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MG9 to MG5 firmware, losing imei

Hi there,
I'm just wondering why my phone is losing its imei (or rather, its changing to the generic 0049xxx) after flashing the latest MG5 firmwares (I tried three different versions now). I first came from MG1, then flashed the MG9 when it came out. Now, when I flash any other firmware, my imei gets f'ed up.
I havent rooted my phone yet, I'm just flashing firmwares I downloaded from sammobile. Is it just because of this MG5 firmwares not being compatible? Will I still be able to flash newer firmwares when it goes out?
Thanks in advance, cheers!

Bump...

tclocki said:
Bump...
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I have downloaded the August version for the united arab emirates , it seems to see my imei , but whenever i lock the phone (or screen idle closes the display) 90% of times phone freezes and I need to restart it.

it seems that in the latest roms samsung(for S3,S4) change the efs structure ... thats why imei gets mess if you try to change rom after.but if you change the modem with old one it may works....

Gotcha thanks!

i have the similar problem .
updated from G1 to G5 via samobile,
same problem ... no network registration
..
since i was rooted i used cutsom rom legend and crash . working fine for the moment \
but i need to solve this issue if i want go on stock
BTW i have some EFS back up folder can it help in recovering the IMEI issue
also how to CHANGE THE MODEM WITH OLD ONe ????

Hello same problem with installing firmware from MG9 to MG5, the imei resets to 0049000 something, did you find solution to it. Please reply. Thanks in advance.

mihir880 said:
i have the similar problem .
updated from G1 to G5 via samobile,
same problem ... no network registration
..
since i was rooted i used cutsom rom legend and crash . working fine for the moment \
but i need to solve this issue if i want go on stock
BTW i have some EFS back up folder can it help in recovering the IMEI issue
also how to CHANGE THE MODEM WITH OLD ONe ????
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
kunal.bodke said:
Hello same problem with installing firmware from MG9 to MG5, the imei resets to 0049000 something, did you find solution to it. Please reply. Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
who flashed the MG9 firmware had their EFS partition modified.
So in case if you have to go back to earlier firmware you will have problems with IMEI. You have to:
- Restore EFS (that is backed up before this change) or
- Flash MG9 modem which can still read the modified EFS.
see here for modem collection http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2192025

samersh72 said:
who flashed the MG9 firmware had their EFS partition modified.
So in case if you have to go back to earlier firmware you will have problems with IMEI. You have to:
- Restore EFS (that is backed up before this change) or
- Flash MG9 modem which can still read the modified EFS.
see here for modem collection http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2192025
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Flashing or restoring efs backup doesnt work after flashing mg9.
You need to return to your firmware when you first get your phone out of the box with clean install and wiping everything in cwm before getting into download mode.
Then after flashing the firmware, root then restore efs backup.
Sent from my GT-I9500 using xda app-developers app

marc_ecko28 said:
Flashing or restoring efs backup doesnt work after flashing mg9.
You need to return to your firmware when you first get your phone out of the box with clean install and wiping everything in cwm before getting into download mode.
Then after flashing the firmware, root then restore efs backup.
Sent from my GT-I9500 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
so what is new
once you flashed the MG9, the efs partition format has been changed, so if you downgrade (regardless if to the original stock) you must restore the efs partition from the backup you made or just flash MG9 modem.

samersh72 said:
so what is new
once you flashed the MG9, the efs partition format has been changed, so if you downgrade (regardless if to the original stock) you must restore the efs partition from the backup you made or just flash MG9 modem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Guys, If I flash with MG5 firmware and then flash with modem of MG9? Will it work ?

[FIX] Corrupt EFS - When downgraded from 4.3 to 4.2.2

TD:LR Get back to Stock ROM for your country and then restoring EFS the backup will help in getting back your IMEI.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Requirements
1. Stock country ROM + Rooted if necessary
2. Any EFS backup
3. Same tool used in (2) to restore it back.
Situation
Currently I was 4.3 XXUGML2 ArchiDroid V1.7.3. Faced a lot of issues with any 4.3 ROM i tried. So I though I will go back to 4.2.2 OXAME7 [EFS v1] which was real stable for me. I flashed 4.2.2 again via Odin. After successful boot I had lost my IMEI where the code was generic 0049***. Here are the things I tried to do:
1. I had efs.tar.gz file which I had created when I was on 4.2.2 before flashing 4.3 with help of kTool. I tried to restore the same with help of the same app, but that did not work at all.
2. I had made EFS backup via custom backup and restore of Philz CWM Recovery. But that backup was in Internal SD. After I had flashed 4.2.2 from 4.3 with Odin the internal was completely wiped. So I had lost my 2nd and final alternative backup.
3. Tried to flash XXEMG4 modem which is actually EFS v2 modem, but that too didn't solve the issue.
Now why did this happen?
I am not sure, but my guess was that this happened because the 4.2.2 ME7 ROM had EFS v1 path whereas the 4.3 ROM was EFS v2 path. Any other possible reasons?
The Fix
As a last resort
1. I downloaded the Stock ROM for my country (India) which is XXEMH4 via odin --> No IMEI yet
2. Tried to restore the EFS via kTool again.
3. Profit + hefty amount of relief.
It was a great relief for me to see the IMEI back and thought of sharing it here. Hope this information will be helpful to others. :good:
Edit:
I think this method too would have helped, but did not bump into this thread earlier: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2531221

