yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] flipster64:
Well, I did download both debrick images.

Try the i747 first then, you think?

If it doesn't work, I could always try the other image next ... I think....

Oh, I see

Got it.

I could also try exporting the wifi calling app as as an app and see if it'll import to the i747 and ... work.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] flipster64:
Well, I THOUGHT I downloaded an i747 debrick image, but I guess what I downloaded was a 4.3 and a pre 4.3-t999. Having trouble finding an i747 debrick image.

If you know a good place to look, please link me up if you will.

Going out soon to nab a card....

Found one!

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2345860
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] flipster64:
Got a Sandisk Class 10 16 GB micro SD.

I wrote the SGH-T999 debrick to the card. Put it in. Replaced the battery. Held power. Then held down, button, power for download mode.

No signs of life.

So I wrote the SGH-i747 debrick to the card. Put it in. Replaced the battery. Then held down, button, power for download mode.

No signs of life.

I do get this (attached image) when I plug the phone into a USB port ....

But ... nothing's on the SD card when I load it in windows. Last night I could swear there was (I tried it last night on a regular SD card.)

Oh, bloody 'ell ... I wiped my external hard drive. No biggie, nothing I can't get back, but ... *sigh*
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] flipster64:
Ok, this time I wrote the image to the SD card instead of my external hard drive.

Unfortunately, results are no better. Won't turn on, or come on in download mode.

No light comes on when I plug in a charger either - does that mean it's worse than hard-bricked?

Actually, a red light DOES come on when I plug it in with no battery.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] JustZaphod:
You know from an outside perspective here, sounds like the phone you bought is actually a rebuilt and modified i747 with a T999 case..(Identical, though different model)

If the case were to read i747 as it did in download mode, I would bet none of these problems would of occurred.. I would try and return the phone back to Amazon if you can.. Since its completely dead at this point there is no way for them to find out what actually happened.. I would even bet that the Imei on the case is not the actual Imei for your particular device.. I'm pretty sure your phone is actually a i747, probably unlocked with some hack, and flashed and modified to run on T-mobile, but since the phone isnt an actual T999, the wifi calling feature would not work..

I have rebuilt a few phones, (dumb phones) in the past where some phones although different models, but the over all phone is the same..

I've reused cases that were identical to the phone i was rebuilding, yet from a different carrier and separate model number..
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] flipster64:
Well ... I don't know what difference it makes, but it wasn't "Amazon" Amazon, but Real Deal Distributoor through Amazon.

I'm not going to be dishonest about it but you do raise a good point. I just sent a message to the seller explaining what I got, and that it wasn't what it said it was, and I tried to update it based on what it said it was and it is bricked and I'm asking them if they'll do anything for me.

Otherwise, unless somehow my Win32DiskImage didn't create my sd card right and I somehow figure out how to get it to boot, I'll send it off to MobileTechVideos. With shipping and everything it'd probably come to $100 ... but it's better than $300.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] JustZaphod:
The ones who sold it to you were the dishonest ones.. They sold you a phone that was partially functional..

Sure you can debrick it with a little work.. I personally hate using Odin.. It scares me when ever I use it, I dont know much about it, and only used it a few times.. I much prefer using TWRP recovery to do all my flashing.. I have never had a problem with it.. Before that I used CWM, and I didnt like the interface so I switched.. If you received a device that was not the device you ordered, the problem is on them.. Its because you bricked it, and if you tell them they wont take it back.. However, if you just tell them your phone just died.. Its likely they will take it back.. Now if you received the phone in perfect running order, and then you flashed and hard bricked your device, then I would understand and I would purchase another one verses sending back something I messed up.. You likely got a i747 in a T999 Case, and under the battery where it says the Model number and IMEI, is likely not the one for your phone.. Its likely Frankensteined together with parts from different broken phones..
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] flipster64:
Yup, that's pretty much the angle I took with them - it wasn't what it said it was, and if it were, the firmware update should not have bricked it. If they refurb phones, they should be able to fix this one.

I'd still like to see it boot off that SD card. Not quite sure why it won't..... my guess is it doesn't use any part of the OS. Seems like it would look for an OS on the main internal memory, and if it doesn't find one there, branch to a point on the card.

