[Q] help a noob, efs folder vanished, failed to mount. tried many things - Galaxy S III Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hi guys, firstly I'd just like to say I have followed all the protocol that is required on here and been reading and researching/ applying fixes for the past few days now. I have tried to help myself as far as i possibly can but i am still having no luck and i don't think too many people have had the exact similar issue after reading all the other threads that are similar to my issue.
with some of the fixes it is my first time using them as i have never needed to in the past, so bare with me if my level of understanding isn't as great in some departments.
Now onto the issue:
I own a galaxy s3 i9300 and it has been rooted on stock rom since day 1 about a year ago. A few days ago my phone battery died, and when connnected to the charger it had this grey icon with a circle. It wouldn't boot up either so after searching on the net i thought i would listen to the advice of clearing the cache etc etc but this didn't work and neither did the wipe data/dalvik in CWM.
So i reflashed a stock jellybean rom and it worked fine.
It was then at this stage i thought i might as well upgade to a custom rom as every galaxy i had owned before i had done it on, and my current Note tablet is also running custom rom.
I first loaded a stock 4.3 rom and then flashed the slimbean 4.3 with gapps ...and it worked perfectly. I found a couple of issues with the browser which i use a lot so i downgraded to a 4.2.2 version of slimbean with gapps and this made the browser really fast again and all was perfect.
I had been using this for two days or so and everything was smooth, including charging etc until one night it had that same grey battery icon again with the circle and would get stuck booting at the samsung logo.
So as this had happened before i thought i would just flash a stock rom....this is where it all started going mad
Bearing in mind, every flash i always did it properly and wiped cache/dalvik cache and wiped data three times for each one just to make sure as i didnt have anything of value so wanted a fresh wipe each time and didnt need to back anything up.
now before i get flamed i realise i made a huge stupid error in not backing up my efs folder before hand as i had done with every previous phone but because i was under pressure to get it working it skipped my mind totally.
So i flashed a stock jellybean 4.2.2 rom and still bootloop with the EFS not found invalid argument error
i flashed a 4.3
i flashed a 4.1
i flashed a different 4.1
i flashed a different 4.2
i tried loads but nothing worked
so after reading that this would not help as it doesnt touch the efs i looked into fixes that others had done
i tried to follow this http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2197515
So i downloaded efs professional / adb tool
i downloaded busybox
and cwm was already on the phone but i downloaded philz cm incase i needed that too
now as the phone doesn't turn boot up i can't access anything, i can only access download mode and CWM.
When i open efs professional it says current device offline, turn on allow usb debugging to confirm your phones RSA fingerprint and click ok.
I have no idea what to do about that because i can't get into the phone.
Regarding busybox i have no idea how to get that to install on the phone, i have tried writing some stuff to push it in the adb shell (but because its my first time using adb shell and command prompt i have no idea if i am doing it correctly). Can you install it with odin?
also regarding adb shell i followed the guide http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2197515 and got into [email protected] and SU....and then when on the phone in cwm i clicked mount efs...and obviously it failed. I went into the log as said and /dev/block/mmcblk0p3 was the file it failed to mount
the thing is everything after that step doesnt work, as i can't create an image of mmcblk0p3 as it says it can't find it as if it doesnt exist.
So im screwed as it effectively is saying i don't even have that file or efs folder i think?
The thing is i never had any issue with losing imei or anything like that at all and this just happpened out of the blue without me doing anything as such
any ideas?.....would be HUGELY appreciative for anyone willing to take the time out and help me with this as i'm not sure i can explore any more avenues on my own with my limited knowledge and at the same time don't want to give up.
PS. I also have access to a galaxy s3 i9305 ....and can possibly try and source another i9300 from a family member IF this helps in any way or makes life easier?

Stickied faqs and guides .
No IME/ EFS
service centre repair is your best choice if you have read and tried the stickied fixes .

Reads like efs partition corrupted and your phone was already suffering with nand memory issues.
There is no substitute for an efs backup, you cannot recreate the unique information it contained.
Take it to a reputable repair centre, they will be able to get it back to normal, but you are still left with why it keeps corrupting -which may require a new motherboard.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

Mod Edit
Please refer to ,and post in the stickies in the General section.
Thread closed
malybru
Forum Moderator

