yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Dave2312:
If Im not mistaken, the reason it wont save your EFS folder over your current one is due to Samsungs Read Only setting it puts on the phones folders to stop anyone editing protected files even after rooting,

Now ive never had to replace my EFS folder, but, from what I can think, if you install from the Market "root explorer" (after rooting the phone) then run the app and at the top of the screen you will see a button that says "mount R/W", this enables you to write to the phone memory, replace the EFS folder then select the button at the top again which now says "Mount R/O" (mount read-only). Reboot and see if that works?
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] pramathesh:
or use adb shell
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Thickfreakness:
Sorry if this is the wrong forum for this but I was trying to revert back to stock O2 firmware and product code and I've somehow changed my IMEI number and I can't connect to O2!! I changed the nv_data.bin file, but reverted it back and it's still bust.

Can anyone help me out here I feel sick, don't have any clue what to do :(:(

Thanks to any help in advance
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Virtualsk:
I also faced the same problem see this thread. It will solve your problem

**IF YOUR SIMCARD DOESN'T WORK AFTER THIS, EXECUTE THE FOLLOWING**

- adb shell

- su

- busybox chown 1001:1001 /efs/nv_data.bin

- reboot

You can also do this from the Terminal Emulator if you don't have ADB on your PC! Like this:

-su

-chown 1001:1001 /efs/nv_data.bin

-reboot

I hope it's easy to follow my steps, it works guaranteed.

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=780509
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Thickfreakness:
Can you post a link to a guide on how to get ADB working? In my panic I reflashed and now can't get onto the market to get terminal emulator without a proper IMEI.

Thanks again
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Thickfreakness:
Actually tried the adb method and it didn't work :( :(

Anyone got any other ideas? Think if I send it back pretending I havent changed anything and it just broke will they take it back?

:( :(
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] justsimple1:
did u backed up ur efs before?
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Thickfreakness:
Nope, didn't realise it was such a risky thing to do till after
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] psp888:
what method did you use to try reverting back to o2 firmware?
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] elinvalido:
i think im having the same problem overhere, i install the terminal emulator fount on the market, i run the program but it says "usage<USER>[.GROUP] <FILE1>[FILE2]...
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] elinvalido:
im new at this sorry!
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] android.francis:
Folks,

I know it might be too late but never,

nevER

,

NEVER

touch your EFS folder without backing it up first.

Your IMEI has changed to what most people here call "in lockdown status". You all have the same IMEI now.

Maybe there is still a way of reverting your IMEI to whatever it was before. If you have root explorer, go open up your EFS folder and look if you see this specific file: nv_data.bak

you can make that as your nv_data.bin and hopefully will solve your issue.

If it doesn't then you need to wait and fall in line with the others who are still waiting for a solution to fix their IMEI.
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] android.francis:
Wrong. This is not a guaranteed solution for an IMEI in lockdown status. If it does work, there is also a chance that your SIM is not operating at a 100% (poor signal, no 3G, etc etc).

Plus this does not revert you back to your original IMEI.
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Thickfreakness:
I'll have a look for the .bak file thanks, can't yet as I'm supposed to be working from home!

Does anyone know if phone insurance will cover this sort of thing? Or should I drop my phone in a lake and then send off?
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Thickfreakness:
Well I had the nv_data.bak and nv_data.bak.md5 files, removed the current and changed the file names to .bin but it still hasn't changed anything. :( Thanks for the suggestions though, the .bak files must have been created after the imei was changed, possibly when I reflashed to a diff firmware. :(

I have found there is an IMEI folder with an IMEI file inside, can this just be edited? Or is it encrypted somehow?
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] frankatboy:
Bad news im affraid, your phone is now the samsung version of an ipod touch. i have done the same to mine. my insurance firm insists that this a warranty issue because it should be impossible to wipe it yourself. i should know by monday if they'll replace it. it'll be smashed and replaced on insurance if they dont
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Thickfreakness:
OO keep this thread updated with what happens, I might have to do the very same thing! Can't get the o2 insurance as its over 28 days since I got the phone so I might just try dropping it in a drink and getting it off the house contents insurance.

Other possiblity I've got is the GPS is properly bust (why I was trying to revert to stock so I can send the thing back) So I may try just sending it off saying it's broke and hope they just send a replacment handset. Bit risky that one though.
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] android.francis:
good job of backing up the EFS folder before playing fire with your phone ;)
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Thickfreakness:
With the hex editing my product code bit shows like this:

ÿÿMP 0.800..GXEU

....GT-I9000HKDX

EU.......P.N.N.P

With the EU part on the next line, is that right? Or is that why I'm having this problem is because the product code should all be one the one line?
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] vinceyeung:
I have tried this...but still not working
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] frankatboy:
You can still flash back to stock firmware with no imei , it won't fix your imei but at least you'll be back to stock in case you need to send it back. ill let you know the outcome of mine
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] itchyUnder:
I flashed a bunch of firmwares and my imei got blown away. I flashed several other firmwares before it got back to normal.
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] dnsp:
If you still had your .bak files you should not rename them because doing so you are invalidating their signature.

