A little happiness on a Monday!!!
I had issues with my recently purchased S4 so I called AT&T and they sent me a refurb. The first refurb had screen issues and much to my dismay, was on MF3. I called AT&T last week and they said they would ship one out right away and what do you know, the one I got today was an MDL with a perfect screen.
Just wanted to share a success story in case someone else wants to play the refurb roulette game an possibly score and MDL.
I know your happy. Glad to hear it. This phone is to good to be slapped down by MF3.
I was a lucky winner of the black screen of death today on my s4 that I traded someone a note 2 for, the guy that gave me the s4 had already updated to mf3. Life has sucked for the past couple months stuck with mf3. Went to at&t support center in atl, not only did I get a brand new s4, (they stated that it wasn't a refurb) but the replacement has MDL! WE'RE IN THE SAME BOAT! HAPPY DAY!!! lol
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Lucky you guys. I got a refurb from AT&T and it came with MF3. I can't escape it.
Sent from the other side of the Milky Way with my S4.
MOD EDIT: DO NOT DISCUSS WARRANTY FRAUD ON THIS SITE!!
I got an MDL 32gb also like 3 weeks ago. It seems that they are not flashing the software on the phones if it is a hardware problem.
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I was lucky enough to get an MDL right when I bought it. Thank you Best Buy mobile!
Anyone else getting an MDL version lately?
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hecpilot said:
Anyone else getting an MDL version lately?
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I got an MDL from Bestbuy a few days ago!
Sent from my AOKP Galaxy S4
I got my refurbished online from AT&T for $30. Took the update the first day I in boxed it not knowing. And before I did my research. Due to coming off Verizon RAZR maxx HD. Bricked it trying to install TWRP, took it to AT&T corporate store. Told them what I did and how it happened. The cool Kat behind the counter said no problem, and reflashed MDL to it.
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I traded a 16g iPhone 5 for a 32 gig gs4 in almost brand new condition. The iPhone was like beat up and headphones were used and dirty and I didn't have the original charger. But came with mf3 :/ oh well got a better deal because people are going crazy for iphones.
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mattwheat said:
I got my refurbished online from AT&T for $30. Took the update the first day I in boxed it not knowing. And before I did my research. Due to coming off Verizon RAZR maxx HD. Bricked it trying to install TWRP, took it to AT&T corporate store. Told them what I did and how it happened. The cool Kat behind the counter said no problem, and reflashed MDL to it.
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Can you please tell us how or what he used to downgrade? Get in contact if possible. As far as I or anyone else knows, it is impossible to downgrade to MDL once the OTA MF3 has been installed.
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I have no idea how he did it. I was thinking he would swap me out to another phone. I even asked asked and he said "just some software that's on our PC in the back". I asked for a copy of the software .... He chukled and said "man I can't do that". I don't think he knows a lot about this stuff much less knew the difficulty we have trying to figure out mf3 ... I don't know if he knew whether or not he was supposed to reflash for me. I read on here somewhere that best buy has a Samsung kiosks that can do it also.
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As far as I know, BB can't even downgrade... I must know what this software is.
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graydiggy said:
As far as I know, BB can't even downgrade... I must know what this software is.
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The phone can not be downgraded from MF3 to MDL. In order to do so with any "software" method would require at least a partial re-write of the MDL bootloader to completely emulate parts of the MF3 bootloader. Once operational in theory, it would need to be signed with Samsung's encrypted key to make it actually function on the phone. We do not have the encrypted key required to do so. Any other method would require replacing parts of the phone itself.
People that claim this, don't know what they are talking about.
What you are failing to see here is that you are still wrong. Even if you did not actually boot the system after an MF3 update, there is still the qfuse that got blown. That is the single thing that keeps the device from being downgraded. The burden of proof is in your hands. There is no need to be so hostile towards someone that explained the process.
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mattwheat said:
I have no idea how he did it. I was thinking he would swap me out to another phone. I even asked asked and he said "just some software that's on our PC in the back". I asked for a copy of the software .... He chukled and said "man I can't do that". I don't think he knows a lot about this stuff much less knew the difficulty we have trying to figure out mf3 ... I don't know if he knew whether or not he was supposed to reflash for me. I read on here somewhere that best buy has a Samsung kiosks that can do it also.
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There has not been one substantiated case of an MF3 phone running MDL. If you have it, you should dump those bootloaders ASAP and collect the bounty.
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Related
I purchased my S3 online and would like to exchange it for a new one in store. I am still in the 14 day return period. If this is possible, can anyone explain to me the process or your experiences? Also one final question, will they give me a brand new one or a refurbished?
If I do get it replaced how do I go about backing up my apps etc and should wipe my phone?
