Database Info

Now illegal to unlock phones

http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/25/tech/mobile/smartphone-unlocking-illegal/
Via my Google Galaxy S3 running magic beans

Nothing to do with bootloaders, just carrier-tied phones.
From Kellex B from Droid life: "They are saying that you can't take advantage of a carrier discount and then ditch that carrier immediately for another.
It still sucks, don't get me wrong. That's just their logic."

bobAbooE said:
Nothing to do with bootloaders, just carrier-tied phones.
From Kellex B from Droid life: "They are saying that you can't take advantage of a carrier discount and then ditch that carrier immediately for another.
It still sucks, don't get me wrong. That's just their logic."
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It's still bs because you could not do that in the first place. You would get hit with a early termination fee. This is just an assault on our rights as device owners
Via my Google Galaxy S3 running magic beans

I found a pretty good explanation of what is covered/not covered from this thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?t=2116298

neh4pres said:
It's still bs because you could not do that in the first place. You would get hit with a early termination fee. This is just an assault on our rights as device owners
Via my Google Galaxy S3 running magic beans
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The article said it had to do with the software on the device (I'm assuming stock TW ROMs), so if that's the case, flashing to AOSP is a good way to bypass it. I mean, we own the device itself. The software is the only way they can legally put their foot down, lol.

k1ska said:
The article said it had to do with the software on the device (I'm assuming stock TW ROMs), so if that's the case, flashing to AOSP is a good way to bypass it. I mean, we own the device itself. The software is the only way they can legally put their foot down, lol.
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The software that connects to the network is NOT part of the Rom
Via my Google Galaxy S3 running magic beans

Has to do with carrier locking. More lock buying an AT&T phone then unlocking it to use on another carrier. Nothing to do with flashing Roms or anything.

$10 says Verizon uses this in their argument as to why they lock their bootloaders.
"It's illegal to unlock phones. That is why we've locked the Samsung Galaxy S4's bootloader. Sprint, AT&T and T-Mobile all risk legal action by selling their phones with unlocked bootloaders. We want your money and full control over you."
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

doesn't make any sense, you own the device right?!

Call and complain about the bootloader

Here's what I think we should do, and I'm sure some people will say it won't work and they are probably right. We should all set a universal time sometime this week, such as Friday, to call Verizon and ask for bootloader unlocks. I have found out recently that for some employees Verizon had Samsung bootloader unlock their non-dev phone. I have spent the last hour *****ing at Samsung and Verizon.
Here's the facts.
Samsung can unlock it with a file they already have
Verizon has to request it
Verizon says they don't want a bootloader unlocked phone on their network but then told Samsung to make a developer edition. Samsung did not sneak and build a dev phone like Verizon makes it sound, Samsung was told to build it.
Samsung doesn't even care to unlock it, their not just cause of Verizon's order not to.
Certain Verizon employes have recieved the unlock(not for personal reasons)
I say we all call in the same hour and raise hell and maybe they'll hear that we are more than just a few people. Even if everyone doesn't want to do this I will keep calling them and wasteing their time. Having an unlocked phone is a big deal to me and the fact that their employees are allowed to blows my ****ing mind. They think it's ok for their own guys to develope but not us!? Are you ****in kidding me?
So like I said I will keep wasting their time. For you all thinking that I'm also wasting my time? Your right, and I would rather waste it aggravating them than wasting it looking for bootloader unlock updates that will never come. Just like the current S4 and S3 bootloader.