Related

S2 IMEI Unkown + No Service PLEASE HELP

Hi all,
I own a galaxy s2. I'm facing a issue which i've been trying to fix for the past couple of weeks. I tried many threads in this forum, but nothing seems to solve the issue.
This is the issue,
I used to flash custom roms on my device. I used many custom roms including cm9 RC1 and when samsung released the lastest 4.0.4 update i just wanted to chek it out. so I downloaded the generic russian (SER) firmware and flashed it using odin.
After flashing it I was stuck @ boot. i was stuck there for more than 10 mins, so I ended up removing the battery. then I went to samsung recovery(Volume Up+Power+Home) and cleared the cache and user data and rebooted the phone it worked fine. At this time I didn't bother to check whether my IMEI was there but everything worked fine.
After couple of days(without rebooting the device in that time) I droped the phone. battery came off, when I turned on the device again, prohibited mark like thing came in the status bar and there was no service, when I checked the IMEI it was not there.
At this moment I was not sure whether the drop caused the issue or the flashing caused it. I later realized IMEI issue comes because of EFS but sadly I didnt back it up. After diggin for few days I found when flashing one of the custom roms, efs was backed up automatically, I tried restoring it, but it didnt help (Maybe the backup was corrupted )
I followed various threads in this forum but nothing helped me.
Please help me get the IMEI back, I really miss my device :crying:
Shasinda said:
Hi all,
I own a galaxy s2. I'm facing a issue which i've been trying to fix for the past couple of weeks. I tried many threads in this forum, but nothing seems to solve the issue.
This is the issue,
I used to flash custom roms on my device. I used many custom roms including cm9 RC1 and when samsung released the lastest 4.0.4 update i just wanted to chek it out. so I downloaded the generic russian (SER) firmware and flashed it using odin.
After flashing it I was stuck @ boot. i was stuck there for more than 10 mins, so I ended up removing the battery. then I went to samsung recovery(Volume Up+Power+Home) and cleared the cache and user data and rebooted the phone it worked fine. At this time I didn't bother to check whether my IMEI was there but everything worked fine.
After couple of days(without rebooting the device in that time) I droped the phone. battery came off, when I turned on the device again, prohibited mark like thing came in the status bar and there was no service, when I checked the IMEI it was not there.
At this moment I was not sure whether the drop caused the issue or the flashing caused it. I later realized IMEI issue comes because of EFS but sadly I didnt back it up. After diggin for few days I found when flashing one of the custom roms, efs was backed up automatically, I tried restoring it, but it didnt help (Maybe the backup was corrupted )
I followed various threads in this forum but nothing helped me.
Please help me get the IMEI back, I really miss my device :crying:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hi there
you said that you have the backup of your EFS Folder, what you need to do is follow the steps in this thread
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1264021
its recover your imei in nine steps
my imei was lost as well and i recovered my imei following those stesp, its a great guide if you already have the backup of your EFS Folder
cheers
fr3nlysmil3 said:
hi there
you said that you have the backup of your EFS Folder, what you need to do is follow the steps in this thread
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1264021
its recover your imei in nine steps
my imei was lost as well and i recovered my imei following those stesp, its a great guide if you already have the backup of your EFS Folder
cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried this also, but it didnt solve my issue :crying:
...
I once had a similar problem.
My imei went lost because of a rom upgrade and I DIDN'T have a backup..
I solved the problem by flashing a stock rom (any samsung stock rom will do) with ODIN.
I am not sure what happened, but it looked like that the nv_data folder was "re-generated" and I got my IMEI back.
Now I have a copy of the folder in every storage media around my house
MistahBungle said:
If you have a backup, then you should be able to recover it. There are tons of threads on here with instructions on how to restore an EFS backup. Search (if you want it fixed, that is. If you don't want it fixed, keep posting to this thread in the hope someone spoonfeeds you. Might be waiting a while tho).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried almost every thread here in xda about restoring, tried GSII_repair, kTool to restore it but none of them recovered the IMEI. I did not made a backup of efs but when I installed the Hydra H2O ICS Rom for GS2 it made the backup i guess, because a file called "efs-backup.tar.gz" was in a folder called .hydra inside the sd card.
does the drop of the device has anything to do with the erased IMEI?
robdpi said:
I once had a similar problem.
My imei went lost because of a rom upgrade and I DIDN'T have a backup..
I solved the problem by flashing a stock rom (any samsung stock rom will do) with ODIN.
I am not sure what happened, but it looked like that the nv_data folder was "re-generated" and I got my IMEI back.
Now I have a copy of the folder in every storage media around my house
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have installed stock roms from samsung using Odin, but then I discovered that efs folder get unmounted everytime I install the stock rom, phone just starts after flashing without android setup wizard, also when I long press power button, menu wont appear, device just shut down, after I restore the efs from the backup i have, and mount the efs using the CWM recovery would bring back the power button long press menu. everything else working except for Mobile Networks. and imei/baseband shows unknown
Drop Caused this problem
Hi all,
Thank you for replying on this thread and helped me figured out my problem, I have contacted Odia and he thinks that dropping the phone damaged the baseband chip inside the main board, not a flashing of the roms or efs folder issue. i have only 2 options either replace the whole board paying LKR 35,000 (New s2 costs only LKR 65,000) or use it as a MP3 player :crying:

[Q] Encryption prevents custom ROMs being used

OK so let me start off with, great site. I have read a ton of information.
First: Siyah 4.3.3 (Latest) Kernel which now has been put to AJK v1.48s
ROM; SHOstock3 v2.5.9
PreMod Settings: SGS2 AT&T SGH-i777. Started with GB > AT&T OTA (KIES) 4.0.3 > AT&T OTA WIFI 4.0.4 (caused huge freaking headaches with battery, charging, turn off the phone loop, battery draining, etc.)
Issues:
Original Issue posted in this thread (viewing Single Post) http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=39350619&postcount=18
Creepy offered something to try. That never worked as all I was able to do was download mode or stare at the Samsung Galaxy S2 Splash Screen. Well, I took to his download repository and other links and used his One-Click Recovery to stock GB Rom to make part of my phone usable, using this link here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=18859438&postcount=199
While it is Gingerbread at least my phone is usable. I want to try his STOCK ICS method but that mentions the eMMC super-brick bug.
So this is what I have tried so far. I have tried installing Siyah 4.3.3 nomswap for my kernel using Mobil-Odin Lite. That works but it never reboots or actually says finished. What it does do is stay at the wicked purple splash with the yin yang symbol. I left it like that last night until I woke up this morning and it never changed. So I rebooted the phone and the Kernel is on there. I reboot into recovery so that I can install SHOstock3 v2.5.9. That goes off flawlessly except here the last few times it won't reboot when I go to the GO BACK. It sticks and doesn't do anything. Rebooting shows the SHOstock3 Engine Boot Animation. Once it stops it goes to ask me for the encryption password. Well I put in my password (was the same one to the unlock screen) and it reboots and you see the nifty Samsung animation logo and then goes to the Samsung Galaxy S2 Animation Logo and then just stays there. It really pisses me off.
So after all that I finally put a new Kernel on there,AJK 1,48s. Pretty cool it loads up and then reboots. Well AJK shows up after the light-blue bar fills up and then goes black and the 4 touch sensitive row keys are lit up for a bit before going dark but the phone is still on. So I rebooted to recovery (CWM now with the Kernel) fixed tweaks, went to advanced and saw all sorts of options. Tried clearing caches for ROM 2 and restarting,no effect. I removed ROM 2 and went through reboot and nothing. Restored ROM 2 and nothing. Re installed SHOstock3 v2.5.9. Did the same thing after install and not backing out when I hit GO BACK. Rebooted, same scenario that happened before with requiring password. Entering password does the same thing with a reboot and then staying on Samsung Splash Screen. If I Don't enter the password and reboot,same thing happens. So after being irritated and pissed off I ran Creepy's One-Click Fix again and paid attention to the phone and noticed it mentioned not being able to access the AT&T section or partition or something like that. So while part of my phone works under normal circumstances I want to figure out how to remove that encryption part of the phone and get full access (even though full memory and space are shown under Windows 7 and the files on the phone). The password I put on there isn't taking and I don't know if using PC methods for removing encryption (which could take awhile I know) needs to be employed (and if so which methods) or if that part is just screwed and I can't put on any other kernels or custom ROMs. Perhaps tell me where I messed up. Should I try swapping the ROMs from Advanced setting in CWM Recovery? Can I try a different ROM (kernel didn't seem to help)? I have done several factory resets dalvik cache wipes cache wipes formats,etc. and it is still there. I can say that before the whole encryption debacle (even though I was encrypted I did get in my phone after encrypting it) my pin unlock for my SIM wouldn't work and I actually SIM locked my phone. Had to go to AT&T and get a new SIM and was up and running. I put a 4 digit pin lock for the SIM (it let me do it) and when I went to unlock it after a reboot, it wanted an 8 pin for the PUK and wouldn't take what I put. I tried to change the PIN but to no avail. Once that happened I guess it snowballed. Any help is appreciated. I have searched and tried some things that looked to match my issue but none have totally helped. I do have ADB set up on my wife's laptop which I use to restore my phone to GB Stock ROM. I haven't been able to reboot the phone into Bootloader to do any fastboot commands as when I tried to do it the commands just sent the phone into normal reboot (though adb reboot recovery does boot to recovery). I Haven't tried booting to the bootloader using the new Kernel though so I will wait for confirmation or additional information before I try. Thanks guys.
Eagle
Couple of comments. Siyah 4.3.3 (and ajk) kernels are for 4.x ICS and JB so that explains why your stock Gingerbread system would not flash after you installed it. If you flash back to stock Gingerbread again, and then flash a custom kernel, use a kernel that is compatible with Gingerbread if you want to boot the system.
After doing a little research, it seems that a wipe data/factory reset will not clear the encryption, but a format data will. This information is not from a Samsung forum; it's from the Droid DNA forum. I'm thinking that the same thing may apply to the I777. See the thread here.
It might be worth a try anyway. Flash stock plus root Gingerbread, install mobile odin or mobile odin lite, and use it to flash Siyah 2.6.14. Boot into recovery and go to the Mounts and Storage section. There you can format data, (and all the other partitions, separately.)
creepyncrawly said:
Couple of comments. Siyah 4.3.3 (and ajk) kernels are for 4.x ICS and JB so that explains why your stock Gingerbread system would not flash after you installed it. If you flash back to stock Gingerbread again, and then flash a custom kernel, use a kernel that is compatible with Gingerbread if you want to boot the system.
After doing a little research, it seems that a wipe data/factory reset will not clear the encryption, but a format data will. This information is not from a Samsung forum; it's from the Droid DNA forum. I'm thinking that the same thing may apply to the I777. See the thread here.
It might be worth a try anyway. Flash stock plus root Gingerbread, install mobile odin or mobile odin lite, and use it to flash Siyah 2.6.14. Boot into recovery and go to the Mounts and Storage section. There you can format data, (and all the other partitions, separately.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you so much creepy. I will give that a try later and see how it goes. I hope the information I gave actually gives enough info. I know folks usually want enough. Ill post back my findings.
Eagle
quick follow up and what I tried
creepyncrawly said:
Couple of comments. Siyah 4.3.3 (and ajk) kernels are for 4.x ICS and JB so that explains why your stock Gingerbread system would not flash after you installed it. If you flash back to stock Gingerbread again, and then flash a custom kernel, use a kernel that is compatible with Gingerbread if you want to boot the system.
After doing a little research, it seems that a wipe data/factory reset will not clear the encryption, but a format data will. This information is not from a Samsung forum; it's from the Droid DNA forum. I'm thinking that the same thing may apply to the I777. See the thread here.
It might be worth a try anyway. Flash stock plus root Gingerbread, install mobile odin or mobile odin lite, and use it to flash Siyah 2.6.14. Boot into recovery and go to the Mounts and Storage section. There you can format data, (and all the other partitions, separately.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey Creepy, I have a quick follow up and want to tell you what I have tried.
So I had already used Kies to move to AT&T v 4.0.4 ICS on my phone when I read your post. Rather than flashback again to GB I went ahead and put Siyah 4.3.3 on my phone. Went great, rebooted and installed quick and everything. Well I rebooted into recovery and went to mounts and storage and formatted the data and all that there and even formatted the secondrom data and all that. Did it a couple times to make sure everything was clean and good to go. Even put AJKs kernel on there after I ran the cleanrom script and it went flawlessly. I did factory resets and wipes and all that and installed SHOstock3 v2.5.9 and started up great. Well it got past the animation and the damn Password for encryption popped up. Well I put the wrong password in and it rebooted without the SAMSUNG screen and went through the boot ani and back to the password for encryption screen. I put the right password in, it reboots and you see the Samsung logo flash quickly and then it sticks on the Samsung Galaxy S2 Splash screen. I don't know what is holding it up from going forward unless when I messed up the first go around and it deleted everything if it didn't take out the bootload command or what have you. So I don't know if this idea will work but I am going to flashback to GB and put the siyah version on there that you linked and see if that will work.
