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BOOTLOADER CRACKED!
EDIT:After discussing it with Mills and Blagus, I will not be publicly sharing my knowledge on how to crack the boot loader. This is only temporary until we(all r800x owners) can get a more permanent solution.
maybe another week or so before anything is solid.
UPDATE:
there is no longer a free solution for unlocking the play.
please contact blagus or yifanlu to see if they have your meid on file.
and check out the current paid solution. :/
I have attached screenshots as proof of root
If you have already specified charset manually then why set --hex-charset again?
Sent from my R800i using XDA App
Isn't this attack better served by simply generating a full list of values using CUDA and then comparing them to the RCK_H CODE Key we have? Then once we figure out which one matches, we will know what 16 character code generated it. If we can find a few matches for a few devices then we will be able to probably figure out the algorithm.
Blagus said:
If you have already specified charset manually then why set --hex-charset again?
Sent from my R800i using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
because when you specify hex charset it sends the information as the hex it represents rather than the string of characters. it does make a difference here.
ABCDEF1234567890 Hashed as HEX
Code:
eb5f4f42e353764daad987ef5b3a5df79339b021f08e90b1f00e1e7a79b15972
versus submitting it as text
ABCDEF1234567890 hashed as text
Code:
2b749913055289cb3a5c602a17196b5437dc59bba50e986ea449012a303f7201
its subtle, but its a big change in the hashing process.
if you hash the unlock code as text you get something completely different than if you were to submit it as the HEX it represents, which is what our RCK_H code is.
Mills00013 said:
Isn't this attack better served by simply generating a full list of values using CUDA and then comparing them to the RCK_H CODE Key we have? Then once we figure out which one matches, we will know what 16 character code generated it. If we can find a few matches for a few devices then we will be able to probably figure out the algorithm.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, you could approach the problem with that school of thought, but the file size for that much information would be well over 100 terabytes if my math is close.
as far as the algorithm goes, based on an educated guess, I think it is a MYSQL323 hashing algorithm that inputs the IMEI as Hex to produce the unlock code.I dont see how this is beneficial to us at this point though, given that verizon doesnt use IMEI for their play. Maybe worth looking into for bootloaders that are locked but can get into fastboot and SE doesnt provide an unlock code, outside of verizon of course. The path we are taking now is capable of unlocking most plays.
Good progress gentlemen. Keep up the amazing work. This device has alot of potential.
Sent from my R800x using Tapatalk
So is the goal of using oclHashCat-Lite just to compare directly against the key and continue crunching until we get a match? Meaning it wont be exporting anything at all, it will just be a crank until it hits. So some phones might get really lucky and some might get really unlucky in regards to the time frame we are looking at.
Mills00013 said:
So is the goal of using oclHashCat-Lite just to compare directly against the key and continue crunching until we get a match? Meaning it wont be exporting anything at all, it will just be a crank until it hits. So some phones might get really lucky and some might get really unlucky in regards to the time frame we are looking at.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, in a sense that's the Idea. Statistically speaking, you will hit 50% mark every time. But, once we have one cracked I have an idea for us CDMA guys. I am waiting to hear back from Blagus on what he thinks.
the TA is digitally signed by SE, preventing us from tampering. but if we just overwrite with a TA we know the unlock for it should work, and hopefully without bricking it, since it is a Verizon TA being overwritten.
I know one guy tried this already but messed up since it was a GSM TA overwriting a CDMA one, different file sizes and everything.
so hopefully it will be much easier once we get one down.
ashergray said:
Yeah, in a sense that's the Idea. Statistically speaking, you will hit 50% mark every time. But, once we have one cracked I have an idea for us CDMA guys. I am waiting to hear back from Blagus on what he thinks.
the TA is digitally signed by SE, preventing us from tampering. but if we just overwrite with a TA we know the unlock for it should work, and hopefully without bricking it, since it is a Verizon TA being overwritten.
I know one guy tried this already but messed up since it was a GSM TA overwriting a CDMA one, different file sizes and everything.
so hopefully it will be much easier once we get one down.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, because TA contains unique phone data, like IMEI/MEID, RCK_H, etc... you can't have two phones with same IMEI/MEID, right? Also, IMEI/MEID is also stored in OTP and EROM check the two on boot - if they don't match, no booting.
I see, didnt realize that it was tied together like that. Looks like that idea is nixed. Did a prelimanary run on my 3ghz dual core and 8800gt it said almost 70 days before it goes through the full list. Still doing some small scale runs and waiting on atom at hashcat for some help.
The guy who bricked his play was me... So i know all about how finicky that part of the phone can be. I would love to dedicate some cycles to cracking this thing. Realistically seventy days is not that bad. Certainly doesn't hurt to get the ball rolling and if we get a result before SE officially released the method, then we are ahead of the curve.
We could also do this as a team effort. Meaning if we took one person's key and everyone took a certain chunk and tried just those. If we had 7 people try it we would have a crack in ten days....
Also I'd love to give the same script a go if you got the command worked out already. I've got an 8 core i7 with a Quaddro FX800 card. This thing is more suited to crunch proteins in my lab but i think it could do well for it to take a few days and crack some code.
Sent from my R800x using XDA App
Mills00013 said:
The guy who bricked his play was me... So i know all about how finicky that part of the phone can be. I would love to dedicate some cycles to cracking this thing. Realistically seventy days is not that bad. Certainly doesn't hurt to get the ball rolling and if we get a result before SE officially released the method, then we are ahead of the curve.
We could also do this as a team effort. Meaning if we took one person's key and everyone took a certain chunk and tried just those. If we had 7 people try it we would have a crack in ten days....
Also I'd love to give the same script a go if you got the command worked out already. I've got an 8 core i7 with a Quaddro FX800 card. This thing is more suited to crunch proteins in my lab but i think it could do well for it to take a few days and crack some code.
Sent from my R800x using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok download oclHashCat-lite if you havent already. v06 is what i am running on.
cmd line to the directory.
ok now for the ugly part
copy and paste this in
Code:
cudaHashcat-lite32.exe -m 1400 -d 1 --hex-charset -1 000102030405060708090a0b0c0d0e0f101112131415161718191a1b1c1d1e1f202122232425262728292a2b2c2d2e2f303132333435363738393a3b3c3d3e3f404142434445464748494a4b4c4d4e4f505152535455565758595a5b5c5d5e5f606162636465666768696a6b6c6d6e6f707172737475767778797a7b7c7d7e7f808182838485868788898a8b8c8d8e8f909192939495969798999a9b9c9d9e9fa0a1a2a3a4a5a6a7a8a9aaabacadaeafb0b1b2b3b4b5b6b7b8b9babbbcbdbebfc0c1c2c3c4c5c6c7c8c9cacbcccdcecfd0d1d2d3d4d5d6d7d8d9dadbdcdddedfe0e1e2e3e4e5e6e7e8e9eaebecedeeeff0f1f2f3f4f5f6f7f8f9fafbfcfdfeff d43e7744a1156d72fd434cb4a98ba1cb280028b507c315f708e7edefb8e421ac ?1?1?1?1?1?1?1?1 --outfile-format=1 --outfile=out.txt
just like I have it
let me know what you get
It is a bit messy, but because of certain limitations I had to create the massive 512 character set to get everything kosher.
it worked alright on smaller scale
It's by no means perfect, but it should do the trick.
btw make sure you have the latest cuda drivers installed.
