[Q] prime returned with asus test rom? - Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime

i've had my prime for a couple of months now, although really i've only personally had it for a number of weeks, as it's been returned twice for repair... for some stupid reason they won't replace units here in Australia, only repair (even though mine was cactus out of the box and therefore clearly DOA!)
so i've been lucky enough to have working wifi, no crashes/reboots, etc... but had a dead pixel (first time sent back) and issues with the keyboard/dock not working (second time sent back)
just received it back after they fixed the keyboard/dock (and left some hefty scratches on the tablet and dock, not impressed at all!), and from what i can gather it seems they've left some sort of test rom on it?
OPEN_epad-eng 3.2.1 HTK7 OPEN_epad-8.8.0.119.1-20111222 test-keys
has a number of test tools installed, and rooted, but can't do update firmware, as it doesn't find any firmware, i'm assuming because it's OPEN_epad rather than WW_epad
are my only options now to either send it back yet again, or use the unlock tool to flash a rom on it?
as much as i want to be able to flash roms, at this stage i'm unwilling to compromise my warranty until it's 100% working and doesn't need to be sent back again!
(also happy to run any tests or copy any files if anyone is interested in anything from the test rom)

FARQ said:
i've had my prime for a couple of months now, although really i've only personally had it for a number of weeks, as it's been returned twice for repair... for some stupid reason they won't replace units here in Australia, only repair (even though mine was cactus out of the box and therefore clearly DOA!)
so i've been lucky enough to have working wifi, no crashes/reboots, etc... but had a dead pixel (first time sent back) and issues with the keyboard/dock not working (second time sent back)
just received it back after they fixed the keyboard/dock (and left some hefty scratches on the tablet and dock, not impressed at all!), and from what i can gather it seems they've left some sort of test rom on it?
OPEN_epad-eng 3.2.1 HTK7 OPEN_epad-8.8.0.119.1-20111222 test-keys
has a number of test tools installed, and rooted, but can't do update firmware, as it doesn't find any firmware, i'm assuming because it's OPEN_epad rather than WW_epad
are my only options now to either send it back yet again, or use the unlock tool to flash a rom on it?
as much as i want to be able to flash roms, at this stage i'm unwilling to compromise my warranty until it's 100% working and doesn't need to be sent back again!
(also happy to run any tests or copy any files if anyone is interested in anything from the test rom)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe this thread is of help:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1492887
But it's also not without risks (as mentioned in that thread, updating with custom roms can screw up your device and I have no idea if such a testrom can be updated) so yeah... Seems like sending it back is the only other option (unlocking would be the other, but not an option for you in this case).

FARQ said:
i've had my prime for a couple of months now, although really i've only personally had it for a number of weeks, as it's been returned twice for repair... for some stupid reason they won't replace units here in Australia, only repair (even though mine was cactus out of the box and therefore clearly DOA!)
so i've been lucky enough to have working wifi, no crashes/reboots, etc... but had a dead pixel (first time sent back) and issues with the keyboard/dock not working (second time sent back)
just received it back after they fixed the keyboard/dock (and left some hefty scratches on the tablet and dock, not impressed at all!), and from what i can gather it seems they've left some sort of test rom on it?
OPEN_epad-eng 3.2.1 HTK7 OPEN_epad-8.8.0.119.1-20111222 test-keys
has a number of test tools installed, and rooted, but can't do update firmware, as it doesn't find any firmware, i'm assuming because it's OPEN_epad rather than WW_epad
are my only options now to either send it back yet again, or use the unlock tool to flash a rom on it?
as much as i want to be able to flash roms, at this stage i'm unwilling to compromise my warranty until it's 100% working and doesn't need to be sent back again!
(also happy to run any tests or copy any files if anyone is interested in anything from the test rom)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
Tell them they're dreaming! If the product is faulty etc, you can ask for a refund in Australia, and they must, by law, comply. Give them a taste of this (see below) and they'll get real nervous real fast.
(extracted from ACC web site).
When can you use your rights to repair, replace refund?
Since 1 January 2011, you have the right to ask for a repair, replacement or refund if goods and services you buy are not right.
Goods
You have these rights if goods you buy are:
faulty
unsafe
look unacceptable, and
do not do what they are supposed to do.
In each case this is according to what someone would normally expect for the type and cost of the particular goods.
You also have these rights if goods do not:
fit the purpose
match the description provided
match the sample or demonstration model provided
have the extra qualities or performance that the seller promised before the sale
Oh, I should have noted that a mandatory refund is for a major problem, which I assumed from the description, you had. In addition, if GPS was part of the spec when you bought the product, I imagine you have them on 2 counts:
What is a major problem?
An issue that would have stopped a reasonable person from buying the product or service if they’d known about it.
A product that:
is unsafe
is significantly different from the sample or description
doesn’t do what the business said it would, or what you asked for and can’t be easily fixed.
A service that:
is substantially unfit for its common purpose and can’t be easily fixed within a reasonable time
does not meet the specific purpose you asked for and cannot be easily rectified within a reasonable time
creates an unsafe situation.

FARQ said:
i've had my prime for a couple of months now, although really i've only personally had it for a number of weeks, as it's been returned twice for repair... for some stupid reason they won't replace units here in Australia, only repair (even though mine was cactus out of the box and therefore clearly DOA!)
so i've been lucky enough to have working wifi, no crashes/reboots, etc... but had a dead pixel (first time sent back) and issues with the keyboard/dock not working (second time sent back)
just received it back after they fixed the keyboard/dock (and left some hefty scratches on the tablet and dock, not impressed at all!), and from what i can gather it seems they've left some sort of test rom on it?
OPEN_epad-eng 3.2.1 HTK7 OPEN_epad-8.8.0.119.1-20111222 test-keys
has a number of test tools installed, and rooted, but can't do update firmware, as it doesn't find any firmware, i'm assuming because it's OPEN_epad rather than WW_epad
are my only options now to either send it back yet again, or use the unlock tool to flash a rom on it?
as much as i want to be able to flash roms, at this stage i'm unwilling to compromise my warranty until it's 100% working and doesn't need to be sent back again!
(also happy to run any tests or copy any files if anyone is interested in anything from the test rom)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Before you do anything, copy all the test tools and upload them here please. Simply browse to /data/app and /system/app and copy all the apps sd card (storage), then transfer to pc, zip and upload somewhere. Maybe that cpu monitor app is installed. Also, it might be worth speeking to someone like Diamondback to see if he would find system dump useful, might help with rooting or something else in the future.
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using xda premium

