Hello all,
I would like to share a method that solved this tricky issue with my S4 GT-I9500. While flashing with some new ROMs, I ended up with a generic IMEI on my S4. I read everything I could find here in XDA foruns, and no method worked for me. This one below, from fellow colleage douglasgalves at brasildroid foruns saved my phone. Here the link to the original post (portuguese only, sorry)
http://brasildroid.com.br/discussoe...efs-resolver-esse-problema-11.html#post299796
The method is quite simple, and althogh it does not make complete sense (why Trinida Tobago for example) it worked for me! Here it is.
1. You have a I9500 with a generic IMEI.
2. Install a official stock ROM with ODIN. Not any Stock ROM, but specifically Trinida & Tobago April 2013 ROM. You can browse it on Sammobile, or also get it from this link on XDA -> http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2257645
The ROM I used is:
Build Date: 24.04.2013
Region: TTT (Trinidad and Tobago)
PDA: I9500UBUAMDK
Changelist: 534999 Android: 4.2
3. Once installation is finished, disconnect the cable;
4. Reboot to recovery and wipe data and cache;
5. Install KIES on your PC and let it update to its latest version.
6. Once KIES is updated, connect your S4 to the PC, no need for USB Debug, etc, just connect it.
7. KIES will detect it and say a new version of firmware is available. Perform the update. It takes a long time.
8. Once the update is finished, you get a dialog in KIES asking you to disconnect and connect the cable again, with a confirm button "Confirm". This is the moment it fixes your IMEI. One more reboot and voilà, your IMEI should be back.
I have no idea how/why this worked, if someone more experienced can explain, I would like to understand.
Also, no idea if this would work on other models, with a different ROM, or on a Mac instead of a PC, or with steps on different order. All I know is that, by doing exactly this, I gave life back to my beloved S4.
Now, off to make some 5 backups of the /efs folder before flashing ROMs again.
Good luck there with your generic-IMEIed S4s!
Did some more tweaking to try to understand what happened. Hope some guru can jump in and help me.
1. After I recovered my IMEI, I installed Philz Touch 5.11.2. It went well, I rebooted in CWM recovery, then chose Reboot->Root. It rebooted the phone. Then I went to make a backup of the /efs folder with Root Explorer, and discovered that despite it looking as rooting went well, the phone was not rooted.
Question 1: Why does Philz did not get to root the device? At that stage the firmware version was MG9 for region TTT (Trinidad & Tobago). Is that firmware somehow imcompatible for Philz to root?
Then ...
2. I flashed Firmware for Colombia with ODIN (my phone was bought in Colombia) from April, version UBUAMDE. Got Generic IMEI again. Then followed the same procedure from post 1, and got my IMEI back with KIES. The strange thing is that on KIES, my phone still shows as TTT (Trinidad) after that.
Question 2: It looks like more than the ROMs, it is the last step on KIES that recovers the IMEI. Is it so tha ODIN may be screwing up the IMEI?
Question 3: why I keep with my phone showing as TTT? Is that a problem?
3. Then I flashed the ChainFire recovery. Strangely, this went well and rooted my phone, so it may be something with Philz. I again flashed Philz and it installed well.
Question 4: may I get any problems by using Philz but having rooted with Chainfire?
Thanks a lot for any clarification you gurus out there can give me!
Thanks
You've given a considerable amount of hope to those that are stuck on the genereic imei. Thank you for providing this solution.
However, I am stuck:
After using ODIN 3.07; clicking nothing other than PDA for selecting the firmware you said to download: Hotfile:GT-I9500-TTT-I9500UBUAMDK-1366814146.zip The firmware was successfully installed.
Then before the boot completed, I went into recovery and wiped data and cache. The phone restarted and it booted up, Kies was already updated to the latest version. So once the phone booted up, I connected the phone to the computer and kies displayed this message:
Your device's current firmware version is not supported to update firmware via Kies.
Current firmware version: PDA:MDK / PHONE:MDK / CSC:MDK (XXX)
How can I go about resolving this issue?
As I said in the second post, I also got successful using the ROM for Colombia from April.
I would sugesst you to go to sammobile's firmware database. Download any older ROM which supports firmware via KIES (there is an icon showing that over there) and do the same procedure. It looks like what really solves it is the final step in KIES.
Sent from my GT-I9500 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
I think this is due to flashing Previous Version of Modem (Its Including in Stock Firmware). When You flash Previous Version of Modem, Somehow IMEI retains. Here are some facts:
1) When we try to Flash any MOD of any dev then its depend on which Modem (i.e country's Firmware) the dev is using.
2) After flashing the MOD, Our IMEI becomes Fake.
3) Flashing Previous Version of Modem take back the IMEI.