Well this work with S4 too?

kachrukamble said:
Well this work with S4 too?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure.. But flashing stock ROM and then restoring EFS can be applied to any Samsung phone with IMEI issues as last resort.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk

Mod Edit
Please refer to the stickies in General before posting.
Thread closed
malybru
Forum Moderator

Galaxy note 3 sm-n900 Unkonwn baseband

hello Guys, i have a galaxy note 3 sm-n900 on my hand right now, the problem is that i have no data, unknown baseband and no imei (Null/Null)......is there any solution ??? thank you...

In normal case all this missing comes from factory, if you need help from others you must explain how this happened, what rom you are using etc etc
Sent from my SM-N9005 using XDA Free mobile app

Byakuya88 said:
hello Guys, i have a galaxy note 3 sm-n900 on my hand right now, the problem is that i have no data, unknown baseband and no imei (Null/Null)......is there any solution ??? thank you...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Flash a Stock N900 ROM and hope for the best.

nicholaschum said:
Flash a Stock N900 ROM and hope for the best.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thank you for your answer, i flashed the last 4.4.2 firmware but it's the same thing.....

Byakuya88 said:
thank you for your answer, i flashed the last 4.4.2 firmware but it's the same thing.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
May be your imei data was corrupt.
Did you make backup for the EFS data?
If so just restore it.

i have the same issue with a friends phone, no EFS backup, he won't tell what he did to the phone but now imei is null/null and doesn't have a baseband, anyway to fix it?

jdomadia said:
In normal case all this missing comes from factory, if you need help from others you must explain how this happened, what rom you are using etc etc
Sent from my SM-N9005 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
similar problem
I have a sm-n900 exynos and I have lost my imei and baseband during a Samsung flash. I have a TWRP backup, efs.img backup by dr.ketan's backup tool but nothing is able to restore my efs. I have scanned emmc blocks for bricked blocks and all blocks come back as non-corrupted. may be the partition is corrupted .how do I erase my efs partition to rebuild it. I have tired to flash PIT from ODIN but that too doesn't work.
tried this post http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2567133&page=36
but need a guide to identify the partitions and how to rebuild them. by any chance anyone know if I could extract twrp backup to files to restore efs or from efs.img so I can use the nv_data.bin, since tried restoring the backups and it didn't restore I feel the partition might be corrupt and hence not being re-written. so might be I have to rebuild the partitions by formatting as explained in this thread. but I don't know exactly the steps for exynos variant. I tried using terminal on twrp but mkef2 command shows mmbcblkp03 doesn't exist which as I have read in posts is the efs partition on this phone and reboots to twrp recovery. and mmbcblkp12 show filesystem too small and reboots to twrp recovery

weird thing is, i sometimes find the imei and the baseband and sometimes i dont, phone's not rooted yet, trying to find a way to root it without trippong knox since is not mine, but maybe im able to recover the efs i hope it works

Same problem here...
Hey guys, I'm experiencing the same problem since i installed VN kit kat rom. I searched for the efs backup and i found it but when i use odin to flash it it doesn't work. I tried flashing back to stock but that doesn't work. Can soneone please help me?

Fixed it!!!
If you have a n900 and your imei is null and your baseband is unknown all you have to do is to flash the file beneath with cwm recovery and voila!
You don't have me to thank, DaOldMan/Thomas deserves all the credit!

V-dude said:
If you have a n900 and your imei is null and your baseband is unknown all you have to do is to flash the file beneath with cwm recovery and voila!
You don't have me to thank, DaOldMan/Thomas deserves all the credit!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You save my life dude! Thanks alot man!

You're welcome dude! I had the same problem too so i know how you feel
Btw DaOldMan (or Thomas) is the one you need to thank...

