[Q] Galaxy Note 2 - where is IMEI stored?

Steve Thackery · Mar 21, 2014

Hi,

After installing a custom ROM, the IMEI reported by Android is different from the one on the sticker under the battery.

I believe the IMEI is somewhere in the 'efs' folder, but where exactly? There are all sorts of files and folders in that folder.

There is even a folder called 'imei', but it contains just one file called 'mps-code.dat', and that is only three bytes long, which isn't enough to contain the 15-digit IMEI.

Can anyone help?

Thanks,
Steve
(Phone is Samsung Galaxy Note 2 GT-N7100)

eatsleep · Mar 21, 2014

Steve Thackery said:
Hi,

After installing a custom ROM, the IMEI reported by Android is different from the one on the sticker under the battery.

I believe the IMEI is somewhere in the 'efs' folder, but where exactly? There are all sorts of files and folders in that folder.

There is even a folder called 'imei', but it contains just one file called 'mps-code.dat', and that is only three bytes long, which isn't enough to contain the 15-digit IMEI.

Can anyone help?

Thanks,
Steve
(Phone is Samsung Galaxy Note 2 GT-N7100)

It's inside the efs folder in the root of your phone.

Backing it up eh?

Steve Thackery · Mar 21, 2014

eatsleep said:
It's inside the efs folder in the root of your phone.

Backing it up eh?

No, my phone stopped working and I think it's because the IMEI has got corrupted when I was messing with various custom ROMs - it no longer matches the sticker. I want to figure out a way to fix it - I can't bear the thought that I've just bricked a fine phone that I paid good money for.

Where in the efs folder? There are loads of files and folders in there.

Thanks,
Steve

eatsleep · Mar 21, 2014

Wait wait,
You can't text or connect to the network?
Try flashing a official firmware and see if the IMEI matches...

It's not that simple to modify your IMEI n.o, special softwares are required to do this.... It's stored in .nv_data
Don't you have any efs backups?
IMEI getting corrupt is seen many times in s3 and note 2 devices....
And also, modifying your iMEi is illegal, but people out there use a software to do it.... May not be good to discuss this software here...

And one more thing, does your phone shows a generic IMEI number when you dial *#06* ?

Steve Thackery · Mar 21, 2014

eatsleep said:
Wait wait,
You can't text or connect to the network?

Thanks for replying, eatsleep. That's right - the whole phone works fine. It will see all the mobile networks in my area, and will register itself on mine (O2-UK). The only thing that doesn't work is voice telephony, SMS, and mobile data.

eatsleep said:
Try flashing a official firmware and see if the IMEI matches...

Yeah, I've done that. No good, I'm afraid.

eatsleep said:
It's not that simple to modify your IMEI n.o, special softwares are required to do this.... It's stored in .nv_data
Don't you have any efs backups?

Here I must admit to being a bloody fool. I didn't know what I was doing and messed about stupidly in CWM, mounting and unmounting, deleting, reformatting, and so on. Basically I was trying to follow several guides at the same time, and made a total mess of it.

And no, I didn't know about backing up the efs before I started.

eatsleep said:
IMEI getting corrupt is seen many times in s3 and note 2 devices....
And also, modifying your iMEi is illegal, but people out there use a software to do it.... May not be good to discuss this software here...

And one more thing, does your phone shows a generic IMEI number when you dial *#06* ?

Not a generic one. It's really weird, because it's almost but not quite the same:

Sticker inside phone:
xxxxxx05861xxx3

*#06#:
xxxxxx05681xxx1

The ...86... has reversed to ...68... and the final 3 has become 1.

I'm an idiot and furious with myself.

Thanks again for any help you can give, though.

Steve

Steve Thackery · Mar 22, 2014

Wow! I've just seen how much it costs to buy that eight-tentacled device who's name shall not be mentioned.

$135 makes poor sense if it's only going to be used once. Perhaps the best idea is to check my local phone repairers until I find one who has the device?

Steve

Steve Thackery · Mar 22, 2014

Bumpety bump just this once:

Any chance of correcting the IMEI myself?