Thanks for your help
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Inside of 14 days you get a new one. As long as you bought it direct from verizon wireless and not from amazon or another reseller.
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voodoomanx said:
Inside of 14 days you get a new one. As long as you bought it direct from verizon wireless and not from amazon or another reseller.
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They won't give me trouble since I bought it online?
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Anyone?
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It does not matter that you ordered online. Inside of the 14 day window they will give you a brand new phone with pretty much no questions asked.
Kreeker said:
It does not matter that you ordered online. Inside of the 14 day window they will give you a brand new phone with pretty much no questions asked.
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Thanks what I wanted to hear
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Kreeker said:
It does not matter that you ordered online. Inside of the 14 day window they will give you a brand new phone with pretty much no questions asked.
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Unless you get a complete **** like I got. I had a totally obvious issue that the guy tried to play off like it wasn't a problem. I had artifacts all over my text at random times. It happened while I was there and he said it wasn't a warrantable issue.
The other guy there helped me out (since I had it less than a week) and got it replaced. Just don't let them tell you any different.
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Hey guys thanks for all the help. Initially the guy I talked to told me since he couldn't really see a problem he couldn't exchange it. I asked to see a manager and explained to them that if they liked it could just return the phone and re buy it if they would not let me exchange. That line kind of woke them up and they did let me exchange it.
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My sister ordered a white iPhone from verizon online and when it arrived it was black. We called vzw up and they said to just take it to any official vzw store and it will be no problem to exchange. Five hours and three stores later we had the same black iPhone. Every manager said that hey didn't have to take it because it would mess up their stock. Customer support didn't understand this but said there was nothing I could do. Eventually I had to take it to a store outside the city and they happily exchanged it. I don't know if this will help you but you may want to keep it in mind.
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Just found out that ISIS is not compatible with the Verizon Galaxy S3! How stupid can you be, their top selling phone next to the iPhone and you are starting off a service by not making a top phone compatible? Who ever is in charge of ISIS should be fired.
It is possible to do as TMobile has made it possible. Instead Verizon has terrible phones that basically no one buys available to the service.
Just disgusts me.
/rant
So Vzw cripples the s3 from using Google wallet and to top it off Vzw's homebrew wallet won't work talk about stuck
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that is the thing I don't understand. One of if not your best selling handset you don't have available at this launch? Really? Terrible
Welcome to Verizon. Enjoy your stay.
Samsung Galaxy S3
Did you go into Verizon and get a new SIM for it? I had to do that on AT&T and ISIS works for me now. (fully stock s3)
blazeoc said:
Just found out that ISIS is not compatible with the Verizon Galaxy S3! How stupid can you be, their top selling phone next to the iPhone and you are starting off a service by not making a top phone compatible? Who ever is in charge of ISIS should be fired.
It is possible to do as TMobile has made it possible. Instead Verizon has terrible phones that basically no one buys available to the service.
Just disgusts me.
/rant
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All you need is a new SIM.
i called the local verizon store here and they said no, the S3 will not work with the new sim yet. Are you guys hearing something different?
Yet another example of the stupidity, fragmentation and stuff that doesn't work in Android. The carriers decide how to squeeze every last dollar out of users, Google doesn't bother to enforce anything and only cares about Nexus, oem's ignore Android standards.
Just watch while next year Apple comes out with its own branded NFC system and everyone will fall over backwards trying to support it. Then we can whine and moan about how 'Android did it years ago' while Apple will get a patent, millions of users overnight, and become the standard.
Apparently the only Verizon phone to support it is the Droid Incredible 4G LTE.
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josh995 said:
Apparently the only Verizon phone to support it is the Droid Incredible 4G LTE.
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This is what I thought. I also thought it unethical for Verizon to block Google wallet especially since their alternative isn't functional.
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Cappurnikus said:
This is what I thought. I also thought it unethical for Verizon to block Google wallet especially since their alternative isn't functional.
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Yup. I'm really getting tired of Verizon being a dictatorship. THEY say what we get. Even though I plunk down $600+ for a new phone, or $200-$300 if it's an upgrade, (I can't use a phone for 2 years, I get bored) I don't get to use it the way I want to. Ridiculous.
To the people who aren't happy on Verizon, why not pay your eft or wait until your contract ends and leave to another carrier?
While you may see them as a dictatorship it was your decision to sign a contract with them. Research is key and living with your decisions, good or bad, is a part of life. We ultimately are to blame.
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WizeGuyDezignz said:
To the people who aren't happy on Verizon, why not pay your eft or wait until your contract ends and leave to another carrier?
While you may see them as a dictatorship it was your decision to sign a contract with them. Research is key and living with your decisions, good or bad, is a part of life. We ultimately are to blame.
