yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] sabre31:
One thing I noticed that seems to be common to everybody is that it seems you lose imei when going back to stock or stock recovery. It seems once your on custom recovery and rom you are fine and you can flash any rom you want and your fine unless you go back to stock and it don't matter whether you use Odin and recovery to flash stock back.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] lordmorphous:
I thought I was noticing the same thing. I've only ever returned to stock from a custom rom via a nandroid backup. I haven't done that for any real reason other than convenience, but from this point on I will probably always do it via nandroid until this is figured out.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] deeznutz1977:
I lost my imei honestly i believe its clockwork mod touch . This happened a couple weeks ago i believe , like i stated i have a new phone . i still have the one with the imei issues . if i can help please let me know . P.S mobiletecvideos.com can repair the imei issue http://mobiletechvideos.mybigcommerce.com/samsung-galaxy-s-iii-imei-efs-repair/
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] zonly1:
Unfortunately that was not the case for me. I went from Team Sonic to CM9.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] lordmorphous:
Well, there goes that theory.

I've noticed on the spreadsheet that no one with an IMEI SV of 5 have lost theirs. According to wikipedia, the SV is the software version. So maybe the IMEI software prior to 5 had a bug? Grasping at straws here, since I really have no idea...
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] :
This also doesn't apply to me. I've gone from aokp to stock using Odin on my att sgs3 and its worked every time with no imei failure
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] wavrunrx:
maybe someone should email these guys and see if they can give a little bit more info then "IMEI EFS Repair"

although thats interesting that they say EFS; are they refering to the efs partition ? is that how they are fixing it ? seems like we need to push a bit deeper into /efs

**edit

whats even more interesting, is mobiletecvideos claims to be able to repair the US variant of the sgs3, and they are refering to /efs ?

i was under the impression that only the international sgs3 had a nv_data.bin file which contianed the IMEI.

**edit 2

has someone tried creating a nv_data.bin file and sticking a fake IMEI in there ? (needs correct permissions too, rw-r--r--) the number is in this format:

AA-BBBBBB-CCCCCC-EE

where "EE" is the Software Version Number (SVN). (i.e. 02 or 05)
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] sabre31:
What version is your imei? Can you go to settings - about phone - status and tell us what you're imeisv number is?
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] Maconi:
I'm IMEISV 02 and have successfully flashed CWM and a single ROM so far. The fact that I have 02 scares me out of trying much more. :(

Is there a way to update your IMEI version?
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] wavrunrx:
i just spent an hour browsing through every location in the filesystem through root explorer and came up with nothing of interest with exception to a folder called "encryptfs"....

this may show some credence to the imei being encrypted...but then i remember the file in /efs .... wv.keys .... :confused:
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] drothenberger:
I also computed the MD5s from my phone (which is an AT&T phone on LG1) and none of them match yours. The full list is here if someone with AT&T wants to compare.

lordmorphous was kind enough to send me a copy of the first 4 MB of unpartitioned space from his phone (also AT&T) and it is identical to mine. So, we know the IMEI is not stored there.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] speedy_11:
SV stands for baseband i believe, thats what the other thread says.

We can test it out by seeing if anyone with an SV other than 2 while having UCLEM baseband in settings/about phone.

Maybe we should add a baseband column to the spreadsheet.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] sabre31:
Most likely you need to apply the latest ATT update that's what I did. I used the version here on xda which is made to be cmw flashable and keeps the old Google search which still allows you to search contents on the phone.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] norbarb:
Im on LG1 and sv is 5
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] thacounty:
Has anyone tried his edit 2? He could be on to something.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] wavrunrx:
preferably we would want someone with a broken phone to do this... @zonly1 are you out there ? :o

**edit

on second thought, i doubt just sticking numbers in a file will work... maybe we should work off a Galaxy S2's nv_data.bin ; open it up in a HEX editor ; and change the appropriate line to a fake IMEI, then reboot phone and see what happens
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] getsaf:
As far as I can tell, the GS3 doesn't have an nv_data.bin file at all. Adding a file to the phone that the phone doesn't use won't do anything. Unless somebody knows where the GS3 keeps an nv_data file, this isn't really a plan.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] scooter1942:
spreadsheet's been vandalized again...
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] David Dee:
Is there is any way to track who is responsible? Or maybe whoever is hosting the sheet can review and approve changes before posting? This is ridiculous, I haven't really seen anything like this before on XDA.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] zmore:
No, but the originalposter could give edit access to more logged in accounts, to keep the anonymous trolls at bay. The last resort is making the doc invite-only.