One tihng, when Iencrypted the device the first go round, I onlydid the used data and area not the whole thing. Is this affecting it somehow? Any other ideas to try? I figured a full data format would remove the encryption but it never pops up saying all encryption will be removed. What I need is access to that area of the phone if I could just mount it on the computer. Is it possible after formatting the data, or before, that I should mount internal USB, DATA, etc and try another format/wipe or at least mount them to see if they can be used? Thanks for the help. For anyone else viewing this post (which actually is a lot) any help or ideas are appreciated. I am thinking I may need to format everything and get ahold of Samsung to see if they will reset my phone for me. I just wonder if the PIN lock on my SIM card that got locked when it wouldn't take my PIN didn't mess something up as well.
Eagle
WarEagleUS said:
Hey Creepy, I have a quick follow up and want to tell you what I have tried.
So I had already used Kies to move to AT&T v 4.0.4 ICS on my phone when I read your post. Rather than flashback again to GB I went ahead and put Siyah 4.3.3 on my phone. Went great, rebooted and installed quick and everything. Well I rebooted into recovery and went to mounts and storage and formatted the data and all that there and even formatted the secondrom data and all that. Did it a couple times to make sure everything was clean and good to go. Even put AJKs kernel on there after I ran the cleanrom script and it went flawlessly. I did factory resets and wipes and all that and installed SHOstock3 v2.5.9 and started up great. Well it got past the animation and the damn Password for encryption popped up. Well I put the wrong password in and it rebooted without the SAMSUNG screen and went through the boot ani and back to the password for encryption screen. I put the right password in, it reboots and you see the Samsung logo flash quickly and then it sticks on the Samsung Galaxy S2 Splash screen. I don't know what is holding it up from going forward unless when I messed up the first go around and it deleted everything if it didn't take out the bootload command or what have you. So I don't know if this idea will work but I am going to flashback to GB and put the siyah version on there that you linked and see if that will work.
One tihng, when Iencrypted the device the first go round, I onlydid the used data and area not the whole thing. Is this affecting it somehow? Any other ideas to try? I figured a full data format would remove the encryption but it never pops up saying all encryption will be removed. What I need is access to that area of the phone if I could just mount it on the computer. Is it possible after formatting the data, or before, that I should mount internal USB, DATA, etc and try another format/wipe or at least mount them to see if they can be used? Thanks for the help. For anyone else viewing this post (which actually is a lot) any help or ideas are appreciated. I am thinking I may need to format everything and get ahold of Samsung to see if they will reset my phone for me. I just wonder if the PIN lock on my SIM card that got locked when it wouldn't take my PIN didn't mess something up as well.
Eagle
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Should I try TWRP instead of CWM and if so where should I grab it from?
Status Update
So this is what I have tried so far as of this moment.
I reflashed using your Stock + Root Gingerbread ROM.
Wiped DATA and everything in recovery menu several times.
Used Kernel Wipe and ROM Nuke for extra cleaning power.
Reinstalled the Kernel AJK and SHOstock3 ROM
Haven't installed any themes though I had Johns Blue and Villians Poison Base Theme (I believe that is what it is) on there when this all went down. Should I put them back on there?
Password still pops up. So what it looks like is that unless I stick with the unencrypted portion of the phone, I am screwed with any custom ROMs as the correct password has the phone restart and then stick at the Samsung Galaxy S2 Splash Screen. Apparently I still cannot access that area of the phones memory to wipe it at all no matter what I do. I need to access it somehow. Really driving me crazy and thinking I may need to talk with AT&T(as Samsung told me to earlier this morning lol) and see what they can do.
One thing I do notice is when I use your stock root program it actually removes the encryption or decrypts the section of the phone for the stock ROM to go on the phone which is cool.
Eagle
Any other things to try from anyone is greatly appreciated.
Been away all day. Sorry, I can't offer any other suggestions, but I have no experience with encryption. As you said, what you need to know is where the encryption is stored in memory so you can wipe or format that and restore it to original. If you can get to the right person, probably not level 1 tech support, then maybe you can find out. Somebody somewhere knows the answer to this.
would restoring my original EFS before this whole process help or is the encryption section totally blocked off?
WarEagleUS said:
would restoring my original EFS before this whole process help or is the encryption section totally blocked off?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have no idea whether the encryption is stored there. What kind of efs backup did you take?
creepyncrawly said:
Been away all day. Sorry, I can't offer any other suggestions, but I have no experience with encryption. As you said, what you need to know is where the encryption is stored in memory so you can wipe or format that and restore it to original. If you can get to the right person, probably not level 1 tech support, then maybe you can find out. Somebody somewhere knows the answer to this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thx bro. yeah I need to run some forensic tools and see if I can mount the whole phone system on my PC and run the tools.
creepyncrawly said:
I have no idea whether the encryption is stored there. What kind of efs backup did you take?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
a full efs backup. I made two or three actuakky using advanced efs, nitrality, and recovery.
WarEagleUS said:
a full efs backup. I made two or three actuakky using advanced efs, nitrality, and recovery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A little research indicates that there is quite a bit of stuff stored in efs besides carrier specific data. So maybe encryption could be in there. Of those tools, nitrality for sure and maybe advanced efs should be able to restore the entire efs partition. If you are comfortable with the risk - a damaged efs would render the phone useless - then you might try this to see if it clears up the encryption issue. BTW, you should learn how to back up the efs partition yourself using terminal and linux commands.
creepyncrawly said:
A little research indicates that there is quite a bit of stuff stored in efs besides carrier specific data. So maybe encryption could be in there. Of those tools, nitrality for sure and maybe advanced efs should be able to restore the entire efs partition. If you are comfortable with the risk - a damaged efs would render the phone useless - then you might try this to see if it clears up the encryption issue. BTW, you should learn how to back up the efs partition yourself using terminal and linux commands.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I should have used ADB to do that from the get go. I should have used the wife's laptop like I started to instead of my WIN 8 machine has it seems to be finicky with Android SDK (the portion at least needed to run ADB). Linux commands really aren't much different than terminal and I have done both. I was actually trying to get fastboot commands to work but my bootloader wasn't cooperating and for the life of me I couldn't find how to unlock it. I may try restoring that EFS. If nothing else I would love to be able to format that EFS and replace it with my original copy though as you said a damaged EFS may actually cause issues (who knows if it is damaged). I do know that I am fixing to chat with AT&T support. I hope I don't have to drive down to Hoover, AL to the repair facility. I would rather them send me a phone and send this one back. I am on stock 4.0.4 ICS from AT&T and any root that may be on there (though I doubt there is now) I can remove and what not
Thanks for the advice and insight Creepy. I know you tried like hell to get me an answer but in doing research on here with other problems I found out some useful information going forward my friend.
Eagle
Well, looks like I will be getting a special early upgrade and the wife will as well. I will be keeping this phone, however, to mess with this and see if I cannot get this problem fixed. Thanks Creepy so much. I appreciate your research and help more than you know. If possible I would love to keep this thread open for a while just in case I figure this out and fix the issue. It may take me a week or so but I will get back to messing with it again.
A side note. You don't need the whole sdk to get adb. You can download just the files you need from my signature.
Sent from my SGH-I777 using xda premium

