Technology: Galaxy S2 Reborn With IMEI Fixed!!!

Just as I thought it was gonna be it, it came back to me!
Image from Locky's English Playground

Two assignments down, 2 more to go. Realised I have many things to write but too little time, and it is going to be like this till early December, when all assignments deadline have passed.


Anyway, back to today's topic. Sometimes, you just need another phone, and I have never known that an extra Android phone will one day be so needed! Since the last Galaxy S2 Seawater Damage YouTube video in the My First Galaxy S2 Surgery, apart from the Wi-Fi which is working, it could not make call, could not use bluetooth or 3G. The phone was practically a home device with nothing more than a web-surfing browser bigger than an iPhone 4 and 5.

So what was the problem? Well, two possibilities.

1. the SIM reader is busted due to seawater damage or, 
2. SIM reader is still fine but only the IMEI is lost.

For my S2, luckily it was case 2. I found this out because the phone actually picked up phone signals for a minute, which had never happened before and surprised me when I tried it again this morning. It was almost like the S2 is calling for me.

And so I did a quick research and found an awesome video which uses a free app HC-kTool to get the job done. The steps are really easy.

1. Install the app from Google Play,
2. Click "Backup EFS to /sdcard/efs.img", "Yes", "Run Check" and "Close",
3. Click "Restore EFS from backup", "Restore IMG" and "Restore TAR"
4. Click "Reboot" 

WahLah!!!! Your phone is back!!! Put in a SIM card and try it!! Here's what I got!

IMEI back (partially masked)!!
Image from Locky's English Playground

My S2 is completely working now!!!

Resources:
Technology: My First Galaxy S2 Surgery -- Sea Water Damage S2 Fixed!! @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2013/02/technology-my-first-galaxy-s2-surgery.html

Galaxy S2 Seawater Damage Fix [First Ever On YouTube] @YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jP5YfvnimBc

HC-kTool IMEI Recovery Samsung Galaxy S2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iY9cDkj4CCw

HC-kTool +Google Play
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.hellcat.droiddev.ktool&hl=en