imei number
 

hello,

i wonder what is an imei number used for? Any importance with OS or phone. if i change it is there any problem? Can i change it from N900 . i think it must be.

thanks.

Re: imei number
 

IMEI are numbers used in the routing of calls on a cellular network, and they are unique to each handset.

You cannot legally change the IMEI of any phone, and this is backed by laws in both the USA and Europe.

Re: imei number
 

it is the identifier for your phone, it's unique identifier.... a bit like every car having one, or your fingerprint on your fingers.....

It will be on your purchase document, so if it got stolen, you can prove it is yours.......

I would recommend not, even if you could......

Re: imei number
 

yes, i know about laws but i mean i have a mobile phone (nokia) and it doesnt work. So can i use its imei number?

i m having an issue about registering my phone .in my country ( Turkey ) every phone which are coming from abroad needs registering with a passport and its imei number. So if i cant register it about 2 weeks , this imei number will be blocked by providers ( will be in blacklist) . After that the only way to use phone is changing imei number ( may be i m wrong but i know like that).

i dont wanna change the imei number but what if i have to?

Re: imei number
 

I have never read so much rubbish in my life !

Re: imei number
 

@abill_uk

i totally agree. What about tourists come to Turkey. Will they have to register their phone to use? and pay its fee ( yes,yes you ll paying a fee about 3$).

Re: imei number
 

There is only one possible reason you cannot register your N900 in Turkey and its the obvious, it is STOLEN !.
You know as well as i do you only have to register using your emei number and you also know this emei number is checked AND there is NO fee for this in turkey.
Now please dont push this issue on here because if you do i will provide ALL the information you need to register a LEGAL mobile in turkey.

Re: imei number
 

Nokia N900 doesnt come to Turkey ( or any other Nokia's Tablets like N8xx ,N770 etc.). So the only way to use them is find someone who can bring us from abroad . About this procedure ;

you can register 1 mobile phones in 2 years to your passport.

i cant buy it legally from turkey because this wont be sell in Turkey. So i buy it who bring this from abroad.

So this phone is not stolen.

Re: imei number
 

hey guys, stop!) this is not only about Turkey, the same happens in different countries. same in Ukraine. But likely we have 3 months to register it. Any phone bought outside of ukraine goes to grey list for three months. after that it will go to black and you would not be able to do any gsm stuff. Or, you can register it by sending email to the goverment org with the following info: imei itself, model rx51, reciept and the declaration from customs, if you have no declaration - you have to add copy of passport page which says you was outside when you bought the phone. This phone also has to be certified. It was not when I get my own so there was no chanse to register. No I can do that officially but must pay 20% tax. Agh, I can not. Since I had no my credit card when I was in US, had just cash so I gave cash to my friend and ordered from his card to his house. There is no my name in receipt. And this is impossible to register such device in our stupid law system anyway.

Re: imei number
 

your system is better then us. We have about 2 weeks and only way to register is go to an authorized phone seller ( every city there is one seller who can register imei's )and register it.

Anyway you are right , stupid law system and this cant be a solution about stolen phones too.

Re: imei number
 

missed to add about foreigners. Foreigner who is visiting Ukraine would be able to talk for 3 months. Once he need to stay in Ukraine longer, he must register as well by sending copy of his passport with Ukraine border sign and IMEI number. This is the only way for me. I vote there should be something similar for Turkey.

And yes, changing the IMEI for n900 is possible but not legal (at least you can patch the API that is sending the IMEI to provider). I would recommend to try other ways. One more way in post soviet union countries is to find folk who have access to the list. They should be able to add yours as well. It is not legal, but possible in Ukraine. Should be similar to what you got in Turkey.

Re: imei number
 

probably yes, and our phone calls are few times cheaper as well as the gas. The rest stuff is cheaper and better in Turkey, at least in Alanya-Kemer region. Good roads, good restaurants, good people etc. I have few friends there in Alanya and Mahmutlar and was few times there - your country is more ... kind of civilization to me. enjoy! ) I would even say you are in Europe, not we are.

Re: imei number
 

Where did you buy your N900 and from who? have you got a reciept ? how about you post a pic of your emei number on here so we can all see you are telling the truth.
The reason these laws are in place in your countries is simple, many many stolen phones end up in these markets so your govenments have made laws to stop the use of stolen equipment, IF your mobile is legitimate then you will have a genuine receipt for it giving you the right to register it free with your govenment.
In your last post you answered your own question ! "your system is better then us. We have about 2 weeks and only way to register is go to an authorized phone seller ( every city there is one seller who can register imei's )and register it. "
So why have you not done this?.

