Database Develop

[Q & S] Swapping IMEIs between 2 Captivate?

Questions and Suggestions.....
I just got a second captivate, this one WITHOUT a cracked screen!! Now i realize i could just teardown and swap the main board, or the digitizer itself, but... that would be too simple!
Or i could just call my provider and change my imei with them... but who wants to talk to their provider??
Or.... i could do something fun and learn, by cloning my phone. from what i understand, all i would need to change is my IMEI, contained in my EFS.. and i have several backups of my good efs, and could easily backup the new one.
Is it simply as easy as copying the efs folder over with root privilages? or better to do an ADB dd (data dump) then tar it and odin? or ADB push/flash....
Is there anything im not considering? Is there any real risk if I have my EFS backed up? Any other ideas? suggestions? discussion?
any neat/interesting things to do with a copied phone set?

I have mine dd'ed and ready to flash with heimdall(i don't think ODIN will touch the EFS partition, but Heimdall will if you put it in there) So IDK, I would talk to conexxion2005 or AdamOutler about this!

thats what i was thinking...

Yahh, Or contact Benjamin, I forgot his last name, but he made Heimdall

Just dd the efs partition and flash it with heimdall. Thats all you have to do.
Code:
dd if=/dev/block/stl3 of=/sdcard/sdext/efs.rfs
do the same with your new phone to make a backup of it. Change the name of the efs file so you dont overwrite it. When you get done, swap the serial number stickers. I didnt tell you all this. Its illegal

it's personal development for learning purposes.
This is why I value second opinions.
now to get 2 (active) sims for the same imei.....
they both have ICS RC3.1 on them ive had the one a few hours.
one with silver speaker mod, one with out. if you dont know silver speaker mod, GO FIND IT NOW! READ THE FIRST 4 PAGES AT LEAST!

this is what ive been dealing with for the past 2 months......
but it works just fine....
I dropped it a good 10 feet, but it was fine, 20 minutes later took out of my pocket to see this...
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/19201431/Images/cracked%20to%20****%20but%20works.jpg

Lol my sister's looks exactly the same!
Just flashed it yesterday, it's weird to feel all those cracks under your thumb, and it still works.

I'm not sure DDing then flashing it to another device will have the correct effect but it's worth a shot. I can do remote IMEI repair for the Infuse and Vibrant 4G but their EFS structure is different from the Captivate. I know for a fact you can't just throw nv_data.bin files around and expect the IMEI to follow as it won't. However, DDing the zone then flashing could result in the desired effect.
LET US KNOW!

How would I know for sure? By checking the about> phone?... Running ice cream sandwich so I'm not sure if the dialer codes will work

I wonder if any of this would help me with my borked IMEI? I'm on the network default IMEI (the one ending in 0000) and I really want my original IMEI back...
Any ideas?

Do you think it would help flashing to stock including CSC files? Then immediately booting into stock recovery to force it to apply this CSC?
I know it does some funky things in that first recovery boot.. Applying settings and such...

adzidek said:
I wonder if any of this would help me with my borked IMEI? I'm on the network default IMEI (the one ending in 0000) and I really want my original IMEI back...
Any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This would only help if you had a backup of your original

IMEI
TRusselo said:
This would only help if you had a backup of your original
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
crap.
Any ideas on how/who might be able to help me?

There is a guide in the captivate development section on how to restore imei

TRusselo said:
There is a guide in the captivate development section on how to restore imei
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks, but I tried all that already. I'm looking for someone who can decrypt/hex edit my original IMEI into my nv_data.bin...
Sent from my SGH-I897 using Tapatalk

connexion2005 said:
I'm not sure DDing then flashing it to another device will have the correct effect but it's worth a shot. I can do remote IMEI repair for the Infuse and Vibrant 4G but their EFS structure is different from the Captivate. I know for a fact you can't just throw nv_data.bin files around and expect the IMEI to follow as it won't. However, DDing the zone then flashing could result in the desired effect.
LET US KNOW!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It worked for me.

SGN N7000: Help needed with repartitioning efs to ext 4 and error mounting efs??

