yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Neverendingxsin:
MAJOR BUG UPDATE!

As im sure many of you are aware the wide spread IMEI issue has been causing a lot of issues for people. Well my dad's S3 just got that issue while using synergy, he has NOT flashed any kind of CM, AOKP, or AOSP rom onto his S3 at all, he's been running synergy since the start. I'm posting this here so everybody knows that its not just linked to AOSP roms, but TW roms as well. This is exactly how he lost it, things were working fine, my mom sent him a text and when he went to reply it wouldn't go through, rebooted the phone, tried airplane mode, etc and then checked his IMEI it read just a single 0. He has not flashed anything except R33 earlier this morning, and it ran perfectly fine all day long.

At this point we've tried the restore function with QPST which did not work at all. The other method located here managed to restore the IMEI but the phone number is wrong. Right now we've got 4G to work, but he can only receive data (used speedtest from the market to determine that), can't send data, texts or make phone calls. Obviously we are hoping this issue will not be permanent and are remaining optimistic.

And lastly, i am not trying to scare anybody off from using synergy or any other TW rom, just providing information that it is possible to lose your IMEI from using a TW based rom. And the reason i'm labeling it as a bug, is so E knows that it can happen on his rom.

Hopefully you guys read this :)

-NeverEndingXsin

The fix that worked :)

Alright time to make my update on how we managed to get data back, and off roaming mode.

First step we used this thread here to force the IMEI back to its original numbers and not a single 0. But the phone number was wrong. This process was successful while still being on synergy R33 even though it recommends root66. This set the IMEI back, at this point my dad was able to receive data, but couldn't send any data.

Second step, we used odin to return to root66 and then used this thread here to restore the efs backup, this restored the phone number, and other numbers back to there original state. We then did a reboot just to see if that fixed the problem, it did not.

Third step we dialed *2767*3855# to reprovision the phone, this returned it to 100% verizon stock you just bought it brand new form, we allowed it to boot up and settle for a minute. Then proceeded to walk outside and bam 1x, then 3G and then the almighty 4G were back. Phone number was correct, sending and receiving data worked fine. At this point things seem to be working just fine, signed into google account, re-rooted, double checked the unlock, and now putting synergy 1.7 back on.

Again this all happened while it hung at sending a text message back to my mom which then proceeded to kill the IMEI.

As i have said before, i've posted this story to be informative incase anybody else has a similar issue and to let you know that backing up IS important.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] silver04v:
Except if I read right, he said his phone number and min are different. Not mtn and min. Why would his phone number change?

Sent from my Synergized vzw S3!
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] tu3218:
Guessing you didn't back up beforehand?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] voodoomanx:
I read it that his phone number is different from his min NOT different from what they used to be.

If his phone number were different from what it used to be he would be having some serious issues.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] bubba82:
OK I'm unlocked and I have to be to do a new update right? I used ez-unlock to unlock now do I have to Odin a recovery or just use ez- recovery? New to all of this thanks for the help
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Neverendingxsin:
It was backed up beforehand using the synergy backup. But the IMEI was just a single 0 which has to be fixed using the other method. My point of that post was that it didn't occur using an AOSP based rom. I'm just providing information for people.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] voodoomanx:
There is no synergy imei backup. There is a qpst backup available IF you back it up before you lose it.

Edit: here's a link to making a back up

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1839435

[guide] how to back up IMEI on synergy
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] tu3218:
Yeah appreciate that. What's the synergy method of backing up? I backed mine up by running the script in terminal emulator from the post in this forum. Is that the best way in case something like this happens?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] ercDROID:
Just have to flash a stock ROM or clean ROM worked for me with Verizon bloat not removed. Better safe than sorry.

---------- Post added at 10:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:03 PM ----------

Ez recovery is fine. I'm still using cwm non touch. That is where my backups are and still working perfect for everything.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] revolt1:
no do a nanoid back up through cwr
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Neverendingxsin:
Using the any cut method posted in the development forum.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] tu3218:
So if I lose it at any time, all I have to do is restore a nandroid backup an ill have it back just fine?

I used http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1791291

Is that just as effective?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] ghilliek9:
I keep reading these posts about ppl having lost their IMEI. I haven't had that happen to me yet (I have some good threads saved) but I haven't read anything about how not to get that thing lost....Is there a reason why this gets lost or how? All I read is that non-TW ROM's could lead to that. I have had the JB CM10 Nightlies ROM installed and went back to Synergy and I think I'm still good to go. Just want to make sure I'm not doing something that will lead to it.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Neverendingxsin:
I was just as shocked to come home and find out my dad lost his. Especially since he had been on touch wiz since day 1. Like I've said I made the post to be informative that it can happen even on non aosp Roms
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] ghilliek9:
Yeah...that sucks. I do have a backup so I'm double "gloved up" :) but do you know what triggers this loss?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Neverendingxsin:
I have a backup as well. As far as what triggers it I really have no idea. I've never heard of it happening on touch wiz.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] HolyGrail:
I heard rumors that playing around with the phone info app can trigger it somehow.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] ghilliek9:
Ok...well, I guess it truly IS very important when the devs tell you "make a nandroid backup. . ."