You definately ought to do a system dump!
Here's a (very short) description on how to do that : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=21833242&postcount=5

cheers for the bits of advice
Asus support here in .AU has been nothing short of utterly pathetic, very slow and difficult to deal with, no attention to detail (who the f*ck doesn't take care of other peoples property and scratches the hell out of it?!)... aware of my rights with ACCC, and if it comes to it i'll play that card, but don't have the time/energy at the moment for a **** fight with Asus... don't want a refund, just a proper non-scratched working unit, and i'll be on my merry way
pulling /system now, there's nothing in /data/app... anyone got some decent speed space somewhere to upload?
was wondering how they would have gotten this image on the device, i'm assuming they don't unlock it, and just have some way of flashing whatever the hell they like
but is there any easy way to check and see if the bootloader is still locked ?
it's going straight back in the morning, i've demanded a brand new replacement and want it in time for easter long w/end, so if there's anything else anyone wants off it lemme know before then!

FARQ said:
cheers for the bits of advice
pulling /system now, there's nothing in /data/app... anyone got some decent speed space somewhere to upload?
was wondering how they would have gotten this image on the device, i'm assuming they don't unlock it, and just have some way of flashing whatever the hell they like
but is there any easy way to check and see if the bootloader is still locked ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dropbox with the initial 2gb should be enough to store a system dump. (Just PM someone to mirror it otherwise the account will get locked if you post if publicly)
The service centres would have tools to flash it or a firmware image that is properly signed. (nvflash anyone?)
Bootloader locked? I think theres some fastboot command to verify if secure boot is on or off.
But yes, please do give us a dump of that.

FARQ said:
cheers for the bits of advice
Asus support here in .AU has been nothing short of utterly pathetic, very slow and difficult to deal with, no attention to detail (who the f*ck doesn't take care of other peoples property and scratches the hell out of it?!)... aware of my rights with ACCC, and if it comes to it i'll play that card, but don't have the time/energy at the moment for a **** fight with Asus... don't want a refund, just a proper non-scratched working unit, and i'll be on my merry way
pulling /system now, there's nothing in /data/app... anyone got some decent speed space somewhere to upload?
was wondering how they would have gotten this image on the device, i'm assuming they don't unlock it, and just have some way of flashing whatever the hell they like
but is there any easy way to check and see if the bootloader is still locked ?
it's going straight back in the morning, i've demanded a brand new replacement and want it in time for easter long w/end, so if there's anything else anyone wants off it lemme know before then!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Asus will have the AES encription key so will have unlock and relocked it more than likely.. well they might have not remembered to re-lock if they left the test software on it

Hawke84 said:
Asus will have the AES encription key so will have unlock and relocked it more than likely.. well they might have not remembered to re-lock if they left the test software on it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unlikely. Most probably repair centrea just have properly signed diagnostical build, which HQ supplies. Way easier than to unlock and relock every tfp they get.
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using xda premium

lol first thing I thought when I saw this thread was.. someone is going to ask for the files!

FARQ said:
if there's anything else anyone wants off it lemme know before then!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would try to get dumps of all mmcblk0 partitions. I can't remember the correct commands off the top of my head, but I'm sure someone could point you in the right direction.
I'm sure all the devs here would appreciate it if you were able to do this.
EDIT: IF YOU READ THIS, GO TO #asus-transformer on freenode irc.
PEOPLE WILL GUIDE YOU THROUGH GETTING AS MUCH OF THE INTERESTING GOODIES FROM THAT TABLET AS POSSIBLE.

Yeah it would be great if you can get everything off that tablet and mirrored to the devs and such, it would be such great benefit if we could get apktool to work with Asus's system files.

hmm this software might have some juicy stuff for the devs to play with

i've pulled /system
if anyone wants anything further from it, please let me know with exact instructions in the next half hour before i head in to work and drop it off on my way in... don't have time to jump on irc or anything of the sort sorry
FYI i did a fastboot devices, and nothing came up, so i assume it's still locked

Could you also grab a dump of the first 60MB of the emmc please?
adb shell dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0 of=/sdcard/emmc.dump bs=1024 count=61440
adb pull /sdcard/emmc.dump
Oh and can you pull /data/app if you haven't already?
Cheers.

done... anything else ?
edit: there's nothing in /data/app only /system/app

FARQ said:
done... anything else ?
edit: there's nothing in /data/app only /system/app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah ok, I'm good thanks. Don't want you to be late for work.

all good, i've got half hour up me sleeve, so happy to dump anything else if anyone wants

dump all the secrets to prime and tegra3...lol.

FARQ said:
all good, i've got half hour up me sleeve, so happy to dump anything else if anyone wants
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You should be able to flash a newer firmware version using the rescue mode of the tablet. No bootloader or root required, and from what I can tell it's without any risk...
Check the link in my signature if interested!

Related

WARNING T-Mobile NOT helpful! BEWARE OF UPDATE!