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Because they see all garbage? It's just picking the lesser of evils.
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xsteven77x said:
Because they see all garbage? It's just picking the lesser of evils.
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Correct, they all do the same thing.
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WizeGuyDezignz said:
To the people who aren't happy on Verizon, why not pay your eft or wait until your contract ends and leave to another carrier?
While you may see them as a dictatorship it was your decision to sign a contract with them. Research is key and living with your decisions, good or bad, is a part of life. We ultimately are to blame.
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Well for some of us there is no good alternative to Verizon. We had AT&T since the first car phone came out. I had full service when I owned the original RAZR and we didn't even have 2g just regular whatever service. Then they upgraded the towers after Cingular was bought by AT&T and service got so bad that we had one bar inside but if we wanted to make a call we had to step outside on the porch. Then when 3g came we didn't have ANY service whatsoever in a mile radius. So for some of us we aren't there aren't any viable alternatives.
Plus Verizon has better service than any other provider I have ever been with, they are just dictators with their phones.
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Nothing has been set in stone. A friend of mine explained the reason the S3 isn't working yet is that the firmware needs to be updated to use the newer sim system to allow ISIS to work (due to the LTE hardware that Samsung uses).
I expect this will be resolved shortly. As of right now ISIS is still in testing phases anyways. Verizon invested a lot of money in ISIS. It's in their best interest to get it working.
WizeGuyDezignz said:
To the people who aren't happy on Verizon, why not pay your eft or wait until your contract ends and leave to another carrier?
While you may see them as a dictatorship it was your decision to sign a contract with them. Research is key and living with your decisions, good or bad, is a part of life. We ultimately are to blame.
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You don't think we know about this option?
The reason I don't leave? Because I've had every major carrier, and Verizon has the best, most reliable coverage.
Doesn't mean I'm still not tired of their BS.
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Two years ago things were different than today. Much more things incorporated in the wireless community, specifically Verizon's to accept everything that they throw at US
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josh995 said:
You don't think we know about this option?
The reason I don't leave? Because I've had every major carrier, and Verizon has the best, most reliable coverage.
Doesn't mean I'm still not tired of their BS.
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I didn't say you couldn't be tired of their bs. I'm not always thrilled with them either, but that's true with almost all companies. But when people throw around words like "dictatorship" and the like, it's extreme to say the least.
All I'm saying is at the end of the day we choose what we choose. We take the good and the bad with it.
Complaining about stuff like this is comparable to me buying a Hummer and then complaining that it has bad mpg.
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So I went into the store today, S3 is not supported officially. Maybe in the future.
I don't understand why you start of your brand with the worst phones that basically have zero users compared to the S3
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Went to Best Buy and had to exchange my S4 for another one. My phone kept losing connection to the network. It did it 3 times and all my text messages and missed calls would pop up all at once a couple hours later. Anyone else had problems? I don't know if it was the update. Seemed like everything started going wrong after.
I was in WalMart yesterday and asked the guy behind the electronics counter of they've had a lot of gs4 returns. He pointed to two boxes behind the counter and said those were the only two they've sold and both were returned days later for losing their connection to the network. This is in Leitchfield, KY.
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h3lluvaninjuhneer said:
I was in WalMart yesterday and asked the guy behind the electronics counter of they've had a lot of gs4 returns. He pointed to two boxes behind the counter and said those were the only two they've sold and both were returned days later for losing their connection to the network. This is in Leitchfield, KY.
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Hmm, don't know whats going on. I was thinking about getting the htc one but I came out with the same phone again. This one seems a lot more responsive. I don't know if I want to update it or just wait. I might have just got a bad phone. It's rarely that I have issues like that. The guy at Best Buy said most of their returns were because of lag.
Sure hope this doesn't happen with mine.
h3lluvaninjuhneer said:
I was in WalMart yesterday and asked the guy behind the electronics counter of they've had a lot of gs4 returns. He pointed to two boxes behind the counter and said those were the only two they've sold and both were returned days later for losing their connection to the network. This is in Leitchfield, KY.
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Hey go jackets! I just graduated last Friday. Did grad school there. THWG!
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I'm in Fort Worth, Texas. Maybe Samsung shipped out a batch of bad GS4s. Hopefully nothing goes wrong with my new one.
Yes, THWG! Go Jackets!
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a buddy of mine had a similar issue on the SG4 and HTC One; turns out it was his sim card. which, by the way, was brand new. hope you guys have better luck.
Checked my phone for the update. Seems like it was already updated. So this phone must have been just delivered to the store the other day with the update preinstalled. I've only had the phone freeze one time when I was using the camera last night. Other than that everything is working great.
