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OK so something broke with the mini USB connector on my Inspire and I can't get a connection to the power outlet or computer anymore. I figured I would send in my phone to get a warranty exchange but I have Android Revolution right now and since a rooted phone is out of warranty I am going to get smacked with a fee. Is there any possible way to reset the phone or flash back to stock without a USB connection? Should I just let the battery die before I send it back so they can't charge it and see that its rooted? Help!!
I'm kind of in the same boat as you, today i dropped my phone out of a truck and now the speaker sounds like it's through a McDonalds speaker box. I need to restore to factory but i have Coredroid 6.7 and with that came with EXT4 i was wondering how to get it back to EXT3 or if it was necessary and is there any tools besides ACE to restore it? Im not having alot of luck with ACE and afraid to press the stock rom without going back to EXT3. Any help would be greatly appreciated thanks!
wesc011 said:
OK so something broke with the mini USB connector on my Inspire and I can't get a connection to the power outlet or computer anymore. I figured I would send in my phone to get a warranty exchange but I have Android Revolution right now and since a rooted phone is out of warranty I am going to get smacked with a fee. Is there any possible way to reset the phone or flash back to stock without a USB connection? Should I just let the battery die before I send it back so they can't charge it and see that its rooted? Help!!
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Click to collapse
Find a way to get your SD card in a media slot.
Sent from my Inspire 4G using XDA App
Unrooting will be pretty easy. Just get a micro sd adapter and mount the SD on your pc. The copy the pd*.img rom to the root of the card. Then put the card back in the phone and boot in to Hboot and install the ROM.
FIRST, though you need to get S-OFF. That will be more tricky. You'll need to copy some files from the hack kit to your SD card and run some commands from the terminal window on the device.
1.18.12 said:
Find a way to get your SD card in a media slot.
Sent from my Inspire 4G using XDA App
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Click to collapse
What do I do after that? Format the SD Card? Won't they still be able to tell I have a custom rom flashed?
wesc011 said:
What do I do after that? Format the SD Card? Won't they still be able to tell I have a custom rom flashed?
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Click to collapse
See my post. That is what he was getting at...
Where do I find which commands to run in order to get S-OFF? I only have like 50% left on my battery.
wesc011 said:
Where do I find which commands to run in order to get S-OFF? I only have like 50% left on my battery.
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I would suggest you turn off anything not absolutely needed. Maybe even airplane mode I'f you can go without a phone.
Sent from my Inspire 4G using XDA App
1.18.12 said:
I would suggest you turn off anything not absolutely needed. Maybe even airplane mode I'f you can go without a phone.
Sent from my Inspire 4G using XDA App
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i've done that, but i still need to know how to flash back to stock and get S-ON before it runs out
wesc011 said:
i've done that, but i still need to know how to flash back to stock and get S-ON before it runs out
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Click to collapse
You can get to stock through hboot and flashing the Stock RUU.
I'm just not sure how you can get S-On without ADB. Unless there's some way to run the commands through the Terminal on your phone.
There are other options especially since most ATT stores wont check and have no idea:
Flash the rooted or unrooted stock ROM without the sideloading option that the look and feel appears stock and walk to the store.
Get wife and/or girlfriend out of the house, remove battery, battery and lower cover and treat the phone with 10 sec microwave (I never said this)....
99% chance that it is bricked.
Both is fraudulent reg. warranty claims (as is rooting) but I guess we all know this.*
*That's just the legal sticker - LOL
The microwave thing isn't a bad idea... but main questions is do i need to go back to EXT3 for Stock RUU?
Bradbetheman said:
The microwave thing isn't a bad idea... but main questions is do i need to go back to EXT3 for Stock RUU?
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Click to collapse
Re-installing the stock RUU will replace the EXT4 with the original image so it won't matter. The RUU replaces just about every partition on the phone. The only thing you have to worry about is the S-OFF which you can disable, but they likely won't even notice--especially if they can't boot it anyway because the battery is dead.
