Flash a Droid with Bad Esn? - Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Can i flash a new ESN onto a motorola droid? A friend bought it on Ebay and it was apparently stolen. I'm familiar with rooting and flashing, this just seemed like it may not be possible due to Verizon being the carrier.

crazyturtle777 said:
Can i flash a new ESN onto a motorola droid? A friend bought it on Ebay and it was apparently stolen. I'm familiar with rooting and flashing, this just seemed like it may not be possible due to Verizon being the carrier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes, you can do it.. I also use motorola droid (but GSM version)

Related

Want to sell HTC Inspire for Atrix

Hello all,
Had a question I couldn't find the answer to. What if my girlfriend sold her Inspire to buy an Atrix?
Let's say she sells it and doesn't have enough money to buy the Atrix right away off contract and has to use a Motorola RAZR for a while. A few questions need answering:
1) Can we call AT&T and have them change our plan to non-smartphone?
2) Are they going to ask for the new phone's IMEI and allow the Inspire to be
activated under the buyer's account without any issue or do I have to let them know it's going to be sold to someone else?
3) Is it possible to get scammed buying a 2nd-hand phone that's been marked as lost or stolen and not being able to activate it?
4) If she got an unlocked, non-branded Atrix or any other smartphone will she be able to use the internet on the non-smartphone data plan without AT&T crying foul?
Thanks for your comments and help.
garekinokami said:
Hello all,
Had a question I couldn't find the answer to. What if my girlfriend sold her Inspire to buy an Atrix?
Let's say she sells it and doesn't have enough money to buy the Atrix right away off contract and has to use a Motorola RAZR for a while. A few questions need answering:
1) Can we call AT&T and have them change our plan to non-smartphone?
2) Are they going to ask for the new phone's IMEI and allow the Inspire to be
activated under the buyer's account without any issue or do I have to let them know it's going to be sold to someone else?
3) Is it possible to get scammed buying a 2nd-hand phone that's been marked as lost or stolen and not being able to activate it?
4) If she got an unlocked, non-branded Atrix or any other smartphone will she be able to use the internet on the non-smartphone data plan without AT&T crying foul?
Thanks for your comments and help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) dont rellay have to ..at&t will scan the imei and see you are using a non-smartphone plan and give you ( i believe ) medianet plan..
2) yes, at&t will allow that inspire to be used by another account ( new owner)..doesnt matter.
3) ?
4)again, as soon as that new smartphone is being used under your account..its only a matter of time before at&t scans your imei and sees you're using a "smartphone" ..and youll be upgraded to a smartphone plan.
Thanks for the help with the other questions, but to help explain the third question:
#3 tends to be an issue on Sprint/Verizon, where the ESN can be good or bad. Say the phone is marked as stolen, or you cancelled your account and didn't pay the ETF, you can't take that phone off your account and activate it again. It's blocked. I actually am trying to sell an Epic and Evo and had to find out for sure if everything was in the clear before trying to eBay them.
TL: DR Phone with bad ESN means you end up with an expensive PMP.
garekinokami said:
Thanks for the help with the other questions, but to help explain the third question:
#3 tends to be an issue on Sprint/Verizon, where the ESN can be good or bad. Say the phone is marked as stolen, or you cancelled your account and didn't pay the ETF, you can't take that phone off your account and activate it again. It's blocked. I actually am trying to sell an Epic and Evo and had to find out for sure if everything was in the clear before trying to eBay them.
TL: DR Phone with bad ESN means you end up with an expensive PMP.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
now i understand. yes you are correct..thats what stinks with sprint/verizon...someone may correct me if im wrong but..once those phones are marked as stolen/not paid...the ESN is bad. only then..to get that cell working again is to have it flashed to a 3rd party cell provider. here in san antonio, TX..we have a 3rd party cell provider..Cricket.
defnow said:
now i understand. yes you are correct..thats what stinks with sprint/verizon...someone may correct me if im wrong but..once those phones are marked as stolen/not paid...the ESN is bad. only then..to get that cell working again is to have it flashed to a 3rd party cell provider. here in san antonio, TX..we have a 3rd party cell provider..Cricket.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No your correct, it's one of the few advantages of GSM over CDMA...
Sent from my Milestone using XDA App

