How do 3rd-party 'unlockers' (money ripoffs) get your phone's Bootloader Codes? - Huawei Mate 20 X Guides, News, & Discussion

Recently I came across this issue, since I just recently bought this phone. Usually I will root my phones as soon as I get them, by following the excellent guides in XDA here, but this time, I didn't do much research before getting this phone (Mate 20 X). Aside from this unlocking bootloader issue, I like this phone and I hand-picked this from my list of options because it ticked what I was looking for in my new purchase - big battery, IR and 3.5" audio jack. Plus the latest 7nm 980 Kirin processor is a nice hardware to have. (I had Mi Max 2 before, but had some issues.)
I don't intend to pay any 3rd party and pay prohibitively expensive money to unlock my phone. It's absurd how much they are ripping off the people and on the other hand, I'm surprised how much people are willing to throw money at these dubious sites. Now crossing 100++ USD!!?? What the....
Anyway, back to my question :
1. How do these sites get YOUR phone's codes? I'm sure they are not paying Huawei to get your codes. If not from Huawei, then how are they able to obtain the codes just by having the serial number and IMEI numbers?
2. I hope it's just a matter of time before XDA developers can find out how they do this so that this can be shared with the community so that we can continue unlocking like how we used to do before with other phones.
This is an enthusiast community, not some dumb people who are ready to throw money to some 3rd party hackers to get your codes.
And looking at the latest developments, most of these dubious sites have ceased providing the service....wonder why. Something's fishy here. And prices are shooting up, no doubt, fueled by so many people ready to throw money for them.
I am not a developer but always follow the guides written by excellent deveopers in XDA. It's fun and educational that way. We all have paid for the phones ourselves. Tinkering with our phones is our hobby.
I wish people won't rush to pay and get 3rd party questionable "unlockers" spoil the spirit of XDA.
EDIT : Edited title.

amgreenhawk said:
Recently I came across this issue since I just recently bought this phone. Usually, I will root my phones as soon as I get them, by following the excellent guides in XDA here, but this time, I didn't do much research before getting this phone (Mate 20 X). Aside from this unlocking bootloader issue, I like this phone and I hand-picked this from my list of options because it ticked what I was looking for in my new purchase - big battery, IR and 3.5" audio jack. Plus the latest 7nm 980 Kirin processor is a nice hardware to have. (I had Mi Max 2 before, but had some issues.)
I don't intend to pay any 3rd party and pay prohibitively expensive money to unlock my phone. It's absurd how much they are ripping off the people and on the other hand, I'm surprised how much people are willing to throw money at these dubious sites. Now crossing 100++ USD!!?? What the....
Anyway, back to my question :
1. How do these sites get YOUR phone's codes? I'm sure they are not paying Huawei to get your codes. If not from Huawei, then how are they able to obtain the codes just by having the serial number and IMEI numbers?
2. I hope it's just a matter of time before XDA developers can find out how they do this so that this can be shared with the community so that we can continue unlocking like how we used to do before with other phones.
This is an enthusiast community, not some dumb people who are ready to throw money to some 3rd party hackers to get your codes.
And looking at the latest developments, most of these dubious sites have ceased providing the service....wonder why. Something's fishy here. And prices are shooting up, no doubt, fueled by so many people ready to throw money for them.
I am not a developer but always follow the guides written by excellent deveopers in XDA. It's fun and educational that way. We all have paid for the phones ourselves. Tinkering with our phones is our hobby.
I wish people won't rush to pay and get 3rd party questionable "unlockers" spoil the spirit of XDA.
EDIT : Edited title.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I doubt that anybody can provide unlock code without inside information/certain servers approach. If that hadn't been true, xda would have the code a long time ago.
What raises two issues. The first one is why Huawei changed its policy regarding AL00 bootloader after it was already on the market. Huawei had known all implications of unlocked bootloader a long time ago, that is the reason why it had stopped providing codes for other models recently.
It could be assumed that Huawei lured buyers to went for this model because they believe that it is only with unlocked bootloader and it will stay that way. A lot of buyers had wanted an unlocked bootloader, otherwise, they would have taken the international model which required fairly less customization.
Locking bootloader out of the blue and then enabling trading it through middlemen for huge extra profits is at least unfair to the buyers.
And there could be more. Is it possible that sudden change toward locking bootloader arise from the temptation to control users? That stuff that is basically what US accused Huawei and what makes discomfort even in more countries?
Finally, there is one question for xda, too. Until recently xda was a synonym for a free exchange of knowledge, solutions, software. Basically, almost everything I know about Android, phones, hacking, I've got from xda. And if I have something to share, I do it with gratitude for everything I received and gained from this great community. But I'm not even important, my knowledge is basic. There are many devs with a massive contribution, whole solutions, modifications, entire systems. For free.
It's quite acceptable to make reference to paid solutions or stuff and to recommend it in the forum. As it was always acceptable presenting royalty-free solutions in the forum and offering more customizing one via Google Play or similar portals. Or asking for a donation. But selling pure commercial solutions for ripoff money for something that has been already paid to the phone producer is an entirely different story. It may turn this forum into a commercial portal. If one could gain huge profits for participation only due to his connection with the producer, what is the point to spend hours, days and weeks of hard work just to bring a perfect rom or solution to the community?
Then, perhaps we'd need another forum. For contributors instead of traders.

Bootloader codes can only be provided by Huawei. FunkyHuawei and other "sellers" likely had an inside source that was providing codes at a cost - these people likely lost their jobs which is why there are no codes available from any source. XDA has found ways to load custom recoveries on many devices in the past, but this was never by locating the bootloader unlock code, only by exploiting a security flaw.
Personally, I don't think this issue has anything to do with Huawei wanting to lock down users. (despite what they're telling us) I think they are scared of research firms finding evidence of Huawei stealing hardware/software from other manufacturers. I don't mean this as a dig on Huawei, I think Apple is guilty of this as well. Both guilty in stealing radio hardware design and software from Qualcomm.

Has anyone actually obtained an unlock code in the last few weeks? If so, for which version of Mate 20 X and how much did you pay?

