I've been trying all day to unlock a T-mobile galaxy s4. T-mobile refuses to do it; and I would almost rather throw the phone away than sell it (I fix screens, so I buy em broke then resell them), because that might give T-mobile another customer.
I called them up and they say they do that to "protect customers". I didn't need to be rude to the representatives, but how is THAT supposed to work? Isn't a phone reported stolen blocked on a all carriers!?
So, what I've tried so far:
1.) Dialing: *#0011# - hitting back button - entering 1.. doesn't work. Gives me a screen something along the lines of "Menu does not Exist.. current command 11".
2.) *#197328640# takes me to a debug screen;
3.) "Service mode for Samsung" says: "Your device does not Support this Samsung chipset.
4.) I tried literally dozens of other *#xxx# codes. (So if technicians were supposed to have access to this level control before things got out what do they do now?)
5. Several "secret code revealer" apps.
6.) Looked into Dr. Phone claims to support rooting Samsung; I have a supported OS but it won't install and their help does not even claim to be fast (nor does it seem to get a lot of respect.)
7.) I *COULD* try rooting.
a.) Towelroot's webpage has a bad security certificate.
b.) The other root program I looked into: my antivirus didn't like it. (Among other problems I found a few minutes later.)
c.) There are 3 dozen websites for every root method available; these *HAVE* to be installing spyware or why else would so many people be bothering to maintain a website for other peoples root!? (Mabye some make money off the advertising lol.)
It seems like the only SAFE way that I have to remove root is learn Java, browse the CVS or other root source code and implement it myself! ...Then even at that, if they guy who *created* android screwed up enough to let me root it *I* obviously can't certify anything as safe.
I'd really love to protect my customers WITHOUT rewarding T-mobile for it's bad behavoir by putting on of their locked phones back on the market.
Thanks!
Edit: Thanks to this thread: https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2734094 I can get into the UMTS menu, but the entries I need are missing.
As far as I know, there's also paid unlocking, using a third party service. Still, T-Mobile is a bit expensive to unlock, since it's not done by code.
somedude2 said:
I've been trying all day to unlock a T-mobile galaxy s4. T-mobile refuses to do it; and I would almost rather throw the phone away than sell it (I fix screens, so I buy em broke then resell them), because that might give T-mobile another customer...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your best bet is to post your question within the following thread that's device and carrier specific.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2324421
Good Luck!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I DO NOT PROVIDE SUPPORT VIA PM UNLESS ASKED/REQUESTED BY MYSELF.
PLEASE KEEP IT IN THE THREADS WHERE EVERYONE CAN SHARE
Related
no
Take it to a TMO store, I doubt anyone here will be too willing to help giving the possibility that you may have a stolen device.
If it is rooted there is a way, I don't have the link, but you use adb to pull and edit one of the db's , if it is not rooted, then most likely SOL ...
colaicee said:
i work at a cellphone repair shop. we also buy sale and trade phones. i use XDA a lot for the new android phones coming out when people have problems.
my coworker bought a vibrant from a customer that came into our store, the thing is that now the phone is patterned locked and we dont know the original email address. he said that it was working fine when he first purchased it. my guess is the customer unlocked it before my coworker played around with the phone.
anyways, no i didnt steal it. or any of that bs. we have a business license, a store front, and 99.9% feedback on ebay.
pm me if theres a way. willing to paypal for info.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if you really did buy it, then call the person up and ask them.... unless i'm mistaken if any store buys stuff from customers they're supposed to document all information in case the item has been stolen
The phone is locked regardless. There is an android bug that doesn't allow the phone to verify the google credentials after you try the pattern lock too many times. Even if if was the OP's actual phone, he'd need to either factory reset, flash a new rom to the device, or get a replacement phone.
No one here will be able to help you get past it. There were security holes that allowed people to bypass it, but Google has sinec patched those, without fixing the fundamental issue (users, their children, their friends locking them out and basically "bricking" the device for all intents and purposes).