@ the dead battery comments, why on earth wouldn't they put a battery w/ some juice in it to check the phone? That would the first thing I did.
ok..so I called AT&T and told them that something broke inside the USB connector on the phone (probably stupid) and tried to get a warranty exchange, and they said it was physical damage to the phone so I am not eligible for a replacement.
my question is this...if I pull the whole microwave thing and take it into the ATT store, will there be a note or something on my account saying that I had already called and told them something was broken?
i just find it absolutely ridiculous that although there is no water/physical damage to the phone, they can tell me i damaged the phone and now I'm screwed after only having it for 2 months...
ATT does keep phone logs but I have NO idea if they show up on your account if they pull it up on the screen in the store.
Anybody from ATT here?
I'd brick it and just walk in.
- Sent from Inspire 4G using XDA App -
Bradbetheman said:
I'm kind of in the same boat as you, today i dropped my phone out of a truck and now the speaker sounds like it's through a McDonalds speaker box. I need to restore to factory but i have Coredroid 6.7 and with that came with EXT4 i was wondering how to get it back to EXT3 or if it was necessary and is there any tools besides ACE to restore it? Im not having alot of luck with ACE and afraid to press the stock rom without going back to EXT3. Any help would be greatly appreciated thanks!
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Click to collapse
As a guy who has worked with AT&T Warranty exchange, I will tell you right now: Physical damage, as per dropping the phone, isn't covered by warranty. If the people at the factory see any damage inside the phone, they'll still charge you for it.
wesc011 said:
ok..so I called AT&T and told them that something broke inside the USB connector on the phone (probably stupid) and tried to get a warranty exchange, and they said it was physical damage to the phone so I am not eligible for a replacement.
my question is this...if I pull the whole microwave thing and take it into the ATT store, will there be a note or something on my account saying that I had already called and told them something was broken?
i just find it absolutely ridiculous that although there is no water/physical damage to the phone, they can tell me i damaged the phone and now I'm screwed after only having it for 2 months...
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Click to collapse
Yes, they keep a log of that, actually, it's stored in the system: Your name, last 4 of the social and the written log file. Basic keywords on there is "Damaged port/prongs". Damage to the port is considered as physical damage and isn't covered. Did you pay for the 4.99 insurance? That might cover it, and you'll be routed to the insurance company Asurion.
You may want to try HTC directly. They may well repair it for you for free. I think they are more customer service oriented than ATT... The downside is you'd be without a phone for a while.
I think i just bricked my phone. I am trying to return to S-on and after following all the instructions in the main sticky, i wrote the SUPERCID back to tmobile, and put in the writesecuflag 3 command, and rebooted the bootloader. Now the phone will not turn on at all. Won't power on regular and cannot turn it on into the bootloader. When i plug the phone into the computer QHUSB-DLOAD comes up in the device manager as to what it is saying it is attatched as. Adb shows no devices and RUU's cannot find the device. Omg i really hope i didnt hose this phone.
Did you flash first the ruu that came with your phone?
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using XDA App
and1kar said:
Did you flash first the ruu that came with your phone?
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using XDA App
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Nope i used the tmous 1.50.
I am pretty sure you forgot to run the RUU, and sadly yes I have to inform you that it is bricked :/
xsteven77x said:
I think i just bricked my phone. I am trying to return to S-on and after following all the instructions in the main sticky, i wrote the SUPERCID back to tmobile, and put in the writesecuflag 3 command, and rebooted the bootloader. Now the phone will not turn on at all. Won't power on regular and cannot turn it on into the bootloader. When i plug the phone into the computer QHUSB-DLOAD comes up in the device manager as to what it is saying it is attatched as. Adb shows no devices and RUU's cannot find the device. Omg i really hope i didnt hose this phone.
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Click to collapse
Sounds like you bricked it, yes :s
Thanks for the replies guys.
Since i got it from craigslist my only hope is paying htc to repair it i'm assuming?
It should still be covered by the original warranty right?
LooieENG said:
It should still be covered by the original warranty right?
