IMEI and Internal storage problem

adam2508 · Jan 15, 2013

I did the stupid mistake of flashing to a custom rom without backing up. Nowhere in custom rom instructions says to backup your /efs folder.
Now in "About device" Baseband version is "Unknown" IMEI is "Unknown". I've searched everywhere for a fix and nothing. I tried the following:

Flash stock rom
Format /data and /cache
On keypad, dial *#7284# ....But i dont get the "Qualcomm USB settings" option so i cant try IMEI repair tools
I tried flashing different kernels and different custom roms

Apart from the IMEI problem, the Device cant access the 16GB internal memory. The stock rom flashes with no error, but when i go to
settings > storage: under "Device memory" its full with only 182MB used by some apps. I thought the memory could be bad, but after flashing
Perseus kernel and swapping external sd card for internal memory I can use the 16GB as external memory. I cant find a fix for that either.

INTERNAL MEMORY UPDATE: it seems that internal memory is mounting read only. Still trying to find a fix

Im currently on "T889UVALK8_T889TMBALK8_TMB" rom with Perseus kernel and using "11extsd2internalsd_gs3_fat32" to swap internal to external memory.

Side note: I bought the phone from a friend 2 days ago. Its the Tmobile version and I used cellunlocker to unlock to use it with AT&T. That worked, until I started messing with ROMS. No warranty available. I am desperately looking on how to fix this since i have no spare phone. Any help is highly appreciated and thank you for your time

gregniel · Jan 16, 2013

Eri version: Unknown???

I am having a similiar issue on t889 7105. ERI version "not available". Everything else is okay. Searched everywhere . . .not addressed. Which is strange.

adam2508 · Jan 16, 2013

this sucks

gregniel said:
I am having a similiar issue on t889 7105. ERI version "not available". Everything else is okay. Searched everywhere . . .not addressed. Which is strange.

I cant believe this issue hasn't been addressed

janjannsen99 · Jan 17, 2013

Unfortunately sir their just isnt much that can be done for you. If you read about imei loss without a backup its just about incurable. Sorry.

And the remedy for imei restoration without a backup is hit and miss at best as to whether or not it actually will restore your number. Your best bet is to use the search function and try and experiment with different ways of fixing it. Its not like there is much more damage that can be done anyways. You already screwed the pooch and basically have a functional brick.

No one is going to post a step by step guide for you though if thats what youre waiting on. This is a complicated fix and most members wont devote the time to walking you through it

And to the member that said he searched and found no Information. Well thats just not true. Ive read tons of threads and posts about it and know about SEVERAL backup and restore methods.

adam2508 · Jan 17, 2013

crap

janjannsen99 said:
Unfortunately sir their just isnt much that can be done for you. If you read about imei loss without a backup its just about incurable. Sorry.

And the remedy for imei restoration without a backup is hit and miss at best as to whether or not it actually will restore your number. Your best bet is to use the search function and try and experiment with different ways of fixing it. Its not like there is much more damage that can be done anyways. You already screwed the pooch and basically have a functional brick.

No one is going to post a step by step guide for you though if thats what youre waiting on. This is a complicated fix and most members wont devote the time to walking you through it

And to the member that said he searched and found no Information. Well thats just not true. Ive read tons of threads and posts about it and know about SEVERAL backup and restore methods.

Thank you for confirming my fear, I was on denial. Im getting a new one on friday. How much do you think I can sell this one for, obviously as a tablet?

cobraboy85 · Jan 17, 2013

Developers need to take more responsibility around here with their threads. A simple "I'm not at fault" is sub par in my opinion. Users popping up with IMEI issues are becoming more a common thing. Didn't somebody make an app to back up your efs partition? Why is there not a link to said app in every ROM and kernel thread? This stuff blows my mind.

As there is a rampant influx of "noobs" watching YouTube videos about rooting their devices (most of which for the first time) with links to ROM threads, their needs to be an influx of responsibility taken by those who cook ROMs and feed them to the general public. The issues with the IMEIs being lost is not a small one. Your device is pretty much done for without a backup. Keep reading, keep trying, but since you had no idea that losing the ability to use your device's radios was even a possibility, not your fault.

