[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] dougmac:
Tried all posted solutions and then some, still can't get CM 10.1 working on d2vzw

All,

I have a stock-rooted SCH-I535, and am also unable to get CM 10.1 working without losing the voice connection. It appears that my problem is corrupted NVRAM. Although my IMEI remains correct after flashing 10.1, my phone number and other info (ERI) gets corrupted. After a day of anxious attempts to fix the phone, the only fix I've found is flashing root66 (after which the phone still doesn't boot to the OS), factory reset (allows phone to boot), and then dialing factory-reset code *2767*3855#. For some reason the dialer-initiated reset seems to fix the NVRAM issue while the recovery-initiated reset does not.

After figuring out how to fix the problem, I've tried a handful of ways to get CM 10.1 working properly.

Original try: flash 10.1 over rooted-VRBLK1 using TWRP 2.3.1. After fixing by flashing root66, recovery factory-reset, and dialer factory-reset, I was nervous and made a couple backups.

used the su ; reboot nvbackup commands in this RootzWiki post.

Made a QPST backup with the instructions in this XDA post.

2nd try: factory reset, wipe data/system partitions, re-flash 10.1 with TWRP. This attempt had the same roaming/corrupted phone info result, but this time I was confident because I was armed with the two backup methods above.

I tried using the Samsung MEID RepairV3.5 in this XDA thread, but it wouldn't connect to the phone running CM10.1. I've gotten that tool to connect to the root66 image, so I know I'm following the procedure correctly. However, the developer specifically states that the tool is intended for stock images, so I wasn't surprised that it failed to work on CM 10.1.

with su privilages, I used terminal command "reboot nvrestore". I expected this to work, but it resulted in an unbootable OS. I had to flash root66 and repeat the fix process described at top.

Third try: flashed 10.1 again with TWRP 2.3.1. I tried using the QPST recovery I had created earlier. I got the phone into diagnostic mode (RMNET+DM+MODEM) using terminal commands for AOSP ROMs. For some reason I couldn't get the scripts to work, even with full permissions in the "root" directory -- the script resulted in the phone disconnecting from my computer in MTP mode, but it didn't connect in diagnostic mode. Terminal commands did the trick though -- I may be making some n00b mistake with the scripts. After typing the commands in manually and connecting to QPST, when I told QPST to "restore" the backup, it gave me an error message with incompatible phone, and if I checked the "allow phone/file ESN mismatch" box, the restore failed because the phone didn't respond to the QPST commands. I'm sure the phone was in diagnostic mode because it came up under Device Manager "ports" as depicted in the QPST instructions, so it seems like the corrupted NVRAM was causing problems with making a QPST connection.

Fourth try: TWRP update to 2.3.3.0. Same results as 2.3.1.0.

Fifth try: switch to clockworkmod touch recovery 6.0.2.3. Same result as both TWRP versions.

So, I'm pretty frustrated. I have the phone back up and running rooted-stock VRBLK3. I'd really like to get JB4.2 though, so if anyone can ID the problem, please post! I hope it's a simple fix from a n00b mistake, but after all the fruitless effort above, I expect that it's a more significant issue.

One last thought: I always rebooted into recovery to install the 10.1 image, and I never tried using the ClockworkMod ROM Manager or TWRP-compatible GooManager apps. My wife is tired of me spending the holiday weekend hunkered over my phone, so if anyone wants to try that route please let me know if it works.

The only other idea I have is to install 10.1, then try flashing the VRBLK3 baseband by itself. Again, I don't have the time to pursue this idea (or expertise to know if it's a good one), so any good insight would be appreciated. One last thought: personally, I'm not willing to wander around in voice or data "roaming" even if everything else is working fine. I rely on this phone for daily use, and am not comfortable without the radios working normally.

Happy new year!