If you did not make any backup of your EFS folder, and your IMEI is messed up, this could be your solution to recover your lost IMEI. NOTE THAT AT LEAST YOU MUST HAVE THE SHIPPED ORIGINAL EFS FOLDER ON YOUR PHONE ( even if you didn't make a backup of it yet and even it's messed up ) FOR THIS METHOD TO WORK
My history with my IMEI:
I flashed my phone with some ROMs, and I didn't backup my EFS folder before, then My SGS2 IMEI was changed to 004999010640000, and we know this is the fake IMEI that is assigned to the phone if the nv_data.bin file is messed up.
so I researched. searched all the forums and didn't find anything that could cure my phone's IMEI and set it to the original IMEI number. so I experimented and after some hours, I fixed my IMEI.
one thing that led me to the conclusion that " .nv_data " file is the thing that I need to fix the IMEI is that they share a very look alike name, and they have the same 2MB size.
PS: I restored my phone's firmware to it's original PDA, Phone and CSC, rooted it with CF-Root, and then done this procedures below
here is what I have done:
you must have:
-Root
-Root explorer for copying files to and from EFS folder
-Android SDK for the ADB tools or Terminal in your phone.
It is interesting to know that the IMEI is stored in ".nv_data" file in ORIGINAL SHIPPED EFS folder too, so you just have to do these:
1) make a copy of your EFS folder to your sdcard using root explorer and then make a backup of the folder to your computer [ to have another copy if you had to format sd card sometime ]
2) delete the EFS folder (BE SURE YOU HAVE BACKED IT UP IN A SAFE PLACE AS SAID IN STEP 1) from the root of your phone using root explorer.
3) reset the phone, after that, go to the root, and you can see that the EFS folder is still there, don't make any mistake, this EFS folder is new and generated by the android OS.
4) go to EFS folder using root explorer, and delete "nv_data.bin", "nv_data.bin.md5".
5) go to your backed up EFS folder on your sdcard, copy the "imei" folder to the EFS folder at the root of your phone, then again go to the backed up EFS folder at yout sdcard and copy the " .nv_data " file to your EFS folder at the root of your phone using root explorer, NOTE: the dot in first of nv_data is not a mistake, copy the ".nv_data" file.
6) make another copy of the ".nv_data" file in EFS folder in your phone, so you would have 2 copies of ".nv_data" in EFS folder
7) rename one of ".nv_data" files to "nv_data.bin" and another one to "nv_data.bin.bak"
8) at your PC open CMD at the ADB tool path, or run Terminal at your phone enter these commands:
adb shell ( use this command of you use ADB, if you're using terminal, skip this line )
su ( ALLOW THE MESSAGE CAME AT YOUR PHONE's DISPLAY BY SUPERUSER PROGRAM )
chown 1001:radio /efs/nv_data.bin
9) reset your phone.... after that you have your original IMEI. you can check your IMEI by dialing *#06#.
and DO IT ON YOUR OWN RISK.
and PLEASE MAKE A COPY OF THE ORIGINAL EFS FOLDER BEFORE DELETING IT. IT HAS IMPORTANT FILES IN IT.
and sorry for bad English.
Thank you very much for taking the time to write this helpful thread, but can you please tell us how your IMEI was changed to a fake one in the first place so that we don't have to go through all this?
maddada said:
Thank you very much for taking the time to write this helpful thread, but can you please tell us how your IMEI was changed to a fake one in the first place so that we don't have to go through all this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Flashing a rom may often be the only reason .
jje
Had you already made a copy of your EFS folder before your IMEI was changed?
kcaz said:
Had you already made a copy of your EFS folder before your IMEI was changed?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, I didn't had the back up before IMEI change.
To make a conclusion:
... You didn't backup your EFS folder.
... Your IMEI changed because of ROM flashings.
... You want to recover your IMEI.
For the purpose of making a backup of the EFS folder, how about simply copying the whole folder into a safe place?
There is an app called Nitrality (if my spelling is not wrong) which one of its various functions is to backup and restore the EFS folder. I've made a backup using this method and it seems that what the app actually did was simply copying the whole folder into a different directory. If it's simple like that, it seems that Root Explorer or similar app would be enough for that purpose.
Nevertheless, as there are numerous guides on this topic, all of which providing more complex methods, either using ADB or Terminal Emulator (I've made a backup using it as well, just in case, which resulted in the EFS being saved as tarball file), I have some doubts whether simply copying the whole folder would be enough for a eventual restoration. Would it?
angelomaldito said:
For the purpose of making a backup of the EFS folder, how about simply copying the whole folder into a safe place?
