Invalid imei how to fix. How to restore imei on Android after flashing

In this article I will tell you how to restore IMEI on Android if the phone crashed or as a result of unsuccessful firmware and getting root.

This article is suitable for phones and tablets of all Android device manufacturers: Samsung, LG, Sony, Huawei, Xiaomi, HTC, ZTE, Fly, Alcatel and others. We are not responsible for your actions.

The absence of IMEI on Android is a serious error due to which the gadget loses the communication signal. This may result in the inability to make calls, access the Internet, or send messages.

Reasons for missing IMEI:

• Error when returning the smartphone to factory settings.
• Incorrect gadget firmware.

Some models of Chinese devices can work without such an identifier. If you have a high-quality product from a reliable brand, but the IMEI has been lost, then the gadget will not work correctly.

Manual IMEI repair

On an Android smartphone you need to dial the combination *#06#. In a situation where the Have Code does not appear on the screen, it is urgently necessary to restore it. The identification number can be found on the box, under the battery, or in the instructions. If the product supports two SIM cards, then 2 IMEI numbers must be indicated.

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Instructions for manually restoring IMEI on Android:

• Remove the SIM card from the phone.
• Call *#3646633# to go to the engineering menu.
• You need to select the “CDS Information” section, then “Radio Information” and “Phone 1”.
• After AT+, enter the command EGMR=1,7,“IMEI” from above. We confirm the entry by pressing “SEND AT COMMAND”.

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The combination for opening the engineering menu may differ on different gadgets. If the above number does not suit, then use the options from the screenshot below.

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If Android supports two SIM cards, then the procedure should be repeated to restore the Name code. For the second SIM there will be the following command: AT+EGMR=1.10,“IMEI”.

When the recovery process is complete, you need to exit the engineering menu and reboot your smartphone. After starting, dial *#06# again to check IMEI. If the number is not displayed again, then the error can only be corrected using special utilities for restoring Name on Android.

360root and Chamelephon apps

To restore or change the IMEI code, root rights are required. Settings related to the system will be made here.

The advantage of this application is the quick and easy way to change the code for two SIM cards at once.

MTK65xx program

To restore the IMEI code lost after flashing, you can use the MTK65xx utility:

After rebooting the smartphone, dial *#06#. The lost Imei number will be restored after the firmware is updated.

When this method does not help, there is another option for restoring IMEI on Android after flashing:

Using Root Browser, transfer the MP0B_001 file to this path: /data/nvram/md/NVRAM/NVD_IMEI/MP0B_001. When the transfer is complete, reboot the smartphone and check the identification number again. This time it should display correctly.

When buying a used phone or an unsuccessful firmware, problems may arise when connecting to the mobile network. The reason for this is a lost IMEI, which is very easily restored.

International mobile equipment identifier. When your phone communicates with a mobile network, it transmits two main identifiers - your SIM card number and the phone's IMEI. This is a fifteen-digit code of decimal digits: from the first to the eighth are the model and place of origin, after that is the serial number, and the last digit is the control digit, calculated using the Luna algorithm based on the previous ones.

At a time when phones still had buttons, IMEI was the very beacon by which the police found stolen phones. With the advent of the Android operating system, which gives the user full control over the device, IMEI has ceased to be a stigma and turned into a parameter that can be very easily changed or lost under unfortunate circumstances.

To find out your IMEI, dial the number on your phone: *#06#.

Or look at it in the settings.

The IMEI should be listed under the cover of your device, most often under the battery and on the box in which you bought it.

Video: how to find out the IMEI of an Android device in a couple of taps

Why IMEI disappears and how to restore/change it

The main reason for losing IMEI is unsuccessful phone firmware, and a little less often - an attempt to obtain root rights.

As mentioned above, IMEI is one of the main identifiers of your phone when communicating with a mobile network. And if it fails (all values ​​are set to 0), communication problems may arise.

If you bought a used phone and found a discrepancy between the IMEI indicated on the phone and the one registered under the battery, it is better not to install the original IMEI.

Things to remember about IMEI:

• deleting IMEI means changing IMEI to a zero value (000000000000000), restoring IMEI means changing IMEI to its original value;
• there are no ways to restore the original IMEI if you do not know it, since information about it is not stored anywhere;
• if it is not possible to determine the original IMEI, you can always invent or generate it;
• Never trust services that offer to find out your original IMEI for restoration - these people are scammers and offer the impossible;
• The only way to find your missing/stolen phone by IMEI is to contact the police.