Has anyone tried:
1. Backing up the TA
2. Editing the RCK_H code to a known code.
(For example: Edit to: eb5f4f42e353764daad987ef5b3a5df79339b021f08e90b1f00e1e7a79b15972
So your code will be: ABCDEF1234567890)
3. Restore the TA
4. Your TA will now be the exact same thing it was but with the new RCK_H code.
5. Use fastboot to unlock your bootloader with the code: ABCDEF1234567890
hatcyl said:
Has anyone tried:
1. Backing up the TA
2. Editing the RCK_H code to a known code.
(For example: Edit to: eb5f4f42e353764daad987ef5b3a5df79339b021f08e90b1f00e1e7a79b15972
So your code will be: ABCDEF1234567890)
3. Restore the TA
4. Your TA will now be the exact same thing it was but with the new RCK_H code.
5. Use fastboot to unlock your bootloader with the code: ABCDEF1234567890
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It'll brick your radio. You can't modify it because it's hashed and checked at boot.
If it was so easy it would be already done.
If you need processing power, I could offer 16 cores with 12 gig of ram
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using XDA App
To everyone willing to offer processing power:
Please do, however, after speaking with Atom the developer of Hashcat I found out that it would take close to 82 thousand years to crack this.
here is the math
256 different 2-character combinations
00 to FF, this is how it is they are input when you use the --hex-charset flag.
we have 8, 2-character spaces with 256 possible combos per space
so the math is
256^8=18446744073709551616 possible unlock combos.
roughly 40 million combos per sec
so about 224640000000000 combos per year
possible unlock combos
___________________ = 82116.916282538958404558404558405 years
combos per year
anyone still wanna give it a go?
I will keep racking my brain for what to do next.
edit: another way to approach this would be to use the entire ASCII table instead of the charset I created above, and remove the --hex-charset flag, but you still have the same number of possible combos since ASCII directly relates to Hex from 0x00 to 0xFF. so the problem still remains.
we could create a table with all possible hex combos but that is 67108864 terabytes of storage which is pretty unfeasible at this point. so we will most likely have to stick with brute forcing it, or implementing a 2nd init.
edit2: possible work around found. Thanks to something Atom said I may have figured it out. someone created a distributed oclhashcat-lite gui that is capable of distributed cracking using software called drop box.
all we need are a lot of desktops running the same hash and all that gets changed is the 8th digit of the mask to 00 to ff
so its not perfect, and pretty unlikely that we will get it in the next few weeks at this rate.
Idea
okay so let's brain storm a bit
1.)on GSM plays the 14 digit IMEI is input on the SE website for unlock code
2.)unlock code is an unknown hash algorithm (possibly a mysql)
3.)which is then fed in as the hex it represents to unlock the bootloader by checking it with the RCK_H hash code
but what about CDMA which uses an MEID (ie. A1000XXXXXXXXX) how are the RCK_H codes generated if they don't have an IMEI.
so, perhaps another way of approaching this would be to figure out the hashing algorithm for the GSM plays and figure out a way to exploit it for our MEIDs.
anyone else see any benefit to doing it this way? it would be much quicker if we could understand the process it goes to from 14 digit meid to RCK_H.
if brute forcing it seems to be too much we may have to resort to reverse engineering the hashing algorithm.
That was essentially what I was proposing in the general thread. I think that method will be the most robust that will produce the best results. Its a daunting task, but not impossible, and definitely will be able to be accomplished in less than 82 thousand years of brute forcing.
ashergray said:
after speaking with Atom the developer of Hashcat I found out that it would take close to 82 thousand years to crack this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That sucks! I'll probably have a new phone by then...
Thanks for all the work, keep it up!
crono141 said:
That was essentially what I was proposing in the general thread. I think that method will be the most robust that will produce the best results. Its a daunting task, but not impossible, and definitely will be able to be accomplished in less than 82 thousand years of brute forcing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought a few people had mentioned it before.
But what I am worried about is if it isnt a standard 64bit hash algorithm and it is a larger truncated one.
I have a Sony Tablet P (at&t), model: SGPT211US/S
and I need to use with another carrier so how can I unlock it?
Thank you for your help.
no any reply?
Kashif Khan said:
no any reply?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi guys,
I tried www.unlockitnow.com.
They couldn't find me the code, so they sent me an unlock sim (to put toghether with my sim).
It doesn't work either.
I saw an ebay listing from UnlockLiberty, I went to their website and they say they can't unlock it at this moment...
****TT!!!
agustinpac said:
Hi guys,
I tried www.unlockitnow.com.
They couldn't find me the code, so they sent me an unlock sim (to put toghether with my sim).
It doesn't work either.
I saw an ebay listing from UnlockLiberty, I went to their website and they say they can't unlock it at this moment...
****TT!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As this Tab is locked up tighter than.......... well your best bet is probably pay the fee or whatever to AT&T? We can not root, we have locked bootloader and probably locked sim. That is the only way i can think of.
Stifilz
Hi Agustim, could you finally unlock it ?
Have you upgraded it to ICS ?
Hi All,
I just also have SONY Tablet P (SGPT211US/S) AT&T
Anyone know how to unlock to use with another SIM
BTW, I can't find SIM card slot, have to open this?
Sony tablet p
ducnv said:
Hi All,
I just also have SONY Tablet P (SGPT211US/S) AT&T
Anyone know how to unlock to use with another SIM
BTW, I can't find SIM card slot, have to open this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The SIM Card slot is under upper part cover
I phoned AT&T and talked to 2 depts: International Support and Customer Service. No go, and they checked the IMEI for me and said it came up with "not available for unlocking". Only suggestion is to contact Sony. They also said even as AT&T customer, the result is still the same.
eBay has someone selling unlocking for $62. I haven't used them so I can't say if they are legit (sounds like but who knows) and it's expensive too.
Cannot find other methods at all. I won't even attempt those online sites that shows they can do it, they just created repeated pages for all phones and devices on their website so they show up on searches, and not even sure they can do it. Worse, sometimes a refund can take a long time (same for eBay, I am not saying eBay any better).
$62. is quite a lot. I would go for $30. but really can't decide at this price since I paid the Woot special deal price, not full price on the device.
anyone try for ebay unlock code sony tablet P?
here is the cheaper solution... http://www.masterunlockcode.com/uni...-sony-tablet-p-unlock-code-np-2012-14048.html
only 49.99, can be pay it on paypal..
any other info regarding this?
I also has ATT sony tablet P to unlock..
btw, anyone know how to update ATT sony tablet P to ICS? other country tablet P are easy to update.. but not for ATT
Sim unlock for the Sony Tablet P AT&T is now obsolete and nothing can be done about it.
All online unlocking services are not able to unlock it. It's only in Sony's hands if they decide to give out the unlock code.
Please if someone can find a solution point to it.
Does anyone have this file "signed-nbx02_001-ota-0045.010.zip" this may help to unlock the sim-lock by updating to HC 3.2.1. This file is also my only hope of unbricking my TAB S. LOL long story.... don't ask
Stifilz
I need help.
I have a Sony Tablet P, model: SGPT 211JP/S.
I need to use with another operator.
How can I unlock it?
Well as I can not upgrade to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich because to the lock it.
Thank you for your help.