To get to the point, people DON'T UPDATE YOUR VIBRANTS and T-MOBILE HANDLES THE ISSUE HORRIBLY! Obviously this is not a universal problem, but if you do happen to be one of the lucky ones that bricks their phone with the update there is no saving it (at least with the help of T-mobile).
I just got off of the phone with tech support and they were less than helpful. After the regular punching in numbers, talking to two different people, and trying to re-boots that everyone with half a brain have tried, they informed me that they would replace the phone but I had to PAY for shipping. While I realize this is a normal policy when it comes to random malfunctions, which may or may not have been the users fault, this is absolutely ridiculous when the problem is 100% their fault. Seriously, T-mobile ships a top of the line phone that has some major flaws and inactivated software (media hub), then breaks the phone with it's official update, and somehow this is MY responsibility to pay to get fixed? The rep even asked if I at this point wanted to add insurance so next time I wouldn't have to pay for shipping and if I wanted to pay extra for expedited shipping! They were trying to make an add-on sale while fixing an issue THEY caused!
That's not even the end of it, because I was so irritated they sent me to a "loyalty specialist" (who sounded like a used car salesman). He rambled on about how he would waive the shipping fee (he made it sound like he just saved my first born child). I told him I appreciated that but it didn't fix the fact that T-Mobile was not handling the issue well. When a large number of phones break from an issue originating from the provider they should either 1) have re-furbished phones (or even set aside new phones if necessary) to replace these broken phones as they come up or 2) offer free over night shipping of the replacement phone. He told me that these options were too expensive for T-Mobile, and that if I like I could sign up for either of their two insurance plans, as they would allow me to do an in-store replacement (he later noted that one of them was only available within the first 14 days of owning the phone...). I couldn't believe they were trying to another add-on sale! The best part being, I later called around to all my local T-Mobile owned stores and none of them have the Vibrant available for in-store replacement (and never have).
So the Cliff-Notes of my rant:
1) DON'T UPDATE YOUR VIBRANT
2) If you did brick your phone, make sure to complain and they should refund the ridiculous shipping charge
3) If you don't own a Vibrant and are thinking about it consider the following (Don't let it stop you, just consider it):
- Still on 2.1, when Nexus One has been on 2.2 for months (and the Galaxy S 2.2 official ROM has been leaked so it does exist in some form.) => Meaning updates are super scarce and extremely late.
- T-Mobile is selling a good phone with many flaws, and their first attempt to fix it bricked many phones (do a google search I am not the only one).
- While it may be better than other companies, T-Mobiles customer service is FAR from flawless
P.S. My phone was completely stock (so please don't mention how I did this with a lag fix, etc.). I waited at least 15 mins before I pulled the battery, before which I had noted the T-Mobile sound starting without the animation (seems like a timing issue or something). And finally, I realize this is a duplicate post to many others but I want people to find this info (not be at the bottom of a really long thread) to get the word out how T-Mobile deals with their errors.
I hate when people mess with their phones then get angry at a company for "breaking" their phone. Im running stock rom with root and also got bricked, but, I manned up and knew I was in the wrong and accepted what happened. I didn't put the blame on TMo, because completely untouched vibrants that I was aware of had no issues with this OTA. If you added functionality to it after the fact that it wasn't originally on there before when you initially purchased it; then its YOUR fault that it bricked, NOT T-mobiles. Take some responsibility and stop crying.
Had the same problem but this is a pretty fix using Odin.
If you install an update from an OTA T-Mobile should be held responsible
I don't know about you guys but when you have been a customer for 10+ years, T-Mobile will pretty much suck your balls.
Either way, if you guys rooted it, then that takes the fault from T-Mobile to you. You changed the phone. The update was designed for a pristine un-edited Samsung Vibrant, if you changed anything in the system by rooting or flashing it is your fault for changing the equation. T-Mobile is NOT at fault for your actions.
Yeah why warranty the phone when you can just ODIN and fix it yourself? Do a xda search. If you're gonna use xda to complain at least use it to solve your own problems as well. Unless your phone is hardware locked it is 100 % fixable.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
starkiller86 said:
I hate when people mess with their phones then get angry at a company for "breaking" their phone. Im running stock rom with root and also got bricked, but, I manned up and knew I was in the wrong and accepted what happened. I didn't put the blame on TMo, because completely untouched vibrants that I was aware of had no issues with this OTA. If you added functionality to it after the fact that it wasn't originally on there before when you initially purchased it; then its YOUR fault that it bricked, NOT T-mobiles. Take some responsibility and stop crying.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
P.S. My phone was completely stock (so please don't mention how I did this with a lag fix, etc.). I waited at least 15 mins before I pulled the battery, before which I had noted the T-Mobile sound starting without the animation (seems like a timing issue or something). And finally, I realize this is a duplicate post to many others but I want people to find this info (not be at the bottom of a really long thread) to get the word out how T-Mobile deals with their errors
Did you not read that part?
I bricked two stock Vibrants with the update. The second one failed during Mini-Kies update and was hardware locked.
It is a known issue according to the Tech guy that I spoke to while getting my replacement.
First phone wouldn't power on after failure, second phone was hardware locked so un-fixable.
No, no.
This happened to me, I had a rooted phone I had uninstalled the inflight internet, etc on it and hadn't overclocked or anything like that. Phone kills itself. I went to the tmo store and they only make you pay for shipping if you take the overnight option.
PROTIP - DON'T ASK FOR EXTRA SPEEDY SHIPPING AND THEY'LL PAY FOR IT.
so i guess we are just SOL for the data on the phone? I just lost an entire vacation of pictures. I had not had a chance to root this phone either. this is ****ing awesome.
dechire said:
so i guess we are just SOL for the data on the phone? I just lost an entire vacation of pictures. I had not had a chance to root this phone either. this is ****ing awesome.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess this is just an example of "store your pictures on the external SD card"
Then if you brick it you can still get your pictures back ....
watcher64 said:
I guess this is just an example of "store your pictures on the external SD card"
Then if you brick it you can still get your pictures back ....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Word. That's one of the first things I did when I got the phone and was playing with the features. Switched it from phone storage to memory card.
Sorry to hear you lost photos.
Protip: Pay the damn overnight shipping fee...it'll be deducted from your bill (flex pay) which makes it free: )
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Here is the business side
If I am T mobile every time some person has a problem and I offered free shipping, the Every moron would be shipping the device back for Any problem. Way way costly, so that is not going to happen. If you Really believe the phone is factory defective then, pay the shipping and move on. If you messed with it at all then the burden to resolve is yours and be honest about that. Remember the reason people are in here is to customize the phone and improve it. Like the XDA mantra sez.......... It is not just the result... but the journey....
Like one of the other posts stated:
If you rooted it, then that takes the fault from T-Mobile to you. You changed the phone. The update was designed for a pristine un-edited Samsung Vibrant, if you changed anything in the system by rooting or flashing it is your fault for changing the equation. T-Mobile is NOT at fault for your actions.
Gr8gorilla said:
First phone wouldn't power on after failure, second phone was hardware locked so un-fixable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is a hardware lock fix now, you really should flash that before you do anything else. Yeah, you run the risk of bricking with the hardware unlock, but it's probably a safer bet than flashing away.
dechire said:
so i guess we are just SOL for the data on the phone? I just lost an entire vacation of pictures. I had not had a chance to root this phone either. this is ****ing awesome.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you Odin it with the JI6 update, you might still be able to get a working system out of it. Worth a shot to see if you can get it without having to flash to stock first (which will wipe).
With all the time you spent with tech support, you could have found the thread that delineates how to fix your phone and update through odin. Its very easy and, frankly why be on a developers forum when you are not willing to tinker around a bit.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
dechire said:
so i guess we are just SOL for the data on the phone? I just lost an entire vacation of pictures. I had not had a chance to root this phone either. this is ****ing awesome.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As long as the phone still powers on you can still use ADB Pull and save the data from the /sdcard folder. This update isn't a totally bricking the phone (at least it didn't mine) just making the display and inputs not work. To quote Billy Crystal: "He's only MOSTLY dead"
Odin was really simple to reflash the stock ROM and then I was able to do a nandroid restore from there.
The T-Mobile OTA update left my phone only booting to the vibrant screen, but it was a pretty simple fix with Odin. The hardest part was getting the proper drivers installed in windows!
Mini kies wouldnt even let me update,so I rooted and flashed bionix 1.8,works great.**** tmo.
Fyi to the people with hardware lock. I did the update on my gf's phone which was hardware locked and it failed. The phone would only boot to the vibrant screen. The good news is the ota update unlocks the hardware because her phone is able to get into recovery and download mode even thought the update failed. The point is don't worry if ota fail on you because you can just use odin to fix it since it unlocks the download mode.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
mr2t32 said:
Fyi to the people with hardware lock. I did the update on my gf's phone which was hardware locked and it failed. The phone would only boot to the vibrant screen. The good news is the ota update unlocks the hardware because her phone is able to get into recovery and download mode even thought the update failed. The point is don't worry if ota fail on you because you can just use odin to fix it since it unlocks the download mode.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If the update even gets that far...

