I am attempting to unlock my secondhand purchased Sprint Galaxy S5 to be use on T-mobile's GSM. I was under the impression the phone was already unlocked, and have tried contacting the seller but to no avail, they simply will not take my calls.
I realize this has probably been asked 1,000 times before, and may very well be within the wrong forum; for that I apologize in advance. I've been unable to go through Sprint, as they insist on giving me nothing but a hard time because I am not the original owner of the device. It is not blacklisted (I have checked this on several websites, on top of having dealt with Sprint's CSR's-- I feel they of all people would have let me know if this were the case)
I have tried forum searching and have found quite a few threads that make mention of it but have not sifted through every last result as most are simply people arguing over whether the hardware makes such a transition possible or not. After about 4 hours of reading, I've come away with the knowledge that... It may or may not be possible to accomplish it is what I'm after.
One thing that is certain, none of the short-and-sweet methods I've foudn ont he internet (open dial pad enter *#xxxxxxxxx# then tap few a through simple menus.. They seemd too good to be true, and so it turned out to be), furthermore upon entering a domestic SIM from another carrier I do NOT ge tprompted to enter the sim unlock code.. It just boots to the main screen and says "Invalid Sim"
So far the most promising seems to be using a private service for $15-30 to unlock my phone-- But even then I think I will have trouble. Alternatively, I am hoping to learn something about the custom rom's I keep reading about. The only problem is that I am not quite versed in these matters. I read the instructions and I truthfully cannot make heads or tales of it.
So being that this is probably a frequent question, I'm not necessarily looking for someone to sit down and explain it like I'm five-- as great as that would be, I just don't anticipate it happening. However, if someone could point me to some information in plain English that I may use to learn a thing or two (please, not even intermediate guides-- While I understand Desktop computers inside and out, for some reason, as stated previously, I cannot make heads or tales of any of the threads regarding custom mod's and flashing that I've read thus far,) and I've only experience in rooting a single phone, it was a much more basic, very old smart phone and I used a Clockwork Mod to do so. That being the case, I didn't really have to do anything aside from load a CWM file onto an SD card and enter debug mode or whatever it is called
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So, I bought a Verizon galaxy s iii off of craigslist, but did not have a sim card to use. So I brought the phone into the verizon store to get a sim card for it, and I was told that the phone is on a "missing or stolen list" so they could not activate it. Would unlocking the phone allow me to activate it, or is there any other solution? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Should have checked the esn. Might as well sell it on eBay as a bad esn phone for parts.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium
Only solution is to call the police. Unfortunately you've been scammed.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app
I thought you could just pop your current 4g sim in and it will work.....you just cannot activate it going from 3g to 4g. I swear i did this to a bad imei thunderbolt and it worked....
This is exactly why you meet people from CL when buying a phone at the verzion store. I make them come in with me, check the ESN. Then we go back out and I give them the money. No other way ever.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2
once a person call verizon and reports it lost or stolen it is permanently flagged in their system and cannot be activated anymore, I think in europe all the carriers share banned esn's with each other so you cant just steal a gsm phone and use it on a different gsm carrier, not sure if they do that here
I would see if you can contact the person you got it from but most likely they are long gone and they scammed you knowing full well the phone was stolen, this is why its better to deal with ebay since you are protected from this stuff
do you root your phone?