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Just got off the phone with HTC. It is still covered under their warranty. Hopefully since all my void stickers in good standing, I have no physical damage, was able to get the CID back to Tmous and the write secureflag3 went through, there will be no reason to deny it. Here is hoping! I think EXT4 recovery is still on there though. Hopefully it will be so bricked that they will have to reset it and reload the software to be able to do anything with it
Hope you manage to get it fixed!
A question, I have yet to root my XE, but is SUPERCID a must on a sim free phone if you want to flash roms?
the fact is that if it is so bricked that it won't turn on at all they won't check it further. many members achieved to get a new phone as replacement
Just make sure you tell HTC you are the original owner and didnt get it from craigslist.Also DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES Mention any hacking forums like XDA,or ROOT, Just claim that it said "an update was available" so you chose to update and the battery died.I've had free repairs under warranty by using that same advice, A friend of mine mentioned root on his nexus one and they charged him for repair even though it was a month old as he voided the warranty
bonesy said:
Just make sure you tell HTC you are the original owner and didnt get it from craigslist.Also DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES Mention any hacking forums like XDA,or ROOT, Just claim that it said "an update was available" so you chose to update and the battery died.I've had free repairs under warranty by using that same advice, A friend of mine mentioned root on his nexus one and they charged him for repair even though it was a month old as he voided the warranty
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Click to collapse
I definitely didnt mention xda or flashing roms or anything, and I told them i received it as an anniversary gift (even though i really did get it from craigslist). Told them i rebooted the phone and it just never came back on. Which really is what happened while leaving out a few details lol.
I wonder what would them HTC guys think if they are already among us
same thing happened to me the other day on my evo 3d...gonna send it in to htc as well...hope they won't know...what are the chances of them getting the phone to turn on??
xsteven77x said:
I think i just bricked my phone. I am trying to return to S-on and after following all the instructions in the main sticky, i wrote the SUPERCID back to tmobile, and put in the writesecuflag 3 command, and rebooted the bootloader. Now the phone will not turn on at all. Won't power on regular and cannot turn it on into the bootloader. When i plug the phone into the computer QHUSB-DLOAD comes up in the device manager as to what it is saying it is attatched as. Adb shows no devices and RUU's cannot find the device. Omg i really hope i didnt hose this phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
poktangju said:
same thing happened to me the other day on my evo 3d...gonna send it in to htc as well...hope they won't know...what are the chances of them getting the phone to turn on??
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Click to collapse
From everything i read online it really seems hit or miss depending on the technician you get. More often than not they seem to let things slide even if it seems obvious that they should have been able to see it was rooted etc. Here is hoping . I'm gonna send it out tomorrow and will keep this thread updated with developments if anyone is interested in how it went. I have read some HORROR stories about people sending there phone to HTC and it become missing in action for MONTHS. I really pray to christ that does not happen to me.
O/T a little bit, but how come with just about any other "thing" in life a warranty is good and is tied to the object and not to the person. Even though i got this phone off of craigslist, why should that have ANYTHING to do with it. The phone is the phone and the warranty is the warranty regardless of whose possession it is in. I just don't think tmobile should be able to do that. Also i think it's BS that if you buy a brand new phone and it breaks 2 days later, they give you a refurb and not a new one. How do they get away with this ****!
i think im gonna take my chances as well...the person i talked to at htc did say that if the damages were caused by me then i would have a choice to pay them to fix if not i would have to pay $35 to get the phone back...so this could end up costing the shipping to send phone and the $35 to get the phone back.
xsteven77x said:
From everything i read online it really seems hit or miss depending on the technician you get. More often than not they seem to let things slide even if it seems obvious that they should have been able to see it was rooted etc. Here is hoping . I'm gonna send it out tomorrow and will keep this thread updated with developments if anyone is interested in how it went.
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Click to collapse
Just wondering how this has progressed. Did you send your phone to HTC? Did they say what the potential repair costs could be?