Will there ever be a way to "Re-Lock" the bootloader?

I imagine that the obvious answer is also the correct one, meaning this is not going to be an option. In a way, it's just as frustrating as before Asus provided an Unlock tool (which they did, on schedule at least on the schedule they committed to.) For all of the blunders that occurred around and with the Transformer Prime, they have work like hell to overcome a lot of the issues. They haven't been entirely succesfull on all fronts, such as the reboots that keep recurring for some, but not for others with each succesive update, but you cannot fault Asus for failing to try.
I guess why I asked will be a common point of contention for a lot of us. It can be agonizing to see sweet looking ROMs showing up, and wanting to enjoy that on the Prime, but unfortunately the Bootloader Lock/Unlock is not like rooting, S-On and all the rest because just about all of those changes are undo-able.
I know personally that every device I root, I look at the tool or method to see how difficult (or possible even) un-rooting is. As long as I now I can put the device n a returnable state for warranty coverage, I am the bravest ROM Flasher in the world! LOL
Because $500-800 is a lot of money to have tied up in a device, one that has had more that a fair amount of issues, including issues that require RMA, it is just too risky for the average Prime owner to unlock the Bootloader.... MAJOR BUMMER!
A really awesome option would have been, or could be if Asus said: "Unlocked bootloader devices lose warranty, BUT, if you are able to restore the device to factory spec (including re-locking the bootloader, a tool that does not presently exist) we will honor the remaining portion of the warranty"
And yes, I am aware that the serial number is recorded by Asus during the unlock process.
That would be the ultimate option. The chance of it happening?About as likely as a new update arriving that fixes GPS completely and permanently. Oh well. One can dream, right?
Sigh.
Prior to owning the TF201, I owned the TF101 which was flawless for the first 4 months of owning it, and then one day it developed this strange off-white splotchy area on the screen, it was pretty big too... way more noticeable than a dead pixel. If I couldn't have RMA'd it, then the value of the tablet would've gone down significantly.
I'm a little more worried about the TF201 developing issues later in it's life, so I probably wont be unlocking my device until there's a way around the warranty void. A $500 gamble is not worth a minor performance boost you might get from using a custom rom (IMO).
Edit: Just noticed you live about 30-40 minutes from me, Raleigh NC here.
SmartAs$Phone said:
I imagine that the obvious answer is also the correct one, meaning this is not going to be an option. In a way, it's just as frustrating as before Asus provided an Unlock tool (which they did, on schedule at least on the schedule they committed to.) For all of the blunders that occurred around and with the Transformer Prime, they have work like hell to overcome a lot of the issues. They haven't been entirely succesfull on all fronts, such as the reboots that keep recurring for some, but not for others with each succesive update, but you cannot fault Asus for failing to try.
I guess why I asked will be a common point of contention for a lot of us. It can be agonizing to see sweet looking ROMs showing up, and wanting to enjoy that on the Prime, but unfortunately the Bootloader Lock/Unlock is not like rooting, S-On and all the rest because just about all of those changes are undo-able.
I know personally that every device I root, I look at the tool or method to see how difficult (or possible even) un-rooting is. As long as I now I can put the device n a returnable state for warranty coverage, I am the bravest ROM Flasher in the world! LOL
Because $500-800 is a lot of money to have tied up in a device, one that has had more that a fair amount of issues, incuding issues that require RMA, it is just too risky for the avarage Prime owner to unlock the Bootloader.... MAJOR BUMMER!
A really awesome option would have been, or could be if Asus said: "Unlocked bootloader devices lose warranty, BUT, if you are able to restore the device to factory spec (including re-locking the bootloader, a tool that does not presently exist) we will honor the remaining portion of the warranty"
That would be the ultimate option. The chance of it happening?About as likely as a new update arriving that fixes GPS completely and permanently. Oh well. One can dream, right?
Sigh.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Even if you are able to lock i it wont matter. The bootloader unlock tool provided by ASUS reports your serial number when you unlock kinda like a phone home mode. Using this serial hey generate some kinds of unlock code. This is the finding thus so far from the development forum and reviviewing the decompile apk file.
MasterZen88 said:
Even if you are able to lock i it wont matter. The bootloader unlock tool provided by ASUS reports your serial number when you unlock kinda like a phone home mode. Using this serial hey generate some kinds of unlock code. This is the finding thus so far from the development forum and reviviewing the decompile apk file.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This. If you relock your bootloader you only limit what you yourself can do with the tablet. The damage has already been done as far as Asus is concerned
if I had 2 primes stuck the serial number of the other prime on mine (unlocked and rooted) then unrooted and flashed back to stock would an RMA work? I don't see why it wouldn't I'm just a little curious?
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using xda premium
I hope dev will find a way to stop the apk to send our information to Asus..
Inviato dal mio Transformer Prime TF201 usando Tapatalk
Voiding the warranty by rooting is nothing new.
It has always been that way since day one.
Only difference is that now ASUS has figured a way to know which units have been unlocked.
I wouldn't be surprised if other companies start doing the same thing.
MasterZen88 said:
Even if you are able to lock i it wont matter. The bootloader unlock tool provided by ASUS reports your serial number when you unlock kinda like a phone home mode. Using this serial hey generate some kinds of unlock code. This is the finding thus so far from the development forum and reviviewing the decompile apk file.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cant you use multiple unlock codes to make your own decrypter, that way asus never knows and you can re-encrypt it if you need to send it in for warranty
Dnakaman said:
Voiding the warranty by rooting is nothing new.
It has always been that way since day one.
official unlocks, not developer made one clicks
I wouldn't be surprised if other companies start doing the same thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Others companies already do the same thing.
Only difference is that now ASUS has figured a way to know which units have been unlocked. Asus are just the first ones to package it into an easy to use apk. Usually they make it hard so that only people with some adb/dev knowledge can do it. Were talking about
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using xda premium
foxtrot16m said:
Cant you use multiple unlock codes to make your own decrypter, that way asus never knows and you can re-encrypt it if you need to send it in for warranty
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not sure this is feasible, An "un official" unlocker would of course get us half way there. Then we just need a way to properly re-encrypt that mimics the stock 128 bit encryption. It would be risky either way, and as we have seen, people are bricking devices already in the earliest stages of learning what works and what doesn't. I think that I even saw that Diamondback bricked his Prime, because Asus does not give us access to NVFlash ! (Virtuous ROM chef for Prime, our first non-Asus ROM)
So I think we are going to see a slowing of the initial rush out the gate to mod and develop for this.
SmartAs$Phone said:
I am not sure this is feasible, An "un official" unlocker would of course get us half way there. Then we just need a way to properly re-encrypt that mimics the stock 128 bit encryption. It would be risky either way, and as we have seen, people are bricking devices already in the earliest stages of learning what works and what doesn't. I think that I even saw that Diamondback bricked his Prime, because Asus does not give us access to NVFlash ! (Virtuous ROM chef for Prime, our first non-Asus ROM)
So I think we are going to see a slowing of the initial rush out the gate to mod and develop for this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How exactly do they block it? It doesn't exist? There is a software block?
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using xda premium
Whatever the case, atleast asus has allowed us to unlock it with this simple to use apk.
Eitherway, the future for any android device (esp for people on this forum) is to go the custom rom way!
From what i heard, CM9 is already in the works and a beta is soon to follow!
hxxp://androidroot.mobi/2012/02/22/cyanogenmod-9-for-asus-transformer-prime/
Being able to block ASUS from knowing you have unlocked your bootloader using their tool would depend on the following:
Option A: is the package unlocks the bootloader and then sends a beacon home with your device information and ASUS then voids your warranty and blocks OTA. This could be resolved by blocking the call home.
Option B: which is more likely is the tool FIRST sends a call to ASUS with your device info, voids your warranty, and THEN returns the actual unlock code.
Option C: A dev develops a aftermarket unlocking tool.
The only way to beat option B would be to decrypt the encryption and generate your own code by inserting it in a custom installer or modifying the homebeacons dns and making a server to intercept the original message and respond with the correct code etc.