[Q] Emmc 'Brick Bug' fix.

Hey y'all.
So many threads ago I posted up on how to root a SGS2 I900P, which in the end I did no problems. The ONLY problem I encounted where I'd flash a different ROM and wanted to restore back to my factory loaded Orange UK rom, which when I restored it with no problems it just went through the 'boot loop' phase. I read up that this is caused due to a faulty emmc 'bricking bug' and luckily it was only "soft bricked".
Cut the long story short I managed to re-flash the Orange (UK) carrier firmware (after many USB cable changes and port swaps and fails) via Odin and retain my previously installed apps and so on and had to re-root. Is there a method or some sort of fix for the emmc bug issue for future wipes/restores ?
Something new I learnt in all that process too,
muffintastic said:
Hey y'all.
So many threads ago I posted up on how to root a SGS2 I900P, which in the end I did no problems. The ONLY problem I encounted where I'd flash a different ROM and wanted to restore back to my factory loaded Orange UK rom, which when I restored it with no problems it just went through the 'boot loop' phase. I read up that this is caused due to a faulty emmc 'bricking bug' and luckily it was only "soft bricked".
Cut the long story short I managed to re-flash the Orange (UK) carrier firmware (after many USB cable changes and port swaps and fails) via Odin and retain my previously installed apps and so on and had to re-root. Is there a method or some sort of fix for the emmc bug issue for future wipes/restores ?
Something new I learnt in all that process too,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To avoid brickbug is by flashing JB 4.1.2. (good alternative!)
But if you really like ICS then i suggest you move back to 4.0.3. There is no avoiding brickbug on 4.0.4.
If you have rooted it, you can check with 'Brickbug check' app on google play, to see if you have sane (or insane) chip (brickbug or not), cause most custom kernels and roms have found a solution to this bug, and use it on their roms/kernels. Which means on those you can safely wipe and restore etc.. (but check brickbug app first on google play)
Yep. Don't wipe a rooted phone running 4.0.4. And if you're really paranoid, don't even wipe a non-rooted phone running 4.0.4 (Entropy mentioned at least one case he knew of where someone borked their phone doing a wipe on a phone running 4.0.4 via stock Android recovery, tho it seems to be very rare).
The TL;DR is don't run rooted stock 4.0.4 if you mess with your phone in any way.
I know that's not a fix, but that's because there isn't one. Some chips aren't susceptible to the bug; there's an app floating around here somewhere/Google Play where you can check which chip you have (seems to be more that are susceptible).
Your 1st paragraph is a load of crap.Bootloop has nothing to do with "brickbug".More like by you not running kernel cleaning script,or not factory resetting before/after flashing a new rom.
As mentioned by others,just dont have 4.0.4 running on your phone.So you are still left with over 100 custom/stock roms to choose from........lol
Was the backup of JB? Or ICS? OP doesn't say. If it was JB, I'd be willing to bet that the bootloop was due to an attempt to restore the stock rom, but without restoring preload.
Sent from a galaxy far, far away
Hopper8 said:
Was the backup of JB? Or ICS? OP doesn't say. If it was JB, I'd be willing to bet that the bootloop was due to an attempt to restore the stock rom, but without restoring preload.
Sent from a galaxy far, far away
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im not sure Hopper.I am leaning towards the restore would be "cancelled" due to not being complete,rather than it succeeding leading to bootloop.
But hes not said.
And he cant get "factory" rom with a restore as it didnt come with cwm lol.
Sorry to clear things up.. I updated it to 4.1.2 via Kies many months ago. I used PhilZ method to root, no problem. Few months down the line since then I put LiquidSmooth 2.4 (few days ago) then restored a backup from PhilZ recovery and put 4.1.2 and everything back on no problem. Then restarted the phone and it when into a boot loop of the Orange and Samsung logo.
I'm not stupid as I've rooted my own SGS3 and Samsung Galaxy ACEs etc, Just forgotten to put that info in lol and yes I always use the Factory Reset to install a new rom.
And yes when I managed to get it restored from this so called boot loop (by putting 4.1.2 Orange UK firmeware back on via Odin) the EMMC brick bug is present as i've checked via an app via Google Play. My overall goal is to eliminate this problem or temp fix so I can put different roms on and if I don't like them recovery back to the latest restore without issues.
Are we on the same line now ?
And as we've said, you can't eliminate the problem. You can avoid the problem by not running 4.0.4 stock roms. It's really quite simple, but like a lot of people here you're trying to make it complex when there's no need to.
help me out here please
MistahBungle said:
And as we've said, you can't eliminate the problem. You can avoid the problem by not running 4.0.4 stock roms. It's really quite simple, but like a lot of people here you're trying to make it complex when there's no need to.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok its a long story so i better get started... my friend had his phone rooted and installed a jelly bean version of Paranoid android and he wanted to put kitkat on it, he downloaded the cm11 latest nightly and told me to flash it i proceed to flash the phone but it failed and showed me "error status 7" so the phone couldnt get neither into the previous pa nor in the cm11... after some research and messing with the META INF stuff to sol the status 7 thing i found out that the problem was that he wasnt using a kitkat compatible recovery... i installled it and finally got to flash cm11.. that didnt came out as you may thought the phone showed it had -15246384352 % of battery made a freking glitch when the sreen rotated and it wouldnt recognize either of the sd cards (internal memory or external sd card) so i couldnt flash it again, wipe data/cache wouldnt solve the problem either... i turn into our ol friend odin and flashed stock JB wich worked perfectly except that i had the same issue with the memories... used philz to root the phone again, the try to format /system /data /emmc to check if that was the problem annnnd ta da the phone wont boot :silly: odin keeps failing to flash stock again and i dont jknow what to do....
sorry for the long post but i guess that you might need alll the info you could get for helping me...
thanks a lot
andreshbozo said:
ok its a long story so i better get started... my friend had his phone rooted and installed a jelly bean version of Paranoid android and he wanted to put kitkat on it, he downloaded the cm11 latest nightly and told me to flash it i proceed to flash the phone but it failed and showed me "error status 7" so the phone couldnt get neither into the previous pa nor in the cm11... after some research and messing with the META INF stuff to sol the status 7 thing i found out that the problem was that he wasnt using a kitkat compatible recovery... i installled it and finally got to flash cm11.. that didnt came out as you may thought the phone showed it had -15246384352 % of battery made a freking glitch when the sreen rotated and it wouldnt recognize either of the sd cards (internal memory or external sd card) so i couldnt flash it again, wipe data/cache wouldnt solve the problem either... i turn into our ol friend odin and flashed stock JB wich worked perfectly except that i had the same issue with the memories... used philz to root the phone again, the try to format /system /data /emmc to check if that was the problem annnnd ta da the phone wont boot :silly: odin keeps failing to flash stock again and i dont jknow what to do....
sorry for the long post but i guess that you might need alll the info you could get for helping me...
thanks a lot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here is my situation.
I had 4.1.2 JB. Installed CM11 M8 and CWM_6.0.4.7(coming previously from Siyah) at the end of July. In the beginning of October my phone just shut down. That happened before on the same and previous rom so I wasn't worried. I turned it on and phone was in bootloop. That was strange because the last time that happened I installed Chainfire. So bootloop without any cause..that was strange. I tried making a backup before flashing the ROM. But I got an error. I can't remember but I can dig it somewhere if you want it. I tried then flashing recovery(bad idea) and Odin again reported an error. When I restarted phone I noticed that my Recovery mode was gone. Just gone and with no solution on how to restore it. I tried numerous methods OMAP drivers, heimdall, .pit file method but nothing. So I brought my sgs2 to the store where I bought it and they concluded that it was bad eMMC chip.
Now, your problem reminds me of mine because Odin wouldn't want to flash anything without an error(well, not exactly anything, I managed to flash some partition using Heimdall but it was not sufficient) but it doesn't have to be.
What version of cwm were you using?

[Q] S5830i strange rom flash imei issue -Need kind assistance!