Thanks!!

BTW....be careful what you guy are doing in recovery...I was flashing a new ROM and formatting all the things in CWM and Transformers was on and the part where Megan Fox is looking under the hood was on at that moment and I accidentally formatted my internal sdcard (instead of hitting "format cache")....freaking PISSED man!!! It's all her (.)(.) fault!! Let my mistake be your lesson! Watch that screen!!!
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] ercDROID:
Correct me if I'm wrong but I have read that restoring a nandroid will not restore a lost imei. Also, backing up through terminal emulator is the old way and once restored will leave you in roaming mode. Safest way is to back up through qpst. Check on rootzwiki in general and its the first post under all the forums. Takes about 10 minutes but has already been proven to restore imei without leaving user in roaming.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] HolyGrail:
Nope....That would be correct.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] ghilliek9:
Hmmmm then I will cherish this like a baby
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Hitman3984:
LOL I'm sorry but I laughed really hard reading this. It sucks but it's funny as hell.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] ghilliek9:
Brother, you have no idea how mad I was at that woman...then I blurbed something out and my wife got even more pissed (sitting right next to me) :D
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] tu3218:
That seems like steps to restore it based on the last step saying it's now restored lol. How do you back it up? Guessing my old way doesn't work anymore for some reason according to users here.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] ghilliek9:
Try this. Might help
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] ercDROID:
http://rootzwiki.com/topic/32397-tutorial-imei-backup-nv-with-qpst-us-variants/

I was under the impression you couldn't back it up on synergy.....might be able to now. Either flash back to a stock ROM or I used clean ROM with no bloat removed. Backup was easy. For crack flashers like ourselves, going to a different ROM is easy. Lots of custom ROMs have things removed that won't let you enter the hidden menus. Better safe than sorry. Back it up and store it somewhere safe.

---------- Post added at 10:58 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:56 PM ----------

Beat me to it lol. I'm on cm 10 and now have no worries......unless something new pops up, which always seems to happen.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] tu3218:
Thanks for the link. Hopefully they can figure this out an why it's happening. Worries me especially since nandroid don't fix the issue. These things are starting to make me miss my nexus.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Neverendingxsin:
Alright time to make my update on how we managed to get data back, and off roaming mode.

First step we used this thread here to force the IMEI back to its original numbers and not a single 0. But the phone number was wrong. This process was successful while still being on synergy R33 even though it recommends root66. This set the IMEI back, at this point my dad was able to receive data, but couldn't send any data.

Second step, we used odin to return to root66 and then used this thread here to restore the efs backup, this restored the phone number, and other numbers back to there original state. We then did a reboot just to see if that fixed the problem, it did not.

Third step we dialed *2767*3855# to reprovision the phone, this returned it to 100% verizon stock you just bought it brand new form, we allowed it to boot up and settle for a minute. Then proceeded to walk outside and bam 1x, then 3G and then the almighty 4G were back. Phone number was correct, sending and receiving data worked fine. At this point things seem to be working just fine, signed into google account, re-rooted, double checked the unlock, and now putting synergy 1.7 back on.

Again this all happened while it hung at sending a text message back to my mom which then proceeded to kill the IMEI.

As i have said before, i've posted this story to be informative incase anybody else has a similar issue and to let you know that backing up IS important.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] ercDROID:
Is your data roaming?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] ghilliek9:
lol i was thinking the exact same thing! I've had the GS3 for about 3 days now. I'm sure it'll all get fixed soon enough. Have you noticed that your GN had a much better screen when you were outside? I had the color multipliers tweaked on the GN so it was even better! Can't wait for something like that to come out for the GS3!

---------- Post added at 04:07 AM ---------- Previous post was at 04:04 AM ----------

Hope his GS3 isn't roaming! Now, since it's fixed, try this and he should be good!
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Neverendingxsin:
Under roaming it says "Not Roaming"
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] tu3218:
Yeah I'm thinking if these devs can unlock the bootloader, they should be able to narrow down this issue. I think I'm gonna stay stock an rooted for a bit longer until this is worked out.

Eh not sure about outside but inside I definitely think the sgs3 has the better screen. Yeah I'm sure that will come out, pretty crazy changing all the colors. Definitely a personal preference kind of thing.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Schaweet:
You need to use the qpst method in the forums not the Terminal method that came out first.