Well i sent it out on 12/21 and they received it on 12/28. On the tracking website, it says "In repair". From experience, if it is going to have any issues or gonna charge you any money, it says under review until you have spoke to them and made arrangements or paid them. One thing that is pissing me off good is that every day, the day it says it was received is changed. So everyday i have checked, it went from saying received on 12/28, to 12/29, to 12/30, and now 1/1. So i dont know if that is just the way the system works, or if they are trying to sheist me and take forever and a day like some of the horror stories i have read. Not really sure what their is to do but send a replacement since it is hard bricked and cannot be resuscitated even with professional tools from all the research i have done online. In the meantime, i bought a galaxy s 2 and am LOVING it, except for the lack of development in comparison to here in sensation land!
did you get your phone back?
xsteven77x said:
Well i sent it out on 12/21 and they received it on 12/28. On the tracking website, it says "In repair". From experience, if it is going to have any issues or gonna charge you any money, it says under review until you have spoke to them and made arrangements or paid them. One thing that is pissing me off good is that every day, the day it says it was received is changed. So everyday i have checked, it went from saying received on 12/28, to 12/29, to 12/30, and now 1/1. So i dont know if that is just the way the system works, or if they are trying to sheist me and take forever and a day like some of the horror stories i have read. Not really sure what their is to do but send a replacement since it is hard bricked and cannot be resuscitated even with professional tools from all the research i have done online. In the meantime, i bought a galaxy s 2 and am LOVING it, except for the lack of development in comparison to here in sensation land!
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Click to collapse
Hi, my headphone jack has always been pick about having things plugged in just right, usually the slightest bit of ling screws it up. Finally today, it just started giving serious static in right side. when music or any sound starts it goes away, but the volume is very low on that side. It only does it when there is power (battery is in), so I think it is a bad connection in there. I have some questions regarding this.
1. How horrible is the Motorola service? they say 5-7 days, but is that really the case (In the U.S.). My warranty is still good, I'll just flash back to stock.
2. will opening the phone up void my warranty? I am somewhat experienced with electronics, so I could probably fix it, but I don't wantt to void the warranty in case it doesn't work.
3. I also have a stuck pixel on my screen that has been there since I got the phone (New). Will they fix that as well even though I can only select one problem on the application form? Should I mention it as well so that they might fix it?
Thank you,
-lkrasner
P.S. Unfortunately this means that I might be unable to do much for a while when I send my phone away. I hope you guys get ICS without me, and I will be waiting to try it out myself.
lkrasner said:
Hi, my headphone jack has always been pick about having things plugged in just right, usually the slightest bit of ling screws it up. Finally today, it just started giving serious static in right side. when music or any sound starts it goes away, but the volume is very low on that side. It only does it when there is power (battery is in), so I think it is a bad connection in there. I have some questions regarding this.
1. How horrible is the Motorola service? they say 5-7 days, but is that really the case (In the U.S.). My warranty is still good, I'll just flash back to stock.
2. will opening the phone up void my warranty? I am somewhat experienced with electronics, so I could probably fix it, but I don't wantt to void the warranty in case it doesn't work.
3. I also have a stuck pixel on my screen that has been there since I got the phone (New). Will they fix that as well even though I can only select one problem on the application form? Should I mention it as well so that they might fix it?
Thank you,
-lkrasner
P.S. Unfortunately this means that I might be unable to do much for a while when I send my phone away. I hope you guys get ICS without me, and I will be waiting to try it out myself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just do a mis-flash or delete the system partition and take it into a store and tell/show them it does not boot, that you picked it up off the charger and it was like that, and you need a replacement. They will send you a replacement and you have 30 days to return your "broken" phone. I have done this 4 times with my A2s.
jimbridgman said:
Just do a mis-flash or delete the system partition and take it into a store and tell/show them it does not boot, that you picked it up off the charger and it was like that, and you need a replacement. They will send you a replacement and you have 30 days to return your "broken" phone. I have done this 4 times with my A2s.
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Click to collapse
But my AT&T warranty is up?!?! will it still work? I still have my 1 year moto warranty.
Edit: If this does work I owe you something huge, plus I would get my screen problem fixed
EDIT 2: would I be better off just deleting something that would just stop if from booting past the boot logo (big M) so it wouldn't be so obvious that I just killed it with is basically sayins so on the fastboot screen. If so what could I delete that wouldn't prove I had rooted, probably nothing now that I say that.
lkrasner said:
But my AT&T warranty is up?!?! will it still work? I still have my 1 year moto warranty.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is the Moto warranty, AT&T will just help you "file" it since it is done through them anyhow.