My issue is very similar but not exactly the same, posting here instead of new thread
This thread seemed to be closest match to what I'm facing... Hi, I'm trying to fix a phone. It's a Samsung Galaxy S3 that's deactivated. It has a Verizon logo on it, but calling 611 connects to AT&T who tells me to call Verizon who claims the imei # is bad because they tried looking it up multiple times and were unable to locate ANY info in their system about it, they recommended that it's not a Verizon phone and I go into the store for the relevant carrier (Which there aren't any AT&T stores around anymore, and I don't feel like walking into Verizon until I've got better/more info so I'm not feeling like an idiot). I believe the phone was previously rooted, because it had a few apps on it such as "rootland" but no su or busybox, but I'm not sure. Rootchecker was already installed but says "no root access" or "root denied". I performed a factory reset. It did nothing. I simply want to have it be capable of being actived on a prepaid acct, I know it was used this way before on Verizon. The baseband is showing as S:i500.05 K.EI20 the kernel version is 2.6.35.7 the model # is SCH-I500. What do I do? My phone number is 60three nine2three 2zero4six my name is Sandra. Please help! I've goggled for hours and simply cannot seem to find any up to date info which is useful! I don't know what to do anymore, my friend needs a working phone as hers sucks and I'm trying to help by getting this one fixed for her to try, because she doesn't have the $ to buy one and this was given to me when the previous owner got a new one and didn't want it anymore but she didn't tell me it was basically a paperweight (probably why she gave it away)... Anyways, help would be fantastic, also I have a computer but no internet, only data plan on my cell, which is why my number is included because if I need to hook it up and hot spot I can but wouldn't be able to communicate online at the same time... The number I provided is connected to a separate phone which is mine and is 100% working, it's a Verizon Galaxy S5 which I'm also trying to root, and it's a pain in the ass not having internet since the block of geohash and towelroot exploit stopped, but I'm close I think, I've done my research and I believe I simply have to down grade the kernel first with odin. I've never actually used odin or rooted a phone but I'm doing my best to learn as much as possible and not bother people. I don't want to be a noob and annoying. Just really stuck here. Sorry msg is so long, figured I'd try to be as detailed as possible to reduce any time on your end so you can either help or point me in a different direction by not having to go back and forth asking questions. Of course if there does happen to be something I left out please don't hesitate to ask. I am seeking your assistance after all. I don't want to bug you or anyone with my issues and lack of ability to sort through... I'm pretty sure I'll have used most of not all my data before being able to read any replies, so calls/text is best to the phone number I included, which I'll repeat again. Sixzerothreeninetwothreetwozerofoursix. I AM PRONG MY PHONE NUMBER ON PURPOSE AND I UNDERSTAND THE RISKS OF DOING SO INCLUDING STALKERS OR CREEPS OR HACKERS OR WEIRDOS ETC ETC ETC. I GET IT. MIGHT BE CALLED STUPID BUT WHATEVER. I'VE HAD THIS NUMBER FOR A VERY LONG TIME AND IT'S NOT HARD TO GET, I GET STRANGE CALLS CONSTANTLY AND I'VE LEARNED HOW TO UNBLOCK CALLER ID AND BLOCK FREAKS FROM CALLING/TEXTING A 2ND TIME. I NEED HELP AND AM WILLING TO CHANCE MORE CALLS/TEXTS OR OTHER ISSUES BY POSTING MY #. I'm a big girl I know the world is scary, I've lived through nightmarish crap, I'll be alright and won't blame anyone but myself if this causes **** to hit the fan. It's official and in writing so xda cannot be held liable AT ALL for ANYTHING, nor can ANYONE ELSE if it is related to my choosing to post this, which I am doing of my own choosing. I'll now eagerly await any help available to fix my issues. I'm hopeful I've come to the right place asking the right people who will help me understand more about what I could do to learn how to get better educated on these topics and in future not require so much of your valuable time. I'm more than willing to put in the time and effort to take responsibility for enacting any actions to perform a solution, I've just gotten very confused and overwhelmed trying to navigate correctly and learn what needs to be done. Pointing me in the correct direction would be wonderful! Thank you in advance!
---------- Post added at 12:41 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:36 AM ----------
It has a US cellular logo physically on it. Calling 611 puts me through to AT&T, but I know for a fact it was last used on Verizon prepaid.
---------- Post added at 12:49 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:41 AM ----------
Sorry for that, I have spent so many hours researching the 3 relevant companies, root/unroot info, kernels, roms, builds, learning about variations on android os, and anything I coups find remotely related that I had a slight mix-up, but hope that's now clarified.
So... Before I begin, I want to say thank you above and beyond the many thanks I give to all of those that have left threads and/or processes (automated or otherwise) for the remainder of the 95% of XDA members to utilize. Thank You All!
