[Q] Unable to downgrade to .534 to root phone. Missing IMEI

bernj175 · Feb 2, 2014

I really am at a loss now.
There seems to be nothing that i am doing that is making it possible for me to get my phone rooted.
I am running 4.3 .290 on an unbranded c6903 and i have been trying for the last week to downgrade it to .534 so i can root the phone.
I have gone through the forum and have tried the recommended ways. I have downloaded all the correct ftf files. I have flashtool up to date.

I started with downgrading direct to .534 but the IMEI number just read 00000etc. I re-read the forum and saw that i should try and go to .557 before downgrading to .534. Same thing happened. No IMEI number. I then tried a different ftf file to no avail.
Today i saw someone say to use SUS but not to wipe Data. Tried it and the phone got stuck in a bootloop.

I am at a loss. I have never had a phone which was so difficult to root. I have rooted nearly all my android phones before the Z1 and i am confident with doing so.
I really like the phone and i will not be replacing it anytime soon. But has anyone got any ideas that can help me so i can get this phone rooted.

shem2409 · Feb 2, 2014

bernj175 said:
I really am at a loss now.
There seems to be nothing that i am doing that is making it possible for me to get my phone rooted.
I am running 4.3 .290 on an unbranded c6903 and i have been trying for the last week to downgrade it to .534 so i can root the phone.
I have gone through the forum and have tried the recommended ways. I have downloaded all the correct ftf files. I have flashtool up to date.

I started with downgrading direct to .534 but the IMEI number just read 00000etc. I re-read the forum and saw that i should try and go to .557 before downgrading to .534. Same thing happened. No IMEI number. I then tried a different ftf file to no avail.
Today i saw someone say to use SUS but not to wipe Data. Tried it and the phone got stuck in a bootloop.

I am at a loss. I have never had a phone which was so difficult to root. I have rooted nearly all my android phones before the Z1 and i am confident with doing so.
I really like the phone and i will not be replacing it anytime soon. But has anyone got any ideas that can help me so i can get this phone rooted.

To get your IMEI back you will need to update to .290 (once you get on .290 firmware your IMEI should reappear).Then you can either go through .257 to .534 or you can use a special .534 ftf made by [NUT] where no IMEI loss occurs. You can use my guide to guide you through the process:

eclyptos · Feb 2, 2014

Jumping directly to .534 it will lost IMEI. You can't or you use one posted by NUT.

bernj175 · Feb 2, 2014

shem2409 said:
To get your IMEI back you will need to update to .290 (once you get on .290 firmware your IMEI should reappear).Then you can either go through .257 to .534 or you can use a special .534 ftf made by [NUT] where no IMEI loss occurs. You can use my guide to guide you through the process:

Thanks for the reply.

Alas i have tried this method but i am unable to download the ftf made by NUT. It wont download. There is no seeders.

eclyptos · Feb 3, 2014

bernj175 said:
Alas i have tried this method but i am unable to download the ftf made by NUT. It wont download. There is no seeders.

HERE

This is the Video Tutorial poster by @shem2409, in the video tutorial check the links, Point 4), to download the FTF by NUT.

bernj175 · Feb 3, 2014

Thanks again.

I have downloaded it but when i extract the zip it comes up as ''sin file'' and not ftf files.
Tried to create a ftf bundle in flashtool but it won't flash. It comes up with ERROR.

Again i am at a loss

eclyptos · Feb 3, 2014

bernj175 said:
Thanks again.

I have downloaded it but when i extract the zip it comes up as ''sin file'' and not ftf files.
Tried to create a ftf bundle in flashtool but it won't flash. It comes up with ERROR.

Again i am at a loss

I don't know what you downloaded but I downloaded the file from the first link today, which shem2409 posted, and I have a classic FTF file, 767.8MB. Both links give me FTF extension file so check again what exactly you downloaded. Anyway if the file is correct rename the extension from .sin to .ftf and you are ready to flash.

bernj175 · Feb 3, 2014

Nope. I am not getting a classic ftf file. I am downloading the file. I am extracting the zip and it is giving me a breakdown of the files in sin format. No ftf file to be seen anywhere.
I have downloaded ftf files no issue apart from these ones.

I guess i am doing something wrong somewhere but i am now feeling like a noob as i cannot for the life of me figure out what the hell i am doing wrong.
I even tried to create an ftf file bundle using flashtool but to no avail.