You got got, and it's probably a stolen device (not saying you stole it, someone else could have).
If you go to T-Mobile they will ask for you account information and check the IMEI against you account. T-Mobile uses different bands as AT&T so there aren't that many people buying Vibrants up front to unlock them and use them on different carriers, TBQH. If that IMEI belongs to someone else (it's even on you contract/reciept), they won't replace the phone. They will assume it's stolen.
Maybe if you start a contract/new line the reps in the store may help you out, though.
However, contacting Samsung may yield better results, but I think the Warranty is handled by T-Mobile, unless it's a hardware defect (hardware locked devices and pattern lockouts are both software issues).
"No i didn't steal it"
LOL
:/........
Nvm, lol
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
If it is rooted you could always try this ..
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=485988
ookas said:
if you really did buy it, then call the person up and ask them.... unless i'm mistaken if any store buys stuff from customers they're supposed to document all information in case the item has been stolen
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Click to collapse
yep, good call there. if the op purchased the phone he should have all of the sellers info on file.
Does someone know of a way I can tell if my phone is used or refurbished? I just got a Vibrant through a T-Mobile store and it was sold to me as new but I feel it might not be...mainly because as the rep was setting it up before handing it over the home screen icons were all scattered about and when I opened doubleTwist player to check it out there already was a device name set in the Settings menu. I tend to be mistrustful of phone carriers in general so my paranoia may be ill-founded. This is my first smartphone and I am definitely a "noob" to androids. Thanks everyone.
Could possibly be some foul play. When did you get it?
Does it have scratches?
Is it possible to call T-Mobile and ask them if the phones imei has ever been used by another sim?
Either way, if you just got the phone, ask them to exchange it for you, and tell them not to open the box, you will open it yourself.
most likely you purchased a phone from a "authorized dealer" usually in cases like that when a person buys a phone they have xx days to return it. authorized retails (some not all) will resell that "gently used" device as new. I haven't heard this happening from T-Mobile Corporate stores. Check for wear backplates, battery and surrounding area, screen and connector pins for the micro usb plug. if everything looks up to par don't worry about it.
Yeah I was a pretty annoyed that the clerk was setting up the phone and I had to tell them I wanted to see what they were doing. The phone looks new and all the accessories were still in their respective 'bags'.
I did purchase the phone from a tmo corporate store. I also posted on doubleTwist's support forum and found out that a default name (a random Star Wars or Dune character name) is automatically set if you aren't logged into a gmail account during setup, which I didn't have. The other item of concern is the pin2 code to access the Fixed Dialing Number menu is already set and I didn't do it. Calling tmobile support tonight to find out what's up with that. I'll post here what I find out. Thanks.
So I called tmobile customer support to ask about the pin2 code but it was after hours. I did find out from the user manual that you DO have to get this code from your carrier if your sim card supports it. I also successfully registered (after several attempts) my phone with the IMEI code on the Samsung site. I think I've been a little paranoid about this and actually received a new phone like I should have. Doesn't hurt to be a little skeptical though, eh? Thanks again to SamsungVibrant and boystuff for your responses.
I want to give something back to the developers.
I've a new fancy phone, and I'm eager to have root access so I can restore an image of "good for enterprise" that doesn't scramble the communication port (only for verizon does it do this, and then they charge you $15 per month to "unscramble" it).
I know the devs are hard at work on rooting the device, and it will happen regardless of anything I do, but I am pledging $20 as a paypal donation to whichever development group (or individual) comes up with the first reliable rooting method for our verizon phones.
I don't consider this an "incentive" since everyone is already motivated, but rather as a "thank you" gift. Anyone else who would like to pledge, please feel free to use this thread to state your intentions.
Thank you for all you do for us.
I'd be down with a donation myself
Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2
Chitsu said:
I want to give something back to the developers.
I've a new fancy phone, and I'm eager to have root access so I can restore an image of "good for enterprise" that doesn't scramble the communication port (only for verizon does it do this, and then they charge you $15 per month to "unscramble" it).