There is an app called Nitrality (if my spelling is not wrong) which one of its various functions is to backup and restore the EFS folder. I've made a backup using this method and it seems that what the app actually did was simply to copy the whole folder into a different directory. If it's simple like that, it seems that Root Explorer or similar app would be enough for that purpose.
Nevertheless, as there are numerous guides on this topic, all of which providing more complex methods, either using ADB or Terminal Emulator (i've made a backup using it as well, just in case, which resulted in the EFS being saved as tarball file), I have some doubts wheter simply copying the whole folder would be enough for a eventual restoration. Would it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just copying your EFS folder to a safe place is enough, using any method, but copying EFS folder messes up wih its permissions, so if you want to restore your nv_data.bin file, you must set the owner of the nv_data.bin using "chown" command in ADB like described in my post.
After all, I hope this method works for everyone, worked for me though.
Have copied the efs folder onto my PC.
At least i now know i have a backup, i can mess about with permissions there and then if it ever comes down to it!
I do not have the .nv_data file. onle *.bin or *.bak. Any suggestions or do I have to stick with the generic 00... IMEI? The whole procedure did not word for me, but thanks anyway.
By the way I think you do not need adb for that. You can execute the chmod command in a Terminal editor on the phone.
Schindler33 said:
I do not have the .nv_data file. onle *.bin or *.bak. Any suggestions or do I have to stick with the generic 00... IMEI? The whole procedure did not word for me, but thanks anyway.
By the way I think you do not need adb for that. You can execute the chmod command in a Terminal editor on the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes you can use terminal in your phone, but as for information for the other users, you don't need to enter " adb shell " command in step 8, because you are already connected to the phone's kernel.
I think you deleted your original EFS folder that came preinstalled with your phone, because I had " .nv_data " file.
anyway, use " nv_data.bin.bak " instead of " .nv_data " and see what happens.
thanks for the update.
---------- Post added at 07:55 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:53 PM ----------
superleeds27 said:
Have copied the efs folder onto my PC.
At least i now know i have a backup, i can mess about with permissions there and then if it ever comes down to it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thank you for your reply. but please don't play with EFS folder too much. the Android OS can't recover your IMEI if you lost it completely. I've been lucky with this method to restore my IMEI.
thanks.
Do you know if there are providers that block your
IMEI? I do not have any problems with my carrier now but I will soon go to the states, and I don't know wether my phone will get blocked there.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
Im not messing with it at all. Basically just copied it onto my SD card and then onot my PC. That way i know i deffo have a backup if anything was to happen
Schindler33 said:
Do you know if there are providers that block your
IMEI? I do not have any problems with my carrier now but I will soon go to the states, and I don't know wether my phone will get blocked there.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know any providers. but as a guess, I think some providers MAY block an irregular IMEI because of their security policy. but it's just a guess.
vaskodogamagmail said:
No, I didn't had the back up before IMEI change.
To make a conclusion:
... You didn't backup your EFS folder.
... Your IMEI changed because of ROM flashings.
... You want to recover your IMEI.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't understand how you were able to apply the steps you describe to your case if you didn't have a backup of your original efs folder...
Help
My SGS 4G IMEI is corrupted showing some random symbols. Now I have taken backup of my EFS folder. EFS>root>afs>setings has .nv_state and nv_data.bin.
In IMEI folder there are only two files bt.txt and mps_code.dat.
Can it be repaired back to original IMEI? I don't have back up of my original EFS folder.
jerome.d said:
I don't understand how you were able to apply the steps you describe to your case if you didn't have a backup of your original efs folder...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't had a backup of my original EFS folder BEFORE IMEI CHANGE.
after my IMEI has been changed to the fake one, then I backed up my EFS folder and do the steps in the first post.
---------- Post added at 05:22 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:13 PM ----------
s_d123 said:
My SGS 4G IMEI is corrupted showing some random symbols. Now I have taken backup of my EFS folder. EFS>root>afs>setings has .nv_state and nv_data.bin.
In IMEI folder there are only two files bt.txt and mps_code.dat.
Can it be repaired back to original IMEI? I don't have back up of my original EFS folder.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the Content of your IMEI folder is correct, we don't have any business with the IMEI folder's content.
but look at your EFS folder contents, find the file named " .nv_data " (no post-fix), then do the steps in the first post.
but NOTE: my SGS 2 is a GSM model, not the 4G model, so I cannot guarantee that this method works with your phone too as it did for me.
thank you
Works in galaxy s too?
Thanks.
Hi...
