Thunderbolt Sim Unlocked and Flashed to Straight talk - Thunderbolt Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

So this is what I got so far.
I have a Samsung Sch-r451c.
If you call *611 it goes to verizon, but its a straight talk phone.
My thunderbolt is already cloned, and number input.
Plus I tried different Prls for straight talk.
Most of them say to buy prepaid minutes with your credit card.
The issue is I think is that, when I try the *22890 it tells me Sim card is already turned on with verizon.
I've already put it in CDMA Only, and CDMA (prl).
No luck.
I've even tried the phone without the LTE card.
I have bars, but i'm not able to call out.
Tired different Roms inculding:
Liquid 3.2
Thunderstick
Miui
Bamf
Infected
So I have any luck.

Related

Will I have to unroot??

So i finally decided today that i will keep my tuhunderbolt with verizon and drop sprint and my epic. I called verizon and got the porting process started to bring my sprint number over to my TB. The guy told me in about 4 hours to try dialing *228 and chose option one. Its been 5 hours now and whenever i try dialing *228 and hit call it connects for about 1 second then disconnects. I dont know if this is normal if the porting process isnt finished yet or if this is because my TB is rooted with BAMF 1.3 installed and im unable to do service programming. So will i have to unroot, do the *228 thing, then reroot?
FoxRacR17 said:
So i finally decided today that i will keep my tuhunderbolt with verizon and drop sprint and my epic. I called verizon and got the porting process started to bring my sprint number over to my TB. The guy told me in about 4 hours to try dialing *228 and chose option one. Its been 5 hours now and whenever i try dialing *228 and hit call it connects for about 1 second then disconnects. I dont know if this is normal if the porting process isnt finished yet or if this is because my TB is rooted with BAMF 1.3 installed and im unable to do service programming. So will i have to unroot, do the *228 thing, then reroot?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you dont have to do *228 ever on a 4g device. it auto programs on boot
aslong as you got your number set up and verizon knows your sim number (18 or 19 digit number, something like that, dont feel like ripping mine out to verify). Just place the sim in your device and fire it up, as soon the phone powers up it should auto activate. You will know it is activated when you see a 3g or 4g system above the signal meter.. if it's still on 1x, try making a test call to voice mail (*86) and if that works and you hang up, hopefully your data will come around.
I would also call from a landline and see if prompts you that the user's voicemail is not setup etc... that will let you know if the number ported off yet etc. /edit
And if you are powered up, have 1x and make a test call and your line/sim is activated. **It can take up to 15 mins for your data connection to be active, so if your test calls work and you have no data, just wait a few minutes and it will come around.** /edit2
magneticzero said:
you dont have to do *228 ever on a 4g device. it auto programs on boot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! Ill try rebooting my phone and see if that fixes it
magneticzero is exactly right. On a 4G phone the old *228 doesnt work. You might want to try rebooting the phone every so often and that should get your old number to pop-up.
I ported my number over to my thunderbolt while running a custom rom. I called gave them all my information. Was told that an email was suppose to be sent to me so that I can authorize the port. 45 minutes later I hadn't received an email so I called and was allowed to authorize it over the automated system which the call rep was on the line too. 5 minutes later a text was sent to my phone advising me that my number had been successfully ported. Had I just done the automated authorization the port process might have only taken about 10-15 minutes. I was never told to dial *228.
Just rebooted my TB and still dont have my old number yet :/ ill give it some more time, im just glad i dont have to unroot
I just saw the other part of your post magneticzero, they never asked me for the number on my sim, should i call and make sure?
FoxRacR17 said:
I just saw the other part of your post magneticzero, they never asked me for the number on my sim, should i call and make sure?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nah they already have it when they shipped you your phone. i was just saying incase you bought the tb used and had to get a new sim, then they would need the new number.