Just don't call moto yourself.
jimbridgman said:
That is the Moto warranty, AT&T will just help you "file" it since it is done through them anyhow.
Just don't call moto yourself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sweet, I will try that, what should I do to brick just erase system with fastboot? isn't that really obvious? or are all the employees just stupid. Obviously I need to do something recoverable so that i can get it back if it doesn't work.
lkrasner said:
sweet, I will try that, what should I do to brick just erase system with fastboot? isn't that really obvious? or are all the employees just stupid. Obviously I need to do something recoverable so that i can get it back if it doesn't work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do anything that will make it either boot loop or stick on the dual core/moto boot screen. Whacking system/boot should do that, and you can still flash it back to stock before you send it back if you really want to.... they are just going to fully refurb it and re-sell it...
The secret is to act dumb, pretend like you know nothing bout flashing and this site... just act like it just went nuts and started this, and it will not boot.
Ask for the advanced replacement.
jimbridgman said:
Do anything that will make it either boot loop or stick on the dual core/moto boot screen. Whacking system/boot should do that, and you can still flash it back to stock before you send it back if you really want to.... they are just going to fully refurb it and re-sell it...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, and they will not be able to see root then, and if they flash it back to stock it will no longer be rooted, so I should be fine. I opened a service request with Moto earlier, do you think that will be a problem? Should I wait until it expires so they don't get suspicious that I bricked it on purpose.
lkrasner said:
OK, and they will not be able to see root then, and if they flash it back to stock it will no longer be rooted, so I should be fine. I opened a service request with Moto earlier, do you think that will be a problem? Should I wait until it expires so they don't get suspicious that I bricked it on purpose.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if it is borked when you take it to the store they can't see that it is rooted cause it won't boot... all they are going to do it call their 1-800 number and help you file a support request... then the person the phone will let you know of the "requirements" and ask if the phone has any visible water damage, yadda yadda...
Then they will send you a new phone and you should get it in 3 or so days and you are supposed to send the old one back in the SAME box... so you will already have flashed the fxz and been using the phone the whole time you waited for the new one to show up... just don't forget to send it back... I did and waited until 25 days later, and I was bugged mercillessly by att...
Just make sure you factory wipe and take out your sim and SDcard, and battery door... they do not send anything but the core of the phone, no batt or batt door or anything.
lkrasner said:
OK, and they will not be able to see root then, and if they flash it back to stock it will no longer be rooted, so I should be fine. I opened a service request with Moto earlier, do you think that will be a problem? Should I wait until it expires so they don't get suspicious that I bricked it on purpose.
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Click to collapse
@jim on playing dumb,hilarious ..i do that when i upgrade my phone.im such an ass when i upgraded to a2 from xperia x10 that i didnt even bother restoring it to stock, i left cm7 on it,custom bootlogo ,said "free xperia team" on boot.i just pretended i didnt know what happend. it was so enjoyable.
service rep - "it appears to be rooted"
My response - "What do you mean rooted? It has roots like a plant?".
@krasner
You worry to much,they cant prove anything.just brick it and youll be fine.u could even play dumb as u crack a smile while doing so and they still really cant do anything to prove u did it and have to exchange it.
Sent from my MB865 using xda premium
worked beautifully! I deleted build.prop and default.prop, so it just went to a black screen after the moto logo. when the guy called the warranty center he said it was "extremely defective and clearly in need of replacement."
After I walked out, I went home, booted into bp tools, taking me to cwm and used adb to push the two files back. The phone already shipped.
However I am thinking of selling it BNIB and getting something else, any ideas what I could get for it
lkrasner said:
worked beautifully! I deleted build.prop and default.prop, so it just went to a black screen after the moto logo. when the guy called the warranty center he said it was "extremely defective and clearly in need of replacement."
After I walked out, I went home, booted into bp tools, taking me to cwm and used adb to push the two files back. The phone already shipped.
