Would installing unlocked bootloader and firmware unlock the phone? - AT&T Samsung Galaxy S8+ Questions & Answers

So what I want to do is switch this phone to straight talk but want the att bloatware off this. If I install unlocked firmware and root the device would that make it unlocked? Like not carrier locked. Straight talk said I can already use a Sim despite it being locked but I wanna unlock it myself.
I don't think att will yet and not sure if they will at all. I'm converting my chapter 13 bankruptcy to a 7 on Tuesday and att bill is rolled into it so the phones will be mine once that is discharged but not sure if they will unlock them right after or if it will take months,that's why I'm asking this. I already reinstalled att firmware on this phone because I tried to install a custom room and messed up due to the bootloader issue of it being v5 I think.

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[Q] Seriously need help with unlocked ATT One X

Alright guys, I am posting out of desperation.
I am no pro when it comes to rooting/unlocking/ROMming Android phones but I have read myself to death and I am not getting anywhere. I am almost willing to send this phone to someone who knows what they are doing. I really don't feel like buying another phone. In hindsight, I should've made sure I was getting a true unbranded HOX.
I bought an unlocked, AT&T One X from Amazon while I was in Afghanistan. Received the phone via APO, put in my Roshan SIM card, and was working fine. I traveled extensively in the past few months, all over the Middle East and South Asia, phone was working fine, I just picked up a local sim card and off I went.
Well then I went back to the US for the first time with this phone. Put in my TMobile SIM, and was working fine as well. Well now I left the country again, and now I can't pick up any networks at all. I have changed the radio via the USSD to GSM, WCDMA, everything, but can't pick up any networks. Keep in mind I also still have my SIM card that I bought when I was here. I insert the card, it says preparing sim card, etc, but won't find any networks.
How do I know if the phone is still SIM unlocked? Woulnd't it prompt me for an unlock code when I insterted the foreign SIM again? Do I need to root? Does my bootloader need to be unlocked to use any SIM?
What I was figuring I would try to do was flash a different ROM so I don't have to worry about this being an AT&T phone anymore. When I boot into the bootloader, it says LOCKED at the top with S-ON. There has never been an update done to the phone since I got it.
Things i've tried:
Any root for 1.85 ( I have tried every root for 1.85 you can search for on here)
RUU to update to 2.2 (says main battery power low, but it isn't)
Factory Reset
I really don't care so much to get a new ROM, I just want my phone to work. Here is what I get in the info page on the phone:
The bootloader says HBOOT 1.09 is installed
Kernel Version:
3.0.8-01155-gca24d1e
[email protected] #1
SMP PREEMPT
Build Number
1.85.502.3_R2 CL63811 release-keys
Sense 4.0
Android 4.0.3
Software Number
1.85.502.3 710RD
If you need any more info let me know but I am dying here
Sim unlock and bootloader unlock are two different things. I don't think either has anything to do with the other.
Assuming you bought this from a legit seller on Amazon, factory unlocked is factory unlocked. I've never heard of a phone getting sim locked from putting in a sim card. If you didn't get a "input unlock code" the first time, your phone isn't sim locked and is not locked down to AT&T.
Before you can root, though, you have to unlock the bootloader. That's why your root attempts keep failing. You want to stay on 1.85, trust me--later firmware is more locked down.
Are you sure there's nothing wrong with the other sim card you got? Have you tried a new one?
iElvis said:
Sim unlock and bootloader unlock are two different things. I don't think either has anything to do with the other.
Assuming you bought this from a legit seller on Amazon, factory unlocked is factory unlocked. I've never heard of a phone getting sim locked from putting in a sim card. If you didn't get a "input unlock code" the first time, your phone isn't sim locked and is not locked down to AT&T.
Before you can root, though, you have to unlock the bootloader. That's why your root attempts keep failing. You want to stay on 1.85, trust me--later firmware is more locked down.
Are you sure there's nothing wrong with the other sim card you got? Have you tried a new one?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really? The bootloader has to be unlocked before you can root? I definitely thought it was the other way around. I guess that would explain it, then..
What I actually ended up doing was repeatably trying the RUU, and finally got it to take the 2.2FW upgrade. As soon as that happened, I was pulling down 4G like nobodies business. Though, now that i've read your post, I kind of wish I would've stuck with trying to get a new ROM on it, instead of upgrading. I really have no idea why a FW upgrade made the radio start working like magic, or what would casue that at all.
Frosty288 said:
Really? The bootloader has to be unlocked before you can root? I definitely thought it was the other way around. I guess that would explain it, then..
What I actually ended up doing was repeatably trying the RUU, and finally got it to take the 2.2FW upgrade. As soon as that happened, I was pulling down 4G like nobodies business. Though, now that i've read your post, I kind of wish I would've stuck with trying to get a new ROM on it, instead of upgrading. I really have no idea why a FW upgrade made the radio start working like magic, or what would casue that at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Progress is swift. I rooted using the 2.2 xfactor exploit and then unlocked the bootloader with the spoofed CID, now as soon as I figure it out I will install CleanROM 5.1..Hope I don't brick it!
Frosty288 said:
Progress is swift. I rooted using the 2.2 xfactor exploit and then unlocked the bootloader with the spoofed CID, now as soon as I figure it out I will install CleanROM 5.1..Hope I don't brick it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As long as you stay in this forum, these phones are tough to brick. The only way to do it is to flash roms for the international (Tegra 3) version.
Note that on 2.20., you have to flash the boot.img in fastboot when you flash a rom.
Youll never brick your phone as long as you have access to the bootloader or recovery lol
Sent from my HTC One X using xda app-developers app
If he wants cleanrom he won't have to be confused with fastboot. Just download rom and flash that sucker
Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2
Do NOT RUU to 2.20! (never mind too late).
Looks like you figured things out.

