An easier way of restoring lost IMEI (GT-I9500)! - Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hi!
I just like to share something I have discovered during the time I was already going nutts when I discovered that my phones IMEI was replaced by another set of numbers. It all started when I flashed a Firmware XXUBUBMG1 (Movistar) that I downloaded. It was for GT-I9500, the same model as my phone. Everything went well, then I noticed this problem when I decided to call the Customer Service Number of my SIM, the device is telling me that my phone is Not registered on network. Then I decided to check the IMEI and to my horror, it was replaced by this set of numbers, 004003150000, which is not my phones IMEI. Then I decided to look for answers over the internet. But before going further and going thru all the trouble of starting from scratch, an idea came to my mind. I decided to try it out before doing anything else. And whoalah! My phone's IMEA is restored! I can make calls again and connect to the net via Mobile Data again.
Anyway here is the solution that I came up with. If anyone else had tried this before then I give all the credits to him for fixing his phone. :laugh:
1. Download a firmware that is intended for your phone's model number and the region where you bought your S4. Mine was bought in Saudi Arabia, so the firmware I got was for KSA. It also applies for the GT-I9505.
2. Enter Download Mode and flash this firmware via Odin on your PC. I didn't do any Wipe or Factory Reset during this time.
3. Root and install any custom Kernel or CWM Recovery on your phone if you are on this setup. Otherwise leave it as it is.

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[Q] Blocked from AT&T after international travel