All you had to do (maybe it's not to late if your .bak files are still intact or you can sign them again) was to delete the nv_data.bin/.bin.md5 files leaving the .bak and restart the phone by pulling out the battery.

Take a look at this post below:
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] cantIntoCode:
Corrupt IMEI.

I know this has been posted countless times, but within all the other numerous threads I am yet to find a solution to my problem. I have a few backs up with nandroid which I have restored and my IMEI is still showing as corrupt. I have a backup on my computer which made a while ago and whenever I replace the /efs folder with the back up and reboot, the IMEI is still showing 0049.... etc.

I have tried several methods within the forum, such as deleting everything in the /efs dir and putting in my nv_data.bin backup inside the folder then doing a hard reset which makes the phone rebuild the /efs dir. That does happen though, but my IMEI is still not going back to the original.

So what do you think? Should I phone vodafone and say after applying the FroYo update my IMEI somehow got corrupt? Hopefully if I make up some story they will believe me...
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] frankatboy:
I have had the same thing. My sgs was from carphonewarehouse on o2.

Even though i flashed back to stock the repair center said that it had been

illegally unlocked and warranty was void.

The insurance center knew about it by the time i called them and insurance

wont cover it either.

Even if i wait a couple of months and break it they wont replace it
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] frankatboy:
Update as promised

My sgs was from carphonewarehouse on o2.

Even though i flashed back to stock the repair center said that it had been

illegally unlocked and warranty was void.

The insurance center knew about it by the time i called them and insurance

wont cover it either.

Even if i wait a couple of months and break it they wont replace it

I think ill start making a mod to remove all the phone apks and turn it into a

samsung touch for games music films and wifi internet

then buy a htc that doesn't need flashing every 10 minutes to fix it
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Dave2312:
Does it still not replace the efs folder? Or does it replace but nothing happens?
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] dnsp:
I'm not sure if by unlocking you void the warranty... Send it to a Samsung repair center, normally they don't care if the device was unlocked. Here where I live they don't mind for sure. In the worst case you'll have to pay to repair but I'm convinced it would not be very expensive. I had Nokias, Sony Ericsson, Samsung and some were *illegally* unlocked and sometimes sent to repair and never lost the warranty. They sent them back locked again, no questions asked, nothing to pay.
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Thickfreakness:
I emailed the samsung service centre and told them I had upgraded to JPO and then tried to downgrade to JM1 to get the offical update from O2 and got the following response:

Regarding your case, kindly note that the phone needs to have a software

reset in order to be operating again.

Please note that what has happened is caused by a minor software

confliction during the upgrade.

Please click on the link below to guide you tothe nearest Service

Centre that you can go to with the Proof of Purchase, by just submitting

your Post Code, and choosing Mobile Phones from the drop down box:

http://www.samsung.com/uk/support/location/supportServiceLocation.do?page=SERVICE.LOCATION

I hope this has been of someassistance to you. If you do have any

further queries, please do not hesitate to contact us quoting your 210-4372877

reference number.

So sounds like I can just go down and they'll do a reset if I have proof of purchase, I've still got my receipt from O2 with my real IMEI number on it. So I'm going to head down this afternoon to see if they'll do it, don't mind having to pay a bit if it'll fix it.
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Gh0stw4lk3r:
i've had this problem as well, i resolved it by booting without simcard and then replacing the efs folder, before replacing the efs folder check on your computer with either a hex editor of notepad ++ the nv_data.bin file and check if the correct productcode is in there. XEN or whatever you need instead of KOR or nothing at all (saw that as well on my phone)
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] EarlZ:
If there was no back up made by you or the phone theres currently no way to rebuild/restore the IMEI yet, but I heard from a developer that theres something in the works that can restore it back to the original.. but its far from complete.
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Thickfreakness:
Took my phone to the carphone warehouse repair centre, they've sent it off and it's all being done under warranty!! Can't believe it, gonna look at the dodgy GPS too.
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] vinceyeung:
replaced but nothin' happen :(
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] dwathey:
GT-I9000M has unknown IMEI and Baseband after reboot

Yesterday, I turned my phone off and when I turned it back on my phone had somehow lost it's baseband and IMEI. Because of this my phone receives no signal and won't even detect my SIM. I was on Doc's Froyo JPO 7.6.2 at the time and had been using it since it's release with no problems.