I like to think this would be simple. Perhaps you can help?

Here's what I got. ATT LG G3 running stock Marshmallow D85030p with what I presume is the newest security patch (June 2016)
At this point it's not on a carrier but it's locked by ATT. They kept my number as well.. A number that was mine from previous carriers.
Will I be able to root, install TWRP, and unlock this device to use on a prepaid carrier? Keep in mind this same phone has been flashed, rooted and ran recovery mods and ROMs before. Still in perfect working condition after receiving it's last stock OTA.
jlgarr86 said:
Here's what I got. ATT LG G3 running stock Marshmallow D85030p with what I presume is the newest security patch (June 2016)
At this point it's not on a carrier but it's locked by ATT. They kept my number as well.. A number that was mine from previous carriers.
Will I be able to root, install TWRP, and unlock this device to use on a prepaid carrier? Keep in mind this same phone has been flashed, rooted and ran recovery mods and ROMs before. Still in perfect working condition after receiving it's last stock OTA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First of all what do you mean they kept your number? Did you cancel? Unpaid bill? That would be a deciding factor on how to go about things.
But no root cannot unlock your device
1. If you left AT&T in good standing AT&T will unlock the device for free. Even if you don't have any account.
2. If not then you can get it unlocked for a few dollars from some eBay sellers.
3. What prepaid carrier? If Any provider that runs on AT&Ts network you don't have to get it unlocked, it will work fine with Go Phone, Cricket , H2O and many others that run on AT&Ts network.
But a note if it's no longer on AT&T due to unpaid bill, or on bad terms remember the device may no longer work on any GSM carrier within the USA due to AT&T will blacklist it.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
hyelton said:
First of all what do you mean they kept your number? Did you cancel? Unpaid bill? That would be a deciding factor on how to go about things.
But no root cannot unlock your device
1. If you left AT&T in good standing AT&T will unlock the device for free. Even if you don't have any account.
2. If not then you can get it unlocked for a few dollars from some eBay sellers.
3. What prepaid carrier? If Any provider that runs on AT&Ts network you don't have to get it unlocked, it will work fine with Go Phone, Cricket , H2O and many others that run on AT&Ts network.
But a note if it's no longer on AT&T due to unpaid bill, or on bad terms remember the device may no longer work on any GSM carrier within the USA due to AT&T will blacklist it.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I understand root alone won't unlock it. With all that being said can I still root and flash a recovery method that are permanent? Does MM still not have a reliable root or recovery method?
jlgarr86 said:
I understand root alone won't unlock it. With all that being said can I still root and flash a recovery method that are permanent? Does MM still not have a reliable root or recovery method?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You would need to downgrade to KitKat to do that. But remember once you downgrade you'll no longer be able to go back to any official firmware Past KitKat without an AT&T SIM card of some sort to ota update it.
Also remember if you get an unlock code you need to be running stock D850 firmware or else you won't be able to enter the unlock code.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
hyelton said:
You would need to downgrade to KitKat to do that. But remember once you downgrade you'll no longer be able to go back to any official firmware Past KitKat without an AT&T SIM card of some sort to ota update it.
Also remember if you get an unlock code you need to be running stock D850 firmware or else you won't be able to enter the unlock code.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are there any unofficial MM or Lollipop ROMs that are worth looking into? I couldn't care less if it's official honestly. And that last bit you said, you mean if I wanted a phone unlocked I'd have to basically wipe my phone?
jlgarr86 said:
Are there any unofficial MM or Lollipop ROMs that are worth looking into? I couldn't care less if it's official honestly. And that last bit you said, you mean if I wanted a phone unlocked I'd have to basically wipe my phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you unlock before you leave behind stock then no you don't have to wipe. Once you install any custom ROM, your only option to unlock at that point is to revert back to stock, which means wiping.
aybarrap1 said:
If you unlock before you leave behind stock then no you don't have to wipe. Once you install any custom ROM, your only option to unlock at that point is to revert back to stock, which means wiping.
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Click to collapse
Can I unlock it myself?
jlgarr86 said:
Can I unlock it myself?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes you can, if you are on stock. You will need to get the unlock code from AT&T, be on stock firmware, and have an active SIM card from another carrier (I.e. T-Mobile or of it's MVNOs like MetroPCS). Once you have the unlock code, put in the SIM card, turn on the phone, and you will get the prompts for the code you got. Then you're done.