In your above method you did the same. You flashed the Whole stock firmware but too old by date. After flashing, it retains.
BTW, have you checked your IMEI after flashing the Firmware using ODIN.? It was there.? was it Generic.?
Notice that I never refer to mod ROMs. I got a fake IMEI by flashing stock ROMs with ODIN.
Even during the recovery process, when I flashed the old stock ROM, the IMEI is not back. It only gets back at the last step with KIES.
When checking the IMEI after flashing with ODIN I get always the generic 499 IMEI.
Looks to me like something not going well with ODIN and 9500.
Sent from my GT-I9500 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
partimers said:
Notice that I never refer to mod ROMs. I got a fake IMEI by flashing stock ROMs with ODIN.
Even during the recovery process, when I flashed the old stock ROM, the IMEI is not back. It only gets back at the last step with KIES.
When checking the IMEI after flashing with ODIN I get always the generic 499 IMEI.
Looks to me like something not going well with ODIN and 9500.
Sent from my GT-I9500 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Flashing ROM from ODIN given you Fake IMEI.? This is something strange. We all flashed from ODIN & never got that. BTW, If its like that, I would recommend above ^ ^ your steps but wait...... Did you flashed any other country's firmware.?
Disturbed™ said:
Flashing ROM from ODIN given you Fake IMEI.? This is something strange. We all flashed from ODIN & never got that. BTW, If its like that, I would recommend above ^ ^ your steps but wait...... Did you flashed any other country's firmware.?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is indeed strange Disturbed, but I can reproduce it. I flash for example, April ROMs (happened with all countries that I tested, Trinidad, Colombia and Brazil), the IMEI gets generic. It is not that the /efs folder is deleted. It is there, it is just that somehow, the IMEI does not get correctly read from the files that are there.
It only gets fixed after KIES updates the ROM for the latest one, and only at the very last stage where KIES ask to disconnect/reconnect the cable.
I first get into trouble when after flashing CWM Philz, I tried to restore stock ROM.
I live in Brazil, but travel very often on business to Colombia, and bought the phone on a good sale. That is why I am trying different countries, but the problem first happened when re-installing Stock ROM for the first time, and at that time I was just using the ROM for Colombia.
Only when things got bad (generic IMEI) I tried other countries ROMs, modems, etc, and finally got to this method that fixed it for me.
[/QUOTE]
Hi have you taken a backup of the EFS and saved?
U are a lucky guy u hv it all this working
As per what i know possibly there will be 1 more folder in the system root other then efs main which has imei details etc which must be corrupted and takes place while flashing so u have fake imei
Also check do u have any lockscreen issue???
I m telling this coz I was mad solving imei issue for 2 days with note 2 just a week ago
Sent from my GT-I9505 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
exclaimed said:
I connected the phone to the computer and kies displayed this message:
Your device's current firmware version is not supported to update firmware via Kies.
Current firmware version: PDA:MDK / PHONE:MDK / CSC:MDK (XXX)
How can I go about resolving this issue?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
*FIX*
I had the same problem, so I did the following to fix the problem:
Root the device,
Install CSC Changer,
Select the CSC which matches the firmware you are trying to update,
Then start the guide above again from the beginning (including reinstalling the firmware through Odin, even if you are currently using it - to remove the root...)
and now Kies is updating my device!
*UPDATE*
IMEI is not fixed...
Thank you for your suggestion.
I've tired CSC Changer, but to no avail. After changing my CSC to TTT, the phone is restarted, and I put it in download mode; follow all the steps above, but I still see XXX on KIES.
I even tried changing my CSC by opening Preconfig via android terminal emulator, but I still see XXX on KIES.
exclaimed said:
Thank you for your suggestion.
I've tired CSC Changer, but to no avail. After changing my CSC to TTT, the phone is restarted, and I put it in download mode; follow all the steps above, but I still see XXX on KIES.
I even tried changing my CSC by opening Preconfig via android terminal emulator, but I still see XXX on KIES.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please note that KIES does not require Download mode, just connect the phone to the PC running KIES. Maybe it is that, I don`t know.
Hi have you taken a backup of the EFS and saved?
U are a lucky guy u hv it all this working
As per what i know possibly there will be 1 more folder in the system root other then efs main which has imei details etc which must be corrupted and takes place while flashing so u have fake imei
Also check do u have any lockscreen issue???
I m telling this coz I was mad solving imei issue for 2 days with note 2 just a week ago
Sent from my GT-I9505 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app[/QUOTE]
Hey 123hiten, I had no lockscreen issues, only Generic IMEI. Solve it with KIES.
So now I have tried this solution in many different ways,
even though kies does update the FW, it doesn't restore the IMEI,
So on several occasions after updating and not see'ing the IMEI being restored
I put the old Columbian FW back on and restarted the process following every last detail exactly as stated but to no avail....
