Hi guys,
This is my very first post and Glaxay Gio(S5660M) is my very first android phone!
I got this phone brand new from Bell. Wanted to unlock it to use on Rogers. Found out that the phone doesn't register any valid IMEI!
I press *#06# and IMEI shows up blank. The same happens when I go to setting->Phone status->IMEI. Nothing is there. The box and the lable underneath the battery show a valid IMEI number but nothing is registered INSIDE the phone.
Now, I tried a Bell SIM card and the phone works fine. But no luck with any other SIM card. How is it possible to operate a cell phone without IMEI?
Is it still possible for me to root and flash this phone to original Samsung firmware?
I have no experience in rooting or flashing but I don't mind trying the methods explained in this forum.
Please advise.
Cheers,
Seems you used the STL5 method to get the unlock code. That method is out of date and causes a large percentage of corrupt EFS. There's no known way to restore it right now; you have to take it back to your shop and act dumb.
Welcome to forums
Thread moved to Q&A due to it being a question. Would advise you to read forum rules and post in correct section.
Failure to comply with forum rules will result in an infraction and/or ban depending on severity of rule break.
This phone is brand new. It was never activated through Bell Canada nor was it unlocked or tampered with.
I believe the IMEI is there but Bell's firmware blockes it from being displayed before activation. Is it possible?
I called Bell and they said I should activate the phone, then their system loads the new phone number and the IMEI into the phone so I can use it.
Now, with a valid IMEI in the system, I can go ahead and unlock the phone using tested methods, right?
Please advise.
Could someone please help me out here?
This phone is prepaid by Bell Canada. The phone is not activated by Bell so there is no phone number associated with it. It is brand new.
I check the lock status of the phone and all gategories show as "OFF" but it does not work with any SIM card except Bell!
IMEI shows as two small empty boxes. No number or anything. Eveything else looks fine. All apps run well.
Now, what should I do? Can I root, flash and put the official firmware on it? Is it possible to do so? Some say the EFS is corrupted if no IMEI is showing. But how come the phone works with Bell SIM card?
Please help!
Related
My sgh-i927r got sim locked for the second time. Earlier i got it repaired at a shop...
It keeps on asking "ENTER NETWORK LOCK CONTROL KEY"
This time I deleted 'nv_data.bin' and '.nv_data.bak' files from 'efs' folder as suggested on a post here at XDA.
This unlocked the phone but due to the generic IMEI i still cannot use calls, but the packet data is working fine.
When i replace the backed up files in 'efs' folder the phone again gets locked...
Is there any other way of unlocking it with the original IMEI no.??
As far I'm aware the original IMEI is now obsolete as far as unlocking the phone is concerned.
We only unlock phones using codes so unfortunately I can't really help with the rest of your post.
Hey folks,
I just lost a phone (again) and that was my back up, so I have the Galaxy S 4G I bought used a long time ago and apparently the IMEI is blocked and has the small "x" where the signal bars used to be.
I already tried unlocking it doing both method of the "AROMA Edition" from the S 4G section, and still the same. The unlock code doesn't seem to work. Are there any other methods of unlocking the IMEI?
I'm running team acid's ICS 4.0.4
Thanks!!
supercho said:
Hey folks,
I just lost a phone (again) and that was my back up, so I have the Galaxy S 4G I bought used a long time ago and apparently the IMEI is blocked and has the small "x" where the signal bars used to be.
I already tried unlocking it doing both method of the "AROMA Edition" from the S 4G section, and still the same. The unlock code doesn't seem to work. Are there any other methods of unlocking the IMEI?
I'm running team acid's ICS 4.0.4
Thanks!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1st: This is a developer forums. Next time use the Q&A forums.
2nd: What you are asking is illegal in most countries, and against XDA rules.
3rd: To answer your question, if the thread didn't get deleted before you can
see the answer, you have two options (Both are illegal, since it involves tampering with IMEI number).
Option 1: Use NS Pro, Z3X tool box..etc! to change your IMEI number. Expensive
and it is over $100 to buy the box and cables.
Option 2: Erase your IMEI number and make it all Zero's 0, your phone will work,
and you will have signal, but most likely you will have 3g or weak data or no 4g at all. To do this, first backup your NV just in case you want to return to original. Read what is in the spoiler button below..