I have read through this forum for hours and in no way savvy with this stuff; I have learnt a lot so thank you but please help me.
I just don't know how to tell what the problem is with my phone therefore i don't know which of the 100s of solutions here to apply.
its a S4 i337 previously used on AT&T LTE network, I traveled overseas and used other country's sim card for a short time after giving it to service provider to program. i believe phone was rooted and settings changed for this to happen, though i did not do them or know what they did.
I returned to U.S. and reinserted AT&T sim, made one call, but phone seems to trigger anti theft or network suspend right after. I have had it unlocked twice by AT&T but first use thereafter seems to reblock me out of their network and i get message that this device is blocked from network use. When I call they say phone shows stolen and i repeat process above only to get reblocked again.
I don't know if it is APN settings, previous rooting or what that is causing this? I found an app called SuperSU on the phone, i clicked on its settings and clicked "full unroot" which made app icon disappear but can't tell if I am really unrooted or not. I have also done factory reset and lost everything already, I just want phone to work back on AT&T network as before.
Android version 4.2.2
baseband I337UCUAMF3
please help me… i am not sure if i need to reroot, delete binary counter, flash with files???? i have read some about odin files, don't know what is the latest and which sources are safe…just confused all around.
please someone tell me where to start
please tell me where to start? do i need safestrap?
samsondelilah said:
I have read through this forum for hours and in no way savvy with this stuff; I have learnt a lot so thank you but please help me.
I just don't know how to tell what the problem is with my phone therefore i don't know which of the 100s of solutions here to apply.
its a S4 i337 previously used on AT&T LTE network, I traveled overseas and used other country's sim card for a short time after giving it to service provider to program. i believe phone was rooted and settings changed for this to happen, though i did not do them or know what they did.
I returned to U.S. and reinserted AT&T sim, made one call, but phone seems to trigger anti theft or network suspend right after. I have had it unlocked twice by AT&T but first use thereafter seems to reblock me out of their network and i get message that this device is blocked from network use. When I call they say phone shows stolen and i repeat process above only to get reblocked again.
I don't know if it is APN settings, previous rooting or what that is causing this? I found an app called SuperSU on the phone, i clicked on its settings and clicked "full unroot" which made app icon disappear but can't tell if I am really unrooted or not. I have also done factory reset and lost everything already, I just want phone to work back on AT&T network as before.
Android version 4.2.2
baseband I337UCUAMF3
please help me… i am not sure if i need to reroot, delete binary counter, flash with files???? i have read some about odin files, don't know what is the latest and which sources are safe…just confused all around.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Take it to a best buy Samsung service counter and have them reflash the firmware or update it to MK2. Wipe everything (including internal and external SD card) Then, call att to unblock it again. If it relocks, then go back to the Samsung service counter, tell them the issue and see if they can restore your efs for you from a backup. If they can, do it and then unblock it.
If after all this it relocks, its not your device. Its att who are at fault. Then all you can do is to yell at them.
EDIT:
Another possibility is that the ppl who unlocked your phone overseas stole your imei number and used it to revive a blocked stolen phone. In that case your imei is in an international stolen imei database and you are probably out of luck.
Sent from my SGH-I337 using Tapatalk
RK said:
Take it to a best buy Samsung service counter and have them reflash the firmware or update it to MK2. Wipe everything (including internal and external SD card) Then, call att to unblock it again. If it relocks, then go back to the Samsung service counter, tell them the issue and see if they can restore your efs for you from a backup. If they can, do it and then unblock it.
If after all this it relocks, its not your device. Its att who are at fault. Then all you can do is to yell at them.
EDIT:
Another possibility is that the ppl who unlocked your phone overseas stole your imei number and used it to revive a blocked stolen phone. In that case your imei is in an international stolen imei database and you are probably out of luck.
Sent from my SGH-I337 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting. If the IMEI was stolen, what would the phone show? Would they clone the IMEI (so it would show the same IMEI) or would it come up as UNKNOWN or blank or something. Reason I am asking is that I've been try to fix an issue with my father-in-law's phone that completely lost the ability to connect to wifi/data after having his S4 "unlocked" in Vietnam to use a local SIM there. Tried may reflashes with MK2 and custom TW ROM's but none work with wifi anymore (data works ok).
If data and calling works then the imei is fine. Its some other issue..
Sent from my SGH-I337 using Tapatalk
All is speculation but there is a small posibility that when you gave your phone that person gave you another phone which indeed was stolen. Your best bet is to go to the samsung guys right now or learning how to restock your phone. You tube search videos How To Unroot & Unbrick Samsung Galaxy S4
so its been a few days now with no service. it turns out my phone has somehow been programmed with a different imei that comes up as stolen according to at&t. so the theory of my imei having been stolen is pretty possible. every time i have the phone unblocked from the network, one phone call or message causes it to trigger the stolen phone alert and kick me out the at&t network. i have been to the at&t store with my device and the original packaging that shows my original and correct imei but the one that the phone is registering on screen does not match what is on my actual handset sticker and original packaging. the phone never left my sight the entire trip so i am 100% positive my handset was never switched, if anything it was reprogrammed with the stolen imei and they stole mine which is now working fine out there for some crook
i just can't believe that at&t can't verify my original imei that came with the phone i bought from them and just reprogram my phone and get my service going again. its looking like i will need to find a way to recover my imei myself. although i just got the 4.4.2 update that force placed itself on my zero service phone. hope this post helps to alert others to be careful of this type of thing.
Wow! what country did u visit?
If your s4 had insurance I would report the phone as stolen and give the original Imei to be blacklisted and try to get a new phone.
Sent from my GT-I9505G using xda app-developers app
samsondelilah said:
I have read through this forum for hours and in no way savvy with this stuff; I have learnt a lot so thank you but please help me.
I just don't know how to tell what the problem is with my phone therefore i don't know which of the 100s of solutions here to apply.
its a S4 i337 previously used on AT&T LTE network, I traveled overseas and used other country's sim card for a short time after giving it to service provider to program. i believe phone was rooted and settings changed for this to happen, though i did not do them or know what they did.
I returned to U.S. and reinserted AT&T sim, made one call, but phone seems to trigger anti theft or network suspend right after. I have had it unlocked twice by AT&T but first use thereafter seems to reblock me out of their network and i get message that this device is blocked from network use. When I call they say phone shows stolen and i repeat process above only to get reblocked again.
I don't know if it is APN settings, previous rooting or what that is causing this? I found an app called SuperSU on the phone, i clicked on its settings and clicked "full unroot" which made app icon disappear but can't tell if I am really unrooted or not. I have also done factory reset and lost everything already, I just want phone to work back on AT&T network as before.
Android version 4.2.2
baseband I337UCUAMF3
please help me… i am not sure if i need to reroot, delete binary counter, flash with files???? i have read some about odin files, don't know what is the latest and which sources are safe…just confused all around.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can do unroot and factory reset by follow this link
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2624397
I did it yesterday and good the news you can update your phone to 4.4.2

[Q] No registered on network

Hi, i have a problem with my S4 gt-i9500, one day my device become to kitkat and then the imei number change to 049... so i pay for a repair, everything was fine after repair but when i change the rom to a custom one the phone said "no registered on network", i go back to the last stock rom but not solve the problem, i have the imei as back phone say, what can i do? Any idea? Thanks
Restore your efs folder.
LilithL said:
Hi, i have a problem with my S4 gt-i9500, one day my device become to kitkat and then the imei number change to 049... so i pay for a repair, everything was fine after repair but when i change the rom to a custom one the phone said "no registered on network", i go back to the last stock rom but not solve the problem, i have the imei as back phone say, what can i do? Any idea? Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Had the same problem like you before. You must have done something that altered the Baseband/Modem. I will assume you haven't made an EFS Backup. What you can do is this, download a stock Firmware and manually flash is. Just be sure that the firmware you will download is meant for your country. After flashing, try to see the IMEI of your phone. If the correct IMEI shows, then try making calls, text and connect to your mobile data. If not, then try flashing any modem meant for GT-i9500. If the problem still persist, then your last option would be to change baseband antennae or worst, replace the board itself which can only be done by technicians which has the proper replacement parts.
Thanks for answering, i flash my device with my country oficial stock room, after that im still having the correct imei but cant make calls, say no service and no registered on network, i have efs backup, but after restore nothing happend =(
Solved
Hello, me again, just to say that i solve my problem and just for 10 € , Rafal its a great guy! he repair my network in just 5 min heres he's page, please visit him if have the same problem fast, cheap and works!.
Thanks for your answers too!
218
Rafal's page: cvxcvx.pl

Note 3 No Network / Wrong Serial Number .