It's simple guys, 2 options:
Either 1. Insider that gets very busy now because if the many requests since OEM unlock is available again in the new updates.. so price goes up.
Or 2. Someone has the algorithm to generate these codes based on IMEI.
Since the price has went up by 4x I think option one is more realistic, however I don't rule out option 2. Perhaps we can fix a bounty for a team that can look into a key generator?

https://theunlockingcompany.com
Seems to be advertising to unlock at 39.99 US. I am hesitant though not only because of the issue developers have with the ethics behind such a service, but becasue I am a bit of a newb. Once I give out my IMEI number, doesn't that put me at risk of ending up with a brick?

s327374 said:
https://theunlockingcompany.com
Seems to be advertising to unlock at 39.99 US. I am hesitant though not only because of the issue developers have with the ethics behind such a service, but becasue I am a bit of a newb. Once I give out my IMEI number, doesn't that put me at risk of ending up with a brick?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just bought it I hope to have the code in 12 hours

Kurocham said:
I just bought it I hope to have the code in 12 hours
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wait ... I am now advertising for them. I thought the point of this thread was to not pay these companies. Although I am interested to know if your EVR-AL00 gets a code. I will be tempted

s327374 said:
https://theunlockingcompany.com
Seems to be advertising to unlock at 39.99 US. I am hesitant though not only because of the issue developers have with the ethics behind such a service, but becasue I am a bit of a newb. Once I give out my IMEI number, doesn't that put me at risk of ending up with a brick?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you sure this company will give you code to unlock bootloader? Looks like what they do is unlock phone from carrier. For example, you buy a phone from AT&T and you want to use it on Tmobile but you can't because it is carrier locked.

Kurocham said:
I just bought it I hope to have the code in 12 hours
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You realize that this is the unlock code for the simcard Carrier right? That has nothing to do with bootloader unlock...

Kurocham said:
I just bought it I hope to have the code in 12 hours
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
mscion said:
Are you sure this company will give you code to unlock bootloader? Looks like what they do is unlock phone from carrier. For example, you buy a phone from AT&T and you want to use it on Tmobile but you can't because it is carrier locked.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not sure - I just assumed that this would be for unlocking bootloader.... I guess we will know from Kurocham soon.

ilovepj said:
You realize that this is the unlock code for the simcard Carrier right? That has nothing to do with bootloader unlock...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OMFG I DID NOT KNOW!!!!:crying::crying::crying::crying:

Kurocham said:
OMFG I DID NOT KNOW!!!!:crying::crying::crying::crying:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry bro. I feel your pain. I am sorry for the accidental misdirection.

Related

[SUGGESTION] Setting a Bounty on the bootloader.