==========================
-=For educational Purposes Only=-
==========================
I didn't try this, but other users tried this on other galaxy phones and worked.
Make sure you are using stock rom (heimdall or odin). Using the dialer:
input: *#197328640# then go to COMMON, NV REBUILD (you can do backup here)
Choose Erase three partitions (Not a typo) then reboot.
if the above didn't work, just erase the NV_Data.bin manually using root explorer
and reboot.
Another option would be using QPST/QXDM (qualcomm tools). Search...
BACKUP FIRST..
Rebel_X said:
1st: This is a developer forums. Next time use the Q&A forums.
2nd: What you are asking is illegal in most countries, and against XDA rules.
3rd: To answer your question, if the thread didn't get deleted before you can
see the answer, you have two options (Both are illegal, since it involves tampering with IMEI number).
Option 1: Use NS Pro, Z3X tool box..etc! to change your IMEI number. Expensive
and it is over $100 to buy the box and cables.
Option 2: Erase your IMEI number and make it all Zero's 0, your phone will work,
and you will have signal, but most likely you will have 3g or weak data or no 4g at all. To do this, first backup your NV just in case you want to return to original. Read what is in the spoiler button below..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your inputs and secrets!! I didn't want to be in this situation, I just bought the wrong phone.
I am aware this was illegal (after I bought the used phone) but not against the XDA rules, since I thought it was the same as carrier unlocking.
I will try.....thanks!
BTW: What is NV?
Can I do option 2 with any version installed or does it have to be the factory reset version?
supercho said:
BTW: What is NV?
Can I do option 2 with any version installed or does it have to be the factory reset version?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
NV: I believe it is a nonvolatile memory (similar to the bios memory for PC)
The files are stored in a special partition, usually not touched by flashing custom
roms.
Since the process of dealing with this have high risk (bricking your phone, hence I don't want to be responsible for anything) I suggest you to search the forums or use google.
For option 2: you have to be on stock based firmware (gingerbread, rooted is ok) as long as you have the original Touchwiz dialer. AOSP roms can't handle MMI codes except maybe the famous *#06# to show the imei number.
At this point, you are on your own. Good luck. :good:
Thanks!!
Rebel_X said:
1st: This is a developer forums. Next time use the Q&A forums.
2nd: What you are asking is illegal in most countries, and against XDA rules.
3rd: To answer your question, if the thread didn't get deleted before you can
see the answer, you have two options (Both are illegal, since it involves tampering with IMEI number).
Option 1: Use NS Pro, Z3X tool box..etc! to change your IMEI number. Expensive
and it is over $100 to buy the box and cables.
Option 2: Erase your IMEI number and make it all Zero's 0, your phone will work,
and you will have signal, but most likely you will have 3g or weak data or no 4g at all. To do this, first backup your NV just in case you want to return to original. Read what is in the spoiler button below..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One last thing, while doing option 2, should my activated T-Mo sim card be inserted in the phone the whole time?
supercho said:
One last thing, while doing option 2, should my activated T-Mo sim card be inserted in the phone the whole time?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The process wouldn't hurt the SIM card. Whether it is there or not same thing.
Just want to clear this up for future readers, carrier unlocking is not the same as getting the IMEI number. The carrier unlock code can be gotten from T-Mobile directly and you can unlock the phone that way.
Changing your IMEI is not condoned or endorsed by any carrier. It's possible on the Galaxy S line of phones (we had someone who claimed to be able to on this forum before).
I bought a Verizon Samsung Galaxy s7 off craigslist am-G930V, I was told it was already unlocked as Verizon phones are already unlocked out of the box, I put in my metro sim card& I get nothing
1) the start up screen says custom and shows an unlocked padlock what does that mean? Does that mean it's rooted?
2) I've tried several different root aps and root checker apps &several have come back as rooted I also tried the device health check option I found through a Verizon app that cane on the phone that also said it was rooted but the original root checker app says "sorry root access is not properly installed on this device . So what do I do I tried flashing the supersu zip & I get "Error in/sideload/package.zip (status255)
Is there something I can do to fix it?
Is there a way I can find out if it's rooted or not other then root checker.
Also what needs to be done to get my sim card to work on this phone also?
