 5, they sent a new one to me and took the bad one. Only they (the manufacturers LG and Google) can legally inject the phone back to working condition. In all, had to get new one because no real true fix out there (legally) since even recovering it may be an attempt at stealing, the manufacturers cannot distinguish one person from another. Wish I had better news. Hope that helps and you can get it resolved.

There is an app on*******. IT'S ILLEGAL TO CHANGE A PHONES IMEI NUMBER!!
You can't take a number of am old phone and put it on a new, even if you have both. I can't see its wrong to put the original number back though. I've started a thread and asked the powers that be to rule on giving out the apps name, etc.

Sorry if I revived this post...
I know how you feel.
If you message me I will send you a link to a blog I wrote on this subject, I didn't think it was possible to fix but you can.
I know it's illegal. But google supports custom roms and rooting. So they must understand that this can happen.

Uhhh, I think all of you are incorrect. You may want to check your facts or your phones. If you have the manufacturer's firmware, in my case it is a Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 5G, you can use the manufacturer's (or other) method to flash the firmware and the IMEI numbers will be reinstalled. I was required to login to their site, but that's why you should register electronics with the manufacturer when you purchase them. It might not even need a registered product. And, after I was able to recover the lost IMEI numbers, I noticed that I can freely change them if I desire. Soooo, maybe I'm breaking the law? I suppose that would all depend on my location because this phone is mine, I bought it, rooted it, put a custom ROM on it, then did the dumb a$$ move of arbitrarily deleting files that "just didn't look right". One of those was a key component. Keep in mind, possession is 9/10th of the law. I possess this phone so no matter what, they can only charge me with 10% of a crime.

[Q] Lost IMEI when tried to restore TWRP backup from other phone

Hello everyone,
I wanted to move all the contents of one Nexus 5 to another one, but I'm learning that I might have failed to properly account for the EFS partition and now my phone has an IMEI of "0" and won't register with T-Mobile. I'm not sure how to restore it at this point, as no backup of this phone was ever taken (it was stock).
Can anyone point me in the right direction? I did find someone else who had this problem here:
http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/85807/nexus-5-imei-0-how-to-restore-imei
and that led me to
http://forum.xda-developers.com/goo...t/modem-nexus-5-flashable-modems-efs-t2514095
which had a script for, I think, helping to download or export the EFS information. Problem is that this phone doesn't have any IMEI info any longer! I do have another N5 I can use if needed to extract what I need and then perhaps I can edit the IMEI manually?
Thanks a lot everyone

Sorry to say, but there is no fix short of sending it to LG and they'll charge you
Sent from my Nexus 9 using XDA Free mobile app

I lost my IMEI a while ago when flashing a openmaster build (that's pure aosp). Reflashed stock by factory images/flash-all.sh, got my IMEI back no sweat.
a maguro wrote this.

beekay201 said:
I lost my IMEI a while ago when flashing a openmaster build (that's pure aosp). Reflashed stock by factory images/flash-all.sh, got my IMEI back no sweat.
a maguro wrote this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's a lot different than flashing a nandroid from a different device with the efs partition
Sent from my Nexus 9 using XDA Free mobile app

Not sure if it's possible but you could try... I'm thinking it may be possible to edit the nandroid with the EFS part to the IMEI of the 2nd device. Your device should have the IMEI sticker on the back, so you could try to replace the IMEI in the nandroid to the one on the back of the phone. Hopefully you understand what I'm trying to stay and good luck with it.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using the N5X LRX21V ROM

fastboot format cache
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Tampering with the imei is illegal

procitysam said:
Not sure if it's possible but you could try... I'm thinking it may be possible to edit the nandroid with the EFS part to the IMEI of the 2nd device. Your device should have the IMEI sticker on the back, so you could try to replace the IMEI in the nandroid to the one on the back of the phone. Hopefully you understand what I'm trying to stay and good luck with it.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using the N5X LRX21V ROM
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is what I was thinking of doing. How would I get the EFS part from the 2nd device? Would I use TWRP to back that part up, then try to restore only that onto the old phone (after replacing the original, proper IMEI from the label)?
Thanks!

dicecuber said:
Tampering with the imei is illegal
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only if your changing it to another. In this case the OP would be legal to try and restore the correct IMEI to the phone.

I've done a backup on the other phone of just EFS, and have three files:
efs1.emmc.win
efs2.emmc.win
recovery.log
But I can't get anything out of the two .win files. I tried changing their extensions to .zip, .tar, and .tar.gz, but none allow me to open them with 7-Zip. And even if I did, they're each about 3MB in size and I wouldn't know where to look for the IMEI. If anyone has any thoughts I would appreciate them.
Thanks

jd1639 said:
That's a lot different than flashing a nandroid from a different device with the efs partition
Sent from my Nexus 9 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
still, recovering /efs... forget copying it from another device.. just flash factory images.