Recovery via the engineering menu

To change IMEI, you will need to enter the engineering menu. You can enter it by dialing a special number on your Android device. The most common number to enter the engineering menu is *#3646633#*. And if it doesn't help you, try these:

In addition to the above list, the engineering menu entry number should be indicated in the instructions for your device.

Changing IMEI through the GPRS tab

Changing IMEI via the CDS Information tab

Video: IMEI repair through the engineering menu

Repair IMEI using applications

If you have difficulty entering the engineering menu, or the engineering menu is not available on your device, you can always change the IMEI using applications. As mentioned above, the last IMEI digit is a control digit and is generated using the Luna algorithm based on the previous ones. And if you want to register a non-native IMEI, then it is better to generate it using one of these applications.

To download the application for changing IMEI, go to the Play Market and enter the word IMEI in the search bar.

All found applications for changing IMEI are identical, and we will look at them using Chamelephone as an example. It is worth saying that each of the applications requires root rights, and this is a separate story.

Getting root rights

Root or superuser rights grant the user special powers, such as:

• deleting system files;
• embedding programs and melodies;
• removal of advertising;
• CPU overclocking;
• Activation of hidden Android functions.

Having Root rights will be required for some subsequent actions when cleaning the device. Rooting will void your device's warranty. Each device has its own characteristics, and the risk of damaging the system when obtaining root rights or after always remains. If you have root rights, you will not be able to receive warranty updates to the operating system.

1. If you haven't installed apps from external sources before, go to Android settings and open the Security tab under Personal Data.

   

2. Activate the "Unknown Sources" option.

   

3. Download the latest version of Framaroot from the Internet. This application has analogues in the Play Market, but they may not be as reliable.
4. Install Framaroot. If the installer blocks the process, select "Additional information" and click "Install anyway (unsafe)."

   

5. Launch Framaroot and select “Install SuperSU”, then click on any of the methods for obtaining root rights. Once received, reboot your device.

   

6. There is a possibility that your device is not supported by this application. You can try alternative programs, but this will increase the risk of crashing your system. The best thing to do is to find out the individual method for rooting your device.

Those who use smartphones based on Chinese MediaTek processors know very well what an incorrect IMEI is. What to do if IMEI on Android is lost? Most often this happens after flashing the firmware or general reset of the smartphone. Don't worry, most of these errors can be corrected.

Restoring IMEI on Android will not take much time if you backup NVRAM and NVDATA from your device in advance.

Where is IMEI stored on Android?

To make a backup of IMEI you need to know where it is stored. On devices with MediaTek processors (90% of Chinese smartphones and 50% of budget devices from well-known manufacturers), the IMEI is stored in NVRAM. In addition to IMEI, it stores data about the calibration of wireless modules, identification information (IMEI, MAC), as well as settings for some equipment.

The device’s firmware provides a separate memory area called NVRAM; during the first startup of the smartphone, information from there is copied to the directory /data/nvram. After this, the data in this directory may change for various reasons, including problems with the firmware.

How can NVRAM be damaged?

• Formatting a smartphone using SP Flash Tool
• Using the wrong version of SP Flash Tool
• Memory re-partitioning
• Partial firmware
• Interrupted smartphone firmware process

Signs of damaged NVRAM, or how to find out that IMEI has been lost

• When entering *#06# Empty fields appear in the dialer for IMEI 1 and IMEI 2
• When Wi-Fi is turned on, a virtual network appears " Nvram warning err = 0x10»

Backup IMEI on Android using SP Flash Tool

To make an IMEI backup, the first thing you need to do is charge your smartphone to at least 40%. Next, you need to install drivers for your device, as well as . Next in order:

For smartphones with MT67xx series processors, you additionally need to save NVDATA. Do everything the same as in the instructions above, starting from point 3.

Repairing IMEI after flashing using SP Flash Tool

1. In SP Flash Tool, specify your Scatter file and press " CTRL+ALT+V»
2. In the top menu of the program, mark the item Window – Write Memory
3. Switch to tab Write Memory
4. Fill in the item File Path by clicking on the folder icon and selecting your backup NVRAM
5. At point Region choose EMMC_USER(for MT6592 and above)
6. Open your Scatter in a text editor and copy linear_start_addr to line Begin Address (HEX)
7. Click Write Memory
8. Connect the switched off smartphone to the computer using a standard cable. The program will see the smartphone and write down the specified memory area, that is, it will eliminate the incorrect IMEI.