I know the devs are hard at work on rooting the device, and it will happen regardless of anything I do, but I am pledging $20 as a paypal donation to whichever development group (or individual) comes up with the first reliable rooting method for our verizon phones.
I don't consider this an "incentive" since everyone is already motivated, but rather as a "thank you" gift. Anyone else who would like to pledge, please feel free to use this thread to state your intentions.
Thank you for all you do for us.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What is this scramble of the com port you are speaking of?
intelinside83 said:
What is this scramble of the com port you are speaking of?
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Click to collapse
I've scoured google for answers to the question, "why is verizon the only carrier that charges it's users $15/mo to use this application?"
I'm coming over from Sprint, which does not charge for this.
After a few calls to customer service, I was able to determine that their "feature code" to enable good (which doesn't directly charge you any money) places your device in a different tier of service (which does cost you more). So technically (and more importantly, legally) you aren't paying for "good" but rather, you are paying for "encrypted corporate data services".
Trying to determine HOW they accomplished this lead me to posts and commentary from users that explained if you select "other" during setup, when prompted to select your carrier, the app will work fine, but if you select "verizon" the app will not connect.
So, the best explaination I have found so far is that Good has collaborated with Verizon on this deal, and when you install it on a verizon phone, it switches port 8080 to some other port. Then, when you call verizon and enter their "feature" code, they give you the $15 add-on charge and either push a config to the app to put it back on 8080, or, they put in NAT rules to re-route the obscure port back to 8080.
Some say that they've not been prompted to select a carrier on the newer versions, so they may have disabled that work around.
Others have said that they were able to call up and cancel the feature, and it still worked, but then more recent posters say this doesn't work anymore either.
So, my hope is that if I do a titanium restore of my ICS epic4g Sprint install, that:
A: It will actually work on Jellybean/NoteII
B: Whatever hijinks good/verizon are doing on the back end to soak users out of MORE money will be circumvented.
I just called Verizon about their rooting and ROM flashing policy. Apparently, if you root the phone, the fraud department will lock your phone, and if you flash the phone, you won't be able to use it on Verizon networks.
Does this sound right? I have the funny feeling that my question may have flown over some heads and someone may have given me a BS answer but I wanted to make sure nonetheless...
-Feuerhund
Feuerhund said:
I just called Verizon about their rooting and ROM flashing policy. Apparently, if you root the phone, the fraud department will lock your phone, and if you flash the phone, you won't be able to use it on Verizon networks.
Does this sound right? I have the funny feeling that my question may have flown over some heads and someone may have given me a BS answer but I wanted to make sure nonetheless...
-Feuerhund
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It would void your warranty, if they were to find out but there is no way they could "lock" your phone and neither does installing a (properly working) rom stop your ability to access VZW's network. There is no way they would or could know unless you were to take your phone in to the store while customized and even then, they couldn't lock your phone or stop you from using it - you would just not be able to use a warranty claim on it. Often times, on many phones, there is a way to reset / restore the phone so only the most experienced tech could tell, if at all (depends on the phone and update it's on). I mean, this myth is easily debunked by the tons of forums for VZW phones right here @ xda where 10s of 1000s of VZW users have upgraded their phone with custom roms and all that.
es0tericcha0s said:
It would void your warranty, if they were to find out but there is no way they could "lock" your phone and neither does installing a (properly working) rom stop your ability to access VZW's network. There is no way they would or could know unless you were to take your phone in to the store while customized and even then, they couldn't lock your phone or stop you from using it - you would just not be able to use a warranty claim on it. Often times, on many phones, there is a way to reset / restore the phone so only the most experienced tech could tell, if at all (depends on the phone and update it's on). I mean, this myth is easily debunked by the tons of forums for VZW phones right here @ xda where 10s of 1000s of VZW users have upgraded their phone with custom roms and all that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I asked Verizon, and here is what they said:
Verizon said:
Verizon Wireless has the right to, without notice, limit, suspend or end your service or any agreement with you for this or any other good cause including, but not limited to: if you breach the customer agreement, lie to us, allow anyone to tamper with your phone; or interfere with our operation, modify your phone from its manufacturer's specification or use the service in a way that adversely affects our network or other customers. We can also temporarily limit, suspend, or end your service for any operation or government reason.
