• Hardware

  • Samsung Galaxy S3 (GT-I9300) lost IMEI.

Hey LebGeeks!

Need some technical advice regarding an S3, so here it goes:
The phone was in its cover, on a table 1 m height, and it got hit and felt down.
At first sight phone was still the same, all functioning well, but then it had no signal; apparently, it lost its IMEI number (dialing *#06* gives null/null). After some research, and trying few things, i couldn't find any solution.
It must be a hardware problem since it happened after the fall. I tried contacting some mobile stores and each had different answer.


Anyone faced this kind of problem before, and what was the solution.
Can you recommend me someone reliable that do these kind of fixes, and is it worth fixing it?

Thanks in advance!
My advice is the same as what all companies advise you to do:

"Did you remove the battery?"

But honestly, if you had warranty, send it back. Did you call samsung's support?
Johnaudi wroteMy advice is the same as what all companies advise you to do:

"Did you remove the battery?"

But honestly, if you had warranty, send it back. Did you call samsung's support?
Unfortunately, warranty expired, so can't send it back.
I'm looking to see if i can fix it myself; a local store checked it (disassembled it) and advised to replace the IC containing the imei, but at a high cost (half the cost of a new device) and not a 100% guarantee it would work. So that isn't really a good option to go with.

Thank you Johnaudifor your reply, appreciate it.
Then, you're quite in a pickle.

I know this wouldn't be good advice for someone who likes tinkering, but I think it might be time to get a new phone, the S3 is still good but there has been a lot other phones out there, with better performance and might be cheaper too.
To be honest lebgeeks is not the best forum to ask about phones on. If you really wan't to find an answer you should give xda a visit if you already haven't. ( explain the imei in detail there has to be another country with similar procedure)
You could find the device's Imei anytime on its original box.
the IMEI is burned in ROM chip or flashed on EEPROM chip. And I guess that the chips that contains the IMEI is broken (or some of it's legs).

but replacing the chip?? the new chip chip should carry the same info as the old one, so is it legal to burn/flash such things? i don't think so but you can ask about this. Another thing that you must know your IMEI, but you can find it on Alfa's website and touch should do the same.

My advice is buy a new phone and leave this one for hacking.
Have you tried flashing again? Also your IMEI is written in the box or sometimes under your battery. So do some research and learn how to edit your efs partition.
geekevo wroteTo be honest lebgeeks is not the best forum to ask about phones on. If you really wan't to find an answer you should give xda a visit if you already haven't. ( explain the imei in detail there has to be another country with similar procedure)
I did check xda, they have a nice guide to restore IMEI, which got lost in some software problem, but wont work in my case. I didnt try to post there tho, so i might try that.
NuclearVision wroteYou could find the device's Imei anytime on its original box.
and behind the battery. I have the number, how does that helps?
m_zeid wrotethe IMEI is burned in ROM chip or flashed on EEPROM chip. And I guess that the chips that contains the IMEI is broken (or some of it's legs).

but replacing the chip?? the new chip chip should carry the same info as the old one, so is it legal to burn/flash such things? i don't think so but you can ask about this. Another thing that you must know your IMEI, but you can find it on Alfa's website and touch should do the same.

My advice is buy a new phone and leave this one for hacking.
Good points, and explanation, i don't know about the legal part.
AvoK95 wroteHave you tried flashing again? Also your IMEI is written in the box or sometimes under your battery. So do some research and learn how to edit your efs partition.
I did factory reset only so far, ill do more research on editing efs partitions, but i dismissed that earlier, when i knew it was hardware problem.

Thank for all the replies.
In case you run out of options, try taking it to this place: http://www.beirut.com/l/2981

I've had good experiences with this place so far. He once fixed a phone of mine, then I took it and it turned out his fix stopped working after a day, so he ran out of options and just returned the 20$ I paid for him to fix it. I thought that was pretty honourable. He's also very honest about the phones he is selling (would tell you if anything is wrong/bad about them). Focuses more on honesty, rather than being able to sell as much as possible. Also has the cheapest prices to anything I've bought/fixed.

I recommend you check it out.

Good luck.
2 months later
hi, were you able to resolve this situation?

Any of you guys have a box that could reprogram the imei on a galaxy s3?

Thanks.