Good luck. And sorry. You should have seen a link at the very top of the thread you downloaded your ROM from ... and this whole thing would have been avoided. Here is the link, which is always shared too late and after the fact. App is called andromizer xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2080009

This kind of thing shouldn't still be happening.

saseekutz · Jan 17, 2013

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2080009

[DEV][APP][Andromizer] Android Customizing Tools (Note2 Specific Features Added)

Here's a link to one I used to backup mine. You have to pay to unlock the backup feature. It gives you way more piece of mind flashing

cobraboy85 · Jan 17, 2013

saseekutz said:
http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2080009

[DEV][APP][Andromizer] Android Customizing Tools (Note2 Specific Features Added)

Here's a link to one I used to backup mine. You have to pay to unlock the backup feature. It gives you way more piece of mind flashing

No you don't. The version I got here on xda, also same exact link I posted right before you -_- , allowed me to back up my efs partition with no issues

janjannsen99 · Jan 17, 2013

adam2508 said:
Thank you for confirming my fear, I was on denial. Im getting a new one on friday. How much do you think I can sell this one for, obviously as a tablet?

Well all is not lost. There have been reports of people restoring imei successfully.

Try and app called andromizer. If I remember right it had an efs backup and restore. Its an app

Second. Go to the tmobile galaxy s3 forum and find their thread about lost imei numbers. Use those tools and the method to try to write back your imei number. Ill try and find it

Edit. Heres the link. Try using those tools and those methods. THAT is the only method I have heard about to work AT ALL. So try it out

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1801997

saseekutz · Jan 17, 2013

cobraboy85 said:
No you don't. The version I got here on xda, also same exact link I posted right before you -_- , allowed me to back up my efs partition with no issues

Damn.. Lol I was told wrong, my bad on the repost dude

adam2508 · Jan 17, 2013

Agreed

cobraboy85 said:
Developers need to take more responsibility around here with their threads. A simple "I'm not at fault" is sub par in my opinion. Users popping up with IMEI issues are becoming more a common thing. Didn't somebody make an app to back up your efs partition? Why is there not a link to said app in every ROM and kernel thread? This stuff blows my mind.

As there is a rampant influx of "noobs" watching YouTube videos about rooting their devices (most of which for the first time) with links to ROM threads, their needs to be an influx of responsibility taken by those who cook ROMs and feed them to the general public. The issues with the IMEIs being lost is not a small one. Your device is pretty much done for without a backup. Keep reading, keep trying, but since you had no idea that losing the ability to use your device's radios was even a possibility, not your fault.

Good luck. And sorry. You should have seen a link at the very top of the thread you downloaded your ROM from ... and this whole thing would have been avoided. Here is the link, which is always shared too late and after the fact. App is called andromizer xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2080009

This kind of thing shouldn't still be happening.

What would happen if i copied the /efs directory from the new one to this one?

janjannsen99 · Jan 17, 2013

Start a thread titled

Who has restored imei successfully

cobraboy85 · Jan 17, 2013

janjannsen99 said:
Start a thread titled

Who has restored imei successfully

The issue being you can't restore it without a backup.

---------- Post added at 01:57 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:56 PM ----------

adam2508 said:
What would happen if i copied the /efs directory from the new one to this one?

Never done it. If you have a new one, just make a backup of the new one and don't mess with it. Now you know to make a backup

Corrupt0387 · Jan 18, 2013

Curious

I would like to prevent myself from making this mistake in the future. Are you talking about the same type of back up you would do in TWRP or CWM? Like a nandroid? I've never heard about the backup your talking about, but I have been seeing a lot of people talking about losing their IMEI number and it sounds like really bad news.

adam2508 · Jan 18, 2013

Ill give it a try

janjannsen99 said:
Well all is not lost. There have been reports of people restoring imei successfully.

