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[Q] unlocking with code?

Hope somebody can help. I got rid of at&t service and they gave me an unlock code if I wanted to get service from t-mobile. I am going to use the phone just for mp3, gps, etc..., but I won't use any phone or data features. I'm not sure if I should unlock it and I don't know how. I'm also wondering if anyone has developed a rom that eliminates all of the phone features? Any help would be much appreciated.

Looks like my post is one that got messed up while the server went down. Somebody had already responded and said they doubted there was a rom that would have the phone and data options stripped out of it. So the only question I have now is how do I unlock my phone with the code at&t gave me? I've searched the wiki and it just points to sites that are trying to sell unlock codes. I have the code I just don't know how to use it.

To apply the unlock code, you first need to insert another carrier Sim card into your device. ex: T-Mobile
1) Shut off you device
2) Remove your battery cover
3) Remove your battery
4) Slide in a non at&t Sim card
5) Pop in your battery
6) Re-apply the battery cover
7) Power on your device
8) Once your device boots up, you'll be prompted with a "Your device is Sim Locked" type of message
9) From there, you should have an option to Unlock your device with your code
10) Taa-daa!
** You can use a friends Sim card to unlock, as long as it's not at&t. Once unlocked, just give them back their Sim card.

Thanks for the info. It's very much appreciated.

[Q] Samsung Focus Unlock Code (ATT)

not sure if this belongs in this board, but Ive been calling ATT for a while now to get an unlock code for my overseas trip.
I got mine, but...
I just don't know how exactly I'm supposed to enter it, Ive been getting mixed messages from each rep involving the steps, but the code seems to be the same.
Can someone tell me how to enter it?
---things they've told me:
- you need a diff carrier's sim card
- you dont need a diff carriers sim card
- you need to enter stuff like (#7563*638*.........)
- you dont need to enter stuff like (#7563*638*.........)

Well I just called ATT and was given my unlock code... The directions given weren't the best but managed to get it unlocked to hopefully I can help.
The woman on the phone gave me a long winded code #746...*638*742.....# Which obviously didn't work since there is no option to type in # or * when getting to the unlock screen. So I just started typing in the different numbers she gave me. I typed in the second series of 742... numbers which was 8 digits in total and hit enter and my phone was unlocked. I should also mention I did have an Australia sim card in when doing this so I'm not sure whether or not another sim is needed in the process.
Hope this helps and you can get it to work...

what is the 742 number sequence they gave you? id like to try it with my unlock code.

I actually left the code I was give at work so can't give it to you ATM... From what I've read all each individual phone has its own unique code so its doubtful mine would work anyway.
Basically what I did is entered the last 8 numbers that ATT gave me with my Aussie sim in the phone. If you're still not able to get it to work tomorrow I'll find my code at work and you can see if it'd randomly work for you.

I still haven't been able to unlock mine.
Could you please give me a step-by-step guide for unlocking my phone the way that you did?
I just need the steps and the 742 number, i already have my code.
Thank you.

Found this (and cleaned it a bit):
How to enter the unlock code for Samsung Focus (aka NCK)?
To enter unlock code for most Samsung:
Method 1:
1. Insert a foreign sim card
2. Enter the PIN if the card has it
3. now enter code NCK
=> the phone should be unlocked
If your phone does not ask for an unlock code:
Method 2:
1. Switch ON your phone with a non accepted SIM Card
2. Compose:
#7465625*638*CODE#
OR
*#7465625*638*CODE#
OR
#0111*CODE#
WARNING: entering wrong code 3 times or more will FREEZE the phone and you will need an UNFREEZE code (another one).
Hope one of above works for you.

Samsung Focus Unlock worked..
Thanks to Zehns10, the instructions worked perfect. Not only the AT&T person spent an hour trying to help me without success, but I also spent an hour with Samsung Technical Support Level 3 guys and it was a total waste of time.
The key to unlocking your Samsung Focus phone is to have a "NON AT&T SIM CARD" with you and insert that in your phone to proceed with unlocking. Both AT&T and Samsung Tech support will tell you to take the SIM card off and try all kinds of stuff and it simply won't work.
Happy camper, I am now!
AbleFarmer.

