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I talked to Samsung for about an hour about why the bootloader is locked for the US versions of the S7.( I have a SM-G930R4) Most of the time they gave me the run around but I was able to find out that with the Oreo update ,it may be possible to lock/unlock the bootloader. They didn't come right out and say it but that's what it sounded like to me. They were saying something about a "security issue" that is supposed to be fixed in Oreo,and that it's within the realm of possibilities. Let's hope they weren't trying to make me feel better,lol. I haven't had a nice phone since 2013,and I was pretty nonplussed to find out we got shafted. I have been using Samsung phones since the original Google Nexus,and have flashed/rooted/customized every single one of them. Customization is important to a lot of people,and Samsung understands this. Why'd they have to give in this time? ><
Highly unlikely
Samsung talk out of their rears when you contact them, usually just to get you to go away I find
Well that's corporations in general right? Lol. I don't want to get another phone if I don't have to. I rather like this one. I guess we'll find out in the coming weeks ,eh?
I have a screenshot of part of the conversation,but it seems like I can't post the link or embed it. Basically it was them feeding me a line of garbage about none of their USA model phones having unlockable bootloaders,and I corrected them. They also said that it was Qualcomm's fault but I can't see how. Don't they use their own bootloaders?
I guess I could always try to trade my S7 for a S6 lol.
I don't know the details of why they are locked or who's fault it is, but they're right that none of the USA S7s have unlocked bootloaders (Snapdragon Models)
It's the Exynos International S7s that are unlocked (G930F, G930W8)
Samsung will have the bootloader encryption key, so they could have added a feature to unlock it like they did with the Exynos versions, no idea why they haven't
If you want an unlocked S7 I'd sell that one and get the G930F
They didn't say it would never be unlocked. What I got from the exchange was that it may happen during the next OTA,which I assume is Oreo,or a patch of sorts thereafter. The particular lady I was speaking to implied it was Qualcomm's fault,but I find that hard to believe. I brought up the fact that we're being singled out (for whatever reason) and that customization is quite important to a lot of us.She said "Yes I agree,if you buy a phone it should be yours" So hopefully they do the right thing. I can't very well just sell this phone ,however. It holds sentimental value and was a gift from someone very dear to me.So my only option is ,A) Pray Sammie does right by us,or B) wait until someone hacks it(if it's even possible)
Also from what I've been told and what I've read on multiple forums(XDADev included) our phone carriers pressured Samsung to do it,to cut down on people bricking their phones. From my experience it's pretty hard to completely brick a Samsung. As long as you can get into download mode and flash something via Odin or backup from recovery,it's all good.
I'm running oreo. But soon all carriers will now lock bootloaders latest sprint and Verizon starting , to make it it so no one can change carriers
Not to stir up an old thread, but oreo just rolled out for the sm-g930p yesterday and I noticed that there is the option for OEM unlock. Good news for finally unlocking the bootloader?
whbisondtr said:
Not to stir up an old thread, but oreo just rolled out for the sm-g930p yesterday and I noticed that there is the option for OEM unlock. Good news for finally unlocking the bootloader?
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No.. That's not what that feature is for. It's in Nougat as well under development options
InsanePostman said:
No.. That's not what that feature is for. It's in Nougat as well under development options
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Gotcha. I didn't have it on here with nougat though, it didn't show up until I got the oreo update. From what I've read around, that's what it was for.
whbisondtr said:
From what I've read around, that's what it was for.
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Random thought...Maybe when the Oreo U firmware comes out flashing the BL will work?
SprintBama said:
Random thought...Maybe when the Oreo U firmware comes out flashing the BL will work?
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When I talked to Samsung about it they hinted that would be the case. They didn't confirm or deny it directly,but the way they put it sure alluded to something of the sort.
lets pray ))
Yea so anyway still locked and I honestly don't even need root. I'll just use the unlocked firmware and disable bloat. Rooting the s7 seems arbitrary at this point. If I wanted to I would just trade my s7 USA varient for an international varient if I was really that adamant. S7's are pretty cheap now with the s8 and s9 out on the market.
I have an unlocked phone and the only thing unlocked is the carrier or sim, nothing to do with the bootloader unless you all are suggesting that after the full release of Oreo on all the s7 devices that they may rethink locked bootloader. By then I'll probably just get a new phone. I've lost interest in rooting the s7 but that's probably because there's only three ways around it. Rooting Android 6, rooting earlier versions of Android 7 or getting the xynos s7. I love Oreo more than root on this phone.
I've been going through many pages and tried a few different ways of rooting my SM-N920V, but every page I go to tells me something a little different and it doesn't work. I've had to recover my phone a few times, but still can't get it rooted.