Sent from my SGS3 on Synergy Nightlies
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Neverendingxsin:
We backed up with that before, just used any cut to do it while still on synergy. I'm highly considering flashing root66 tomorrow before doing a clean install of tonight's nightly (was planning on installing clean anyways) just so i can have a 'fresher' backup.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] tu3218:
If you backed up, why didn't you just restore the file? Or did it not work. Just wondering.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Neverendingxsin:
the restore didn't work :(
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] boynamedstacy:
You can back up your IMEI properly on Synergy using anycut and QPST. There is a thread by bgolden84 in this forum that gives complete instructions. Took me a matter of minutes, no stock needed.

Edit: This thread is all us Synergy users need: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=30371622

-UNLOCKED VZW GSIII
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] tu3218:
Interesting, not very promising for backups. You uses the qpst method?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] eschelon:
I just committed Ziggy's kernel for the build tonight which will begin building in about 3 minutes.

Changes include everything I already mentioned (http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=30400302&postcount=4563) as well as the addition of a lagfree governor set as default.

Enjoy! :D
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Neverendingxsin:
Yes sir. It backed up fine and the restore said it worked without error but upon boot up nothing had changed
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] bgolden84:
I take no credit for the work that was done. All I did was find a way into the hidden menu with out the dialer. But it works flawlessly. So I figgured I would share my findings.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Metfanant:
can't wait! been looking forward to this all day lol
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] bgolden84:
what method did you use to back up. what rom where you running when you backed up. if the method i posted is not working i need to take it down

i dont want people thinking there safe if there not. myself included
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Schaweet:
You said you backed up efs data but did you use the qpst method that also backs up nv data? The original efs backup through adb or terminal emulator is not enough and will leave you roaming. The qpst method has been shown to work perfectly.

Sent from my SGS3 on Synergy Nightlies
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Neverendingxsin:
Synergy 1.6 or 7. It backed up perfectly fine, but the restore did not work. I don't know if it was just my dad's phone or not.

And yes I had him use both methods to back up, because the efs back up was the first method and he never deleted the file. Then used qpst earlier today actually to back up.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] bgolden84:
and nether of the methods worked to restore the imie? did the restore from qpst fail or did it say it was ok and just did not work. im trying to understand why you had trouble
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] jdhas:
Did you ever flash an AOSP-based ROM of any kind? Or did you just stay on Touchwiz?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Neverendingxsin:
Said it was okay and just didn't work.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] eschelon:
Trev and I will begin playing with some scripting tomorrow in which Synergy will automatically backup your EFS (IMEI stuffs) each time you flash and save them on your SD card with the timestamp of the backup
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] bgolden84:
im scratching my head trying to figure out why his restore did not work. Not only that how did he lose the imei while booted in the rom? this is strange i have never heard of it being lost with out ether a restore from recovery or flashing a rom. any insight E?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Neverendingxsin:
strictly touch wiz
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] astrocity:
Grabbing build 38.

With the kernel update - I know it's always good practice to do a full wipe, but is it REQUIRED with the kernel packed now?

Hope that's not been answered, I didn't see it on the update or the other pages.

Thanks again!
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] triton302:
+1... I just installed 1.7, but if I want to install the newest build I need to know if it's completely advisable to just wipe and install fresh.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Karl:
we got kernel!!!!:victory: :highfive: :D
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] goldsmitht:
stock kernel required?

gonna flash r38, currently on 1.7 with imo's beta.01 kernel; my question is should i revert to stock kernel or can i just flash over this set-up? sorry, was a certified flash-aholic with my DX, but still a little noob'ish with kernels
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] jaben2:
I just dirty flashed build 38 over 33 and wifi won't turn on now.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] faehsemc:
Just have a nandroid backup. The only thing I would 100% recommend wiping is dalvik.

Nothing is completely advisable. Its all at your own risk.. just remember... Always have a back up
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] digitalsynner85:
Is there Jelly bean notification bar mod for synergy?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Schaweet:
Did you find one when you used the search function?

Sent from my SGS3 on Synergy Nightlies
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] jlmr731:
No wifi here either tried reboot and still nothing its kinda important for me to tether
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] jmaiman:
Why can't I turn wifi on with 38
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Neverendingxsin:
Same here
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] bgolden84:
did you guys dirty flash? or did you wipe. mom knows best and says to always wipe front to back of course. lmao
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] jaben2:
Well that is 3 counts of wifi issues on 38. I already went to my backup of 33

I did do a dirty flash, will wait and see if it requires a full wipe.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Hitman3984:
so with a complete wipe of the phone and install of tonights build smart alert STILL doesn't work for me on any synergy past 1.6. Right now NO apps are installed and when trying the feature in the settings settings just crashes.