So I can only conclude that this solution must not work for the I9500 (Exynos S4)....
SmilerOnline said:
So now I have tried this solution in many different ways,
even though kies does update the FW, it doesn't restore the IMEI,
So on several occasions after updating and not see'ing the IMEI being restored
I put the old Columbian FW back on and restarted the process following every last detail exactly as stated but to no avail....
So I can only conclude that this solution must not work for the I9500 (Exynos S4)....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is really frustrating when a solution works in some cases and not on others. Sorry to hear it did not fix it for you. But for my I-9500 it fixed it perfectly. I do not know why :/
One thing I may remark: the IMEI only came back on the very last stage, when after finishing the upgrade to latest firmware in KIES, I rebooted the phone, disconnect the cable, connected it again and pressed "Confirm" on KIES. At that exact point it fixed it. I did not have to do anything with CSC.
partimers said:
It is really frustrating when a solution works in some cases and not on others. Sorry to hear it did not fix it for you. But for my I-9500 it fixed it perfectly. I do not know why :/
One thing I may remark: the IMEI only came back on the very last stage, when after finishing the upgrade to latest firmware in KIES, I rebooted the phone, disconnect the cable, connected it again and pressed "Confirm" on KIES. At that exact point it fixed it. I did not have to do anything with CSC.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did exactly as you said but the Kies button said "OK" not "Confirm"...
and the only reason the CSC change was required for me was to allow my device to be updated by kies (if your device was from Columbia & you updated it with that fw that may be why you didn't need to change the csc... as the csc was already the Columbia csc)
Device is from Colombia but somehow it let me update via KIES using the TTT rom
Sent from my GT-I9500 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
partimers said:
Device is from Colombia but somehow it let me update via KIES using the TTT rom
Sent from my GT-I9500 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@partimer, I am curious, what app or program did you use to backup your IMEI after restoring it to its original form or did you just copy the efs folder.
Thanks.
Copy the efs folder using root Explorer to the Sd card. From there I created a tarball and backed it up to my file server and cloud.
Sent from my GT-I9500 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
From my time on the S2 I had efs problems too. It was established that the IMEI number is individual to each device and is not included on any firmware be it stock or custom. Several roms now automatically create backups when being flashed so it's worth exploring your system to find any backups.
Sent from my GT-I9505 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Hey guys,
I have S5 Duos with UAE region and upgraded to Lollipop for Russia via Odin as UAE was too late to release.
Then, I fully backed up my device through Kies 3 (not Google) and wiped data factory reset & cache partition (I guess I shouldn't!), then flashed to my region's Lollipop and did the restore by Kies.
Now Kies haven't restored my system settings, app configurations, homescreen icons arrangement, they're all GONE!
Any hope to get them back through my backup or something?
Your help is definitely gonna save my day!
Thank you,
Cheers
KIES is cr4p, doesn't work for restoring backups, I learned my lesson with it too
Nandroid is the only sure way
I had to re-configure everything all over again!
Thanks a lot Samsung!
I have a rooted Note 3 SM N900 with a Pakistani android 4.4 rom. I am thinking of flashing an Indian rom to update as lollipop is still not available in my country. However I can't seem to find definite info about CSC. Should I directly flash it or do i have to change CSC?
and also How do I back up my internal storage+apps+data?
Nah, CSC doesn't mean much, if any at all, go on, flash the Indian ROM. For backup use Titanium like everyone does. However photos, music etc. won't be backed up with TB, so just use old copy method to your desktop, laptop, whatever is convenient.
What will matter is the EFS... it can get screwed up... so best thing to do is backup your current version (EFS especially - if you want to connect to your current mobile provider), and try a rom from a similar region (in your case India)... then if no baseband, etc, try flashing your backup EFS... otherwise revert back to your original rom.
Good luck!
Hello people, I'm kinda new to this big domain.
What I did: I installed latesc CM 13 version, rooted my phone.
What hapenned: My Kernel 3 doesn't recognyze my device anymore and I made the whole phone back-up on him.
I really need to make him detect my phone again! (my phone it's an GT-I505, international version).
If someone could help me I'd be fully grateful!!!
EDIT: Oh, and if there's any way to back-up the phone wihout Kies 3, only using saved files (considering you guys know where program saves it) and adding them in my phone, would be amazing too !! I really need my phone contacts and apps back haha, waiting !!
don't use Kies (Kies 3 isn't for your phone as far as I understand it) you have a custom rom, so use the custom recovery you flashed it with to back it up. although is there any point backing up a rom that's not working correctly ?
I'd say it's better to find a new rom and clean flash it via recovery