Rooting, unlocking, and flashing a Verizon Wireless phone is in violation of the terms and conditions that were agreed upon activation of your prepaid service. You can find this information by clicking on or copying the following link into your browser: [link deleted because lol forum law]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So apparently they do reserve the right to shut you down for this. I'm rather worried that this could actually happen... but maybe I shouldn't be. But what with them having their own software on the phone, would it be so hard for them to have a little program on there that pings Verizon when a phone gets altered and gives them a killswitch? Maybe the users here are just lucky and I'll be the unlucky one... idk.
-Feuerhund
You do realize that there are dozens of VZW forums here where 10s of 1000s of users have rooted / customized their phones, right? Including many phones that VZW had the manufacturer lock the bootloader on. For HTCs, if you unlock your bootloader at their dev website, they have a record of which phones have or have not been unlocked and even with that info, have never seen a report of anyone being denied service. They have absolutely NO way to tell if you phone has been modded without looking at the phone, and even then, they will not stop your services. I have modded dozens of VZW phones for friends and customers and have never had a return or have any issues in that regard.
Does anyone here know if the T-Mobile variant has a locked bootloader? And if so, is there any way to unlock it?
I'm wondering the same thing...I'll be going to look at it later today. Also I noticed the wifi model has the phone dialer installed so I'm wondering if the LTE T-Mobile model has phone function with the right sim installed?
I went to the T-Mobile store to look at the tab...They had no idea if the bootloader is locked or not. I'm sure it probably is but haven't seen anything about whether it can be unlocked yet. They also told me that the phone and SMS/MMS might work for a few days until the system detects it is a tablet, then those functions will be disabled. Make no sense to me why we can't have those functions on a tablet here in the US...And why even put the software on the tab if it can't be used? I told them to keep it and I'll get the WiFi tablet and just use the hotspot on my phone when I'm out and about. At least I'll get quicker updates (Maybe because Samsung) and I won't have the tons of their bloatware on the thing.
Any feedback?
coilbio said:
Any feedback?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you can go into store and view the tablet go into settings and enable developer options by tapping on the build. Then go into developer options and see if there is a switch to unlock the boot loader. I just bought the wifi model from Best Buy and the boot loader can be unlocked. I have already installed TWRP and Magisk. I think maybe the LTE version may require a 7 day wait not sure.
rsktkr1 said:
If you can go into store and view the tablet go into settings and enable developer options by tapping on the build. Then go into developer options and see if there is a switch to unlock the boot loader. I just bought the wifi model from Best Buy and the boot loader can be unlocked. I have already installed TWRP and Magisk. I think maybe the LTE version may require a 7 day wait not sure.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
from almost a year back-wondering was your wifi device branded like Tmobile or Verizon? sad to see no continuity in the thread-was hoping for someone to check out the lte device in Tmobile to see if it could be unlocked or if the option was there-not many resources on internet. Does Tmobile even carry this thing anymore? thanks
mac231us said:
from almost a year back-wondering was your wifi device branded like Tmobile or Verizon? sad to see no continuity in the thread-was hoping for someone to check out the lte device in Tmobile to see if it could be unlocked or if the option was there-not many resources on internet. Does Tmobile even carry this thing anymore? thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I bought the t-mobile variant from samsung directly. I'm about to find out. Give me a day or 2.
Arudis said:
I bought the t-mobile variant from samsung directly. I'm about to find out. Give me a day or 2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks Arudis!
Might need more time.
mac231us said:
Thanks Arudis!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately, I think I'm being held back by the whole 7-day oem-unlock hide thing. And all the ways around it have apparently been patched by samsung. So this time next week, I'll know for sure. As of right now, I believe it can be unlocked, but I don't know for sure.
