Hey everyone,
I recently dropped my Note 3, SM-N900 which I originally got from Vietnam. It was dropped, display cracked, all black. I had the screen replaced but the repair tech didn't realize it was the international version. He only had parts for the Canadian versions of this phone. He somehow managed to replace the display despite having the correct components. He fixed replaced the screen without replacing the bezel.
The screen worked great again but I realized my IMEI is now null or "Unknown".
I can't say whether it was still OK after being dropped because the screen was black and I didn't bother trying to call the phone.
I have found a lot of threads on IMEI unknown/null but read several warnings that this can be caused by either hardware or software. A software fix won't work if it is caused by a hardware problem.
Is there any way to tell what the cause is of an IMEI unknown?
Can you distinguish whether it is caused by hardware?
If it is caused by hardware, do I have any way of repairing this? Component replacement?
Could this be caused by the mismatched screen? This thread indicates a wrong screen could put too much pressure on some components, causing null IMEI....
http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s3/help-i9305/loosing-imei-lcd-replace-t2175895
Thanks for any help here! Really want to be able to make phone calls again....
Nathan
Start by restoring your backed up EFS folder .
Thanks for the replay - I didn't back up my EFS folder prior to the phone being dropped.
There is no sense in trying to back it up now and restore again, correct?
Also, is there any way of determining whether the EFS folder is corrupted? I've never heard someone say there is a file in there with the IMEI in plaintext or anything like that. But I figured perhaps there's a way to check the folder and figure out whether it is corrupted?
There is something you can try... go to sammymobile and download the rom for your exact device and region/provider. As long as they are matching, it should restore things back to how they were.
(example: if your phone is from Vietnam, get the rom for your phone from vietnam - and everything will be back to normal after flash from odin).
Good luck!
Update! I factory restored my phone a second time now. Still got null imei after restarting.
Then in the same day in the evening, and the IMEI is back! This is the first time ive seen the IMEI since I dropped the phone.
All that happened during the day was that I put the phone in a backpack, went on a trip and took it out again. Not sure if it was turn3d off between, dont think so.
I read this has happed to others, where the IMEI came back randomly, but then also vanished just as randomly again.
This sounds like a hardware issue with a poor component connection. I heard someone mentioning reflowing... guessing that means stick parts in an oven for a while.
Thanks for the tips so far!
Nathan
Related
Hi everyone! Unfortunately, my run with my T-Mobile G2 appears to be nearing it's end.. I've had this phone since November of last year, so fortunately for me, I'm still within the 1-yr warranty. I couldn't find a legit answer on the forum so far so hopefully someone will have the information I need to know now.
Lately, my phone has been getting crazy. Sometimes it would start pressing random things by itself. Apps would start by itself, things would type by itself, etc, etc. Then, at times certain areas of my screen wouldn't work at all, most noticeably the "y," "b," and "h" on my keyboards. And this doesn't matter whether I'm using the stock Gingerbread keyboard or Swype.
To answer any questions, yes I am rooted and I have been running CM 7.0.2. I tried to flash 7.0.3 to see if that would correct my issue but it didn't. I also tried to reset the phone via Privacy within the Android UI and via Recovery, both with no avail.
My question to y'all is how can I fix this if at all? If this problem is not fixable, can someone provide me with the MOST SIMPLE guide as to how to unroot and restore my original T-Mobile stock ROM if necessary for me to send it to claim warranty.. Finally, if I resorted to claiming warranty, does anyone know if T-Mobile will be sending me a refurb G2 or a new one or a completely different one?? Thanks ... This is EXTREMELY UNFORTUNATE.
it happens to me plenty. keep the scroll pad on the side from changing angles in direct light or it goes nuts. if theres any water on the screen at all touch commands work funny. its errors in the optical touchpad and cpacitive screen technology, not the;phone itself.
edit: im stock if youre wondering
It happens even in the dark though. I think its problem with the screen.
Any word on this? the same thing is happening to my phone.