I also would like to apologize in advance for losing my mind and posting something which I could have went about reading and reading about for several days still. Please understand that I have done so very much to get this device (HTC Sensation 4G) to even function as it is now. I received a device that was stuck in a boot loop, overheating, and eventually I lost the ability to see the screen! I have fixed, by luck and some by good theorizing, this beautifully designed device (as most of HTC's higher-end devices are designed).
Because I am absolutely tired, and my eyes have literally glazed over from ALL of the reading I have done over the past 2 weeks, I will cut right to the chase:
Where I am now after getting the device stabilized -
1. The device will not connect to any mobile network, but it will recognize only AT&T (this is a T-Mobile device using an updated, new, SIM card).
2. The one item I believe directly correlates to this issues is the contained in the photo beneath:
My question(s) are as follows:
1. Am I correct in thinking that the picture of the Security Warning screen taken in the HBOOT is indicative of a possible attempt to change the device (and I know I did not say this part, but I believe whomever owned this prior to the gentleman I purchased it from tried to SIMunlock the device)?
2. I am unable to get my Win7 (32bit) computer to recognize any of my phones now. Is there something readily apparent (and without any further info) that I may be missing? I uninstalled all the various version, and there were plenty, of HTC Sync, Sync Manager and Driver Installers! Then I thoroughly cleaned my PC, restarted it, and then reinstalled the driver software. I am at a total loss and probably need to sleep sometime!!!
3. Has anybody else ever dealt with this issue? If so, please feel free to call me a mean name, but in a sensitive manner as I suffer from Major Depressive Disorder (and mostly because I am sensitive)!
4. NOT A QUESTION. I just want to say for the record that I did not ever take the easy way out and immediately seek assistance from another; instead I made the decision to read and read and read and read and read and read, and then hypothesize, and figure out a plan to attack the issue, then execute that plan in an organized and well thought-out manner. This is mostly due to my breaking my first LCD ever! After that I really though long and hard about how I had become somewhat cocky and thought I could just whip through anything! WRONG!!!! Take your time, ALWAYS, read, re-read, then read again instructions. Find the video and watch it several times, and even write notes. This is no different a learning process than anything learned in school.
Thank you all for your positive input and feedback, and hopefully answers.
So..... *INHALE* Excuse me if this is long-winded (esp. since I have tons of time on my hands, and I am not really quite right)..
*****UPDATE ON PREVIOUS WARNING ISSUE******* (See image below)
1. I just noticed when reviewing the damned photo that the **Radio is missing! Hmmmm...
2. (3rd overall photo re: RUU) My serial no. is totally screwed as it reads: 123456789012
- ANY ideas on how to fix this would be awesome! Please also note that my MAC Address as well is all messed-up: 00:ff:dd:ee:gg:11 - not exact just an example of how screwy it reads. Therefore I believe a HUGE problem with the RUU functioning correctly!
3. Numbers 1&2 are probably the reasons I cannot connect to the T-Mobile US network!
New question(s): How do I get my serial number back on my device? Will this process fix my MAC Address? I have thoroughly looked at the chips on this device, and I have never spotted the MAC Address stamped anywhere on the board.
Thank you to the member that assisted me before. Definitely a good starting point/way to jump start my head again. As was the actually sleeping for more than 3-4 hours!
Calm down. This (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmvCpR45LKA) tells you to search before post. So it's okay to post a new thread if you (believe) you have searched enough.
Now to fix your problem, first fix your security warning. See
http://www.thunderboltforums.com/forum/htc-thunderbolt-help/7853-how-fix-security-warning.html
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=23710674
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1192300
It's important to get that security warning off your bootloader. And your thoughts @ point1 are most likely accurate.
JAM THAT THANKS BUTTON.
HAPPY TO HELP.
Gents,
Apologies if this question has been asked before or I've posted it in the wrong sub section, but I've only ever unlocked one phone in the past, it was an HTC Sense, and it was a sinch. My other half's old man has bought an LGT385 off somone at work, not knowing that you couldn't use a sim from a different network.
Consequently, I have been tasked with unlocking it.