beekay201 said:
still, recovering /efs... forget copying it from another device.. just flash factory images.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've tried that twice already. Factory images would be awesome for me if they worked. After I do it, the IMEI is still zero.
It seems that everyone feels I am trying to do something illegal. On the contrary, I'm just trying to get the phone to work with its own IMEI short of sending it back to LG, which I will do if I have to, but I thought this would be a lot easier to do given that I have two Nexus 5s right hear to play with, and the IMEI stickers still on both of the phones. I read that on the Nexus 5 that stuff is stored in EFS, and erasing it was a total noob mistake (even though I've been flashing phone ROMs for years and years now), since I never suspected that IMEI info would be in non-hardware areas of the phone. Live and learn, I guess.

beekay201 said:
I lost my IMEI a while ago when flashing a openmaster build (that's pure aosp). Reflashed stock by factory images/flash-all.sh, got my IMEI back no sweat.
a maguro wrote this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will do it again. I flashed factory quite a few times with no luck. I then installed TWRP again just in case I find a way to recover or reinstall the EFS partition. So that's the current state of the phone.

sshanky said:
I will do it again. I flashed factory quite a few times with no luck. I then installed TWRP again just in case I find a way to recover or reinstall the EFS partition. So that's the current state of the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could try this http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=51823398. But from my experience the only way you're going to get the imei back is to send it to LG
Sent from my Nexus 9 using XDA Free mobile app

theesotericone said:
Only if your changing it to another. In this case the OP would be legal to try and restore the correct IMEI to the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Suppose it depends on the law you read and how you interoperate it but most of them generically say something like "tamper" or "modify". Either way though, all discussion of it is banned.

jd1639 said:
You could try this http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=51823398. But from my experience the only way you're going to get the imei back is to send it to LG
Sent from my Nexus 9 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just checked that out, and it looks interesting. However, someone asked if it rebuilds EFS and the answer was "no".
If anyone has any way to explain something to me in general terms, so that they do not feel they are discussing anything illegal, I would appreciate it a lot. Or a PM, or any roundabout way of discussing it...anything that can help me would be great.
Thanks

Did you ever do a TWRP backup?

Tried LG flash tool but it did not restore the IMEI.

sshanky said:
Tried LG flash tool but it did not restore the IMEI.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As mentioned. Unless you have an efs backup from the second device before restoring. You're screwed. Send it to LG for paid repair. It won't cost much.

Lost imei via fastboot erase all

I have lost imei and all..can any one help to resolve..
I have enter fastboot erase all...
There is no network..gps...and time zone gone...
Imei is 0

By doing a fastboot erase all, you have erased your IMEI for good as there is no way to get it back.
Sorry but i very sure no one can help you get it fully back, there is away to use xpose to mimic an IMEI but its not allowed to be discussed on here as its against the terms of service for this forum.

No There is a Way to restore the imei I have also done this read this post for more information https://forum.xda-developers.com/2015-moto-g/help/tuto-fastboot-erase-signal-t3451362

minilandl said:
No There is a Way to restore the imei I have also done this read this post for more information https://forum.xda-developers.com/2015-moto-g/help/tuto-fastboot-erase-signal-t3451362
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That requires that you backed the partitions before the mistake or by breaking the law, which discussion of the latter is forbidden.
Sent from my SHIELD Tablet K1 using Tapatalk

is it possible to rewrite by miracle box?

Just Flash a Rom either stock firmware or Custom rom and run the commands in the thread.

minilandl said:
No There is a Way to restore the imei I have also done this read this post for more information https://forum.xda-developers.com/2015-moto-g/help/tuto-fastboot-erase-signal-t3451362
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Files in this solution are not indian version of xt1550 .
Can someone please pull
Mod Edit: Removed files containing personal information NOT to be shared in Xda
Please required above from indian phone only.
I can reflash them again.

udaygajjar said:
Files in this solution are not indian version of xt1550 .
Can someone please pull
Mod Eidt: removed files containing personal information NOT to be shared on Xda
Please required above from indian phone only.
I can reflash them again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OP to pull them files will result in whom ever pulls them giving you their IMEI this is verging on breaking the law. How many times must one warn you before a mod finds this and takes action.

i agree .. its against law. .. but i need to get back my phone and change imei according to my phone.
Mod Edit:
If you agree it is against the rules, then WHY are you STILL asking for this here?
Any further attempt from you to collect this information on Xda will result in your account being reviewed for restriction or removal.

OP you're going to need to find a Service shop that can re-write the IMEI for you.

udaygajjar said:
i agree .. its against law. .. but i need to get back my phone and change imei according to my phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have not removed the sticker behind your back cover, you can find your imei there. It is the hex number. I wouldn't know how to write it back to your phone though.

reflash stock ROM.

udaygajjar said:
please. someone upload files
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As others have said, no one can give you those files. Those files are unique to each phone, and giving them to someone else to flash might be breaking the law, and would also cause service issues for the person who gave it to you. No one here is going to do anything that might break the law just to help you. That being said, it is not illegal to repair your device. If you need your original imei, you can find it behind the back cover of your phone, assuming that you did not remove the sticker. It will be the hex number. As for writing it back to your phone, I wouldn't know how, otherwise I'd tell you. You'd probably need software that only Motorola has access to.

Thread closed, OP doesn't get it to stop asking for these files.