Problem:Rooted the phone and due to some issues but somehow it became unrooted so I tried to root again but this time it failed during odin downloading mode halfway. so I unplug and was not able to boot up the phone. So i download and install the stock firmware from sammobile and manage to get the phone to startup . But the next issue is that the imei is gone and serial number's wrong with no network .
Did a bit of researched and I managed to write my own imei in through a thread I've found here . But my serial number is still different from what I've checked from the back of my phone and the network is still not up . I've check my ESN n MEID number is some random numbers or just 000000000 , tried to search for how to recover but to no avail.
I've tried doing imei repairs using GSII_repair and tried to follow some threads on things like deleting efs folders etc BUT I am not able to find the nv_data file even after rooting so decided to drop the method .
Do let me know what you guys need in order to troubleshoot the problem .
Did the phone's imei and serial # match the label before you rooted the first time?
audit13 said:
Did the phone's imei and serial # match the label before you rooted the first time?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Erm , I'm not sure about that thou . :crying:
Did you buy the phone new or used?
The easiest way to fix that, is to flash stock rom, but not just any ... it has to be the exact same region as the phone originated. Otherwise you get screwed EMEI, etc. Some countries the phone is carrier locked, so you also need to take that in account when getting stock rom. If you can't find those out... then it can be a problem. Maybe bring it into a samsung repair center to be checked out.
audit13 said:
Did you buy the phone new or used?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It was a brand new phone when I bought it quite some time back .
cyberboob said:
The easiest way to fix that, is to flash stock rom, but not just any ... it has to be the exact same region as the phone originated. Otherwise you get screwed EMEI, etc. Some countries the phone is carrier locked, so you also need to take that in account when getting stock rom. If you can't find those out... then it can be a problem. Maybe bring it into a samsung repair center to be checked out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I flashed the stock rom from sammobile using odin , managed to get the phone up but thats when the imei and sn gets screwed up I think . I'm from singapore and our phones here are all unlocked . Used to work for 1 of the telcos here so I'm 100% sure it's not sim locked . I checked with my friends at samsung and they told me their process is to switch the motherboard and it's not worth the price, so I would want to try all the methods first before converting it as a expensive media player lol.
So the phone is originally from Singapore? Or you just flashed stock rom from Singapore? If the phone is originally from Singapore and you flashed a stock rom from Singapore, it should work... unless you tried changing the EMEI yourself. I think it's all messed up now, so you probably only have to take it to a shop that can do that for you. Changing motherboard from Samsung (or any manufacturer) is always super expensive. Hopefully you can find someone else with a small shop that can do it -- otherwise, I guess better to get something else (because price won't be worth it, as you say).
Good luck. Hope you sort it out.
PS, I like visiting Singapore sometimes... miss Brazil Churrascaria ^^.

