I bought a used Pixel 3a with a broken display. No problem to fix that. But the phone is locked so that I need a pin code. No chance to get in contact with the pre-owner. Is there anything I can do? Since I can't get into the system I'm not able change anything in the developer options.
Liebesrind said:
I bought a used Pixel 3a with a broken display. No problem to fix that. But the phone is locked so that I need a pin code. No chance to get in contact with the pre-owner. Is there anything I can do? Since I can't get into the system I'm not able change anything in the developer options.
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There is pretty much nothing you can do except relay the bad practice to the channel you met this person who sold you the phone. I.E. Swappa, eBay, etc. A locked phone is a locked phone. No way around it.
Uzephi said:
There is pretty much nothing you can do except relay the bad practice to the channel you met this person who sold you the phone. I.E. Swappa, eBay, etc. A locked phone is a locked phone. No way around it.
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Thanks! Good to know. It's a shame. Since the phone is in a very good shape it hurts to send it to the recycling.
Related
I just purchased a refurbished TF700T and keyboard dock from BuyDig for 269.99. Pretty good price. I briefly owned a TF700T before, and did notice the sluggishness out of the box, but a 1200p tablet for practically $170 is hard to beat. When I had originally owned it, I was aware of CleanROM cleaning up Asus' slow eMMC mess, but at the time given the expense of the device I wasn't willing to give up the warranty. So now that the investment is a little lower, I'm more willing.
The refurb I believe is carried out by ASUS who then sells them back to BuyDig.
The reason I'm asking if I'm in for a bad time is because I've seen reports of other refurb owners who had terrible times getting their devices to unlock, specifically with messages like "unknown" or "invalid" serial numbers when attempting to input theirs. Or they were getting network access errors when trying to communicate with the servers that were responsible for unlocking the devices.
Does anyone have any input on this or experience being in this situation?
Would also like to hear any reports of unlockable success by recent buydig purchasers.
The unlock bootloader poll is only showing that 20% of the responders have issues...but 32% is unknown.
Buydig has a 45 day return/exchange policy, so I’m thinking that I’m going to roll the dice and hope that I don’t need to try and return it.
The only way to find out is to try it! If one thing is consistent in this unlock mess it's that it's totally inconsistent.
Works like a charm for some, others can't unlock at all. And it does not seem to have anything to do with new/refurb/repaired under warranty
berndblb said:
The only way to find out is to try it! If one thing is consistent in this unlock mess it's that it's totally inconsistent.
Works like a charm for some, others can't unlock at all. And it does not seem to have anything to do with new/refurb/repaired under warranty
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thanks. I just received my refurb today. is it possible to try out the unlook tool to see if it is going to work for a specific device without actually voiding the warranty?
I'd like to wait at least a week or so to see if any major hardware issues pop up. so far, tablet looks to be in working order but some more time before going all in would be nice.
ginhead said:
thanks. I just received my refurb today. is it possible to try out the unlook tool to see if it is going to work for a specific device without actually voiding the warranty?
I'd like to wait at least a week or so to see if any major hardware issues pop up. so far, tablet looks to be in working order but some more time before going all in would be nice.
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No, you click the button, it either works, and your warrent is voided, or it doesn't work.
Or another option is to contact Asus, and ship it to them, and have them unlock it for you.
bluewr said:
Or another option is to contact Asus, and ship it to them, and have them unlock it for you.
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LOL! Never heard of that option! If you have first hand experience I would love to hear about it!
I think it's rather the other way around: You ship it to them unlocked for an unrelated problem and it comes back permanently locked.... Asus does not support unlocking.
berndblb said:
LOL! Never heard of that option! If you have first hand experience I would love to hear about it!
I think it's rather the other way around: You ship it to them unlocked for an unrelated problem and it comes back permanently locked.... Asus does not support unlocking.
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No, I had problem unlocking it, and gave it to the local Asus refurb place, and had them unlock it for me, took them a week to finally unlock it though.
bluewr said:
No, you click the button, it either works, and your warrent is voided, or it doesn't work.
Or another option is to contact Asus, and ship it to them, and have them unlock it for you.
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thanks for posting that. I'll probably wait a week or so then give it a try.
overall, I’m pretty happy with it so far. There is some lag – noticeable in Chrome – but definitely useable. Hopefully, I can get a custom/optimized rom running on this shortly.
Really liking the display so far. Native blu-ray files look great.
Hello everyone. I live in Brazil and just bought a 5'' 128GB Google Pixel (quite the new thing in our market). Still didn't receive it, though I'm already educating myself and doing research about the phone.
I'm looking for tips and information about what to do first as soon as I get my phone, particularly regarding preventive measures.