Thanks,
Steve

eatsleep · Mar 22, 2014

Steve Thackery said:
Thanks for replying, eatsleep. That's right - the whole phone works fine. It will see all the mobile networks in my area, and will register itself on mine (O2-UK). The only thing that doesn't work is voice telephony, SMS, and mobile data.

Yeah, I've done that. No good, I'm afraid.

Here I must admit to being a bloody fool. I didn't know what I was doing and messed about stupidly in CWM, mounting and unmounting, deleting, reformatting, and so on. Basically I was trying to follow several guides at the same time, and made a total mess of it.

And no, I didn't know about backing up the efs before I started.

Not a generic one. It's really weird, because it's almost but not quite the same:

Sticker inside phone:

The ...86... has reversed to ...68... and the final 3 has become 1.

I'm an idiot and furious with myself.

Thanks again for any help you can give, though.

Steve

Hey babe..... please remove both of your IMEIs from here and never post them again in public. I'll post back in some time.... and your IMEI looks quite fine to me but still, lemme look for some time

And, your phone is not bricked, you've just got a bad IMEI

Steve Thackery · Mar 22, 2014

eatsleep said:
Hey babe..... please remove both of your IMEIs from here and never post them again in public. I'll post back in some time.... and your IMEI looks quite fine to me but still, lemme look for some time

And, your phone is not bricked, you've just got a bad IMEI

Thank you for replying! I've edited my post to remove the IMEI, as requested. Perhaps you could alter the one where you quote my message?

I realise everyone must say this, but I'm genuinely not trying to do anything questionable or immoral. I just want to restore the IMEI so it's the same as the one on the sticker.

Thanks,
Steve

eatsleep · Mar 22, 2014

Steve Thackery said:
Thank you for replying! I've edited my post to remove the IMEI, as requested. Perhaps you could alter the one where you quote my message?

I realise everyone must say this, but I'm genuinely not trying to do anything questionable or immoral. I just want to restore the IMEI so it's the same as the one on the sticker.

Thanks,
Steve

Can't find some content for your device but please do one last precaution before following any more tutorials, backup your efs folder and place it in a safe place.......

If you don't find anything, I can provide you with some guides for s3 (my device

) but don't know if they'll work for you....
One advice, reset your phone and send it to any service center.... They may charge you if you are out of warranty.....

here is a random thread i found but I have a bad feeling about the person.... Carry on at your own risk but back up your current efs, it may be recoverable but can move to a unrecoverable state after some repair attempts so, we can have hope....
link:
http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2141928&page=1

Steve Thackery · Mar 22, 2014

eatsleep said:
Can't find some content for your device but please do one last precaution before following any more tutorials, backup your efs folder and place it in a safe place.......

If you don't find anything, I can provide you with some guides for s3 (my device ) but don't know if they'll work for you....
One advice, reset your phone and send it to any service center.... They may charge you if you are out of warranty.....

here is a random thread i found but I have a bad feeling about the person.... Carry on at your own risk but back up your current efs, it may be recoverable but can move to a unrecoverable state after some repair attempts so, we can have hope....
link:
http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2141928&page=1

Thank you again, eatsleep! I really appreciate your continuing help.

I've gone about as deeply into this as I think I can, without trying even more bits of dodgy software from around the web which might make the situation worse. So, I think my next step should be to take it to a reputable service centre on a no-fix-no-fee basis. If they can't fix it either, then I'll regard it as a write-off and - on the grounds that there is nothing to lose - I'll have one last go with anything/everything I can find on the net.

Whatever the outcome I will report back so that others can benefit from my mistakes!

Thanks everyone who tried so hard to help - have a good weekend.

Steve

eatsleep · Mar 22, 2014

Steve Thackery said:
Thank you again, eatsleep! I really appreciate your continuing help.

I've gone about as deeply into this as I think I can, without trying even more bits of dodgy software from around the web which might make the situation worse. So, I think my next step should be to take it to a reputable service centre on a no-fix-no-fee basis. If they can't fix it either, then I'll regard it as a write-off and - on the grounds that there is nothing to lose - I'll have one last go with anything/everything I can find on the net.

Whatever the outcome I will report back so that others can benefit from my mistakes!

Thanks everyone who tried so hard to help - have a good weekend.