Yep, my phones unlocked now
Thanks.

ablefarmer said:
Thanks to Zehns10, the instructions worked perfect. Not only the AT&T person spent an hour trying to help me without success, but I also spent an hour with Samsung Technical Support Level 3 guys and it was a total waste of time.
The key to unlocking your Samsung Focus phone is to have a "NON AT&T SIM CARD" with you and insert that in your phone to proceed with unlocking. Both AT&T and Samsung Tech support will tell you to take the SIM card off and try all kinds of stuff and it simply won't work.
Happy camper, I am now!
AbleFarmer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed - this is what I had to do to unlock my phone - AT&T rep was useless.
Thanks!

strattao said:
Agreed - this is what I had to do to unlock my phone - AT&T rep was useless.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've asked AT&T (just in case) via email and they send me an unlock code with complete instructions including that step (non-AT&T sim card). Total time spent - less than 5 minutes (except waiting for reply, of course). So if you not in hurry, use email

what is the procedure?
i got the unlock code from AT&T
but no procedure.
when I power on I get SIM ERROR
so...where do I enter this lovely code?

AT&T instructions (my copy&paste):
1. Power off the device and insert a non ATT SIM card.
2. Power on the handset.
3. Network Lock will display enter the device unlock code.
4. The SOS key (Left Soft Key) on the lower left side of the device keypad will change to OK. Select OK.
5. Display should read Network Lock Deactivated.
PLEASE NOTE: You only have five (5) tries to unlock the phone. If this process is unsuccessful five times in a row, the phone will be permanently locked to the AT&T network.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Sir, I have got my unlock code. When i enter a non accepted SIM card i am getting an error "Incorrect SIM". It does not ask for unlock code. I want to try Method 2 mentioned by you but i am not quite sure what "Compose" means as mentioned in step 2. Also a few screenshots or a video tutorial demonstrating method 2 will be a great help.
Thanks in advance.

Where can I get the unlock code?

cal4877 said:
Where can I get the unlock code?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ask your provider (T-Mobile).

question?
can I ask a really dumb question:
below Method 1 says "3. now enter code NCK" .... Where? using what? the widget that pops up asking for the Pin is a numeric keypad only.
what is it that allows the 'input' of "NCK"???
and similarly, in Method 2, what device/widget/applet allows the input of "CODE" ??
i guess others know this, but so-called "legacy" SIM's are not liked by the i917
EnderPsp said:
Found :
How to enter the unlock code for Samsung Focus (aka NCK)?
To enter unlock code for most Samsung:
Method 1:
1. Insert a foreign sim card
2. Enter the PIN if the card has it
3. now enter code NCK
=> the phone should be unlocked
If your phone does not ask for an unlock code:
Method 2:
1. Switch ON your phone with a non accepted SIM Card
2. Compose:
#7465625*638*CODE#
OR
*#7465625*638*CODE#
OR
#0111*CODE#
WARNING: entering wrong code 3 times or more will FREEZE the phone and you will need an UNFREEZE code (another one).
Hope one of above works for you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

I live in Egypt and I won a Samsung Focus S in a Windows Phone development competition (it was held by Microsoft Egypt).
The only problem is that it's locked by AT&T and I'm unable to use my Vodafone Egypt SIM.
I contacted Microsoft here but they keep telling me that they'll get me the code and they don't, so I decided to do this myself.
Can you tell me how to contact AT&T to get the unlock code? I don't think I can call them because that would cost me A LOT (international calls here are very expensive), and tell me what I need to say to them in order for them to give me the code

Contact AT&T via email (see my posts above) or just pay $20 to these guys: http://www.samsungimeiunlock.com/samsung-focus-s-unlock (I hope, $20 is not A LOT for you? )

Ok so I just discovered that I can call AT&T's customer service from Skype for free
So I called them and I told them about my case and gave them my IMEI number, but they couldn't find my unlock code
I asked them what could be the reason for that, they told me that with new phones like mine, the manufacturer doesn't release the unlock codes to the carriers until some time has passed, that time can be a month or a year or forever!
Can someone tell me why would Samsung do this? and does that mean I'll have to use samsungimeiunlock.com to SIM Unlock my phone?
20$ isn't that much (it's approximately 120 Egyptian pounds), but I would've preferred if I was able to get it for free

hassanselim0 said:
Can someone tell me why would Samsung do this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
XDA Q&A isn't the best place to ask rhetorical questions. Forward your question to Samsung. Also, as for samsungimeiunlock.com better to ask samsungimeiunlock.com guys directly (I'm not working on samsungimeiunlock.com).