You need to spend a day reading a lot of threads my friend, it seems you don't have any knowledge about root or how to achieve it, all the info you need is here, don't just blindly try flashing things, read.
I already knew that part, what i need to know is what do I read what do I do? If it's all here point me in the right direction
If you're looking to be spoon fed, that won't happen here, open some forums, read some threads, doesn't take a degree to find things if you take the time to read rather than expecting people to do the work for you.
I have been looking this up and reading for about a week.
The person I bought this phone from I think may have rooted it but I'm not sure if and what they used to do so. I'm thinking they attempted to root it but didn't complete the process.
Now with the sim card after I insert it wouldn't my next step be to go to mobile networks in my settings?
When I do that instead of the standard opinions of network operators access points ect. I only have two options data roaming and access points.
I've tried adding a few different apn settings & still nothing.
I'd like a little bit of help someway somehow
Root has nothing to do with SIM locks, if the phone doesn't accept the SIM it has absolutely nothing to do with being rooted or not, and no that padlock doesn't have anything to do with being rooted either
Since you already posted here http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s7/help/s7-help-t3517647, this is a duplicate thread.
Thread closed.
Regards
Vatsal,
Forum Moderator.
Hi All,
Been at this for several hours today and feeling a bit frustrated. Here's the context.
I bought a used Verizon Galaxy Note 10 and took it to another country.
I arrived and put a sim card in *(the phone is intended to stay here)
4G signal appeared and text messages came in
Phone blocked signal and said "sorry, your device cannot be activated on another Network right now" then it says to call Verizon.
I call Verizon and ask how to unlock.
After transferring to multiple agents, the answer is that the phone is not locked in their system and that upon inserting a SIM from another carrier, I should be prompted to put in a code and it will be "00000000" to unlock the phone
The phone never presents this option and is perpetually unable to activate because of this sim lock.
At this point, I started reading up on how I could get around this and settled on using odin to flash firmware for a different carrier and maybe having to flash the SM-N970U1 packages because that should allow me to have different stock firmware.
So I proceed to download various different images.
Here is the TMB image for SM-N970U that I downloaded:
https://samfw.com/firmware/SM-N970U/TMB/N970USQU6FUBH
I also figured maybe I would be able to flash the verizon base image and get around this lock:
https://samfw.com/firmware/SM-N970U/VZW/N970USQU6FUCD
So then I proceed to use Odin3_v3.14.4 and place all of the 4 files in their corresponding fields in odin. The file list is as follows for one of the packages:
BL_N970USQU6FUD9_CL21599467_QB39871099_REV00_user_low_ship_MULTI_CERT.tar.md5
AP_N970USQU6FUD9_CL21599467_QB39871099_REV00_user_low_ship_MULTI_CERT_meta_OS11.tar.md5
CP_N970USQU6FUD9_CP19049000_CL21599467_QB39871099_REV00_user_low_ship_MULTI_CERT.tar.md5
CSC_OMC_OYN_N970UOYN6FUD9_CL21599467_QB39871099_REV00_user_low_ship_MULTI_CERT.tar.md5
I click start, the phone is recognized and then the flashing appears to occur successfully until it says pass at the end.
I reboot the phone and I notice right away that the signal is present, but then disappears and as the phone initializes the VERIZON message appears again.
Immediately I'm thinking, ok, I've just reflashed it with the TMobile image but the phone boots and says verizon and the sim lock is still there, so I probably didn't do something right.
So I factory reset, try again, no changes, I try adding the USERDATA and it also does nothing different.
At this point I'm willing to try the U1 firmware, so I download from here:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/n970u-and-n970u1-firmware-links-here.3957705/
But when I run the odin flash, I get model mismatch, yet the thread says they're compatible as U1 is just the samsung unlocked version. so I try the odin patch b found here:
https://odindownload.club/download/197/Odin3-v3.14.1-3B-PatcheD.zip
And it fails to write.
I am in desperate need of help as I've been unable to find more specific information, typically in threads people may say they've resolved the issue, but then they don't actually indicate what steps they took, or any of the details surrounding the resolution. If I can get help getting this resolved, I can document the exact steps i've taken in explicit detail so that others can follow them and achieve the same result.