shootind5nukes said:
Here's what I think we should do, and I'm sure some people will say it won't work and they are probably right. We should all set a universal time sometime this week, such as Friday, to call Verizon and ask for bootloader unlocks. I have found out recently that for some employees Verizon had Samsung bootloader unlock their non-dev phone. I have spent the last hour *****ing at Samsung and Verizon.
Here's the facts.
Samsung can unlock it with a file they already have
Verizon has to request it
Verizon says they don't want a bootloader unlocked phone on their network but then told Samsung to make a developer edition. Samsung did not sneak and build a dev phone like Verizon makes it sound, Samsung was told to build it.
Samsung doesn't even care to unlock it, their not just cause of Verizon's order not to.
Certain Verizon employes have recieved the unlock(not for personal reasons)
I say we all call in the same hour and raise hell and maybe they'll hear that we are more than just a few people. Even if everyone doesn't want to do this I will keep calling them and wasteing their time. Having an unlocked phone is a big deal to me and the fact that their employees are allowed to blows my ****ing mind. They think it's ok for their own guys to develope but not us!? Are you ****in kidding me?
So like I said I will keep wasting their time. For you all thinking that I'm also wasting my time? Your right, and I would rather waste it aggravating them than wasting it looking for bootloader unlock updates that will never come. Just like the current S4 and S3 bootloader.
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I will say that even Motorola released a tool on their website to unlock some of their devices. It was a slim list but still. HTC did as well so who knows. I mean the Vendors have to balance customer needs and carrier needs because ultimately they are the boss.
So, we'll see. It would be awesome to see this happen but at the same time, if it does happen, would people blow Verizon up for service on their devices because of irreparable damage?
In my own personal opinion, this phone was expensive and we should be allowed to do as we please with it.

How do you know Verizon employees have unlocked phones unless you yourself are a Verizon employee? I work for an indirect retailer and I've never heard of this happening.

joshua.justice said:
How do you know Verizon employees have unlocked phones unless you yourself are a Verizon employee? I work for an indirect retailer and I've never heard of this happening.
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The only kind of "unlocking" I've heard a carrier employee do or request is a sim unlock. Nothing more.

Putting the claim of a flashable unlocked bootloader aside - Verizon and AT&T have made their position very clear. Phones on their network will be locked. Developer edition phones, which as the name suggests are primarily for development use are granted that but also are un-subsidized. They're not denying it to you, you have a choice. You're just unhappy with the choice you have to make, and respectfully that's an issue between you and Verizon.
Thread closed before it goes any further south.

Poll: Would Verizon changing their bootloader policies make you return to them?

I'm writing a paper on Android bootloaders and security, profitability, and network performance and would like to get some of the enthusiast community's opinion.
The paper is framed as an internal proposal to Verizon Wireless management proposing further investigation into their current policies. Part of the paper involves investigating if Verizon Wireless (or ATT even) changing their locked bootloader policies and generally being more dev friendly would encourage those of us who have left them to return. This could provide a profit incentive by gaining new customers. While this would certainly not be a scientific poll, it should do for the purposes of a college paper.
So, again, the question is, would Verizon Wireless changing their locked bootloader policies cause those of you who left to return?
Please clarify your response below, and tell me if there's another option you'd like added to the poll.

JesusFreak316 said:
So, again, the question is, would Verizon Wireless changing their locked bootloader policies cause those of you who left to return?
Please clarify your response below, and tell me if there's another option you'd like added to the poll.
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For me to return to Verizon they would have to:
Allow bootloader unlocking.
Allow carrier unlocked phones on their network.
Allow their phones to be carrier unlocked to work on other networks.
Not charge so damn much.
Honestly, I don't think that your proposal would make any difference in profits. You could ask 100 random smartphone owners about the bootloader on their phone and maybe one or 2 could even have a clue what the bootloader is/does, and what an unlocked one means vs a locked one.

