First of all, let me say that I'm not trying to break any laws here. I am simply curious about some technical aspects.
Q: What kind of tweaks would be involved to make a CDMA phone from one carrier work with another CMDA carrier? E.G., A droid running on Sprint or an EVO on Virgin Mobile.
I started researching about this, but I can hardly find any info. Are unlocked phones not that popular anymore or do carriers just not support them?
From what I gathered, one would have to change PRLs, install new phone,telephony, and mms APKs, and probably change MEID/ ESN and possibly flash new radios and have an unlocked phone of course.
How close am I here?
TY in advance.
super coffee said:
First of all, let me say that I'm not trying to break any laws here. I am simply curious about some technical aspects.
Q: What kind of tweaks would be involved to make a CDMA phone from one carrier work with another CMDA carrier? E.G., A droid running on Sprint or an EVO on Virgin Mobile.
I started researching about this, but I can hardly find any info. Are unlocked phones not that popular anymore or do carriers just not support them?
From what I gathered, one would have to change PRLs, install new phone,telephony, and mms APKs, and probably change MEID/ ESN and possibly flash new radios and have an unlocked phone of course.
How close am I here?
TY in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unlocked phones are very popular but CDMA phones are not when it comes to unlocking. Ultimately you have to get the company to agreebto add the phone to its network which it has the right to refuse lt. You would need to change the ESN which is not legal anywhere and why you won't find the info on XDA.
Thread closed
Related
Our company is moving to Verizon and they told us that we could use our existing sprint phones if we could make them work on Verizon network. I wanted to know if the stock verizon rom would work on the sprint touch pro. Our owner does not want to use a custom rom.
thanks in advance, and i apologize if this has already been answered but i could not find it anywhere.
rmancl said:
Our company is moving to Verizon and they told us that we could use our existing sprint phones if we could make them work on Verizon network. I wanted to know if the stock verizon rom would work on the sprint touch pro. Our owner does not want to use a custom rom.
thanks in advance, and i apologize if this has already been answered but i could not find it anywhere.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The ROM is the least of your concerns. The real issue is getting VZW to add your MEID to their DMD so it can be activated. The alternative to doing this isn't legal and is even more difficult. There was once someone here on these forums who know how and had access to add records to the DMD, but I haven't heard from him in at least a year. I would love to hear from the individual (or someone else willing and able) again.
we were given the go ahead from the business account manager that if we could make them work they will allow it. The phones we have are actually generic cdma phones that operate on the sprint network through beyond mobile (an mvno similar to kricket)
rmancl said:
we were given the go ahead from the business account manager that if we could make them work they will allow it. The phones we have are actually generic cdma phones that operate on the sprint network through beyond mobile (an mvno similar to kricket)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If the phones are unbranded, you should have no issues with VZW adding the ESN numbers to their dB. I guess the best way to find out would be by calling VZW and finding out. Good luck.
I'll be visiting India for a month and would like to use my Fascinate with a local carrier while I'm there and continue with Verizon once I get back. Do I have to unlock the phone? Is it possible? and how?
I have used GSM phones successfully over there in the past but this is my first CDMA phone, so I don't know much about it.
I found this, but don't know if it is Sprint specific.
TIA.
Not very likely. CDMA phones can't be unlocked nearly as easily as GSM phones, if at all. You have to basically flash a new radio ROM that will work with whatever CDMA carrier you are going to be using the device on. I would search around and see what you can find, by my personal searching points to no.
our phones don't use a sim card, so it's highly unlikely you could use it over there. however, verizon offers loaner phones for out of country use.
If the carrier will allow flashed phones, the fascinate is as simple as it gets. Flash mip and all other information along with prl using qpst build 323. Then plash ppp for 3g using build 215. Yeah, it's that simple.
jenisiz said:
If the carrier will allow flashed phones, the fascinate is as simple as it gets. Flash mip and all other information along with prl using qpst build 323. Then plash ppp for 3g using build 215. Yeah, it's that simple.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I didn't understand half of it but I'll Google it up
If I do all this, will I be able to use my phone with Verizon once I get back?
Heh; semi-derailing of topic and food for thought.
A co-worker of mine has a vibrant (T-mobile). Apparently you can flash GSM to CDMA and vice versa, but it breaks a lot of stuff
Note: I said 'flash' - I didn't say anything about it working. Your phone will boot though and it'll look like that version you flashed... but it don't work.
This is why you search before bricking (I'm a bit over novice with software and got outta brick mode with a little help from here).
Welllll....basically you just flashed a CDMA ROM maybe, because flashing GSM radio information to a CDMA device(which I doubt would even work) would most certainly brick your radio.