Re: imei number
 

hey archimonde, what if a foreigner comes to the shop and says he need to stay long time in Turkey and he needs his cell? whould they add into white list? temporary or forever? is that an option for you (find any guy)?

Re: imei number
 

abill, most likely this phone was bought from hands, no reciepts. you live in other world... :))) and but stuff only in shops and amazon, right?.. you do not understand the cultural difference between UK and UA... it's crazy

about stolen stuff. that doesnt solve the stolen phone issue since imei's are patchable and there is a 'service' to update the DB. It is controlled by police.

that system was created to deny unauthorized import so few guys can control the cell market. They would love to do the same with TV, Carmcorders etc, but there is no way. That's why they focus on just cells.

in such countries as his and my, this is not about our safity, this is about someone's money. and that's all

Re: imei number
 

Most modern phones have the IMEI burnt into a write once chip so the only way you can get round this is via software or buying certain older models of phone where the IMEI can be reprogrammed.

As the N900 is the only mass marketed mobile running this O/S, the chances of getting hold of software to spoof the IMEI is pretty slim at this time unless you plan on writing it yourself!

Re: imei number
 

This is utter rubbish because it DOES solve the issue about stolen mobiles thats why you cannot register it !.

Re: imei number
 

okay, phisically the IMEI is stored in a CHIP (whatever it is).
a) API Blah() reads it
b) API Foo() sends it to the provider when doing GSP stuff

both a) and b) are low level software which is replacable by default. the only issue would be updating the firmware will need re-patch. I'd say this software already exists or will be created soon one Ukraine run this IMEI system it is still in testing.

Re: imei number
 

FYI: Stolen mobile databases are pretty much useless, most countries dont share databases so all stolen stuff is shipped abroad where they work flawlessly.

Re: imei number
 

Got nothing to do with a database its the gov's way of protection against stolen mobile equipment and thats why they cannot be registered, if it was a legitimate mobile there is always a way to get it registered and dont bring the lame excuse one mobile per year per person because you know the way around that without me saying anything.This is all about stolen mobiles and you guys have no choice but to try and change emei's, reason being is simple the emei IS the fingerprint of the phone and it will be blocked for sure if its stolen THAT database IS worldwide.

Re: imei number
 

Fact:10% of IMEI's in the UK are duplicates.

Fact: Blacklisted database is NOT global.

Re: imei number
 

Thats why you or anyone arguing wont post a pic of the emei because you know it will be blocked for sure and can be checked in a matter of seconds... ok i am off on holiday have fun everyone on the forum and hope the update comes for you all (wont work for stolen mobiles though ha ha).

Re: imei number
 

DO NOT POST your IMEI details to ANY public forum if you know whats good for you.



Have a good holiday Abil :)

Re: imei number
 

IMEI # = VIN #. None can legally be changed.

Re: imei number
 

Thats depends on what countries laws you are taking into account.

Granted the UK, most of western europe and the US have laws against it, but there are a hell of a lot of countries it is still legal in.

Re: imei number
 

hey abill_uk, you now started annoying me. you are either kid or just can not understand.

1. You live in perfect world, in perfect country UK,
2. Average salary over there is above 2000 pounds monthly.
3. You have everything in shops, you can take your card and pay 500 pounds for nokia N900.

now
1. we live in country with stupid law and few persons controling everything!
2. Average salary in Ukraine is 300 US dollars. 90% of people average is 200 dollars monthly.
3. N900 is not available in shops even now! how could you say it is stolen, where?
4. My n900 was officially bought in US from Amazon and I paid 500 USD for it. You paid more (who is crazy?)
5. There is sometime no legal way to register it. The registry is being controlled by 'mafia'. as well as the whole market.

don't know how to explain better. let's say US and EU are now getting the Panasonic carmcorder HDC-TM700 (1000$ in US).
Is is not of course available in Ukraine. We have just Panasonic HDC-TM350 for 1200$ in internet and 1400$ in shops.

this is our reality and stupidity of our law.

The topic is about how to change IMEI. Not how to register. this is of course not legal so we could not say do that.
but we could brainstorm how to do that.

what is unclear to you? would you stop posting rubbish posts?

In his case there is only ONE legal way to have a phone, buy it from authorized dealler who is not selling n900!
It is not possible to get it somewhere and come to shop. clear?

Re: imei number
 

this thread is gonna go long for nothing....
1> No one on here knows how to change the imei
2> even if someone knows, he wont post it
3> even if he posts it, the post will be deleted cuz its "illegal"

there is another thread on here which talks about the same thing.. Not a single clue how to do it.. It MIGHT be possible to do it via a box (forgot how its called), but for sure, this is the wrong place to ask. lol...

check out some big forums, which deal with all kinds of phones..