Planterz said:
For me to return to Verizon they would have to:
Allow bootloader unlocking.
Allow carrier unlocked phones on their network.
Allow their phones to be carrier unlocked to work on other networks.
Not charge so damn much.
Honestly, I don't think that your proposal would make any difference in profits. You could ask 100 random smartphone owners about the bootloader on their phone and maybe one or 2 could even have a clue what the bootloader is/does, and what an unlocked one means vs a locked one.
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Thanks for your input.
Hopefully carrier unlocked phones will happen with VoLTE only phones, but that's still speculating now as to whether the FCC band 13 restrictions apply to other services and not just data.
Little known fact, but Verizon is the only carrier that has to have all their LTE devices be carrier unlocked due to the aforementioned FCC rules.
Heh, that last reason is mostly what I meant by other reasons in the poll.
Certainly, I know the enthusiast community is barely a drop in the bucket compared to everyone else, but what I'm wondering is if they are not only missing out on revenue, but are also spending money on extra locks for the devices that don't really protect the network, as nothing on XDA can touch the modem. It's a case of why not, with possibly good publicity in the influential tech community.
Sent from my VS985 4G using XDA Free mobile app

Galaxy s8 Unlocked U.S. Bootloader Confirmed.

After many live chat sessions and escalations, I have pried bootloader information from Samsung, here are the facts:
(This is from the u.s. live chat)
"If you purchase the Unlocked phone from samsung , Bootloader will be unlocked already on phone"
Hope this helps
Also, the carrier versions will be locked and all unlock control handed over to the carrier's, (who will obviously not provide any unlocking options(except maybe T-Mobile))

The_scam said:
After many live chat sessions and escalations, I have pried bootloader information from Samsung, here are the facts:
(This is from the u.s. live chat)
"If you purchase the Unlocked phone from samsung , Bootloader will be unlocked already on phone"
Hope this helps
Also, the carrier versions will be locked and all unlock control handed over to the carrier's, (who will obviously not provide any unlocking options(except maybe T-Mobile))
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Riiiiiight.
We went through this BS with the note 7 last year.
Sammy is full of crap to put it blunty, the CSRs dont have accurate information.
I would love this to be true and I wont be buying one if its not but trust me...dont take what they say as being even remotely accurate
Sent from my Note 7, S7 Edge or S6

force70 said:
Riiiiiight.
We went through this BS with the note 7 last year.
Sammy is full of crap to put it blunty, the CSRs dont have accurate information.
I would love this to be true and I wont be buying one if its not but trust me...dont take what they say as being even remotely accurate
Sent from my Note 7, S7 Edge or S6
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Don't worry bout' that, I got a ticket from the live chat and got it escalated to 3x to the manager of the live chat manager.
*shOULD be accurate.

The_scam said:
Don't worry bout' that, I got a ticket from the live chat and got it escalated to 3x to the manager of the live chat manager.
*shOULD be accurate.
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Click to collapse
Would love that to be true, mind you I will most likely go for the exynos version anyway. I had both a snapdragon AND a exynos note 7 and the exynos killed it pretty much in every way.
Sent from my Note 7, S7 Edge or S6

force70 said:
Would love that to be true, mind you I will most likely go for the exynos version anyway. I had both a snapdragon AND a exynos note 7 and the exynos killed it pretty much in every way.
Sent from my Note 7, S7 Edge or S6
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Same with the s7 edge. The exynos pretty much kinged the snapdragon variant
Sent from my ZTE A2017U using Tapatalk

The_scam said:
Don't worry bout' that, I got a ticket from the live chat and got it escalated to 3x to the manager of the live chat manager.
*shOULD be accurate.
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Click to collapse
It's not accurate. The CSR's don't know the difference between an unlocked bootloader and an unlocked sim. They also don't know the difference between a telephone and a piece of toast. There is no way in the world that they will allow an unlocked bootloader when their own knox design cripples the phone and voids the warranty as soon as it's rooted.

seh6183 said:
It's not accurate. The CSR's don't know the difference between an unlocked bootloader and an unlocked sim. They also don't know the difference between a telephone and a piece of toast. There is no way in the world that they will allow an unlocked bootloader when their own knox design cripples the phone and voids the warranty as soon as it's rooted.
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OK, I don't know how many times I will have to clarify this.
The car live chat was turned into a ticket. Which has higher priority and CSR level than live chat. Then that was escalated to a software development engineer rep. I'm pretty sure this will be accurate, probably only the non QCOM cores tho