I've tried /efs restore, nandroid restore, flashing of multiple Froyo releases, and flashed several different modems all with the same result of "unknown."

So far, the only release I've found that restores my IMEI and Baseband is the Eclair UGJH2. However, I do not wish to use JH2 and was hoping there might be a solution to get Froyo working again.
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] nhoemvedau:
hi, can you please leave a detail explaination as i'm very bad with Unix and barely pass the adb :(

please help... this brick has made me mad for long time :(
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] lordao:
Cant really give a more detailed explanation, thats what i did..didnt use adb at all

Lordao
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] nhoemvedau:
somehow i was able to adb into the phone and replace the nv_data.bin with the nv_data.bak and it shown the correct IMEI. phone now able to pick up network again.

but, are there anyway to unlock since my phone has the "patched" nv_data.bin?
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] noksan:
Great, It's work fine for me. Currently,I've got the correct IMEI and product code

Thank A lot
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] lordao:
Your welcome, glad it worked

Lordao
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Thickfreakness:
I emailed samsung support, told them I upgraded to JPO and then tried to revert back to get the offical o2 and the IMEI was lost then, and they just said to take to a samsung service centre.

Took it to carphone warehouse and got it sent off under warranty! Had to take proof of purchase (my reciept from o2 has my real IMEI number on). Just told them I upgraded, tried to revert and it messed up. I did emphasise that it was samsung support who told me to come in for a software reset, that may have helped.

Not got it back yet but if they've told me from the start its under warranty they can't charge me now.
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Thickfreakness:
I've had this problem and I managed to take it into the carphone warehouse (As it contained a samsung service centre) and it's currently being sent back to samsung under warranty for a software reset.

I first emailed samsung support anonymously and they just told me to come in for a reset, all under warranty aswell!
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] nofam:
Lordao, you seriously rock!!! A million thanks my friend!!! :D
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] daytones:
hi

i am just posting this because i was panacking about the imei number changing and i did not wanna lose my phone for 4 weeks,

this may help but may not or may have been posted before

as i say this may not be good for people who havent got the nv backup up somewhere like i did on my pc

basically i deleted all files nv data on my phone and placed my computer backup one with my original product code back into the efs folder... after reboot wallaa my imei number is restored
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Ticiano:
Now I have a real problem: IMEI

Guys, I was changing some advanced options in the CWM LagFix and I got my IMEI corrupted...

I have my backups here, "efs-backup.tar.gz" and "efs_dev-block-stl3.img" but I just can't find a guide to restore this things. Could anyone help me here?

Thank you very much!
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] anarchyuk:
efs IMEI restore question

does a nandroid backup not keep the efs folder? I have lost my imei :D
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] anarchyuk:
bumpy bump buump
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] chicko61:
Hi guys,

I have try to edit nv_data.bin but still no luck. Any other ideas?

Which file is crating nv_data.bin???
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] jnutz:
Actually it isn't. I live in the US and the act itself of changing an IMEI is not illegal. In fact many iPhone users on AT&T do it to prevent being stuck on the super expensive iPhone service plan. In addition to that there are also IMEI changing utilities on this site for other devices such as this one...

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=274860

And it is because this site is hosted in the US where it is legal that you see that file posted. Posted since 2006 in fact which was after the laws regarding tampering with electronic devices became more strict.

There have been other successful threads on this subject and I am subscribing because I have been reading more and more on this and it is actually more common than you think for someones IMEI to get corrupted when unlocking an Android phone. If it happens we need to know how to fix it. More importantly we need to understand what is causing it so people who live in places where it is illegal can avoid it.

There is also a hot debate over how T-Mobile filters voice plans on their TAB by the IMEI. Regardless of how you feel about it a lot of people want to change their IMEI so they can just continue using their current Android data plan. Otherwise T-Mobile makes you sign up for a new data-only plan that costs just as much as a regular Android smart phone plan regardless if you pay full price for the device or not. So you pay the same amount and get restricted to data only. I support changing the IMEI in this instance because they are not using IMEI for what is was originally intended for but instead use it to force people into certain types of service packages they may or may not want. I bought the TAB outright and I hope some day I can truly have freedom with a device that I own. I want to make phone calls with it and use it like a big silly smart phone. It isn't stolen and I pay for the voice service with real money every month.

I am sorry if you disagree with my rational but I am not breaking the law and neither is the OP so please quit pissing on the thread with the legal cautions. Every adult is responsible for knowing their local laws and they are responsible if they break them. I want to help prevent people from accidentally breaking laws or being bullied into certain service agreements with their cell phone company just because of what phone they choose to use.
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] EarlZ:
Would looking for a method to RESTORE the ORIGINAL IMEI still be illegal ? AFAIK on the Galaxy S the IMEI is also bound to a hardware ID in where if file does not match the hardware ID you get invalidated, meaning theres no soft way to change IMEI to another number but just restore it.

But if restoring to the original IMEI is illegal then we cant do anything else here and take the discussion to some other forum.
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] jnutz:
The SPT box will easily change your IMEI to anything you want but it requires an expensive hardware device. It would be nice if there was a way to do it with just software. However the fact that the SPT box can do it shows that it is changeable and not something hard coded into a chip in the phone somewhere.
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] EarlZ:
In that case then disregard my initital post and just focus on the legalities of RESTORING to the original IMEI.
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] beat.kitano:
Ok, perfect! Can someone help us to restore the original IMEI of our phones? :o
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] cantIntoCode:
Probably very unlikely, it involves decrypting nv_data.bin etc...
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] bames:
confused...when most of the roms here change your imei to a generic why is it taboo to ask how to restore the devices actual imei?
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] android53:
Because modifying the imei is illegal in some countries.
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] nagrom78:
I have flashed numerous roms and my imei number has never changed, I think this only happens when the nv_data.bin file gets corrupted, that's why you need to make sure you have it backed up before you start fiddling with your phone, otherwise you'll learn the hard way!
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] firebird00:
What's the status with this problem? It seems I have the similar problem, too. The difference is when I reboot with USB connected, the baseband is OK. If without USB, the baseband and IMEI become unknown. I have the same feeling that it may related to the USB tethering.
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] koolstuffz:
[Q] Helps!!!! I9000 no imei and bluetooth? Help to recover it Back!

Hi!

I really need help because i was flashing my samsung galaxy S with this rom : I9000XWJM5 because it came from japan and i didn't have french lang support on it and after i finished flashing it the network was gone, i got it rooted and install root explorer and i deleted the file NV_DATA.BAK!!! I didn't understand the tuto that i was reading and now i don't have any network! can someone help me please and put me on the way to recover it back?

PS: i have tried POLAX BOX and Z3x box but they don't support the emei repair solution.
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] elhpianist:
Did you make a backup of /EFS folder before flashing?
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] koolstuffz:
No i didn't i wish i did! So what is the solution now, can i get the efs folder from a box? i ask a friend that works with boxes, and he said that eeprom can be reprogrammed!? is it true!
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] drew071:
When you say delete all do u mean absolutely everything in the /efs including the imei folder and android folder or just the nv bin etc?

also i tried this without deleting absolutely everything but just got a blank imei and could not get a network connection? cheers

andy
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] vivekrk44:
did you solve this probelm? cos i have it now. If u did can u please tell me how u solved it?
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] gbohm:
was there a solution or nobody knows?
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] android.francis:
Depends on how you did the nandroid back-up.

If you backed up ALL then the efs folder is included.
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] gbohm:
thank you for ur post let us keep the other thread active i think it is a highly interresting topic
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] koolstuffz:
Is there anybody that can answer my question?? how can i do to recover back my i9000 with efs folder corrupted??
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] knopper123:
Not able to fine jpo 2.2 can you please provide link.. and i brought it from ebay.. how do i have backup ??
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] lethal80:
Hi guys! Can anyone help?

The orginal firmware in my T959, when I bought it, was T959UVJI6.

I made lag fix via RYANZA. Made backup via nandroid and tried to flash NERO 3 BETA. At that time I forgot about the necessity of removal of lag fix. Of course the flashing failed. Couldnot restore the nandroid backup either. Found out about Eugene_2E_JK2_Froyo in this forum and flashed the phone with it. Then by misfortune I chose T959UVJE8-factory-final-MS_Guru as stock firmware. The phone was bricked and no signs of life. I had to give it to the repair shop in order to flash bootloader. Only after that I could successfully flash both NERO 3 BETA and NERO 3 VOODOO. However I found out that IMEI changed to some strange numbers: 004999010640000.

I tried:

1) rewrite EFS clear - no result.

2) back to stock T959UVJI6 and hard reset - no result.

Yesterday I tried to restore the nandroid backup after flashing T959UVJI6, but the phone stuck in VIBRANT LOGO SCREEN. Then I had to re-write T959UVJI6. All my date was recovered??? But IMEI is nul/nul.

Any help?
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Bobano:
Hi,

is it possible that there is no one software that may change the IMEI, if this program change it and why others could not do but the way I wanted to???
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] EarlZ:
Unless someone can decode the IMEI portion of the nv_data its still not possible as of the moment, but the Galaxy Spica was decoded so its only a matter of time till a developer will focus on this and collect IMEI samples.
[Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Bobano:
I read online that people have a problem with that, probably will find one that works off that. Cheers developers ;)