Go to ebay get another F5521GW mini card replace the locked one,it's the easiest way to unlock your tablet.
cdwangxd said:
Go to ebay get another F5521GW mini card replace the locked one,it's the easiest way to unlock your tablet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You know we are talking about the Sony Tablet P so your suggestion is not applicable.
Why not?
samkatta said:
You know we are talking about the Sony Tablet P so your suggestion is not applicable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also want to know why this is not applicable because I was also planning to do this as well. Is it because Sony has whitelisted the EDID so it won't load the communication if it is not in the right list? If it is the case, would you know the EDID of the worktable model so in case one pops up on eBay? Since you seem to know what you are talking about, I wish you would elaborate it a little more to help some of us as info is hard to come by on this model, instead of a simple one liner? Please.
fortissimo said:
I also want to know why this is not applicable because I was also planning to do this as well. Is it because Sony has whitelisted the EDID so it won't load the communication if it is not in the right list? If it is the case, would you know the EDID of the worktable model so in case one pops up on eBay? Since you seem to know what you are talking about, I wish you would elaborate it a little more to help some of us as info is hard to come by on this model, instead of a simple one liner? Please.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not that much knowledgeable than you, I simply built up my info trying to unlock my Tablet P and using several online services and all of them failed to give me an unlock code for the Tablet P and further searching lead me to know that still Sony and AT&T on agreement for the Tablet P so that might make Sony reluctant or unable to release the Tablet P unlock code to the public.
That is all and I'm not hiding any info that might help others.
samkatta said:
I'm not that much knowledgeable than you, I simply built up my info trying to unlock my Tablet P and using several online services and all of them failed to give me an unlock code for the Tablet P and further searching lead me to know that still Sony and AT&T on agreement for the Tablet P so that might make Sony reluctant or unable to release the Tablet P unlock code to the public.
That is all and I'm not hiding any info that might help others.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't get it. Now you are talking about asking for unlock code from Sony or AT&T. But cdwangxd explicitly asked about replacing the modem card, not about asking for an unlock code, which are completely two different things. And you answered, directly to his post, because you have quoted his, saying that it is "not applicable".
There are various kinds of F5521gw cards on the market such as eBay, some are generic, some are with Dell or HP EDIDs. Not only you said this is "not applicable", you didn't even point out which kind of cards aren't. And I wanted to give you a chance to help all of us here, by answering your own answer.
I hope the question is not too complicated for you? The question is this: You said replacing the F5521gw card (you labelled this as a "suggestion", fine by me), is "not applicable", my question is why is it not applicable?
Do you at least understand that the state of the lock or unlock (network lock etc), stays on the modem card, and not the other parts of the Tablet? I hope you at least understand this?
Various people have made the same suggestions as cdwangxd did, so I am sure he has done his homework, from forums such as pocketables. The only thing missing is there hasn't been one documented case of success of this method so far, so this is unknown as to the success rate, and also if true generic version must be used or not.
I am not trying to be personal. Your answer to cdwangxd is very important and critical, and your information will determine if this method would work or not. Thus I asked you about whitelisting because that is what the PC market has been doing to block out non factory parts being integrated, so this can be a real possibility (since Sony also makes laptops. sure they will understand and know this trick too, right?).
Again, please answer the question in order to help us. We do not need the answer about unlocking code, as that has been a dead end so far. Thanks. (except for an eBay seller who claimed to have direct access to Sony's database, b/c of the price, I didn't buy it).
fortissimo said:
I don't get it. Now you are talking about asking for unlock code from Sony or AT&T. But cdwangxd explicitly asked about replacing the modem card, not about asking for an unlock code, which are completely two different things. And you answered, directly to his post, because you have quoted his, saying that it is "not applicable".
There are various kinds of F5521gw cards on the market such as eBay, some are generic, some are with Dell or HP EDIDs. Not only you said this is "not applicable", you didn't even point out which kind of cards aren't. And I wanted to give you a chance to help all of us here, by answering your own answer.
I hope the question is not too complicated for you? The question is this: You said replacing the F5521gw card (you labelled this as a "suggestion", fine by me), is "not applicable", my question is why is it not applicable?
Do you at least understand that the state of the lock or unlock (network lock etc), stays on the modem card, and not the other parts of the Tablet? I hope you at least understand this?
Various people have made the same suggestions as cdwangxd did, so I am sure he has done his homework, from forums such as pocketables. The only thing missing is there hasn't been one documented case of success of this method so far, so this is unknown as to the success rate, and also if true generic version must be used or not.
I am not trying to be personal. Your answer to cdwangxd is very important and critical, and your information will determine if this method would work or not. Thus I asked you about whitelisting because that is what the PC market has been doing to block out non factory parts being integrated, so this can be a real possibility (since Sony also makes laptops. sure they will understand and know this trick too, right?).
Again, please answer the question in order to help us. We do not need the answer about unlocking code, as that has been a dead end so far. Thanks. (except for an eBay seller who claimed to have direct access to Sony's database, b/c of the price, I didn't buy it).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First of all, it took you more than 2 weeks to answer to this thread again.
Second, "not applicable" doesn't necessarily mean that it's not doable and I know that the lock is resident in the modem card but importantly are we talking on the same device the Sony Tablet P (this is also an important and critical point to the subject) because do you know how hard it is to change the modem card in the Tablet P? do you even know the schematics of this device? and are you certain that it's a separate modem card inside and not soldered to the mainboard?
It's all about how far would you go to get your device unlocked? are you willing to destroy your Tablet P to have it unlocked?
Furthermore, who would do it for you? and for how much?
If you know of a simple method of changing the modem card (that is if it's changeable in the first place) then tell me and I will be the first to get onboard for the unlock.
By the way, there is no document of any success case because it's "not applicable" so just don't throw your flame replies without proof, if you have proof on your saying get back to us with the solution and we will be all grateful to you.
Again, finally till now, the only solution to unlock the Tablet P is an unlock code from Sony not even AT&T can help with that, only Sony.
samkatta said:
I'm not that much knowledgeable than you, I simply built up my info trying to unlock my Tablet P and using several online services and all of them failed to give me an unlock code for the Tablet P and further searching lead me to know that still Sony and AT&T on agreement for the Tablet P so that might make Sony reluctant or unable to release the Tablet P unlock code to the public.
That is all and I'm not hiding any info that might help others.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
samkatta said:
First of all, it took you more than 2 weeks to answer to this thread again.
Second, "not applicable" doesn't necessarily mean that it's not doable and I know that the lock is resident in the modem card but importantly are we talking on the same device the Sony Tablet P (this is also an important and critical point to the subject) because do you know how hard it is to change the modem card in the Tablet P? do you even know the schematics of this device? and are you certain that it's a separate modem card inside and not soldered to the mainboard?
It's all about how far would you go to get your device unlocked? are you willing to destroy your Tablet P to have it unlocked?
Furthermore, who would do it for you? and for how much?
If you know of a simple method of changing the modem card (that is if it's changeable in the first place) then tell me and I will be the first to get onboard for the unlock.
By the way, there is no document of any success case because it's "not applicable" so just don't throw your flame replies without proof, if you have proof on your saying get back to us with the solution and we will be all grateful to you.
Again, finally till now, the only solution to unlock the Tablet P is an unlock code from Sony not even AT&T can help with that, only Sony.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am sorry that it took 2 weeks for me to reply to this thread. Is that a problem? I do not know that a prompt reply is required on a public forum?