Oh alright, i bought it brand new as a new customer thru amazon so they should know my sim number, thanks for all your help guys, hopefully they get it ported soon!
magneticzero said:
nah they already have it when they shipped you your phone. i was just saying incase you bought the tb used and had to get a new sim, then they would need the new number.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
How did you authorize the port?
They had me call a number and follow some prompts and that was it, it was really quick
ddgarcia05 said:
How did you authorize the port?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
I had to remove my sim card, reinstall, and reboot, then it found my number.
I was told by Verizon never to use the *228 feature. Because *228 will fry the sim card. I get the feeling by this phone using a sim card they may have more access to what is going on with it. I guess I will find out soon. Since the first thing I did was root it and flashed a custom rom.
jett2314 said:
I was told by Verizon never to use the *228 feature. Because *228 will fry the sim card. I get the feeling by this phone using a sim card they may have more access to what is going on with it. I guess I will find out soon. Since the first thing I did was root it and flashed a custom rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not that they have any more access to what is happening on your phone then they did before. What changed is the use of a SIM card instead of a MEID.
The reason that you cannot call *228 is that VZW has to run two very unique provisioning systems, one for GSM and one for CDMA and *228 is the access number for the CDMA provisioning system. Because of the fundamental differences in technology between the networks, on a GSM (LTE) network there is no need for a customer accessible provisioning system. Even if you don't live in a 4G area, your phone provisioning is still controlled by the LTE system on the back end.
Remember on all prior CDMA phones your phone was actually tied to the CDMA network via the MEID number that was unique to each phone. The purpose of *228 was to have the phone pull down all of the provisioning information from the VZW back end servers (I.E. your phone number and all of the other provisioning information that the phone needs to operate correctly on the network with your phone number). Because the MEID was unique and hard coded into each handset any time a change was made to the account the end user had to dial *228 to update the information on the phone itself.
Now (and this is why everyone who has been with VZW for any length of time is being thrown for a loop) with GSM service (LTE is a GSM service) you are assigned a unique Subscriber Identity Module (SIM card). This card contains a unique number, along with all of the basic information any LTE phone needs to communicate with the network, which is hard coded in the sim card you are assigned when you got your TB and this number is assigned to your phone number in VZW's back end system (just like your MEID was prior). There is no such thing as an MEID like you are used to in an LTE network. Everything is tied to the unique identifier on the SIM card, not the phone itself.
Your TB has no MEID. It gets all of its provisioning information every time it boots from the information stored on the SIM card. That is why dialing *228 does absolutely nothing, because there is no MEID on the phone for the provisioning system to read, and there are no settings on the phone it can update.
Welcome to the SIM card express train, population, everyone already on a GSM network. And for what its worth, SIM cards have been in use in the US for a long time now. In fact many of the problems VZW techs are having frying SIM cards because they are not handled correctly or activated correctly very much reminds me of when PacBell Wireless first rolled out GSM service (PCS as they called it) back in 1997.
Success! Thanks to your detailed explanation Nusince I figured out that it wasn't updating because I had turned 4G off and also changed to their old 3g network using the ##778# dialer code. After putting those two settings back to their stock setting and I rebooted BAM my old number showed up and I had 3g again. Then I turned 4G off and went back to the old 3g network that way my phone doesn't keep dropping the data connection and it's all smooth sailing. Thanks for your help everyone and hopefully this helps someone in the future.
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA App

