A couple weeks ago, I started rooting my Verizon gs3 for the first time, with intentions of installing a custom ROM (liquidsmooth), and ran into the locked bootloader problem. From what I've read, it sounds like Verizon was the only carrier to lock the bootloader on the gs3.
So are there any carriers that are supportive or at least not against rooting and ROMing?
And it seems to be the carriers who are really against it, not the manufacturers, so please correct me if I'm wrong on that.
PS - not the first time I've rooted and ROMed - did a T-Mobile myTouch 3g years ago - but that's all.
squebler said:
A couple weeks ago, I started rooting my Verizon gs3 for the first time, with intentions of installing a custom ROM (liquidsmooth), and ran into the locked bootloader problem. From what I've read, it sounds like Verizon was the only carrier to lock the bootloader on the gs3.
So are there any carriers that are supportive or at least not against rooting and ROMing?
And it seems to be the carriers who are really against it, not the manufacturers, so please correct me if I'm wrong on that.
PS - not the first time I've rooted and ROMed - did a T-Mobile myTouch 3g years ago - but that's all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
T-Mobile is probably the friendliest when it comes to this sort of thing. Verizon and AT&T like to lock their phones down tight, and Sprint...well, Sprint just sucks regardless. If you want freedom to do what you want, pick up a Nexus or unlocked phone with band 4 LTE and go with T-Mobile. Unlimited high-speed is never a bad thing either.
bump
Related
I'll start off by saying this is not a question regarding which phone but more so about what buying an unlocked phone gives/ doesn't give you.
In the past 6 years I have spent time with almost every U.S. carrier, even some twice, and purchased over 30 phones but for whatever reason have never purchased an unlocked phone or used one from anothee carrier other than the one I am on.
I am currently considering an unlocked Sensation or GS2 and was wondering..
How do OTA updated work with unlocked phones?
What issues and options from AT&T do I lose with an unlocked phone?
I assume you have no warranty even through the manufacture?
Any other downsides to using an unlocked phone?
Where are the best places to buy?
GS2 Specific questions
Is it confirmed that the AT&T version will have NFC?
Any solid information on a release date?
Thanks for any help!
Hey all,
I'm really new to this community and rooting in general and I just have a question regarding rooting between carriers. I've never really had to root my phone till my new HTC one (m8) blocked my tethering app =(.
Anyways the question is whether or not rooting my HTC one on a verizon network would be the same as rooting it on a t-mobile network. My plan was to upgrade 2 year contract via verizon and then have t-mobile buy out my contract so I can still get unlimited data (verizon takes away the unlimited plan once you upgrade and my phone is now ancient.) Since all the new 4g verizon phones come unlocked, I am free to switch over to t-mobile. The problem is I don't know anything about rooting, and while I'm fairly certain networks have nothing to do with rooting a phone, I did see different sub forums for the same phone but different network. Should I wait till I've hopped over to t-mobile before attempting to root my phone?
Sorry for the rant and thanks in advance for any advice you can give!
LatrommiSumac said:
Hey all,
I'm really new to this community and rooting in general and I just have a question regarding rooting between carriers. I've never really had to root my phone till my new HTC one (m8) blocked my tethering app =(.
Anyways the question is whether or not rooting my HTC one on a verizon network would be the same as rooting it on a t-mobile network. My plan was to upgrade 2 year contract via verizon and then have t-mobile buy out my contract so I can still get unlimited data (verizon takes away the unlimited plan once you upgrade and my phone is now ancient.) Since all the new 4g verizon phones come unlocked, I am free to switch over to t-mobile. The problem is I don't know anything about rooting, and while I'm fairly certain networks have nothing to do with rooting a phone, I did see different sub forums for the same phone but different network. Should I wait till I've hopped over to t-mobile before attempting to root my phone?
Sorry for the rant and thanks in advance for any advice you can give!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First off, welcome to xda.
Why upgrade on Vzw and then jump over to TMo? Sounds like you have no contract obligation with Vzw right now. From the TMo ads I've seen on tv, you won't be able to keep any new Vzw phone when you go to TMo (TMo gets it). So I don't understand what you're trying to achieve.