POLL: Unable to unlock your prime? POTENTIAL FIX! Mine is unlocked!

4/18/2013
After months of waiting, my tablet is FINALLY UNLOCKED! If you are in the US, see this post. Thanks you Tien (Asus_USA)!
Update 9/2013:
AlphaDog_NL said:
It's back.
It works
Sooooooo people, contact ASUS Support about your device tracker not working! They will give you support on that, and because it has the same problem causing it, it will fix the unlock issue!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi all, I decided to finally take the dive a couple days ago to unlock my beloved prime and try out androwook and other custom roms that supposedly put stock to shame. However, I was unfortunately confronted by a crude and nasty message along the lines of:
Code:
An unknown error occurs, which may be a network connection issue.
Please wait and try again later
As usual, I unrooted, rebooted, and tried again. No luck.
I disabled and uninstalled ATP Tweak (sio scheduler/systune), replaced my modified dock keyboard files (browser mod, switched alt/search buttons), and tried again. No luck.
Factory reset from the settings menu. No luck.
Placed the .28 US update on my SD card, rebooted, and re-flashed the update. No luck.
Where does that leave me now? Locked and feeling imprisoned. I'm wondering if it is worth it to downgrade and try unlocking. So far, I have only seen one person have any success with this. Due to the potential brick risk, I want to stay away from this unless I know it will work. I also know that Asus asked for the MAC address of a prime owner with this issue, but that didn't go anywhere.
This seems like it may be an issue that is experienced by anyone that RMA'ed their tablet for whatever reason. I, personally, sent mine in for a green camera issue and mura, but do not think that they changed my motherboard.
I am also curious to see how many other people are having this issue. If it is sizable, I am willing to start a petition to Asus for them to support their unlock tool and fix this stupid error without an RMA. To that effect, please answer the poll above to let me gather some data on the unlock tool.
Thanks to everyone for your help and support that makes xda such an amazing community!
PS I don't want to see any "Asus sucks" posts. There are tons of other threads for that so please spare us
Additional info:
Have tried this on several different network connections.
Have not yet contacted Asus to see if they have my prime listed as "unlocked" already, but will do so sometime this week.
Logcat of running unlock tool results in this:
Code:
D/KeyBoxService(10158): === StatusCode: SC_UNAUTHORIZED!
D/KeyBoxService(10158): === OTA BEGIN
E/KeyBoxService(10158): === Connection to http://wvdrm.asus.com refused
D/KeyBoxService(10158): === Retry after 600 seconds.
D/KeyBoxService(10158): === OTA END
July 13th Update:
I have contacted Asus with this information. I learned something interesting. Asus has my tablet (s/n) listed as LOCKED. They also did not replace my mainboard when I RMA'ed the tablet. I also have not had the unknown serial number issue. Considering those were the 3 criteria a few of us had considered to be the reasons for not being able to unlock, I am now baffled.
I am going to continue communicating with Asus and hopefully push the matter a little bit more so that something happens. As I was told, "HQ is probably aware and working towards a fix". Let's hope that happens sooner rather than later.
September 5th update:
Seems that Asus HQ figured out a fix, but it requires an RMA. We'll find out soon if it actually works...
September 29th update:
Some of the members in this thread have sent their primes in for an RMA to fix the issue. The first prime back STILL has the problem. Asus HQ is looking into the matter...again...
Asus wants me to resend my tablet back to RMA to see if they can fix the problem. I'll see what they have to say, don't really want to RMA back. It's a software issue it seems to me, changing any hardware will just make it worse.
edit: Email was no help. Dumb. Stuck again! Yay
dude2k5 said:
Asus wants me to resend my tablet back to RMA to see if they can fix the problem. I'll see what they have to say, don't really want to RMA back. It's a software issue it seems to me, changing any hardware will just make it worse.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed, this seems like a server/application issue that they can fix on their end hopefully!
I have this Problem ,too
Nothing help !
This is so frustrating ...
Asus Transformer Prime 32GB
0.28 Software and Root
nhshah7 said:
Agreed, this seems like a server/application issue that they can fix on their end hopefully!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I found a tool for downgrading that worked pretty well, and when combined with Sparkys tool that will root you so easily on .28, the process of downgrading might be worth a try once you've done everything else.
I'm anxious to hear if anyone who's never rooted and has a serial number has ever had this problem.
I thought my tablet hadn't been unlocked correctly because of some issues and some of the people helping me troubleshoot and figure out the prime when I first got it told me to try running the unlock tool again and said i should get a response, but I always got the same network error. However I bought my prime second hand and it had been rooted before. Finally ended up doing some manual tests with ADB to determine if my problem was unlock related and it wasn't.
I had just gotten the prime, and people said even being unlocked I still shouldn't have gotten that network error. I just gave up after that, and have always wondered if it was related to it being previously rooted.
I can't unlock my tablet. I just don't get any error message at all. But I am 100% sure it's not unlocked.
No Problems here
I have a rooted 0.28, I did not root until after I got the 0.28 update.
I just ran the unlock tool downloaded from this thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1510737
I had to use the dropbox downlown because the one from ASUS would not work.
Unlocked, no issues. No factor reset necessary, no removing root. Now i'm completely unlocked and ruined my warranty just for you guys.
Now i'm going to go install a custom rom.
Later.
Unlocking by a dummy
I unlocked a couple of weeks ago but it wasn't easy. Why? because I am half dumb and need reading glasses. It took me part of 2 days to figure out what was going on. I would get to the final scare screen that warns you that if you do this you are screwed forever and then I could not go any further. There were no buttons to click or agreement check boxes to check just the sad warning big as life.
Then I watched a video, the one with the hyper dude with braces unlocking his prime. And I realized I was missing the buttons on that warning screen. It occurred to met that I had amped up my font size so I could read my tablet without my reading glasses. This action made the font from the warning too big to fit the button on the screen. Went into settings, decreased font size, unlocked, never better.