To me, "not applicable" means "not doable" because your post did not make any elaboration beyond a one line comment, however critical this info is. But regardless, to give you the benefit of the doubt, I simply asked you one more time to give you a chance to explain further. But you came back with an answer about unlock code, and nothing about what was about the response you made to the other poster, about F5521gw.
And of course I am talking about the Sony Tablet P marketed by AT&T, the 3G version, which I own. The question by the other poster, is about a Japanese version, but regarding swapping the modem card, the process is the same.
The thing is that how hard it is to change the modem card should not be a question to me, but rather to cdwangxd since it is he who suggested it, but why didn't you ask him about this earlier on? But questioning me now about this, as I am not the person suggesting it, but the person questioning your answer about "not applicable" and wanting further information and clarification.
I don't know the schematics of this device, but do you? If you don't why did you claim it is "not applicable", in which and what way?
Not only others have mentioned about replacing F5521gw cards on various forum posts (forgot which forum at this point), I have opened up my device and can confirm that it is a F5521gw card which is (naturally) removable from its m-PCIe socket. And it is not soldered on the main board.
And as for who would do it for you and for how much, this is rarely a question on xda here. Most xda members prefer to do things themselves and some are more hardware savvy and some are less. It took me a 2nd try to find the edges to pop out the top cover, but it is not that hard. Granted I have some experience in hardware so I am not suggesting everyone trying the same thing. Again, I am not the person who suggested swapping the card, so I am not sure why you are directing the risks and dangers (possible) to me instead of cdwangxd who suggested this (whom you did not say any of these for those times).
I have put back the original modem now, but if I have another one (let's say an unlocked generic one) in front of me now, I can swap the whole thing in 10 minutes, start to finish. So may be this is not easy for some, I am sure some people including myself, can do this.
The problem here is your sense of logic. It can make our debate difficult. Let me make an example:
1.cdwangxd said the sun rises from the east.
2. you came back saying that the sun does not rise from the east (basically my interpretation of what "not applicable" means without any other substantiation, which you still failed to refer back to what you mean. And I am sure you mean "no" basically.)
3. I asked if you have any back up saying that the sun doesn't rise from the east, surely I have some doubts but want to give you a chance.
4. You came back saying that since I don't have proof that the sun does rise from the east, then I cannot question your response.
So in your logic, the sun does not rise from the east only because I cannot provide proof. Where is your logic? For anything you state, the onus is on you to proof, not for the one questioning it, as that'd be "begging the question" if not more paradoxical.
My intent is simple and pure. cdwangxd has a suggestion that I have also read about elsewhere, but there hasn't been a reported case of success. Moreover, there are various models of F5521gw on eBay, some are named generic, Dell or HP, and some claimed generic are actually Dell. It is important to find out what works, before buying as it is rather hard to return for refund over eBay. Other sources are more expensive, and usually foreign and thus, also hard to return.
I put that question out to you, because cdwangxd provided a method (which I have read elsewhere to be same), that is plausible. You brushed it off with a one liner, which could be the most critical part. If you are right afterall, then there is no need to go shop for a F5521gw, saving the money and effort. So your response is deemed critical and thus I have a valid reason of wanting a confirmation.
But you prefer to beat around the bush, questioning everything else, including putting the onus back to me, instead of answering the question: why did you respond with that line? Under what kind of information have you gotten and if you are prepared to share.
My delay in 2 weeks doesn't mean the truth can be altered. If it works or not, 2 weeks does not make a difference. Please stop having excuses after excuses.
And last but not least, since you did not even know for sure if the modem inside is F5521gw, removeable or not, how dare you said that cdwangxd's suggestion is "not applicable"? It is beyond that you have read wrong info about this, it is that you simply didn't even know until now (as I said earlier here). You simply had as much as a guess, but you put the line as short and abrupt (end all and be all). So basically my original calling you out on this, isn't far from what I suspected: you didn't know what you were talking about, simple as that.
fortissimo said:
I am sorry that it took 2 weeks for me to reply to this thread. Is that a problem? I do not know that a prompt reply is required on a public forum?
To me, "not applicable" means "not doable" because your post did not make any elaboration beyond a one line comment, however critical this info is. But regardless, to give you the benefit of the doubt, I simply asked you one more time to give you a chance to explain further. But you came back with an answer about unlock code, and nothing about what was about the response you made to the other poster, about F5521gw.
And of course I am talking about the Sony Tablet P marketed by AT&T, the 3G version, which I own. The question by the other poster, is about a Japanese version, but regarding swapping the modem card, the process is the same.
The thing is that how hard it is to change the modem card should not be a question to me, but rather to cdwangxd since it is he who suggested it, but why didn't you ask him about this earlier on? But questioning me now about this, as I am not the person suggesting it, but the person questioning your answer about "not applicable" and wanting further information and clarification.
I don't know the schematics of this device, but do you? If you don't why did you claim it is "not applicable", in which and what way?
Not only others have mentioned about replacing F5521gw cards on various forum posts (forgot which forum at this point), I have opened up my device and can confirm that it is a F5521gw card which is (naturally) removable from its m-PCIe socket. And it is not soldered on the main board.
And as for who would do it for you and for how much, this is rarely a question on xda here. Most xda members prefer to do things themselves and some are more hardware savvy and some are less. It took me a 2nd try to find the edges to pop out the top cover, but it is not that hard. Granted I have some experience in hardware so I am not suggesting everyone trying the same thing. Again, I am not the person who suggested swapping the card, so I am not sure why you are directing the risks and dangers (possible) to me instead of cdwangxd who suggested this (whom you did not say any of these for those times).
I have put back the original modem now, but if I have another one (let's say an unlocked generic one) in front of me now, I can swap the whole thing in 10 minutes, start to finish. So may be this is not easy for some, I am sure some people including myself, can do this.
The problem here is your sense of logic. It can make our debate difficult. Let me make an example:
1.cdwangxd said the sun rises from the east.
2. you came back saying that the sun does not rise from the east (basically my interpretation of what "not applicable" means without any other substantiation, which you still failed to refer back to what you mean. And I am sure you mean "no" basically.)
3. I asked if you have any back up saying that the sun doesn't rise from the east, surely I have some doubts but want to give you a chance.
4. You came back saying that since I don't have proof that the sun does rise from the east, then I cannot question your response.
So in your logic, the sun does not rise from the east only because I cannot provide proof. Where is your logic? For anything you state, the onus is on you to proof, not for the one questioning it, as that'd be "begging the question" if not more paradoxical.
My intent is simple and pure. cdwangxd has a suggestion that I have also read about elsewhere, but there hasn't been a reported case of success. Moreover, there are various models of F5521gw on eBay, some are named generic, Dell or HP, and some claimed generic are actually Dell. It is important to find out what works, before buying as it is rather hard to return for refund over eBay. Other sources are more expensive, and usually foreign and thus, also hard to return.
I put that question out to you, because cdwangxd provided a method (which I have read elsewhere to be same), that is plausible. You brushed it off with a one liner, which could be the most critical part. If you are right afterall, then there is no need to go shop for a F5521gw, saving the money and effort. So your response is deemed critical and thus I have a valid reason of wanting a confirmation.
But you prefer to beat around the bush, questioning everything else, including putting the onus back to me, instead of answering the question: why did you respond with that line? Under what kind of information have you gotten and if you are prepared to share.
My delay in 2 weeks doesn't mean the truth can be altered. If it works or not, 2 weeks does not make a difference. Please stop having excuses after excuses.