I don't know what it would do if it were an i747 "booter" and it found a T999 bootloader or viceversa. But I've tried both... though I didn't try the T999 long enough.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] Perseus:
Miracle if it does work.

You can follow the Video posted in that thread. There are several users active on that thread who have successfully de-bricked their devices. But then theirs were not hodgepodge like your is.

Really when you are booting off of the card, what is or isn't on the phone doesn't matter a hoot. If its not booting then some step is missed or the card didn't write right.

Amazon does have Zero concern refund on any purchase. Without asking to the dishonest Seller, I'd complain to Amazon and ask for money back. They will first give your money back and then figure out what to do with the Seller. I have excellent experience of Amazon doing this. I strongly recommend asking Amazon to intervene. You did not get what you paid for.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] flipster64:
There really aren't too many steps to miss. Download the image. If it's zipped, unzip it. Open the image with Win32ImageWriter, pick the target device (class 10 micro SD, same size as your internal memory, in my case 16 GB), and write.

Then stick it in your phone, battery out battery back in, and hold down the power key. Sometimes for 40 seconds, they say. I've tried it for over a minute. Not even a flicker. I've tried both the i747 and the t999 image.

On the upside, It looks like they're going to take it back.

I am to mail it to them. The lady sounds very helpful. Hope it stays that way. :)

I'll let you know.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] flipster64:
This is interesting ... leave the battery in the dead phone all day, took it out to ship, and tested it on the charger ... it's dead.

It was fully charged last night.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] flipster64:
Talked to a JTAG-er who runs a service on Ebay.

He said this:

If your phone said I747 in Download mode... then that's what the phone is, I have never seen a T999 motherboard working with I747 bootloaders and viceversa.​

So, I guess if we'd treated it as an i747 software-wise, we'd probably be OK. Richar was right. But ... everything else about it said T999. But now we know. So if anybody asks....
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] Perseus:
Oh Well. Might as well send it back and get your Money to T-Mo and ask for Jump Upgrade.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] DocHoliday77:
That is so weird man!

First, to protect from imei loss, open terminal emulator and enter the following (yes, it needs root, so if this works you'll know for sure if you are)

su

reboot nvbackup

It'll reboot and backup your nv data on device. If corruption is detected during boot at any time, it is supposed to auto restore this backup.

If it fails to change from $ to # when you enter su, you are not rooted.

The thing confusing me the most is your build.prop!

It's says it's product.device is d2can, which is the T999V. Region is CN (Canada).

Product.name is d2vl??? Never heard of this!

Also, it says the build is T999ZSEMC!!! This is not any build we have ever seen or had access to! I assume the SEMC stands for Samsung Electronics Manufacturing Corp.

I'll go back over the thread in a bit when I have more time before I start asking questions about it. But I will say it seems you have a mystery device here! Very interesting!
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] flipster64:
Since this is my second one from the same place ... I have this hunch .... I'm starting to think maybe it's some sort of counterfeit -- though -- aren't these things made in China anyway? Why would they need to counterfeit? And where do you get a valid IMEI for a counterfeit? If they are, though, there are probably a lot more. If they aren't, maybe it was some sort of screwed up production run that they're pawning off now as refurbs?

Both were sold as a refurb from an amazon retailer and came through "Real Deal Distributor". Both came shrinkwrapped with all the right packaging and plastic protections on the screen and even the charger and cables -- everything looks brand spankin' new off the factory production line from 2012.

The BOX has GT-T999 printed on it, and there's a sticker over it (I can read through the sticker) that says the same thing.

Anyway, Doc, thanks for taking a look. I need to go back and re-read myself to refresh myself on what all I did with the last one.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] Perseus:
Welcome Back! :laugh:

Yes I kinda anticipated something like this. Based on our experience with the last one, here's what I think.

Go ahead and completely disregard whatever Box, logo or Rom has to say. Just treat it as a ATT I747.