Unlocking Sprint based S8 after changed firmware to T-mobile.

Hey there,
I got a S8 phone from a coworker, that belonged to their ex. It was locked to their ex's google account. She gave it to me and said I could have it if I could get it to work.
Ended up flashing it with the T-mobile S8 firmware but only to find out that it was unlocked to the Sprint network. She is no longer on his plan so could not call Sprint to unlock it. And she doesn't want to call him to deal with it. Anyway, so no problem. Can unlock it via a 3rd party. Went with unlock base but still waiting for the code.
From what I read on the site, I will need to insert my sim and it will ask me for the unlock code. Unfortunately, when I insert a sim currently, it just says to contact sprint. I'm guessing this is due to the T-mobile firmware.
Will I now have to install the Sprint firmware to get it give me the unlock prompt upon sim insertion?
And after it's unlocked, can I go back to the T-mobile firmware?
Thanks for all the help in advance!
If the IMEI is paid off you can request an unlock from Sprint, if not you would need to use third party.
You can attempt unlock yourself but you do it at your own risk.

Unlocking bootloader on ebay purchased TMobile 7 Pro

Thinking of buying one of these and want to clarify the process of unlocking the bootloader. From the ebay seller he says it is a T-Mobile phone but is sim unlocked already. He says I will have to contact oneplus to get the bootloader unlock code/token. I don't really want to wait the forty days or whatever I heard it was but it's ok as long as I can definitely get it unlocked eventually and won't be stuck for some reason with a locked bootloader. Thanks for any info you can provide.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/oneplus-7-pro/help/how-to-convert-tmobile-op7-to-t3935947
I've ran across two of your posts asking the same question. I had done the same thing as you. I bought an eBay sim unlocked op7p. At first I flashed the international firmware to just bypass the whole tmobile bootloader unlock. It worked in the sense that I was able to unlock the bootloader, however I had no service and the phone would not detect my sim (Cricket). I tried another sim with the same results. I had to use the msm tool and flash back to tmobile stock firmware in order for it to work with my sim.
I sent in my request for an unlock token and received it in 7 days. I think the 40 days is only for brand new phones. I would submit the unlock token request and go that route. YMMV, you may very well be able to flash the international software and just bypass it. I didn't have that luck. The 7 day wait wasn't so bad. Hope this helps.
devastatorx said:
I've ran across two of your posts asking the same question. I had done the same thing as you. I bought an eBay sim unlocked op7p. At first I flashed the international firmware to just bypass the whole tmobile bootloader unlock. It worked in the sense that I was able to unlock the bootloader, however I had no service and the phone would not detect my sim (Cricket). I tried another sim with the same results. I had to use the msm tool and flash back to tmobile stock firmware in order for it to work with my sim.
I sent in my request for an unlock token and received it in 7 days. I think the 40 days is only for brand new phones. I would submit the unlock token request and go that route. YMMV, you may very well be able to flash the international software and just bypass it. I didn't have that luck. The 7 day wait wasn't so bad. Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's good to know that I can get the unlock token if needed. So TMobile doesn't care who you are or that you don't have a T-Mobile account or live in US obviously then?
Reechings said:
That's good to know that I can get the unlock token if needed. So TMobile doesn't care who you are or that you don't have a T-Mobile account or live in US obviously then?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The unlock code comes from OnePlus. I only had to wait the week and the received an email with a link to download the unlock_code.bin file. To answer your question, not to my knowledge.
devastatorx said:
I've ran across two of your posts asking the same question. I had done the same thing as you. I bought an eBay sim unlocked op7p. At first I flashed the international firmware to just bypass the whole tmobile bootloader unlock. It worked in the sense that I was able to unlock the bootloader, however I had no service and the phone would not detect my sim (Cricket). I tried another sim with the same results. I had to use the msm tool and flash back to tmobile stock firmware in order for it to work with my sim.
I sent in my request for an unlock token and received it in 7 days. I think the 40 days is only for brand new phones. I would submit the unlock token request and go that route. YMMV, you may very well be able to flash the international software and just bypass it. I didn't have that luck. The 7 day wait wasn't so bad. Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think I may be in the same boat. After fighting with msm I finally got it to flash the international firmware but nowjiy doesn't detect my sim. So you went back to Tmobile software and got the token to unlock but once you did that did you switch back to international or custom ROMs?
Duplicate post
Reechings said:
I think I may be in the same boat. After fighting with msm I finally got it to flash the international firmware but nowjiy doesn't detect my sim. So you went back to Tmobile software and got the token to unlock but once you did that did you switch back to international or custom ROMs?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have not flashed back to international because I couldn't get the phone to detect my sim even after updating the international firmware.
I would however recommend that once you flash back to TMobile (using msm) that you do the OTA (settings>system>check for updates)
Currently I'm running unlocked and rooted via magisk. I'd like to flash a custom rom (looking at resurrection) but they say to flash the international rom to both slots first (via recovery like twrp) and I'm not sure if that would cause the sim issue again. I haven't had time to ask about it (if I can flash straight from tmo stock rooted to a custom rom like resurrection). So unfortunately I don't have the best answer there. You may ask around in some of the custom rom threads about just flashing straight from the TMobile stock firmware with unlocked bootloader. If you happen to find out an answer, please pm me and let me know.
devastatorx said:
I have not flashed back to international because I couldn't get the phone to detect my sim even after updating the international firmware.
I would however recommend that once you flash back to TMobile (using msm) that you do the OTA (settings>system>check for updates)
Currently I'm running unlocked and rooted via magisk. I'd like to flash a custom rom (looking at resurrection) but they say to flash the international rom to both slots first (via recovery like twrp) and I'm not sure if that would cause the sim issue again. I haven't had time to ask about it (if I can flash straight from tmo stock rooted to a custom rom like resurrection). So unfortunately I don't have the best answer there. You may ask around in some of the custom rom threads about just flashing straight from the TMobile stock firmware with unlocked bootloader. If you happen to find out an answer, please pm me and let me know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually I was mistaken. Once I updated the international rom to Android Q my sim started working again and now I am on Bliss and sim is still working. Not sure what is going on with your sim.