And last but not least, since you did not even know for sure if the modem inside is F5521gw, removeable or not, how dare you said that cdwangxd's suggestion is "not applicable"? It is beyond that you have read wrong info about this, it is that you simply didn't even know until now (as I said earlier here). You simply had as much as a guess, but you put the line as short and abrupt (end all and be all). So basically my original calling you out on this, isn't far from what I suspected: you didn't know what you were talking about, simple as that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll take your point here:
Why are you directing all your replies to me and not to cdwangxd?
In my first reply to you I clearly mentioned that I'm not more knowledgeable than you (I'm not an expert) and that the info I'm posting is based on my research trying to unlock my Tablet P and for mentioning that it's "not applicable" is because it didn't cross my mind that someone would do what you did (so, kudos to you).
As you were brave enough to do what you did to your Tablet P (for sure more brave than me) so you were close enough to know the details about what you were asking me.
Furthermore, why didn't you try it yourself? I'm not that brave ti open my Tablet P to figure it out.
Finally, again, if you ever find the way just inform and lead the way and I will follow.
My rant about At&t and I why I am angry with them about my predicament with my s7.
PLEASE READ DISCLAIMER AT THE BOTTOM AND ALL ASTRICKED ITEMS. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
I will say how disappointed in at&t I am; it should be illegal to lock phones like this. The last samsung galaxy able to be rooted was the s4 and note 2 (don't quote me on that is was guestimation). But like all the idiots caught up in the buzz of owning the newest device, I got burned by the note 4. Fool me once shame on you, but fool me twice shame on me. I got burned again on the s7, and developers on here have basically given up rooting anything else (since the note 4 crisis there's a large bounty for whomever get the first permaroot) . Maybe if millions of us write to samsung about how at&t is ruining their products, they could do something about this travesty. <b>
Well if could some root required apps to work on my phone I would be much happier. I can't even use the current version of lucky patcher, how stupid is that. <b>
If your phone isn't rooted or have never felt the joy of a rooted phone (it is like endless possibilities all in the palm of your hand), and if you don't know what rooting is, get a clue, (Google it). Beg, barrow, steal one from a guy the next County over, forge one, trade for one, find one, save up for 3 months to buy one on eBay, I don't care how you get a clue, but you need one. The ability to Root our phone should be a fundamental right. (particularly with what went on with Apple and the FBI in California) We buy the phone, pay for it's service, then you treat us like we somehow don't know something has changed. (All the sudden "security updates that happen right after finding root for other devices and then people update their devices and it is gone back to square one.) Who is going to be responsible for all the millions of phones that are going to be trash because of this?
(because now on certain devices it softbricks the phone, sure it roots it, but what good is a rooted phone when you can't use it? (I relate it to something close to ransomware, on a computer, where software hold it (the computer) hostage until you meet the criminal's demands (usually money), so that you can get your computer back, and then sometimes they just leave it in place. (nasty crap fun to get rid of without reinstalling the OS) In this case it holds your phone hostage until you meet at&t's demands of "removing non at&t software", and until such time that the software is removed it remains bricked. If you have this issue, which I have only seen it mentioned a handful of time, and happen to have a Samsung device (with or without warranty) they will fix for free and even pay shipping both ways (now that's how you keep customers happy) I still have this issue as I have not sent my phone in yet and if someone knows how to fix it I would like to know. It goes from the ransom page with the padlock unlocked and warnings from at&t, then it goes to a second page saying that I have a Reactivation Lock in place. I have tried everything stated on the forum about RL, but my case is unique because of my stupid idea of seeing if king root had figured out how to root note 4 at&t sm-N910A version. To answer your question did it work, yes and no. Read the bricking bit above.)
Surely not your loyal customers, surely not the one who actually make and put their name on the phone, no I blame the cell phone companies. They have gotten to big for their own shoes on this one, they stepped in a giant pile of it. How many millions of customers have you lost at&t? Hmmm? Answer that one. Maybe I'll be the next to jump ship, sprint has a great plan, half the price, and they'll pay our way out of the eta( early termination fee(s) ln case you didn't know) up to 600 USD on each line. Sounds good to where do I sign, oh you need to take my piece of it phone and trade it for one the COMES with an unlocked bootloader. Take it I never wanted this piece of it to begin with. Bye At&t, you had a good ride with most of us for longer than a decade, but you done shot yourself in the foot on this one. You should have never changed your name and started in the cell phone business. South Western Bell is dead, and this monstrosity that has been created is nothing more than a shell of its former company, what a bunch of sell outs. I hope you sleep good at night knowing how many people are cursing your name from every roof top and highest building. You don't play with other people's it. It isn't proper nor is it called for. Some customers will be loyal to the end, but I am sick of all the red tape and garbage we have to put up with. Higher rates for the same service? Do you think we are stupid?
DISCLAIMER
*PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS MY OWN OPINIONS. IT IS AIMED AT AT&T, AND THEIR INABILITY TO LEAVE A GOOD THING ALONE. IT IS NOT MEANT TO OFFEND US NORMAL FOLK THAT PAY RIDICULOUS PHONE BILLS EVERY MONTH. IF YOU ARE ONE OF THESE PEOPLE AND YOU FIND THIS OFFENSIVE I AM SORRY. I NEVER CUSSED OR SAID ANYTHING OFFENSIVE ABOUT OR TO AN INDIVIDUAL. *
*ANY INSTANCES OF "IT" THAT ARE EXTRAGRAMMATIC ARE A CUSS WORD IN DISGUISE AND IS SELF EXPLANATORY*
PLEASE FEEL FREE TO COMMENT WITH YOUR OWN OPINIONS THIS A JUDGEMENT FREE ZONE, SO PUT SOME FEELING IN IT. OCCASIONAL SWEARING IS TO BE EXPECTED (AS LONG AS IT IS OK WITHIN THE POLICIES OF XDA IF DOUBT DON'T DO IT.).
ANY HELP WITH ABOVE STATED ISSUE PLEASE LINK BELOW SO THE POST ENDS UP IN THE PROPER SECTION (TROUBLESHOOTING AND WHATNOT).
ANYTHING FOUND IN PARENTHESES WAS ADDED FOR CLARIFICATION PURPOSES, AND NOT MEANT TO DEMEAN ANYONE. THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO DO NOT KNOW THE TERM OF KNOWLEDGY.
IF ANYTHING IN THIS RANT HAS BEEN MISREPRESENTED OR IS INCORRECT PLEASE BRING TO MY ATTENTION.
THANK YOU TO ANYONE WHO ACTUALLY READ ALL THIS.
God bless and peace out,
Kelentaria
I switched to AT&T because of direcTV unlimited (saves me 15 bucks a month from what I was paying). I don't really care much about having root access, but I do care about being able to erase the bloat on the phone. Bloat should be optional software, not burned into the OS. Look at Windows for a PC. If you don't want an app that came preloaded, you simply uninstall it. How is that even legal to have software stuck on your phone, which you have no idea what it is doing in the background and also claim you have 32gigs of storage, but you actually only have 19?
I see some of your points, but the whole rooting thing will be an uphill battle. Each company is required by law to patch exploits that allow the system to be compromised. Unless Google makes root access standard (meaning easily unlocked with an app etc) you won't see it again , and if you do, rarely.
I could forgive them for the root issue, but not for the bloat, lack of WiFi calling on android devices, etc.