Hui,
I was also having this problem for some time and was reallythinking of replacing the phone until I finally got rid of this last week. To start with I think this is a software issue but I'm still not sure what sw is causing this. n order to fix it I had to install the rom again from scratch and did not restore anything from google. Because independent from whatever ROM I installed the issue appeared soon after I set up the phone. So if you wnt to give it try, do a clean ROM install or factory reset to your phone and then while setting up your device uncheck the option to backup and restore settings to your google account. I know that setting up everything manually does not sound great but it's better than the crazy touch screen.
Digitizer issues
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
Digitizer issues, T-Mobile just replaced my original release date G2 because of it.
They will send you a refurbished model and you have to send yours back in within 7 days or they bill you $400 I believe.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
I had serious digitizer issues last month and thought for sure that my G2 was finished. Come to find out I had gotten some oil on my phone, probably from answering a text or phone call while eating at work. I took it out of its case and completely cleaned it with a cloth dampened with peroxide...not soaked just damp, and now my phone is back to normal. Give that a try and rule that out first before you replace the digitizer or phone. Make sure you clean the inside and outside of the case/skin if you have one too.
I finally figured mine out. I guess the digitizer is really really sensitive to moisture. I usually take my phone into the bathroom with me when I shower in the morning, once I stopped doing that and gave the phone some time to dry out (in a dessicant container, but rice would work just as well) my screen is back to normal. I guess the steam from the shower was enough to bring up some bugs.
Im not quite sure what to do, my HD2 got stolen 3 weeks ago lucky for me I had IMEI written so i reported it to cops. Two days later I got my phone back. Cops said I was lucky the guy didnt had time to sell it. When i got it back my phone it was completly reinstalled with WM6.5 (before I had WM7.5) I noticed that volume up stopped working so i started investigating deeper and to my suprise phone IMEI has been changed! When I went into boot mode (multi color) insted of cotula hspl it said something about freebox.
Here is my questions
1. Is there a way to repair phone so my volume up works? Or at least map any other key as volume up in wm7?
2. How can I get back my phone to show original IMEI?
drsaint said:
Im not quite sure what to do, my HD2 got stolen 3 weeks ago lucky for me I had IMEI written so i reported it to cops. Two days later I got my phone back. Cops said I was lucky the guy didnt had time to sell it. When i got it back my phone it was completly reinstalled with WM6.5 (before I had WM7.5) I noticed that volume up stopped working so i started investigating deeper and to my suprise phone IMEI has been changed! When I went into boot mode (multi color) insted of cotula hspl it said something about freebox.
Here is my questions
1. Is there a way to repair phone so my volume up works? Or at least map any other key as volume up in wm7?
2. How can I get back my phone to show original IMEI?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you sure it is the same phone you had stolen?
I'm sure 100% it's the same phong, IMEI written on the back of the phone corresponds to the one I have on original box, but when I check IMEI from OS it's different
well if the SPL been changed then my first thought would be to put it back
So,
head on over to HTC and grab yourself an original stock ROM, flash away using the SD card method, with a bit of luck that will wipe all the crap off it, then HSPL > Radio >MAGLDR >WP7
happy to point you in the right direction for all of those or confirm your findings but its good to give it a shot yourself, a quick search will give you all you need
search for strings like
HD2 LEO SD card flash
i gather you already know how to install WP7
THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE. Unless you or someone else switch the sticker on the back of the device, or swapped the housing/chassis, it is nearly impossible to change the IMEI on a device.
If this was possible, I would of have done it so long ago to trick my device to think it was some other device.
Unfortunately, IMEI hacks are illegal. That is why developers don't go that route. It's not as simple as pirating apps (which is also illegal).
Why do I get the feeling that this is some fancy way of asking how to change your IMEI (i.e., insert sap story and request on "help" on how to change your IMEI)?
Why would you want to change your IMEI? You have your device back and different IMEI doesn't change anything. All the apps will work as they worked before etc, so I don't think you should worry about that.
PoisonWolf said:
Why do I get the feeling that this is some fancy way of asking how to change your IMEI (i.e., insert sap story and request on "help" on how to change your IMEI)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hahahaha my thoughts exactly. He want somebody to help him change it. Never heard of anyone changing imei. It's like DNA of the phone.