However I am thinking of selling it BNIB and getting something else, any ideas what I could get for it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe 150. It wont be "NIB" you will not get a box, batt, back cover, etc. With the replacement.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747, running CM9, using xda premium
Ok, Phone was rooted suscessfully, Unlocked bootloader, was running a 4.2.2 Rom.
Buddy found the MS HD 10.0 Rom and wanted to try it. US phone. I looked at all the details and didnt see anything about it not being compatable.
Flashed the rom, went through all the GUID steps selected roms , styles etc etc, and It said completed "click here to reboot" So i did so.
Went black screen and now wont DO ANYTHING. cant get into download mode, recovery, a vibrate out of the phone, anything. Took the battery out for a min and plugged it in and get the orange light. Put the battery back in and STILL NOTHING. Please help! Buddy phone and he needs it
It's best to think of the international gs3 and us gs3 as two different phone. Because they are.
Flashing firmware meant for a different phone will result in a hard brick. Sorry
corbn89 said:
It's best to think of the international gs3 and us gs3 as two different phone. Because they are.
Flashing firmware meant for a different phone will result in a hard brick. Sorry
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Click to collapse
So its Done? :/..... He has a best but warranty . any way they can tell its been software tampered with at this point? So he can get a free one lol
As was said above, MS HD ROM is for the international S3 (i9300). It is important to make sure you are in the right forum before downloading and flashing any ROMs. Unfortunately, many still make this mistake. The only way to fix is to replace the phone or send it to these guys:
http://mobiletechvideos.mybigcommerce.com/
You can try and send it for JTAG repair (places like mobile tech) and they may be able to revive it.
But I'm not sure if places like best buy can positively confirm it was a bad flash if the phone is completely dead. I wouldn't think so but I'm not 100%
corbn89 said:
You can try and send it for JTAG repair (places like mobile tech) and they may be able to revive it.
But I'm not sure if places like best buy can positively confirm it was a bad flash if the phone is completely dead. I wouldn't think so but I'm not 100%
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How about the Download Jig
If you are talking about Black Tie Insurance from Best Buy then you are fine and this is not fraud. Insurance is for boo boo's like dropping, smashing, flashing failures, drop in the toilet...all of that. They do not care if phone was rooted or misflashed. Insurance is not fraud, trying to get free replacements from the carrier under warranty by lying is.
Has anyone ever been "caught" and denied a warranty return after s-off and\or root? You hear all of these horror stories of you warranty being void but I personally have never had a problem.
I rooted my original Incredible and got two warranty replacements in the first year. One was for a blown speaker and the other was because I bricked it. When I bricked it I called Verizon and played dumb and said 'I don't know what is going on with my phone but it won't boot up'. They asked me a few questions and then said something like 'wow, I have never seen that before we will send you a new one.'
On my Incredible 4G, I rooted and s-offed (via HTC DEV before they removed it from the list) and got a warranty replacement (I don't remember what the problem was that caused me to exchange it). In fact, when I got the replacement it was obviously s-on and no longer unlockable via HTC Dev so I called Verizon to complain (told them something about being a software developer so I needed a phone I could ROM and develop on) hoping they would give me a HTC One (M7). Of course they did not but my point is no one seems to care about s-off or root.
Each time I have done a warranty exchange I have done it via phone not in the store. They ship me a new phone next day and I send my old one back. I would find it hard to believe that they have someone sitting there opening returned phones, checking for root or s-off, comparing them to the call that originated the return and then following up. Instead, I am sure the process is more like: Get the returned phone, note the RMA and note on the account that the old phone was returned, check for physical damage, throw it in a pile with all of the other returned phones to be formatted, re-flashed, tested and sold as refurbished phones.
I exchanged my weaksauce rooted M8 to the store last Friday due to frequent reboots. The sales guy turned on the screen, set it down, and rang me up a new one. He didn't boot into HBoot to look for s-off, and didn't look for any root checker or rooting application.