If the OP reads this, revert your spreadsheet to a previous good state, then PM a few (good) active people in this thread for their gmail acct to give edit access in order to admin it while you're away.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] wavrunrx:
karma will get them. dont worry ;)
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] fireboypr:
That is Samsung
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] stevessvt:
Yes, they will rot in hell with an original iPhone using the edge network.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] David Dee:
Let's not waste another minute on this and get the thread back to the topic at hand: Figuring out this very difficult issue.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] lordmorphous:
I reverted the spreadsheet back to what I think is a good state. I've also disabled editing by others, however anyone can view. Whoever wants edit rights, pm me with your email address and I'll add you to the list.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] wavrunrx:
NOTICE:

the user "<removed by wavrunrx>" or, "<removed by wavrunrx>" is the one that defaced the spreadsheet.

he is a member here on XDA: this is his profile:

http://xdaforums.com/member.php?u=2919411

this is his XDA username:

yousefak

Skype Username:

<removed by wavrunrx>

this is his website:

<removed by wavrunrx>

Proof:

from about 12:44 PM PT to about 12:49 PM PT

under revision history, you can see that google user: yousefkhan125 made approximately 90 changes to the google spreadsheet.

including the phrase: " been ****in the world and nigga i aint cum yet "

see here:

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/66962/Misc/Untitled.png
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] lordmorphous:
I was just pm'ed by someone stating it was fixing permissions that lost them their IMEI. I asked him for more information to verify. That is one thing I have not done is the fix permissions option in recovery and I still have my IMEI.

I added a column to the spreadsheet to track this. I'm wondering if it's such a good idea to lock the spreadsheet down.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] mrmako777:
doesnt cm9/10 automatically fix permissions before boot? if thats the case, everyone who flashed those roms would have the issue.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] lordmorphous:
I don't know if they do or not, or maybe if they do, it doesn't hit the same directories/files as cwm does.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] swehes:
I have run fix permissions and my imei is still here. However I am still on stock Samsung ROM with root.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] Maconi:
http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=29127490#post29127490

Interesting...
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] mrmako777:
i could be wrong, but i think most roms run a fix permissions automatically after install, but we could be on to something here...is it possible that the file that contains the imei number is still present, but without proper read permissions, the system doesnt realize it is still there?
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] sabre31:
Same here and I am on stock with root and still have imei.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] wavrunrx:
yousefak ;

YOU HAVE HEREBY BEEN OFFICIALLY DOXXED.

in the future; might want to sign out of your google account *before* you deface something, that so many people have worked hard on...

just a thought buddy.;)

maybe we should deface your website ??

baahh....

no need, its already a mess.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] jethro650:
I have run fix permissions from cwm many times, flashed every version of aokp, and every version of ktoonsez kernel of which a fix permission in recovery is part of the installation. I still have my imei. Unfortunately I don't know how the phone was rooted as I bought it rooted, supersu installed and carrier unlocked. I have nandroided back to stock a few times although I'm half scared to try odining back to stock :( as I've read that has caused issues for some. Team epic version of cwm on the phone when I bought it and have since installed cwm touch from from manager.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] Narcistic:
But if you notice on the spreadsheet I think everyone who lost IMEI has been on CM9/10 at one point too
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] mrmako777:
yep, i noticed...thats why im sticking with stock, rooted until this gets figured out. i really wanna flash cm10 :D
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] cwalker0906:
I fix persons multiple times per flash...before boot...after reboot...after setting up phone and installing apps....still have imei
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] Narcistic:
This I think would end up being one of the best options at this point.. Seems hes got a good start.. Even though hasnt been able to repair an IMEI yet the tool does report the IMEI and other info and give options to write...
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] :
**I removed the post as it may have been partially offensive/hateful**
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] Intercrew:
I just lol'z
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] wavrunrx:
IT IS YOU, the whole time who has consistently defaced the spreadsheet.

ive gone through every single revision that document has had; and look what ive found.

Screenshot Proof:

"PRANK CALL ME MY NUMBER IS 69 69 69 69 69"
[URL="https://dl.dropbox.com/u/66962/Misc/Untitled3.png"] https://dl.dropbox.com/u/66962/Misc/Untitled3.png[/URL]

you modified that whole line to add 567567 etc....
[URL="https://dl.dropbox.com/u/66962/Misc/Untitled4.png"] https://dl.dropbox.com/u/66962/Misc/Untitled4.png[/URL]

"ni**ers"
[URL="https://dl.dropbox.com/u/66962/Misc/Untitled5.png"] https://dl.dropbox.com/u/66962/Misc/Untitled5.png[/URL]

"can i suck your **** plzzzzzzzzzz?"
[URL="https://dl.dropbox.com/u/66962/Misc/Untitled6.png"] https://dl.dropbox.com/u/66962/Misc/Untitled6.png[/URL]

"NI**A i defaced YOUR MOM LOL FA**OT"
[URL="https://dl.dropbox.com/u/66962/Misc/Untitled7.png"] https://dl.dropbox.com/u/66962/Misc/Untitled7.png[/URL]

and THAT is just a sampling.

yousefak;

IT IS YOU, the whole time who has consistently defaced the spreadsheet.

admit it and apologize.

maybe you shouldn't SPAM the work of close to 80 separate people whom are all working toward the goal of solving such a frustrating problem ?
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] The Archangel:
I'm going to have to ask you too stop posting on this thread an the spreadsheet. If you continue the consequences will be worse
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] zmore:
I concur with wavrunrx. The revision history is clearly spammed with hundreds of his modifications.