Pretty sure the CDMA radio on the Fascinate will NOT work on the other major CDMA carrier which is Sprint, and the Fascinate will definitely NOT work with GSM carriers such as AT&T and T-Mobile. Although, it is entirely possible to flash to another minor carrier such as MetroPCs or Cricket, with special instructions of course.
Ok, this thread was closed http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1660357 before anything "illegal" could be discussed.
However, it does raise questions for me and possibly for others and while the power of Google is there, I'd like to ask here for clarification and educational purposes.
DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT get my thread closed by explaining how to change ESN. It has been made VERY clear that is illegal and against XDA.
However, this is the question: What is ESN and why exactly is it illegal to change it?
It was brought up in the aforementioned thread that if an Evo 3D is to be put on VM, the ESN would have to be changed.
That also brings up another question: Does the ESN have to be changed to be flashed to other carriers (Metro PCS, Cricket, Boost, etc)? If so, why are there guides on how to flash over.
Again, I'm curious about this, which is something I don't know anything about. And, again, please DO NOT get this thread closed by posting instructions on how to change ESN.
Thanks in advance for non-flaming assistance.
saboxerman said:
Ok, this thread was closed http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1660357 before anything "illegal" could be discussed.
However, it does raise questions for me and possibly for others and while the power of Google is there, I'd like to ask here for clarification and educational purposes.
DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT get my thread closed by explaining how to change ESN. It has been made VERY clear that is illegal and against XDA.
However, this is the question: What is ESN and why exactly is it illegal to change it?
It was brought up in the aforementioned thread that if an Evo 3D is to be put on VM, the ESN would have to be changed.
That also brings up another question: Does the ESN have to be changed to be flashed to other carriers (Metro PCS, Cricket, Boost, etc)? If so, why are there guides on how to flash over.
Again, I'm curious about this, which is something I don't know anything about. And, again, please DO NOT get this thread closed by posting instructions on how to change ESN.
Thanks in advance for non-flaming assistance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Although it is easy to search and find out roughly how to flash a phone to a different carrier, here's the basics.
You have to have a donor phone from the carrier you want. You clone that ESN of the donor to the new phone. As far as the new carrier is concerned, your phone will appear as the donor phone. Although I believe it is illegal to clone ESNs, it seems to be a bit of a grey area. This is because more than likely, you go buy or get a cheap boost/cricket/or other carrier phone to use as the donor and therefore you actually own that phone. It's like copying an old CD to a new burned one when it is too scratched up to play in a player to me. You own the original CD and just want to transfer it to a new CD to keep using it for your own purposes.
+1 to all these questions, especially why flashing for VM would be any different than Metro, etc. I was discussing my conjecture that using the 3d on VM would be a simple matter of finding a compatible Rom with proper radios (like the VM ics leak) and doing a few minor tweaks. Then the ESN thing was brought up and thread closed.
Sent from my PG86100
ESN is electronic serial number and is used to identify each device. Its something like IMEI for CDMA phones. Then, if some people has lost the phone you can report the ESN and no one can use it. But if you change it to another number you can use as long as you want. That's the main reason it is illegal.And not, you don't need to change ESN if you want to change the carrier. At least I didn't see the need. I usually buy phones from sprint and then I flash in Mexico to iusacell and the ESN is never changed.
Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk 2
raptoro07 said:
Although it is easy to search and find out roughly how to flash a phone to a different carrier, here's the basics.
You have to have a donor phone from the carrier you want. You clone that ESN of the donor to the new phone. As far as the new carrier is concerned, your phone will appear as the donor phone. Although I believe it is illegal to clone ESNs, it seems to be a bit of a grey area. This is because more than likely, you go buy or get a cheap boost/cricket/or other carrier phone to use as the donor and therefore you actually own that phone. It's like copying an old CD to a new burned one when it is too scratched up to play in a player to me. You own the original CD and just want to transfer it to a new CD to keep using it for your own purposes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very good explanation. Yes, I know searching it is a possibility, however, I didn't see anything that jumped out at me on this Q & A forum and figured others are curious and should now about this stuff. There are some lines that are ridiculous, but, there are some that should not be crossed and this sounds like one.
Perfect analogy with the CD burning.
coal686 said:
+1 to all these questions, especially why flashing for VM would be any different than Metro, etc. I was discussing my conjecture that using the 3d on VM would be a simple matter of finding a compatible Rom with proper radios (like the VM ics leak) and doing a few minor tweaks. Then the ESN thing was brought up and thread closed.
Sent from my PG86100
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ditto, ditto, ditto.