You said "... I'm fairly certain networks have nothing to do with rooting a phone, ...". Yes and no. The M8's on different carriers are NOT all the same. There are carrier-specific differences. The M8 for instance - bootloader is locked for Vzw phones and others such as TMo. But with TMo you could go to HTC Dev and get the bin code to unlock the bootloader; not possible with Vzw M8 (but a root exploit makes that point moot).
I'm not entirely sure what you want to do, but I think the answer to "Should I wait till I've hopped over to t-mobile before attempting to root my phone?" is yes.
Hope that helps.
Thanks!
dm5530 said:
First off, welcome to xda.
Why upgrade on Vzw and then jump over to TMo? Sounds like you have no contract obligation with Vzw right now. From the TMo ads I've seen on tv, you won't be able to keep any new Vzw phone when you go to TMo (TMo gets it). So I don't understand what you're trying to achieve.
You said "... I'm fairly certain networks have nothing to do with rooting a phone, ...". Yes and no. The M8's on different carriers are NOT all the same. There are carrier-specific differences. The M8 for instance - bootloader is locked for Vzw phones and others such as TMo. But with TMo you could go to HTC Dev and get the bin code to unlock the bootloader; not possible with Vzw M8 (but a root exploit makes that point moot).
I'm not entirely sure what you want to do, but I think the answer to "Should I wait till I've hopped over to t-mobile before attempting to root my phone?" is yes.
Hope that helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
Thanks for the response and welcome =). The reason I don't want to switch directly over to TMo right now is because I broke my galaxy S4 a month back and I have no smart phone to use. My plan was to use the Vzw upgrade to get a new phone since TMo is willing to buy out contracts to get new customers. I mostly wanted to know if it was possible to use my Vzw M8 on the TMo network via rooting. I read about the CDMA vs GSM network problems and was wondering if there was a fix around that. As for TMo getting my phone, they only require you trade in and buy a phone for contract buyouts, but I can do that with cheap phones (trade in my htc tbolt for 50 bucks and buy a flipphone.) Thanks again for your response, can use all the help I can get =)
LatrommiSumac said:
Hi,
Thanks for the response and welcome =). The reason I don't want to switch directly over to TMo right now is because I broke my galaxy S4 a month back and I have no smart phone to use. My plan was to use the Vzw upgrade to get a new phone since TMo is willing to buy out contracts to get new customers. I mostly wanted to know if it was possible to use my Vzw M8 on the TMo network via rooting. I read about the CDMA vs GSM network problems and was wondering if there was a fix around that. As for TMo getting my phone, they only require you trade in and buy a phone for contract buyouts, but I can do that with cheap phones (trade in my htc tbolt for 50 bucks and buy a flipphone.) Thanks again for your response, can use all the help I can get =)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I understand your situation better now.
If TMo doesn't force you to turn in the M8, then I think you could find a way to use the Vzn M8 on TMo. If you do this, you'll be looking in the Vzn thread for many things since that is the version of the phone you bought. Not sure if you could use ROMs, etc from the TMo M8 thread (don't think so); I'd be cautious about doing that. Think of yourself as using a Vzn M8 in a foreign (TMo) country.
From what I found here, (in particular, I'm talking about this post) you won't be able to get LTE service and you'll have to find out how to set up the phone so there might be some challenges, too.
Just another caution - don't know if Vzn has a minimum time after start of contract where the ETF situation is even more costly than say 6 months to a year down the road. Wouldn't want to start the ball rolling then find out there are some other fees that TMo won't pay.
Good luck.
Cheers!
dm5530 said:
I understand your situation better now.
If TMo doesn't force you to turn in the M8, then I think you could find a way to use the Vzn M8 on TMo. If you do this, you'll be looking in the Vzn thread for many things since that is the version of the phone you bought. Not sure if you could use ROMs, etc from the TMo M8 thread (don't think so); I'd be cautious about doing that. Think of yourself as using a Vzn M8 in a foreign (TMo) country.
From what I found here, (in particular, I'm talking about this post) you won't be able to get LTE service and you'll have to find out how to set up the phone so there might be some challenges, too.
Just another caution - don't know if Vzn has a minimum time after start of contract where the ETF situation is even more costly than say 6 months to a year down the road. Wouldn't want to start the ball rolling then find out there are some other fees that TMo won't pay.