I don't understand very well what you mean by
NOTE THAT AT LEAST YOU MUST HAVE THE SHIPPED ORIGINAL EFS FOLDER ON YOUR PHONE
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you mean that we should have the efs folder with the sud-folder and files structure as it was when the IMEI was not corrupted???
I.E.
/efs (dir)
nv_data.bin (file)
.imei (hidden file)
.nv_data.bak (hidden file)
.nv_data.bak.md5 (hidden file)
nv_data.bin.md5 (file)
nv_state (file)
/.android (hidden folder)
/imei (folder)
bt.txt (file)
mps_code.dat (file)
nvmac.info (file)
Another issue i'm facing is the fact that I can't do a chown radio:radio because i get the error that user/group radio does not exist...
And would this work for SGS I?
Like others I am confused.
I flashed a ROM night before last.
I ended up with a phone that wouldn't work and the fake IMEI number.
By some chance I was able to get my phone working again with HC-kTool by restoring a efs.tar file -- I have a number of efsxxxx.tar.gz files in a folder called EFS_BACKUP on my sdcard (I don't how it got there but there are various dates of these files).
Now my phone works with data on the ATT network but my IMEI number is still the fake one.
SOOOO -- if I DON"T have an original backup of my EFS folder (or at least one I'm sure of) HOW do I restore my origianl IMEI ???
Thanks for this!
Hi,
I've flashed a new ROM, and found that my IMEI is now 004999010640000 (Generic)
I have a backup of my efs folder.
How do I restore it from the backup?
It looks like when I delete the efs folder, the system recreates it automatically...
What's the way to do it?
Thanks
Gil
I fixed this problem and it took me 4 hours to fix it!
Your real IMEI show on under the battery where you see the model phone.
You need to copy the numbers (without the / if u have this) to this website http://www.adamek.biz/md5-generator.php this website make ur imei to md5 .
After you have created the md5 go to efs folder via root explorer and you need to see the file (.nv_data.bak.md5 or nv_data.bak.md5) On this file you see the md5 of the currety copy the md5 u created to the files and close everything and restart ur phone
I already have a working efs backedup
I already have a working efs backed up!
The thing is that when I copy the files from the backup on the efs folder, they get reverted automatically... I don't know what's doing it...
The backup date is older than the current files... this might be the problem...
but how do I make it work?
Is the security and permissions set up correctly on your backup efs?
gilamran said:
I already have a working efs backed up!
The thing is that when I copy the files from the backup on the efs folder, they get reverted automatically... I don't know what's doing it...
The backup date is older than the current files... this might be the problem...
but how do I make it work?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you tried to delete the folder and replace the efs folder backup?
I think you have to copy both the files and the hidden files (starting with a dot) from your backup..
The files with a dot are there to prevent you from accidentally deleting your originals and be left with nothing
The only files I see are:
1) .nv_state
2) bluetooth
3) imei
4) lost+found
5) nv.log
6) nv_data.bin
7) nv_data.bin.md5
Should I choose the file that says: "nv_data.bin.md5"?
If you have backuped your efs folder, this thread can help you:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=22195291&postcount=1008
I think there is a lot of confusion going on around here... so just to be clear...
What file should I have in my efs backup, including the hidden one?
Thanks!
No backup of EFS folder. I believe it was during my attempt to backup that I corrupted the folder.
tamaratee said:
No backup of EFS folder. I believe it was during my attempt to backup that I corrupted the folder.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the same situation, same files as posted above, anyone has any idea?
Hello
I rooted my phone using hardcore's speedmod kernel as shown in the CyanogenMod webpage and then inmediately backed up the /efs folder doing a tar using an Android Terminal Emulator
However, the MD5 files information don't match the files themselves
For example
The MD5 string contained in .nv_data.bak.md5 doesn't match .nv_data.bak
The same for the other files as well.
Is my /efs corrupted? My phone has never been touched before, just stock roms applied thru Kies
I have noticed a new folder has popped up in the /efs folder called "lost+found". Why did it go there?
Do yu have another suggestion to backup the /efs as well? seems doing tarballs looses UNIX/Linux permissions
Thank you.
resotre only one file and reboot
albertocastillo2001 said:
Hello
I rooted my phone using hardcore's speedmod kernel as shown in the CyanogenMod webpage and then inmediately backed up the /efs folder doing a tar using an Android Terminal Emulator
However, the MD5 files information don't match the files themselves
For example
The MD5 string contained in .nv_data.bak.md5 doesn't match .nv_data.bak
The same for the other files as well.
Is my /efs corrupted? My phone has never been touched before, just stock roms applied thru Kies
I have noticed a new folder has popped up in the /efs folder called "lost+found". Why did it go there?