Hello.
I really didn't want to make a thread but i've been bouncing of dead lnks and failed search results or outdated incorrect info all day and i can't seem to get the information i need. I'm sorry if i haven't done everything i can before this psot but i have rtied, i really have!
My issue:
I have a Samsung Galaxy Ace GT-S5830i which was running so slow it was terrible. I found a nice slimline rom that i read about and was happy to use.
I used Samsung recovery to then run CWM ClockWorkRec5830i, which i used to install 'update' which gave me Superuser access and rooted my phone (i think, if i understand) then i made a backup of my phones stock image, then i used it to wipe the phone, clear cache, and finally install my new rom.
...so far so good.
The rom installed, the phone rebooted, everything was working (really fast and really well, i was VERY pleased) however i have hit my issue:
IMEI data was gone. *#06# showed nothing, so i went back into Samsung recovery, loaded ClockWorkRec5830i and restored my phone back ro original using my backup. The IMEI returned! All was well again, so i got Galaxy Toolbox from Play store, ran it with Superuser access and created a backup of the EFS file.
I returned my phone back to the new rom that i had chosen and again installed Galaxy Toolbox to use the 'restore EFS' option.
The IMEI is still blank using *#06# which has me very confused.
I can open the EFS backup file in Hex workshop and the serial number data is is there. I can use Galaxy Toolkit device info and see the IMEI in there, so i don't understand what i have done wrong for the IMEI not to be showing in the phone.
Can anyone help or educate me please. I do generally want to learn more about why i haven't realised the mistake may.
I love learning this stuff but it can be overwelming sometimes until someone comes along and calls you an idiot and tells you the obvious lol! Please, "I'm an idiot" hehee.
Thankyou
Drew (United Kingdom)
DrewKrew said:
Hello.
I really didn't want to make a thread but i've been bouncing of dead lnks and failed search results or outdated incorrect info all day and i can't seem to get the information i need. I'm sorry if i haven't done everything i can before this psot but i have rtied, i really have!
My issue:
I have a Samsung Galaxy Ace GT-S5830i which was running so slow it was terrible. I found a nice slimline rom that i read about and was happy to use.
I used Samsung recovery to then run CWM ClockWorkRec5830i, which i used to install 'update' which gave me Superuser access and rooted my phone (i think, if i understand) then i made a backup of my phones stock image, then i used it to wipe the phone, clear cache, and finally install my new rom.
...so far so good.
The rom installed, the phone rebooted, everything was working (really fast and really well, i was VERY pleased) however i have hit my issue:
IMEI data was gone. *#06# showed nothing, so i went back into Samsung recovery, loaded ClockWorkRec5830i and restored my phone back ro original using my backup. The IMEI returned! All was well again, so i got Galaxy Toolbox from Play store, ran it with Superuser access and created a backup of the EFS file.
I returned my phone back to the new rom that i had chosen and again installed Galaxy Toolbox to use the 'restore EFS' option.
The IMEI is still blank using *#06# which has me very confused.
I can open the EFS backup file in Hex workshop and the serial number data is is there. I can use Galaxy Toolkit device info and see the IMEI in there, so i don't understand what i have done wrong for the IMEI not to be showing in the phone.
I love learning this stuff but it can be overwelming sometimes until someone comes along and calls you an idiot and tells you the obvious lol! Please, "I'm an idiot" hehee.
Thankyou
Drew (United Kingdom)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't consider yourself idiot at all lol. You have explained everything so clearly.
Well,
This problem is so much common with this phone. Don't know why !
Many people including me facing this problem.
Sometimes you just reboot your phone and you will see ur IMEI is gone. Reboot again and its back. -_-
Its really strange issue actually.
You already knew all methods to get IMEI back. This is comman issue with this phone. Suffer it.
Maybe @iamareebjamal have figured this prob out.
Sent from my GT-S5830i using Tapatalk 2
The rom i found was great. It performed so much faster, did not take up much of the very limited memory on the handset, it was the perfect solution to my needs but whenever i use it i cannot make any calls etc due to no IMEI (*#06# shows a complete blank box) and i have tried rebooting the phone so so many times, repeating the process of installing the rom again and again and not once can i ever get it to show IMEI in *#06#. I could understand if the EFS backup also showed that the imei had reset or become corrupt, but it looks fine in Hex Workshop, shows up in device info on Galaxy Toolbox app, i just can't conclude anything from it's behaviour.
Using my original phone's backup the IMEI is restored instantly, and i have taken the EFS backup whilst running the phone on it's original state.
Could it be because something is not right in the rom? Is the rom changing something that i could possibly correct myself? Or something in the rom not suitable for my model and version of the GT-S5830i handset (compatibility issue)?
I really want to be able to use this rom and other's seem to be able to use it without issue which just makes me more determined to find the cause and correct my issue. I also see that many people do lose their IMEI and the EFS backup/restore method seems to work perfectly for them, because they seem to have their IMEI turned to blank values when checking in HexWorkshop whereas mine is still showing as expected.
I cannot make sense of this scenario at all lol.
I appreciate ANY and ALL advice
The rom is was trying was MEHDI ROM v2. I am in the United Kingdom using a GT-S5830i on o2 newtwork with no network locks or restrictions.
Make a new backup of your IMEI(make sure it is lost by once or twice rebooting) . And open via Hex Workshop.
If you see your IMEI in there, then reflash stock ROM and flash this Custom ROM without wiping anything.
If it doesn't solve your issue now too
Try restoring the efs partition before Media Scanning starts and Reboot the phone after media scanning is started.
These all are hit and trial methods. I've myself never found a fully satisfying solution
If nothing works, you'll have to try any other ROM.
DrewKrew said:
Hello.
I really didn't want to make a thread but i've been bouncing of dead lnks and failed search results or outdated incorrect info all day and i can't seem to get the information i need. I'm sorry if i haven't done everything i can before this psot but i have rtied, i really have!
My issue:
I have a Samsung Galaxy Ace GT-S5830i which was running so slow it was terrible. I found a nice slimline rom that i read about and was happy to use.
I used Samsung recovery to then run CWM ClockWorkRec5830i, which i used to install 'update' which gave me Superuser access and rooted my phone (i think, if i understand) then i made a backup of my phones stock image, then i used it to wipe the phone, clear cache, and finally install my new rom.
...so far so good.
The rom installed, the phone rebooted, everything was working (really fast and really well, i was VERY pleased) however i have hit my issue:
IMEI data was gone. *#06# showed nothing, so i went back into Samsung recovery, loaded ClockWorkRec5830i and restored my phone back ro original using my backup. The IMEI returned! All was well again, so i got Galaxy Toolbox from Play store, ran it with Superuser access and created a backup of the EFS file.
I returned my phone back to the new rom that i had chosen and again installed Galaxy Toolbox to use the 'restore EFS' option.
The IMEI is still blank using *#06# which has me very confused.
I can open the EFS backup file in Hex workshop and the serial number data is is there. I can use Galaxy Toolkit device info and see the IMEI in there, so i don't understand what i have done wrong for the IMEI not to be showing in the phone.
Can anyone help or educate me please. I do generally want to learn more about why i haven't realised the mistake may.
I love learning this stuff but it can be overwelming sometimes until someone comes along and calls you an idiot and tells you the obvious lol! Please, "I'm an idiot" hehee.
Thankyou
Drew (United Kingdom)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
May these help you..
As about these issue i do flash a Custom Kernel after flashing Rom with no IMEI Number
So After Flashing any Custom Kernel my IMEI Gets back
You can try it with any kernel
I use to flash Rafael.Baugis Kernel flash both its Modules and E3Boot.img
may be try changing kernel..
try any custom kernel...it helps me every time..
i have wiered problem, i can't use custom kernel on stock rom...or stock kernel on custom rom, both of these combination makes my imei disappear every time.
go to this thread for all the explanation
DrewKrew said:
Hello.
I really didn't want to make a thread but i've been bouncing of dead lnks and failed search results or outdated incorrect info all day and i can't seem to get the information i need. I'm sorry if i haven't done everything i can before this psot but i have rtied, i really have!
My issue:
I have a Samsung Galaxy Ace GT-S5830i which was running so slow it was terrible. I found a nice slimline rom that i read about and was happy to use.
I used Samsung recovery to then run CWM ClockWorkRec5830i, which i used to install 'update' which gave me Superuser access and rooted my phone (i think, if i understand) then i made a backup of my phones stock image, then i used it to wipe the phone, clear cache, and finally install my new rom.
...so far so good.
The rom installed, the phone rebooted, everything was working (really fast and really well, i was VERY pleased) however i have hit my issue:
IMEI data was gone. *#06# showed nothing, so i went back into Samsung recovery, loaded ClockWorkRec5830i and restored my phone back ro original using my backup. The IMEI returned! All was well again, so i got Galaxy Toolbox from Play store, ran it with Superuser access and created a backup of the EFS file.
I returned my phone back to the new rom that i had chosen and again installed Galaxy Toolbox to use the 'restore EFS' option.
The IMEI is still blank using *#06# which has me very confused.
I can open the EFS backup file in Hex workshop and the serial number data is is there. I can use Galaxy Toolkit device info and see the IMEI in there, so i don't understand what i have done wrong for the IMEI not to be showing in the phone.
Can anyone help or educate me please. I do generally want to learn more about why i haven't realised the mistake may.
I love learning this stuff but it can be overwelming sometimes until someone comes along and calls you an idiot and tells you the obvious lol! Please, "I'm an idiot" hehee.
Thankyou