I have tried to find more about my situation but asking seems to be the only way since all the info is either scattered or not available!
For two weeks I've been trying to fix my note from this ics emmc bug which made me loose efs folder and I have tried several methods with no luck, so I thought that repartitioning sd might kill the bug, so I repartioned just (parts)7,9,10,11 and also went for efs part that was empty anyway thought it might clear bad blocks, although afterwards I flashed efsfix.zip from another thread on here somewhere, because of which network and everything works just no lock screen and power button dialog? And when I flash any rom stock/custom it says (in red) error mounting efs, I found a solution for that by using terminal emulator and commanding "mount", But gotta do it manually afer every reboot?
And my imei is not the same as under my fone, how could I manually edit the imei and insert original fone info?
Could anyone help or guide me to a link so that I can recreate efs partition to ext 4 and the sort out other issues?
Edit: info in-depth!!
Thanks!

Does anyone know how to create/recreate an efs ext 4 partition on galaxy note? Is there a command or certain way to mount efs part as ext 4?

without efs backup you have lost your emei. Unless you resort to illegal methods in most countries (expensive z3x box)
At this point, just go to Samsung and have them illegally legally restore it lmao, they somehow are allowed to do it.
Anyway, how did you analyze its efs thats corrupted, cause if you can flash gb from pc odin succesfully its not super bricked
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2

recreate can be done by flashing gb with pitfile and option clear efs. Then you should get generic emei. Which stupidly is also blocked in some countries.
That emei stuff is so overrated by secret agencies.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2

Thanks for the reply baz77.
Basically, I wasnt aware of this emmc wipe bug when I bought Note, I got my rom flashing experience and knowledge from SGS2, so after like a week of purchase I tried to flash ICS stunnner on my Note with squeaky clean, but resulted in getting my fone back from samsung after being revived, took 3weeks to return.
At this point I still didnt know about the bug because I had assumed that my own doing caused the super hardbrick, till I flash a criskelo rom with a wipe and my problems started off with not registered on network, after that I have been krazily searching and flashing to have the fone working flawless again without having to send the fone back to samsung becasue of the wait and tiny chips n crack on my fone.
And I figured that efs is corrupted by googling and gathering info about my particular problem and everything pointed towards efs being corrupted!
I am really hoping for them release a fix and I can get my fone back working as a whole again!
Edit: added missing words! Lol
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda premium with Alliance Rom v1.2 + no lock screen and power button dialog!?!?

Could I plz ask, where can I get the stock gb with pit file samsung
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda premium with Alliance Rom v1.2 + No lockscreen and No Power button dialog!?!?

baz77 said:
recreate can be done by flashing gb with pitfile and option clear efs. Then you should get generic emei. Which stupidly is also blocked in some countries.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Apparently, pitfile and efs clear option doesn't work, I tried GB with pitfile got the red 'error mounting efs' and tried stock UK ICS 4.0.3 from (thanks to) Dr.Ketan but Ive still got the error and no lockscreen and faulty power button?!? Plus:- Sim Network is gone :banghead: , i'll just have to flash that efsfix.zip and do the terminal "mount" procedure again!!! manually!
"Probaly Leagality issues there" I'll try the same pitfile procedure with rom from another country if it doesnt work then dont really want to but guess this fone's going back to Samsung for repairs before I sell it off.
Many Thanks for your help!!
<<SUNG>>from my <<SAM>> GT-N7000

baz77 said:
At this point, just go to Samsung and have them illegally legally restore it lmao, they somehow are allowed to do it. 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the custom binary count reset, so they shouldnt have any problems with repairing illegally then?? With stock UK ICS 403 Rom from this forum!?!
<SAMSUNG><ASONG> From GT-N7000!

I thought each rom had efs file, not so sure anymore. download and install 7zip, open the tar md5 rom file with it and ignore the warnings. should be efs. img in there, if not best download one, same csc as you have, if you know what it was before it became corrupt. I think kj4 has one, so you can flash whole gb rom with options efs clear and the pitfile.
If that fails, then perform a factory reset with code, do this only from gb, *2767*3855# in dialer. That might force the efs to reset itself to generic. Should not be needed, but hey it cant harm trying on gb. note own risk
If that fails, flash stock ics which you had in first place and ask them to fix it.
You need them anyway to get original emei back, which is why I said best go there. However if you still want to try above could give you a working emei. Its generic test emei and blocked in some countries thought, so if you need to travel...
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2