No network/No service/No signal... GT-I9500

Hello guys
my problem started when I tried to upgrade from 4.4.2 (KitKat) to 5.0.1 (lollipop), I tried first to upgrade using Kies but I just didn't work it recognized my phone and downloaded the firmware but couldn't install, so I went to the other option "odin" I flashed the firmware for my region for my phone yet when it turned on I had a very week signal.
when I tried going back to kitkat I had no service at all and lost my IMEI and baseband, then I tried different regions of lollipop and kitkat, but still nothing, and I thought I lost my IMEI and that I need to write it manually using this box (I don't remember its name) until yesterday when I flashed a Turkish kitkat which restored my IMEI and baseband but still no service, then I backed up my efs folder and went on trying every modem in this thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2192025
I tried everyone of them some gave me "no service" others "emergency calls only" and a third group didn't even recognize the sim card however all of them changed my IMEI to either NULL or the fake IMEI.
now I tried to restore my esf folder but it didn't work, so I thought to re-flash the Turkish firmware (which retrieved my IMEI and serial) but also didn't work and now I still have a fake IMEI which is weird because it worked before.
I tried every method every solution and nothing worked
I even contacted Samsung who told me that it cannot be fixed in Europe cause it is an international model and has to be fixed from where it was bought (Jordan)
and now um feeling really hopeless
please help
987123 said:
Hello guys
my problem started when I tried to upgrade from 4.4.2 (KitKat) to 5.0.1 (lollipop), I tried first to upgrade using Kies but I just didn't work it recognized my phone and downloaded the firmware but couldn't install, so I went to the other option "odin" I flashed the firmware for my region for my phone yet when it turned on I had a very week signal.
when I tried going back to kitkat I had no service at all and lost my IMEI and baseband, then I tried different regions of lollipop and kitkat, but still nothing, and I thought I lost my IMEI and that I need to write it manually using this box (I don't remember its name) until yesterday when I flashed a Turkish kitkat which restored my IMEI and baseband but still no service, then I backed up my efs folder and went on trying every modem in this thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2192025
I tried everyone of them some gave me "no service" others "emergency calls only" and a third group didn't even recognize the sim card however all of them changed my IMEI to either NULL or the fake IMEI.
now I tried to restore my esf folder but it didn't work, so I thought to re-flash the Turkish firmware (which retrieved my IMEI and serial) but also didn't work and now I still have a fake IMEI which is weird because it worked before.
I tried every method every solution and nothing worked
I even contacted Samsung who told me that it cannot be fixed in Europe cause it is an international model and has to be fixed from where it was bought (Jordan)
and now um feeling really hopeless
please help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ive got similiar problem can u contact me on this mail [email protected]
Same problem here. I have no idea what my original firmware was. My phone was bought in Panama...
same here i lost my imei and serial after upgrading firmeware.
i can't understand how samsung made it easy to brick a phone, and made difficulte to repair it
if there is a solution !!!

Samsung S7 SM-G930F wrong IMEI and model number

Hello guys. I am not quite new here, but I never registered (or I did but I couldn't find with which email or username).
However, I am having some trouble with Samsung S7 phone.
First of all, the IMEI on the About page is not the same as the IMEI on the back of the phone.
When I enter the IMEI from the back of the phone in IMEI checker, I get the right phone (Samsung S7).
When I enter the IMEI from the About page in IMEI checker, I get some old BLU phone.
Second problem is that I think this phone is not duos, however, whichever firmware I try to flash, I see the SIM card manager in the Settings. Which is weird to me.
Third problem is that the phone won't connect to network. I've tried 3 SIM cards (all 3 of those works on other phones), but this one just won't connect.
It shows full strength of signal, it also shows the phone number of the SIM, however, when I try to make a call, it says "Not registered on network".
The phone should not be locked as my brother said that he used it for some time, then he updated it to the latest OS and then did a factory reset. After that, the phone just stopped working.
Does anyone know what could be the issue? Why the IMEIs are different?
I am quite sure that the phone model is SM-G930F, however, the model number in Settings shows SM-G930FD. Which is again weird to me.
I've looked on the Google to see a picture of the SIM card slot of Samsung S7 duos and mine SIM card slot does not like that. Also, on one slot, it says only "microSD" and on another "SIM". So, I guess it is not a duos phone.
Any advices?
Thank you in advance!
All the best,
Dale
It sounds like somebody has changed the IMEI of the phone and patched the certificate for the IMEI to work.
Once you reset the phone or update the firmware on it, it will remove the patched certificate allowing the changed IMEI.
You will need to look for someone that does IMEI repair / change to get it working for you again I know there is a guy on the forums here that does them for free. Look through the s7 edge sub forums for them.
benjamen50 said:
It sounds like somebody has changed the IMEI of the phone and patched the certificate for the IMEI to work.
Once you reset the phone or update the firmware on it, it will remove the patched certificate allowing the changed IMEI.
You will need to look for someone that does IMEI repair / change to get it working for you again I know there is a guy on the forums here that does them for free. Look through the s7 edge sub forums for them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I already flashed the firmware multiple times with different basebands and versions of the firmware as I thought that the firmware is wrong. Also tried to flash the firmware with Phone EFS Clear option checked in Odin.
Everything else on the phone works.
Sorry that this isnt help but you not alone, I unbricked a Samsung S7 (SM-G930F) after it suddenly just bricked (hard brick/soft brick - same thing). Eventually when I installed nougat on it, and finally wanted to use the phone, i tried a simcard and noticed how it would load all saved contacts but whatever I dailed, it responded "Not registered to network". Checking the model number it is now SM-G930FD but i am unable to verify the imei becuase of missing box. I tried many firmwares (even those that specify its for SM-G930F) but the model number remains SM-G930FD.
could any help plz be posted...
It can be done by repair IMEI, i would like to help you if you'r interested
instrumentaly said:
It can be done by repair IMEI, i would like to help you if you'r interested
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
can u help me please i have the exact same problem
thank...

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