Try and app called andromizer. If I remember right it had an efs backup and restore. Its an app

Second. Go to the tmobile galaxy s3 forum and find their thread about lost imei numbers. Use those tools and the method to try to write back your imei number. Ill try and find it

Edit. Heres the link. Try using those tools and those methods. THAT is the only method I have heard about to work AT ALL. So try it out

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1801997

I will try this tomorrow, i dont think that there is no fix at all. There is a fix for everything, just not yet discovered. Even though i will be getting a new phone, i still want to dedicate some time on fixing this one. If I find a fix, I might help someone else.

adam2508 · Jan 18, 2013

advice

Corrupt0387 said:
I would like to prevent myself from making this mistake in the future. Are you talking about the same type of back up you would do in TWRP or CWM? Like a nandroid? I've never heard about the backup your talking about, but I have been seeing a lot of people talking about losing their IMEI number and it sounds like really bad news.

dude, make sure you have a back up of everything. Especially of the /efs directory. I read a few posts about people having this problem even after restoring back from CWM. I will get into conclusions that CWM does not back up the /efs directory. Anyone wants to correct me or add to this?

Corrupt0387 · Jan 31, 2013

A little clarification

adam2508 said:
dude, make sure you have a back up of everything. Especially of the /efs directory. I read a few posts about people having this problem even after restoring back from CWM. I will get into conclusions that CWM does not back up the /efs directory. Anyone wants to correct me or add to this?

Any chance you could tell me where to find this? If ever lost and you have the back up, how would you restore it?

adam2508 · Jan 31, 2013

I'll be really honest

Corrupt0387 said:
Any chance you could tell me where to find this? If ever lost and you have the back up, how would you restore it?

After what happened to me I haven't messed with other roms. Andromizer can be found here http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2080009 to make a backup of your /efs. I have also used Nandroid, which you can just download from the "play store". Nandroid apparently does make a backup of everything including /efs and bootloader. As to how to restore from those backups I would like to never find out if it actually works. I have flashed the perseus kernel with clockworkmod recovery and also rooted which allows me to overclock to 1800MHz and im very happy with it. I dont have the urge to flash any roms that "promise" any speed improvements. I have also got rid of the bloatware with titanium backup pro. And of course i made backup with it too just in case i removed something i did not suppose to. All backups are in my external SD card and on dropbox. Call me paranoid but after what ive gone through i call it being safe.

KillaHurtz · Feb 1, 2013

adam2508 said:
I did the stupid mistake of flashing to a custom rom without backing up. Nowhere in custom rom instructions says to backup your /efs folder.
Now in "About device" Baseband version is "Unknown" IMEI is "Unknown". I've searched everywhere for a fix and nothing. I tried the following:

Flash stock rom

Format /data and /cache

On keypad, dial *#7284# ....But i dont get the "Qualcomm USB settings" option so i cant try IMEI repair tools

I tried flashing different kernels and different custom roms

Apart from the IMEI problem, the Device cant access the 16GB internal memory. The stock rom flashes with no error, but when i go to
settings > storage: under "Device memory" its full with only 182MB used by some apps. I thought the memory could be bad, but after flashing
Perseus kernel and swapping external sd card for internal memory I can use the 16GB as external memory. I cant find a fix for that either.

INTERNAL MEMORY UPDATE: it seems that internal memory is mounting read only. Still trying to find a fix

Im currently on "T889UVALK8_T889TMBALK8_TMB" rom with Perseus kernel and using "11extsd2internalsd_gs3_fat32" to swap internal to external memory.

Side note: I bought the phone from a friend 2 days ago. Its the Tmobile version and I used cellunlocker to unlock to use it with AT&T. That worked, until I started messing with ROMS. No warranty available. I am desperately looking on how to fix this since i have no spare phone. Any help is highly appreciated and thank you for your time

It sounds like you did a NAND erase all in Odin. Flash back to stock, use triangle away, call samsung to fix it. I had the same issue and Samsung fixed it for free.

adam2508 · Feb 1, 2013

Free?

KillaHurtz said:
It sounds like you did a NAND erase all in Odin. Flash back to stock, use triangle away, call samsung to fix it. I had the same issue and Samsung fixed it for free.

Even without insurance? And what am I going to tell them?

IMEI and Internal storage problem

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