Your points and opinion is well taken here as a fellow ATT user. We won't even get Samsung to move on rooting and bootloader unlocking since they're path is the business level users. That's mostly to do with all of us modder folks being in the small minority when it comes to purchasing their phones. There should be an option to unlock the bootloader from them directly. Basically them allowing us to either choose to void our warranty to unlock the bootloader which relieves them of the responsibility of folks blaming them for their choice of modding the phone. Similar to the HTC process. But again this is my opinion. ATT on the other hand has been a constant pain with not being consumer friendly for the last 4 years from my guestimation.
psufan5 said:
I switched to AT&T because of direcTV unlimited (saves me 15 bucks a month from what I was paying). I don't really care much about having root access, but I do care about being able to erase the bloat on the phone. Bloat should be optional software, not burned into the OS. Look at Windows for a PC. If you don't want an app that came preloaded, you simply uninstall it. How is that even legal to have software stuck on your phone, which you have no idea what it is doing in the background and also claim you have 32gigs of storage, but you actually only have 19?
I see some of your points, but the whole rooting thing will be an uphill battle. Each company is required by law to patch exploits that allow the system to be compromised. Unless Google makes root access standard (meaning easily unlocked with an app etc) you won't see it again , and if you do, rarely.
I could forgive them for the root issue, but not for the bloat, lack of WiFi calling on android devices, etc.
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Click to collapse
I suggest you try Package Disabler Pro, its a small price to pay but it works perfectly disabling bloat from Samsung devices. It is not root but at the very least it helps make touchwiz bearable.
---------- Post added at 02:58 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:54 PM ----------
I don't think there is a single ATT user that doesn't share your opinion but nowadays we all know what we are getting into with them. Only the Nexus line remains untouched but with the recent surge in mobile payment use the manufacturers are locking down phones harder than eve, one the plus side it helps maintain security and protect your hard earned money but sadly some sacrifices must be made. My only wish is that Samsung would finally see the light and at the very least give us the option of stock android in their devices, a tall order I know but one that would be met with enthusiasm.
glm0025 said:
I suggest you try Package Disabler Pro, its a small price to pay but it works perfectly disabling bloat from Samsung devices. It is not root but at the very least it helps make touchwiz bearable.
---------- Post added at 02:58 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:54 PM ----------
I don't think there is a single ATT user that doesn't share your opinion but nowadays we all know what we are getting into with them. Only the Nexus line remains untouched but with the recent surge in mobile payment use the manufacturers are locking down phones harder than eve, one the plus side it helps maintain security and protect your hard earned money but sadly some sacrifices must be made. My only wish is that Samsung would finally see the light and at the very least give us the option of stock android in their devices, a tall order I know but one that would be met with enthusiasm.
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Ive done that, but the bloat still takes up a huge chunk of space - the APKs are just disabled
there hasn't been a bootloader unlocked at&t galaxy since the S3. The S4 was bootloader locked, but anyone with AMDL firmware (the second OTA) could bypass the bootloader and load ROMs that way. Anyone that updated past that was stuck with bootstrapped ROMs. The S4 was never bootloader unlocked ever.
psufan5 said:
Ive done that, but the bloat still takes up a huge chunk of space - the APKs are just disabled
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Rooted or not, you wouldn't get that space back. The pre-installed crud is installed on the system partition which is a separate space from where user apps (and all data) are stored. If you rooted and deleted those apps, the space would just go unused. (And really, those apps don't take up much space in storage.)
On the other hand, there are things in the AT&T preload that can't be disabled. Some might be daemons that load before (and outside the scope of) android, and others are embedded deep into the existing modules (such as systemUI.) For example, AT&T still uses a variation of carrier IQ software for analytics.
However, even if you had root, you couldn't easily get rid of those things without completely changing the firmware to something else. Once you did that, you'd also lose AT&T variant specific things such as AT&T's implementation of VoLTE, video calling, etc. (Just because other firmware might support features by the same name, it doesn't mean that they'll work on AT&T's network.)
My biggest complaint these days with AT&T variants is that AT&T blocks important system updates. Even VERIZON has become better about releasing firmware updates and upgrades for android phones when compared to AT&T. (Verizon used to hold the crown of being the absolute LAST carrier to update their phones... but no more. Now AT&T clearly owns it.)
Here's the funny thing: AT&T claims that they are locking down bootloaders and such in order to have a higher level of security for business customers. Yet, by taking MONTHS longer to release firmware updates, AT&T phones are often vulnerable to malicious exploits long after those exploits have been fixed by Samsung/HTC/etc.
garyd9 said:
Rooted or not, you wouldn't get that space back. The pre-installed crud is installed on the system partition which is a separate space from where user apps (and all data) are stored. If you rooted and deleted those apps, the space would just go unused. (And really, those apps don't take up much space in storage.)
On the other hand, there are things in the AT&T preload that can't be disabled. Some might be daemons that load before (and outside the scope of) android, and others are embedded deep into the existing modules (such as systemUI.) For example, AT&T still uses a variation of carrier IQ software for analytics.
However, even if you had root, you couldn't easily get rid of those things without completely changing the firmware to something else. Once you did that, you'd also lose AT&T variant specific things such as AT&T's implementation of VoLTE, video calling, etc. (Just because other firmware might support features by the same name, it doesn't mean that they'll work on AT&T's network.)
My biggest complaint these days with AT&T variants is that AT&T blocks important system updates. Even VERIZON has become better about releasing firmware updates and upgrades for android phones when compared to AT&T. (Verizon used to hold the crown of being the absolute LAST carrier to update their phones... but no more. Now AT&T clearly owns it.)
Here's the funny thing: AT&T claims that they are locking down bootloaders and such in order to have a higher level of security for business customers. Yet, by taking MONTHS longer to release firmware updates, AT&T phones are often vulnerable to malicious exploits long after those exploits have been fixed by Samsung/HTC/etc.
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Bootloader is locked down for one reason - stop tethering on unlimited plans.
Thats about it.
psufan5 said:
Bootloader is locked down for one reason - stop tethering on unlimited plans.
Thats about it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are misinformed.
I completely agree that the situation sucks. I know that this will fall over into the Note 6, and that saddens me. That is why I set up camp on the Apple side of the fence. They are always hacking into ios somehow (no fragmentation i guess?), and the OS, while still not as open as Android has matured a little. I do miss Android, but Samsung was my home, and it isn't easy switching to another OEM when their hardware designs are so different (no physical home button).
I happen to work for Sprint (for the time being), and the prices are better, but our systems suck, and our business practices are kind of shady. Hopefully I don't get into any trouble for this, but customers deserve to know the whole story. Example: a gentleman came in to get a new sim card for his S4 Mini. Now with at&t, you just go get a sim card, and all you have to worry about is standard/micro/nano. With Sprint, however, each size sim card has a wide variety of skus (barcodes), and we use a tool to see which ones are compatible with the device in question. In this guy's case, Sprint had discontinued the only sim card that would work with his phone.
To put it plainly, we force ultimatums on our customers; buy another phone, or do without. I'm actually ashamed to work for this company.