Its easy to find this solution for imei changing on a symbian phone because its been here for long. many people know it, and many are willing to try it.... i dont think anyone has tried with the N900 yet..... Let the OS and phone grow up a bit, then maybe something might come up!!

for now, its next to impossible...

by the way, if thats the case in turkey, then there should be plenty of people willing to crack the imei, as it will be a big business (illegal tho)....

Re: imei number
 

Abil:

Are you saying that the imei can't be used to enforce a commercial agreement that a certain kind of phone can't be sold in a given country?

Re: imei number
 

Yes, it is possible.

But enforcing of N900 out of air in some country doesn't require IMEI - each phone reports a model to tower.

Re: imei number
 

Ok, guys, let's not keep yelling past each other.

Abill_UK for the most part you are correct regarding IMEIs but I have a feeling archimonde and sebastian are too, within their particular contexts. After having worked with Nokia logistics operations, I've seen some crazy regulations and policies! Moscow was one of the craziest.

Some countries are so restrictive with certain items of trade (and cell phones are a BIG one) that they force the creation of massive grey (and black markets)-- and by consequence you see government officials playing by the rules until the right bribe crosses their hands.

Anyway I have no doubt based on his posts that archimonde is sincere. We've had outright crackers on the forum and they are not ashamed to divulge their intent at all.

Re: imei number
 

Yeah, in Moscow the law is whatever the authorities you are dealing with think it is. We expats often had to reenter Russia, and we were constantly surveying each other to find out which entry point had the least oppressive laws.

Sorry for the OT!

Re: imei number
 

I too want to change my imei number, just for a minute of two, I promise I will change it back, so that I can install the PR 1.2 handwirtten package, :(. For some reason, Nokia/maemo thinks only people 'nailed' down in HK needs that, the .deb checked for your imei and quits if it is not one of them :( . I guess it would be easier if one can go into the package and hack the check imei instruction. This would be easier than changing the imei, Yes, I had the package, if anyone wants to play with it. PM only


bun

Re: imei number
 

Don't fool us, please.

Re: imei number
 

?

No soup for you, egoshin.

bun

Re: imei number
 

Packets and distribution are never bind to IMEI due to a lot of reasons. One is a production doesn't warranty a linear set of IMEI numbers and database of acceptable IMEI is impossible to put into package.

It is possible to bind packet to specific distribution (HK, for exam).

Re: imei number
 

The problem is its not only illegal but also immoral to post such information on a forum directly linked to Nokia.
Talk of this nature for that very reason should not be tolerated by moderation on this forum and should be questioned as a ruling by the Meamo.org for obvious reasons.
The people asking may or may not be legitimate that is not for us to question, what IS for the forum moderation as a whole to question is the legality of such talk being tolerated on Meamo.org because of obvious link to Nokia direct.
If you allow such threads / talk of such illegal nature regarding people asking how to change imei and answers to be posted then i would like to be informed of this decision and the exact reasons why.
I feel this is the only way to clear this matter.

Re: imei number
 

Hold on a moment.

We're not a very strict forum. Merely talking about a subject, even one like this, is not forbidden per se. Posting details supporting illegal activity, however, is.

It is very important to be clear on the distinction.

Re: imei number
 

Thankyou Texrat for promptly replying and making the point that it IS ILLEGAL to post information regarding emei change.
May i suggest that posts of this nature be monitored carefully as to the responses given if not already done so because people do not give up and will be most determined if they think such information could be obtained on this forum.

Re: imei number
 

That's still a little vague. It's against policy to use this forum for the promotion of illegal activities, sure. But I don't believe forum administration (Reggie) has much issue with talking around the subject. ;)

And moderators moderate what we can. We depend on the community to bring questionable activity to our attention. A previous thread on this subject came *close* to the line but didn't cross it, and I think that's a good indication that for the most part we're okay.

Re: imei number
 

sebastian_ua96 is correct about laws, but here's the best part: If someone stole your mobile device(phone) you cannot get it back with IMEI tracking. It WAS possible, It IS still possible but in new Turkish law, police will never track your device for you. So, since OP already said that he is living in Turkey, IMEI number will not be useful for him to get his device back (if he loses) or anybody else. (if it's a theft)

See here (sorry, in Turkish. Maybe you can use Google Translate if you care that much): http://www.turkhukuksitesi.com/showthread.php?t=6733