VERDICT: YOUSEFAK is a lying troll who wasn't even smart enough to deface it anonymously.

SENTENCE:: Death by Snu-Snu! :)
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] kssxs:
I checked the revision logs, and it shows your account defaced the sheet on two separate occasions, multiple times.

Did you know that at most corporate workplaces, they tell you that if you leave your computer unlocked, and someone else uses your computer for nefarious purposes that can be tracked back to your ID, that YOU are responsible? Well in this case, guess what...

Fact of the matter is, only you know IF you actually did something or not, but to the rest of us, it was YOUR ID, and therefore, YOU were the one to deface the sheet. You say you have '2-step verification' on your account? Well then I guess you just pointed at yourself as the culprit. What would you expect anyone to think based on your own statement?

Considering the fact that it's supposed to be a collaborative effort to try find a solution to a common problem that affects any S3 owner that wants to MOD their phone, it's people like you that make it more difficult to find good end-solutions. Not only is it immature to commit such actions, but it completely goes against the spirit of a community like XDA, where we're all just trying to help each other.

I'm sorry to say this, but I'm going to e-mail a forum Mod and ask for an action to be taken. Your behaviour, or at least your IDs, is inexcusable.

Sorry to pull the thread in this negative direction. Can we please get back to the task at hand? :confused:
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] wavrunrx:
yes, i agree back to the original issue.

but first,

ive sent Mike Channon a PM with the following enclosed:

**edit, ive removed your skype username, your website as well as your gmail email address.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] The Archangel:
Everyone stop replying or dealing with him. I will take care of it
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] :
I do now realize that it may have very well been my roommate screwing around on my computer. If that really was the case, I would like to apologize to everyone in this thread for any interference that has been caused.

Aside from this post, I will stop posting in this thread so research can continue. I wish you all the best of luck in finding a fix for the problem that plagues your devices.

EDIT: I'd also like to apologize for any rudeness/hate in my previous posts. I'm going through some personal problems right now which are affecting my attitude.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] David Dee:
+1 here. We can get back to business now, I have no doubt that yousefak will be well taken care of in Mr.Highway's trusted hands :D
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] Narcistic:
Anyways.... Back to the imei issue.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] drksilenc:
well ill tell you my situation. i was one of the testers for this and i have not lost my imei.

phone d2att

roms flashed stock to cm10 to stock by backup to cm10 and back to stock by backup.

I have yet to lose my imei. im running cwm 5.8.4.7 touch.

both roms i have double wiped then wiped cache and dalvic but i have yet to fix permissions.

both of those were done before restoring backups as well.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] Artimus009:
I just sent them an email to see if they actually already successfully got it done on a AT&T and T-Mobile sgs 3 and some insight on how they do it.

stock rooted and rocking kt747 kernel...still got my imei
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] deeznutz1977:
They reflash with something similar too a riff box ,or z3x ,Samsung tools etc. That kind of stuff is not to be spoken about here I believe

Edit, btw I have a «broken» gs3 and a new one.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] wavrunrx:
excellent, i had this on my todo list for Monday morning, but ill wait to hear back for you on this. thanks.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] swa2k4:
One user reported that Samsung had to change the board on the phone after sending it in. Is it possible Samsung doesn't even know where imei is? Man they are getting my sisters phone tomorrow. I wonder what they will say! Hopefully we find how to backup and restore imei and do not need a board replacement!
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] androholic:
I was just catching up on the thread guys and it looks like it's been an eventful evening around here, way to clean house guys, lol. Anyhow, I just wanted to add some follow up to my results with twrp, now that I've been flashing. When I first mentioned that I'd flashed FreeGS3(Amazing Rom) what I'd flashed was a themed version of it. After deciding I didn't care for the theme, I downloaded & flashed the stock themed version of the rom and followed it with a wipe of cache & dalvik, fix permissions and after a reboot I had no issues. Today I had another unexpected lengthy drive to make and because I had not set up my home screens yet, I decided to restore my stock rooted backup so that I'd be familiar with where everything was while I had my eyes on the road. I did a factory reset, nandroid restore, wiped dalvik & cache, and then fixed permissions. After the reboot all is well & I'm back to my stock rooted setup. I may be flashing back to FreeGS3 tomorrow evening when I have free time to get everything set up the way I like, and I will probably flash AOKP or Cm9 just to check where the progress is at with them, and see if I'm missing any of the touchwiz functionality that I've been getting a little used too. I'll report my results afterwards, as I'm still holding onto the idea that no one's had the imei issues with twrp, so it may be the safe alternative until a solution is found. So there it is for anyone who may be interested in twrp.... So far so good, but who knows what will happen the next time I flash?
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] Artimus009:
I also checked their YouTube video. They restored a bricked AT&T sgs3 via jtag and mention fixing imei's as well at the end of the video.