Possible reason from for locked bootloader

So in reading the latest news, I came across this article where Samsung states that Verizon specifically asked for a locked and encrypted bootloader for the new SGIII. In fact, the article stated they are the only carrier to ask for it.
http://www.droidforums.net/forum/dr...ing-you-need-including-locked-bootloader.html
I know a lot of us feel like Motorola is not holding up their end of a promise, but perhaps it is a carrier-side issue. A little communication from Moto would help though.
I don't think it's any secret that it is the carriers that want locked boot loaders. Why would Motorola care one way or the other?
Wow, just wow. We got the only locked SG3.
Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk
old news
thot this was old and not surprising news
verizon wants total control (monopoly and high prices)their excuse is people altering their phones can screw up their network....riiiight
i never blamed moto they only build what is ordered
And when I bought my phone unbranded and unlocked (international version) why is Motorola still locking my bootloader? I dont even live in the US.
Ya... no surprise vzw wants the bootloader locked! I think back to my evo on sprint... i had unlocked bootloader, and was able to use hotspot for free(sprint wants $30/mo) i was also able to flash full 3g verizon prl's.... what does that mean? I was able to use vzw towers 100% of the time roaming with full 3g data... that means sprint had to pay a lot of roaming fees, for me to try vzw's network b4 i actually made the plunge.... add that to the many other posibilities that an unlocked bootloader mames available, and i can see why they want a locked bootloader.
this razr maxx is my first verizon phone after coming from tmo... are all verizon android phones boot loader locked? is this the reason for such little development on this razr maxx? i didnt look into how healthy the dev for it was... and im going to miss swapping roms! i hate moto blur...
bigdookie said:
this razr maxx is my first verizon phone after coming from tmo... are all verizon android phones boot loader locked? is this the reason for such little development on this razr maxx? i didnt look into how healthy the dev for it was... and im going to miss swapping roms! i hate moto blur...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, all are not locked. The Samsung Galaxy Nexus and the HTC Rezound are both unlocked.
MyEntityRemains said:
No, all are not locked. The Samsung Galaxy Nexus and the HTC Rezound are both unlocked.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for the reply. but i am not just BLIND when I see there is very little development for the razr maxx?
bigdookie said:
this razr maxx is my first verizon phone after coming from tmo... are all verizon android phones boot loader locked? is this the reason for such little development on this razr maxx? i didnt look into how healthy the dev for it was... and im going to miss swapping roms! i hate moto blur...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Verizon phones are a little weird. The OG Motorola Droid was bootloader unlocked, as is the Motorola Xoom. HTC devices are typically locked but the bootloader can be unlocked (or bypassed) soon after released. At the end of 2011, HTC decided to unlocked all of their current phones (Thunderbolt, Rezound, etc). ALL Nexus' (any carrier / any Nexus) are unlocked. Google wont allow a Nexus device to be locked. Unfortunately a lot of other Samsung devices are locked. Hope that helps.
Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk
My backup device is wifi only for a reason. I do not need verizon but for now the 1 line I have is good enough for all my phone needs and 69 bucks a month is about as cheap as you can get for a web phone.
The locked loader on the razr is an issue but rooted and an app turns on wifi tethering and works flawlessly, foxfi
they have a right to restrict but I will look to unlocked in the future, I expect to keep my razr for the forcible future. the battery in the maxx is no joke , 2 days using gps,wifi and data

We might finally have won, (bootloader)