The_scam said:
OK, I don't know how many times I will have to clarify this.
The car live chat was turned into a ticket. Which has higher priority and CSR level than live chat. Then that was escalated to a software development engineer rep. I'm pretty sure this will be accurate, probably only the non QCOM cores tho
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I don't care if Oh-Hyun Kwon told you that the bootloader would be unlocked lol It won't. You probably miss-spoke or they miss-understood you and thought you were talking about the sim. The bootloader will not be able to be unlocked and I can guarantee you of this. Samsung is copying Apples model of device security and there is no way they would allow you to unlock the bootloader. And if you keep it up, I will refresh this thread once a week after the phone is launched to remind you of how wrong you were lol

seh6183 said:
I don't care if Oh-Hyun Kwon told you that the bootloader would be unlocked lol It won't. You probably miss-spoke or they miss-understood you and thought you were talking about the sim. The bootloader will not be able to be unlocked and I can guarantee you of this. Samsung is copying Apples model of device security and there is no way they would allow you to unlock the bootloader. And if you keep it up, I will refresh this thread once a week after the phone is launched to remind you of how wrong you were lol
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OK, chill out. Believe it, or dont. But I confirmed the bootloader, I think that the rep for the software engineers know what a BOOTLOADER is.
Also chill out with the stereotype names, my rep was actually called "Jen"

The_scam said:
OK, chill out. Believe it, or dont. But I confirmed the bootloader, I think that the rep for the software engineers know what a BOOTLOADER is.
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Okay so the phone will be released without Samsung pay then. Is this what you're saying? Samsung pay is immediately disabled as soon as the bootloader is unlocked. So what you're saying is that the phone will be released without Samsung pay. Does this sound logical to you?

seh6183 said:
Okay so the phone will be released without Samsung pay then. Is this what you're saying? Samsung pay is immediately disabled as soon as the bootloader is unlocked. So what you're saying is that the phone will be released without Samsung pay. Does this sound logical to you?
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"You're right"
Absolutely Right
I don't enjoy being attacked on a development forum. Just choose to believe it or not, no need to share your opinion multiple times. This is some INFORMATION, the way I got it. It is not my opinion, it is just here. Take it or leave it buddy.

My guess is it will be the same model as the Note 7 where the international versions can be unlocked but the US/Canada Snapdragons cannot outside of an exploit like the one that we used early in on the Note us before it was patched. Unlocking the bootloader will kill Pay of course but a lot of people don't care, Keep in mind that locked bootloaders are prohibited in some countries like Singapore.

The_scam said:
Also chill out with the stereotype names, my rep was actually called "Jen"
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Oh-Hyun Kwon is the CEO of Samsung, not a stereotype name, which is what made the post funny.
Regardless, the info on the unlocked bootloader is much appreciated.

Whats special about the USA that they keep the bootloader locked for that region?

chrcol said:
Whats special about the USA that they keep the bootloader locked for that region?
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Pretty much carriers request, but usually t-mobile vibrants the bootloader could be unlocked rather easily.

dotMethod said:
Oh-Hyun Kwon is the CEO of Samsung, not a stereotype name, which is what made the post funny.
Regardless, the info on the unlocked bootloader is much appreciated.
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Im with this guy. Bootloader wont be unlock on our snapdragon version. This was already the case with gs7 and note 7. Samsung will say anything on our favor for people to buy their phone. The truth is that 95% of the people dont care about bootloader or root. So having a lock bootloader and promote security is more valuable in their favor. Most probably dont even kmow what a sg 835 id. Only thing most people care. How the screen looks, if it is fast, good battery life and camera.