Specs:
SM-N920V
6.0.1
Originally I wanted to install Copperhead OS or Lineage, but from what I read, there's no way of installing either on my Verizon Note 5.
If anyone here has a way of installing Copperhead or any other privacy centric android build, please let me know.
Thanks! :highfive:
There isn't one...
Icetech3 said:
There isn't one...
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as in its not possible?
curious as to why.
also, any suggestions you can give me to get my phone more private/un-googly?
Lakeesheontray said:
as in its not possible?
curious as to why.
also, any suggestions you can give me to get my phone more private/un-googly?
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Verizon locked the bootloader so well that no one has been able to crack it on this phone and i don't believe anyone is even working on it anymore. Which means no real roms, no root...
Don't care if it works as a phone.
Icetech3 said:
Verizon locked the bootloader so well that no one has been able to crack it on this phone and i don't believe anyone is even working on it anymore. Which means no real roms, no root...
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I have retired my Note 5 and currently have a Note 8. Since the device can be used for a whole lot more than a phone, is it possible to modify (root...whatever) the device considering that I don't care about tripping Knox (spelling?) or ever plan using it as a phone on VZW (or any other carrier, for that matter)? Right now it is sitting in a drawer and it isn't worth enough for me to sell it.
Thanks, Jack
jaxmaxinc said:
I have retired my Note 5 and currently have a Note 8. Since the device can be used for a whole lot more than a phone, is it possible to modify (root...whatever) the device considering that I don't care about tripping Knox (spelling?) or ever plan using it as a phone on VZW (or any other carrier, for that matter)? Right now it is sitting in a drawer and it isn't worth enough for me to sell it.
Thanks, Jack
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Yeah, i'm too cheap to buy a new phone.. i use ting as my carrier, in my area i can use Sprint or T-Mobile towers.. my house gets ZERO signal from t-mobile and the verizon phone won't connect to sprint towers.. i hate it.. just *****ing, i'm gonna have to break down and get a different phone
I bought my phone on Amazon, refurbished. It was in great condition physically, and using it for a month or few it's working fine... But I'm starting to want to do the XDA thing and have forgotten the fact I'm not sure what phone I bought. Online when I bought it, I believe it was sold to me as a GM1910... This was confusingly perplexed further when I looked in the about section and found it to claim 2 other versions in different places... It said GM1915 in one area, and GM1917 in another... But did claim GM1910 at least somewhere... Until...
After the OS had it's update OTA, this got more fishy; now no longer claims GM1910, but claims both of the other versions. So I'm under the impression that perhaps other software was loaded onto it, other than what was on the hardware initially... But I seem to not know truly what version of hardware I'm in possession of...
Is there any way to tell for sure what hardware and radio I'm in possession of, and whether or not it's normal to have conflicting or even changing model numbers on the about screen. I've tried going into recovery, but that's bare of any model; unless I'm missing the snake biting me... Anyone have tips?
Best option is to obtain the IMEI and check it online. Hopefully that can give you the answer you are looking for
MemoryThief said:
I bought my phone on Amazon, refurbished. It was in great condition physically, and using it for a month or few it's working fine... But I'm starting to want to do the XDA thing and have forgotten the fact I'm not sure what phone I bought. Online when I bought it, I believe it was sold to me as a GM1910... This was confusingly perplexed further when I looked in the about section and found it to claim 2 other versions in different places... It said GM1915 in one area, and GM1917 in another... But did claim GM1910 at least somewhere... Until...
After the OS had it's update OTA, this got more fishy; now no longer claims GM1910, but claims both of the other versions. So I'm under the impression that perhaps other software was loaded onto it, other than what was on the hardware initially... But I seem to not know truly what version of hardware I'm in possession of...
Is there any way to tell for sure what hardware and radio I'm in possession of, and whether or not it's normal to have conflicting or even changing model numbers on the about screen. I've tried going into recovery, but that's bare of any model; unless I'm missing the snake biting me... Anyone have tips?
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My device reads 1917 in About Phone, and both 1915 and 1917 in Regulatory Labels. Got it straight from OnePlus.
Cbro0345 said:
Best option is to obtain the IMEI and check it online. Hopefully that can give you the answer you are looking for
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phr0zen said:
My device reads 1917 in About Phone, and both 1915 and 1917 in Regulatory Labels. Got it straight from OnePlus.
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Thanks for the effort thus far; I had done the IMEI on the official site, however it doesn't claim is any particular model, only that it's a pro7. Unless I'm being blind, which as frantic and I may have looked could be it... If you know otherwise, of love to be wrong here...
And I actually do feel somewhat better knowing my phone isn't the only one telling me conflicting information... But you never mentioned what model you figured you had though.... I'm hoping to assume you're certain that you bought a 1917 from the source? Perhaps the radio is the same?