I just wanted to say, I think our hard work with petitions and complaints along with the google buyout has finally turned the tables. We have possibly won the bootloader battle.
http://www.engadget.com/2012/07/26/motorola-to-allow-bootloader-unlocking-from-photon-q-4g-lte-on/
The photon Q will come out in august and be the first unlockable but the RAZR / MAXX will be unlockable soon after. This is amazing news I think, I have a feeling it has to do with the encription being nearly cracked and they decided to reduce the vulnreability and make it unlockable through them. And well admit it, we *****ed a lot about this.
Good news, but wait unlock before proclame victory
I doubt they'll allow older versions/handsets to unlock their bootloaders. Also you have to remember that Photon is releasing on Sprint so it is probably a deal they have made with the network thus allowing them to carry through with this. Regardless, I was hoping Motorola would live up to their targets of unlocking bootloaders and pushing the ICS updates out in their predicted timeframe. But looking at where we are now, I know well enough to take their announcements as a grain of sand and sadly this will be my first and last Motorola based Android device.
Beat me to it... I may not have my beloved RAZR anymore, but I wanted to share too...
http://androidcommunity.com/motorol...726/?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=pulsenews
My tab's Flyer than yours (unless this is posted in a Flyer thread... Then it's just as Flyer...)
http://android-gz.com
http://www.slashgear.com/motorola-to-unlock-bootloaders-starting-with-the-photon-q-26240460/
Here's another.
Sent from my DROID RAZR
Didn't the Xoom tablet have an unlock option as stock? I think it's the very first thing I did when I got it? It did have a nice warranty warning from what I recall...
They've ready said they have no intention of unlocking past devices. We have still lost, Verizon will still never allow another unlocked device on their network. The GNex is the last.
Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2
Leviathan26 said:
They've ready said they have no intention of unlocking past devices. We have still lost, Verizon will still never allow another unlocked device on their network. The GNex is the last.
Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
isn't the carrier unimportant if there's at least the retail version unlockable?
You would be correct, but Moto doesn't subsidize their products, most people won't spend $750-500 on a phone when they could get it for $200.
Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2
Leviathan26 said:
You would be correct, but Moto doesn't subsidize their products, most people won't spend $750-500 on a phone when they could get it for $200.
Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i don't understand :/
PS: not cause of english, but the topic your talking about oO please explain
Sh4itan said:
i don't understand :/
PS: not cause of english, but the topic your talking about oO please explain
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you buy your phone from Moto without the discount that you get from carriers, you would be paying 500 USD extra just to get a version that's unlockable, which is crazy for most people. Why would you buy a phone for 700 USD that you could get for 200 USD?
They must be fool if they think that I will buy another moto phone just because of a "killer feature" like the unlocked bootloader... They screwed it with the Razr (and others) already and I will not support such company who thinks that everything must be as they said...-thats not what I am paying for. Thats the reason why I don't own an iphone and motorola's phones are next on this list...
[TSON] said:
If you buy your phone from Moto without the discount that you get from carriers, you would be paying 500 USD extra just to get a version that's unlockable, which is crazy for most people. Why would you buy a phone for 700 USD that you could get for 200 USD?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
why should i buy a new phone if i've the ability to simply flash the retail version over it?
or is there something i didn't mention now?
It's only for the new phone :|
Man they should stop to mess up with their costumers
Anyway i'll not trust them until is real
pjcons said:
Didn't the Xoom tablet have an unlock option as stock? I think it's the very first thing I did when I got it? It did have a nice warranty warning from what I recall...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Motorola Xoom is GED
Just wanted to react to the topic name - no we didn't won but we probably completly lost it all because if motorola will provide unlocked bootloader for the upcoming phones there will be no reason for them to unlock old phones as its reasonable that they would want to sell as many new phones as possible and this "new feature" will help them...
If anyone can read the RAZR WILL be unlocked shortly after the new phone is released. This is because the DROID RAZR and DROID RAZR maxx are very popular phones. And Verizon doesn't want anyone complaining about the unlocked bootloader. So just get your panties out of a bunch and wait patiently until after August.
Sent from my DROID RAZR using xda app-developers app
Think about it a lot of people are still on their 2 year contract so people are not gonna want to pay full retail just to get an unlocked bootloader when they just got a new phone. If Verizon was smart they would give it to relatively new phones so customers come upgrading time will want a new phone. And won't jump ship to a new carrier.
Sent from my DROID RAZR using xda app-developers app
People please Read the Whole article, moto confirmed they will be unlocking the RAZR/MAXX. They are going to start with a new unlockable device, then start unlocking some older devices. The razr is specificly listed others are unlisted but will be unlocked too. Remember that Google now owns motorola and is starting to call the shots, ICS is almost stock now on our razr except a few changes. (and good ones not crappy ones) Motorola is going back to its google roots the OG Droid came from.
AndroidGreg said:
People please Read the Whole article, moto confirmed they will be unlocking the RAZR/MAXX. They are going to start with a new unlockable device, then start unlocking some older devices. The razr is specificly listed others are unlisted but will be unlocked too. Remember that Google now owns motorola and is starting to call the shots, ICS is almost stock now on our razr except a few changes. (and good ones not crappy ones) Motorola is going back to its google roots the OG Droid came from.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
err, where did you read that?