baz77 said:
I thought each rom had efs file, not so sure anymore. download and install 7zip, open the tar md5 rom file with it and ignore the warnings. should be efs. img in there, if not best download one, same csc as you have, if you know what it was before it became corrupt. I think kj4 has one, so you can flash whole gb rom with options efs clear and the pitfile.
If that fails, then perform a factory reset with code, do this only from gb, *2767*3855# in dialer. That might force the efs to reset itself to generic. Should not be needed, but hey it cant harm trying on gb. note own risk
If that fails, flash stock ics which you had in first place and ask them to fix it.
You need them anyway to get original emei back, which is why I said best go there. However if you still want to try above could give you a working emei. Its generic test emei and blocked in some countries thought, so if you need to travel...
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey baz77,
I tried the same pitfile method with a GB236 Rom built from HongKong and flashed it twice, because I read on this forum somewhere that in the event of errors, missing files and apps after a flash, roms should be flashed atleast once more to get'em fully loaded but unfortunately even that method failed to mount the efs part.
Afterwards, I was just googling for more solutions and I decided to download and flash another GB236 rom Open europe built (wipe version) from Dr. Ketan's stock rom deposites and to my joyous surprise there were 2 extra tar. files, one named efs.md5.tar, so I quickly got my fone in download mode and flashed the rom with pitfile and when that was done, I got the fone back in download mode and Flashed the efs.tar (PDA), CSC, Modem (PHONE) and for the first time in 2 weeks the fone booted up normally as it should with the welcome screen, working lock screen and power button dialog! pheeeewwww!!!
But the imei is still not the same as under the hood, but I guess since the efs part had been corrupted, my fones probabaly using the emergency imei, Im using Alliance v1 with no apprent faults or errors.
i'll flash the GB Rom and try the factory rest code method by you and if it works then dont have to go to samsung and if doesnt then i'll keep using the fone as it is for as long as I have it and keep looking for solutions, if nothing happens then i'll get it sorted from samsung before selling it.
Your help is much appreciated, Thanks baz77!!! :thumbup: :thumbup:
<SAMSUNG><ASONG>from<GT-N7000

back then.. there was an application on playstore that can fix IMEI issues... its called GSII repair.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/...GwsMSwxLDEsImNvbS5oZWxyb3ouR1NJSV9SZXBhaXIiXQ..
It worked mostly on all phones that I have heard of.. including the Note's of my friends whom their IMEIs got toasted.
See if you can give that a shot bud..
Ps. by the way.. most corrupted IMEIs have a mocked imei of 004999010640000
Others said that they were able to restore their original IMEI by flashing to stock GB, root the phone and install Root explorer, after that, you need to go to /EFS folder inside your phone(thru root explorer) and backup first your orig ' nv_data.bin ', now if you see a nv_data.bak in there with a previous date different from the bin file, then delete accordingly the nv_data.bin and rename the bak file to nv_data.bin reboot phone and check if orig IMEI is back on your phone.
Now this isn't applicable if your bak and bin files for ( nv_data) are all on the same date though.
don't try this yet unless your willing to give all possible options to restore back your original IMEI. Don't forget to try first the link I showed to you at the top.
Cheers.
:good:

letters_to_cleo said:
back then.. there was an application on playstore that can fix IMEI issues... its called GSII repair.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/...GwsMSwxLDEsImNvbS5oZWxyb3ouR1NJSV9SZXBhaXIiXQ..
It worked mostly on all phones that I have heard of.. including the Note's of my friends whom their IMEIs got toasted.
See if you can give that a shot bud..
Ps. by the way.. most corrupted IMEIs have a mocked imei of 004999010640000
Others said that they were able to restore their original IMEI by flashing to stock GB, root the phone and install Root explorer, after that, you need to go to /EFS folder inside your phone(thru root explorer) and backup first your orig ' nv_data.bin ', now if you see a nv_data.bak in there with a previous date different from the bin file, then delete accordingly the nv_data.bin and rename the bak file to nv_data.bin reboot phone and check if orig IMEI is back on your phone.
Now this isn't applicable if your bak and bin files for ( nv_data) are all on the same date though.
don't try this yet unless your willing to give all possible options to restore back your original IMEI. Don't forget to try first the link I showed to you at the top.
Cheers.
:good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Letters_to_cleo,
Thank you for the suggestions mate, at the moment Im on Alliance v.1 403 rom, and I have just tried the fix from your link, did the steps1 & 2 restarted checked imei and it's the same serial (#to#) as you have stated, then i tried the step 3 which indicated that the nv_data.bin file is missing from that folder.
I have already gone to certain extents to return the fone in its generic state, so it won't matter if I tried once more besides trying repairs on GB rom is probably much safer then on ICS builts as long as the fone doesnt die on me,(completely again!), I 'll try your 2nd method in a bit and report back after!
Thanks for the support!!:thumbup:
<SAMSUNG><ASONG>from<GT-N7000