Still at a loss. I am using WinRAR extract to by the way.

eclyptos · Feb 3, 2014

Do what I told you. Don't do what you think because you will mess up stuff and at the end you will brick you phone trying to flash some kind of file made by you. If you downloaded correctly from the Point 4) from the Video Tutorial and the size is 770MB then you have just to rename the file from .sin to .ftf, do you understand? Then try to make the process again via flashtool and all will be fine.

bernj175 · Feb 3, 2014

I would do but i do not have a ''file'' as such.... When i extract the zip. I have a complete breakdown of the file in sin format and it includes boot folder, META-INF folder and 14 different .sin files.

My understanding is that all together these will make a ftf file but i cant get them into that format. They are in one folder and when opened it gives me a complete breakdown of the file in sin format.
I cannot explain it more and i am unable to copy and paste on here what it is i am seeing.
I have never had this problems with any files before and i cannot figure out what i am doing wrong this time

eclyptos · Feb 3, 2014

bernj175 said:
I would do but i do not have a ''file'' as such.... When i extract the zip. I have a complete breakdown of the file in sin format and it includes boot folder, META-INF folder and 14 different .sin files.

My understanding is that all together these will make a ftf file but i cant get them into that format. They are in one folder and when opened it gives me a complete breakdown of the file in sin format.
I cannot explain it more and i am unable to copy and paste on here what it is i am seeing.
I have never had this problems with any files before and i cannot figure out what i am doing wrong this time

Ok, now I understand, you get files like on the pictures I posted, right?

Then rename the .zip file to .ftf. If you do not see the extensions on your PC like .txt, .doc, then go to Control Pannel > Folder Options > View and uncheck "Hide extensions for known file types" then Apply and go to rename the Zip file to .ftf and you are ready to flash.

bernj175 · Feb 3, 2014

eclyptos said:
Ok, now I understand, you get files like on the pictures I posted, right?

Then rename the .zip file to .ftf. If you do not see the extensions on your PC like .txt, .doc, then go to Control Pannel > Folder Options > View and uncheck "Hide extensions for known file types" then Apply and go to rename the Zip file to .ftf and you are ready to flash.

Thanks. Will do that and have another go.

bernj175 · Feb 3, 2014

Ok. Now got the phone rooted, backed up and updated to latest version.

Thanks again for the help. Now i can go get some sleep.:victory::victory::victory:

livelyyoungman · Feb 6, 2014

Can the firmware (.534) by NUT be used with C6902 model?
Thanks to anyone who is assisting me.

eclyptos · Feb 6, 2014

livelyyoungman said:
Can the firmware (.534) by NUT be used with C6902 model?
Thanks to anyone who is assisting me.

Not really, is for C6903 only and I will not recommend to cross over. BTW, to avoid the IMEI lost in the case to downgrade directly to .534 with other Firmware just exclude "Baseband" and all will be fine.

MohammadAG · Feb 6, 2014

If you're planning to upgrade anyway you'll get your IMEI back, so just root it and upgrade.

Sent from my C6903 using xda app-developers app

livelyyoungman · Feb 6, 2014

eclyptos said:
Not really, is for C6903 only and I will not recommend to cross over. BTW, to avoid the IMEI lost in the case to downgrade directly to .534 with other Firmware just exclude "Baseband" and all will be fine.

Thanks for the post.

No that did not work for me. Downgrading to .534 excluding "Baseband" too resulted in loss of IMEI. Tried a few times and failed miserably. I feel I will have to downgrade to .257 before getting to .534 as this is the other suggestion to downgrade without loosing IMEI. But the issue I am facing is that the flash tool does not seem to recognize the .257 ftf file that I downloaded. Not sure why. So planning to download the Global .257 release and then try downgrading to .534 so as to get to rooted status.

MohammadAG said:
If you're planning to upgrade anyway you'll get your IMEI back, so just root it and upgrade.

Sent from my C6903 using xda app-developers app

I would be upgrading to the latest firmware but need a rooted device. Rooting 4.3 without unlocking the BL is not possible. Hence want to take the round about way of getting this achieved.

[Q] Unable to downgrade to .534 to root phone. Missing IMEI

Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Member

Senior Member

Member

Senior Member

Member

Senior Member

Member

Senior Member

Attachments

Member

Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Inactive Recognized Developer

Senior Member

Similar threads

Top Liked Posts