# I think I'm experiencing the "lost IMEI" issues I keep hearing about.



## shadowdude777 (Sep 22, 2011)

*EDIT: I have solved this issue. Here's how I fixed it: *http://rootzwiki.com/topic/31623-i-think-im-experiencing-the-lost-imei-issues-i-keep-hearing-about/#entry867134

Hi guys,

I'm sorry if this question has been asked before. I tried reading up as much as I could on this issue and solving it to the best of my ability, but I'm rather stumped.

So I used to run CM10 on my phone. Then, randomly, I stopped getting any reception. Switching to Bean's Stock ROM or another CM10 build didn't help at all. I used Odin to get back to stock, and now that I'm back on stock, it seemed I had 4G LTE for a few minutes and was able to load some test sites (CNN and NYTimes), but after a few minutes, I'm back to nothing. What's more, my IMEI is listed as "0", which I've heard is a pretty dire issue.

Is there anything I can do, or am I totally and completely screwed? It's just strange that I had LTE for a minute there, despite my IMEI being listed as "0". Sorry again for having to ask this, and thanks for any help anyone can provide.


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## DroidOnRoids (Sep 20, 2011)

shadowdude777 said:


> Hi guys,
> 
> I'm sorry if this question has been asked before. I tried reading up as much as I could on this issue and solving it to the best of my ability, but I'm rather stumped.
> 
> ...


Did you backup your IMEI? If not, you're completely screwed. Sorry


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## shadowdude777 (Sep 22, 2011)

No, I did not, I didn't even know that was a thing. Never had to do it on any previous device I've owned. That sucks to hear. =\

I actually just stumbled upon this method: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1802024&highlight=imei

I will be giving it a shot because it sounds like exactly my issue. I hope I can get somewhere with this.


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## shadowdude777 (Sep 22, 2011)

I fixed the issue. I now have my IMEI back, I can make calls and load websites over Verizon's network. I'll post up the procedure I went through in hopes that it'll help at least one other person:

- First, I Odin'd back to stock (the sticky at the top of this board contains the .tar.md5 file you need).
- Then, I rooted the phone and followed this method to flash the IMEI back onto the phone: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1802024&highlight=imei
- Then, I Odin'd back to to stock again. *I am not sure if this was necessary, but I did it anyway while I was trying things.*
- Finally, I reprovisioned my SIM by going into the dialer and typing *2767*3855#. This reformats the phone as well and reprovisions your SIM.
- Once the phone boots up again, upon activating, this time you should be able to pull data properly and make calls, and if you check in About Phone, you should be registered on Verizon's network.

I may not be going near AOSP-based ROMs for a while now. I'm a bit scared...


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## PhantomGamers (Sep 27, 2011)

DroidOnRoids said:


> Did you backup your IMEI? If not, you're completely screwed. Sorry


No he's not ._.
Why would you say such a thing?

I would correct you more specifically but he found the solution to his own problem.


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## cobes (Oct 14, 2011)

Is the rooting necessary for this fix? I tried to reprovision and it constantly wants to boot into recovery mode.

Am I just being too impatient?


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## shadowdude777 (Sep 22, 2011)

Well as I said, I first Odin'd back to stock, and then I rooted and followed the method using QPST in that XDA thread I posted. After this, I Odin'd back to stock again, which may or may not have been necessary. So after this point, I was no longer rooted. Then I reprovisioned my SIM by dialing that number. At this point, I was no longer rooted, so reprovisioning does not require root, but the fix that uses QPST does require root.

When reprovisioning, as soon as you dial the # at the end of the number, it will start to reformat your phone and boot into recovery to automatically do a factory reset. After this, it will boot back into the phone and you will have to set it up again as /data and /cache were just wiped, but when you set it up this time, it should activate properly and you will be able to make calls and use data.


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## shadowdude777 (Sep 22, 2011)

PhantomGamers said:


> No he's not ._.
> Why would you say such a thing?
> 
> I would correct you more specifically but he found the solution to his own problem.


I just have two questions left:

1) How do I make a backup now to avoid this issue in the future? Everything I read says to just backup the EFS file, but then they say not to use that method anymore and refer back to the thread on XDA I used to fix this issue. Does this mean that the latest "fix" is just to use QPST to add the IMEI back into the phone if it is lost?

2) Despite everything working properly, in About Phone, it lists my Network as "Unknown". Everything else is normal, that one field just doesn't say what I'd expect it to say (I'm assuming it should say "Verizon Wireless"). Here's a screenshot: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/6772757/temp/Screenshot_2012-08-03-10-31-46.png

If you could give me any feedback on that, I'd appreciate it. It doesn't seem to be affecting my usage at all, as everything is working now. I'm just wondering why it still says Unknown. Thanks.


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## MJB093065 (Jul 28, 2011)

shadowdude777 said:


> I fixed the issue. I now have my IMEI back, I can make calls and load websites over Verizon's network. I'll post up the procedure I went through in hopes that it'll help at least one other person:
> 
> - First, I Odin'd back to stock (the sticky at the top of this board contains the .tar.md5 file you need).
> - Then, I rooted the phone and followed this method to flash the IMEI back onto the phone: http://forum.xda-dev...&highlight=imei
> ...


This was the only thing that fixed my loss of phone calls after flashing AOKP Rom and losing IMEI number, Thanks.


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## droidxuser123 (Jul 26, 2011)

shadowdude777 said:


> I just have two questions left:
> 
> 1) How do I make a backup now to avoid this issue in the future? Everything I read says to just backup the EFS file, but then they say not to use that method anymore and refer back to the thread on XDA I used to fix this issue. Does this mean that the latest "fix" is just to use QPST to add the IMEI back into the phone if it is lost?
> 
> ...


look at the sticky on IMEI on this section


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## Mustang302LX (Jun 28, 2011)

droidxuser123 said:


> look at the sticky on IMEI on this section


lol you replied to a 2 month old post...just an fyi.


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## TenderloinShadow (Nov 4, 2011)

shadowdude777 said:


> I may not be going near AOSP-based ROMs for a while now. I'm a bit scared...


Loosing your IMEI is a bit frightening, but as you just saw it can be restored. In addition, if you do propper backups ahead of time, restoring it if you loose is becomes incredibly simple. While when this problem first cropped up it was a serious issue that could bork your phone, we've found so many ways to fix it now that it's more of a minor issue.

So go back to the stickied IMEI thread and do both the first and second backup. The first will make it so that if you loose your IMEI, all you have to do is reboot your phone to get it back, and the second will give you a flashable zip that you can run in recovery mode to restore it if for some reason that doesn't work. With those backups you'll be fine, flash away.


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