As most of you would know, we have learned quite a bit about Defy bootloader during the last week.
We always thought that Motorola don't have a method to unlock production defys (defys shipped to end users). Well we have sufficient information now to prove that Motorola have a method, and that it converts production defys to engineering defys (Phones used by Motorola engineers to make ROMs and other stuff)
This is actually better than a simple unlocked boot-loader because eng defys have unlimited applications (because we have direct access to MOBO/CPU) like overclocking gpu, installing other OS like Ubuntu, Debian, WP7 etc. into NAND and a lot more.
So the problem here is that the tools required for ENG switch is only available to Motorola employees. Till now we have no further information on it. The tools are TI OMAP BOARD CONFIGURATION TOOL and a 16MB .bin file. Other significance of this method is that it might also unlock other phones with OMAP(3xxx/xxxx?) board. Also this method seems to be very stable.
So the good news is that this software is available for most Motorola repair centers. That means it would be easier to get a leak. Of course the highly paid Motorola engineers with 6digit paycheck wont leak it but we should consider low level repair executives (they already leak sbfs and RSDlite).
So my suggestion is we start a bounty thread in XDA to tempt them.
If you have a solution and if you are concerned about anonymity, please PM me.
PS : There are lots of bounty threads in xda.
Hi,
Setting a Bounty would be cool, but is legal ?
Cause it is not like "I pay you a lot of money if you steal this software for me"
the|gamer said:
Hi,
Setting a Bounty would be cool, but is legal ?
Cause it is not like "I pay you a lot of money if you steal this software for me"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hmm. It depend's on which country you are from.
I'm quite on it. Minimum/maximum fee could be set (like US$2 min and 20 bucks max, or anything like this). And someone with access to Motorola's employees (I think the user racca works on a Moto distributor, but I'm not sure of it, I think he mentioned it in some thread a few months ago) could rush and "bribe" them. If people could be a bit more clear about which kind of employees should have access to this software, I could try and convince one of them (you know, people here in Brazil aren't that much into honesty, but are a lot into money) about heading us a leak from TI's software. I'll have to take my phone to MOTOAssist soon ("menu" and "back" keys' backlights are weaker than normal), so I'd have at least an actual reason to talk to an assist technician (assuming they have access to the board configuration tool).
Yet, since I'm no hacker (yet, I'm planning on getting a Nook Color - which community here in XDA seems to provide all you need to start your own ROM - and starting messing around with it) nor coder (know only a little about C programming), I would not try and mess around with TI's software, but only upload it somewhere and give you guys a link for it.
K3n bH1mur4 said:
I'm quite on it. Minimum/maximum fee could be set (like US$2 min and 20 bucks max, or anything like this).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We could even promote it with ads. The best way would be to set up our on website, maybe in Brazil(or with some webhost who would like to host this) where you could bribe your way out and then promote it with ads. There is a remote chance that XDA might not approve a bounty thread here (of illegal implications), but we could publish the website here and all other major forums (chinese forums as well).
royale1223 said:
We could even promote it with ads. The best way would be to set up our on website, maybe in Brazil(or with some webhost who would like to host this) where you could bribe your way out and then promote it with ads. There is a remote chance that XDA might not approve a bounty thread here (of illegal implications), but we could publish the website here and all other major forums (chinese forums as well).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dunno, since it's illegal, it may not be the best option to promote it. Obviously, it's still not immoral, but we all know that morality and law often do not converge, so it may be better to go rogue, talking in private with motoassist technicians and stuff like that, because, even if we're just fighting for our rights, we're still using non-legal ways, and risking to be sued for it.
I don't think promoting a website is illegal. What's illegal is hosting an illegal one.
Promoting a website who promises cash for employees of a corporation who leak internal software used by that corp. might be considered illegal in most places. Fortunately (or not, I'll explain why), we have jurisprudence to embase of: in september 1st, last year, a judge here in Brazil condemned Moto to update a customer's Dext/CLIQ to Android 2.1 (Moto did not provide this update here in Brazil, even though it did in many countries) without voiding the warranty.
I know it's just one case, in just one country, and updating an android version is way different than providing unlocked bootloaders (or the tools for users to do so). And, yes, I agree with placing a bounty at the tool. Yet, if we get caught, Moto can still argue that we had other ways to pursue our rights, and we should have used the justice system to do so, if we believed we were that right. Yet, they're a multimillion-worthy company (even bigger after being purchased by Google), and we're a bunch of broke users, at most devs making a couple thousand dollars, and would have little chance against their lawyers. Last, but not least, employers who help us may get caught and fired because of us, and I sincerely want nobody (ok, maybe a few of the highest executives) to get fired just for me to get an unlocked BL.
So, my point is: let's make this a stealth action. Get a reason for your phone to be taken to Motoassist (no intentional bricking, please! You must flash an official SBF before taking it there! - at least if your phone is still under warranty), get to talk with one of their technicians, and mention - indifferently - that some guys are giving alway big money for any Moto employee who leaks that TI OMAP software. Something like this: "hey, did you hear that crazy devs at this dev forum are paying the first moto technician to hand them some sort of software? Something OMAP-related, I don't know for sure. All I know is that the reward is some nice cash."
When the word spread, we could have an unlocked bootloader within a month.
Yet, we got a single issue to deal: how to ensure the person who gives us the SW first will actually receive the cash? I've seen a few bounties here before, but them all were settled by XDA devs (so the bounty keeper could just donate the sum to that dev), never saw something like paying "outsiders".
One of my friends (Defy+ user) has a contact with a Motorola service guy. He says that that guy knows everything about Motorola software and he's with us because he himself uses custom ROMs and controls an entire service center. He's ready to take my device under warranty though it's rooted along every single hack/MOD for Defy installed
Will try contacting him
And let's post this in the forums of all other locked Motorola devices with OMAP 3xxx chips.
Sent from my MB525 using XDA App
swapnil360 said:
One of my friends (Defy+ user) has a contact with a Motorola service guy. He says that that guy knows everything about Motorola software and he's with us because he himself uses custom ROMs and controls an entire service center. He's ready to take my device under warranty though it's rooted along every single hack/MOD for Defy installed
Will try contacting him
And let's post this in the forums of all other locked Motorola devices with OMAP 3xxx chips.
Sent from my MB525 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Talk with this guy. If he has access to a copy of TI's SW, and handle it to us, I'm pretty sure we could him get a nice reward. Not as high as if putting a bounty, but definitely enough to make the effort worth it.
I mean, supposing that this is actually gonna help unlock EVERY OMAP 3 (and possibly all OMAP-based phones) out there, and that this way the process is reversible (at least to me, it looks like no eFuse is being blown there, you know, assistance technicians can't just blow eFuses like that - taking the phone to the assistance under warranty shouldn't void it, and that's what a blown eFuse would do), loads of people would help. Imagine a single dollar from every OMAP 3 XDA user (take a look here for an INCOMPLETE list of OMAP 3 devices with ~30 ANDROID ONLY phones/tablets), that would make a lot of money.
this is good....and i think it will be best to not mention the location,identities,or any hint of similarities of the perosn source once you guys get contacts & manifests from that guy(source). so as not to compromise his profession.
he could be fired & worse can be sued by leaking private details.
best discuss it in private,after getting in touch w/ him...
just a tought of CAUTION...
hailmary said:
this is good....and i think it will be best to not mention the location,identities,or any hint of similarities of the perosn source once you guys get contacts & manifests from that guy(source). so as not to compromise his profession.
he could be fired & worse can be sued by leaking private details.
best discuss it in private,after getting in touch w/ him...
just a tought of CAUTION...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah we would ensure him that.
I'll help u out....juzz tell me what to get from moto officials
hemil said:
I'll help u out....juzz tell me what to get from moto officials
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
do u know motorola mobility service center in mbai?
we only hav private shops with motos certificate...
i dont think they can help...
all they say is we'll send it to factory(?)
Sent from my MB525 using xda premium
@hemil Please pm me.
hemil said:
I'll help u out....juzz tell me what to get from moto officials
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey buddy... just wait for my call today...
Sent from my MB525 using XDA App
Putting up an ads offering money for violation the law may be a bit problematic. No website will be excited to host it. Another issue is that in the end someone will have to actually post it, someone in particular. And that one person will be in danger of being a subject of interest of various law enforcement agencies. You know, at the end of the day they always want someone to put the responsibility on, the culprit, a scapegoat. So you make heat and you put some particular person into it even before there is any result.
I would prefer to focus more on personal face to face private communications with the service guys. It's harder to prove and if something goes wrong (the guy records it etc.) our guy can always say he was just kidding, bullshitting, bigmouthing.
Anyway, if you are thinking about this seriously, here are few remarks.
don't offer the particular sum, it's not tactical; not even here should be mentioned any particular number; instead, let the service guy ask his price
if the first contact with a potential source is established, ask first for a proof; specify what the proof is supposed to be (a screenshot? a video recording of the software in action?)
figure out a way how to actually collect the money; people are willing to donate but they will not donate to anyone, only to someone trustworthy (but Epsylon will surely want to have nothing to do with everything even remotely questionable, let alone illegal); the "collector" will be under the lights, he may get attention of people we don't want to deal with
who actually will be allowed to donate? anyone? how to avoid an agent to donate and then simply track where the money is going?
figure out a way how to actually make a safe and smooth deal (money <-> software); will it be in person or electronically? how to verify we are given what we paid for? classical problem: no one of both parties is willing to make his move first, but we can't give away the money for a software we would start verifying not until the money is gone
figure out how to avoid being robbed (fake offers from people who would want to grab the money and run away) as well as being caught (fake offers from the dummy guy - LE agent); in both cases the correct proof might be given, though, but the intentions are wrong
For the particular mechanics of the exchange in person, one of numerous possible ways may go like this:
our guy comes with an intentionally bricked Defy repairable only with the software in question together with the ordinary USB cable (or without, if special USB cable is needed; in that case the cable must be part of the deal), and with an empty flash drive recognizable at the first sight; no money on him
our guy passes the flash drive and the Defy (and the USB cable, if no special cable is needed) to the "source" and watches closely
the source copies the software onto the flash drive, runs the software from the flash drive, connects the Defy via the cable provided and actually unbricks the phone (this must be more elaborated on; what if the software uses some libraries from the windows directories etc. which are not copied onto the flash drive? he may or may not have the installer, but just copying the installer isn't enough, he would have to copy the installer on the flash drive, then run the installer from it and install it back onto the flash drive and run it from there)
our guy gets the phone (and the cable) back, the source unplugs the flash drive and keeps it for now, our guy watches the flash drive is not connected to anything from now on
now the software is copied onto the flash drive and verified it's working, thus ordinary hand-to-hand exchange may proceed; our guy didn't bring the money to avoid being robbed, they both now may go grab the money or our guy may call his buddy with the money etc. (also needs to be heavily elaborated on)
Sensitive parts must be detailed in-depth, I am just indicating the outline, one of many possible. Still it's very far from perfect.
As you can see it's not that easy and there are many potential points of failure so this action may never really come to the practical realization.
What about a little bit different or alternative ways? Are there any? It would be useful to ask Epsylon what he would actually wish for the most - had he been able to wish for anything.
isn't it illegal to post copyrighted stuff and also its against forum rules..
i mean that if someone gets his hand on that super tool, then how can he shares it with us???
rishi2100 said:
isn't it illegal to post copyrighted stuff and also its against forum rules..
i mean that if someone gets his hand on that super tool, then how can he shares it with us???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
huh !! think about moto when they actually ditch us with promises ? whats wrong if what we are screaming for last 1 year . and didnt get any updates ? huh think about tht before u speak about illegal stuffs . if moto is doing all sought of ways to keep us away from our rights . what we do undercover to get us right can no way be questioned when we have told thousands of times that we need updates .
more over the authority can question us only and only when they are themselves self guilt free .... but instead they are pretending to be saint sitting behind the curtains and doing all sought of locking stuff to deprive us of our rights
@jhonsmithx Let's not get ahead of ourselves. First of all lets concentrate on getting the source. Also I urge users to use a bit of social engineering to do that(using fb/g ). We'll put together a plan according to the situation after that. Also note that this is a pretty long shot. We might not get a source after all.
rishi2100 said:
isn't it illegal to post copyrighted stuff and also its against forum rules..
i mean that if someone gets his hand on that super tool, then how can he shares it with us???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I could think of atleast 10 ways to share anonymously. Though I wont be posting them here.