For MT67xx smartphones, you need to do the same for NVDATA.

After this, you need to flash the device with full factory firmware in accordance with the instructions for your smartphone. After flashing the firmware, you need to turn on the phone and reset it through the settings. Sometimes you need to flash the full firmware in Firmware Upgrade mode.

This IMEI firmware should always be stored on a computer or cloud service, the main thing is that you always have access to it, it is much easier than correcting an incorrect IMEI manually.

Restoring IMEI through the engineering menu

The main advantage of this method is that you do not need any root rights, nor any additional programs, everything is done directly on the phone. So, to change IMEI through the engineering menu, you will need the IMEI itself, which can be found on the smartphone box or under the phone cover.

How to change IMEI through the engineering menu:

1. Open your phone and enter *#*#3646633#*#* (the combination for your device may vary)
2. The engineering menu has opened, open the tab Connectivity
3. Go to CDC Information - Radio Information
4. This submenu has 2 items: Phone 1 And Phone 2, this is the first and second slot for SIM cards, open Phone 1
5. In the line where " AT+» enter the letter « E» in English and click on AT+EGMR=1.7,"IMEI" (instead of IMEI you need to enter your first IMEI) and press Send AT Command. After this, a message with the phrase Ok should appear, which means the IMEI is in place.
   

   IMPORTANT! After AT+ you need to put a space!

6. Do the same operations with Phone 2, only here you need to select AT+EGMR=1.10,"IMEI". Don't forget the space after AT+.
7. Reboot your smartphone and check the IMEI with the command *#06# .

Ready! You changed IMEI through the engineering menu. I strongly recommend that you enter the exact IMEI that was on the phone, otherwise there may be problems with mobile communications..

Repair IMEI with MAUI META

This method requires a PC. You will need a program MAUI META, installed drivers ( complete package And CDC driver) and a newly flashed phone via SP Flash Tools (preferably). You will also need the “BPLGUInfoCustomAppSrcP****” file from the installed firmware.

The main difficulty of restoring IMEI via MAUI META is to correctly connect the device in META Mode, one of the ways:

1. Install and run MAUI META
2. Click Reconnect, the indicator in the program will start flashing
3. Turn off your phone, press Volume Up and connect to PC
4. In Device Manager under " Ports» the device will appear MTK USB Port
5. Disconnect the device from the PC, disconnect and connect the battery, click Reconnect in the program and connect again with Volume Up, it will appear again MTK USB Port and the program will give an error, press Disconnect
6. Enable the option " Connect smartphone in META mode» and press Reconnect
7. Connect the device without pressing any buttons
8. The blinking indicator turns yellow, which means the smartphone is connected, you can restore IMEI!

The methods for entering META Mode are different for all devices!

If after a successful connection a program window pops up, close it, click Action - Open NVRAM database and select the file " BPLGUInfoCustomAppSrcP****"from the installed firmware. Following are the instructions:

1. From the drop down menu select IMEI download
2. The IMEI editing window appears, click Change NVRAM Database file and select the file from the firmware again
3. Enter the IMEI without the last digit in the IMEI field and press Download to Flash, do the same with the second IMEI if you have one
4. Close the window, click Disconnect and restart your smartphone
5. Check IMEI combination *#06#

More clearly in the video.

Have you flashed your Android smartphone and it stopped seeing the network? Did you buy a second-hand device that periodically loses the network and cannot make calls? Are there incoming calls, but outgoing ones are constantly being dropped? Smartphone does not receive or send SMS? All these errors are in one way or another related to the wrong IMEI - “empty”, zero or non-unique. In our guide, we will tell you what to do to prevent IMEI from being damaged, how to check IMEI on Android, and most importantly, how to restore or change it if something goes wrong. We will also consider situations when it is necessary to change IMEI while remaining within the legal framework.

What is IMEI and how to find it?

IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) is an international identifier for mobile equipment. This 15-digit number is essentially the serial number of the mobile device. But unlike the serial number of a car, refrigerator or laptop, this identifier is actively linked to the GSM network protocol and it is with the help of IMEI that the cellular network identifies your smartphone. Every time your device moves from one base station to another, it broadcasts the IMEI and the station registers your device, allowing it to work. Or not allowing it if there is something wrong with IMEI.

