With news that AT&T will be bringing the S3 to the states this month, it prompts this question.
I currently have an international i9100 and love it. If I were to get the S3 via AT&T (at the subsidized price) would I be able to root, flash, and do anything "good" with it? Or would I be an indentured servant to AT&T?
AT&T locked the bootloader of HTC One X so I'm not really sure if they'll let you use it freely.
But then people found a way to unlock the bootloader so I think even if AT&T locked it, people would find a way around it.
And you'd also get 4G LTE, 2GB RAM but a Snapdragon S4 processor.
The S4 seems promising but it's only dual core.
AT&T has yet to make it so you cant root a samsung device. The locked bootloader is common with HTC devices so I wouldnt go off of that but I have had the S1 the S2 and the Note and all has been unlocked with little to no issues.
I spoke with a customer care rep in the executive's office today and was told the bootloader is going to be locked.
mfratella said:
I spoke with a customer care rep in the executive's office today and was told the bootloader is going to be locked.
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Of course they will say that, whether or not it's true is another story, and like mentioned it won't really matter if it is or isn't
Thanks. Once I get it I'll be back in here to get some direction with it. I'm fine with dealing with the international unlocked versions, but never tried anything with a carrier branded device.
mfratella said:
I spoke with a customer care rep in the executive's office today and was told the bootloader is going to be locked.
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We will just have to wait and see... I don't believe much customer care says.. Hell
l the one i talked to didn't even know about the pre order starting yesterday.
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mfratella said:
With news that AT&T will be bringing the S3 to the states this month, it prompts this question.
I currently have an international i9100 and love it. If I were to get the S3 via AT&T (at the subsidized price) would I be able to root, flash, and do anything "good" with it? Or would I be an indentured servant to AT&T?
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Click to collapse
Never actually heard of any samsung phone from at&t shipped with locked bootloader. Mostly is HTC phones, and they are known to do that even on unsubsidized phone till a while ago after getting bash from the android community.
and imo, the only real advantage to get a branded phone is you get easy warranty. if you bricked your phone for good during a flash or there is some problem with display, you can just walk in and get a replacement in seconds. LTE or not, or the 2GB ram, I dont think it's going to matter that much in daily use unless u use ur phone as a hot spot or something.
As far as development goes... usually international version is always better, may not be so obvious back in the galaxy S days since most of the US variant are still using the same backbone with minor variation. But ever since the S2 that need snapdragon to support LTE.... development pace kinda forked from there.
Hi, I was wondering if I unlocked the bootloader of the phone before accepting the latest firmware and THEN accept the most recent firmware from verizon, would the bootloader be locked then?
Also, what are the odds that I would receive a Verizon Galaxy S4 with it on its original software (the version that allows the unlocking) if I were to buy it at the Verizon store? Because I want to buy the phone soon from Verizon, but I don't want to buy it finding out that is already updated to the most recent version out :/
The bootloader isnt unlocked. There is only the loki exploit. Which also works only on mdk firmware. The chances of getting an me7 firmware phone from verizon are getting slimmer each day. Its not like verizon is opening and upgrading them but theres not really any way to tell when samsung is going to ship them factory direct with me7 until we start finding them ourselves. There are users reporting their replacement phones from the insurance are coming with me7 tho..
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hexitnow said:
The bootloader isnt unlocked. There is only the loki exploit. Which also works only on mdk firmware. The chances of getting an me7 firmware phone from verizon are getting slimmer each day. Its not like verizon is opening and upgrading them but theres not really any way to tell when samsung is going to ship them factory direct with me7 until we start finding them ourselves. There are users reporting their replacement phones from the insurance are coming with me7 tho..
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Sent my phone to sammy with MDK, got my same phone back with ME7.
Darn good chance sammy is stock flashing ME7 now
ok, So I just bought the phone today. I received it at the store activated. I looked at the phone and I noticed it was downloading the update. I freaked out and put it in airplane mode until I took it home and got google play edition ROM put onto it. HECK YES!!! Huge risk for me today XD
Hey guys, I want to buy a Verizon s4 from Costco, do you guys think new phones come with the original/unlockable rom?
Out are they updated out of the box?
Most likely already updated , it says on the box what version it is , you can always ask them
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Damn, I've got a galaxy nexus, I love the unlocked bootloader and running cyanogen. I didnt want to leave vzw, but I really hate the bloat and locked down phones.
Are there any decent new phones on vzw that we can flash without much trouble?
Verizon S3, but since the most recent update to 4.3 I don't know anymore.
S3 is abit out dated, I have my daughter's s3 on CM...but it's definitely am option I suppose.
I was thinking about the Google s4 for vzw, I would go this route if Verizon would give me a discounted monthly bill since they aren't subsidizing the phone. I should just drop Verizon and move the family to Sprint or Tmo
Probably best this discussion goes to the sticky ...http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2406733
I apologize in advance if this thread is a duplicate. It's almost time to upgrade again and I want a phone with competitive hardware and performance specs (like S4) *BUT* I also want to be able to get root and custom kernels. Any recommendations?
Samsung Galaxy S4 "Fort Knox Edition"
sokrboot said:
I apologize in advance if this thread is a duplicate. It's almost time to upgrade again and I want a phone with competitive hardware and performance specs (like S4) *BUT* I also want to be able to get root and custom kernels. Any recommendations?
Samsung Galaxy S4 "Fort Knox Edition"
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The M8 is probably the best hardware you can get at the moment that's on Verizon and has been "unlocked". Not too much of an upgrade though...
Oishikatta said:
The M8 is probably the best hardware you can get at the moment that's on Verizon and has been "unlocked". Not too much of an upgrade though...
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That was my take also.
If you have an S4 then the S5 and M8 are only incremental updates.
I've been trying hard to try to justify them.
I just can't at full retail (unlimited here).
So if you can get the M8 on subsidy it's cool. Otherwise I think I'll be waiting for the next year models the M9 and S6.
I had the chance to get the m8 but my wife wanted the s4 when we came over from t mobile. So glad I listened to her. Had no idea the bootloader was locked. Lol
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please go here for this discussion http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2406733
Anybody interested in the bootloader and unlocking it I encourage you to sign this petition. These phones are ours to use how we see fit and the more noise we make the better our chances are. I bought this phone under the assumption that nothing had changed and for Samsung to change their policies without notice isn't acceptable for me and hopefully you as well. Thank you
Petition
brendan802 said:
Anybody interested in the bootloader and unlocking it I encourage you to sign this petition. These phones are ours to use how we see fit and the more noise we make the better our chances are. I bought this phone under the assumption that nothing had changed and for Samsung to change their policies without notice isn't acceptable for me and hopefully you as well. Thank you
Petition
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Bootloaders have been locked down on samsung devices for a long time. Tmobile was lucky enough to have them open. This will never happen.
this is the end..
signed.
Signed
Never happened with the Note 3 despite similar petitions, likely never going to happen with the S7 either. I do agree that if you own the phone outright (not on a lease from AT&T) then you should be able to do as you please with it and once you completed the lease then you should be allowed to unlock the bootloader.
naiku said:
Never happened with the Note 3 despite similar petitions, likely never going to happen with the S7 either. I do agree that if you own the phone outright (not on a lease from AT&T) then you should be able to do as you please with it and once you completed the lease then you should be allowed to unlock the bootloader.
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I would like to say that technically through ATT it is not a lease, it is a payment plan. That would be like buying a house or a car not leasing in which case they are both considered yours right off the bat. Yes you are making payments on it but if the deal is done properly you will never return the phone to ATT making it yours, unlike a lease.
whoamanwtf said:
I would like to say that technically through ATT it is not a lease, it is a payment plan. That would be like buying a house or a car not leasing in which case they are both considered yours right off the bat. Yes you are making payments on it but if the deal is done properly you will never return the phone to ATT making it yours, unlike a lease.
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That is a very good point, however I can at least understand with AT&T that until you pay for that phone in full it is not considered yours. I would not be surprised if they have something in the fine print on the Next plan that says something to that effect. Note - I do agree with you entirely, I am paying for a phone and should be able to do whatever the heck I want with it.
If you're going to write a petition to these companies, you should run it through a proofreader and spell check. Nobody will take that seriously written the way it is. Also, if you want it to gain more traction, you should probably share it in the Galaxy S7 subreddit as well at www.reddit.com/r/galaxys7.
Don't think it will happen with Samsung Pay. They are very protective of it.
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With no upgrade availability for any of the phone numbers on my account, I paid full price for my S7 Edge, so I own my phone outright and want the bootloader unlocked!
What happens when this reaches 1500? With a locked bootloader aren't things such as root and safestrap still feasible?
TheZander said:
What happens when this reaches 1500? With a locked bootloader aren't things such as root and safestrap still feasible?
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Yes root it possible. Not sure about safe strap.
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billydroid said:
Yes root it possible. Not sure about safe strap.
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Root is still a longshot and I'd go as far as saying that safestrap won't happen at all. Look at the past, the AT&T S6 barely got root, still doesn't have more than like 2 ROMs, and is entirely dependent on one root method that supports two specific builds and an app called Flashfire. Samsung, on behalf of the carriers, is doing everything in their power to make rooting and custom ROMs an impossible feat. With that being said, let's take a look at the AT&T Note 5. It still has just received root from the same people who are supporting root on the S6 (from what I've seen, PingPongRoot was born and died with an earlier S6 build). The majority of the big devs who used to put in the work for supporting Samsung devices have all jumped ship to devices that aren't as heavily locked down. Unfortunately, I think the dev scene for Samsung devices that aren't the international or T-Mobile versions is pretty much dead (even the Tmo Note 5 isn't getting much love). The only redemption here is that the S7 uses a qualcomm processor, not an exynos, which is much more heavily documented, meaning that if someone is able to crack open the bootloader, the ROMs (and more importantly, the kernels) will be much easier to build. This is all just my 2 cents, I hope someone does accomplish the unthinkable and achieve all of this, but in the meantime, if you want to stick with Samsung, buckle up and enjoy the stock touchwiz. You'll probably be on it for a while.
TekGadgt said:
Root is still a longshot and I'd go as far as saying that safestrap won't happen at all. Look at the past, the AT&T S6 barely got root, still doesn't have more than like 2 ROMs, and is entirely dependent on one root method that supports two specific builds and an app called Flashfire. Samsung, on behalf of the carriers, is doing everything in their power to make rooting and custom ROMs an impossible feat. With that being said, let's take a look at the AT&T Note 5. It still has just received root from the same people who are supporting root on the S6 (from what I've seen, PingPongRoot was born and died with an earlier S6 build). The majority of the big devs who used to put in the work for supporting Samsung devices have all jumped ship to devices that aren't as heavily locked down. Unfortunately, I think the dev scene for Samsung devices that aren't the international or T-Mobile versions is pretty much dead (even the Tmo Note 5 isn't getting much love). The only redemption here is that the S7 uses a qualcomm processor, not an exynos, which is much more heavily documented, meaning that if someone is able to crack open the bootloader, the ROMs (and more importantly, the kernels) will be much easier to build. This is all just my 2 cents, I hope someone does accomplish the unthinkable and achieve all of this, but in the meantime, if you want to stick with Samsung, buckle up and enjoy the stock touchwiz. You'll probably be on it for a while.
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I agree with you. The real kicker for me is what T-Mobile is doing, which is my carrier. Almost every device on tmo had the ability to get root and be unlocked. But they are getting on board with Verizon and AT&T and requested devices be locked down. Then they lie to us and say it's the manufacturers. They had them lock down the LG g5, which LG always gave us a unlock method,.garbage.
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dubbactrumpetmsu said:
If you're going to write a petition to these companies, you should run it through a proofreader and spell check. Nobody will take that seriously written the way it is. Also, if you want it to gain more traction, you should probably share it in the Galaxy S7 subreddit as well at www.reddit.com/r/galaxys7.
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I agree with you, I would love to sign a petition and I'm glad someone started one, but this petition has too many mistakes to even count. I doubt any company is going to take it very seriously. No disrespect intended to the person who wrote it, but it needs to be re-written.
Best hope for us is for the mandatory arbitration clause to go away. That would enable a group of users to sue when a locked bootloader prevents them from upgraded their phone. Older phones are susceptible to vulnerabilities because AT&T doesn't continue to roll out updates and the locked bootloader prevents you from updating the phone on your own.
I could be wrong, but I think this could be a pathway.
In the history of these sites and smartphones I don't think any company has ever unlocked the bootloader for any petition, and there have been plenty of them. I don't think they ever will. As much as I agree that it shouldn't be locked, especially if you outright own the phone, this is just a lost cause.
This thread about an app called "crom" in China is interesting: http://forum.xda-developers.com/sprint-s7-edge/help/code-t3379915/page24
Posted in the Sprint S7 edge forums. I guess the China varient is able to have its bootloader unlocked with this app...
xjimmy said:
This thread about an app called "crom" in China is interesting: http://forum.xda-developers.com/sprint-s7-edge/help/code-t3379915/page24
Posted in the Sprint S7 edge forums. I guess the China varient is able to have its bootloader unlocked with this app...
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China's bootloader isn't as locked down as ours in the states is...[emoji30]
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