can you switch between phones when you want

my thunderbolt similar just went bad when switching between my thunderbolt and incredible. I did not hit *228 on my thunderbolt which makes your similar bad. the tech support Guy said once you activate another phone, the similar goes bad. is this true? if not l, what's the easiest method to do this?
What's a similar
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA App
1234567188 said:
What's a similar
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My guess is he means Sim [card] and it's autocorrecting to similar
To OP: You're stuck, at least as it comes to your 'bolt, for the time being. You CAN activate another phone on your plan (like your inc) but the only phone on VZW that uses a sim right now is the 'bolt, so you will have to take it in and get a new SIM card, or have VZW send you one.
I don't have personal experience, as I haven't switched back from the 'bolt to a non-LTE phone yet.
So with the new SIM card, it is my understanding there is no need for activation anymore, correct? I had to have my first 'bolt replaced due to mic issue, and when I popped the SIM in the new phone, it just worked. I have never activated it. Any info if this is the case with all phones that will have a SIM. If it is I am so totally getting an Xperia play, if it has a SIM slot.
madfatter said:
So with the new SIM card, it is my understanding there is no need for activation anymore, correct? I had to have my first 'bolt replaced due to mic issue, and when I popped the SIM in the new phone, it just worked. I have never activated it. Any info if this is the case with all phones that will have a SIM. If it is I am so totally getting an Xperia play, if it has a SIM slot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right - the SIMs, as they stand, are interchangeable between 'bolts. No more activation or other things, but it won't work with just any phone - it has to be a Verizon network phone because the tech for 4G is different (it's not like when people could swap sims between ATT and TMo phones) - so, right now, since the Thunderbolt is the only 4G phone on Verizon, swapping SIMs will only work with other Thunderbolts
VZW explained it to me this way .... when going from a 4G LTE device to another 4G LTE device there is no activating anymore, you simply drop in your sim card. But, if you activate a non 4G LTE phone on your account that will deactivate your sim card and will require you to return to the store for a new sim card. This was in response to me asking them if I could switch between my Droid and Bolt.
For once VZW was very helpful in store. I normally don't go to the brick and mortars but being new to 4G I had questions I needed answerd.
The SIM doesn't get "destroyed" and can be re-used.. but... you have to call Customer Service for them to enter the SIM number...
here is what I did...
When I first got my TB, VZW was having network issues, and it took well over an hour for my "activate device" request to "clear the switch" and the TB to become active.
Having intermittent data issues over the next week, I decided to swap back to my INC, wait, and later return to the TB... I thought maybe due to the network issues, the TB didn't get all its programming info "over the air" or something.
When trying to return to the TB via the Activate Device link on the My Account web site, after entering the MEID/IMEI... I got prompted about needing a SIM... so I enter the SIM number and got...
"The SIM associated with the SIM ID you entered cannot be activated at this time. Please contact Customer Service at 800-922-0204 for assistance."
CS rep couldn't help... she had me on hold while she got Tech Support...
They had to manually add the SIM number back on the account.
Moral of the story... if you activate an LTE device and remove it from your account to use a 3G device.. you'll have to call back in and manually switch devices if you want to go back to using the 4G device.
spyderman09 said:
Right - the SIMs, as they stand, are interchangeable between 'bolts. No more activation or other things, but it won't work with just any phone - it has to be a Verizon network phone because the tech for 4G is different (it's not like when people could swap sims between ATT and TMo phones) - so, right now, since the Thunderbolt is the only 4G phone on Verizon, swapping SIMs will only work with other Thunderbolts
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The real reason you can't put your SIM in an ATT or Tmo phone would be the tech. ATT and Tmo use the GSM/UMTS/HSPA (3GPP) family for "2G"/"3G"/"3.5G" where as Verizon uses CDMAone/CDMA2000/EVDO (3GPP2). SIM cards are only on Verizon now that they're using LTE which is the next step in the 3GPP family but not quite 4G. Any phone made for AT&T or Tmobile is a "GSM" phone using the 3GPP family radios which are incompatible with Verizon's 3GPP2 network (towers). On top of that, they all use different frequencies. That's why unlocked iPhones can only use "2G" on Tmobile.
KidJoe said:
The SIM doesn't get "destroyed" and can be re-used.. but... you have to call Customer Service for them to enter the SIM number...