Update:
Downloaded FRIJA to get the latest firmware, am going to explore doing a nand erase and repartition, followed by flashing tmobile firmware to see if that gets around it.
following:
https://technastic.com/odin-nand-erase-samsung/
@4rg3ntum
Flashing a (custom) ROM on an Android phone doesn't give one SIM unlock because the SIM lock stuff is in a separate ROM chip that is not part of the normal phone storage, AFAIK the SIM lock is stored in the Radio NVRAM, but I may err as always ...
Verizon has a 6 month unlock policy. if the phone is free of debt and older than 6 months it should be automatically unlocked. phone them, you bought the phone in good faith.
jwoegerbauer said:
@4rg3ntum
Flashing a (custom) ROM on an Android phone doesn't give one SIM unlock because the SIM lock stuff is in a separate ROM chip that is not part of the normal phone storage, AFAIK the SIM lock is stored in the Radio NVRAM, but I may err as always ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's why I am thinking of wiping the NVRAM and just re-partitioning. Then I'll flash a non-verizon system onto it. Could be that this resolves it.
Thoughts?
3mel said:
Verizon has a 6 month unlock policy. if the phone is free of debt and older than 6 months it should be automatically unlocked. phone them, you bought the phone in good faith.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I spent 2 hours on the phone with them and spoke to 3 different representatives. They all confirmed the phone was not locked in their system. I read it was 60 day unlock policy.
4rg3ntum said:
I spent 2 hours on the phone with them and spoke to 3 different representatives. They all confirmed the phone was not locked in their system. I read it was 60 day unlock policy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With AT&T they give you requested then they gave you an unlock code, it's not automatic. At least it was like this a few years back.
4rg3ntum said:
I spent 2 hours on the phone with them and spoke to 3 different representatives. They all confirmed the phone was not locked in their system. I read it was 60 day unlock policy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sorry yeah, 60 days is the right period.
jwoegerbauer said:
@4rg3ntum
Flashing a (custom) ROM on an Android phone doesn't give one SIM unlock because the SIM lock stuff is in a separate ROM chip that is not part of the normal phone storage, AFAIK the SIM lock is stored in the Radio NVRAM, but I may err as always ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So this appears to be true.
I loaded up ADB and turned on USB debugging and started passing shell commands through and found these files in the system with nvram in the name:
/sys/module/dhd/parameters/nvram_path
/vendor/firmware/nvram.txt_ES03_semco_b0
/vendor/firmware/nvram.txt_1rh_es13_b0
/vendor/firmware/nvram.txt_CS01_semco_b1
/vendor/firmware/nvram.txt_ES02_semco_b0
/vendor/firmware/nvram.txt_1rh_es43_b1
/vendor/firmware/nvram.txt_1rh_es41_b1
/vendor/firmware/nvram.txt_1rh_es32_b0
/vendor/firmware/nvram.txt_ES00_semco_b0
/vendor/firmware/nvram.txt_ES01_semco_b0
/vendor/firmware/nvram.txt_1rh_es12_b0
/vendor/firmware/nvram.txt_1rh_es42_b1
/vendor/firmware/nvram.txt_1rh_es11_b0
Makes me wonder if the value for locked/unlocked is editable in one of those files.
a sample of what is in the /vendor/firmware/nvram.txt_ES03_semco_b0 file:
### RSDB mode Parameters(Both core are active)
## 2g normal:15dB airplane:14dB
#slice/1/grip_rsdb_dynsar_2g=0xbcbc
#slice/1/grip_rsdb_dynsar_2g_2=0xb8b8
## 5g normal:13dB airplane:12dB
#grip_rsdb_dynsar_5g=0xb4b4
#grip_rsdb_dynsar_5g_2=0xb0b0
#
### FCC Mode: 10dB
#slice/1/fccpwrch12=0x28
#slice/1/fccpwrch13=0x28
In any case I have an issue that I can't seem to resolve. Every guide I have found about how to change carrier firmware is pretty straightforward. Yet when I flash the firmware successfully through odin for say, the sprint version of the phone, upon reboot, in about phone still says VZW, which basically tells me the phone isn't actually flashing.