How to view IMEI

1. The easiest one is to open the battery compartment cover, remove the battery and look at the IMEI on the sticker. The method will only work if the smartphone has not been flashed, because... with firmware that affects the EFS partition (we'll talk about it later), the IMEI will probably change.
2. If the smartphone has been flashed or its battery is non-removable, then the first method will not work. In this case, we use a universal USSD request that works on any platform: Android, iOS and even simple dialers. Open the “phone” application, select dialing using the keyboard and enter the request: “*#106#”. The smartphone will display a window with its IMEI. If the device has two SIM cards, the IMEI for each of them will be displayed.
3. In the Android operating system, IMEI can also be viewed in the system settings. Go to the menu, then - -
4. You can view IMEI on Apple devices in a similar way: - -

The skills to view IMEI will be very helpful when buying a smartphone in person or at an online flea market. After all, it is much easier not to buy a device with a “crooked” IMEI than to then spend time and money bringing it back to normal.

Why does the ID disappear?

The reason for the disappearance of IMEI may be software or hardware problems, depending on the model and manufacturer of the device. But common problems look something like this:

• IMEI disappeared when flashing the smartphone or resetting it to factory settings using the service utility. The problem is especially common in Chinese smartphones based on MTK processors. If the firmware is poorly thought out (or the firmware is assembled from someone else’s device), you can overwrite or erase the EFS partition, which contains such important data as IMEI, MAC address of the Wi-FI wireless adapter, BlueTooth identifier. After such unsuccessful firmware, not a single wireless interface will work on the device;
• The smartphone was repaired, where the radio module was re-soldered, and along with it the EEPROM with service information. As a result, the device’s IMEI is incorrect or empty;
• IMEI was deliberately reset by the previous owner. This often happens with devices with a dark past. At best, the IMEI has been erased to bypass operator blocking, which is typical for contract smartphones, and at worst, the device is stolen. If the sticker in the battery compartment is missing or damaged so that the numbers cannot be read, the smartphone is 100% stolen. not the previous owner, but the one before last and it is better not to mess with such a device. Read the Criminal Code.

How to restore or change IMEI on Android

Now we will consider a situation where the IMEI was not reset intentionally, there is a sticker with the code - therefore it is known to us. For owners of devices whose battery cannot be removed, I strongly recommend writing down the IMEI, serial number, MAC address of the network card and saving this information in a safe place.

Using the engineering menu

1. Turn off your smartphone and remove the SIM cards from it;
2. Turn on the power, launch the “phone” application and enter the access code into the engineering menu. Depending on the device manufacturer, the code may vary. For example, for Samsung smartphones the code will be<*#*#4636#*#*>. After this, the device will launch the engineering menu, in which we will change the IMEI.
3. Go to the tab , and in it - to the section
4. In the next window, go to the menu item
5. Select menu item In the input field, immediately after writing “AT+”, add the following command:

   EGMR=1.7,”IMEI”,
   where "IMEI" is the number that we need to restore.
   After entering the number you need in the field, click the button<Send at command>. If the command is not executed, try adding a space immediately after “AT+”.

6. If the smartphone has two SIM cards, step 5 must be repeated, but the command will be different:
   AT+EGMR=1,10,“IMEI”
7. <*#106#>

The codes for entering the engineering menu are different for different manufacturers. Here is a table with the most famous

Via Android applications

If it was not possible to restore IMEI using the engineering menu, on smartphones with a processor of the MTK family (most of the Chinese devices) you can use a program specially written for this - MTK65xx.

How to change IMEI using a file manager and Root access

This method is the most complicated, but it works without problems on almost any smartphone running the Android system.