How do you do it? I've seen a couple of videos on YT, but neither of their methods work. I get the impression after researching for an hour or so, it's connected to the IMEI and calculated based on that number (somehow)
Any help would be appreciated as I don't want to take it into town and be ripped off by someone if it's easy to do.
Thanks.
Gents/Ladies,
This is my first ever post here. I have however been active on tons of message boards and I realize right away I've probably broken 19 of your "Never Do This In First Post" laws that are a sticky somewhere I didn't see. Move my post, forgive my sins and let's get on with the suffering.
I am a web/desktop/automation software engineer of 20+ years and I thought (WRONGLY!) that rooting my Galaxy Note 5 that turned into a sloth after Sprints Nougat update would be a cinch. Well, I've googled 3 different tutorials, watched 2 full Youtube tutorials and the only thing I can say for sure is that the people who made them have SEVERE ADHD (if you really have ADHD as I do, mine is severe, pardon my humor) and must be on crack and speed and meth and helium with a wedgie to trump all wedgie's because not one of them typed or spoke in complete sentences or finished a thought. I felt like I was back in the military where everyone assumes you know all the jargon, acronyms, and social flatulence necessary to succeed and if you don't ... well that's not their problem is it?
So to my actual question. I attempted to use Odin 3 and the TWRP in a couple of different tutorials to ROOT my phone and each time things moved right long until I got to the "Blocked" message when it attempted to write the new ROM to the phone (or I think that's what happened).
My situation may be overly complex as I don't own a PC, write all my software in Parallel's VM's and attempted to use a Win 10 VM to root from.
So first, is there a way to root my phone (Samsung Galaxy Note 5, SM-N920P, Nougat, Sprint) from my mac only and if not does anyone know if trying to do it through a VM is just a NO-GO? Secondly, if there's not goo answers to my first question. Can someone drop me a link to a VERBOSE TUTORIAL WRITTEN FOR FIRST TIME ROOTERS that is specific to my phone and carrier?
Lastly, thank you so much to all of you who work your butt's off in your spare time helping people like me and people smarter and nicer than me succeed in BRUTE FORCE TAKING CONTROL of our phone's that our carriers should have given us from the TOP (time of purchase) with a stern warning that if we do something stupid it's on our heads.
Hopefully someone takes mercy on my evil soul and introduces me into this dark world of incomplete sentences and unfinished thoughts.
Hi guys,
I'm a new user, I have a problem to which, when talking to a friend, he recommended me to register here and ask about my issue, as there seems to be plenty Android Experts that may be able to provide me a straight answer or give me hope.
My dad just passed away, I still can't believe it happened, given the fact that he wasn't too old... but going back on topic, his phone is a Redmi Note 4 that I ordered him around two years ago, he lived abroad and was a regular user, he never messed up with settings or anything, just stock MIUI with the updates that were sent as far as he mentioned me last time we could speak about his phone. What I would like to know is if it would be possible to recover his phone data, what me and my sisters care for the most are his pictures, we want to recover them and save them in a place where we have access to.
However, while searching on many websites, there are many Android Data Recovery software but they always request me to enable the USB debugging, but it is impossible for me, as the phone has a Pattern/Fingerprint lock.
Also, found several software that claim to remove your screen lock without deleting the device contents but when I'm going to the unlock step, there is a prompt that I have to confirm to delete all the information. And I've downloaded more than five software for each, the last one I downloaded is called Dr. Fone from Wondershare; I sent an email to them asking if I have to purchase the product to get that feature but I have not received any reply yet.
Basically, the phone is locked without USB Debugging, and I cannot access the files in the phone which is all we want.
Does anyone knows of a way to unlock it?
I'd even pay if it is necessary, I just haven't purchased the software mentioned above because I can't find if they are real or are just scam, there isn't like much information about them. Or has anyone purchased or successfully used any of those softwares?
The model is a Redmi Note 4 I believe it was the Global Version, with MIUI 8.1, but I'm not sure.
I'm getting a bit frustrated, maybe my dad doesn't want us to unlock his phone and that is why I cannot find a way, but I would like to know if it is possible.
I really appreciate your time, I'm sorry for the long text, if there is anything that maybe I'm missing, please let me know.