Sent from my HTC_Amaze_4G using xda premium
well, I for one, would love to change the IMEI on a device so that it can bypass stupid carrier restriction (ie: use t-mobile $5unlimited internet on a mytouch4G for the 4G)
currently, it's not possible since t-mobile has blocked this device from loop-holes like that.
JUST SAYING though.......
Sorry, we don't allow discussion of IMEI changing on xda, as it *can* be used for unlawful reasons.
Hi guys,
New owner of a S4 (GT-I9505 international) here with a problem. 2 days ago I noticed the screen wasn't rotating anymore. I used to rotate it portrait/landscape in applications like Camera or Internet (browser). The moment when it started to bother me was when looking at pictures with the phone in portrait and the image was landscape. Trying to rotate the phone didn't help. It was frozen. I called a buddy of mine who has some experience with Samsung devices and told me to verify the "Auto-Rotation" settings. It was all OK and enabled. Then he suggested turning the phone off and pulling out the battery and SIM card for 5 minutes and putting it all back. This didn't help either. Finally we got to the point where he told me to enter *#0*# in the Phone dialing application. As you might already know, this code gives you access to the "testing" hidden utility. There I tested all the options available. Everything was fine except for the Sensors and SensorHub Selftest.
In the Sensors section, all the tests failed, starting with the Accelerometer and ending with the Temperature. I uploaded screenshots taken during the tests. Please remember this started 2 days ago. Before this it was working perfectly. I don't recall making and major changes like updating any OS components or installing/running stress utilities related to sensors or device behavior. After doing some research online and reading about other people's similar problems I got to the point where I started to suspect a problem with the MCU (Micro Controller Unit). This component, according to Samsung, controls all the sensors and reads raw data from them without accessing the AP (Application Processor) this way extending the battery life. I believe the problem is here because it seems odd that none of the sensors are working all of a sudden. Can this component put the sensors into a sleep state and shut them down completely? Might this be the case here?
Below are the solutions I tried in order to revive the MCU and finally the sensors. I was all without success:
1) Turned off the phone and pulled the battery and SIM out. Put the back in after about 5 minutes. Result: sensors not working.
2) Reset to factory-settings from the settings option while the phone was in the working state (turned on). Result: sensors not working.
3) Rooted the phone, installed Clockwork Recovery, made a full system and applications backup and then installed custom ROM (two actually: PACMan, Google Play Edition (4.3)). I did this in order to exclude a problem related to drivers in the stock Samsung ROM, even if it was logical that Samsung being the owner and manufacturer of the device might have the "best" drivers and applications for inquiring the device components/sensors. I am aware this ended the warranty for me, but can I know it can easily be undone. Result: sensors not working.
4) Restored the original stock Samsung ROM. Result: sensors not working.
The utilities used for sensor testing were: Sensor Kinetics and Sensor Tester. Both can be found in the Play Store. On my wives phone, which is an old HTC Desire, both utilities picked up the available sensors and created graphs with the results. On my S4, I only got blank charts/graphics/results. In Sensor Kinetics for the Gyro for example, the message was "Waiting for the Gyroscope sensor...", just that, stuck.
If there are any other guys (or ladies!) out there who encountered this awful experience, please reach out and tell me if you found any practical solution, any other then just taking the device back to warranty. I'm open to any suggestions.
Best regards,
Andrei
Most likely a defective device ... can't you claim warranty and sent it back?
Sounds like hardware failure. This would be an issue for Samsung to solve.
Sent from my GT-I9505
AvelonTs said:
Most likely a defective device ... can't you claim warranty and sent it back?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately I bought it second-hand and it does not have any warranty. I guess it's one of those moments I wish I had patience and gathered more cash to buy a new one from the store. Anyway, it's my bad luck. I had it working perfectly for weeks after buying it. I will use it like this for the time being..
i´ve got the exact same problem since yesterday...
i think i´ll take it to the shop for warranty
I've got the exact same issue. All sensors are having the same issue. None are working,
I found out because my camera app was not switching between landscape and portait any more. All pictures are saved as landscape...