What sickens me is that they disable perfectly fine features to replace them with their crapware. I like their network coverage, but I'm really doubtful if I would/should stay with At&t anymore. I personally don't care much about the bootloader, but the fact that they are doing this sort of thing without facing any sort of push-back, is what annoys me.
sireniankyle said:
I completely agree that the situation sucks. I know that this will fall over into the Note 6, and that saddens me. That is why I set up camp on the Apple side of the fence. They are always hacking into ios somehow (no fragmentation i guess?), and the OS, while still not as open as Android has matured a little. I do miss Android, but Samsung was my home, and it isn't easy switching to another OEM when their hardware designs are so different (no physical home button).
I happen to work for Sprint (for the time being), and the prices are better, but our systems suck, and our business practices are kind of shady. Hopefully I don't get into any trouble for this, but customers deserve to know the whole story. Example: a gentleman came in to get a new sim card for his S4 Mini. Now with at&t, you just go get a sim card, and all you have to worry about is standard/micro/nano. With Sprint, however, each size sim card has a wide variety of skus (barcodes), and we use a tool to see which ones are compatible with the device in question. In this guy's case, Sprint had discontinued the only sim card that would work with his phone.
To put it plainly, we force ultimatums on our customers; buy another phone, or do without. I'm actually ashamed to work for this company.
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Click to collapse
I get what you are saying 100% but the only problem for me is that a locked down Android device does more than a jailbreaked iPhone any day of the week.,at the end of the day Android is still more open than IOS. As of right now Marshmallow has proven good enough for me that I'm not missing root or custom roms, that I would root and unlock if I had the chance you better believe it but even 6.0 Touchwiz is bearable right now.
glm0025 said:
I get what you are saying 100% but the only problem for me is that a locked down Android device does more than a jailbreaked iPhone any day of the week.,at the end of the day Android is still more open than IOS. As of right now Marshmallow has proven good enough for me that I'm not missing root or custom roms, that I would root and unlock if I had the chance you better believe it but even 6.0 Touchwiz is bearable right now.
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Click to collapse
It heavily depends on how well you know Cydia. . You can change everything about the layout in an iphone through winterboard or dreamboard. You can customize power options, and assign on screen and button shortcuts no matter where you are on the device (app, home screen, locked). Ad blocker, free spotify premium, a youtube downloader built into youtube, custom carrier logos, system wide night mode, keyboard sub symbols, finger print locked apps, remove the media cap in imessage or text messages, enable zedge ringtone downloads, kill all background apps, pop out video for any app, and custom folder sizes.
I can agree that a few of those are just catching up with Android, but a system wide on or off wifi ad blocker is something that only root can do. There are some things, like the no media cap in messages, that even a rooted android device can't technically do (depends on the carrier I suppose), because they don't go through Apple servers.
This isn't me crapping on Android. I love Android. I just needed a place to hold up until Samsung gets it together. I refuse to buy their locked up garbage anymore. The htc 10 is looking pretty good, too, but I was hoping for something with amoled.
Just so everyone is clear, we dont discuss piracy or fraud or such on XDA.
App developers work hard for their money, trust me it is hard to earn a living at 99cents a pop. Lets support our developers instead of supporting theft.
You're dumb. You're *****ing about a $600 term fee which is impossible for a single line. Buy your phone international or unlocked if this is such an issue for you and stop whining. The ATT model of phones are NOT for power users. Plain and simple. I'm surprised so many people are taking the time to read you *****ing.
This post is so funny...
You are all over the place with your words, your thoughts and your anger.
Why would you purchase the S7 on AT&T if you already knew all of this?
Especially if this has already happened to you with your Note 4?
End of the day, most of the customers who use AT&T have no idea about root. They have no care or concern about these things.
People like us, on XDA, who love to root and customize our phones have to understand that there is a paradigm shift in Android (particularly in regards to Samsung devices) that focuses on security rather than customization. Especially when dealing with Carrier phones. The bloat, the locked bootloader, the restrictions all have their reasons for existing.
Especially when Samsung is amidst a global (albeit slow) roll out of Samsung Pay. Trying to align themselves ever so closely with Apple in terms of quality and brand recognition.
Samsung Pay will NEVER work on a rooted phone, EVER! Doesn't matter if you restore stock firmware etc...
Carriers also have their reasons as well...
There are plenty of reasons why they both do it, most of which I don't want to sit here and write out one by one. Like you said in your post... Google it.
End of the day, if you want to root or customize your device then you should do your research before dropping $700+ on a phone.
Plenty of bloat free, bootloader unlocked, international and non carrier phones available for you to achieve root and enjoy Android.
Coming on here and posting a wall of whine just makes you look silly and childish.
Yes, it sucks... I share your annoyance as I'm sure many other AT&T/XDA members do as well - for years now.
End of the day, these mega corporations don't care about you or what makes you happy. It's a business, their business, deal with it. We all have to... If you want to protest, protest with your wallet.
HNIC215 said:
Samsung Pay will NEVER work on a rooted phone, EVER! Doesn't matter if you restore stock firmware etc...
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Click to collapse
While I tend to agree with the majority of your post, I think this one statement I quoted might be a bit too absolute.
My understanding of SPay is that it relies on the KNOX fuse to determine if a phone is modified. If true, then if an exploit is discovered and implemented which grants root without tripping KNOX, then SPay could possibly work on a rooted device. (Hiding root is doable, and supersu has been playing the cat/mouse game with Android Pay for several months on this...)
The galaxy S6 was rootable without tripping KNOX when it was initially released...
Of course, it's possible that there's something in the samsung firmware that will immediately trip KNOX if root is even detected. If so, it's something new that hasn't been there before. Previously, tripping KNOX required an action at the bootloader level - and usually occurred when an image not signed by samsung was flashed via ODIN.
Moving slightly off topic...
The problem, in my opinion, isn't that root can't be gained. There are plenty of exploits for gaining privileges that either Samsung takes too long to patch, or that the carriers (specifically AT&T) take too long to release the patches for. (AT&T is already 2 months behind on the S7's security patches. Those are patches for security concerns that are now publicly announced and should be easily exploited by reverse engineering the fixes that google publishes.)
The real problem is that people who would develop and publish a root method for hobbyists don't care anymore. Those people aren't going to buy a bootloader locked S7. Either they'll buy a different phone entirely (from a manufacturer that's more dev friendly), or they'll buy a non-carrier model that isn't bootloader locked. (Actually, there's another group, but it's very small: Industry insiders who are constrained by legal agreements (such as NDA's) preventing them from releasing anything they might come up with.)
garyd9 said:
While I tend to agree with the majority of your post, I think this one statement I quoted might be a bit too absolute.
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Click to collapse
That's what a Samsung Rep told me when I had the international Note 5 and wanted to know if I would be able to use Samsung Pay here in the states.
First, they said Samsung Pay would have to be available in the device's country of origin.
Second, they said the device can NEVER be rooted. If the device is rooted, it will NEVER be able to run Samsung Pay on it for the remainder of its life. Regardless if you restore with stock firmware and unroot.
Which makes sense actually when you think about it.
Apple is and has been synonymous with security and safety - in general but especially in regards to Apple Pay.
Samsung has always been considered the "Apple" or "iPhone" of the Android world - this statement holds true now more than ever before.
With Samsung Pay being released globally (slowly but surely)... Samsung will not risk the security of their platform by any means at all.
Letting users gain root access to their devices can potentially expose parts of their secure Samsung Pay platform and risk a major security or privacy incident that would lead to global fallout regardless of where the incident took place.
They will never allow this - especially with the progress they have made over the years to build a premium brand.