Drew (United Kingdom)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey, did you solved your problem? i had the same problem once and it was just that the backup made with galaxytoolbox didn't match. So the best solution is to do a backup again and you will have to open the new file and edit it with the HEX editor and input your imei number manually. Here the thread with the info http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2064034&page=1 and this video is great, but it's in spanish. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kbY0EZYsXE Hope this solves your problem.
I cannot use the galaxy toolbox for my restoring unfortunately as the galaxy toolbox is not working with my current rom, if you know of another program that can help me fix it, i would appreciate it.
Thanks,
Fab
fabiolaec said:
Hey, did you solved your problem? i had the same problem once and it was just that the backup made with galaxytoolbox didn't match. So the best solution is to do a backup again and you will have to open the new file and edit it with the HEX editor and input your imei number manually. Here the thread with the info http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2064034&page=1 and this video is great, but it's in spanish. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kbY0EZYsXE Hope this solves your problem.
Fab
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the replies, but unfortunately i have not yet resolved the problem.
I have gone over the process again and again, repeating it the same way, trying slightly different ways, the outcome is always the same. Everytime i try i take a EFS backup (taken while the phone is restored to running on it's original stock rom and setup, with the IMEI all working and displaying via *#06#) the EFS file shows the IMEI in Hex Editor. Everytime. It's always there.
Then, as soon as i flash a rom and reboot the phone i have no IMEI. I use the good EFS backup and restore the EFS to the phone (which has the IMEI data intact) but the phone still will not display the IMEI via *#06# and if i check the EFS again it is still showing the IMEI as being in the EFS backup and still good.
So i have no idea why the phone is not seeing the IMEI because apparently it IS still there!
I'm installing roms by using the recovery method to 'apply update', using Samsung basic recovery mode, but could i use the CWM recovery to install? Would that have a different effect? Is it safe to use CWM to install roms as the guide i read said to only install roms using Samsung restore as CWM adds a risk of crashing or bricking the phone?
So many people are able to successfully flash a GT-S5830i and i just do not know enough yet about phone roms to feel confident to do more daring things with different methods for fear of making a critical mistake. So much of the information i have read contradicts itself, and other information neglects to explain certain things or simply assumes you know about bootloaders, CSC files and the like...
I've modified so many gadgets before and am fairly confident with doing such things it's just i can't seem to educate myself correctly over the modifying of these Samsung Android phones.
I just bought a Samsung Galaxy S GT-i9000 today and wanted to remove some of the bloatware so that's my next phone to read up on.
I have been put off a bit because of the issue of losing IMEI. It seems to be a big risk with this model, do other Samsung models have issues with IMEI loss?
Thankyou to all who are taking time to post. I read and appreciate every post, and am enjoying learning about this new topic to me.
Perhaps i shouls restore back to my original working setup, then install the rom using recovery (or via CWM recovery - i have no idea which is safest and the correct method as i read conflicting information) then install the rom without resetting/wiping anything? Would that help?
When i select roms should i be making sure they contain a compatible baseband or something?
I don't understand this area.
DrewKrew said:
Perhaps i shouls restore back to my original working setup, then install the rom using recovery (or via CWM recovery - i have no idea which is safest and the correct method as i read conflicting information) then install the rom without resetting/wiping anything? Would that help?
When i select roms should i be making sure they contain a compatible baseband or something?
I don't understand this area.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
About recovery use CWM
If you do not wipe then there will some problem occur may be like the phone will not boot after flashing Rom so must do wipe
And about baseband and all don't worry you can use any stock Rom for flashing Roms.
DrewKrew said:
Thanks for the replies, but unfortunately i have not yet resolved the problem.
I have gone over the process again and again, repeating it the same way, trying slightly different ways, the outcome is always the same. Everytime i try i take a EFS backup (taken while the phone is restored to running on it's original stock rom and setup, with the IMEI all working and displaying via *#06#) the EFS file shows the IMEI in Hex Editor. Everytime. It's always there.
Then, as soon as i flash a rom and reboot the phone i have no IMEI. I use the good EFS backup and restore the EFS to the phone (which has the IMEI data intact) but the phone still will not display the IMEI via *#06# and if i check the EFS again it is still showing the IMEI as being in the EFS backup and still good.
So i have no idea why the phone is not seeing the IMEI because apparently it IS still there!
I'm installing roms by using the recovery method to 'apply update', using Samsung basic recovery mode, but could i use the CWM recovery to install? Would that have a different effect? Is it safe to use CWM to install roms as the guide i read said to only install roms using Samsung restore as CWM adds a risk of crashing or bricking the phone?
So many people are able to successfully flash a GT-S5830i and i just do not know enough yet about phone roms to feel confident to do more daring things with different methods for fear of making a critical mistake. So much of the information i have read contradicts itself, and other information neglects to explain certain things or simply assumes you know about bootloaders, CSC files and the like...
I've modified so many gadgets before and am fairly confident with doing such things it's just i can't seem to educate myself correctly over the modifying of these Samsung Android phones.
I just bought a Samsung Galaxy S GT-i9000 today and wanted to remove some of the bloatware so that's my next phone to read up on.
I have been put off a bit because of the issue of losing IMEI. It seems to be a big risk with this model, do other Samsung models have issues with IMEI loss?
Thankyou to all who are taking time to post. I read and appreciate every post, and am enjoying learning about this new topic to me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure if you missed this step.
I did efs backup on stock rom and tried to restore with galaxy toolbox on the new rom and IT DIDN'T WORK....
you have to copy your imei number manually (or directly from the sticker) and once you are in the NEW ROM, make a backup of the IMEI. of course if you open it with the hex editor it will be EMPTY.
Then in this new back up file newly created you have to manually input your IMEI number using the HEX EDITOR.
This should work.
Rgds,
Fab
Backup imei of gts5830i
Hi i have just rooted my glaxay ace gts5830i &
want to install custom rom bt i want to first
backup its IMEI bt i don't know much abut
it ....
i heard glaxay toolbox in playstore backup the
IMEI bt in some cases it might no able to
backup ...is there any other way plz tell me i
also tried EFS pro...bt not able to backup bcuz
it didn't show my model name even on
refresh... plz help me to backup its imei...
sahil chandel said:
Hi i have just rooted my glaxay ace gts5830i &
want to install custom rom bt i want to first
backup its IMEI bt i don't know much abut
it ....
i heard glaxay toolbox in playstore backup the
IMEI bt in some cases it might no able to
backup ...is there any other way plz tell me i
also tried EFS pro...bt not able to backup bcuz
it didn't show my model name even on
refresh... plz help me to backup its imei...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't ask the same question in two different threads.
Galaxy toolbox works almost every time.
Did anyone having a similar issue manage to resolve it or can suggest other steps to follow?
I am having the exact issue but for the life of me can not make the IMEI appear even though galaxy toolbox reports it is fine. Here is my post from another thread, before I found this one.
Flashed ROM, all working fine except as above, no network connection (mobile connection). Wifi, etc all working. IMEI is blank when I do *#06#
Have tried
1. reboots, sim out, reboots, etc
2. tried using galaxy toolbox to backup imei/efs and then restoring after flash. nope no help.
3. tried backing up imei and editing with hex editor but the image already has correct imei. galaxy tool box does report correct imei.
4. just tried flashing rafel kernal using instructions but after doing so, phone does not boot past samsung screen.
5. reflashed back to stock room and crap radio still not working lol
so any suggestions? i need a kernel and then one that works with this rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Since the above, tried thunderbird kernal and I am still without IMEI.
I would just like to ask. Is it possible, at some point I have deleted EFS partition? Should I be able to see this EFS partition somewhere? Browsing through PC, on SD card or through CW recovery?
My only idea is that I have deleted efs partition so galaxy toolbox has no where to restore to BUT the app itself reports correct IMEI as does the hex value with a backup file.
Ideas, rants and possible suggestions welcome!
Thanks
cyrax.net said:
Did anyone having a similar issue manage to resolve it or can suggest other steps to follow?
I am having the exact issue but for the life of me can not make the IMEI appear even though galaxy toolbox reports it is fine. Here is my post from another thread, before I found this one.
Since the above, tried thunderbird kernal and I am still without IMEI.
I would just like to ask. Is it possible, at some point I have deleted EFS partition? Should I be able to see this EFS partition somewhere? Browsing through PC, on SD card or through CW recovery?
My only idea is that I have deleted efs partition so galaxy toolbox has no where to restore to BUT the app itself reports correct IMEI as does the hex value with a backup file.
Ideas, rants and possible suggestions welcome!
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Follow my restoring guide check my sign.
Hitesh2626 said:
Follow my restoring guide check my sign.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks Hitesh but I beleive I have tried all the methods. Check my reply here...
I solved my issue by flashing kernel again...see...
my post