I need to understand why I can't seem to get it to have another carrier's firmware. What am I doing wrong?
jwoegerbauer said:
@4rg3ntum
Flashing a (custom) ROM on an Android phone doesn't give one SIM unlock because the SIM lock stuff is in a separate ROM chip that is not part of the normal phone storage, AFAIK the SIM lock is stored in the Radio NVRAM, but I may err as always ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe I can edit this with ADB?
I have seen several forums where people with the same error message simply flashed another carriers firmware onto the phone and were able to get around it.
Here is someone saying they tried the U1 firmware and it gave them the option to put in an unlock code:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/is-verizon-locking-s10.3908683/post-80813873
Every time I try to flash the U1 firmware odin tells me model mismatch.
Update:
I flashed the latest available ATT version of U1 firmware from here:
https://samfw.com/firmware/SM-N970U1/ATT/N970U1UEU6FUDA
Using Odin patch 3B downloaded from here:
https://www.droidmirror.com/downloading/download-odin3_v3-13-1_3b_patched-zip
Having tried many U firmware + USERDATA from different carriers and never was able to get it to say anything other VZW in the about phone section.
By going to the U1 version I was able to get the unlock code portion to pop up when inserting the sim card, the phone also claims it's model number is SM-N970U1 instead of SM-N970U now.
The code Verizon gave me on the phone 0000 0000 flat out DOESN'T work. I called again today and they had their manager use a tool to provide an unlock code because the "unlock" button in their system didn't appear for my IMEI.
That system said the unlock code is 0000 0000 just like the tech the previous day. So now, they're transferring me to the advanced technical support, but somehow I doubt they will give me a code.
In any case, what I would rather do is go through ADB and try to get some binaries or text files out (may require root for these files) and get the unlock code from the device itself.
I wish this thread was more active because there are some good opportunities here to explore the OS itself and the files in it as well as tools that can be used to read the binary.
Spoke with "Advanced" support at verizon. They had no way to generate a code to unlock the device. Basically Verizon's systems didn't automatically generate an unlock code after the previous owners had the phone activated for the minimum 60 days. Because the phone was a prepaid phone and not a post paid phone, their system deleted the history of the of the prepaid account after a certain period of time when the previous owner had sold the phone to the repair shop and it sat there for months.
BASICALLY, Verizon phones are uniquely equipped with a block that prevent legitimate purchasers of various types from being able to use their devices as they hold everyone hostage with their network locking.
It looks like I can't root the device either because of the oem unlock option not being present and the workaround of changing the date not presenting the option.
At this point I'm looking to root the device so I can inspect the OS
4rg3ntum said:
It looks like I can't root the device either because of the oem unlock option not being present and the workaround of changing the date not presenting the option.
At this point I'm looking to root the device so I can inspect the OS
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello I came across your thread because I am having the same issue. I think mine is similar because thus phone was a replacement through asurion/verizon. It also says its unlocked when verszon looks and when asurion looks, but I do not have service for more than 10 secind with my new AT&T Sim. Have you found anything new?.
I also looked into rooting the phone but I don't plan to keep this phone and if I want to do the trade in process and they see the root on the back end I will not receive the trade in money.
TomHanks92 said:
Hello I came across your thread because I am having the same issue. I think mine is similar because thus phone was a replacement through asurion/verizon. It also says its unlocked when verszon looks and when asurion looks, but I do not have service for more than 10 secind with my new AT&T Sim. Have you found anything new?.
I also looked into rooting the phone but I don't plan to keep this phone and if I want to do the trade in process and they see the root on the back end I will not receive the trade in money.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If Verizon says the phone is unlocked, make sure to Flash the U package with Verizon bloat. Connect phone to Wifi and the unlock should happen. They only seem to unlock when on the Verizon bloat U package. Anything other than that and the phone stays locked. Once it unlocks you can flash back to whatever you want.
Hi there,
I'm not sure if this is the right place to post my question.
I got a Panasonic FZ-X1 that works fine, but unfortunately the phone is locked.
I do not know who the provider/carrier is from whom unlocking could be requested. I assume
it is a carrier from the Asian region, but I'm not sure. I stuck with checking the IMEI number, there
was no usable result. The IMEI however seems to be "clean" so far.
My question is, can somehow be found out who the carrier is, via of the device itself? (device is not rooted!)
Can one e.g. read out the current ROM somehow, in order to possibly find the title in the ROM? That could maybe
give hints.
Thanks a lot.