here is what I did...
When I first got my TB, VZW was having network issues, and it took well over an hour for my "activate device" request to "clear the switch" and the TB to become active.
Having intermittent data issues over the next week, I decided to swap back to my INC, wait, and later return to the TB... I thought maybe due to the network issues, the TB didn't get all its programming info "over the air" or something.
When trying to return to the TB via the Activate Device link on the My Account web site, after entering the MEID/IMEI... I got prompted about needing a SIM... so I enter the SIM number and got...
"The SIM associated with the SIM ID you entered cannot be activated at this time. Please contact Customer Service at 800-922-0204 for assistance."
CS rep couldn't help... she had me on hold while she got Tech Support...
They had to manually add the SIM number back on the account.
Moral of the story... if you activate an LTE device and remove it from your account to use a 3G device.. you'll have to call back in and manually switch devices if you want to go back to using the 4G device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your help, looks like i gotta call them in the morning .
Originally Posted by KidJoe
The SIM doesn't get "destroyed" and can be re-used.. but... you have to call Customer Service for them to enter the SIM number...
here is what I did...
[snip]
CS rep couldn't help... she had me on hold while she got Tech Support...
They had to manually add the SIM number back on the account.
Moral of the story... if you activate an LTE device and remove it from your account to use a 3G device.. you'll have to call back in and manually switch devices if you want to go back to using the 4G device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
jamezelle said:
Thanks for your help, looks like i gotta call them in the morning .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Were they able to re-add your sim to the account? I had a Thunderbolt which I traded for another phone, and switched to a couple of 3G phones in the interim. The Verizon store person told me my sim would be good for 90 days if I got another Thunderbolt. So I did, popped in the sim, and called support to switch over from my Fascinate to the new Thunderbolt. They got tech support on the line, and I was told that switching to a 3G device from a 4G device causes the 4G sim to be "retired" and that I needed to have them send me one, or go pick up one at the store. So the story was different from what happened to KidJoe and I wonder what your experience was.
A couple possible reasons why my situation was different: It was not the same Thunderbolt the sim was originally in. Also it's possible in playing around with the new Thunderbolt, I may have done a *228 just to see what would happen. Someone else suggested that would tank the sim.
I plan to go the store tomorrow and see if they can resuscitate my old sim, or if they give me a new one.
I had activated my thunderbolt when I got it with no problems. I decided to switch back to my incredible for a day and the sim was deactivated. Vzw gave me the run around between going to the store and calling customer service for a few days then they finally said they would have to send me a new sim because as soon as I switched to the inc my sim was "retired".
droidmark said:
Were they able to re-add your sim to the account?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. They were.
I did my switches only a few hours apart... (i.e. switched to INC, waited an hour, switched back to TB). And used the same phone and SIM. Not sure if that had anything to do with it.
There obviously is an inconsistency in VZW's system somewhere... the message you get when using "Activate Phone" on the my account web page to switch away from the TB says the SIM will be deactivated after 90days. But its being deactivated IMMEDIATELY. Either that message needs to be changed, or VZW's system isn't set up correctly.
droidmark said:
Were they able to re-add your sim to the account? I had a Thunderbolt which I traded for another phone, and switched to a couple of 3G phones in the interim. The Verizon store person told me my sim would be good for 90 days if I got another Thunderbolt. So I did, popped in the sim, and called support to switch over from my Fascinate to the new Thunderbolt. They got tech support on the line, and I was told that switching to a 3G device from a 4G device causes the 4G sim to be "retired" and that I needed to have them send me one, or go pick up one at the store. So the story was different from what happened to KidJoe and I wonder what your experience was.
A couple possible reasons why my situation was different: It was not the same Thunderbolt the sim was originally in. Also it's possible in playing around with the new Thunderbolt, I may have done a *228 just to see what would happen. Someone else suggested that would tank the sim.
I plan to go the store tomorrow and see if they can resuscitate my old sim, or if they give me a new one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea that's what they told me, I ended up having to get a new sim from the store