[Q] Problems with sim unlock galaxy s2 I9100, chainfire and helroz unsuccesfull

Hi there,
I am having difficulty unlocking my new (UK) galaxy S2 and I figured this is the best place to ask for help. I have searched the threads on this forum and have not been able to find the answers I need. So I'm starting a new thread.
I have rooted the phone successfully and followed the instructions with the chainfire app and when it finished it said it couldn't find the unlock code. The phone came from Virgin as part of a contract, however the contract has been cancelled and I don’t have a virgin sim any more so I haven’t actually tried it with the virgin network. It might be worth mentioning here that when I put a different sim card in it the screen that pops up asking for the unlock code isn't there. I have also completed the procedure with the “galaxy S Unlock” app created by Helroz and that was also unsuccessful. Because the three steps in "galaxy S unlock" were unsuccessful I have restored the efs folder back to its original state. I have not bothered to try the manual method of recovering the unlock code using the hex editor because after reading this forum it seemed unlikely to work and it looked like a bit of a hassle.
I have tried several sim cards in the phone that work with my friend’s phone. And my phone was unable to connect to any networks. Except, when I tried my friends T-Mobile contract sim card I connected to the T-mobile network but my phone wouldn't allow out going or incoming calls however the data network worked fine! Yes the internet was working through the t-mobile network (wifi was turned off)
Isn't that weird!!!! So it kind of looks like the phone might be being blocked by the service provider but I find that very unlikely because up until a couple of days ago the phone was sealed in its box.
I have read through most of the "[HOWTO] GT-I9100 Free SIM Unlock via nv_data.bin by Odia" thread and there is some mention of a new locking technique employed by the various phone network companies. Does my problem sound like it could fall in to that category??
It might also be worth mentioning that I took the phone to a phone shop to see if they could unlock it. They couldn't, but the guy did check the IMEI number on a website called checkmend.com and that site reported: "checkmend has a record of this item having been blocked by a cell phone network" and "checkmend has a record that this item is currently blocked by one or more cell phone networks". Does anyone know anything about this website and weather it is reliable or not. Like I say I find it extremely unlikely that it has been blocked because I have only just got it out of the sealed box.
I am very frustrated as you can all imagine and I would really appreciate some help. Feel free to ask any questions, I am a bit of a noob but I'm not completely incompitent so don't be afraid to get technical.
Thank you for listening,
Yours,
Dardarland.

Bump...
I'm having kind of the same trouble here...
I tried the Chainfire's app and it couldn't find my code, so i went and tried the Helroz App
after following the instructiones in the app and checking with *#7465625# it changed network block to OFF... but when i inserted a diff carrier sim it said: network block... and now my other carrier sim got blocked and won't get recognized by the phone it used to be in... LOL
pls help us both!!

Unlocking
Hi
I did have the same problems with the chainfire app
what i did is use Galaxy_S Unlock (google it as I can not post links at the moment)
Also you will need to install busybox for this to work.
just search for busybox in market and install the first app that comes up
Hope it works

ragsbava said:
Hi
I did have the same problems with the chainfire app
what i did is use Galaxy_S Unlock (google it as I can not post links at the moment)
Also you will need to install busybox for this to work.
just search for busybox in market and install the first app that comes up
Hope it works
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks fella, worked like a charm

Re: fjaraiza
fjaraiza said:
Bump...
I'm having kind of the same trouble here...
I tried the Chainfire's app and it couldn't find my code, so i went and tried the Helroz App
after following the instructiones in the app and checking with *#7465625# it changed network block to OFF... but when i inserted a diff carrier sim it said: network block... and now my other carrier sim got blocked and won't get recognized by the phone it used to be in... LOL
pls help us both!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi fjaraiza,
I saw somewhere in the forum guys that were having similar problems due to the carrier branded rom they had on the phone and due to helroz method which is far more intrusive than odia's. Helroz is flipping bits within nv_data.bin which might lead to corruption. The success of Helroz's method also depends on the phone protection method, some newer versions check the correspondent md5 and ignore the file if it's not the right one.
Your best bet would be to restore an /efs backup if you have one or backup the current state of /efs and try another rom.
Good luck,
Stefan.
P.S.: use thanks when the supplied information is useful

can unlock the messed up ones for a lil fee, pm

Helroz unlocks but then locks again...
Hi all, I've got a weird problem. I used Helroz SIM unlocker on my SGS2 (Im running the latest CM9 build 28/8) and it works. Helroz unlocks the phone but only for about 1-2h?! After about 1-2h the phone has lost NW connection and ask for the SIM unlock code. If I press 'dismiss' then I can run Helroz unlocker again and it will be ok for 1-2h and then loose the unlock again... Has anyone had this problem? Before I used a stock Samsung ROM and then Helroz unlocker worked perfectly, its since I've moved to CM9 ROM that I'm having this issue. Can anyone help?
Thanks in advance