How to tell if world phone bands are activated?

I'm looking a buying a Droid RAZR (or RAZR M or RAZR MAXX). I'm going to flash it because I want to use it with the Talk For Good MVNO for cheaper service. I plan on paying $10 and using the CyberFlashing software so I don't have to spend all day getting the thing working.
In reading about this phone, I noticed an update was sent out after the phone was released to make it a Verizon world phone. Was this update a firmware update or was it just an Android update that enabled the world bands?
Just with me flashing the phone myself, I want to make sure there are no weird conflicts or anything and I don't get the world phone bands enabled. I am going to South America for several months later this year and not being able to use the phone down there would be bad, very bad.
Don't worry!
Don't worry just update it to ICS or JB and it will work on any GSM carrier outside US.
Will you get 3G using CyberFlashing to the RAZR MAXX to Page Plus ?
levander said:
I'm looking a buying a Droid RAZR (or RAZR M or RAZR MAXX). I'm going to flash it because I want to use it with the Talk For Good MVNO for cheaper service. I plan on paying $10 and using the CyberFlashing software so I don't have to spend all day getting the thing working.
In reading about this phone, I noticed an update was sent out after the phone was released to make it a Verizon world phone. Was this update a firmware update or was it just an Android update that enabled the world bands?
Just with me flashing the phone myself, I want to make sure there are no weird conflicts or anything and I don't get the world phone bands enabled. I am going to South America for several months later this year and not being able to use the phone down there would be bad, very bad.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
bamx2 said:
Will you get 3G using CyberFlashing to the RAZR MAXX to Page Plus ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are supposed to. But when I got the phone I wanted to flash in the mail, I tried Cyberflashing and abandoned it. Starting the software up and trying to get it to communicate with the phone didn't work right off. Then in troubleshooting, I noticed there were some things missing from the Cyberflashing instructions that seemed odd. Like other instructions I'd seen all said you needed a SIM card in the phone to flash it.
I successfully flashed my phone with instructions from snoop at Howard Forums. I would describe his instructions as "friendly for experienced hackers who are new to flashing phones". His instructions are here:
http://www.howardforums.com/showthr...ivation-TXT-MMS-3G-ROOT-TETHERING-on-PagePlus
Another guy posted instructions here:
http://www.howardforums.com/showthr...oid-Bionic-on-Pageplus-no-root-or-custom-roms!
The difference between the two instruction sets are that the 1st one, snoop's is written more for the newb, does OTA programming so you don't have to download your own PRL, and requires a new blank SIM card (probably need to purchase from Ebay before starting the flash).
The 2nd set of instructions doesn't look confusing to me, but is supposed to be not so much for newbs, you download and program your own PRL, and you can use a SIM that's been used before. This 2nd set of instructions is written by a guy named Capii and doesn't seem as active on Howard Forums, which I consider a negative to following his guide. E.g., what are you going to do if you need help?
After finishing snoop's instructions, I was left with more questions as to how the Cyberflashing software would ever work. Like the Cyberflashing instruction never told me to boot the phone into BP Tools mode or anything like that.