HTC Reseller said:
ESN is electronic serial number and is used to identify each device. Its something like IMEI for CDMA phones. Then, if some people has lost the phone you can report the ESN and no one can use it. But if you change it to another number you can use as long as you want. That's the main reason it is illegal.And not, you don't need to change ESN if you want to change the carrier. At least I didn't see the need. I usually buy phones from sprint and then I flash in Mexico to iusacell and the ESN is never changed.
Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So, CDMA phones have IMEI and GSM phones have ESN?
Also, it was mentioned the ESN would have to be changed to go to VM. Why would that be if the ESN doesn't have to be changed to be flashed to other CDMA networks?
saboxerman said:
Very good explanation. Yes, I know searching it is a possibility, however, I didn't see anything that jumped out at me on this Q & A forum and figured others are curious and should now about this stuff. There are some lines that are ridiculous, but, there are some that should not be crossed and this sounds like one.
Perfect analogy with the CD burning.
Ditto, ditto, ditto.
So, CDMA phones have IMEI and GSM phones have ESN?
Also, it was mentioned the ESN would have to be changed to go to VM. Why would that be if the ESN doesn't have to be changed to be flashed to other CDMA networks?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, CDMA phones have an Electronic Serial Number (ESN) and GSM phones have a International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI). My understanding is that if you want to use an EVO 3D on Cricket say, you have to do the donor phone swarp because they don't use the EVO 3D on thier network.
raptoro07 said:
Yes, CDMA phones have an Electronic Serial Number (ESN) and GSM phones have a International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI). My understanding is that if you want to use an EVO 3D on Cricket say, you have to do the donor phone swarp because they don't use the EVO 3D on thier network.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is that specific to Cricket?
Sorry for so many questions, but, I'd like to have a clear understanding for myself and those reading.
Metro PCS doesn't use the Evo 3D on their network, however, there are instructions on flashing the phone to their network. Is that illegal? If so, how is that thread still up in the Development forum?
saboxerman said:
Is that specific to Cricket?
Sorry for so many questions, but, I'd like to have a clear understanding for myself and those reading.
Metro PCS doesn't use the Evo 3D on their network, however, there are instructions on flashing the phone to their network. Is that illegal? If so, how is that thread still up in the Development forum?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So after some searching and watching some videos on youtube, you may not have to change the ESN to flash to a different carrier.
raptoro07 said:
So after some searching and watching some videos on youtube, you may not have to change the ESN to flash to a different carrier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah...I can't hit YouTube at work. They have it blocked.
So, the question now is whether or not it is true the ESN has to be changed for VM. If so, why would it have to be changed?
saboxerman said:
Yeah...I can't hit YouTube at work. They have it blocked.
So, the question now is whether or not it is true the ESN has to be changed for VM. If so, why would it have to be changed?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay, more info after more seraching.
You do not need to change the ESN (the process using a Donor phone) if the carrier you are attempting to use will accept your ESN. However, from what I have read, Virgin Mobile will only accept the ESN from a phone they have sold. Some carriers will allow ESNs on their network. In order to get a phone onto VM, you will have to get a donor and change the ESN (mentioned before as ILLEGAL). You could try flashing it, there are some guides out there to VM, but may not be able to activate without changing the ESN (Again ILLEGAL).
Ok, so lets sum it up. Most CDMA carriers only allow phones on their network that they themselves sold. Meaning it HAS to be branded by them. I.E. Sprint, VM, Boost (depends on who you talk to), Verizon, and a few others. On the other hand some carriers allow any ESN to be put on their network.
And that is where it lies. Because VM will not add ANY ESN to their database that they didn't sell. But for say like Cricket, they will allow any CDMA phone to their network. Thats why for Cricket all you have to do is get your data profile setup correctly and get the ESN registered with them.
But for VM, you have to change ESN's which in fact in black and white is illegal. There is no grey area. If you modify an ESN in any way shape or form you are breaking the law.
Cool, can we close this thread now?
I think that sums up everything and now I have a very clear picture of what the deal is.
Thank you to everyone who contributed to the answer and I hope this helps others out there with the same question.
Cool to close the thread?
Hey guys, I'm a noob, please don't hurt me
I'm an American living in Japan and I just bought my first smart phone...the EVO 3D (3G) for AU by KDDI...I'd post a link, but I'm not yet allowed.
Their non-3G network was CDMA...so I assume that their 3G is also CDMA....can anyone confirm that?
Under that assumption (CDMA), we're still waiting for ICS, so I'm wondering what you'd all recommend I upgrade my phone to while I wait. I'm not a fan of the stock Android 2.3 that came on the phone, and I'd really like ICS....but if there is something I could use now, that might be fine with me.