Now to get your Root Back, Please follow this thread. Note, even though it is called StockMOD, its an AT&T Stock mod. So you won't wipe your IMEI. (Hopefully). Remember, that thread too will make you flash a modem. Its not the T-Mo Modem but AT&T one.

So follow the instructions from that thread to the letter and then post the result. It will hopefully replace T-Mo Logo with AT&T One.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] flipster64:
It's good to be back. I think.

Anyway.... yeah. Yer right. Dang thing's an i747 motherboard. Which you had once mentioned isn't necessarily bad.

The main purpose of the exercise for me has been to get that wifi calling feature, which an ATT flash won't get for me, but ... a working phone is more important, and I did like the look and feel of 4.3.

I wonder if someone with a TMO build could export the WiFi app as an apk from their T999 (I did this using SnapPea from my HTC G2, and imported it into my T999, but it crashed when I ran it) and I wonder if that would work? Thing is, I get pretty crappy reception at my house, and WiFi calling really helps a lot. With TMobile, it uses your same phone number ... seamless. Pretty sweet.

Got things to do this afternoon, and then some reading. And I'd also like to see what DocHoliday thinks.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] Perseus:
You are right key thing is to get working phone. The 4.3 modem is actually an improvement over prior modems. So you might get better reception with 4.3 If that happens then you might not need WiFi Calling.

I have the T-Mo Stock Mod on another S3. I could pull out the 2 files needed for Wi-Fi Calling for you. You can use them on top of the AT&T's 4.3 Stockmod. There are some dependencies without which it will crash.

Last but definitely not the least. Before you go and flash ATT StockMod, please flash AOSPWIZ STOCK from this thread. I have a feeling it will give you WiFi Calling without problem.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] DocHoliday77:
Couple quick things, the true T999, is an SGH-T999, not a GT-T999. The more I think about it, the more I think you may have a counterfiet.

Unfortunately, I doubt you'll get wifi calling to work on any att roms. Not only are there the app files, but it's integrated into touchwiz and would have to be coded into settings, framework, and elsewhere.

If it is a knock off version, that could also possibly explain the signal issues you mentioned...possibly.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] flipster64:
Yeah, I'd never heard of a GT-999 until I looked at the box this came in. But Lord knows what internal serial numbers float around in a company, and this is just a stamp on the bottom of the box. Everything else says SGH.

At one point, on the previous one I had a T-Mobile ROM flashed to it, but it wiped the IMEI (it was a CM flash - I couldn't get Odin to do it)... one reason I was looking around ALL the ways one might restore an IMEI after flashing a TMO ROM so I'd know what my options were if I went htat route. But I have no idea under what circumstances an IMEI gets wiped. It can't be a PART of the ROM. But I don't know how the different flash methods work. Could be that CM does some things when flashing that Odin doesn't and vice versa, and maybe parts of memory get written over outside of the actual file system on certain occasions.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] flipster64:
Yeah, no root for me.

In an attempt to find out all the options (I did spend $300 on this thing) I am still talking to the distributor. They wanted a picture of the IMEI sticker (heh). I sent them one of that and of the download screen and the T-Mobile back. They sound willing to help, but in the end I'm going to have to make a decision.

This appears to be a brand new device. That's good. I could look for another refurb and perhaps it wouldn't be -- or perhaps it would just be used and perhaps more abused. But I didn't want to spend $400 on a phone (my plan you buy your own phone). Funnily enough I have about $350 and a lot of sweat (mine and Perseus's and a few others) in it. If I'd known this going in, I probably wouldn't have done it. On the other hand, learning stuff isn't a loss, either, so I'm not cryin'.

I'm going to read what you guys have pointed me to and any other info you share and weigh it against whatever option the distributor does or doesn't give me. And, of course, against the pain of having to search again against the risk of bricking it on a guess.

Funny, the main reason I wanted this phone was the camera, and now I'm all about the WiFi calling once I lost it ... 'course, before this I didn't realize only T-Mobile has it and it's proprietary.

I'm thinking I'll probably chill and read this weekend and not rush into anything that would preclude me sending it back for a refund if that's even an option.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] flipster64:
Ah HA!