Called Samsung Netherlands and they told me to wipe my phone (still latest original stock ROM) and try again.
Making a backup now using Kies... and will hard reset it afterward and check the sensors.again.
Probably not going to work... So I have to send it in...
darklord said:
I've got the exact same issue. All sensors are having the same issue. None are working,
I found out because my camera app was not switching between landscape and portait any more. All pictures are saved as landscape...
Called Samsung Netherlands and they told me to wipe my phone (still latest original stock ROM) and try again.
Making a backup now using Kies... and will hard reset it afterward and check the sensors.again.
Probably not going to work... So I have to send it in...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi there. I had same problem with sensors and MCU test failed, so i took phone to service. They said its hardware failure and replaced main board. Im picking phone tommorow and we will see...
Hi guys,
I took mine to a local phone service, not the official one, but they are an affiliate. They could not figure out exactly what the problem was so they replaced the logic/main board just for testing. It was all working fine. They called and informed me of the findings. Given the fact I don't have warranty for it, they suggested to send it to our main service in Bucharest where they have a more sophisticated testing equipment. It is possible to get a more precise answer regarding the defective component and maybe a less pricey solution to the problem. At this time, the only viable option is to get a new logic board in place, which is about to set me back 250 USD. I will get an answer from Samsung in Bucharest by tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.
I will get back to you with my final solution... hopefully something not so expensive
@darklord, @eweu: please post back you findings. Maybe in the future when some other unfortunate owner finds his way in here, will have a better understanding of whats on the plate for him.
Thanks,
Hard reset did not work as expected. Going to drop it off at a local official repair center....
S4 Sensors failing
I have the same problem with my S4 GT-I9505 device not auto-rotate, air gestures with gyroscope and accelerometer tests failing. S4 been back for 3 weeks to Samsung for repair came back and failed again after 1 week
KSal7506 said:
I have the same problem with my S4 GT-I9505 device not auto-rotate, air gestures with gyroscope and accelerometer tests failing. S4 been back for 3 weeks to Samsung for repair came back and failed again after 1 week
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After installing some other ROM's and playing with different CSC's I have no sound and even no wireless and only Edge speeds on some ROM's. Restoring from backups, wireless came back and HSDPA+ also, but no luck with sound what so ever. Now, I have a tablet more or less. Thanks Samsung, this is great!
canaris1780 said:
After installing some other ROM's and playing with different CSC's I have no sound and even no wireless and only Edge speeds on some ROM's. Restoring from backups, wireless came back and HSDPA+ also, but no luck with sound what so ever. Now, I have a tablet more or less. Thanks Samsung, this is great!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Flashed I9505XXUDMH8_I9505OXXDMHA_BTU, sound and wlan working again. Previous problem with MCU/sensors still there.
i'm tired
canaris1780 said:
Flashed I9505XXUDMH8_I9505OXXDMHA_BTU, sound and wlan working again. Previous problem with MCU/sensors still there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
really i'm tired to solve this issue.
when i install new stock software the sensors work fine just a few minutes only yhen return to fail again.
i think its software issue and i'll solve it :good::good::good:
Sensors work again
:laugh: :victory:
Its work right now by itself
:crying:
after uploading the pictures its fail again
abdali_m2 said:
:laugh: :victory:
Its work right now by itself
:crying:
after uploading the pictures its fail again
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the same thing here
all sensors are broken because of SensorHub BIN FW Version: AT0199999
then i try to update firmware with *#2663# it failed.
I have the same problem with my S4 GT-I9505.
Suddenly the device do not auto-rotate, and no air gestures with gyroscope and accelerometer are working.
The SensorHubTest end with FAIL.
Mid december I got one OTA firmware update and I didn't notice any problems first.
A few days after newyear I notice that my auto-brightness adjustment did not work properly.
Can't remember if auto-rotate didn't work when I notice the auto-brightness problem.
But finally I am here because I searched for sensors problems.
I did the SensorsHub Test with *#0*# and it ends with FAIL.
It seems that there is a problem with the 4.3x firmware.
With 4.2x all was fine.
Can anybody confirm my thoughts - that the firmware is broken and not the MCU itself?
