Galaxy S3 will not coneect to GSM network

[izzikio_rage]

Hey everyone

My Galaxy S3 will not connect to my Airtel GSM network. When going into the service providers it shows all the provides but will not connect to any of them. The error I get is that "Selected network (Airtel) is unavailable", so that means it is getting the signals from the network but is not connecting to them.

A little background, yesterday night my phone restarted and got stuck on the loading screen (the one that says Samsung), I searched on the net and went into the recovery mode (Volume up + Power + home) and there found that the error was that the efs partition could not be read. I did a factory reset and cleared cache and when that did not work I got desperate and tried this method *www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJMJLdzHaAY I think this killed my IMEI number but it got the phone working again

Since I'd already lost all my data I decided to install the cynogenmod too CM11M7 (snapshot). The mod worked perfectly with everything including wifi ect running. However the only thing that does not work is that it will not connect to the GSM network. Please advise, really need this phone to work

 

[moniker]

Better ask in XDA.

 

[kaz]

Check if the IMEI number is same as that of the original... Have you taken any sort of backup when network was working?
I think in worst case you will have to replace the motherboard

 

[swiftshashi]

Check if your IMEI is the same. I am sure,there is some error in the EFS partition which stores IMEI.

 

[izzikio_rage]

I think it's the same problem, the IMEI does not match the number given under the battery and it ends in 0000. But that means that the only option I have is to send in the phone and get the Samsung people to repair it.

So far I haven't even been able to get them to respond to my phone calls

 

[swiftshashi]

If it is in warranty,please give it to Service centre. But before that,make sure to make your device status official and binary counter to zero(by triangle away)
You can also rewrite your IMEI yourself,but it is a complicated process and might brick your device if not done properly. In XDA,there is a detailed procedure given regarding this.

 

[izzikio_rage]

I tried searching for a way to write the IMEI myself but apparently it's considered illegal in places so they won't discuss it. Will take it to the service center. Lets hope they can fix this. BTW am still hoping that I can avoid that, anything that I should try before I take it over like,

1. Reinstalling stock ROM using Kies since it asks for the serial and model it might just have the IMEI also somewhere
2. Reinstalling a modem, it's possible that the 4.4 modem does not play nicely with the old 4.3 modem

 

[swiftshashi]

There's no way out...You will have to get the IMEI written

 

[SaiyanGoku]

if you have a backup of the EFS partition, restore it.

 

[izzikio_rage]

I don't have a backup of the efs partition, never really wanted to install a custom rom so did not read about the efs partition untill this all happened.

BTW the shopkeeper I gave it to is saying that the only solution is a motherboard replacement that costs 4000 bucks. Something to do with my set being purchased in the US.

Personally I feel that 4k (and the whole motherboard being corrupt) story might be unjustified. What do you suggest

 

[swiftshashi]

No,you just need to submit your S3 to Samsung care...and they will charge you maxm of 500 bucks to bring device to Official State.
Plus the cost of Original Samsung Galaxy S3's mobo is around 7k.
I have got my IMEI corrupted almost thrice. For the first time,they had to change mobo(was still in warranty) as its flash memory had some issues. After that,IMEI issue occurred twice,and I was not charged at all.

 

[izzikio_rage]

they are saying that, one its purchased from abroad and two that it's not in warrenty. that is why the only solution is this

 

[izzikio_rage]

Update, got a friendly mobile guy to reregister my IMEI online and then reflash it to my mobile with factory settings. It works now, total damages 1200 bucks, lesson backup efs partition in many places

 

[kaz]

Update, got a friendly mobile guy to reregister my IMEI online and then reflash it to my mobile with factory settings. It works now, total damages 1200 bucks, lesson backup efs partition in many places

congrats

 

[$hadow]

Update, got a friendly mobile guy to reregister my IMEI online and then reflash it to my mobile with factory settings. It works now, total damages 1200 bucks, lesson backup efs partition in many places

Congrats but this is the most basic lesson for Samsung devices to store efs partition safely.

 

[izzikio_rage]

That's the thing I'm most amazed at...this should be something that Samsung should tell us or atleast it should be one of the most basic functions of things like Kies. However there is almost no information on this and a person comes to know only once they've encountered the problem.

 

[SaiyanGoku]

Kies is crap, its a bloatware designed for PC's. general user isn't even supposed to root the phone much less play with custom roms and possibly brick the device. Hence no OEM releases info about the EFS partition.