For example, I already know that:
Unlocking the bootloader is sound advice, particularly if you decide to update or install custom ROMs. [Source 1] [Source 2]
I assume you guys have had a lot of time to play around with your Pixels. If everyone would share a bit of information I'll keep adding them to this post and maybe we could turn it in a nice, straightforward TODO for new users
I'm sorry to say that you might meet some problem unlocking the bootloader. As far as I know, only Eu version can simply unlock by commands, the others , esp in the USA (Verizon), you can't. Fortunately you can still get help from amazing Chinese people on "taobao" for about $50 ,but you have to mail it around the world.
Where did you buy your device from?
I bought it from MercadoLivre, (our local eBay here in Brazil), so I ain't got a clue about where it comes from :/
The seller says the phone is carrier-unlocked, but I'm certain that has nothing to do with unlocking the bootloader, right?
I guess I'll try to unlock it as soon as I get it, and if I can't... well, I can always return it and get something else
Yes I Did It said:
I bought it from MercadoLivre, (our local eBay here in Brazil), so I ain't got a clue about where it comes from :/
The seller says the phone is carrier-unlocked, but I'm certain that has nothing to do with unlocking the bootloader, right?
I guess I'll try to unlock it as soon as I get it, and if I can't... well, I can always return it and get something else
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you should be fine. Just try to unlock the bootloader and see after that. I personally flashed Dirty Unicorns rom as soon as I unlocked the bootloader. I've had this phone for a month now. There's a discord channel in my signature if you want to find that rom and some more.
I've searched but I can't really find anything. In the developer options there is an oem unlock but other than that I'm not sure what to do. Any help would be appreciated.
It's clear.....
deathwithafi said:
I've searched but I can't really find anything. In the developer options there is an oem unlock but other than that I'm not sure what to do. Any help would be appreciated.
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It's probably not worth it.... That's why ima figure out how to..... I'm hardheaded and don't steal..... (Won't even take a hint....lol)
Taterroot4u said:
It's probably not worth it.... That's why ima figure out how to..... I'm hardheaded and don't steal..... (Won't even take a hint....lol)
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Root is always worth it. The bright side the phone does function pretty adequately for what it is. Decent battery life. Good Luck.
Out of curiosity, did you ever come up with a method? I'm trying to recover data from a system crash reset and have been told it's a lost cause because this phone is unrootable. Did you find a way? Would you care to share?
I did not. Sorry. It's unfortunate it's not a bad phone, sorry to hear about your issues.
How to root
Abc if u know how to root LML212VL (lg rebel 4)
XxcjtheinsanexX said:
Abc if u know how to root LML212VL (lg rebel 4)
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If it is a Verizon phone or a StraightTalk phone, you won't be able to root the device.
Sent from my SM-S767VL using Tapatalk
I found a TracPhone model of this device, functional, with no SIM card in it, laying in the grass at a local park. Does anyone know anything about rooting or flashing it?
ransack said:
I found a TracPhone model of this device, functional, with no SIM card in it, laying in the grass at a local park. Does anyone know anything about rooting or flashing it?
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Not worth messing with unless it's unlocked. You'd have to pay monthly for service for a year just to switch carriers.
TracFone is good as a secondary line. I still use them for that on that exact model phone. Right now my G7 is out of power. If it breaks or the service goes down, I still have this Tracfone. TF does honor the unlock policy but they are very strict about it.
I do not know about rooting it. I expected it would never be rootable when I bought it. After digging into some cheap tablets over the last week, I decided I will never run an unrootable device. Those have hidden SIM cards and any attempt to access or disable that SIM causes the user data to be wiped. It's anyone's guess what info they are collecting, how, or who they are sending it to. I suspect this Tracfone does the same thing.
But... if it can be rooted, I'll do it.
Anyone able to get me the Bluetooth app for LG rebel 4? I want to try install it on LG Classic flip.
Bought phone off marketplace; verified it was working by inserting my SIM card and making a phone call prior to purchase. Later on while setting up the phone I discover that it's got administrative software installed on it and retail mode turned on.
Looking closer at the box, it said it's a demo unit. (I know, should've been more thorough)
The question I have is if it's a true demo unit that's unsalvageable, why was I able to make the call? (I used my own SIM)
Some demo units can make calls. People like to try them out in stores. Personally, I'd try to return it. Maybe you can flash a new firmware. Doubt makeup of hardware any different since it works. Never know though.
mt2020 said:
Some demo units can make calls. People like to try them out in stores. Personally, I'd try to return it. Maybe you can flash a new firmware. Doubt makeup of hardware any different since it works. Never know though.
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Unfortunately returning isn't an option, the guy knew this thing had an issue and decided to not tell me. I figured since it made a call, it should be fine.