[Q] Cant activate rooted phone with *228

I recently rooted my phone with Casual's method. Everything went smooth on the flash.
Except I am unable to activate the phone through the verizon *228 method.
when I dial *228 it just says physically on the phone "A Verizon Sim card has activated your service and updated your phones roaming capability"
but then I got to call someone and it says I have no service.
I also transferred my service to my old Droid X while I did the rooting just in case that has anything to do with it.
Someone please help, at this point im about to return it to stock.
Spherdeg said:
I recently rooted my phone with Casual's method. Everything went smooth on the flash.
Except I am unable to activate the phone through the verizon *228 method.
when I dial *228 it just says physically on the phone "A Verizon Sim card has activated your service and updated your phones roaming capability"
but then I got to call someone and it says I have no service.
I also transferred my service to my old Droid X while I did the rooting just in case that has anything to do with it.
Someone please help, at this point im about to return it to stock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
*228 is for 3G devices that have no sim. Thats what Ive been told and what ive experienced. Now you said no service, are you getting any bars or is it no bars at all. Have you tried going to mobile setting and toggling lte/3g mode. Also have your tried the hidden setting either by dialer and changing lte/gms/3g modes and then going back. Sometimes it may get stuck in a radio mode that doesnt get signal like in gms mode. I had been in the same situation and fixed it by doing the above.
New Sim card probably. That's your best bet
Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2
*228 is only for CDMA devices only, not CDMA/LTE. Your problem is that you activated a non-SIM device on your account after having a SIM device active. Doing so de-activated your SIM card, so you're going to have to go to a VZW store, or call VZW to get a new SIM to have service on your phone again.

Changed SIM cards, old number still works

So I was having issues with Sprint service (that's my hypothesis at least) and decided to try out an at&t straight talk sim card. After flip flopping back and forth Sim cards a couple times trying to get things to work and making changes to the APN (several ones) and build.prop (which I ended up reversing) and changing roms twice I finally got it to work! Whew. I was excited to test out the new service and see if it was Sprint or my G3 that was giving me issues...
That was yesterday at like 8 am. Today I just realized that everyone is still contacting me with my old number, and when I make calls or send texts it comes from my old one by default. I verified and my Sprint sim is on the table, Straight Talk/Tracfone is in my G3. I did not transfer my number, and at one point yesterday while trying to get this all to work I sent my wife a text and it came to her from the ST number and not my old number. Not any more though!
I started figuring things out on BarRin, then switched to an old backup of zv6 or whatever that's called, and now I'm on CM12. I don't know how to get the ST number to work, which I really need to do if I'm going to be switching cell providers..
Has anyone ran into this before? Any ideas? Thanks!
Sent from my LG-ls990
If unlocked the Sim you need to change network to GSM otherwise it will access CDMA (Sprint 3G) the SIM only accesses LTE for Sprint.
Sent from my LGLS990 using XDA Free mobile app
OK thank you, I forgot changes I made wouldn't have stuck because of other things I did. For the life of me I cannot figure out how to change APN or network on cm12. I downloaded the Network app and changed to gsm only, but it switches back to CDMA after a couple seconds.
Edit: in case anyone stumbled in here looking for help, I did finally get my phone working with a straight talk sim card. I had to install the Cloudy ROM instead of cm12, but it's good to go. While on cloudy I downloaded the Network app, changed to the GSM option and rebooted. Worked like a charm!

Q::: Is there anyone already running a VZW CDMA sim card on a T-mobile note 4??

I still have my Vzw note 2 and can run GSM or CDMA sim cards and have test and used it.
With the Bootloader unlocked and right ROM and change the Apn Settings.
But with the note 4 the ROMs are not made for multiple carriers anymore.
AT&T will work on here and I still had to updated APN settings a little.
I removed all others to keep it form dropping call because its jumping around to other settings.
Also turned off Lte so data will stay locked in on H and H+.
I have seen it drop data connection jumping back and forth form H,H+ and Lte.
When i place my wife VZW sim card in my Tmobile note 4 LTE kicks in and I can use it.
Signal jump on but will not connect to make a call and texting will not work.
Q::: Is there anyone already running a VZW CDMA sim card on a T-mobile note 4??
Q::: Will a sim card unlock work??
Q::: What unlocking site did use??
LTE should theoretically work, but you still would not be able to call or text because most places still rely on CDMA for the talk, text, and 3g. The Tmobile phones do not have the hardware to support it. Plus any time you would not have an LTE service, you would be out of luck since there would be nothing available for the phone to fall back to. You would also run into trouble if you needed to register the phone with VZW for any type of service as the IMEI won't be in their database and they won't allow any phones that aren't there to be officially registered with them. Not to mention other problems like being unable to update PRLs and profiles.

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