So there ARE ways to restore your IMEI to your phone without having to worry about the reliability of external PC drivers.

http://xdaforums.com/newreply.php?do=newreply&noquote=1&p=51649888

I want to understand this better, but this is good news. Sounds like if I plan ahead, I can store a copy of the EFS folder on the SD card, and if a flash wipes the IMEI, I can put it back. I was wondering where it was stored.

This would up the possibility of flashing one of those T-Mobile ROMS to the phone without worrying about whether or not I wipe the IMEI.

When they say I'd have to chown the directory when copying it back ... I wonder what I'd need to chown it to? Guess I could just look at the current one. It's pretty much unix, right?

Still reading....
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] DocHoliday77:
Looks like you linked to my reply above yours?

Anyway, the imei is not stored in efs on this device. If it were as easy as making a copy of the efs folder, it would be more of a non issue. Nv data is stored across several different partitions, and most is not easily accessible.

The reboot nvbackup command I mentioned backs up the Nv data across several different partitions, not an sd card. It's not accessible to us to make an off device copy.

It is supposed to detect any Nv corruption during boot, and if it does, it auto restores this backup. The reason for most lost imei's I believe to be because it tries to auto restore, but there is nothing there, hence the imei = 0.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] flipster64:
Yeah, bad link.

Here it is: http://xdaforums.com/galaxy-s2/general/guide-recover-imei-9-steps-t1264021

Maybe it only works on a galaxy s2?

I really don't know exactly how flashing a ROM sometimes wipes the nv data. Would the backup created using reboot nvbackup be vulnerable to being overwritten via a ROM flash?

I'm after a way that I can back it up, flash a ROM, and still have access to the backup and a way to restore it on the device (I still had wireless access after I flashed that 4.3 ROM) . I am not yet familiar with what all gets overwritten on an OS flash, and what different partitions get used for, and if it's different for different ROMs, etc.

Then I would be more confident keeping the phone and modding it to fit my needs. Like I said... it's a nice phone. It's just not what I thought I was getting. :)
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] DocHoliday77:
Yes that's just for the s2. Its different on every device. Info on this stuff is hard to find for a reason though.. It often gets deleted because too many people use it illegally. Several threads here were removed long ago because of it.

The backup shouldn't ever be in danger because it is never used. Just sits there till needed and I believe it lies on partitions that are never flashed. I've only ever seen one or two people claim that they lost the imei after this backup. Considering the hundreds who have done it (maybe more) I think it's a pretty good track record.

But If your imei does ever get lost, pm me and I'll help you restore it.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] flipster64:
I'm giving the distributor until end of day Monday to respond and then I'll decide. Right now I haven't even flashed CM on this one so I can just factory reset it and send it back if that's what I decide to do.

I'm leaning away from that right now, though.

At that point, I'll see if I can flash a rooted ROM on it. I remember Odin didn't want to let me flash the root66 4.3 rom on the last one, but I was able to flashed another 4.3 stockmod using CM (I couldn't find a root66 zip, just the tars) --- at which point I lost the IMEI.

Is it generally better to use Odin for full ROMs if you can? Just an early religious belief I seem to have developed :)

Guess I should add that I like Perseus's plan to flash a rooted ATT rom first to get root in the first place, THEN use the backup method you (Doc) described. I already used nvdatabackup to make an off-device backup ... but that'll only work if the RMNET drivers still work after the flash. The hope of course is that it won't be necessary.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] flipster64:
Hmmm.... first thing on that post says that having root is a prerequisite ...

I'm pretty sure the bootloader is unlocked as the word SAMSUNG just flashes on the screen when you boot before the more animated Galaxy S III logo comes up ... besides, the thing had to have been rooted at some point to have such a cobbled-together ROM on it. I just don't have it now.

I downloaded the modem, and I'm in the middle of downloading the StockMOD ROM. I can't imagine the point in putting a non-rooted stockmod rom out there to download, so unless someone tells me otherwise, I'll assume flashing this will give me root regardless of the

Prerequisites:

Samsung Galaxy S III SGH-I747

Root and Custom Recovery Installed

I747UCUEMJB Modem​

bit.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] Perseus:
Never mind that Root part. Once you flash this Rom via Custom Recovery, you will have Root. If anything you may have to update binaries from the supersu app. Yes Modem should be flashed before the Rom.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] flipster64:
Just stumbled upon this on a CF-Autoroot page that details different models you can download CF-AutoRoot for (screen snapshot below). Looks like d2vl is for SGHi747M -- which apears to be a really really close sister to the T999L according to the SG-S3 Wiki article.