I'm also having the wifi problem.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Cmotion:
Did you do a full wipe? They're not required but if something goes wrong you should wipe data/cache/dalvik and also maybe even system before complaining about a bug in a ROM. My apologies if I am wrong in my assumption.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] ltbakken:
no wifi here either. going back. full wipe here.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] bgolden84:
does your wifi work?

trying to see if i should hold off flashing the nightly or if its a result of dirty flashing. maybe they should give there phones some orbits and clean up the dirty flashing.

lol
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] jmaiman:
I did a full wipe and still no WiFi
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Karl:
damn 38 has bug
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] bgolden84:
darn
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Hitman3984:
edited to answer your question, no WiFi and my smart alert hasn't worked since going to 1.7. But it does work with other roms, clean rom for example, synergy 1.6 etc.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] astrocity:
Well, I guess I'm glad I'm running into a problem moving any files to the phone "the device has been disconnected, etc" now that we see the wifi issue. What a bummer! I may just go in with it anyways and hope for a quickfix.zip from esch and team synergy like we've got in the past.

now, on to that nandroid.....:D
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] RngrYogi:
i got no wifi tooooo! lol Dayum. i hope they can fix this soon.. i do see that it looks like we have the new kernel. prob something to do with that.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Metfanant:
was about to flash but then saw this WiFi problem...im on WiFi almost my entire day...so thats not going to fly
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] eschelon:
Got a quick fix here. Give it 15 mins and try r39 when it's up.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] mike86325:
w
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Grift:
My GPS is totally borked. i was on r33 and just went to r38 but both of them had a GPS that just wont lock on when i previously locked on fine in my home. it showing me as being 1.5miles from where i actually am. also i tried to just use navigation to go somewhere and after 15minutes it still hasnt locked onto satellites. is there a way to reset the GPS or something? i really need a reliable GPS so hope there is a fix because i really like this rom ALOT other than the gps issue.

Oh and ive tried rebooting but that did nothing to resolve the issue.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] eschelon:
K, just kicked off a new build with the (hopeful) fixes. Keep an eye out for r39 in about 12-15 minutes
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Hitman3984:
any idea why I'm still having smart alert troubles esch?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] eschelon:
Is it turned on in motion settings?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Grift:
Think r39 will resolve GPS issues?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Hitman3984:
yes.

Smart alert just doesn't work when I have a waiting text or email. And when hitting the little "try now" feature that the explanation offers settings hangs then crashes. This started when I went to 1.7.

Works with 1.6 and other roms and it's happening completely bone ROM stock, no apps installed.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] eschelon:
If you're still having GPS problems after r39 then you'll need to do a full wipe, odin back to stock rooted (root66 is fine) then flash back to Synergy again
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Grift:
Thanks for the response E. ill do as you said and try r39 if no better ill odin back then retry r39. oh but would it be ok to just go to a previous backup that had working GPS or is a stock rooted ROM necessary?

TIA
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] astrocity:
Thank you man for the fast turn around. Will report back, almost done.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] jaben2:
Wifi works now. Dirty flashed from build 33 to 39.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] duarian:
So the center clock mod is currently broken? Damn...was just getting used to my center blue clock :(.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] jaben2:
Anyone know what the preferred method of controlling ziggys kernel? Setcpu?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Karl:
system tuner
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] chip594:
If I have to end up using Odin back to stock, does that lock my bootloader back? Our does that stay unlocked?

Sent from a Galaxy far, far away...
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Karl:
it wont touch boot its a system img
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] chip594:
Awesome, thank you for the quick reply :)

Sent from a Galaxy far, far away...
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Hitman3984:
Wi-Fi find with r39 still no go on the smart alert.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] xXJay_RXx:
Did you clean flash?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] TechSavvy2:
If it makes you feel more comfortable, I've already done it twice with no problems:)
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Grift:
Gps working great after a full wipe and r39....THANKS!
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] DangerIsGo:
hey eschelon,

are you guys ever going to automatically unlock the bootloader for us in future builds or is that something that we'll have to do manually?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] d1ez3:
Wifi working for me too. Dirty flashed from 33 which I dirty flashed from 1.7 so far good

---------- Post added at 02:17 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:14 AM ----------

All it takes is one click with the app couldn't be easier

Also, looks like new kernel is on 1.9 by default but clocks down to idle really quick. Will see how battery is after a few cycles
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] bnavqm:
Wifi isn't a working for me either.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] astrocity:
I may be confused but from what I understand once you are unlocked that's it and you don't need to do anything else unless you locked again.

I could be wrong but I don't recall having to unlock after every flash on my 6 previous devices, including the gnex.

I don't really mess with any over clocking or CPU settings but I'll grab system tuner just in case.

So far this thing is Flying and I'm loving it. I dirty flashed from build 25.

Will be donating soon.