My experience is that the 'you will void your warranty' line is a scare tactic and it doesn't worry me one bit. While I am sure s-off and rooting can cause physical harm to a phone (maybe by doing something like overclocking) but I do not believe that the big cell phone companies like Verizon have any process in place to catch this. They do thousands of returns a day and don't care to slow down their return exchange process to check for the 1 out of 1000 rooted\s-off phones they come through.
This is my opinion and experience I would be interested in yours.
dneiding said:
Has anyone ever been "caught" and denied a warranty return after s-off and\or root? You hear all of these horror stories of you warranty being void but I personally have never had a problem.
I rooted my original Incredible and got two warranty replacements in the first year. One was for a blown speaker and the other was because I bricked it. When I bricked it I called Verizon and played dumb and said 'I don't know what is going on with my phone but it won't boot up'. They asked me a few questions and then said something like 'wow, I have never seen that before we will send you a new one.'
I rooted and s-offed (via HTC DEV before they removed it from the list) and got a warranty replacement (I don't remember what the problem was that caused me to exchange it). In fact, when I got the replacement it was obviously s-on and no longer unlockable via HTC Dev so I called Verizon to complain (told them something about being a software developer so I needed a phone I could ROM and develop on) hoping they would give me a HTC One (M7). Of course they did not but my point is no one seems to care about s-off or root.
Each time I have done a warranty exchange I have done it via phone not in the store. They ship me a new phone next day and I send my old one back. I would find it hard to believe that they have someone sitting there opening returned phones, checking for root or s-off, comparing them to the call that originated the return and then following up. Instead, I am sure the process is more like: Get the returned phone, note the RMA and note on the account that the old phone was returned, check for physical damage, throw it in a pile with all of the other returned phones to be formatted, re-flashed, tested and sold as refurbished phones.
I exchanged my weaksauce rooted M8 to the store last Friday due to frequent reboots. The sales guy turned on the screen, set it down, and rang me up a new one. He didn't boot into HBoot to look for s-off, and didn't look for any root checker or rooting application.
My experience is that the 'you will void your warranty' line is a scare tactic and it doesn't worry me one bit. While I am sure s-off and rooting can cause physical harm to a phone (maybe by doing something like overclocking) but I do not believe that the big cell phone companies like Verizon have any process in place to catch this. They do thousands of returns a day and don't care to slow down their return exchange process to check for the 1 out of 1000 rooted\s-off phones they come through.
This is my opinion and experience I would be interested in yours.
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There is always a risk, although I personally will send in phones S-OFF even, and never had an issue. (I don't suggest this)
From my understanding, they get so many devices to repair, really all they look at is for water damage and things of that nature.
It would take too long to go through every device they get returned for whatever reason to see if it has been rooted at on point.
I also am yet to know of anyone to get caught and having to pay for the device due to rooting.
I've destroyed one phone (older Samsung 4G) by accidentally installing inappropriate software. It was about 3 days old, bricked it completely. Even the service guys couldn't reflash it. The folks at the store really didn't check anything or ask any questions, They just threw it in the return barrel and gave me a new one. Wouldn't worry too much, unless you return frequently, they shouldn't give you a hard time. After all, what do they care?
This made me think of a question. With this phone being an all-in-one construction, how would they tell if it has water damage?
sitlet said:
This made me think of a question. With this phone being an all-in-one construction, how would they tell if it has water damage?
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I'm guessing they're not too worried about water damage with these phones...
They do pay attention in the retail stores though. My account was once flagged for having a rooted phone, galaxy nexus, when I took it in for some issue, I don't remember why. Yes, first mistake was allowing them to have my phone, lesson learned. Luckily I know people who work for Verizon and they had to go in and remove the note which stated my phone was rooted and warrantee was voided.
Sent from my HTC6525LVW using xda app-developers app
I went in to return my M8 due to battery issues and the Verizon guy who had to call tech support stated that when they send the phones in if they've been rooted in the past that even if you unroot it and turn S-On they can tell that it's been rooted and that S was indeed On and turned Off. He stated they can tell how many times you do it and boom you get a $400 charge on your account for the price of the phone they gave you and you had a voided warranty.