That's really what I'm after, I want to know the bands that I am able to use, and whether I have band 71 [I think that what I'm after, the lowest freq tmo band]. Perhaps to add fuel to the fire, is anyone aware if we can flash the firmware of other models radios? I'm also curious to whether I'm able to get CDMA on my phone...
Right, so something I forgot to mention was before that update, I did have 2 iemi numbers, now I've only one... Furthermore, in bootloader there happens to be nothing in the fields that read: bootloader ver, baseband ver. This highly troubles me.
Sent from my OnePlus 7 Pro using XDA Labs
MemoryThief said:
Thanks for the effort thus far; I had done the IMEI on the official site, however it doesn't claim is any particular model, only that it's a pro7. Unless I'm being blind, which as frantic and I may have looked could be it... If you know otherwise, of love to be wrong here...
And I actually do feel somewhat better knowing my phone isn't the only one telling me conflicting information... But you never mentioned what model you figured you had though.... I'm hoping to assume you're certain that you bought a 1917 from the source? Perhaps the radio is the same?
That's really what I'm after, I want to know the bands that I am able to use, and whether I have band 71 [I think that what I'm after, the lowest freq tmo band]. Perhaps to add fuel to the fire, is anyone aware if we can flash the firmware of other models radios? I'm also curious to whether I'm able to get CDMA on my phone...
Right, so something I forgot to mention was before that update, I did have 2 iemi numbers, now I've only one... Furthermore, in bootloader there happens to be nothing in the fields that read: bootloader ver, baseband ver. This highly troubles me.
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Ignore that, thought the OnePlus account would have told you further info but it doesn't. I'm not sure how you would go about finding the official number
Cbro0345 said:
Have you created a OnePlus account? I think you can attach th IMEI to a OnePlus account and view further info
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Yes, I've done this so far as I can tell looking in every nook'n'crany I could, nothing about anything model number, just the model. I know it's a7pro, I am certain based on design and the pop-up camera... But if you can find a model number on that site easily, I will admit social defeat.
Cbro0345 said:
Ignore that, thought the OnePlus account would have told you further info but it doesn't. I'm not sure how you would go about finding the official number
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Lol, no worries; I'll be the first to admit that the fact I don't know this, and the fact it's not easily discernable is pretty unbelievable... I would question the amount of lost marbles someone lost until I went proving otherwise as well; but perhaps you can quell another suspicion.
Would you check your bootloader to see about whether you have values at the aforementioned versions?
Sent from my OnePlus 7 Pro using XDA Labs
Last thing I can think of is to download AIDA64 and check what model shows there
I downloaded the original software and Troys rom in the SDcard. I made sure they are the right ones for my model, SM-N986U1.
I downloaded Odin to my desktop. I have also rooted twice before. But rooting seems a lot more complicated. I've read several rooting threads and it's confusing. It was hard before, but straight forward.
Please could someone walk me through the process? Or point me to a reliable paid service.
Lord Sekhmet said:
I downloaded the original software and Troys rom in the SDcard. I made sure they are the right ones for my model, SM-N986U1.
I downloaded Odin to my desktop. I have also rooted twice before. But rooting seems a lot more complicated. I've read several rooting threads and it's confusing. It was hard before, but straight forward.
Please could someone walk me through the process? Or point me to a reliable paid service.
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There is none, anything above bootloader 1 can not be rooted, even with paid services
adj998 said:
There is none, anything above bootloader 1 can not be rooted, even with paid services
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People have rooted the Note 20 and there are ROMs available. Please explain. Did I buy the wrong version of the Note 20?
There is a Snapdragon version and an Exynos version. This dichotomy has been around for a long time for Samsung phones. However, despite being unable to root consider yourself lucky as the Snapdragon has significantly better performance/battery efficiency than the Exynos variant.
Lord Sekhmet said:
People have rooted the Note 20 and there are ROMs available. Please explain. Did I buy the wrong version of the Note 20?
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There's no easy answer to your question. As others have mentioned if your device came with a recent version of Android then reverting back to the previous bootloader (Ver 1) from the current updated one is next to impossible. I don't believe the paid services folks have been able to get around that either.
Now the Exynos version is a bit more flexible in this regard if you're able to get the right model but here's the conundrum- Since you a have a U1 device which is the U.S unlocked version I'm assuming you're located Stateside. This makes it really difficult to find an Exynos version which supports U.S bands and if you do you'll have to deal with lack of carrier aggregation and various other headaches. You could potentially look for a Honk Kong or another Asian Snapdragon variant but you'll circle right back to where you started from with the same bootloader issues you're currently facing. Dig through the various threads and ask questions there if you still want to pursue it further.
Sorry bud. Not the answers you were hoping for but I hope this helps!
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.