If it's true, I'm now out of my 30day return and dnot want to mess with the warranty center.

stock rooted and rocking kt747 kernel...still got my imei
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] androholic:
This isn't a sarcastic question, but why isn't "that stuff" to be spoken about here? I think I'm in the dark about something here? (well, maybe about alot of things! ;))
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] tekhna:
Are there any known cases of this happening on an international version?
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] deeznutz1977:
?? Dude told me ... my guess is because technically messing with your imei is illegal I guess Edit.. changing is illegal
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] David Dee:
@androholic: Are you using the Verizon version of twrp? If not, which version, as I recall it being mentioned that there is a version compatible with all NA phones? Would you link to the thread? Do I miss 4ext recovery..should ring a bell to those coming from HTC...hopefully one day the dev will get around to compatibility with this phone, it just rocks cwm in every way.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] androholic:
Well, I think it depends on the context of the conversation? I hope that whatever solution is found doesn't leave holes where someone can also create counterfeit imei's. There's enough info already available out there for thieves, and that would only make it easier for some of them:(
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] wavrunrx:
read this post, and let me know your answer !!

http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=29183416&postcount=658
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] Artimus009:
Here's the email I got...

Hi there,

I can restore the IMEI number on any LTE S III. On some though, even after restoration the 3G/LTE connectivity remains to be a problem. Until a solution for that part is found, I can only guarantee restoration of the IMEI number itself.

Please check our FAQ by clicking HERE before replying with questions that are most likely covered on that page.

Josh Groce

Site Owner / Operator

stock rooted and rocking faux123 kernel...still got my imei
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] MyronJ906:
Anyone just get a little bit more afraid? Haha I did. Maybe it's because they replace IMEI but not serial number or something strange.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] drksilenc:
the connection prbly isnt being restored. thats the problem. they can prbly apply it but that doesnt mean the os knows where its at.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] Artimus009:
I did. The guy who said that Samsung had to replace the board to fix the problem seems the only way to properly fix the issue. Has to be something hardware...what you guys think?

stock rooted and rocking faux123 kernel...still got my imei
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] Narcistic:
Seems to me completely software related. Having worked in the Technical and repair field before new issues always get escalated up or sent away with some bull**** reason because the "top" people don't know how to fix the issue so they will just replace the phone until a simpler resolution can be found if this becomes a common occurrence.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] Artimus009:
Yup. I'm going to have to agree with you. I just got off with Samsung...1 1/2hrs being passed around. They say they need to reflash the phones software with proprietary tools...ha! I guess they don't frequent XDA!

stock rooted and rocking faux123 kernel...still got my imei
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] David Dee:
Trying to call support is a nightmare with all the OEMs. Most of the time, after being on hold for an hour, one ends up getting someone who is reading from a script, has no knowledge and tells you to reboot your phone and pull the battery.

Thanks for keeping us posted on this, I hope you get that phone up and running again soon.

---------- Post added at 09:19 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:18 AM ----------

Bump?
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] Artimus009:
I swapped out at AT&T. My new one is fine...I'm just trying to see if I get more info that can help. Want to be able to fix this so I can start flashing with no concern.:D

stock rooted and rocking faux123 kernel...still got my imei
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] David Dee:
Here is my recent post in the other IMEI thread in case any of you are not checking that one:

When Artimus009 lost his IMEI, he was still getting intermittent 3G/LTE, while others have nothing. I am no expert on phone hardware but want to put this out there:

Could we be dealing with two different problems regarding this issue:

1. Loss of IMEI with functioning LTE/3G

2. IMEI loss plus damage to either phone or radio software that kills 3G/LTE connection.

...3. I haven't seen it but wonder if anyone has come across any occurrences of lost 3G/LTE with intact IMEI?

I don't see enough detail in the spreadsheet, but the question to ask is if Atrimus009's activities up to IMEI loss differed in any way from the others? Also, did any of the others have any LTE/3G at all after loss?

To those who lost IMEI, would you please make a note in the spreadsheet if you had any LTE/3G reception after.

__________________

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Phone: Samsung Galaxy S III - I747M

ROM: Stock

Tablet: Asus Transformer Pad 300

ROM: Stock Rooted

If I have helped you, please don't hesitate to hit the "Thanks" button