Just an observation.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] Perseus:
Actually Exactly alike except for the LTE Antenna and possible Band changes. GSM Arena lists slightly different bands.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] flipster64:
*Sigh*

Installing that modem cleared the IMEI.

I do have an nvdata backup. If the RMNET drivers still work, I *should* be able to restore it.

We're about to find out ...
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] flipster64:
Now ... I have ONLY installed the modem. I have not flashed the rooted rom yet. So that might be why I got this when I tried to write the NVDATA back:

Writing NV-items from a file:

Unsuccessfully written NV-items:

00001 (0x0001) - Read only item

00002 (0x0002) - Read only item

05597 (0x15DD) - Read only item

Done.

But ... I thought I'd post this step here. On the last phone, when I did the modem + ROM flash, I flashed the modem, then the ROM, then rebooted.

What this MAY show is that flashing a modem on one of these things wipes the IMEI.

Think I should move ahead and flash the ROM?

(What happens if I CF-Autoroot on a phone that may have already been rooted once?)
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] flipster64:
Well ... I figured I needed root to restore the IMEI, so I went ahead and continued with flashing the ROM in that thread ... didn't know if any other would be compatible with the modem, anyway.

Unfortunately, dialing *#7284# doe not give me a choice to turn RMNET on to restore the nvdata.

Plus it keeps complaining that Google Services have stopped.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] DocHoliday77:
Does the imei read 0, or unknown? If its unknown, you may have flashed an incompatible modem. Maybe the att 4.3 modem would give better results?
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] chrisram88:
http://androidforums.com/t-mobile-g...838104-fake-galaxy-s3-sgh-t999-sgh-i747m.html

Found this because I was intrigued by your problem. Look at OP. Same problem as yours and he was able to fix using this

http://smartphonerepairsdiy.weebly....r-unbrick-samsung-galaxy-s3-all-versions.html
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] flipster64:
Ok now that's just bizzare. It has an IMEI all of a sudden again (and it matches the one on the sticker). So I put my SIM back in (I had taken it out last night after I got NO NETWORK), and BAM. I'm on the network. It was blanked out last night - I think it was all dashes. I had then gone ahead and flashed the 4.3 ROM then and still had no network after it came up. I'm not sure at what point it recovered it.

When we say a modem is incompatible, are we saying it's incompatible with a particular ROM, then? I still had the 4.1.1 ROM on it at the time I saw it was blanked out.

Now ... the REAL deal is I'd *LIKE* to get over to a TMO_ROOT66 ROM ... but maybe that won't work with this phone. We *had* that ROM running on the previous one ... just no IMEI on it and know way (outside of NV-Items Writer ... which wouldn't work due to the RMNET drivers on my PC crashing after they loaded) to get one back on there.

Well, this is an awesome development. I have root. I just ran su, reboot nvbackup and it ran as expected -- so I feel a WHOLE lot safer.

Now the question is, if I went ahead and flashed the modem and ROM for TMO_ROOT66 4.3 and it lost the IMEI, from what I understand I should now be able to restore it without worrying about RMNET ... and if I didn't like it I could just reflash this modem and come back to this ROM ... which really looks tricked out (with features I have no clue about) ... do you guys concur?

(also going to follow chrisram88's post mainly because I'm curious and the more I know about this, the better)
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] DocHoliday77:
If it works as its supoosed to, you won't ever even know if something happens to the imei, or other nv data. Itll auto restore when its detected.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] flipster64:
Interesting. Well I don't feel so alone now :) I doubted I was. Interesting enough, the link for I747 contains no download. There are two for the T999. That site says they're all stock, from the carrier (which would mean Knox, for one thing).
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] flipster64:
Woot, as they say. :)