[Q] I9100G IMEI and Basemand version unknown

Hello all,
I tried to stop myself from creating an user and also from starting a new thread on XDA, but i find myself in a bit of a huge mess.
I have a Galaxy S2 I9100G. I find it is an awesome phone, sadly not in the state i have it right now.
I have flashed a CM 10 ROM on it.
All i did is install a modified zImage that had a CWM in it using Heimdall. (It went well)
I have then made a quick backup using CWM and then flashed the CM 10 zip yet again using CWM.
I have then installed an Omni rom using the same flashing with CWM method.
This also went well.
I had to revert to CM10 cause i disliked the Omni rom. After some time (a week or so) i had to revert to the backup cause there was some data i needed, that i had saved in a note created on the stock rom. (This also went well)
After the data was saved i went back to CM10. (This also went flawlessly).
After a while (a few days) i cleaned my phone a bit. After assembling it and starting it up, the signal was gone. At first i was thinking that it is the place i liv in. This sometimes happens where i live. After a while, i came to see that there was no signal nomater where i was. I dissasembled the phone, thinking i might have done a mistake in connecting something back, all was connected back well and the phone still did not have signal. I came to see after playing around with the options that i have had no IMEI and no Baseband version.
What i tried was the following:
Booted to recovery:
in CWM i immediately flashed the created recovery. I have had no IMEI and baseband.
I then found some forums describing the deletion of the nv_data.bin+nv_data.bin.md5 files and renaming the .nv_data.bak to nv_data.bin and letting the md5 being created for it.
I deleted the data from /efs and then let the phone recreate the whole thing from scratch, all i did more was to copy the IMEI and .nv_data.bak file which i renamed to nv_data.bin
I then tried to flash the /efc with a zip file in CWM still to no avail.
I then tried the k-tool from the play store still no success.
There was a tool i found, NV writer tool, but that required for me to set the phone in Qualcomm mode, which was not an option for an I9100G with Texas Instruments OMAP processor. Still i tried the procedure, but the staps where i should have set the phone skipping the set to Qualcomm mode step (the *#something#* code was not working), and the app could not connect to the phone, so this was a stillborn solution for me.
I downloaded (kernel + rom), another stock rom (4.0.4), with Odin and repeated the process described above.
No imei and no baseband still.
I flashed the whole thing also i flashed the kernel again and the rom (this time i went back a step, to 4.0.3), also i used a PIT file for the SII i9100G model, and i did lfash from the a3 recovery mode the zip with the radio. Then i used a software, with the kind help of a friend, called Simlock Remote Server, where i have used a baseband + IMEI repair tool which was targeting my EFS partition and also it was flashing a stock i9100g EFS image. I have initiated quite a few of the of the operation mentioned before with the reair using the EFS image and also then i used another builtin functionality which could write the IMEI and baseband, still with a total lack of success.
I was sort of thinking that instead of an awesome phone i have a wery capable ipad, as all but the GSM functions were working. Sadly i have to say that i find myself in yet another problem. After flashing around 300 or so MBs are used on the system partition, where the rom resides. but after a while i notice heavy battery usage, even when not using my Galaxy S2 "iPad", and also the system partition is getting ever more full, till the whole 2GB are consumed and everything ceases to function. A factory restore with *2767*3855# solves the problem, but this will stard happening again after some time. I was thinking it could be a virus or something, as i have my phone rooted and installed a massive amount of applications which claimed miraculous IMEI repair abilities but failed miserably to deliver. I have installed 4 different anti-virus sw and these did not detect anything.
I am getting a bit scared of making this little piece of HW an useless transistor box, any advice and help would be appreciated. I am really ready to try anything, whatever platform Window$ or Linux may be necessary, please don't keep any possible solutions/suggestions from me.
Many thanks!

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