Steve

Yeah, samsung can definitely help you, but again, be sure to make a backup of current efs to get back if situation gets worse!
And if you fail, then we can try some softwares out there, which might me improper to discuss here, but leave that for only when everything fails....

Wish you all the best

Wixcee · Nov 23, 2017

Sooo, my gf and I have same phones. S7 edge. I made back up of mine superstock rom. And made back up of hers rom. We decided to change phones becouse I bought rose gold very cheap and she has gold. So, my back up i transfered to pc, which later got corrupt I dont know why. And her back up tranfered to my phone. Wiped everything. Restored her back up, and by mistake recovered her efs in my phone. Now imei shows 000000. As I said, my back up corrupted, cant open on pc, twrp shows errors of corupted file...how can i recover my imei? Flashing stock clean rom via odin or samsung swich doesnt help...

zelendel · Nov 23, 2017

Wixcee said:
Sooo, my gf and I have same phones. S7 edge. I made back up of mine superstock rom. And made back up of hers rom. We decided to change phones becouse I bought rose gold very cheap and she has gold. So, my back up i transfered to pc, which later got corrupt I dont know why. And her back up tranfered to my phone. Wiped everything. Restored her back up, and by mistake recovered her efs in my phone. Now imei shows 000000. As I said, my back up corrupted, cant open on pc, twrp shows errors of corupted file...how can i recover my imei? Flashing stock clean rom via odin or samsung swich doesnt help...

Time to send it back to Samsung for a new board. That's if they have one. Other then that you can try flashing a compete stock rom but normally that doesn't happen.

You learned a lesson. Never restore a backup from a different device.

Droidriven · Nov 24, 2017

Wixcee said:
Sooo, my gf and I have same phones. S7 edge. I made back up of mine superstock rom. And made back up of hers rom. We decided to change phones becouse I bought rose gold very cheap and she has gold. So, my back up i transfered to pc, which later got corrupt I dont know why. And her back up tranfered to my phone. Wiped everything. Restored her back up, and by mistake recovered her efs in my phone. Now imei shows 000000. As I said, my back up corrupted, cant open on pc, twrp shows errors of corupted file...how can i recover my imei? Flashing stock clean rom via odin or samsung swich doesnt help...

Without an IMEI/EFS backup that was created before doing this, you're not gonna find much of a solution for restoring the device.

DO NOT CONTACT ME VIA PM TO RECEIVE HELP, YOU WILL BE IGNORED. KEEP IT IN THE THREADS WHERE EVERYONE CAN SHARE

giri.sgc · Mar 27, 2019

eatsleep said:
Wait wait,
You can't text or connect to the network?
Try flashing a official firmware and see if the IMEI matches...

It's not that simple to modify your IMEI n.o, special softwares are required to do this.... It's stored in .nv_data
Don't you have any efs backups?
IMEI getting corrupt is seen many times in s3 and note 2 devices....
And also, modifying your iMEi is illegal, but people out there use a software to do it.... May not be good to discuss this software here...

And one more thing, does your phone shows a generic IMEI number when you dial *#06* ?

Hi

I am using SM-N9500 samsung note 8 model, i frequently change the roms.. but last time i tried to install a custom rom and then i lost IMEI. i am getting error like IMEI-unknown, baseband- unknown, no network and sim cards not working..

i tried installing stock rom, custom roms, it was installing successfully but IMEI is not working. i didnt even back up my EFS folder. So, kindly help me to get back my IMEI.

please find below link to see all the procedures i followed and failed. kindly help me to restore my IMEI.

https://www.google.com/url?q=https:...246000&usg=AFQjCNF056_y5gTI2xpc9jM_I0ZlfkgpkA

Topics

Topics

[Q] Galaxy Note 2 - where is IMEI stored?

Steve Thackery

Member

eatsleep

Senior Member

Steve Thackery

Member

eatsleep

Senior Member

Steve Thackery

Member

Steve Thackery

Member

Steve Thackery

Member

eatsleep

Senior Member

Steve Thackery

Member

eatsleep

Senior Member

Steve Thackery

Member

eatsleep

Senior Member

Wixcee

Senior Member

zelendel

Senior Member

Droidriven

Senior Member

giri.sgc

Senior Member

Similar threads

Top Liked Posts

New posts