As hard as that is to believe, I feel like there may be such a thing where they Devs can tell if the phone was rooted, when, and how many times... But i'm no Dev. Someone working for Verizon care to chime in?
kj13569 said:
I went in to return my M8 due to battery issues and the Verizon guy who had to call tech support stated that when they send the phones in if they've been rooted in the past that even if you unroot it and turn S-On they can tell that it's been rooted and that S was indeed On and turned Off. He stated they can tell how many times you do it and boom you get a $400 charge on your account for the price of the phone they gave you and you had a voided warranty.
As hard as that is to believe, I feel like there may be such a thing where they Devs can tell if the phone was rooted, when, and how many times... But i'm no Dev. Someone working for Verizon care to chime in?
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Maybe they can tell but do they even look or care? My experience is that they don't care. In my case, three times, I have returned a s-off and rooted phone (not to the store, via mail). I didn't bother to try to go back to s-on or un-root. They wouldn't need black magic to tell my phones were tampered with - just turn it on. My point is they don't care and they don't look (at least when you deal with Verizon via phone).
I stand by my claim that it is a scare tactic and they don't even look.
dneiding said:
Maybe they can tell but do they even look or care? My experience is that they don't care. In my case, three times, I have returned a s-off and rooted phone (not to the store, via mail). I didn't bother to try to go back to s-on or un-root. They wouldn't need black magic to tell my phones were tampered with - just turn it on. My point is they don't care and they don't look (at least when you deal with Verizon via phone).
I stand by my claim that it is a scare tactic and they don't even look.
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i tried to take a phone in recently for a warranty return. the sales guy at the corporate store takes my phone to the back to test it and comes back a few minutes later to tell me my phone was rooted and the warranty was void. he was nice enough to tell me his manager told him to flag my account, but he didn't. he just said to undo the process and bring it back in.
Abe21599 said:
i tried to take a phone in recently for a warranty return. the sales guy at the corporate store takes my phone to the back to test it and comes back a few minutes later to tell me my phone was rooted and the warranty was void. he was nice enough to tell me his manager told him to flag my account, but he didn't. he just said to undo the process and bring it back in.
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That's why I say deal with 1-800 Verizon not a store. You get a replacement the next day so long as you can be without the replacement for a day that is the way to go.
Edited.
dneiding said:
That's why I say deal with 1-800 Verizon not a store. You get a replacement the next day so long as you can be without the replacement for a day that is the way to go.
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i wish i would have known that before bothering going into the store. would have saved me an hour. good to know.
Yeah I never go to a store. Complain on the phone then have them ship me a new one. Swap and done.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
blestsol said:
Yeah I never go to a store. Complain on the phone then have them ship me a new one. Swap and done.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
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I'm assuming you guys all have insurance then right? Otherwise why are your carriers to easily swapping you new phones?
rudyolph said:
I'm assuming you guys all have insurance then right? Otherwise why are your carriers to easily swapping you new phones?
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Warranty claims they will easily swap. I called about a Rezound that would get incredibly hot while charging. They sent me a new phone that arrived the next day. I sent back the old phone with S-Off, rooted, and a custom rom installed. From what I've read all they check is that the phone will power on.
I'll find out soon. Enough just sent an M8 back to BIG RED Monday. I'll update when it shows received and there are no extra charges added to my account.
I have a replacement on the way myself. Hopefully we have no issues. The phone aesthetically is in perfect condition.
I claimed my warranty the other week from a cracked screen and I just flashed a modified hboot before sending it off so that it said locked and s-on
Upgrading my phone at Verizon took me hours to do. While the time passed I talked to the Verizon associate about how I've rooted every smart phone I've ever owned and he didn't seem to mind a bit that those were all their phones, and actually seemed quite intrigued about doing so himself. Anyway my microphone piece won't work during calls, so I'm going to replace mine through Verizon's warrantee claims phone number. I'll post with results.
Unlocked, s-off, rooted with modified hboot that shows status locked and s-on.
Just an update. All seems good no extra charges or calls asking WTF?? Just a message saying thanks for returning the phone and my next bill came. Which is normal.