Good luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks again for all the help! Vzw has a max 350 contract cancellation fee and TMo offers up to 350 per line so I should be fine. My main worry was indeed about the switch from CDMA to GSM network and having trouble with LTE =/. I think I might just sell the phone on Swappa and buy a TMo version if the fixes don't work. Thanks for the links, they're very helpful, and I really appreciate the help overall.
I asked this question a few days ago & no one answered, so I will try a different way.
Verizon tells me that my phone that is "unlocked & rooted" with CyanogenMod 10.2.1 is not truly unlocked.
So how do you completely "unlock" a phone so that it will work on Verizon's CDMA network?
Is there a different way to unlock for CDMA?
Thanks.
Rebel60 said:
I asked this question a few days ago & no one answered, so I will try a different way.
Verizon tells me that my phone that is "unlocked & rooted" with CyanogenMod 10.2.1 is not truly unlocked.
So how do you completely "unlock" a phone so that it will work on Verizon's CDMA network?
Is there a different way to unlock for CDMA?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If your running cyanogen mod your bootloader is unlocked. There's two different kinds of unlocked, one is sim unlocked which means it can run on almost any carrier and bootloader unlocked meaning you can flash custom roms
As far as CDMA not that I'm aware of
From my S3 on Wicked 4.3
ShapesBlue said:
If your running cyanogen mod your bootloader is unlocked. There's two different kinds of unlocked, one is sim unlocked which means it can run on almost any carrier and bootloader unlocked meaning you can flash custom roms
As far as CDMA not that I'm aware of
From my S3 on Wicked 4.3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. I couldn't understand how a phone can be unlocked & rooted & still not be unlocked. The salesman at Verizon told me on the phone that whatever company originally sold the phone would have to unlock it. I forgot that this was a T-Mobile phone. I use T-mobile sim via Straight Talk. If this sim is removed then would the phone be able to work on Verizon network? Verzion is telling me this is a GSM phone & not CDMA & won't work unless unlocked by carrier. Which makes no sense if it isn't a cdma to begin with. I assume that all Verizon version of phones are made for them as CDMA only?
If this is so, then Verizon should not be advertising "bring your own device" as it won't work. It should be "bring your own Verizon phone".
Rebel60 said:
Thanks. I couldn't understand how a phone can be unlocked & rooted & still not be unlocked. The salesman at Verizon told me on the phone that whatever company originally sold the phone would have to unlock it. I forgot that this was a T-Mobile phone. I use T-mobile sim via Straight Talk. If this sim is removed then would the phone be able to work on Verizon network? Verzion is telling me this is a GSM phone & not CDMA & won't work unless unlocked by carrier. Which makes no sense if it isn't a cdma to begin with. I assume that all Verizon version of phones are made for them as CDMA only?
If this is so, then Verizon should not be advertising "bring your own device" as it won't work. It should be "bring your own Verizon phone".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Verizons idea of bring your own device really isn't what it should be. It should work on the vzw network but all phones should be sim unlocked by the carrier as a law was passed to do so, however verizon won't a lot of times sim unlock it like it should be until the contract is fulfilled.
And yes there bring your own device is irrelevant because most gsm phones won't work like they should on this crappy network because they are the only CDMA only network left.
From my S3 on Wicked 4.3
ShapesBlue said:
Verizons idea of bring your own device really isn't what it should be. It should work on the vzw network but all phones should be sim unlocked by the carrier as a law was passed to do so, however verizon won't a lot of times sim unlock it like it should be until the contract is fulfilled.
And yes there bring your own device is irrelevant because most gsm phones won't work like they should on this crappy network because they are the only CDMA only network left.
From my S3 on Wicked 4.3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks ShapesBlue. I assumed it was not really bring any device to play as they state. My phone came from T-Mobile from the original buyer, so I don't know if T-Mobile would till unlock it or not since it isn't stock any longer. I have a friends that use Verizon & they get good service in our area. Mine is limited on T-Mobile, lot of dead spots especially where I work & slow data. I had a non digital CDMA phone that I used through Straight Talk & it used Verizon network & I got good phone service in places way off the beaten trail, so that is why I wanted to try Verizon again.