What can we try? Downgrade? I read that one was lucky with "factory reset" but it didn't helped to revive the MCU of my device.
Thanks for reading
and answering
___
DK
Hi, i am a owner of a sch-i545 phone, and i have the same problem with the phone: no response of any sensor and a fail on test (or upgrade firmware) of the sensorhub.
At this time i was tried a lot of solutions: i was flashed stock firmware, custom firmware, and of course a factory reset (by the way, the first time with this problem was when i did it a single factory reset), its still broken the communication with the sensors.
I get back to life the phone when i upgrade the phone from 4.2 to 4.3 (sadly) and get lost when i update the binaries in super su (previously rooted with vroot).
Yesterday i give the phone to a technician (a close friend of another best friend), he will test the phone on this weekend to determine what is the problem to try to fix it.
When He fix this phone, i will post any news!
Regards.
remy1004 said:
At this time i was tried a lot of solutions: i was flashed stock firmware, custom firmware, and of course a factory reset (by the way, the first time with this problem was when i did it a single factory reset), its still broken the communication with the sensors.
I get back to life the phone when i upgrade the phone from 4.2 to 4.3 (sadly) and get lost when i update the binaries in super su (previously rooted with vroot).
Regards.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your answer. I have hope that the next firmware will fix it.
What is strange that none of any reseller/privers know this problem. It seems that also Samsung has no knowledge about this special error.
Well if the next firmware didn't fix the problem, I can replace my model with a working one, that is what the guy at the phone shop offers to me.
___
DK
Same Problem Here
Hi guys, I'm new to this forum so be nice :angel:
I am having the same problem in that none of the sensors are working which indicates that it is a connection issue or the actual hub not working or the firmware and not the individual sensors themselves. I have thought about this and looked around and to me it seems like there are only 3 possibilities for the problem:
1) The SensorHub BIN FW Version is out of date and needs to be updated manually (not through *#2663 as it doesn't work)
2) There is a connection issue e.g. the cable from the sensorhub to the motherboard is loose or broken
3) The sensorhub is broken (not the sensors)
I will try to find the firmware files and see if I can do a manual update. If that fails I will open up the phone and see if the cable is connected/broken. If I still cannot solve the issue, I will have to take it to the shop and hope I can fix it off warranty (I bought it second hand)
Dan
shadowsoulxp said:
Hi guys, I'm new to this forum so be nice :angel:
I am having the same problem in that none of the sensors are working which indicates that it is a connection issue or the actual hub not working or the firmware and not the individual sensors themselves.
[...]
I will try to find the firmware files and see if I can do a manual update. If that fails I will open up the phone and see if the cable is connected/broken. If I still cannot solve the issue, I will have to take it to the shop and hope I can fix it off warranty (I bought it second hand)
Dan
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks Dan for your reply.
I assume that your S4 shows the same behaviour as my one and the phone is still working fine.
The sensorhubtest failed and your light sensor for automatic adjusting and the sensor for turning the display are not working.
What is really strange that I went to a vodafone shop in Hamburg and ask them if there is any other one having problems with the S4.
You know the answer? They where wondering and telling me that this is wierd and they heard the first time of such an issue from me.
I showed them the device and showed them how I test the sensors. *#0*# funny they didn't know this combo
I hope that you succeed and share your knowledge,
with best regards.
___
DK
Dear All,
I write to inform you that i finally solved my GT-I9300 'Not Registered on Network' problem. I decided to make this official announcement so as to assure others, most especially those who have tried almost all the tricks and steps found on this and other forum on the subject that all hope is not lost.
May be if i shed more lights on the problem which i encountered, and i suppose many other people, you will understand me very well. First, i did the upgrade through Samsung Kies and after the phone rebooted, it lost link to network. I called Samsung and chatted online with the Customer Service, i was asked to send the phone to South Africa where i bought it. I called South Africa and also chatted but they could not understand let alone solve the problem. I headed to XDA and other forum to find solution, I tried all versions of ARIZA Patch, none work. I tried all modified ROM, yet no solution. At one point, the problem became complex. The phone moved from not registering on network to 'Factory Mode'. I followed many other steps, but could not get past restoring it back to User mode. I gave up after a month and bought another phone.
