This command is not allowed in UserBuild

[Sunny Rio]

Does anyone know how to fix "This command is not allowed in UserBuild"?

 

[ocnbrze]

What exactly are you trying to do? The more details you give us the better we can help.

 

[Sunny Rio]

Change the IMEI number.

 

[malissiabrobst]

This is the first time I've heard this, I don't know why such an error comes out

 

[Sunny Rio]

A google search says to fix it by putting a space in the command, but that doesn't work despite everyone else saying it does! Perhaps my (cheap Chinese) phone has this function disabled as part of it's fakery? It's a VKWorld.

 

[mikedt]

Change the IMEI number.

That's pretty much impossible these day. Because the IMEI, MEID, ESN, etc. are usually permanently burned into the phone's chip-set when they're made, which is done to try and prevent cloning. Also depending on where you are, what country you're in, it might be a criminal offence to change or clone an IMEI, MEID, etc, e.g. the Mobile Telephones (Re-programming) Act 2002 in the UK.

Have you got a phone that's been IMEI blacklisted by the carriers or something?

 

[Sunny Rio]

There are non criminal reasons for doing so. So are you telling me modern phones cannot be changed? I've never seen anything like this online, and there are many apps claiming to be able to change it, even on Google Play!

 

[mikedt]

There are non criminal reasons for doing so.

If there are, I can't think of any.

So are you telling me modern phones cannot be changed? I've never seen anything like this online, and there are many apps claiming to be able to change it, even on Google Play!

You got a VKworld device? That's Mediatek MTK chip-set. The IMEI is permanently burned on those, same for Qualcomm Snapdragon, Samsung Exynos, etc. As for apps claiming, they're very likely just snake-oil, and their main purpose is to install adware and spyware probably. Maybe you could post an example of one?

Sometimes users have IMEI, MEID problems, when they've flashed an incorrect firmware ROM for their device, and that's made the IMEI, MEID, invalid, or blank.

 

[Sunny Rio]

How about someone found out your IMEI and you think they're going to track you and steal the phone or worse? How about you just don't want tracked all the time by Google etc? My phone, I can do anything I like to it.

All the apps I looked at seemed to have people claiming it worked. Or just the instructions to do it in the engineering mode without an app.

I guess I'd have to flash to change mine then.

 

[mikedt]

How about someone found out your IMEI and you think they're going to track you and steal the phone or worse? How about you just don't want tracked all the time by Google etc? My phone, I can do anything I like to it.

If one is really serious about not been tracked, maybe use burner phones, and stay away from Google, Facebook etc.

All the apps I looked at seemed to have people claiming it worked. Or just the instructions to do it in the engineering mode without an app.

I guess I'd have to flash to change mine then.

I doubt very much if it could be flashed either. Because the IMEI, MEID, etc. is stored in OTP(one-time programmable) ROM in the chip-set. One-time, meaning once it's written to, it's permanent, and can't be written to again. Really the only way to change that, would be to physically remove and replace a chip on the device's logic-board.

If you want the technical details, look at some of the relevant patents for this tech, e.g. https://patents.google.com/patent/EP3664490A1/en

"The invention provides a chipset for a terminal (ME), the chipset comprising at least one secure processor (SP), into which a one-time programmable memory (OTP area) is integrated, with at least one terminal serial number (IMEI) of the terminal (ME ) is stored, with information for securing the terminal serial number (IMEI) against manipulation being stored in the one-time programmable memory (OTP area)."

BTW in the mid '90s I had an OKI ETACS analog phone. To change the ESN on that involved de-soldering the OTP ROM chip from the board. Obtaining a new blank OTP ROM chip, programming it with the desired ESN using a programmer and computer, and then soldering it in the board. So the business of making it difficult(preferably impossible) to change or clone an ESN, IMEI, MEID is not a recent thing.

 

[Sunny Rio]

I guess that has the advantage of stopping somebody cloning your phone, although I'm not sure how that works. There's an app that claims to give you a random IMEI each bootup, yet another website claims if I was to use your IMEI, I'd be billing my calls to your account.