iphone 5s unlock

hi i know this is kinda irrelevant but did the law passed last year really prevent ppl from making unlocking software like redsn0w, yellowsn0w, pwnage for the iphone 5s?
i dont see any available and the last update was like 3 years ago. is the iphone no longer unlockable except for the paid online services for 100-200 dollars?
thanks!
yinxzon said:
hi i know this is kinda irrelevant but did the law passed last year really prevent ppl from making unlocking software like redsn0w, yellowsn0w, pwnage for the iphone 5s?
i dont see any available and the last update was like 3 years ago. is the iphone no longer unlockable except for the paid online services for 100-200 dollars?
thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) Software unlocked stopped working after the first couple of basebands on the iPhone 4. The baseband is basically too tightly locked for those types of hacks.
2) AFAIK it is not illegal to unlock a device.
3) This site is for Android an Windows Phone, not iOS. We don't do iOS here at all. You might check out another iPhone site for more info.
i know its android forum, i hate everything aapl so i dont wanna register there.
i think its a law:
http://www.cultofmac.com/213144/unl...king-is-still-safe-what-it-all-means-for-you/
but i didnt think that would stop anyone. i guess ur reasoning for complicated basebands makes sense.
there is just so many imei unlocks for a lot of money and if its cheap who knows if it would work..
thanks
yinxzon said:
i know its android forum, i hate everything aapl so i dont wanna register there.
i think its a law:
http://www.cultofmac.com/213144/unl...king-is-still-safe-what-it-all-means-for-you/
but i didnt think that would stop anyone. i guess ur reasoning for complicated basebands makes sense.
there is just so many imei unlocks for a lot of money and if its cheap who knows if it would work..
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
According to that article, the law would go into effect in 9 days from today, and it's not illegal to go thru the carriers.
Software unlocks are not going to happen, other than using a SIM interposer, like R-Sim etc..
I don't know if using a SIM interposer would be illegal though, since technically you are not unlocking the phone or modifying the hardware in any way, you are only changing the way the signal goes from the SIM card to the phone, so technically you might be safe.
Practically, I don't see anyone actually getting prosecuted for "unlocking their iPhone" anyways.
But the only way right now is the a SIM interposer (check compatibility of the model and iOS version) or go thru carrier, or pay a premium price for 3rd party.
But yeah, since this forum does not cover or support iOS you're better off finding a forum that actually supports it.
yeah i understand, just fyi that article write jan 26 2013 not 14.
like this: http://iphone-unlocker-pro.com/?gclid=CI_y86zthbwCFaTm7AodOzUAUQ or http://www.officialiphoneunlock.co.uk/unlock-iphone/ATT-USA/
You would probably be able to find a lot more information over here:
http://forum.iphone-developers.com/
:good:

What's legal and illegal?