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h3lluvaninjuhneer said:
I was in WalMart yesterday and asked the guy behind the electronics counter of they've had a lot of gs4 returns. He pointed to two boxes behind the counter and said those were the only two they've sold and both were returned days later for losing their connection to the network. This is in Leitchfield, KY.
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Did they have the 32gb at Walmart?
hamzer11 said:
Did they have the 32gb at Walmart?
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Not at that particular one.
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h3lluvaninjuhneer said:
Not at that particular one.
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I'm wondering if any do. I think I have like a day or two left and I'm still on the fence about getting the 32gb.
hamzer11 said:
I'm wondering if any do. I think I have like a day or two left and I'm still on the fence about getting the 32gb.
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I haven't gotten mine yet, as I'm not eligible for upgrade until June. I'm on the fence when it comes to color, though. If I go with black, I'll definitely get the 32GB, but I'm kinda diggin' the white.
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Just bought my S4 today at Costco and its MDL!!!!!
I wanted to give you guy's hope they are still out there.
P.S. the guy offered to buy/swap me because it was MDL.
Thanks goes to the guides and developments so far, I hope to contribute in the coming weeks.
Happy Halloween!
BehrendsTech said:
Just bought my S4 today at Costco and its MDL!!!!!
I wanted to give you guy's hope they are still out there.
P.S. the guy offered to buy/swap me because it was MDL.
Thanks goes to the guides and developments so far, I hope to contribute in the coming weeks.
Happy Halloween!
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That's awesome! Though, I don't think anyone looking for a new S4 should count on MDL phones as even a remote possibility. You probably got one of the last MDL phones outside of the used market.
jh64dsb877r said:
That's awesome! Though, I don't think anyone looking for a new S4 should count on MDL phones as even a remote possibility. You probably got one of the last MDL phones outside of the used market.
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Got a white one at walmart just last week. The guy even opened it for me to check first!
Is there no way to tell on the outside?
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sbrown23 said:
Is there no way to tell on the outside?
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It will say on the bottom of the box what it comes with
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sbrown23 said:
Is there no way to tell on the outside?
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Yes, definitely. On the side of the box with all of the barcodes. It will say the firmware version.
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I just called AT&T about my speratic reboots on my phone. He did some reset on his end, he told me it might have fixed it. I told him if I elected to have it replaced could I request a replacement phone with firmware MDL? He said that's a different department but he recommend that I go to my local store and have it replaced there if I choose that route. The odds that the store has one is quite slim I'm sure but worth the time since I see that ppl still manage to get one from time to time. First thing I guess I'd need to do is remove root from my current phone, head over, tell them my issue, refuse a master reset (last time they reset my phone I lost everything, including my sdcard...never again). They should then offer me a replacement, I ask for a MDL model, I tell them how to tell. If they don't have any which I'm sure they don't, would I receive another MF3? My store is actually pretty cool, I may just walk in an ask if they have any MDL's...if so than I'll about getting an exchange.
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---------- Post added at 03:56 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:46 PM ----------
The more I think about it, really whats the point. I asked here the other day "is locked boots the new norm" all so far have said yes, as far as version and AT&T goes. Even if I get a MDL model, im still getting an upgrade next summer...Ill have the same issue then as I'm sure we all will. Its a dark time. I'm sure we'll always have root but flashing custom Roms is what we all what (safe assumption). If this is the case and the modding community is as large as I think it is, I see the 2 carries taking a large hit in sales due to their nonsence. Sorry guys, had to vent
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I went to my local Wal-Mart today and they actually had a brand new MDB. The first released. But they wanted $700 for it new. I told them they were crazy and that att sells then online for 500
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Has anyone done this for a warranty replacement and got away with it?
I am having hardware issues and cannot get back to stock.
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I'd suggest hard bricking it first. When the s3 first came out I flashed an incorrect zip file and almost instantly found myself with a totally lifeless phone. I took it in to Verizon and convinced the guy there that it just stopped working and I played dumb about why. He tried to charge it for a while and see if that helped and of course nothing happened, so then he pronounced it dead and ordered a replacement phone totally under warranty. Good luck, lol
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brjon1 said:
I'd suggest hard bricking it first. When the s3 first came out I flashed an incorrect zip file and almost instantly found myself with a totally lifeless phone. I took it in to Verizon and convinced the guy there that it just stopped working and I played dumb about why. He tried to charge it for a while and see if that helped and of course nothing happened, so then he pronounced it dead and ordered a replacement phone totally under warranty. Good luck, lol
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Interesting world where people openly discuss committing Felony Fraud and Conspiricy to Commit Felony Fraud but discussing pirating a $.99 piece of software isn't allowed. LOL :silly: