Stock UK Firmware - Does it Unlock? - Galaxy S III Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hi,
I will be receiving my Galaxy S3 on monday. Ive bought it through T-Mobile on contract, and it will be sim locked on arrival.
I need my phone unlocking so i can use multiple sims, that i have from european countries that i travel to.
I hate the carriers tweaks and am thinking of flashing some stock unbranded firmware to it....will this also unlock the phone to all networks?
The latest firmware i can find is:
I9300XXALF2 Download (Thanks To SamMobile!)
Base Firmware: I9300XXALF2 (4.0.4)
Region Europe
Country: United Kingdom
Carrier: Unbranded
Build Date: 5 June 2012
Modem: XXLF2
CSC: OXALF2
Change List: 671647
This can be found in Faryaab's thread and also in Intratechs thread alson with a secure and an insecure kernel..... have yet to learn what a kernel is.
I have flashed and debranded HTC TyTn phones successfully before, and whilst im inexperienced, i am able to follow instructions and have not managed to brick any of my previous phones, so i should be ok. (excluding the Sony PSP.....i messed that up really bad!)
Thanks
Gaz

Anyone?

I'm new to this phone, only got mine yesterday, but I'm pretty sure that flashing a different ROM will not get rid of your simlock :-/

T-Mobile UK, mine came unbranded and unlocked.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

I got 2 from t-mobile both with no slim lock
Sent from my GT-I9300 using XDA

Related

[Q] GT-i9100 Unlocked by o2. expect generic Kies updates or Carrier specific Update?

hi guys, first post so apologies if its been asked before. i have run a search but all the results are regarding factory unlocked phones.
i bought my Galaxy S2 locked to the o2 uk network.
recently had it unlocked by o2 with the keys that they provided me.
with the up coming ICS update, im just curious to know if Kies will update me with a generic Regional release of ICS or will i still need to wait for an o2 branded ICS release because the phone was locked to o2 from new.
not sure what info you need, so ill just provide the usual info ive seen posted in forums.
PDA: I9100XWKJ1
PHONE: I9100XXKI4
CSC: I9100O2UKJ1
BUILD: OCT 11
ANDROID 2.3.5
GT-I9100
thanks in advance!
TeamKilo said:
hi guys, first post so apologies if its been asked before. i have run a search but all the results are regarding factory unlocked phones.
i bought my Galaxy S2 locked to the o2 uk network.
recently had it unlocked by o2 with the keys that they provided me.
with the up coming ICS update, im just curious to know if Kies will update me with a generic Regional release of ICS or will i still need to wait for an o2 branded ICS release because the phone was locked to o2 from new.
not sure what info you need, so ill just provide the usual info ive seen posted in forums.
PDA: I9100XWKJ1
PHONE: I9100XXKI4
CSC: I9100O2UKJ1
BUILD: OCT 11
ANDROID 2.3.5
GT-I9100
thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you can do it either way. More than likely a general ICS release will be seen some time before you get a branded release from o2 so it will pretty much be up to you which one you implement, but I'm sure most will agree that the o2 official will come after the generic ICS
TeamKilo said:
i bought my Galaxy S2 locked to the o2 uk network.
recently had it unlocked by o2 with the keys that they provided me.
with the up coming ICS update, im just curious to know if Kies will update me with a generic Regional release of ICS or will i still need to wait for an o2 branded ICS release because the phone was locked to o2 from new.
not sure what info you need, so ill just provide the usual info ive seen posted in forums.
PDA: I9100XWKJ1
PHONE: I9100XXKI4
CSC: I9100O2UKJ1
BUILD: OCT 11
ANDROID 2.3.5
GT-I9100
O2 phones are often unlocked and the upgrade path will be dependant upon O2 not Samsung as O2 will brand before release .Your phone is unlocked but still an O2 branded phone .
However Google have asked for a much faster roll out from networks for this update .
I would find your O2 firmware and save it as even if you try stock roms custom roms etc you can always wipe your phone and revert to the O2 firmware for an official upgrade .search CheckFus in that respect .
jje
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the replies guys.
I thought by having my phone unlocked directly by o2 would make it unbranded, thus being able to update to an unbranded ICS release via Kies instead of waiting for the o2 branded one.
Well i guess I'll have to wait and see what happens. Hopefully I get an update with the unbranded version via Kies!
I'm not familiar with custom roms. I am comfortable with the whole scene, I just havnt tinkered with Android yet.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA
TeamKilo said:
Thanks for the replies guys.
I thought by having my phone unlocked directly by o2 would make it unbranded,
No just unlocked to the network that does not change product codes etc so its still the same phone as far as Kies can see O2 UK .
You can of course download and install stock ICS once released from XDA etc .
jje
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I may end up having to do that if o2 take too long or don't provide an ETA for their branded version of ICS.
I guess I'll need to get reading on where do get stock roms and how to flash them to my phone.
Can you link me in the right direction?
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA
Stock Roms .and csc
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1075278
Carrier branded .
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1113928
latest rom via check fus
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1110160
and sammobile.com .
jje
Great thanks for all the help!
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA

Flash unbranded 4.0.4 over DUTCH T-mobile SGS III

Hi there XDA,
pretty standard question:
My girl just received her phone here in the Netherlands, but when booting up it shows the Dutch T-mobile in between. Also Dutch T-mobile apps are preinstalled.
I want to flash the unbranded 4.0.4 version for her, is it possible just by grabbing the file from sammobile/samfirmware, extracting and flashing the .tar in odin?
Build numbers are the same on sammobile:
I9300XXALE8 (unbranded and t-mobile)
Searched XDA but couldn't find this particular question.
Cheers
The answer is yes
Often is doing it, learning it.
Unbranded 4.0.4

orange s3 phone bricked

hi bro
got an new unlocked s3
originally it was orange branded s3 from uk and it was unlocked and rooted for use in india
since i wanted to remove the branding i flashed the unbranded firmware from this thread using mobile odin from sd card
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1646610
now when the fone restarted hell broke loose
my sim was locked saying i need to enter some code to unlock my fone
felt literally like cryin after doing such a blunder..would hv been better off with the orange splash screen
please help
thanks in advance
pradeep
Hi there. I just took a look at the firmware you flashed and seen the problem straight away.
I9300XXBLH1 Download (Thanks To SamMobile!)
Base Firmware: I9300XXBLH1 (4.0.4)
Region Europe
Country: Nordic Countries
Carrier: Unbranded
Build Date: 31 July 2012
Modem: XXLH1
CSC: NEEBLH1
Change List: 928452
Notice above that the region says Europe. And for it to work on Indian Networks it needs to be an Indian Unbranded firmware.
So the reason it because of the Region you downloaded was not the one needed.
I would advice either going back to the firmware you had before, or finding an Indian Official Firmware mate.
Hope this has helped
pradeeprox said:
hi bro
got an new unlocked s3
originally it was orange branded s3 from uk and it was unlocked and rooted for use in india
since i wanted to remove the branding i flashed the unbranded firmware from this thread using mobile odin from sd card
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1646610
now when the fone restarted hell broke loose
my sim was locked saying i need to enter some code to unlock my fone
felt literally like cryin after doing such a blunder..would hv been better off with the orange splash screen
please help
thanks in advance
pradeep
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't panic I have been there and done that.
You should be able to not enter a code and still use the phone offline. If you can do that you should be able to access the functions and see if the ROM is rooted, if it isn't grab yourself a copy of the toolkit http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1703488 and use it to root the ROM. Once you have done that you will be able to access root functionality and allow you to run applications such as http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1846451&highlight=voodoo
Good luck ROM warrior. hopefully you will unlock your device and join us in the promised land.
Personally I got fed up of that shift a while ago so i started buying unbranded phones.
---------- Post added at 01:50 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:49 PM ----------
donsimmi said:
Hi there. I just took a look at the firmware you flashed and seen the problem straight away.
I9300XXBLH1 Download (Thanks To SamMobile!)
Base Firmware: I9300XXBLH1 (4.0.4)
Region Europe
Country: Nordic Countries
Carrier: Unbranded
Build Date: 31 July 2012
Modem: XXLH1
CSC: NEEBLH1
Change List: 928452
Notice above that the region says Europe. And for it to work on Indian Networks it needs to be an Indian Unbranded firmware.
So the reason it because of the Region you downloaded was not the one needed.
I would advice either going back to the firmware you had before, or finding an Indian Official Firmware mate.
Hope this has helped
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea thats just the first one in the Thread if you actually scrolled down you would find many more stock ROMS. one of which he probably flashed.
ALSO if you want to go back to the Orange branded ROM then check out this post and scroll down
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=26530809&postcount=7
thanks a million for the prompt response and understanding my plight
it was the second day with the new fone ...
my whole family was excited abt s3 and i end up with bricking and locking the fone
i`m downloading the toolkit now
will root first then
and i`m going to unlock wit galaxsim...
will keep u posted
thanks again
i hav done it
thanks a million for the help rendered ..
i hav successfully rooted and unlocked my phone
still have some doubts
since am usin a stock firmware ...I9300XXBLG8
can i start flashing custom roms since i don hav warranty anyways ?
will my fone get locked to orange anytime in the future ?
donsimmi said:
Hi there. I just took a look at the firmware you flashed and seen the problem straight away.
I9300XXBLH1 Download (Thanks To SamMobile!)
Base Firmware: I9300XXBLH1 (4.0.4)
Region Europe
Country: Nordic Countries
Carrier: Unbranded
Build Date: 31 July 2012
Modem: XXLH1
CSC: NEEBLH1
Change List: 928452
Notice above that the region says Europe. And for it to work on Indian Networks it needs to be an Indian Unbranded firmware.
So the reason it because of the Region you downloaded was not the one needed.
I would advice either going back to the firmware you had before, or finding an Indian Official Firmware mate.
Hope this has helped
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi ..Just to let you know that is not true.... I live in Zimbabwe (Southern Africa) were the firmware is XEF.... I am using BTU british firmware in Africa without any problem and getting british updates. I know a lot of people who use all sorts of different country versions in their country... As long as your rom version matches your csc it will be fine. If it doesnt then one can manually change the csc and get official updates of the new firmware version.
Cheers
---------- Post added at 07:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:40 PM ----------
pradeeprox said:
i hav done it
thanks a million for the help rendered ..
i hav successfully rooted and unlocked my phone
still have some doubts
since am usin a stock firmware ...I9300XXBLG8
can i start flashing custom roms since i don hav warranty anyways ?
will my fone get locked to orange anytime in the future ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes you can start flashing custom firmware......Wel by now you have learned how to unlock and root your phone so even if it gets locked in the future you will have the ANTIDOTE...
art_arev said:
Hi ..Just to let you know that is not true.... I live in Zimbabwe (Southern Africa) were the firmware is XEF.... I am using BTU british firmware in Africa without any problem and getting british updates. I know a lot of people who use all sorts of different country versions in their country... As long as your rom version matches your csc it will be fine. If it doesnt then one can manually change the csc and get official updates of the new firmware version.
Cheers
---------- Post added at 07:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:40 PM ----------
Yes you can start flashing custom firmware......Wel by now you have learned how to unlock and root your phone so even if it gets locked in the future you will have the ANTIDOTE...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanx bro..so wt if i wanted to change my firmware to indian and how shld i change my csc
tried that csc changer thru market but it failed ..i couldnt even type anything
as of now am happy with firmware..planning to wait for clean JB custom builds

[Q] i9300 firmware

I9300XXDLIB Download (Thanks To SamMobile!)
Base Firmware: I9300XXDLIB (4.1.1)
Region Europe
Country: Poland
Carrier: Unbranded
Build Date: 21 September 2012
Modem: XXDLIB
CSC: OXFDLI1
Change List: 204919
Hi guys newbie here.. Ive downloded the above firmware on my uk unbranded i9300 on orange network and its working fine, everything on my phone is working I havent come across any problems
one question I have will it cause me any problems being on polish firmware and not uk anybody know whats different and do i need to alter any setting cheers in advance
stock firmware was i9300xxblg8
corfyboy said:
I9300XXDLIB Download (Thanks To SamMobile!)
Base Firmware: I9300XXDLIB (4.1.1)
Region Europe
Country: Poland
Carrier: Unbranded
Build Date: 21 September 2012
Modem: XXDLIB
CSC: OXFDLI1
Change List: 204919
Hi guys newbie here.. Ive downloded the above firmware on my uk unbranded i9300 on orange network and its working fine, everything on my phone is working I havent come across any problems
one question I have will it cause me any problems being on polish firmware and not uk anybody know whats different and do i need to alter any setting cheers in advance
stock firmware was i9300xxblg8
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
is your phone a GT-i9300 model? because the latest JB fw is for i9300 models
You won't get OTA updates.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app
saywhatt said:
is your phone a GT-i9300 model? because the latest JB fw is for i9300 models
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep it's a GT I9300 but its working fine only thing ive noticed is the LED charging light is a lot dimmer than it was
Whats the difference between GT I9300 and I9300 ? Sorry for the stupid questions
There's no difference.As stated above you won't get the UK OTA updates when they do finally come out. But you can just flash the UK firmware later via Odin if you're so inclined.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app
corfyboy said:
Yep it's a GT I9300 but its working fine only thing ive noticed is the LED charging light is a lot dimmer than it was
Whats the difference between GT I9300 and I9300 ? Sorry for the stupid questions
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
GT-I9300 and I9300 are one and the same.. I just asked because there are variant firmwares. It is perfectly fine for you to flash the Polish JB, but you won't be getting any OTA from your Regions.

[Q] New Zealand CSC Question

Hey guys,
I have a New Zealand Samsung S3 GT-I9300.
It's got no branding on the phone, no logos, no logos on startup etc and I didn't buy it from a Telecom, 2 Degrees, or Vodafone store so I assume its unlocked. I bought if from an electronic store called **** Smith.
It's on the Telecom network - just chucked in my Telecom SIM.
OS - 4.0.4
AP - 19300XXALF2
CP - 19300XXLF2
CSC - 19300NZCALF1
At the moment when I plug the phone into Kies, it gives me the message "Your device's current firmware version is not supported to firmware via Kies".
After doing some research and troubleshooting steps like making sure Kies is up to date, reinstalling drivers etc I saw that some people said that if your CSC is wrong Kies won't upgrade your phone.
I realised that Jellybean hasn't been released for NZ yet but I figure that Kies should be saying something along the line of 'You have the latest firmware..' instead of saying its not supported.
So I was just wondering if my CSC looks fine for an unlocked NZ S3.
Let me know if you need any more information.
Cheers
My S3 is unlocked from Parallel on Vodafone NZ had the same CSC with no problems. I wouldn't worry about it much you can always flash via Odin.
If you are worried about it, flash the stock rom via Odin and use the BTU CSC that's what I've done, I have had no issues with it at all, and it's updated itself all the way up to 4.1.1 OTA with no problem.
Also, have you rooted the phone? If so it can report that you are unable to update via Kies
Taubin said:
My S3 is unlocked from Parallel on Vodafone NZ had the same CSC with no problems. I wouldn't worry about it much you can always flash via Odin.
If you are worried about it, flash the stock rom via Odin and use the BTU CSC that's what I've done, I have had no issues with it at all, and it's updated itself all the way up to 4.1.1 OTA with no problem.
Also, have you rooted the phone? If so it can report that you are unable to update via Kies
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your reply and advice
My phone isn't rooted.
BTU is UK right?
Couldn't I just change the CSC instead of flashing another ROM?
This will void warranty right? Don't really mind but just wondering out of curiosity.
Cheers
Mine isn't rooted either. You don't need to be in order to install the rom through Odin.
BTU is in fact UK
You can try to change the CSC first and see if that works, keep in mind it's going to wipe your phone when you do so.
It should not void the warranty, as you will still be using a default stock official rom, most people load the stock official when sending it in for repair work
By the way, the stock rom I used was the one listed here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1646610 from May 13th :
I9300XXALE8 Download (Thanks To SamMobile!)
Base Firmware: I9300XXALE8 (4.0.4)
Region Europe
Country: United Kingdom
Carrier: Unbranded
Build Date: 13 May 2012
Modem: XXLE8
CSC: OXAALE8
Change List: 554452
I then accepted OTA updates on the phone directly to get it up to the current rom
Taubin said:
Mine isn't rooted either. You don't need to be in order to install the rom through Odin.
BTU is in fact UK
You can try to change the CSC first and see if that works, keep in mind it's going to wipe your phone when you do so.
It should not void the warranty, as you will still be using a default stock official rom, most people load the stock official when sending it in for repair work
By the way, the stock rom I used was the one listed here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1646610 from May 13th :
I9300XXALE8 Download (Thanks To SamMobile!)
Base Firmware: I9300XXALE8 (4.0.4)
Region Europe
Country: United Kingdom
Carrier: Unbranded
Build Date: 13 May 2012
Modem: XXLE8
CSC: OXAALE8
Change List: 554452
I then accepted OTA updates on the phone directly to get it up to the current rom
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for that!
I'll give that a go.
Thanks
Just by coincidence my phone updated to Jellybean 4.1.1 via OTA a few days ago without me having to flash another stock ROM on it.
Also, Kies now reports that I have the latest firmware.
Looks like all I had to do was be a bit more patient.
Everything seems to be in order now.
Cheers for your help anyway guys.

Categories

Resources