What's legal and illegal when it comes to hacking android (in USA)? I want to unlock the bootloader on my Verizon gs3. Is that illegal?
If you can point me to some definitive or authoritative resources, I would appreciate that. I have been googling this topic for a couple weeks, and as far as I can tell, it's currently legal to unlock your phone for use on another wireless carrier, but it is technically illegal to root or unlock bootloaders (by hacking). But what doesn't fit with that are the bounties I see offered for these activities, so I'm very uncertain either way.
bump
Its legal to do anything to your own device.
You can unlock the bootloader, root the phone, install custom firmwares, or break it to pieces with a hammer as long as it's yours...
Worst case scenario you can always start a new life in Mexico
ishaang said:
Worst case scenario you can always start a new life in Mexico
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That just made my day.
ishaang said:
Its legal to do anything to your own device.
You can unlock the bootloader, root the phone, install custom firmwares, or break it to pieces with a hammer as long as it's yours...
Worst case scenario you can always start a new life in Mexico
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you allowed to post the info of how to do it?
squebler said:
What's legal and illegal when it comes to hacking android (in USA)? I want to unlock the bootloader on my Verizon gs3. Is that illegal?
If you can point me to some definitive or authoritative resources, I would appreciate that. I have been googling this topic for a couple weeks, and as far as I can tell, it's currently legal to unlock your phone for use on another wireless carrier, but it is technically illegal to root or unlock bootloaders (by hacking). But what doesn't fit with that are the bounties I see offered for these activities, so I'm very uncertain either way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The real issue is with the contract you sign with your carrier. As long as you are in the subsidised portion of your contract (generally 2yrs), the phone technically still belongs to them, not you.
Are they going to look for you to make an issue of it, no. If you need to make a warranty claim though, and they find out it's modified, they have the right to not honor the warranty if they choose (happens occasionally, but not widespread).
I mod my phones all the time, but I do it without any expectation of help from vzw if I break something and can't fix it.
Jmo, hope that helps
squebler said:
What's legal and illegal when it comes to hacking android (in USA)? I want to unlock the bootloader on my Verizon gs3. Is that illegal?
If you can point me to some definitive or authoritative resources, I would appreciate that. I have been googling this topic for a couple weeks, and as far as I can tell, it's currently legal to unlock your phone for use on another wireless carrier, but it is technically illegal to root or unlock bootloaders (by hacking). But what doesn't fit with that are the bounties I see offered for these activities, so I'm very uncertain either way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In my opinion, as long as you have warranty, don't root your phone because it will void the warranty.
Its legal, but can void your warranty with the manufacturer or if you have bought your phone through a carrier they may have a clause in the agreement related to this.
Sony as a manufacturer is cool with you unlocking your bootloader, and they offer the instructions and code on their own website officially, here -http://developer.sonymobile.com/unlockbootloader/unlock-yourboot-loader/
So that's an example of it being legal.
Very helpful info, thanks! Now I think I'll switch to Sony instead of Samsung.
No problem, and good idea!
I've been a Sony user for a very long time, and generally their devices have never failed to deliver. On top of that they are very developer friendly and support the open source community a lot. This has been referenced in XDA also, many times. Besides that I do feel the build quality of Sony products is superior, and in phones their hardware specs and stock UI is also pretty decent.
oh it's good:highfive:
ite's legal to do anything on your phones of course (like unlock bootloader),
but if you want to test(hack) on other's phones, make sure you get their permission ^^

