G930FD - Can't restore EFS, IMEIs lost and other oddities - GSM-Forum

bkknight · 04-21-2018, 17:18

I soft bricked my G930FD when going from Magisk v14.0 to v15 using the in-app update but got it back by dirty flashing my stock ROM. All was fine.

Some time later then installed TWRP via Odin and moved to Magisk v16. Then some time after that I started getting a strange issue with my IMEI numbers disappearing.

When this happened to me, when I was on the Korean stock rom, I thought I'd reinstall a full, stock BTU rom (AP, BL, CP and CSC) and this fixed it for a bit. (I did full wipe and formatted the data partition but I did not use Odin's 're-partition' option.)

Then, after a few days, I'd see the no signal symbol. I'd reboot and all would be well. But... this only works for a couple of days, getting progressively less likely to work, then it didn't ever see show the IMEI. In 'status' in the settings the IMEI is shown as all zeros (or "unknown" if I looked in IMEI status in the settings).

I have tried a guide that used the combination ROM to try to restore my IMEI, which didn't work but I don't think this was the issue as I could sometimes get the IMEIs back when I reboot. I tried the more extreme part of the guide, which deleted a bunch of files on the EFS partition but that made it worse so that full reinstall wouldn't bring back the IMEIs.

I have a TWPR EFS backup from before the issue but I still can't get the IMEI(s) back if I do a restore. I have a note of the IMEIs too.

It feels like there are other areas of the phone's software I need to wipe/rebuild/restore that the full restore that I'm doing isn't touching. Reading a bit more I think it's the NV certificate.

Do you think I should be able to successfully restore my phone myself, or, will this require a visit to a repair shop or perhaps a jig of some sort?

04-21-2018, 17:18	#1 (permalink)
bkknight Junior Member Join Date: Apr 2018 Posts: 1 Member: 2830797 Status: Offline Thanks Meter: 0	G930FD - Can't restore EFS, IMEIs lost and other oddities I soft bricked my G930FD when going from Magisk v14.0 to v15 using the in-app update but got it back by dirty flashing my stock ROM. All was fine. Some time later then installed TWRP via Odin and moved to Magisk v16. Then some time after that I started getting a strange issue with my IMEI numbers disappearing. When this happened to me, when I was on the Korean stock rom, I thought I'd reinstall a full, stock BTU rom (AP, BL, CP and CSC) and this fixed it for a bit. (I did full wipe and formatted the data partition but I did not use Odin's 're-partition' option.) Then, after a few days, I'd see the no signal symbol. I'd reboot and all would be well. But... this only works for a couple of days, getting progressively less likely to work, then it didn't ever see show the IMEI. In 'status' in the settings the IMEI is shown as all zeros (or "unknown" if I looked in IMEI status in the settings). I have tried a guide that used the combination ROM to try to restore my IMEI, which didn't work but I don't think this was the issue as I could sometimes get the IMEIs back when I reboot. I tried the more extreme part of the guide, which deleted a bunch of files on the EFS partition but that made it worse so that full reinstall wouldn't bring back the IMEIs. I have a TWPR EFS backup from before the issue but I still can't get the IMEI(s) back if I do a restore. I have a note of the IMEIs too. It feels like there are other areas of the phone's software I need to wipe/rebuild/restore that the full restore that I'm doing isn't touching. Reading a bit more I think it's the NV certificate. Do you think I should be able to successfully restore my phone myself, or, will this require a visit to a repair shop or perhaps a jig of some sort?