Do yu have another suggestion to backup the /efs as well? seems doing tarballs looses UNIX/Linux permissions
Thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had same problem when I install jelly bean first time on my I9000. After reading of some articles about efs folder I decided to restore only one file .nv_data.bak. And it works. I have done in following steps.
1) Backup full efs folder. (For safty purpose only)
2) Deleted both files nv_data.bin.md5 & nv_data.bin
3) Restored nv_data.bin only (No need to put back md5 file)
4) Restart the phone
Let me know if it works.
Hello
My phone works. It's just I have noticed the backup I made at the beginning just after I rooted my phone don't match. But the backup itself.
The backup files don't match their own .MD5 in the backup itself
Thanks!
Any ideas of why these files don't match?
albertocastillo2001 said:
Hello
My phone works. It's just I have noticed the backup I made at the beginning just after I rooted my phone don't match. But the backup itself.
The backup files don't match their own .MD5 in the backup itself
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello
I've also checked that once in a while, some of the files inside /efs such as nv_data.bin and nv_data.bin.md5 change their modified date.
Any idea of why this happens and why the MD5 data doesn't match?
Thank you.
Hi everyone! I had MIUI rom isntalled on my Note 3 SM-n900 and i flashed the VN-rom but something happened and my IMEI number went null and my sim was not detected. I tried to flash MIUI rom back it dint work, I flashed stock rom still the same problem. After googling about EFS repair i tried to extract efs back up file which was efs.tar.bgz which i have saved a copy in my pc also. I tried to delete the EFS folder and copying the back up files, the iMEI changed to some number 049... which is fake IMEI. Kindly help to restore my IMEI number i have the backup .tar.bgz file, how restore it back up kinldy help!! I have checked the forums but its all full info about n9005 only but for n900 there is no info. Any help will be highly appreciated. Thanks.
Is there an efs.img inside the tar file?
Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk
Techcraze said:
Hi everyone! I had MIUI rom isntalled on my Note 3 SM-n900 and i flashed the VN-rom but something happened and my IMEI number went null and my sim was not detected. I tried to flash MIUI rom back it dint work, I flashed stock rom still the same problem. After googling about EFS repair i tried to extract efs back up file which was efs.tar.bgz which i have saved a copy in my pc also. I tried to delete the EFS folder and copying the back up files, the iMEI changed to some number 049... which is fake IMEI. Kindly help to restore my IMEI number i have the backup .tar.bgz file, how restore it back up kinldy help!! I have checked the forums but its all full info about n9005 only but for n900 there is no info. Any help will be highly appreciated. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you show all the files inside the efs backup archive?
If the backup is valid I will tell you how to restore.
dr.m0x said:
Is there an efs.img inside the tar file?
Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is not efs.img file inside. see attached pic for the contents of the backup folder.
vndnguyen said:
Can you show all the files inside the efs backup archive?
If the backup is valid I will tell you how to restore.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
see the pic for the contents of the back up archive, kindly help me to restore.
Thank u All...I fixed it!!
Techcraze said:
see the pic for the contents of the back up archive, kindly help me to restore.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you guys for your support! but I managed to fix my IMEI and its working
below are the steps to fix it which i got from one of the posts, i dont remember the member but thank him a lot
1. Create on your Phone Memory(Not Extrenal sd!!) a folder called "efsbackup"(without quotes)
2. Copy all files & folders from the EFS backup into "efsbackup" folder(The files are like in the picture)
3. Using root explorer, go to "efsbackup folder, select all files & folders there, and click Copy.
4. Still in root explorer, go to "efs" folder of your device(It is located where all main folders like data, system, etc.).
5. In "efs" folder, click paste. It will ask you if you want to replace your files, select replace to all files(So all your files from "efsbackup" folder will be in "efs" folder)
6. Now open terminal emulator
Write the following:
Code:
su
Then click enter. It will ask for super user permission, give it permissions.
7.Now write:
Code:
busybox chown 1001:1001 /efs/nv_data.bin
8. Then click enter.
Now write:
Code:
busybox chmod 06755 /efs/nv_data.bin
Then click enter.
Reboot device. Now everything should work.
Techcraze said:
busybox chown 1001:1001 /efs/nv_data.bin
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank your for the detailed instruction. However I didn't see any file 'nv_data.bin' (in the picture). Isn't it?
vndnguyen said:
Thank your for the detailed instruction. However I didn't see any file 'nv_data.bin' (in the picture). Isn't it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is a strange problem now that my mobile loses wifi passwords, everytime after rebooting it asks for password also takes much time to connect, and when i tried connecting at my friends place its not detecting the wifi router its get stuck in scanning, kindly help!!