V-dude said:
If you have a n900 and your imei is null and your baseband is unknown all you have to do is to flash the file beneath with cwm recovery and voila!
You don't have me to thank, DaOldMan/Thomas deserves all the credit!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks Man!!!!This file saved my day!!!cheers!!!!![emoji106] [emoji106] [emoji106] [emoji106] [emoji106]

You're wlecome :good:

V-dude said:
If you have a n900 and your imei is null and your baseband is unknown all you have to do is to flash the file beneath with cwm recovery and voila!
You don't have me to thank, DaOldMan/Thomas deserves all the credit!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HI just one question my friend has the exact same problem (IMEI null/null) baseband is unkown !!! the device is SM-N900 running 4.4.2 right now he flashed the file but the problem still exist !!! pleeeeeeeeease help !!
this file only works if the device is running official 4.3 ??? or we can flash it on stock 4.4.2 !!!
it seems wiered to me that others on this forum flashed the file and it worked with them !!!!!
pleeeeeeease help

You can still flash it if you have 4.4.2. The file i uploaded to be flashed is just to flash the baseband not the rom itself.
Btw did you flash the file with cwm recovery?

V-dude said:
You can still flash it if you have 4.4.2. The file i uploaded to be flashed is just to flash the baseband not the rom itself.
Btw did you flash the file with cwm recovery?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks man for the reply
anyway !! yes of course we flashed the file with CWM recovery tha recovery that we used is ( n900-cwm-recovery-6.0.4.7-kk(0125) )
we flashed it 2 times but nothing !! after flashing the baseband stays unkown and IMEI (null/null)
just one thing that the system is 4.4.2 rooted is that a problem ? should we flash the official stock 4.4.2 and then flash the file ?!!
we'v tried to wipe factory data/cash partion/ delvic cash then flashed the file still nothing !!
please help my friend is going crazy !!!

V-dude said:
If you have a n900 and your imei is null and your baseband is unknown all you have to do is to flash the file beneath with cwm recovery and voila!
You don't have me to thank, DaOldMan/Thomas deserves all the credit!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
its work, thanks a lot dude : good::laugh:

ghassano015 said:
Thanks man for the reply
anyway !! yes of course we flashed the file with CWM recovery tha recovery that we used is ( n900-cwm-recovery-6.0.4.7-kk(0125) )
we flashed it 2 times but nothing !! after flashing the baseband stays unkown and IMEI (null/null)
just one thing that the system is 4.4.2 rooted is that a problem ? should we flash the official stock 4.4.2 and then flash the file ?!!
we'v tried to wipe factory data/cash partion/ delvic cash then flashed the file still nothing !!
please help my friend is going crazy !!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That s due to a modem you update so go back to original modem. ..

Ohw ok.... When i flashed the file my sim card got the read the first time i restarted my phone. I don't get why it doesn't work for your friend. What you can try to do is to download (google) other basebands for n900 and try to see if those work (it doesn't necessarily have to be 4.4.2 cuz i flashed the same 4.3 file on my 4.4.2 phone and it worked). If that doesn't work you can try to flash a stock rom and then flash a baseband ( while still in recovery mode), try the one i uploaded. just be sure to have a backup of the current rom if the stock one doesn't seem to be solution.
Maybe start with these :
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2475714

HUGE problem with imei. please help

i didn't have an imei on my i9500 for some reason so i flashed a leaked 5.0.1 rom on my i9500 which fixed my imei issue. everything was working (calls etc). since you can't flash gapps on this rom for some reason i switched back to a stock rom and saw that my imei and baseband version were gone again. after some digging i found out that this was an efs file issue, so after (literally) 16 hours i finally fixed it by flashing the 5.0.1 leak with philz touch, backing up my efs file, and flashing a custom rom (hassan rom v7) and my imei appeared again. i wanted to go back to stock 4.4.2 touchwiz so i tried to flash it again but it gave me a fail. and when i tried again it succeeded but my imei was gone again after some more digging a found out that the 5.0.1 was a chinese rom and changed my model name to i9500chn, and they imei worked only when that was my model name.
so now i'm kinda stuck on hassan rom and my phones model is i9500chn. even though i backup my efs folder successfully, if i flash another rom that changes my phone to i9500 it removes my imei and the efs backups won't help (restore is successful but doesn't work).
what can i do in this situation??
PLEASE XDA PEOPLE HELP ME.

anyone???????
please?!

Wasn't there a tool to backup IMEI number? I remember there was something similar for the Galaxy Ace.

GDReaper said:
Wasn't there a tool to backup IMEI number? I remember there was something similar for the Galaxy Ace.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i do backup my imei but restore doesn't work.