I did have the same problems with the chainfire app
what i did is use Galaxy_S Unlock (google it as I can not post links at the moment)
Also you will need to install busybox for this to work.
just search for busybox in market and install the first app that comes up
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This worked like magic, but i can i now uninstall the busybox as i dont need it or do i have to keep it on my phone to have it unlocked?

same pronblem
i unlocked my phone using "samsung galaxy unlock" when it was on gingerbread. then i updated it to jelly bean using cm10.2 & after that when i switched it on it says "Enter sim unlock code". i used the same app again but did't get any benefit. also tried few other apps but failed. now when i put the 3 network (the original carrier) it do same with that as well. somebody tell me what to do?

[Q] Xperia J locked in Emergency mode- but an unusual tale maybe Mission Impossible

Hi all,
I will be eternally grateful for your help but I am not holding much hope.
I got this new phone from my operator Three in the UK back in January this year.
All works ok except for the screen calibration which I did not get round to fix.
On Monday I decided to put a pin lock on my phone, as I haven't been using
the pin lock for a few years now. I chose the pin code, then I stupidly tried
"Lock Sim". Then the screen came up with sim locked, PUK needed.
I did not make even one attempt with the PUK code as I decided to phone
my operator for it. We went through the procedure, he gave me the PUK
code and we managed to unlock the sim card and then I remember the
pin code (as I always have) and inputted it and the phone is unpinned.
I need to mention that we did have one or two bad attempts where
I couldn't hear the technical guy too well and I did enter the wrong pin
once or twice, but less than the 3 attempts limit and we did have to
take the battery out 3-4 times due to this and also because
I kept putting the sim card the wrong way round being very careless.
The sim is unlocked but on the screen it is "no service" emergency
calls only, where if you choose the emergency option green button
it will give you a menu and * # . I can see some symbols on the top
such as wifi connected. If I call this mobile phone I can pick up
the call, the screen has the usual answer or reject phone symbol on.
But during and after the call pressing the home/back/menu button
on the phone (off the screen ) have no effect. I told the technical
guy about this. He suggested a new sim but if I put my old sim
in my other three pre-smartphones phones it works. However
this phone is tied to this sim card/phone number only as I try
my other sims on it and they do not work.
I have tried a few things:
the 7378423 thing with all the right *#, doesn't work. but 06 works to get IMEI
cannot enter fastboot mode holding down the volume up button and plugging
USB in, but can enter flash mode.
I do not want to lose data as I have some important data which I haven't
backup to my sin so I don't want to use PCC or SUS to install either
the current OS (I think it is ICE cream 4.04 ish) or the new jelly bean.
To complicate matters my phone is not USB debugged enabled so I
cannot use software to do a quick backup of my phone I tried
mobile me from wonderware(?) and its needs usb debugging.
PC companion doesn't have restore and backup anymore, or at least
not for xperia J as the Sony support guy told me, if it does it probably
needs debugging enabled.
Talked to Sony support, he said the only way is to use PCC to reinstall
software and I will lose data as expected. I asked him if Experia J
and the newer Xperia phones have disabled the 7378432 service
code and if there is a new one which he can tell me. He says there
are no new codes.
The phone is not totally now working, I managed to get into "safe mode".
I wonder if the phone actually is rooted or has bootloader unlocked I
read if that is the case it may explain why the 7378432 does not work
as it only works on sony stock rom. But then I came across other people
whose phones may not be bootloader unlocked and this code does not work.
I also came across people who cannot get into fastboot mode.
Maybe because my batch of xperia J, together with customisation by
my phone operator has disabled 7378432 and fastboot which I don't thin
so as Sony themselves mentioned the use of these two important
elements in their unofficial but be warned section on unlocking the
bootloader. I wonder when I took out the battery a few times when
I spoke to the technical guy my phone is locked due to security but
as I said before the PUK code was entered correctly first time round
if not second time round, so is the pin, We just took the battery out
and retried about 2 times as my sim was in the wrong way round.
Finally my apologies for the long post, the phone still has my wallpaper
on it and the error message I used to get from an app (telling me the
app is not working) when I turned on the phone. If the phone was
flashed/rooted then it was not done by me, it might have been done
by a previous owner and then returned to the operator within 14 days
and then my supposedly new phone is this rooted phone. Without
usb debugging enabled its hard to go into recovery mode via
usb link/flashrom/boot etc? But if we know which rom we can
try to go into recovery mode without a usb link by pressing a few buttons?
At the end if I have enough money which I don't sadly someone at sony
can probably take the phone out and do some high level fixing, as long
as the memory is still in tact which I hope it is. For some reason the
phone is locked in this emergency calls only mode. I have not made
any attempts to root it etc before Monday and no attempts to root it.
I just thought the 7378432 can "unlock" a phone lock like the much
discussed xperia Z - if the phone is on a pin/pattern lock etc.
My attempt to go into fastboot mode is to hope that by getting in
and getting out of it the phone will reverse back to normal. My situation
is mainly complicated by that I really want not to lose the data, sms
particularly when we try to unlock/unfreeze the phone.
Extremely sorry for the long post, if anyone can help I will be
most most grateful, bye for now.