8T TMobile Unlock Oddities

Hi guys! Having some weird issues getting custom roms to flash on my 8T. I purchased the TMobile variant as it was the only one in stock, and I planned to use it with a TMobile mnvo. It's the KB2007 model. I purchased it outright, and went to unlock the bootloader - this was not possible as the device was locked. I reached out to TMobile on Twitter, gave them my phone number, IMEI and told them my story. They said it would take 2-5 business days for the unlock team to look at the request as I wasnt a direct TMobile customer. A few days later, I went into the android settings app, and attempted to permanently unlock the device and it unlocked. I rebooted and was able to toggle the developer setting to allow OEM unlocking, yay! Since that point, I've ran the kebabt -> kebab EU firmware MSM tool to convert the device to the EU firmware (as I've heard it's more stable, I'm US based though)
However, after that I've gone to replace oxygen os with Lineage, and I'm getting errors from fastboot about the device still being locked. Any ideas where to go from here?
You probably need to unlock your bootloader?
fastboot flashing unlock
AlmightyGrapefruit said:
Hi guys! Having some weird issues getting custom roms to flash on my 8T. I purchased the TMobile variant as it was the only one in stock, and I planned to use it with a TMobile mnvo. It's the KB2007 model. I purchased it outright, and went to unlock the bootloader - this was not possible as the device was locked. I reached out to TMobile on Twitter, gave them my phone number, IMEI and told them my story. They said it would take 2-5 business days for the unlock team to look at the request as I wasnt a direct TMobile customer. A few days later, I went into the android settings app, and attempted to permanently unlock the device and it unlocked. I rebooted and was able to toggle the developer setting to allow OEM unlocking, yay! Since that point, I've ran the kebabt -> kebab EU firmware MSM tool to convert the device to the EU firmware (as I've heard it's more stable, I'm US based though)
However, after that I've gone to replace oxygen os with Lineage, and I'm getting errors from fastboot about the device still being locked. Any ideas where to go from here?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You will get fastboot errors about unlocking critical partitions if you try to flash partitions other than boot, recovery and a few others while you're in bootloader mode.
For the rest you must be in fastbootd mode.
Chances are you need the unlock token from OnePlus themselves it takes a week

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