1. Make sure your smartphone has Root access.
2. Download and install any file manager on your device, for example ES Explorer.
3. Download the Restore IMEI archive to your computer.
4. Unzip the archive to a folder on your hard drive. Find the “run.cmd” file in the folder and open it with Notepad.
5. Instead of the numbers following the program name “imei.exe”, enter the IMEI code you need. After that, save the file and close Notepad. Run the “run.cmd” file by double-clicking.
6. If you did everything correctly, a new file will appear in the folder - “MP0B_001”, which we will need to copy to a specific folder on the smartphone.
7. Connect your smartphone with a cable to your computer. Copy the configuration file to the MicroSD card of your smartphone or to any folder on the user partition.
8. Launch the ES Explorer file manager on your smartphone. Move the configuration file copied from your computer to the address “/data/nvram/md/NVRAM/NVD_IMEI/MP0B_001”. The system will issue a warning that the file will be overwritten. Agree to this by clicking the button<ОК>
9. Reboot your smartphone and check IMEI using USSD command<*#106#>.

Changing IMEI - why is it necessary?

Changing the IMEI code is done in the same way as restoring, just instead of the “native” code, you enter the one you need. And this has to be done for several reasons:

• bought a smartphone with a “blank” IMEI;
• want to remove the IMEI lock from a contract device;
• arrived in a country where foreign IMEIs are blocked (for example, Turkey).
• you need two devices with the same IMEI, which will work in turn.

As a new IMEI code, it is best to choose codes from old non-working mobile phones, of which there are always a couple at home. If you generate a code using a generator program, there is a chance that someone else already has the same IMEI and when you try to register on the cellular network, your smartphone will give an error.

Let me also remind you that changing IMEI for fraudulent purposes or on stolen/found devices is criminally punishable. Be clean before the law.

How to find a stolen smartphone by ID

On the technical side, there are no problems in finding a stolen (lost) device: mobile operator base stations, using triangulation, allow you to determine the location of a smartphone with an accuracy of up to 10 meters. And it’s also easy to see from billing which number is associated with a given IMEI.

But the mobile operator will carry out such search activities only at the request of law enforcement agencies. Therefore, the easiest and fastest way to find a stolen smartphone by IMEI is to contact the police. But keep in mind: the first thing they will do when buying stolen devices is to change the IMEI.

Is it possible to remove IMEI?

IMEI cannot be removed. But when changing IMEI, you can make it with zero values. A device with a zero IMEI will not register in the operator’s network, and accordingly, it will not be able to work as a phone or modem. Such manipulation may be necessary if you need to limit the functionality of a smartphone or tablet for children, for example, so that they use the device only as a media player. Or for company employees who need to limit Internet access to a corporate channel with configured blocking and a blacklist of sites.

I would also like to add that on almost all models of Apple smartphones, on top-end Samsung and Sony smartphones, it is impossible to change the IMEI by software. It is necessary to reprogram the EEPROM of the radio module, which can only be done at a service center using specialized equipment.

All methods of changing or repairing IMEI seem simple, but the variety of hardware configurations of smartphones makes such work difficult. Carefully select the necessary tools, study the experience of working with similar smartphones on specialized forums and luck will definitely smile on you. If the problem cannot be solved programmatically, there is always the “cherry on the cake” - a trip to the service center, where professionals will be happy to help you.

Trouble came from an unexpected place. And although this cannot be called a disaster, it still caused some inconvenience at first. The reason for this situation came from the desire to format the phone memory with the program SPFlash Tool due to a decrease in its volume after the firmware. But in order to do this correctly, we first had to collect the necessary information. But I was in a hurry and I paid for it.

Having raked through heaps of different information in Networks and having quickly tried several methods to no avail, I remembered that I had a program installed on my computer MtkDroidTools, whose functions include restoration IMEI-ev. The only thing is on the OS " seven"It was terribly slow and I had to switch to the good old XP(fortunately, in addition to “ sevens"There are still three operating systems on the PC), where this program simply flew.

Easy to install. You just need to unpack the archive. I installed the folder in the root directory. Launched the program. It is highly desirable to have root access on your phone, and although the program MtkDroidTools It may give a temporary root, but I have never had this happen. To connect the phone I used a standard USB cable. IN Settings gadget on the tab - For developers activated the line - O debugging via USB. After some time, this request appeared (smartphone Explay Fresh- Android 4.42, but on Android 4.2.2 such a request does not appear). Confirmed.

After some time, a message appeared that the changes will take effect after rebooting the phone. In the program window I clicked - Reboot.

After rebooting, I first made a USSD request, but the mobile network was unavailable. You just need to wait about 5 minutes and the network signal indicator (in the upper right corner) began to show that there is a connection. A test call confirmed this.

VIDEO:

Download the program MtkDroidTools You can follow this link - Yandex.Lisk

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