Thanks in advance
Javier
Thjavo said:
Hi guys,
I'm a new user, I have a problem to which, when talking to a friend, he recommended me to register here and ask about my issue, as there seems to be plenty Android Experts that may be able to provide me a straight answer or give me hope.
My dad just passed away, I still can't believe it happened, given the fact that he wasn't too old... but going back on topic, his phone is a Redmi Note 4 that I ordered him around two years ago, he lived abroad and was a regular user, he never messed up with settings or anything, just stock MIUI with the updates that were sent as far as he mentioned me last time we could speak about his phone. What I would like to know is if it would be possible to recover his phone data, what me and my sisters care for the most are his pictures, we want to recover them and save them in a place where we have access to.
However, while searching on many websites, there are many Android Data Recovery software but they always request me to enable the USB debugging, but it is impossible for me, as the phone has a Pattern/Fingerprint lock.
Also, found several software that claim to remove your screen lock without deleting the device contents but when I'm going to the unlock step, there is a prompt that I have to confirm to delete all the information. And I've downloaded more than five software for each, the last one I downloaded is called Dr. Fone from Wondershare; I sent an email to them asking if I have to purchase the product to get that feature but I have not received any reply yet.
Basically, the phone is locked without USB Debugging, and I cannot access the files in the phone which is all we want.
Does anyone knows of a way to unlock it?
I'd even pay if it is necessary, I just haven't purchased the software mentioned above because I can't find if they are real or are just scam, there isn't like much information about them. Or has anyone purchased or successfully used any of those softwares?
The model is a Redmi Note 4 I believe it was the Global Version, with MIUI 8.1, but I'm not sure.
I'm getting a bit frustrated, maybe my dad doesn't want us to unlock his phone and that is why I cannot find a way, but I would like to know if it is possible.
I really appreciate your time, I'm sorry for the long text, if there is anything that maybe I'm missing, please let me know.
Thanks in advance
Javier
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I understand your situation, I lost my father a few years ago. It is possible to recover the data from your dad's phone, but, unfortunately, it is against the forum rules here to help with cracking a phone to retrieve data that does not belong to you. The reason why it is against the rules, even in your unfortunate situation, is because anything we tell you could be seen and used by other people to break into devices that do not belong to them.
Another factor is, we don't know if what you tell us is actually true or not. That does not mean that you are deceiving us, it just means we have no way of knowing and we can't just take your word for it.
These reasons make it unacceptable for anyone in this forum to help you. It's all about security and maintaining security, regardless of the situation, and it is somewhat a legal issue. Helping crack the device could be a liability against XDA or the members helping you. A member or user can choose to compromise their own security but we can't help with devices that are not theirs.
It is best if you didn't ask this question here and it is pointless for you to try making another thread about this issue with different wording because all of your threads and posts can be viewed from your user profile page. It is also pointless to try making another username to post this issue again with different wording because the moderators and Admin can see that it is still you with a different name.
I know it sucks, but anyone that helps you will be violating the forum rules. I'm not saying that you can't get this done, I'm just saying no one HERE can legitimately help you. I would try linking you to other places that can help you, but even that might be pushing the rules a bit.
Sent from my SM-S767VL using Tapatalk
each device has a google account (and maybe a xiaomi account). you can check from PC if there is the google password saved in browser. if not, each google account has a fallback email address where you may be able to request a (google) password reset. from google you can lock the phone with temporary password, then unlock the screen with temporary password. if you recently changed the google password before, you need to wait at least 72 hours with internet connection. besides this you can check photos.google.com or drive.google.com for any backups.
without knowing the google account, you still can try to bruteforce the pattern with Teensy or Hak5 USB Rubber Ducky microcontroller connected via USB OTG adapter. if the phone does not support USB OTG there are more expensive solutions like XPIN Clip (this is just a common hint, the important part is the code for microcontroller which i don't share here). also there might be a chance to flash TWRP custom recovery in EDL Mode without unlocking the bootloader or factory reset via exploit, and TWRP might be able to decrypt userdata partition with default_password
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