Bad ESN T-Mobile One Unlocked to at&t

So I unlocked a bad ESN T-Mobile Htc one phone using a unlock code and an at&t sim. I also flashed the phone and replaced the tmobile stock with the att stock. Is it possible to get this phone to work now? Or is there no chance?
Also I first unlocked the phone then I replaced the roms.
If anyone has any clue if this could would would be a life changer! Thanks in advance.
ultrav33 said:
So I unlocked a bad ESN T-Mobile Htc one phone using a unlock code and an at&t sim. I also flashed the phone and replaced the tmobile stock with the att stock. Is it possible to get this phone to work now? Or is there no chance?
Also I first unlocked the phone then I replaced the roms.
If anyone has any clue if this could would would be a life changer! Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Perhaps you should stop stealing phones. Half kidding. T-Mobile and AT&T now share the EIR lists so in theory it should not work on either.
So is there anyway to get this working on any carrier at all?
And umm, I purchased this phone on craigslist. the guy lied to me so now I'm stuck with a bad esn phone....
Nope, all the carriers share a blacklist of stolen phones. If it gets blocked on one it gets blocked on them all withing 24 hours.
Sell it on ebay. International customers will pick it up
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app
nexicon said:
Sell it on ebay. International customers will pick it up
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How much do you think they will go on ebay? I am really not trying to be at too much of a loss so I hope I can get atleast 400$. the item is in mint condition.
You can get closer to 500+. Just make sure you list it as bad imei and sign up for the global shipping program ebay offers. They will take care of international shipping. Be careful when it comes to shipping to india and russia. They take a while to deliver and may get lost
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app
try straighttalk their tmo compatible sim comes with its own imei number
skinsfanbdh said:
try straighttalk their tmo compatible sim comes with its own imei number
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Um SIM cards don't have imei numbers I thought...
skinsfanbdh said:
try straighttalk their tmo compatible sim comes with its own imei number
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
have you tested this theory out? Let me know if anyone knows if straight talk can work with a bad esn phone?
In my opinion there is a HUGE loop hole, i have an AT&T HTC One I just bought today just found it has a bad ESN via swapper, but little secret, it still works perfectly fine using a previously activated sim, so your best bet, get another handset on the carrier you wish to use (GSM only) activate that handset, pop the sim card into the bad esn phone, and eureka, service and no MM#6
zquesti0nmark7 said:
In my opinion there is a HUGE loop hole, i have an AT&T HTC One I just bought today just found it has a bad ESN via swapper, but little secret, it still works perfectly fine using a previously activated sim, so your best bet, get another handset on the carrier you wish to use (GSM only) activate that handset, pop the sim card into the bad esn phone, and eureka, service and no MM#6
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't understand how your phone still works on AT&T if it had a bad ESN. A bad ESN means the phone WON'T work on that network. So if an AT&T phone had a bad ESN, no matter what SIM card you put in it, it won't work.
But if you have it working, I wouldn't be complaining. I remember back when Tmo didn't have a no-throttle plan, I reached my 5GB, but I was still getting fast download speeds. I got the text message in all. This happened for about 3 months. Then it stopped. =.[
I'm not going to get into the details I read in this thread about carriers sharing their ESN's. That is new to me. I'll have to go read about that on my own time.
I am curious when this will actually be enforced.
I have been using a One with a bad ESN on ST AT&T LTE for several months with no issues. I know they are supposed to share the blacklist...but will they really enforce it when it could bring them extra business. I have even used a LycaMobile (TMobile reseller) sim in the phone and it works as well.
Bad thing about CL and T-Mobile is you buy a phone, it's clean, works a week or 2 and then gets blacklisted when they dont pay the bill. AT&T & Verizon dont blacklist for non payment, although they may start for people who get the phones on payment plans.

Categories

Resources