RIP Unlocking bootloader officially

https://www.xda-developers.com/huawei-stop-providing-bootloader-unlock-codes/
Oh come on that's never an issue script and bypass by exploiting it
Thats huge NO NO, this is my first and last Huawei device. I love my p9 and was planning to get p20 pro but now... If they get out with this most of companies will follow imo
KinG5Pac said:
Thats huge NO NO, this is my first and last Huawei device. I love my p9 and was planning to get p20 pro but now... If they get out with this most of companies will follow imo
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nuh i dont think so. And its not the first company who actually done it. And again its in their legal rights to do so., but as i said it very easy to exploit the bootloader without bootloader code and it will not make any difference customizing it. Back in my days we had to crack the CD to clone the game....and even today we crack the EXE to play pirate games. The same will happen with the devices. Samsung and Google already locked many devices and you was not able to get a bootloader code. That did not stop us though
KinG5Pac said:
Thats huge NO NO, this is my first and last Huawei device. I love my p9 and was planning to get p20 pro but now... If they get out with this most of companies will follow imo
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same thing here. P9 was really great had it for two years and I was very satisfied. But no way am I going with the P20. It has terrible value... So expensive? Bad design choices...
I think most companies take a bad turn after they get too big. Same thing with Samsung. They made an almost perfect phone with the Galaxy S3 (at the time) for a great price. Then they kept releasing the same design but increased price every year and now they sell glass slates that break if you look at them wrong, that cost 1000$.
I just got an amazing deal on an LG G6 which already has Oreo. That will hopefully last me until this whole notch/no headphone-jack craze washes over!
clouds5 said:
I think most companies take a bad turn after they get too big. Same thing with Samsung.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its not about "getting to big". Look at it from company and market perspective. Some people here dont get it but modded devices take really small percentage of overall Android devices out there. We sit inside and read about that so we thing that everyone doing that but, most of android users dont even know what Android version they have, for them its just "Android Phone" + Brand name.
But for past year that number of custom roms and forcing updates that users do because they dont want to wait for official OTA grow and companies want to protect their names so there will be no situation like company is known that it have bad devices because people who mess with firmware cry about it all over the internet creating bad reputation.
Huawei was never perfect device for modding, and because Huawei is one of the biggest companies that aim for top they want to smooth their reputation by protecting their devices(no messing with bootloader = marketing advertising for "safe" device) and make users to use build in features and updates that they can control instead of messing with device to get it.
And yes, some people will cry that they will never get Huawei device again, or cry that its worst decision, but in reality those people are less than 0.5% of their worldwide user base. Some people will still mod those devices because they know-how, and stopping "easy way" to unlocking bootloader is not big deal, and Huawei devices are not alone here, there is lots of other devices and few companies that also block it and no one cry about it beside small number of people.
For me and probably for most of people it dont matter, Huawei devices are not bad compared to other companies, they work good, and for all normal people thats matter: that device work good. Today there is not much reason to mod devices, most of options that people need are build in, performance on even mid-range devices are good, no need to tinker under the hud like in old days to get device to work smooth. There are still many apps that need root and there are many roms that are really good, but most of people dont need that anymore, and only new users and people who are bored tinker with it... and for most of time screw their devices and then cry all over the internet that phone dont work...
vampirian said:
Oh come on that's never an issue script and bypass by exploiting it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry what do you mean?
Akinaro said:
Its not about "getting to big". Look at it from company and market perspective. Some people here dont get it but modded devices take really small percentage of overall Android devices out there. We sit inside and read about that so we thing that everyone doing that but, most of android users dont even know what Android version they have, for them its just "Android Phone" + Brand name.
But for past year that number of custom roms and forcing updates that users do because they dont want to wait for official OTA grow and companies want to protect their names so there will be no situation like company is known that it have bad devices because people who mess with firmware cry about it all over the internet creating bad reputation.
Huawei was never perfect device for modding, and because Huawei is one of the biggest companies that aim for top they want to smooth their reputation by protecting their devices(no messing with bootloader = marketing advertising for "safe" device) and make users to use build in features and updates that they can control instead of messing with device to get it.
And yes, some people will cry that they will never get Huawei device again, or cry that its worst decision, but in reality those people are less than 0.5% of their worldwide user base. Some people will still mod those devices because they know-how, and stopping "easy way" to unlocking bootloader is not big deal, and Huawei devices are not alone here, there is lots of other devices and few companies that also block it and no one cry about it beside small number of people.
For me and probably for most of people it dont matter, Huawei devices are not bad compared to other companies, they work good, and for all normal people thats matter: that device work good. Today there is not much reason to mod devices, most of options that people need are build in, performance on even mid-range devices are good, no need to tinker under the hud like in old days to get device to work smooth. There are still many apps that need root and there are many roms that are really good, but most of people dont need that anymore, and only new users and people who are bored tinker with it... and for most of time screw their devices and then cry all over the internet that phone dont work...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aww sorry for touching your feelings about huawei. -0.5% also money which is gone for sure btw not only p9 users heard about this news so do your calculations it's more than 0.5%, and most of people buy phones just asking these "tech-savvy (crying)" people's recommendation.
zwwel said:
Sorry what do you mean?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
not gonna sit and explain because it will look like a chinese alphabet to newcomers.
KinG5Pac said:
Aww sorry for touching your feelings about huawei. -0.5% also money which is gone for sure btw not only p9 users heard about this news so do your calculations it's more than 0.5%, and most of people buy phones just asking these "tech-savvy (crying)" people's recommendation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He is right though because the market is not targeting on "under the hood modders" but they do target on average Joes who gets a phone , takes a good picture, using messenger, call, play some android games yadda yadda.
I can tell you that its less than 0.5% worldwide and if that 0.5% needs 3-4 times to return the devices because they hardbrick their devices from custom firmwares, they will have to replace the device which is a cost and also they will gain bad reputation for having "sensitive" devices. I dont think you bought P9 for the under the hood customization. Did you? because most of us got it for the superior cameras tbh.
I do dislike the fact that bootloader is locked , however there is always a way to bypass bootloader and push TWRP. Ive done it already on P8 and P9 and i can not see where it would be a problem with newer devices.
If someone wants to push a custom firmware and have the knowledge to do it, then definitely he will have enough experience on searching for tools that can do this job. Legally, illegally it doesnt matter.
KinG5Pac said:
Aww sorry for touching your feelings about huawei. -0.5% also money which is gone for sure btw not only p9 users heard about this news so do your calculations it's more than 0.5%, and most of people buy phones just asking these "tech-savvy (crying)" people's recommendation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Touching my feelings? Grow up kid...
Huawei P9 is my first Huawei device, for past years I was using only Sony devices. I dont have any "feelings" to phone, because its just device, and it work as advertised.
I dont care how Huawei run its own company, I see other companies and overall market and its not different than others.