whycali said:
I unlocked a couple of weeks ago but it wasn't easy. Why? because I am half dumb and need reading glasses. It took me part of 2 days to figure out what was going on. I would get to the final scare screen that warns you that if you do this you are screwed forever and then I could not go any further. There were no buttons to click or agreement check boxes to check just the sad warning big as life.
Then I watched a video, the one with the hyper dude with braces unlocking his prime. And I realized I was missing the buttons on that warning screen. It occurred to met that I had amped up my font size so I could read my tablet without my reading glasses. This action made the font from the warning too big to fit the button on the screen. Went into settings, decreased font size, unlocked, never better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thanked your post just because it made me laugh. :good:
ShyTownFantasy said:
I can't unlock my tablet. I just don't get any error message at all. But I am 100% sure it's not unlocked.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
have you tried getting a logcat of your prime while you're running the unlock tool? it's REALLY easy if you have adb setup. if not, you can do it from a terminal emulator app. PM me if you need more help.
Parastie said:
I have a rooted 0.28, I did not root until after I got the 0.28 update.
I just ran the unlock tool downloaded from this thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1510737
I had to use the dropbox downlown because the one from ASUS would not work.
Unlocked, no issues. No factor reset necessary, no removing root. Now i'm completely unlocked and ruined my warranty just for you guys.
Now i'm going to go install a custom rom.
Later.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I envy you! lol thanks and enjoy! did you ever send in your prime for RMA? I'm thinking that doing so screws us all over lol
whycali said:
I unlocked a couple of weeks ago but it wasn't easy. Why? because I am half dumb and need reading glasses. It took me part of 2 days to figure out what was going on. I would get to the final scare screen that warns you that if you do this you are screwed forever and then I could not go any further. There were no buttons to click or agreement check boxes to check just the sad warning big as life.
Then I watched a video, the one with the hyper dude with braces unlocking his prime. And I realized I was missing the buttons on that warning screen. It occurred to met that I had amped up my font size so I could read my tablet without my reading glasses. This action made the font from the warning too big to fit the button on the screen. Went into settings, decreased font size, unlocked, never better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hahahahahaha i wish my problem were that simple
nhshah7 said:
I envy you! lol thanks and enjoy! did you ever send in your prime for RMA? I'm thinking that doing so screws us all over lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, never had to RMA. My device is from the US and I'm in Poland so I'm not sure if an RMA would work anyway. I've had it for a month and besides the left screen tearing issue, it works great!
I'm going to install Wooki first and see how that goes. TWRP is already installed and backup has been created. I'll report back if this fixes things. I'm going to try without doing a full wipe (cache and dalvik only). I don't really want to re-install everything.
Parastie said:
No, never had to RMA. My device is from the US and I'm in Poland so I'm not sure if an RMA would work anyway. I've had it for a month and besides the left screen tearing issue, it works great!
I'm going to install Wooki first and see how that goes. TWRP is already installed and backup has been created. I'll report back if this fixes things. I'm going to try without doing a full wipe (cache and dalvik only). I don't really want to re-install everything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From past experience, you should always do a full wipe especially if you want your prime to be performing well. Do a titanium backup of all your apps (the pro version is WELL worth the money) and you'll be up and running with an hour exactly how you were before. Good luck!
nhshah7 said:
From past experience, you should always do a full wipe especially if you want your prime to be performing well. Do a titanium backup of all your apps (the pro version is WELL worth the money) and you'll be up and running with an hour exactly how you were before. Good luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, my experience with the HTC Desire tells me a full wipe is probably necessary, however I don't like titanium backup. It takes too long and it's easier just letting everything trickle in over the market. I've also found that, unless you're moving from 2.3 to 4.0.x clearing dalvik and cache usually works just as well. It's not like any rom formats the internal memory to use a different setup with better performance...though maybe that's not a bad idea.
BTW, when I said the one from ASUS wouldn't work, I meant it would not download. It just looping on my tablet to which browser it should use, and I eventually gave up and tried the other link.
Got my prime back from asus RMA no more chance to unlock. My prime was unlocked before send to RMA.
They changed the board or chip, when I did the RMA the .28 update JUST came out so I tried applying it before I sent it off. Worked, so it was updated. Then they sent it back after RMA and it was a March update, way back. Don't think they downgraded, but they did change something. Then no unlock at all (though I never tried beforehand, I imagine it would have worked)
Hi,
I don't have the same error message than you, it only say:
Failed to unlock the device, please try again later​
I tried again later 3 times already. I have .28 and rooted, I just wonder if it fail because I am rooted or not.
Correct me if am wrong but ur device is locked and u trying to do a OTA Update right??
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using xda app-developers app
allthatinny said:
Correct me if am wrong but ur device is locked and u trying to do a OTA Update right??
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sorry, who are you asking?
bASKOU said:
Hi,
I don't have the same error message than you, it only say:
Failed to unlock the device, please try again later​
I tried again later 3 times already. I have .28 and rooted, I just wonder if it fail because I am rooted or not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had .28 rooted and was able to do the unlock no problem. I had to download the app from a dropbox account as I was unable to download from ASUS's website.
The issue seems to be related to RMAs. I bought mine 2nd hand from a guy who got it from his boss, so theres no way of knowing if it was ever returned. It doesnt seem to matter on which firmware you are or if you are rooted or not.... All we (probably) have in common is the RMA factor. At least thats progress!