maximusprimus said:
i didn't have an imei on my i9500 for some reason so i flashed a leaked 5.0.1 rom on my i9500 which fixed my imei issue. everything was working (calls etc). since you can't flash gapps on this rom for some reason i switched back to a stock rom and saw that my imei and baseband version were gone again. after some digging i found out that this was an efs file issue, so after (literally) 16 hours i finally fixed it by flashing the 5.0.1 leak with philz touch, backing up my efs file, and flashing a custom rom (hassan rom v7) and my imei appeared again. i wanted to go back to stock 4.4.2 touchwiz so i tried to flash it again but it gave me a fail. and when i tried again it succeeded but my imei was gone again after some more digging a found out that the 5.0.1 was a chinese rom and changed my model name to i9500chn, and they imei worked only when that was my model name.
so now i'm kinda stuck on hassan rom and my phones model is i9500chn. even though i backup my efs folder successfully, if i flash another rom that changes my phone to i9500 it removes my imei and the efs backups won't help (restore is successful but doesn't work).
what can i do in this situation??
PLEASE XDA PEOPLE HELP ME.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hi mate
Is hard to tell what went wrong ... what i would first of all is trying to go back a a normal stock (not leaked) but not sure if there will be any problem from going back to 4.4.2 from 5.0.1
Check here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2265477
First thing i would do is trying to get rid of the chinese PIT from the leaked rom , what is the size of your internal SDm non chinese are around 8-9 gb , try to flash a stock rom (4.4.2) with a PIT file shown in thread , the second one
File Type: zip I9500_pit file.zip - [Click for QR Code] (1.0 KB, 22777 views)
READ FIRST, BACKUP and then proceed
Once you are back in stock ...you can start over

Null IMEI after flashing with Odin

My S4 GT-I9500 was upgraded to lollipop 5.0.1 by the service centre guys and it's not supported by my official android policy.
So after googling a lot i found out a you tube vdo for downgrading lollipop 5.0 to kitkat 4.4.2 on S5 and as shown i did the exact steps i.e. downloaded firware from SAMFIRM & used ODIn to flash it and the entire process went fine, no errors.
But after booting up there is no mobile network connectivity and IMEI number is unknown , IMEI SV is unknown.
Is it possible to make the phone working again, any help would be greatly appreciated.

sumanjit said:
My S4 GT-I9500 was upgraded to lollipop 5.0.1 by the service centre guys and it's not supported by my official android policy.
So after googling a lot i found out a you tube vdo for downgrading lollipop 5.0 to kitkat 4.4.2 on S5 and as shown i did the exact steps i.e. downloaded firware from SAMFIRM & used ODIn to flash it and the entire process went fine, no errors.
But after booting up there is no mobile network connectivity and IMEI number is unknown , IMEI SV is unknown.
Is it possible to make the phone working again, any help would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello sumanjit,
I faced this problem today! i was on Lollipop and then tried to downgrade it to Kitkat but that erased my IMEI number. To get it back I again flashed the stock 5.0.1 Firmware. And for downgrading it have a look at this - http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s4/general/i9500-easy-to-downgrade-official-t3036258 . You need to be rooted on 5.0.1 with a custom recovery.
All the best!

Mandark52 said:
Hello sumanjit,
I faced this problem today! i was on Lollipop and then tried to downgrade it to Kitkat but that erased my IMEI number. To get it back I again flashed the stock 5.0.1 Firmware. And for downgrading it have a look at this - http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s4/general/i9500-easy-to-downgrade-official-t3036258 . You need to be rooted on 5.0.1 with a custom recovery.
All the best!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
Thanks for the suggestion , after flashing back to stock 5.0.1 firmware it works again. I went through the link which you have mentioned but not sure how do i clean wipe using CWM recovery, please help me with that. Also did you try it and is it working.
Many thanks for your time.

sumanjit said:
Hi,
Thanks for the suggestion , after flashing back to stock 5.0.1 firmware it works again. I went through the link which you have mentioned but not sure how do i clean wipe using CWM recovery, please help me with that. Also did you try it and is it working.
Many thanks for your time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had Philz Touch recovery. In it select- Wipe data reset.
Then you will be asked to - 1) wipe data reset
2) wipe clean install (something like this).
So select the clean install option.
Boot to download and flash the firmware.
Note: I tried the same and got my IMEI nulled. And I was suggested to follow the same procedure as displayed in that post. I haven't tested the yet. I am still to restore the EFS partition and will report back with any probable solution.
If helped press thanks!
All the best!

Mandark52 said:
I had Philz Touch recovery. In it select- Wipe data reset.
Then you will be asked to - 1) wipe data reset
2) wipe clean install (something like this).
So select the clean install option.
Boot to download and flash the firmware.
Note: I tried the same and got my IMEI nulled. And I was suggested to follow the same procedure as displayed in that post. I haven't tested the yet. I am still to restore the EFS partition and will report back with any probable solution.
If helped press thanks!
All the best!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, i got a little confused with the last paragraph. Did you face the IMEI nulled issue even after doing Philz Touch recovery?

sumanjit said:
Sorry, i got a little confused with the last paragraph. Did you face the IMEI nulled issue even after doing Philz Touch recovery?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes my IMEI was nulled. The main problem is the new Lollipop bootloader. But many members claimed here : http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s4/general/i9500-easy-to-downgrade-official-t3036258 that after following the exact steps they successfully downgraded to KitKat. Now I have XXUFN12 firmware so I am still downloading UUBGNJ1 to check whether it works.
All the best!