What I dont like are are people who behave like kid and cry about small things and get personal with any cont argument that they dont like. Open your eyes wider and look at this from wider perspective than your own nose, then maybe you will understand some things
Akinaro said:
Touching my feelings? Grow up kid...
Huawei P9 is my first Huawei device, for past years I was using only Sony devices. I dont have any "feelings" to phone, because its just device, and it work as advertised.
I dont care how Huawei run its own company, I see other companies and overall market and its not different than others.
What I dont like are are people who behave like kid and cry about small things and get personal with any cont argument that they dont like. Open your eyes wider and look at this from wider perspective than your own nose, then maybe you will understand some things
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There there, wipe your tears. Your logic make me wanna puke. Don't be angry about others opinions cos I really don't give a f about yours but i read it cos your asking "me" to grove up (really man?) thanks I'll do it, but still stop being asshhole.
Have good one! :victory:
KinG5Pac said:
There there, wipe your tears. Your logic make me wanna puke. Don't be angry about others opinions cos I really don't give a f about yours but i read it cos your asking "me" to grove up (really man?) thanks I'll do it, but still stop being asshhole.
Have good one! :victory:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Keyboard warrior? He expressed his opinion and yes you have to grow up. Its a bloody device and not a girlfriend. I really notice that this forum is basically 13 years old mouthy kids. There you go if i change device is only for this reason. Till then im going to the russian community. At least they are developing things. They are not like here expressing clueless opinions, leeching and been demanding and insult other forum members, either act like kids who wants a lollipop. Here take your lollipop.
Byeeeee
vampirian said:
Keyboard warrior? He expressed his opinion and yes you have to grow up. Its a bloody device and not a girlfriend. I really notice that this forum is basically 13 years old mouthy kids. There you go if i change device is only for this reason. Till then im going to the russian community. At least they are developing things. They are not like here expressing clueless opinions, leeching and been demanding and insult other forum members, either act like kids who wants a lollipop. Here take your lollipop.
Byeeeee
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why you even here? Anyways you still thinking unlocking bootloader is some scripting or something? There are still some HTC phones which are impossible to unlock and I remember some devs used beg Xiaomi to make kernel open source, LG bootloader aghh Sony's DRM after unlock... Anyways say hello to 4pda
У меня всё... :fingers-crossed:
KinG5Pac said:
Why you even here? Anyways you still thinking unlocking bootloader is some scripting or something? There are still some HTC phones which are impossible to unlock and I remember some devs used beg Xiaomi to make kernel open source, LG bootloader aghh Sony's DRM after unlock... Anyways say hello to 4pda
У меня всё... :fingers-crossed:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
are you one of those guyz?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/a...remony-prove-precious-phones-daily-lives.html
Bootloader=kernel?
you mixed up what is what.
Lesson one:
Android Bootloader
Every Android phone has a bootloader that instructs the operating system kernel to boot normally. But you need to understand one thing here that as Android OS is an open source OS and is available on a variety of different hardware, every manufacturer has their own version of bootloader specific for the hardware present in it’s environment. At its most basic level, your Android smartphone is like a hard drive, made of up several partitions. One of those partitions holds the Android system files, another holds all the app data you accumulate (which is how you’re usually able to update without losing all your stuff), and others to do more behind-the scenes stuff.
Lesson two
Why are Bootloaders Locked?
A bootloader is usually locked on an Android device because although it’s an open source OS, still the manufacturers want you to stick to their Android OS version specifically designed for the device. In order to apply this concept, manufacturers lock the bootloader. With a locked bootloader on Android devices, it is virtually impossible to flash a Custom ROM and forced attempts void warranty as well as usually end up in bricks. Therefore, the first step is to always unlock the bootloader.
Lesson 3:
Why keep a bootloader out of reach? One of the biggest reasons is that the carriers and manufacturers dont want to have to support hacked phones. The other is that a lot of time and money is spent developing these things.
Lesson 4
No company is obligated to release or to help you unlock your bootloader. You are allowed to hack it. But you have to respect the brick and return policies.
You can complain as much you want. If you want to play with fimrwares you can go buy an old samsung device.
The market is targeting the user and not the developer.
ты говоришь дерьмо, и ты высокомерный
хорошего дня
vampirian said:
are you one of those guyz?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/a...remony-prove-precious-phones-daily-lives.html
Bootloader=kernel?
you mixed up what is what.
Lesson one:
Android Bootloader
Every Android phone has a bootloader that instructs the operating system kernel to boot normally. But you need to understand one thing here that as Android OS is an open source OS and is available on a variety of different hardware, every manufacturer has their own version of bootloader specific for the hardware present in it’s environment. At its most basic level, your Android smartphone is like a hard drive, made of up several partitions. One of those partitions holds the Android system files, another holds all the app data you accumulate (which is how you’re usually able to update without losing all your stuff), and others to do more behind-the scenes stuff.
Lesson two
Why are Bootloaders Locked?
A bootloader is usually locked on an Android device because although it’s an open source OS, still the manufacturers want you to stick to their Android OS version specifically designed for the device. In order to apply this concept, manufacturers lock the bootloader. With a locked bootloader on Android devices, it is virtually impossible to flash a Custom ROM and forced attempts void warranty as well as usually end up in bricks. Therefore, the first step is to always unlock the bootloader.
Lesson 3:
Why keep a bootloader out of reach? One of the biggest reasons is that the carriers and manufacturers dont want to have to support hacked phones. The other is that a lot of time and money is spent developing these things.
Lesson 4
No company is obligated to release or to help you unlock your bootloader. You are allowed to hack it. But you have to respect the brick and return policies.
You can complain as much you want. If you want to play with fimrwares you can go buy an old samsung device.
The market is targeting the user and not the developer.
ты говоришь дерьмо, и ты высокомерный
хорошего дня
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not even comparing, im just giving you examples where companies are being just ignorant to devs. Why they should care about brick after unlocking bootloader? You make zero sense. Unlocked bootloader void warranty so back to the topic. If you still think removing to have an option is "good" then congratulations have fun.
update: I appreciate your time that you spent on research.
Any kind soul willing to help me unlock bootloader, i belive huawei stoped supporting the website to get the bootloader code.
i tried to search everything in the forum.
should i try any suspicious website that asks money to unlock?
Really apreciated!
nightgost said:
Any kind soul willing to help me unlock bootloader, i belive huawei stoped supporting the website to get the bootloader code.
i tried to search everything in the forum.
should i try any suspicious website that asks money to unlock?
Really apreciated!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
DC-Unlocker is the place to go: https://www.dc-unlocker.com/supported_models_1/huawei_phones
I think it costs 4 Euros. I've used this site and it's legit.
vampirian said:
Nuh i dont think so. And its not the first company who actually done it. And again its in their legal rights to do so., but as i said it very easy to exploit the bootloader without bootloader code and it will not make any difference customizing it. Back in my days we had to crack the CD to clone the game....and even today we crack the EXE to play pirate games. The same will happen with the devices. Samsung and Google already locked many devices and you was not able to get a bootloader code. That did not stop us though
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How to Do unlock process? kindly tell me..
5pd said:
How to Do unlock process? kindly tell me..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Scroll up in this thread and you will find link to their website with instructions there:
https://www.dc-unlocker.com/how-to-read-huawei-bootloader-unlock-code
So my only option is to use DC-Unlocker right?