Arudis said:
Unfortunately, I think I'm being held back by the whole 7-day oem-unlock hide thing. And all the ways around it have apparently been patched by samsung. So this time next week, I'll know for sure. As of right now, I believe it can be unlocked, but I don't know for sure.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thank you so much-well I will be receiving my device tomorrow. So let the race begin-ha ha kidding will see and compare. I did not know Samsung has this 7 day wait period (like Xiaomi has a 2 week period). Oh well, time will tell Thanks for keeping me posted and do let me know what you find. I did see a post somewhere on xda for the tab s6 where the poster said he could unlock the carrier device (think it was Tmobile) but he wanted to find out if he could root it. I will find the post (again it was an old one and of course, my response (recently) has not got any response. In fact, like many, he did not follow up with any posts thereafter (several months back).
edit
This is the thread
https://forum.xda-developers.com/ga...m-weta-1-0-t4002353/post83956193#post83956193
see post 21 - mertkan said he could unlock (so assume he was able to but was looking for doing other modifications)
Arudis said:
I bought the t-mobile variant from samsung directly. I'm about to find out. Give me a day or 2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello Arudis I got a used Tmobile variant. But I do not see any OEM unlock option in developer settings (a prerequisite before anything can be done for unlocking b/l). Which software version is yours having? (maybe it is different because you bought directly from Samsung but does not make sense if it is branded Tmobile). Could be that you have an older version of Android-appreciate if you could let me know which software version, CSC etc yours has. I might end up returning mine if there is no progress. Thanks.!
EDIT: Returned it. Great price and condition. Just too bad-did not want to take chances with it. Good luck-seems that you should be able to unlock it per that other post I sent.
mac231us said:
Hello Arudis I got a used Tmobile variant. But I do not see any OEM unlock option in developer settings (a prerequisite before anything can be done for unlocking b/l). Which software version is yours having? (maybe it is different because you bought directly from Samsung but does not make sense if it is branded Tmobile). Could be that you have an older version of Android-appreciate if you could let me know which software version, CSC etc yours has. I might end up returning mine if there is no progress. Thanks.!
EDIT: Returned it. Great price and condition. Just too bad-did not want to take chances with it. Good luck-seems that you should be able to unlock it per that other post I sent.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well. I'm struggling w/ it. CSC was TMB btw. This whole ordeal has been a mess of mistakes on my part. If i can't get this unlocked in the next day or 2 then i'll be returning it myself. I'd rather have a weaker tablet w/ root and a custom rom than a great tablet that i have to run stock.
Current software version is T867USQU3BTJ1 / T867UOYN3BTJ1 / T867USQU3BTJ1.
First thing I needed to know was whether or not I could unlock the tablet for other networks and in order to do that, I inserted a sim and logged into the tablet w/ my google account. I think this is where I made my first mistake as I have a sinking suspicion that inserting the sim somehow got rid of my oem unlock toggle. I know I had seen it before I started trying 2 unlock the sim because its always the first thing I do when I get a new device. But between the sim and the unlock process I ended up rebooting too many times and it auto-updated itself to the latest firmware. Since the latest firmware, I haven't seen that toggle at all. When I try to flash twrp w/ Odin, it fails.
@ this point I've decided that I will never buy another samsung device ever. I've had all manner of fun rooting every other device i've ever owned that wasn't a samsung device, however every samsung device has always been a supreme pain in the butt because I can't just do what i want w/ adb and fastboot.
Arudis said:
Well. I'm struggling w/ it. CSC was TMB btw. This whole ordeal has been a mess of mistakes on my part. If i can't get this unlocked in the next day or 2 then i'll be returning it myself. I'd rather have a weaker tablet w/ root and a custom rom than a great tablet that i have to run stock.
Current software version is T867USQU3BTJ1 / T867UOYN3BTJ1 / T867USQU3BTJ1.
