Restore NVRAM from NANDroid Backup to fix “Invalid IMEI”

restore-nvram

If you have a MediaTek Android phone and have lost access to network by not being able to make or receive calls and you can see “Invalid IMEI” notification on the status bar, that means your phone has most probably lost or malformed NVRAM. But you can fix this.

This method is only possible if you have had a full nandroid backup of your phone prior to loosing NVRAM (by whatever means e.g. by formatting). Nandroid backup would also have backed up your phone’s NVRAM in an nvram.bin file which you can use to restore your phone’s NVRAM as it will fix the Invalid IMEI problem. But if you don’t have such a backup, you can still recover from the issue by following another Method 2.

Disclaimer: This tutorial includes flashing Android smartphone. If not followed correctly, it may lead you with a bricked device. By whatever means, following our mobile flashing guides, you are the sole-responsible if any damages or faults happen to your device or devices during or after the flashing process.

However, this method involves flashing with SP Flash Tool, so you must have MTK PreLoader driver installed on your computer prior to flash with SP Flash Too.

Steps:

  1. Locate nvram.bin file along with the scatter file from the nandroid backup folder which you have created previously sometime. You may copy these two files to somewhere easily accessible.
    step-1
  2. Open the scatter file in some editor e.g. Notepad++ and locate the entry “NVRAM” as partition name. Replace the file name from “none” to “nvram.bin”. Replace is_download field from “false” to “true”. Save the file and close the editor.
    step-2
  3. Open SP Flash Tool and load the newly edited scatter file. As it’s a modified scatter file it will allow you flash NVRAM as a new entry automatically loaded. Select the entry “NVRAM” and press “Download” button.
    step-3
  4. Turn off your phone and connect via USB.

It should take only a few seconds to flash NVRAM. That’s it. On completion, disconnect the phone and boot it up. It should now work fine with no IMEI issue. You can watch video demo below to understand if you got any problem with above steps.

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