OEM / bootloader unlock , we gotta standup for our selves.

Brothers, we need to standup for ourselves and stop this ***** madness.
1. I've sent Huawei many emails, it obviously didn't help.
2. If we start like a mass petition or class action or some other case together, we might stand a chance. Remember we're not the only ones with locked bootloader. / Grayed out OEM unlock in developing settings. The mate 20 pro users and possibly other models have the same issue. We have to team up.
Perhaps we can make an email format here that we copy paste and send to hauwei each of us individually. They would be spammed with say 1 million emails.
3. We have paid allot for this device , an android device should be open and customizable. There is absolutely no valid reason to lock down an android device, unless you as smartphone brand try to protect your spyware .
Anyway are you with me brothers ? Let's get the full potential for the hardware that we paid for. Huawei needs to start offering the bootloader codes again and enable OEM unlock. Period. Other resolutions are not acceptable.
ilovepj said:
Brothers, we need to standup for ourselves and stop this ***** madness.
1. I've sent Huawei many emails, it obviously didn't help.
2. If we start like a mass petition or class action or some other case together, we might stand a chance. Remember we're not the only ones with locked bootloader. / Grayed out OEM unlock in developing settings. The mate 20 pro users and possibly other models have the same issue. We have to team up.
Perhaps we can make an email format here that we copy paste and send to hauwei each of us individually. They would be spammed with say 1 million emails.
3. We have paid allot for this device , an android device should be open and customizable. There is absolutely no valid reason to lock down an android device, unless you as smartphone brand try to protect your spyware .
Anyway are you with me brothers ? Let's get the full potential for the hardware that we paid for. Huawei needs to start offering the bootloader codes again and enable OEM unlock. Period. Other resolutions are not acceptable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess 99,5 % of the users don`t care about root. So it will most probably not happen. Nokia also will not provide help to unlock the bootloader as most other OEMS. Get a Samsung , Xiaomi, OnePlus or Pixel phone if you want root. You buy a phone as is, not how you want it to be.
I do not agree with your mindset. That's a typical beta give up mentality.. no offense.
Huawei used to provide the unlock service service before, and now suddenly it stopped doing so. It can't go without consequences..
I love the hardware and the big screen, there are no better alternatives at the moment.
That 99% of the people doesn't want root, it doesn't mean that the remaining 1% is wrong or need to be neglected. If 1% of the users team up we would have 200.000 plus supporters that can show their voice and that can make this happen.
I am in
Count me in too!! This insolence cannot go unpunished.
Not to play spoilsport but your suggestion would work if indeed a million people request for it. From what I understand, the Chinese version of the Huawei phones can be unlocked without issues. Only the international version has this issue. Considering that the majority of the phones sold would be Chinese (which is their main market) who are not affected and accounting for a minuscule part of the phones they sell for the global audience are that interested in rooting, getting them to do anything has a low probability. Having said that, if root is so critical for anyone, the Chinese version is always an option. Most of the issues are resolved related to the Chinese specific devices
SmartPhonesFan said:
Guyz
if anybody wants to swap their L29 for mine Honor Note10 chinese can be fully rooted TWRPed .. I will swap
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So you think someone will swap k970 soc with k980?
SmartPhonesFan said:
Man wake up from your dream.. u are such enthusiast.. and few more in the world .. that is not even 0.5% of whole ppl in the world..
only u and another 50-100 ppl knows what is unlocking bootloader n sht and rooting.. the rest the world has no idea and can't be f**ked about these things.. they buy phone and just use it..
As I said in other thread .. Huawei Getting the best in smartphones so they cannot allow to have vulnerable devices ! They has to show maximum security !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agree
.172 enables the OEM unlock on the EVR L29 C636 model.
antiochasylum said:
.172 enables the OEM unlock on the EVR L29 C636 model.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey brother could you be more specific, what do you mean with .172?
@antiochasylum
Ah, you mean the new firmware, I run .146 , how to get the .172?
ilovepj said:
Brothers, we need to standup for ourselves and stop this ***** madness.
1. I've sent Huawei many emails, it obviously didn't help.
2. If we start like a mass petition or class action or some other case together, we might stand a chance. Remember we're not the only ones with locked bootloader. / Grayed out OEM unlock in developing settings. The mate 20 pro users and possibly other models have the same issue. We have to team up.
Perhaps we can make an email format here that we copy paste and send to hauwei each of us individually. They would be spammed with say 1 million emails.
3. We have paid allot for this device , an android device should be open and customizable. There is absolutely no valid reason to lock down an android device, unless you as smartphone brand try to protect your spyware .
Anyway are you with me brothers ? Let's get the full potential for the hardware that we paid for. Huawei needs to start offering the bootloader codes again and enable OEM unlock. Period. Other resolutions are not acceptable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ill support you. Just let me know what you need.
ilovepj said:
Ah, you mean the new firmware, I run .146 , how to get the .172?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check out funkyhuawei on Twitter. Instructions there.
antiochasylum said:
Check out funkyhuawei on Twitter. Instructions there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It pains me in the heart to see where this android open community is heading. It kinda goes against my principles to pay 18 usd for an update. This is unseen with any android device I had before . Users/devs just try to help each other and make stuff public..
I hope this changes soon and that these methods are made public, instead of commercialized by 3d parties. Please correct me if i'm wrong.
P.S. MODS Please do not delete this post, It is a legitimate discussion, no need to go and censor posts on XDA, regardless of your affiliation with any third party company, users should be able to discuss their thoughts in here
Happy new ear by he way brothers and sisters!
ilovepj said:
It pains me in the heart to see where this android open community is heading. It kinda goes against my principles to pay 18 usd for an update. This is unseen with any android device I had before . Users/devs just try to help each other and make stuff public..
I hope this changes soon and that these methods are made public, instead of commercialized by 3d parties. Please correct me if i'm wrong.
P.S. MODS Please do not delete this post, It is a legitimate discussion, no need to go and censor posts on XDA, regardless of your affiliation with any third party company, users should be able to discuss their thoughts in here
Happy new ear by he way brothers and sisters!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im with you man, is disgusting.
wijiji said:
Im with you man, is disgusting.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I only wish I could pay as little as 18 dollars for something that no longer seems to exist. Cheers
antiochasylum said:
Check out funkyhuawei on Twitter. Instructions there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You know, this bootloader problem is so annoying I wish XDA would ban phones on their site that do not have unlock codes available.
So is it hopeless? No bootloader unlock code anywhere?
mscion said:
So is it hopeless? No bootloader unlock code anywhere?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess funkyhuawei last option but way too high orice its like useless also development is fading
Right now funkyhuawei is not able to provides unlock codes for Mate 20 X .... (

Categories

Resources