[Q] S2 with broken/not working screen - how to tell if the rest still works?

Hi
I recently bought a broken Galaxy S2 with a non-working display/screen off a swiss auction portal (smiliar to eBay) for very little money.
The seller stated that the display broke after he dropped it, the rest of the phone should be fine. Effectively, only the LCD is broken, the glass is intact, but the screen doesn't show anything when I try to turn on the phone.
The first few times I tried to turn on the phone, nothing happened, no boot sound or touch buttons glowing. After trying several combinations of pressing buttons (hard reset, soft reset, download mode, recovery etc.) I heard the boot sound and saw the buttons glowing, but only once and I dont know how I exactly managed it to start. But, nevertheless, I can't really see what the phone is doing, if it is booting, if its in download mode, etc.
Does anyone have an idea, what I can/should do to make sure, the phone itself is working and its only the display which is broken? I just don't want to spend over $100 for a new display, if im not sure if the rest works...any suggestions?
Thanks very much for your help guys!
Greetings from Switzerland!
nkb88
How can anyone answer if the phone is going to be worth the cost of a new screen.It could be water damaged or blacklisted,or faulty.
Did you not foresee these things.What did you expect to happen.You must have trusted the seller,but all of a sudden you have doubts.Why didnt the seller replace the screen.
You probably think youve scored,when in fact it could work out more expensive than buying a working phone.
-------------------------------------------
maybe your an iphone expert
------------------------------------------
theunderling said:
How can anyone answer if the phone is going to be worth the cost of a new screen.It could be water damaged or blacklisted,or faulty.
Did you not foresee these things.What did you expect to happen.You must have trusted the seller,but all of a sudden you have doubts.Why didnt the seller replace the screen.
You probably think youve scored,when in fact it could work out more expensive than buying a working phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First of all, the mentioned auction platform is very small and not quite comparable to eBay, maybe it was my fault to make the comparison to eBay. Its much smaller, only people from Switzerland and people much trustworthier than on eBay. I talked to the seller even before I commited my bid on the phone, and he told me he already bought another one and the place, where he first wanted to repair it, told him, it would be more than $200, which wasnt an option for him...
The phone was very cheap, only about $25 - due to the fact that the sellar put it in a wrong category (mobile accessoires but not mobile devices itself) so almost nobody beside me bidded for the auction. There are several other Galaxy S2s with broken displays for sale, which sell at least for $50-70, rather between $100-150.
So to put it straight: I just bid for the phone because its cheap and, if the display is replaced and the phone is fully working again, the potential selling price is much higher than what I payed for the phone and the display together.
Now, I was just wondering, if there is a possibility to tell, if the phone boots normally and to be sure that the display is the only faulty part...
If you know what network it's on, and you can find a way to get it switched on, you can put a compatible sim card into it and call it....if the phone rings (provided the volume is set right) you can assume it's good.........
That is.....assuming there's charge in the battery.......
Sent from my rooted, de bloated, stock JB powered S2 via PhilZ kernel and XDA developers app
Ok I see now.
All you need to do then is to relist the phone on that auction site you said....in the proper area/listing....and you could make a profit without risk.
You could put it in dl mode and see if it is ready to take a flash.Or see if someone could hook up a screen to test,or see if you can borrow one/get sale or return.
And people on here help with tech problems,not get rich quick schemes......LOL
-------------------------------------------
maybe your an iphone expert
------------------------------------------
theunderling said:
Ok I see now.
All you need to do then is to relist the phone on that auction site you said....in the proper area/listing....and you could make a profit without risk.
You could put it in dl mode and see if it is ready to take a flash.Or see if someone could hook up a screen to test,or see if you can borrow one/get sale or return.
And people on here help with tech problems,not get rich quick schemes......LOL
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually I could have bought the phone and relisted it in the proper category, you are right on that BUT I acually don't have any interest in making money with this phone, if it is fully working again, I probably will give it to my GF cause her crappy iFone will probalby be moving to the bin soon... You really probably missunderstood me in this case...
But thanks for you help! I'll see this evening if I can put it in download mode...
keithross39 said:
If you know what network it's on, and you can find a way to get it switched on, you can put a compatible sim card into it and call it....if the phone rings (provided the volume is set right) you can assume it's good.........
That is.....assuming there's charge in the battery.......
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats also a good idea BUT afaik you need to enter a PIN code before the phone actually connects to the carrier/provider, isn't that correct?
Not necessarily......unless the phone has been set up that way post purchase.....as I said, you need to know what carrier the phone was with before, and simply go and get a sim card (pay as you go) for that carrier and put it in the phone....job done.
It's not necessary to enter a pin code here in the UK.....I don't know how the mobile operators operare with respect to that in Switzerland though......
Sent from my rooted, de bloated, stock JB powered S2 via PhilZ kernel and XDA developers app
How about if you cant "borrow' a screen,just buy one off eBay from a seller that takes it back with a small restocking fee.
Then hook it up(without fixing it permanently) and see if any problems me/keith mentioned.
Look near the end of this video in this thread.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=25438587
-------------------------------------------
maybe your an iphone expert
------------------------------------------
Okay, i managed to connect the phone to my computer and it shows up in KIES! *yay*
Unfortunately, KIES shows: "The connected device is locked..."
But, as far as this looks like, the phone is working! Am I right on this?