The Tmo phones were not easily unlocked, they were the same as the rest of the snapdragons with the Note 7 and I think more of the same can be expected. Samsung used to make multiple variants of their snapdragons with and without locked bootloaders but reportedly will not do so again, all will be locked going forward since most go to the North American market where the carriers request it. I would be very hesitant to order a snapdragon S8 if I wanted an unlocked bootloader until it was proven it can be unlocked. It can often take months or years to get into bootloaders these days and some are never unlocked. Those who demand root will want the international not just for the unlocked bootloader but also because that will be where nearly all the effort in development happens.

krabman said:
The Tmo phones were not easily unlocked, they were the same as the rest of the snapdragons with the Note 7 and I think more of the same can be expected. Samsung used to make multiple variants of their snapdragons with and without locked bootloaders but reportedly will not do so again, all will be locked going forward since most go to the North American market where the carriers request it. I would be very hesitant to order a snapdragon S8 if I wanted an unlocked bootloader until it was proven it can be unlocked. It can often take months or years to get into bootloaders these days and some are never unlocked. Those who demand root will want the international not just for the unlocked bootloader but also because that will be where nearly all the effort in development happens.
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They were never unlocked as far as I know...neither was the note not that it was out for long enough to get that far lol.
Root was achieved via leaked engineering firmware. No twrp recovery either just root.
Sent from my Note 7, S7 Edge or S6

Yeah, I had an international. They actually patched the snapdragon phone after the first recall that prevented the installation of the leaked engineering firmware. Meanwhile over in international land we were flashing away for our brief ownership. I'm actually only here because I think we'll get some idea of what to expect with the Note 8 from this phone. That's probably going to be my next buy unless a surprise phone hits. Going back to the topic the news was over on the Note 7 forum that the snapdragon would no longer be coming with unlocked bootloader at any carrier or point of retail. Flashers should be wary of getting the snapdragon, unless something changed it won't be unlocked.

krabman said:
Yeah, I had an international. They actually patched the snapdragon phone after the first recall that prevented the installation of the leaked engineering firmware. Meanwhile over in international land we were flashing away for our brief ownership. I'm actually only here because I think we'll get some idea of what to expect with the Note 8 from this phone. That's probably going to be my next buy unless a surprise phone hits. Going back to the topic the news was over on the Note 7 forum that the snapdragon would no longer be coming with unlocked bootloader at any carrier or point of retail. Flashers should be wary of getting the snapdragon, unless something changed it won't be unlocked.
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Yep....i had a snapdragon launch day then a week later got a exynos.
Then with all the recall BS stupid me took it back....realized how stupid that was then managed to snag another snapdragon thanks to a friend. Was happily using that until those Aholes at sammy killed the note 7 on all Canadian networks in Dec.
Ill likely trade it in on an S8 then sell it and buy a Exynos version lol.
I keep my eyes peeled for exynos note 7s still...not even sure if one would work in canada now but if it did Id buy it LOL
Sent from my Note 7, S7 Edge or S6

Question Sweet merciful Jesus is the Verizon bootloader still permalocked?

How has nobody found a solution to this? Surely it's a software thing. You'd have thought some badass member somewhere with enough of a chip on their shoulder against Verizon would have figured a way around this.
Too bad there isn't a bounty for it.

jdkzombie said:
How has nobody found a solution to this? Surely it's a software thing. You'd have thought some badass member somewhere with enough of a chip on their shoulder against Verizon would have figured a way around this.
Too bad there isn't a bounty for it.
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Click to collapse
I doubt it is a simple or easy as it being simply a "software thing", and I completely believe it could/would never be done...but @wr3cckl3ss1 is on the case!
you can see a bit of how he's progressing HERE and HERE and HERE

It's unfortunate; this was actually the reason I switched from Verizon to T-Mobile lol. It appears the Verizon variant of the Pixel 6 remained locked all this time so I wouldn't bet on much different with the Pixel 7 :/ Hopefully somebody finds something for those with the VZW variant.

simplepinoi177 said:
I doubt it is a simple or easy as it being simply a "software thing", and I completely believe it could/would never be done...but @wr3cckl3ss1 is on the case!
you can see a bit of how he's progressing HERE and HERE and HERE
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Nice!
Surely it couldn't be a hardware lock!?

