Help? S3 has a null IMEI, it also freeze and restarts by itself, and IU has stopped working?

[Saucery]

im really frustrated right now, for freezing. I did do factory reset and the same thing happens! It just freezes and the IU bubble keep popping up and say "IU system has stopped working" and some other apps said that too. it also say Touchwiz has stopped working too. The IMEI is also null and when I dial *#197328604# service mode appears but nothing is there. And why does it keep restarting by itself? Please help I'm really frustrated. Been working on this for 3 hours already

 

[Mikestony]

Hello and welcome to AF Saucery

Wow, that doesn't sound good there
Did you do something to the device and then it started this issue?
Also, just for future reference (in case we need it), what model and carrier are you on, and if you are rooted or not.
Do you remember what version of Android you have?

Perhaps we can get you sorted

 

[Saucery]

I fixed the freezing part. I guess I thought the phone froze but it just had to be wait. But the null imei is still here. I am currently running jelly bean 4.3. Whenever I type *#197328640# nothing pops up. Please help!

 

[Mikestony]

I fixed the freezing part. I guess I thought the phone froze but it just had to be wait. But the null imei is still here. I am currently running jelly bean 4.3. Whenever I type *#197328640# nothing pops up. Please help!

Did you do something to the device and then it started this issue?
Also, what model and carrier are you on, and if you are rooted or not.

 

[dynomot]

Unfortunately you may have corrupted your EFS folder.

This can happen when updating firmware legitimately when using Kies, but is a possibility, always when using Odin to flash custom firmwares.

Let me explain. Your EFS folder is hidden in non rooted phone. It is a system folder that contains details about your IMEI, your network, base band, more etc etc. If it becomes corrupted unless you have a back up of it made by some custom recoveries or an app then you are left with a phone that cannot connect to the network or display a valid IMEI.

If your were doing something legitimate that would not void your warranty, and your phone is in warranty you should be covered, otherwise without a back up you have a phone that will only work on Wi-Fi. There are Web sites and utilities that claim to "repair" your EFS folder. I doubt they work myself, but if your desperate they may be worth a shot.

 

[Saucery]

I'm not really sure what happen cause my niece from Minnesota sent me this phone to fix but I couldn't fix it so I gave it to my bro that lived an hour away from me. After that he returned it and said it works but has a null imei. The phone resetted. Also I forgot to mention another problem. There is no sound at all on this phone. I checked the settings everything but its not that. It wouldn't play video either, it would play for 1 sec and freeze. Does this have to do anything with the null imei?

 

[dynomot]

At this point there are few things you can try. From the sounds of it you are going to end up at best with a phone that will not connect to a network.

First things first is to flash your stock firmware using Odin. If fixes it's other problems I still think you'll be with a phone that has a "null/null" value IMEI and a corrupted EFS folder with no connection to any network. Then try one of the many Web sites that claim to get your phone back to working. I don't recommend them, I found out the hard way by paying for one of them to try when I corrupted my EFS folder on my old SGSIII. I eventually got it sorted because I found a backup of the EFS folder I'd forgotten I had on the PC.

 

[BynoUK]

As noted you're probably best sending it off for someone else to have a look at, sounds like a fair few things need righting with the phone (main issue being the IMEI, no quick and easy fix for that in your situation I'm afraid)

Also not knowing exactly what has been done to the phone isn't ideal.

 

[Saucery]

How do I fix it then?

 

[dynomot]

How do I fix it then?

If it is what is suspected, ie. a corrupted EFS folder, you can't I'm afraid. You can try flashing the stock firmware, but I'm sure it won't work.