I dont know much about kies as I dont use it.Maybe its not an unbranded phone and youve put in a different sim its not used to.
Unless someone has a better idea,I think buying the screen under the conditions I said earlier is the way to go.It may only lose you £15 at the worst.
Check the online imei checket first though to see if it throws amything up.
-------------------------------------------
maybe your an iphone expert
------------------------------------------
theunderling said:
I dont know much about kies as I dont use it.Maybe its not an unbranded phone and youve put in a different sim its not used to.
Unless someone has a better idea,I think buying the screen under the conditions I said earlier is the way to go.It may only lose you £15 at the worst.
Check the online imei checket first though to see if it throws amything up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't put in a SIM at all, as it is not neccesary to be able to use the phone.
I will buy a screen anyway, if I can't use it myself, I will give it to a frend who has also got a smashed S2.
Another question: Is it possible to hard reset the phone, without a working screen? Afaik you have to boot into recovery and select the reset from a menu, which is not really possible without having a working display... Any suggestions?
Thanks!
Someone has just posted this utility.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=43448133
-------------------------------------------
maybe your an iphone expert
------------------------------------------
theunderling said:
Someone has just posted this utility.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=43448133
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, but with the phone being locked, i cannot do anything, also not install any apps...
How can I reset the phone without the screen? Or can someone tell me which buttons to press in recovery menu to do a wipe/reset?
Thanks!
That in itself could cause you issues. You have to get the number of and order of presses exactly right otherwise you could end up formatting the system partition (os)
Aaaaand.....you don't know whether you're running 4.0.4 in which case, doing a wipe *may* permanently kill your phone (search emmc brickbug for the why/how)......
Realistically the only option is to obtain a screen......have you thought of taking the phone to an unofficial repairer, explaining the situation and asking for the temporary instore use of a screen? (You could even offer to pay a small fee.....just as a sweetener)
Sent from my rooted, de bloated, stock JB powered S2 via PhilZ kernel and XDA developers app
nkb88 said:
Thanks, but with the phone being locked, i cannot do anything, also not install any apps...
How can I reset the phone without the screen? Or can someone tell me which buttons to press in recovery menu to do a wipe/reset?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That mymobiler didnt look like an app to me.The other thing that was mentioned was an app that needed root.
-------------------------------------------
maybe your an iphone expert
------------------------------------------
keithross39 said:
That in itself could cause you issues. You have to get the number of and order of presses exactly right otherwise you could end up formatting the system partition (os)
Aaaaand.....you don't know whether you're running 4.0.4 in which case, doing a wipe *may* permanently kill your phone (search emmc brickbug for the why/how)......
Realistically the only option is to obtain a screen......have you thought of taking the phone to an unofficial repairer, explaining the situation and asking for the temporary instore use of a screen? (You could even offer to pay a small fee.....just as a sweetener)
Sent from my rooted, de bloated, stock JB powered S2 via PhilZ kernel and XDA developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are right - thats really too risky. As I said, i'm going to order a screen now and we'll see how things work out! Thanks for your help! I'll keep this thread updated with my progess.
Cheers! :good:
nkb88 said:
You are right - thats really too risky. As I said, i'm going to order a screen now and we'll see how things work out! Thanks for your help! I'll keep this thread updated with my progess.
Cheers! :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Got a new screen and everything is working smoothly!
Thanks for your support! :good:
PS: Any recommendable, FAST rom without too much bloatware?
Cheerio!
Lol....not gonna recommend a specific ROM as that's against XDAs rules......but if you want the stability of stock without the bloat, try one of the hybrid ROMs. Look for "samsung based" in the ROM sticky thread.....or do what I've done. ....stay with your stock firmware, but root it and debloat it.......
My Wife says I'm a phone geek.....
I'd have to agree.....

Any way to tell if someone flashed the wrong ROM to a tablet?

I recently sold a tablet on eBay that was working when I shipped it, I have pictures of it working both before and after I factory reset it. When the buyer received it, he emailed me saying it will not turn on, but I am 100% sure it was working when I shipped it out. The buyer has initiated a return, which pretty much means I have to refund the money as there is nothing I can really do to prove it was working when sent. I have pictures of it working, with the date stamp on the EXIF data, but I am almost certain PayPal / eBay will side with the buyer anyway so I would rather at least get the tablet back in my hands.
The tablet was not in the best shape, but the sold price reflected that and I was entirely honest in the description. Reading back through the messages from the buyer there are some red flags popping up that have me wondering if he tried to flash something to it and bricked it. In my auction description and in messages between us I had indicated it was rooted and running TWRP as well as a custom ROM. He had replied saying that he may end up flashing to the original ROM (this after also asking me if it was SIM unlocked, even though it clearly stated it is a wifi only tablet).
Is there any way to find out if he tried to flash something like a P605 ROM onto the P600 I sold him and bricked it? Assuming he did do something like that and I can connect to it somehow either via ADB or ODIN, will it be fairly straightforward to flash the correct ROM back onto it? I should have the tablet back tomorrow and will want to check it fairly quickly to see if the guy screwed it up himself or not.
The only thing that does not have me almost 100% certain of it is that he only had it a few hours before contacting me to say it was not working. However, I absolutely know I sent a working tablet and in all honesty, am going to be pretty annoyed if I get back a non-working tablet.
Thanks.

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