Does anyone know how to read and interpret a Magisk log? And can show or tell me what's missing

jdkzombie said:
Nice!
Surely it couldn't be a hardware lock!?
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The issue here is 2 java applets.....nothing hardware.

Too bad we didn't have a Verizon inside agent. Tell us wtf they do to lock it. Because isn't that against Googles Tos? It's sold as an unlock able device.

jdkzombie said:
Too bad we didn't have a Verizon inside agent. Tell us wtf they do to lock it. Because isn't that against Googles Tos? It's sold as an unlock able device.
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It's Verizon that demands it. But it's Google's own code that puts the lock in place...so they're both at fault.

wr3cckl3ss1 said:
It's Verizon that demands it. But it's Google's own code that puts the lock in place...so they're both at fault.
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Weird. Strange that this would still be a thing. Not like the device was cheap to purchase.

My question is why is Verizon so "gung-ho" about it? More than any other carrier (other carriers eventually allow to unlock the bootloader)? I could understand when they used to repair their own devices (so they didn't want the liability and the headaches of when customers messed with the devices); but that's the not the case anymore. Outside of their greedy archaic grasp on tethering and to load unremovable bloatware, I don't know what they have to fear of unlocked bootloaders & root access.

Who knows.
I'm willing to throw money towards a bounty that removes Verizons strangle hold on devices. I don't mind their service, and the signal is good where I live, but I like customization. And I'd love to try some new kernals to change up the CPU scheduler and power plans to stop the phone from bringing the 4 big cores online for casual use.

Just get the unlocked version and use with Verizon service. What's the upside with having the Verizon variant?

Because it's not that simple. You can't swappa sell a phone you're making any payments towards. And the phone is too new for trade in with another carrier of any type.

VZW variants have been locked since the OG Pixel days aside from that small window before taking an OTA you could unlock if it was on a certain version. Sadly I don't see this changing anytime soon and if you want to unlock BL and root get the unlocked version from the Google Store. There's really little incentive buying Pixels from Verizon now. With Pixel Pass and Google Store financing those are good options if you can't drop all the money up front.

Just buy the unlocked model. Some retailers have awesome trade in deals coming from the 6 series or iPhones. It works just as well on Verizon and avoids the 36 month committment.

I hate how Verizon shuts down the option for unlocking the bootloader and rooting, but it is easier to purchase a device from them because your payments will coincide with your regular monthly cell bill, you already pass the credit check when you open an account with them (no need to apply for one with Google Synchrony Financing), and I just went through with this with my wife's phone but unless you qualify enough to cover the Pixel (my wife qualified for the Pixel 7, not the P7P at the storage capacity we wanted), you're stuck paying all (up to $1400 [P7P 512GB w/ 2 year protection & tax]) up front -- where there's virtually no risk of this if you purchase through Verizon (they want to lock you in to years-long contract and you already passed the credit check)! So there's (some of) the benefits....
*but it's still more worth it beyond any of these "benefits" to get it from Google Store unlocked....

Lol. Here's a simple solution. Buy the unlocked version. Who changes carriers because of a bl lock? WTF?

At this point I think we all know that Verizon isn't going to unlock the Bootloader. if you want an unlocked bootloader, it is easier, and more guaranteed to just buy the unlocked version from Google vs trying to find vulnerabilities in the bootloader and having to worry about it being patched each month.

Not sure if this is still in effect, but many years ago, if you purchased an unlocked phone instead of the Verizon branded one, WiFi calling wouldn't work. I'm not sure if there was something missing from the phone that Verizon needed to make it happen, or if Verizon was just screwing over those who purchased unlocked versions.

andygold said:
Not sure if this is still in effect, but many years ago, if you purchased an unlocked phone instead of the Verizon branded one, WiFi calling wouldn't work. I'm not sure if there was something missing from the phone that Verizon needed to make it happen, or if Verizon was just screwing over those who purchased unlocked versions.
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it's working perfectly fine with my device....it also worked with my Pixel 5 (also unlocked variant from Google Store)....