Also, what are the basic steps I need to follow, I found the sticky thread in the dev forum, but I'm not sure what stickies would apply to my situation. I'm guessing I'd have to start with a root kit, and go from there....but please fill in the gaps, thanks
miahallen said:
Hey guys, I'm a noob, please don't hurt me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is there evidence to confirm that ''noobs'' have been mentally assaulted for asking questions on this forum?
Just being playful after watching the required "noob" registration video
Lol I see.
Chances are that you will not be able to activate any CMDA phone from overseas on a network here in the USA. The big networks like verizon and sprint will not allow foreign IMEI numbers to be submitted to their system for activation.
Do you happen to know what frequency the cdma network you came from runs on? Look behind the battery
miahallen said:
Hey guys, I'm a noob, please don't hurt me
I'm an American living in Japan and I just bought my first smart phone...the EVO 3D (3G) for AU by KDDI...I'd post a link, but I'm not yet allowed.
Their non-3G network was CDMA...so I assume that their 3G is also CDMA....can anyone confirm that?
Under that assumption (CDMA), we're still waiting for ICS, so I'm wondering what you'd all recommend I upgrade my phone to while I wait. I'm not a fan of the stock Android 2.3 that came on the phone, and I'd really like ICS....but if there is something I could use now, that might be fine with me.
Also, what are the basic steps I need to follow, I found the sticky thread in the dev forum, but I'm not sure what stickies would apply to my situation. I'm guessing I'd have to start with a root kit, and go from there....but please fill in the gaps, thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I had AU by KDDI when I was living in Japan is was CDMA. As far as I am aware the Japanese version wasn't able to be rooted using the CDMA methods here in the development forum. Also the ROMs here would not work on your device and would actually need to be slightly modified to include files from your device to work, but you don't have an ICS ROM to use for replacing files.
私のEVO 3Dから送信される。
heathmcabee said:
Chances are that you will not be able to activate any CMDA phone from overseas on a network here in the USA. The big networks like verizon and sprint will not allow foreign IMEI numbers to be submitted to their system for activation.
Do you happen to know what frequency the cdma network you came from runs on? Look behind the battery
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't need to use it in the states...I live in Japan
dastin1015 said:
When I had AU by KDDI when I was living in Japan is was CDMA. As far as I am aware the Japanese version wasn't able to be rooted using the CDMA methods here in the development forum. Also the ROMs here would not work on your device and would actually need to be slightly modified to include files from your device to work, but you don't have an ICS ROM to use for replacing files.
私のEVO 3Dから送信される。
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks Dastin, I guess I'll have to wait for something official
miahallen said:
I don't need to use it in the states...I live in Japan
Thanks Dastin, I guess I'll have to wait for something official
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's kind of the conclusion I came to, after running through all the different root/unlock methods, I came across issues in every single one, and my skill / confidence isn't high enough to really make a go at figuring it out.
Only thing I haven't really attempted is downgrading from hboot 1.5 to 1.4, partially because my software version is different from the instructions, and soft bricking the phone makes me nervous considering the potential incompatibilities.
I think our phone is more or less the same as the sprint phone, just on the Japanese frequency. I'm hoping that the sprint announcement means we will also be getting ICS soon... but who knows
So I looked around the threads on both Verizon, and Sprints side of the fences for an answer to this question and couldn't find any thing.
I have a Verizon Galaxy S3, and my contract with Verizon recently came to a close. I want to switch to sprint due to pricing and other options, but I don't have the money to drop on a new phone at the time, so I have been looking into unlocking the phone to work with Sprint, however I haven't much of luck...
That's when I came to XDA. While I was looking around the forum, I got to thinking.
Is there any possible way that I could take the Sprint version of the Samsung Galaxy S3's ROM, and load it onto my Verizon Galaxy? And has anyone tried this yet?
It's essentially the same hardware, right? To the best of my understanding, the only difference in the phones would be software related according to the carrier.
I am really struggling with this one, and I have witnessed the vast knowledge and great work by this forum before, so I am hoping I'll be able to find the help I need.
-Mortem Obrie
Verizon and Sprint do use the same cdma networks but will not activate each others devices on their network so the answer is no I do not think this is going to be possible for you.
alekurkudi said:
Verizon and Sprint do use the same cdma networks but will not activate each others devices on their network so the answer is no I do not think this is going to be possible for you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I did talk to Sprint, and Sprint said they would be willing to activate an unlocked Galaxy. It's just the unlocking process that I am unsure of.