First thing I needed to know was whether or not I could unlock the tablet for other networks and in order to do that, I inserted a sim and logged into the tablet w/ my google account. I think this is where I made my first mistake as I have a sinking suspicion that inserting the sim somehow got rid of my oem unlock toggle. I know I had seen it before I started trying 2 unlock the sim because its always the first thing I do when I get a new device. But between the sim and the unlock process I ended up rebooting too many times and it auto-updated itself to the latest firmware. Since the latest firmware, I haven't seen that toggle at all. When I try to flash twrp w/ Odin, it fails.
@ this point I've decided that I will never buy another samsung device ever. I've had all manner of fun rooting every other device i've ever owned that wasn't a samsung device, however every samsung device has always been a supreme pain in the butt because I can't just do what i want w/ adb and fastboot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree but this has more to do with (if not entirely) to U.S carriers playing games with dual devices for marketing-only here does this go on, where the carriers since time immemorial have blocked calls and texts on tablets (7 and above inches) giving some bs reasons (there was a time they had this tablet "plan" and phone "plans"-those have at least merged at least for Tmobile-otherwise their servers would detect a tablet and switch you automatically to a tablet plan for your 'convenience' and maybe even 'safety' lol)....so as long as they do this, Samsung (even Apple which does the same thing worldwide anyway) have tablets that do not have phone-like functions (Samsung has this call and text pairing with other Samsung phones a.k.a buy two of our devices please AND have two plans (so both Samsung and carriers win)...) on their U.S devices (Samsung at least to their credit have this :"unlocked" cellular variants in rest of the world, Apple does not even have that-yes, I know there is Google talk and all kinds of wifi-based workarounds but that is a different topic.
EDIT-if you compare the older devices like say tab S and tab s2 (the carrier variants and the international variants you will find out that even the speaker arrangements are different. I delved deep into this and found that even the boards were different-the lengths they went to do this to keep the versions distinct is amazing!) folks here on xda etc kept thinking for a while that they could simply flash the international ROMs (never mind the b/l block or hurdles) but the partitions were not even the same let alone the modems, and the actual hardware itself!
So blame the carriers-I do. So I never get these carrier devices (first time I tried my hand at it-no more)
Having to perform a soft boot tonight I noticed an "unlock bootloader command" in the softboot menu along with "cache clear" along with the always present "factory reset". Which I have to perform anyway because network mode locked to 3G only and no option to change it back so it has major conectivity issues. I'm thinking I may try the unlock bootloader command.
P.S. Mine is the tmo version
rigrunner said:
Having to perform a soft boot tonight I noticed an "unlock bootloader command" in the softboot menu along with "cache clear" along with the always present "factory reset". Which I have to perform anyway because network mode locked to 3G only and no option to change it back so it has major conectivity issues. I'm thinking I may try the unlock bootloader command.
P.S. Mine is the tmo version
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Out of curiosity which model number is your tmobile tab s6 lte? I have the verizon sm-t867v model which i re-flashed to the tmobile sm-t867u model using modified Odin 3.14. Unfortunately the bootloader remained locked down with no way to unlock it. Also what is this softboot menu your speaking of? I know samsung like the back of my hand and I've never heard of a softboot menu. Curious if this is something new im not aware of since I've been stuck with verizon brands the last 3 samsung devices I've owned...
Yes and Yes!
Can someone clarify something on the Tmobile Variant of the Tab S6?
This T867U definitely comes with the HARDWARE to text because i got it to work but it stopped.
So could this just be a matter of getting it 'Carrier Unlocked" so TMO cant decide what we do with our tab s6 since its payed for???
Make calls and send messages from your Galaxy tablet
With Call & text on other devices, you can receive calls and send messages on your Galaxy tablet that is logged in to the same Samsung account as your phone.
www.samsung.com
I have the same problem, I bought the device from eBay and now in Egypt, the device is locked to the T-Mobile network, and I don't know a way to unlock it. I cannot contact the seller to ask him about the T-Mobile subscription details, and after communicating with T-Mobile, they did not reply