Where can I find a copy of the "unlock law". I searched for it but didn't find anything. I would like to print it out & take with me for proof.
Thanks.
Rebel60 said:
Thanks ShapesBlue. I assumed it was not really bring any device to play as they state. My phone came from T-Mobile from the original buyer, so I don't know if T-Mobile would till unlock it or not since it isn't stock any longer. I have a friends that use Verizon & they get good service in our area. Mine is limited on T-Mobile, lot of dead spots especially where I work & slow data. I had a non digital CDMA phone that I used through Straight Talk & it used Verizon network & I got good phone service in places way off the beaten trail, so that is why I wanted to try Verizon again.
Where can I find a copy of the "unlock law". I searched for it but didn't find anything. I would like to print it out & take with me for proof.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure if it has passed just yet but here is some info on it
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/obama-signs-bill-unlocking-cellphones/
From my S3 on Wicked 4.3
I Just found the law, it was signed into law by president on Aug. 1st. 2014. S.517, Public law 113-114
Thanks.
Q&A for Anyone working on Root for AT&T?
Some developers prefer that questions remain separate from their main development thread to help keep things organized. Placing your question within this thread will increase its chances of being answered by a member of the community or by the developer.
Before posting, please use the forum search and read through the discussion thread for Anyone working on Root for AT&T?. If you can't find an answer, post it here, being sure to give as much information as possible (firmware version, steps to reproduce, logcat if available) so that you can get help.
Thanks for understanding and for helping to keep XDA neat and tidy!
AT&T Note Edge help
I know that there is not a root for this phone yet. I'm very upset with myself for not researching this first. I now strongly regret moving from T-Mobile to AT&T. I'm having more trouble with this almost $1000 phone than I've had with $150 huawei phones. All of this AT&T bloat is ridiculous. The AT&T stuff on top of the Samsung bloat makes my phone borderline unusable. The lollipop update has made it much worse. Now it's not only freezing constantly, but the battery life is half of what it used to be and what it should be. It over heats like crazy. AT&T keeps telling me to factory reset or pay $250 for a new phone. AT&T might be the worst of allthe carriers.
Is there anything i can do to fix any of these issues at all? i've factory reset twice now just to be sure it wasn't that. I'm very close to getting rid of AT&T. The reason i prefer android is because of more options and now AT&T has taken that away from me.
root note edge
i just bought a note edge att but i dont want to switch from s5 because no root for edge is there any way i can get wifi hotspot without root
SM-N915A Firmware
So I am reading different things, but I understand I need the firmware for my Note Edge (AT&T) if I want to try and rooting the device. Some say the firmware has been released, but I can't seem to find it.
Anybody have information for the SM-915A firmware?
shonnick01 said:
i just bought a note edge att but i dont want to switch from s5 because no root for edge is there any way i can get wifi hotspot without root
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is there 2 different AT&T's? Been with AT&T for 3 years or so, had hotspot free since day 1. Guess you are still on a old plan?
Oditius said:
Is there 2 different AT&T's? Been with AT&T for 3 years or so, had hotspot free since day 1. Guess you are still on a old plan?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AT&T phone but straight talk service! sorry i should have mentioned that
Any news on perm root?
Any news for Root on the ATT side of Note Edge?
So, any news?
I'm not sure how roms are offered but no root?? sorry to ignorant but Iv been rooting for years look at my join date. I assume if roms are offered there must be a way to root. Unfortunately no one shared that.
robandcathy said:
I'm not sure how roms are offered but no root?? sorry to ignorant but Iv been rooting for years look at my join date. I assume if roms are offered there must be a way to root. Unfortunately no one shared that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is a temp root, not sure if you can load a rom for it. But making Roms for the N915A (AT&T) isn't that hard since the N915T (Tmobile) is a close cousin. Maybe the Dev knows they are getting close?
Oditius said:
There is a temp root, not sure if you can load a rom for it. But making Roms for the N915A (AT&T) isn't that hard since the N915T (Tmobile) is a close cousin. Maybe the Dev knows they are getting close?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually its pretty hard.. and close to impossible, the boot loader is locked and there is currently NO chance of unlocking without the signature keys. Therefore no ROMS will be available. As for ROOT, there is a temp root but a permanent root is very difficult unless they find a way around WP (Write Protect). Tmobile and AT&T are nothing alike in software... which is the issue here.