My son shocked me last Friday when he said that it will be his first time of seeing me accepting that some problems cannot be solved. I mused over it and told myself that i will rather destroyed the phone totally than giving him the impression that i cannot solve the problem.
I got out my two computers - Mac and PC and reformatted them all. Installed ODIN and downloaded a 4.3 Stock ROM. I then began searching everywhere for any clue as to what went wrong with the phone. My research is simple; the PHONE could not register simply because the IMEI and Serial Number were wrong. My IMEI and S/N moved from 0000 to unknown. After reinstalling through KIES, it came back from unknown to another wrong numbers.
I finally decided to go inside the phone by activating everything on ODIN and see if i can get the wrong EFS on the phone wiped away and left empty. I repartitioned, wipe EFS, etc. and the only thing the phone did was to move from unknown to another incorrect IMEI and Serial.
Finally, i read on a post that the problem is simply software, so i began searching if it is possible to repartitioned the phone completely and turn it into a toy. I recalled that about ten years ago, i successfully installed Nokia OS on Blackberry through a poorly concerted code designed by a friend. In so far i still have the code, I thought that i could do same with my GT-I9300. It won't work, sadly. But in the process of doing so, i realized that using SRS, i can do so comfortably. With this 20 USD software, i gained control of the internal organs of my phone and started out by wiping out the EFS first and with my EFS Backup, i re-wrote it back on the phone. That done, i expected the phone to work, but sadly it refused to register on network.
Not ready to give up, i went further to see what other options are available to me. I realized that i can actually re-wrote my IMEI and Serial number back to the phone. I tried it and after about an hour and almost three attempt, T-MOBILE surfaced on my phone and the GT-I9300 came back to life.
Altogether, i spent two unbroken days reading and reading and applying one step after another, one procedure after another till i finally got the phone back.
SRS can not only do this, but can take back your contract and locked phone from those shylock and give you your phone. It go inside your phone and show you all the codes that locked you to a particular network, etc. It can remove those useless codes that make your phone patented to a particular country and give you an international version. It can also turn your international version to a local one, if you so desire.
I do not know who designed this software, i however testify to its immense ability to safe you from Samsung's irresponsibility.
I am open to helping others and answering questions on GT-I9300.
I have since been enjoying my phone.
what's the short version of the story?
tmzbeme said:
what's the short version of the story?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Going by the last lines, it seems this is the tl;dr version
"SRS can not only do this, but can take back your contract and locked phone from those shylock and give you your phone. It go inside your phone and show you all the codes that locked you to a particular network, etc. It can remove those useless codes that make your phone patented to a particular country and give you an international version. It can also turn your international version to a local one, if you so desire."
Hi! As i understood i need to get SRS and after?
where is the SRS software ? can you post a link ?
Hi every one.. I have proplem with my sm_n900
I lost my imei some time imei back again and lost suddenly
I tried to flashed sock rom (4 files rom) and flash another rom upper 4 rom file the imei come back again and worked perfectly but when left up my battery 30 seconds and back it again lost imei again... I went to maintenance's smartphone
He said we make software if the problem solve that ok if not solved we change to u board (cast 200$) ?
I have board (my brother drop his phone and get screen black but works good i heard sound messages
his phone is (sm_n900 like me)
Now i want to change board by myself! My question is
1 if i change board use board's brorher the problem gone (imei)
2 if i change board! i need software or drive or works directly
3 if i changes board's my brother i get his imei or the same imei my device
Sorry for the bad language ?
1) The imei problem will go away if your brother's phone is working properly.
2) There is no need to do anything after taking your brother's board except setting up apps.
3) You will get your brother's imei and don't try to change your brother's imei to your imei in the board.
audit13 said:
1) The imei problem will go away if your brother's phone is working properly.
2) There is no need to do anything after taking your brother's board except setting up apps.
3) You will get your brother's imei and don't try to change your brother's imei to your imei in the board.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank u very much bro.. For answer and help