[Q] Can't Unlock LG-p500

Hello everyone,
I come to you with a very strange case, which I have yet to find elsewhere on the web. I hope one of you guys can help me with this...
I'm trying to unlock my LG-p500 phone, I paid for an unlocking code and was ready to follow the instructions to unlock it. I was expecting for a window to pop after typing the first code (2945#*500#), but nothing happened, I tried to enter a different sim card from a different provider and it didn't displayed "phone restricted" as it was supposed to (according to instructions and different forums), but it simply displayed "No service" and "Emergency calls only". I also tried to type 2945#*71001# to get the menu but again... the phone didn't responded to any of these codes (I'm now observing that actually the phone does not respond to many of the secret codes of LG-p500 and Android as well, but it does responds to a number of them, such as *#*#4636#*#*)
Ever since then I've tried SO many things to work it out. I rebooted, unrooted, rooted again, formatted, recovered, installed custom roms, reverted to the original rom, software updated, I almost bricked my phone while trying to get this done but nothing seemed to work. I figured to try to get that menu in a friend's LG-p500 phone, unmodded in any possible way, and surprisingly the window to input the code still did not appeared and it didn't responded to any of the codes above.
It made me wonder of whether the provider had blocked the option of entering the codes, as me and her are with the same phone from the same provider, getting similar results.
I searched for hours for a solution to the problem but with no luck. I would really appreciate getting some help with this, as i'm totally clueless of what to do next. I will be very grateful for any response.
Much thanks!
Shay

Shuye said:
Hello everyone,
I come to you with a very strange case, which I have yet to find elsewhere on the web. I hope one of you guys can help me with this...
I'm trying to unlock my LG-p500 phone, I paid for an unlocking code and was ready to follow the instructions to unlock it. I was expecting for a window to pop after typing the first code (2945#*500#), but nothing happened, I tried to enter a different sim card from a different provider and it didn't displayed "phone restricted" as it was supposed to (according to instructions and different forums), but it simply displayed "No service" and "Emergency calls only". I also tried to type 2945#*71001# to get the menu but again... the phone didn't responded to any of these codes (I'm now observing that actually the phone does not respond to many of the secret codes of LG-p500 and Android as well, but it does responds to a number of them, such as *#*#4636#*#*)
Ever since then I've tried SO many things to work it out. I rebooted, unrooted, rooted again, formatted, recovered, installed custom roms, reverted to the original rom, software updated, I almost bricked my phone while trying to get this done but nothing seemed to work. I figured to try to get that menu in a friend's LG-p500 phone, unmodded in any possible way, and surprisingly the window to input the code still did not appeared and it didn't responded to any of the codes above.
It made me wonder of whether the provider had blocked the option of entering the codes, as me and her are with the same phone from the same provider, getting similar results.
I searched for hours for a solution to the problem but with no luck. I would really appreciate getting some help with this, as i'm totally clueless of what to do next. I will be very grateful for any response.
Much thanks!
Shay
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The device's hidden menu is only accessible thru stock ROMs and the stock dialer.

shinobisoft said:
The device's hidden menu is only accessible thru stock ROMs and the stock dialer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I figured that, that's why I've also tried to access that menu via an unmodified LG p500 phone, which probably still runs the stock rom but I couldn't access that menu through that phone as well.
I'm starting to conclude that my phone was already unlocked from the provider itself, and perhaps that is the reason why I cannot access that menu again.
Is there a way of assuring that my phone is unlocked? I figured that I can use other sim cards from other Israeli providers, I thought there were two types of locks (that's what they told me in customer service), so if I can use sim cards from other local providers, does it mean that I can also use the phone for sim cards from international providers as well?
Thanks!