IceTwig said:
Actually its pretty hard.. and close to impossible, the boot loader is locked and there is currently NO chance of unlocking without the signature keys. Therefore no ROMS will be available. As for ROOT, there is a temp root but a permanent root is very difficult unless they find a way around WP (Write Protect). Tmobile and AT&T are nothing alike in software... which is the issue here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It would seem that not sure where you get they are not alike. I can use my AT&T edge on the T-MOBILE network and visa-versa. I get LTE on both. But I do find it crappy that AT&T locked the boot loader, therefore preventing us from installing custom roms. As for what it takes to craft a custom Rom, I know very little about.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N915A using Tapatalk
Oditius said:
It would seem that not sure where you get they are not alike. I can use my AT&T edge on the T-MOBILE network and visa-versa. I get LTE on both. But I do find it crappy that AT&T locked the boot loader, therefore preventing us from installing custom roms. As for what it takes to craft a custom Rom, I know very little about.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N915A using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't assume that.. its a fact really... the software that AT&T implements is TOTALLY different than T-Mobile, for one T-Mobile usually never locks their bootloader. Both models are GSM so yea you can interchange providers assuming the SIM is unlocked... but that goes for ANY GSM phone... LG, HTC, they can also be used on T-Mobile if they are GSM.
AT&T has locked all their bootloaders since S3 as far as I remember.
IceTwig said:
I don't assume that.. its a fact really... the software that AT&T implements is TOTALLY different than T-Mobile, for one T-Mobile usually never locks their bootloader. Both models are GSM so yea you can interchange providers assuming the SIM is unlocked... but that goes for ANY GSM phone... LG, HTC, they can also be used on T-Mobile if they are GSM.
AT&T has locked all their bootloaders since S3 as far as I remember.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Except for some European models won't get LTE on AT&T. I guess I should separate hardware from software. TMO hardware is what is similar to AT&T. As far as locking the bootloader, yep. But that is also different than the OS. The HTC One was finally unlocked.. I believe that someday it would be unlocked.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N915A using Tapatalk
Oditius said:
Except for some European models won't get LTE on AT&T. I guess I should separate hardware from software. TMO hardware is what is similar to AT&T. As far as locking the bootloader, yep. But that is also different than the OS. The HTC One was finally unlocked.. I believe that someday it would be unlocked.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N915A using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lets hope so
downlgrade to Android v4 from Lollipop Note edge N915A
Anyone can show direction and files to downgrade Galaxy note edge N915A (ATT) from Android Lollipop to Kitkat ?
Thanks in advance
Root
i had the s4 rooted and unlocked and custom rom. Im not a daily tweeker. just like to rock on something that works for me. so i just updated to s6 edge + wow really??? never would have assumed that verizon locked this down. im instantly pissed and want to dump the s6 and verizon. unfortunately verizon has the only and best coverage for my house.
guess i should have checked the forum to get the info on this phone b4 purchasing. so is the verizon policy to prevent root/unlock of all their phones? if not, what phones would be a good verizon alternative which can be rooted and unlocked? i purchased from costco and believe i can return.
thanks
markkal123 said:
i had the s4 rooted and unlocked and custom rom. Im not a daily tweeker. just like to rock on something that works for me. so i just updated to s6 edge + wow really??? never would have assumed that verizon locked this down. im instantly pissed and want to dump the s6 and verizon. unfortunately verizon has the only and best coverage for my house.
guess i should have checked the forum to get the info on this phone b4 purchasing. so is the verizon policy to prevent root/unlock of all their phones? if not, what phones would be a good verizon alternative which can be rooted and unlocked? i purchased from costco and believe i can return.
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm sure there's a phone mechanic somewhere in your town. You can ask them to carrier unlock your phone.
Or you can use this website http://TheUnlockingCompany.com which has good reputation but I never used it.
Note that all methods I mentioned are paid.
Definitely Nexus or possibly moto phones, other than that not sure about rooting Verizon phones.
Sent from my LG-H631 using Tapatalk