yeah that app wont work if you dont have efs backup. It distills from original. bak file the emei, now with the reflash of efs, even before you had lost it. only generic stuff left.
you need as mentioned before to go to samsung to repair emei, or find a phone place that can do it. You can yourself but in most countries its illegal. You need z3d box or equivalent for that, 150$$$$ lol, I have seen people who bought it offer that service for small fee. But be careful as ot could be illegal in your country, even if its going from generic emei to original emei lol.
Oh and you are welcome, been there done that, with the efs stuff. Samsung fixed mine.
My help is free, now if another has this you know how to help them
After Samsung fixes it,stay on gb, root phone and backup efs on multiple locations(pc, cdrom, floppy disk, bank vault you get it) In future when you buy android do that first. How to is in dr ketans toolbox thread in general section.
edit efs backup is not in nandroid, nor titanium backups. In fact still to date there is not one solution that can back everything up on your phone.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2

letters to cleo, corrupt emeis are empty or 0000000000000000000000000,
the 490000 emei is given when resetting efs. That is not corrupt anymore to my knowledge
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2

oh I ran into missing lockscreen issues after fully fixing it, I have in my profile then statistics started a thread which links to a solution for that
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2

Hi Enseven reporting,
@Letters_to_cleo, the methods you suggested dont work but thanks for trying to helping, i didnt find the bak file in efs folder but there 2 nv_data files, and they're both dated from Jan2011, renaming them just disable's the network and doent change the imei#, it remains the same!
@baz11, Yes mate, you are right this fone's going back to samung bcuz im not looking to $pend 150 on some box that I wont even use twice.
Im not really that fussed about imei not being as same on fone hardware, just as long the fone works, but like you said it probably is illegal to sell a fone with messed up serial no.
And on top of that fone's price would drop for having software issues, only wanted to fix it so that I could sell it on without loosing much $$ from the original price I paid for it, it'll be disapointing since Ive only had the fone for just over 2 months.
And I did manage to fix the welcome/lockscreen/power button issues by flashing efs.tar I got from that wipe version Open Europe Rom but even after the flash, it restore's the needed files but doesnt really prompt the features so I gotta insert this command through terminal emulator: "echo n- ON> /efs/imei/keystr" "sync"and factory reset, then the fone reboots normally with everything working but the IMEI ofcourse!
Wonder if your lockscreen fix works ive looked for it on your profile's statistic's tab but uable to find it, could you plz provide a link. Thanks
Ive tried all methods with some luck and no further progress apart from having to buy expensive equipment, so I guess i'll keep using the fone and looking for any miraculous solution till I resort to Samsung.
P.S: If they cant find a fix for the emmc bug by working on scripts , they should atleast invent a nano tech powder (gadget bug killer) to sprinkle on the motherboard, LOL!!!
because this problem goes way back, like another user said on here you could make a movie about now, and ithink it started off as a scifi now its a scifi/thriller, "shall I wipe before flashing & risk hardbrick Or shall I wait for samsung to pace up the support!!!
Thanks to xda and memebrs for being online 247 and all the support though!!
<SAMSUNG><ASONG>from<GALAXY-GTN7000>using xda premium!!!

Hi En7,
Sorry to hear my steps didn't work on your phone bud.
I checked some forums here in XDA and I've come across this one: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1804117. (I'm not sure though if you have come across that link before or not).
It is for the S3 forum but there's a tool in there that you can try to download and run to somehow restore your corrupted IMEI. It's worth taking the risk I should say but who knows..any given tool/info is highly useful and it could be a clear shot in bringing back your original IMEI back right?
Cheers bud!

lol that cracked me up nano powder hahaha good one.
you found the lockscreen fix, its the same fix I found while back from some guru.
I guess you can change emei to original with someone who has such a box. Finding is not to difficult, just need to go to a shop that can repair emei. Preferably Samsung thought, Just go to a samsung service centre, or store where you bought phone. Best unroot and put stock firmware that matches your phones original csc, to avoid anoying questions. Just tell the truth you updated phone and emei was gone/changed and you want original imei back. Samsung can fix it. Note, this time dont use pit or clear csc. Its not needed anymore.
I searched hard and long when I had that issue with emei, wasnt without a backup able to change it back to original, other then Samsung or such a box.
It annoyed the crap out of me. I can relate to what you were going through.
Everybody is nandroid this titaniun backup that, apparently efs is the only thing not standardly backed up with any standard mainstream solution.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2

oh, and good idea, maybe you should write a scifi thriller
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2

[SOLVED] Restore IMEI with absolute NO backup?

Edit: Solved by going back to Stock GB. Thanks everyone!
I've got a friend who got a new Captivate from the US. And he flashed CM10 right after getting it, without making a backup of the efs folder. Now, the efs partition is completely empty, and of course it says "Unknown baseband, unknown imei", etc".
I've looked around, but all the imei restore methods seem to require at least one efs file. However in this case we have none. So, is there any way to restore the efs/imei? Maybe mounting it to the pc and running a file restoration software (might sound desperate, but we are).
Also, I have another captivate (this one is mine) with the efs. Would it be possible to modify my backup to use his original imei and then restore it in his phone?
Any ideas are welcome. Thanks in advance.

Installing CM should automatically backup /efs to the sdcard. Look for a folder called "backup." Also, flashing to stock can sometimes resolve these issues without tampering with /efs

I can't give you a 100% guarantee, but the two phones that I've had to recover IMEI's for both regained the efs folder contents when I flashed to stock GB from an ICS or JB rom.

Waiting 5mins inbetween postings sux.
The easiest way I could find to restore my IMEI was to re-flash back to a stock (in my case it was a rogers rom) then go forth from there. Like it was mentioned above, CM9/10 save the efs and restore it after flash. I lost my IMEI while flashing Helly and was frustrated at reading the "fixes". It was just easier to format, reflash stock then go back to CM10 (Which I'm running now and it's great).

Thanks for the replies.
Apparently, he tried to flash CM9, and in the process he thinks the internal memory (/sdcard/) was somehow wiped and now he can't find that folder. I told him to use recuva or something like that to try and get them back, let's see how that goes.
But in case he can't recover that folder, is there any other way? Maybe mounting efs partition on the memory and using recuva then?
He really has bad luck...

Well, there really is NO backup. I can't find the efs backup on the sdcard. Even tried with Recuva and there's nothing there.
What's funny about it is that there's no files in the efs partition, yet the df command says it's full. Any ideas?
As a last resource thing, I was thinking about using the efs from MY captivate and see what happens. Thoughts?
I really apreciate any comment!! Thanks in advance.

moikop said:
Well, there really is NO backup. I can't find the efs backup on the sdcard. Even tried with Recuva and there's nothing there.
What's funny about it is that there's no files in the efs partition, yet the df command says it's full. Any ideas?
As a last resource thing, I was thinking about using the efs from MY captivate and see what happens. Thoughts?
I really apreciate any comment!! Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1300843 Go there and get one of the One-Clicks that will take you to stock GB. As several other people have said that is your best bet for getting the efs folder back.

m1batt1 said:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1300843 Go there and get one of the One-Clicks that will take you to stock GB. As several other people have said that is your best bet for getting the efs folder back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't believe my eyes, it worked! Thank you very much!! :laugh:

moikop said:
I can't believe my eyes, it worked! Thank you very much!! :laugh:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now before you go anywhere else back up your efs folder!
Sent from my SGH-I897 using xda app-developers app

could anyone help with this, i bade a backup of the efs, and imei folder,I can find it no prob. just dont know how to restore it. cant get into diag mode to try a qpst restore either

SPEED_RACER_5.0 said:
could anyone help with this, i bade a backup of the efs, and imei folder,I can find it no prob. just dont know how to restore it. cant get into diag mode to try a qpst restore either
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just do a search on xda, there are losts of threads than can help you work through this.

I was able to restore my IMEI using this method:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1264021
I did it via the terminal emulator on the phone.
I didn't have a good backup of my original /efs folder, either.

it just happened, that my solution for restoring imei on sgs3 i9300 came by installing Android Revolution HD rom. Maybe it happened because it's based on stock. You should try, maybe it will help. :good:

stevegrin said:
I was able to restore my IMEI using this method:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1264021
I did it via the terminal emulator on the phone.
I didn't have a good backup of my original /efs folder, either.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just used the method you linked and it worked like a charm. Thanks!

Cant restore imei
I updated me galaxy s5 g990f and lost network etc due to no imei even *#06# shows null imei.. I had phone direct from o2 brand new..ive tried nv read write..qpst tools..qdxm tools and when reboots still no imei flashed firmware before recent update and same thing..any one know how to solve this as o2 ridicukus tell me not covered by insurance or warranty..i looked at rooting but the apps for imei just fool websites not a network..i know can have fixed online but id rather attempt myself to get imei bk or edit system so I can put the imei on..its a galaxt s5 g900f on marshmellow 6.0.1 with snapdragon processor/qualcom..thanks

[Q] JB advice

Hello everyone, im a noob on here and have a stock gingerbread (JW4) but rooted gt-i9000. im past my 24 months and can upgrade my phone at anytime but i love my sgs but am a bit annoyed that sammy are no longer creating firmware updates for it. so i decided to root it with the intention of finding a way of missing ICS and going straight to jellybean.
it seems the only way to go is by installing custom roms, but as im not particularly technical and not understanding the mechanics that well i dont want to / i am scared of messing with the phone without really knowing what im doing. ive heard of kernels but dont know what they are or what they do. ive dabbled with rooting but that is as far as ive got and im not convinced im not gonna break the phone if i go any further!
I got so far (thanks to a senior member on here in other threads) but have stopped for fear of not knowing what im doing and getting something wrong, so im hoping someone out there who's been in my position will be nice enough to help me further.
so basicly im asking for some help to find and install a version of JB that is near enough to what samsung would of supplied. ive seen it on a mates s3 and i like it thats why i want it on my phone, rather than buying the s3 (big brick of a phone)
Thanking anyone who helps in advance.
G.

first of all you shouldn't be afraid to mess your phone. it's really hard do brick it (believe me, i've semi-bricked my phone some times and it's running great now ). besides that, if you follow the tutorials exactly like as it's written you shouldn't get in trouble
second, do you have CWM recovery installed?

Sacob said:
first of all you shouldn't be afraid to mess your phone. it's really hard do brick it (believe me, i've semi-bricked my phone some times and it's running great now ). besides that, if you follow the tutorials exactly like as it's written you shouldn't get in trouble
second, do you have CWM recovery installed?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi and thanks for your reply! Yes ClockWorkMod root/recovery is where ive got to. The reason i finding this all so daunting is that is no 1 tutrial to follow, everyone seems to have a different way of doing it, either by experimentation or luck, and its just a bit confusing to a complete novice like me. I did try to find a How To section on here but it wasnt easy trying to trawl the 1000s of threads!

geoffjac10 said:
Hi and thanks for your reply! Yes ClockWorkMod root/recovery is where ive got to. The reason i finding this all so daunting is that is no 1 tutrial to follow, everyone seems to have a different way of doing it, either by experimentation or luck, and its just a bit confusing to a complete novice like me. I did try to find a How To section on here but it wasnt easy trying to trawl the 1000s of threads!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was exactly the same at first but now I am on jellybean 4.2 the scariest thing as far as upgrading to jellybean is the error u get wen upgrading cwm wen u first flash the upgrade but just hold the 3 button combo for about 10 seconds an u should be back into recovery it may take a few Trys it did with me then reflash it twice to be sure any problems after that will have answers on their threads so as long as you follow the installation instructions you will be OK
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA Premium HD app

the basic procedure to flash a new rom is this:
Put the file in your internal sdcard
Do a Nandroid Backup!
WIPE (wipe data/factory reset + wipe cache partition + wipe dalvik) i also like to go to mount and storage and wipe /data, /datadata, /system, /cache.
flash zip from sdcard
reboot
if you are going to upgrade from froyo/GB to JB i recommend you to flash any ICS rom first (once i have a problem with upgrading from stock GB to MIUI JB

331 saeorge
Thanks everyone for your input.
I took the plunge and braved it and followed a tutorial "for dummies" and a youtube flick that someone had reference to the same tutorial, and decided on CM10 with GAPPS flash, and i now have JB 4.1.2. However i didnt either
1. do ICS first, or
2. do a Nandriod backup
!!!!!!!!
Got me worried now, I wonder if i should of done the ICS first - whats the benefit of this?
Nandriod Backup - what is this?
everything seems to be working fine, but i do have a couple of issues a) no 4x3 keyboard which i use for texting b) poor battery life.
im going to scour this forum for some answers, but if you have any immediate answers that would be very helpful.
Cheers
Geoff.

Thanks everyone for your input.
I took the plunge and braved it and followed a tutorial "for dummies" and a youtube flick that someone had reference to the same tutorial, and decided on CM10 with GAPPS flash, and i now have JB 4.1.2. However i didnt either
1. do ICS first, or
2. do a Nandriod backup
!!!!!!!!
Got me worried now, I wonder if i should of done the ICS first - whats the benefit of this?
Nandriod Backup - what is this?
everything seems to be working fine, but i do have a couple of issues a) no 4x3 keyboard which i use for texting b) poor battery life.
im going to scour this forum for some answers, but if you have any immediate answers that would be very helpful.
Cheers
Geoff.

nand backup is just like saving the stage of your phone before you start to flash it so you can go back if you need to. if you have problem you can always flash a stock rom via odin but you will lose your data.
about the keyboard i don't know if you can have it with ics/jb but try swiftkey x. way better

Sacob said:
nand backup is just like saving the stage of your phone before you start to flash it so you can go back if you need to. if you have problem you can always flash a stock rom via odin but you will lose your data.
about the keyboard i don't know if you can have it with ics/jb but try swiftkey x. way better
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh ok so no immediate panic about Nand backup then, however i prefer to write using XT9 or T9 setup (old skool) ill check out swiftkey see if allows it.
Cheers

geoffjac10 said:
Oh ok so no immediate panic about Nand backup then, however i prefer to write using XT9 or T9 setup (old skool) ill check out swiftkey see if allows it.
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you should make an nand backup now! it's always a good idea to have one

Surprised you never lost your imei jumping from GB to JB missing ICS.
I've jumped like that before, but lost my imei and had no service, I only had to reinstate my efs folder, but it's done that 2 out of 2 times that I've done it. Maybe you were just lucky or something..
Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk 2

knuckles1978 said:
Surprised you never lost your imei jumping from GB to JB missing ICS.
I've jumped like that before, but lost my imei and had no service, I only had to reinstate my efs folder, but it's done that 2 out of 2 times that I've done it. Maybe you were just lucky or something..
Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that happened to my once too! my solution was to flash stock GB with odin

Originally Posted by knuckles1978
Surprised you never lost your imei jumping from GB to JB missing ICS.
I've jumped like that before, but lost my imei and had no service, I only had to reinstate my efs folder, but it's done that 2 out of 2 times that I've done it. Maybe you were just lucky or something..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sacob said:
that happened to my once too! my solution was to flash stock GB with odin
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh really??? just checked an my IMEI number is still there and i still have service! Why would jumping do that? More to the point, should i back it up just in case and if so how should i back it up? what if i back it up now on JB, and it misses it when i go back to GB??
....got me worried bout that now!!

geoffjac10 said:
Oh really??? just checked an my IMEI number is still there and i still have service! Why would jumping do that? More to the point, should i back it up just in case and if so how should i back it up? what if i back it up now on JB, and it misses it when i go back to GB??
....got me worried bout that now!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its usually only jumping from GB to JB that does it. Just use a root file browser, i personally recommend solid explorer btw, go to root, find the folder called /efs and copy and paste it onto your external sd for safe keeping. Its no big problem if you do lose your imei then, just copy and paste it back and overwrite.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk 2

knuckles1978 said:
Its usually only jumping from GB to JB that does it. Just use a root file browser, i personally recommend solid explorer btw, go to root, find the folder called /efs and copy and paste it onto your external sd for safe keeping. Its no big problem if you do lose your imei then, just copy and paste it back and overwrite.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok done, thanks for the tip fella :good:

[Q] Disable IMEI check on Jelly Bean ROMs

Hello guys
Is there a way to disable "Wrong IMEI Notification" on system startup?
I know how to restore IMEI, but my network works fine with generic IMEI, so I don't care about it much.
The only thread I was able to find is here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1862416
It's about 4 months old and no answer is given.
Currently I'm running Helly Bean 4.2.1 (Release - 05.01.13)
Thanks in advance

archildroid said:
Hello guys
Is there a way to disable "Wrong IMEI Notification" on system startup?
I know how to restore IMEI, but my network works fine with generic IMEI, so I don't care about it much.
The only thread I was able to find is here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1862416
It's about 4 months old and no answer is given.
Currently I'm running Helly Bean 4.2.1 (Release - 05.01.13)
Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's cooked into the system apps, so unless someone has the knowledge to change it, the answer is no.
Fixing the problem is quite easy though and takes 15min at most after a good TiBu backup, if it gets too annoying, take that extra 15min

BWolf56 said:
It's cooked into the system apps, so unless someone has the knowledge to change it, the answer is no.
Fixing the problem is quite easy though and takes 15min at most after a good TiBu backup, if it gets too annoying, take that extra 15min
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I flashed "i897uckk4 Odin One Click NO Bootloaders, Re-partition, Full Wipe" - IMEI is still some generic 0049...
What should I do now?

archildroid said:
I flashed "i897uckk4 Odin One Click NO Bootloaders, Re-partition, Full Wipe" - IMEI is still some generic 0049...
What should I do now?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is it still giving you the error msg?
Is your phone a refurb?

BWolf56 said:
Is it still giving you the error msg?
Is your phone a refurb?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was on Helly Bean 4.2.1 and it was giving me an error message because of wrong IMEI.
I didn't have efs backup, so I backed up everything and flashed stock kk4 assuming that it would restore my IMEI, but it's still 00499...
So how do I restore my IMEI?
No it's not refurbished.

archildroid said:
I was on Helly Bean 4.2.1 and it was giving me an error message because of wrong IMEI.
I didn't have efs backup, so I backed up everything and flashed stock kk4 assuming that it would restore my IMEI, but it's still 00499...
So how do I restore my IMEI?
No it's not refurbished.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's actually how you restore your IMEI.. By flashing Odin KK4. Did you restore anything after flashing?
I went ahead and did a little google search (which can go a long way ). Here's what I got: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=24175451&postcount=2

BWolf56 said:
That's actually how you restore your IMEI.. By flashing Odin KK4. Did you restore anything after flashing?
I went ahead and did a little google search (which can go a long way ). Here's what I got: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=24175451&postcount=2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First I flashed Odin kk4 - wrong IMEI, reflashed few times, no luck. Than Eclair, Froyo - same result
Guide mentioned above didn't help, there were no files in /data/radio, and there is no folder /factory, or /data/factory. I copied nv_data.bin from /efs to /data/radio set chmod 700 but it didn't change anything.
Any more ideas?
Seems like I'm just unlucky (
Now flashed back to HellyBean 4.2.1, restoring backups...

archildroid said:
First I flashed Odin kk4 - wrong IMEI, reflashed few times, no luck. Than Eclair, Froyo - same result
Guide mentioned above didn't help, there were no files in /data/radio, and there is no folder /factory, or /data/factory. I copied nv_data.bin from /efs to /data/radio set chmod 700 but it didn't change anything.
Any more ideas?
Seems like I'm just unlucky (
Now flashed back to HellyBean 4.2.1, restoring backups...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Umm Your file explorer probably doesn't have root rights if you can't see those or you have to show hidden folders in settings.

BWolf56 said:
Umm Your file explorer probably doesn't have root rights if you can't see those or you have to show hidden folders in settings.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm using ES File Explorer (root settings were checked, permissions granted) and Yes, I rooted device (first flashed corn kernel).
Already flashed HellyBean 4.2.1 (10JAN13). Will take a chance after restoring backups.

Just tried to do like described in the link - folder /data/radio is empty for me, unable to find /factory folder
I wonder why flashing stock kk4 didn't restore IMEI ((
I backed up efs folder after installing Odinkk4, but I don't think it can help.
Good thing is that my carrier works just fine no matter IMEI
Anyway, thanks for trying to help me out. :good:

@archildroid, Josh at Mobiletechvideos.com I believe can restore your imei without having a back up. There will be a charge for it, but next to Adam Outler, you won't find a better set of tech fix it hands.
Sent From The Land Of Frag

I have tried lots of methods to restore my IMEI, but no luck.
One thing I encountered: This wrong IMEI popup has "Galaxy S Settings" icon in the corner, so I froze it with Titanium and the popup disappeared.
Of course you lose all the abilities, that Galaxy S settings have - TV Out, Color tuning etc.
I hope someone with sufficient knowledge will modify Galaxy S Settings, to disable this popup.
P.S. Before changing anything in system apps, MAKE NAND BACKUP, I'm not responsible for anything you do to your phone!

archildroid said:
I have tried lots of methods to restore my IMEI, but no luck.
One thing I encountered: This wrong IMEI popup has "Galaxy S Settings" icon in the corner, so I froze it with Titanium and the popup disappeared.
Of course you lose all the abilities, that Galaxy S settings have - TV Out, Color tuning etc.
I hope someone with sufficient knowledge will modify Galaxy S Settings, to disable this popup.
P.S. Before changing anything in system apps, MAKE NAND BACKUP, I'm not responsible for anything you do to your phone!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Usually, going back to stock KK4 with Odin fixes your IMEI problem. Once there, you make a backup of your efs folder and you're set for your android's life. It's a one time backup (as long as you don't delete it..) and can be restored whenever.