The IMEI number comes back as clean, I might try and see if I can use it for a "trade In" if flashing new firmware doesn't seem like it can happen.
How much did you pay?
kat3k said:
How much did you pay?
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Too much of course.
Just go into Settings->Developer Options->Demo mode and take it out of demo mode.
Rubby1025 said:
Just go into Settings->Developer Options->Demo mode and take it out of demo mode.
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Doesn't allow me to, asks for a password, none of the ones i've found floating around have worked.
there's a admin lockdown, software called SENNCO from Brichtec, its what's removed the "wipe data/factory reset" from the recovery menu im guessing.
mt2020 said:
Some demo units can make calls. People like to try them out in stores. Personally, I'd try to return it. Maybe you can flash a new firmware. Doubt makeup of hardware any different since it works. Never know though.
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I'm able to get to the recovery screen and it seems to allows me to install updates from ADB; am I okay trying to use my pc/ODIN to flash tmobile firmware I have for this device?
Why not? You said if non of this works you're going to trade it in... As long as you don't brick it... And if you're on TMobile... Is it eligible for care plus? If so, you may be able to pass it off to them for repair
Great minds...i was doing that while you posted i guess. Was able to flash and reboot and it went back to the same locked down version that was there before. I guess this means that it's the bootloader/recovery that's locked down? Will try replacing that next.
Any idea where I might find the TWRP for this phone?
ankur079 said:
Great minds...i was doing that while you posted i guess. Was able to flash and reboot and it went back to the same locked down version that was there before. I guess this means that it's the bootloader/recovery that's locked down? Will try replacing that next.
Any idea where I might find the TWRP for this phone?
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Not really sure, haven't rooted or used recovery software in a long time. Finally decided to let others be beta testers and just want a working phone. Go to Samsung Care plus web site, plug in your serial number or IMEI and it will tell you if it qualifies for coverage. If so, $8 month, first 3 or 4 months free, cancel at anytime. If covered, pay deductible and let them fix or replace, which in this case would most likely be replace. Past that, USA phones are pretty locked down if they weren't purchased unlocked. Yea, you can unlock a provider phone after a while on their plan, but boot loader still tough to Crack. I think that's what you just ran into.
mt2020 said:
Not really sure, haven't rooted or used recovery software in a long time. Finally decided to let others be beta testers and just want a working phone. Go to Samsung Care plus web site, plug in your serial number or IMEI and it will tell you if it qualifies for coverage. If so, $8 month, first 3 or 4 months free, cancel at anytime. If covered, pay deductible and let them fix or replace, which in this case would most likely be replace. Past that, USA phones are pretty locked down if they weren't purchased unlocked. Yea, you can unlock a provider phone after a while on their plan, but boot loader still tough to Crack. I think that's what you just ran into.
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thanks, worth a try i suppose if nothing else pans out.
Yesterday I went to buy ultra from marketplace.
Imei was all zeros, could not reset, the language has Eng and Belaus (bit weird). It could be bit discrimination but he was using very old looked xiaomi phone probably from 15.
Why and when the Imei goes all zeros?
He scammed you in that case, I'm guessing he was messing with the system partitions in some way and lost the IMEI, rendering it useless in terms of SIM card use. Unless he gave you the box with it, which would usually also have both the IMEI numbers written on it, then there's not much you can do as far as I know. You can always try to contact support see if it's possible to salvage it somehow but seeing as you're not even the first original buyer, who knows what you'll get for a response.
erik2041999 said:
He scammed you in that case, I'm guessing he was messing with the system partitions in some way and lost the IMEI, rendering it useless in terms of SIM card use. Unless he gave you the box with it, which would usually also have both the IMEI numbers written on it, then there's not much you can do as far as I know. You can always try to contact support see if it's possible to salvage it somehow but seeing as you're not even the first original buyer, who knows what you'll get for a response.
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I dashed away after checked it.
Bring it to service center. The imei number is still there. It is hidden within the phone. Ask me how I know. They can fix it.
Could also be a demo unit.
doubledragon5 said:
Bring it to service center. The imei number is still there. It is hidden within the phone. Ask me how I know. They can fix it.
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We don't have service center near by. Sad
MRDOCA said:
Could also be a demo unit.
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Yeah he asked me 270 USD ish. So I was thinking about having it as Cam and Youtube player. But he do not reply for day after I asked to see IMEI from Sim tray
I'd say it's a demo unit and that's why it has no imei. You can't make a demo unit a real phone unfortunately. Many people have tried and it's not possible.
Ssser1 said:
Yeah he asked me 270 USD ish. So I was thinking about having it as Cam and Youtube player. But he do not reply for day after I asked to see IMEI from Sim tray
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Did you buy it? If not, DON'T!
Nah