With the S7 and S7 Edge - they further that tradition and bring more security than ever.
Don't take my word for it...
Samsung Knox recognised as the strongest mobile security platform
Samsung has received strongest ratings for its mobile security platform Knox in areas including authentication methods, encryption management, jailbreak or root protection and application vetting.
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The latest version of Knox is currently available for Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge and optimised for Android 6.0 Marshmallow.
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According to a report, Mobile Device Security: A comparison of Platforms by renowned market analyst firm Gartner, Samsung's latest security platform Knox version 2.6 got the most strong ratings for any mobile security platform. The firm analysed the core OS security features built into a total of 12 mobile device platforms as well as enterprise management capabilities. Samsung also managed to gain leadership in mobile security market though Knox, coupled with Samsung Pay.
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Source:
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/samsung-knox-recognised-strongest-mobile-security-platform-1554836
HNIC215 said:
That's what a Samsung Rep told me when I had the international Note 5 and wanted to know if I would be able to use Samsung Pay here in the states.
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Okay.. I wonder if he's related to one of the "samsung reps" that work in Best Buy stores.... or the ones that come visit AT&T stores on occasion. For the most part, they are really good in reciting the marketing material, but when it comes to details, they are clueless. In fact, at least as bad as Radio Shack sales people.
"KNOX" is a confusing term.
First, there's "KNOX" as a software security suite that is very closely related to what google calls "Android for Work." Both are basically a "secure" and private container/sandbox. The idea is that you take a personal smartphone to work and can run "work" apps that are completely sandboxes from personal apps. This has nothing whatsoever to do with SPay. SPay doesn't make use of this element of KNOX.
KNOX is also the name of a fuse in the device (which is likely a qualcomm "qfuse" in the SD820 S7's) that trips when the bootloader detects an unsigned kernel/recovery. _THIS_ is the KNOX that relates to SPay. Real human beings (not samsung sales or support reps) have confirmed that once the KNOX fuse is tripped, it prevents SPay from working. (It also prevents KNOX, the software suite mentioned above, from working.)
Now I need to express things in strange ways, and I hope you'll forgive the odd phrasing:
As far as devs on XDA and other sites similar to XDA have been able to determine, "root" does not prevent SPay from functioning. In fact, my understanding is that there are people who rooted their Galaxy S6 without tripping the KNOX fuse, later reverted to factory firmware, allowed the phone to OTA to newer firmware that included SPay, and SPay worked fine. However, there are others who have tripped the KNOX fuse while rooted who can no longer use SPay. The key here is that KNOX fuse...
I can say with a very large degree of confidence that SPay will work just fine if you happened to had a device that somehow had a working "su" binary in the path AND KNOX wasn't tripped. That might happen if the bootloader was designed to not trip KNOX... such as someone who developed software for preloads might have on a test device. Based only on information in the public domain, it might also happen if an exploit was found that didn't require flashing a custom kernel, recovery, etc.
It's POSSIBLE, and I actually don't know this, that the firmware released on these devices publicly has code to force tripping the KNOX fuse if root is detected. The galaxy S6 did NOT have this mechanism when towel root (or whatever root method it was) worked on it. I somehow doubt that samsung would have added this to the firmware, as there's too great a chance for a false positive, and tripping that KNOX flag is permanent.
In android user terms, a "rooted" device is merely a device that has a working suid "su" binary in the path owned by the 'root' user. (Later versions of android also require some sepolicy changes, but that's outside the scope of this thread.) That binary might be on /system or it might be in the kernel partition. However, neither is a permanent change to the device, and therefore it can be removed with no trace.
garyd9 said:
Okay.. I wonder if he's related to one of the "samsung reps" that work in Best Buy stores.... or the ones that come visit AT&T stores on occasion. For the most part, they are really good in reciting the marketing material, but when it comes to details, they are clueless. In fact, at least as bad as Radio Shack sales people.
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No this wasn't in person... Nor was it someone from the states (from what I could tell).
It was with a technician over the phone because the first customer service rep had no idea - so she transferred me to a technician.
Regardless, there is no point in discussing this endlessly.
There are already plenty of folks out there who are trying to solve this issue, only time will tell if they can succeed.
Let's see what happens.
As in the news, huawei won't give us bootloader unlock code due to protect us from other rom's issues. What you guys thinking about that?
Arxea said:
As in the news, huawei won't give us bootloader unlock code due to protect us from other rom's issues. What you guys thinking about that?
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You can get the unlock code for another 59 days so it's worth getting it now from the site even if you don't use it - it might be useful in 2 years when they are no longer issuing updates
IMO it's a stupid decision and they may live to regret it - HTC went that way and lost a lot of the goodwill and vocal publicity that came from the development community. It may only be a small minority of people that use such things, but they are the ones who are likely to be asked by friends/family for recommendations.
I came from a Oneplus One running 8.1 and actually had to downgrade OS to get the extra battery life etc that I wanted, but I'd like to know in 2-3 years that I can still upgrade if I want to continue using the device. No doubt Huawei would rather I shell out for a shiny new phone though and that may be part of their thinking, but my next phone certainly won't be a Huawei, just as I stopped buying HTC.
gonzo99 said:
You can get the unlock code for another 59 days so it's worth getting it now from the site even if you don't use it - it might be useful in 2 years when they are no longer issuing updates
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Although the unlock codes will still be issued for sixty days, we have not heard from Huawei what they intend to do going forward. The unlock code is, as I understand it, hard coded to the IMEI but Huawei could still remove the ability to apply it in future updates. If you have an unlock code I'd recommend applying it now!
gonzo99 said:
You can get the unlock code for another 59 days so it's worth getting it now from the site even if you don't use it - it might be useful in 2 years when they are no longer issuing updates
IMO it's a stupid decision and they may live to regret it - HTC went that way and lost a lot of the goodwill and vocal publicity that came from the development community. It may only be a small minority of people that use such things, but they are the ones who are likely to be asked by friends/family for recommendations.
I came from a Oneplus One running 8.1 and actually had to downgrade OS to get the extra battery life etc that I wanted, but I'd like to know in 2-3 years that I can still upgrade if I want to continue using the device. No doubt Huawei would rather I shell out for a shiny new phone though and that may be part of their thinking, but my next phone certainly won't be a Huawei, just as I stopped buying HTC.
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Where to get the code? And will it be not able to use after sixty days?
Arxea said:
Where to get the code? And will it be not able to use after sixty days?
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https://emui.huawei.com/en/unlock_index - you need to create a Huawei ID if you don't have one, then plug in the details and it should give you the code instantly.
It seemed to be very busy to log in the other day but it may have settled down now.
once you get the code, it should work for the life of the device, unless you use something like the FunkyHuawei service which alters your bootloader. Worst case you can use DC Unlocker to generate the code in the future for 4 EUR too, but may as well get the free one while it's still available.
(Still a stupid decision by Huawei)
---------- Post added at 06:41 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:37 PM ----------
ghostofcain said:
Although the unlock codes will still be issued for sixty days, we have not heard from Huawei what they intend to do going forward. The unlock code is, as I understand it, hard coded to the IMEI but Huawei could still remove the ability to apply it in future updates. If you have an unlock code I'd recommend applying it now!
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I honestly hadn't considered that - would they really be stupid enough to change their bootloaders in a future update to block all future unlocking? I'd imagine that could open them to legal issues for people who bought a device on the assumption it could be unlocked - not to mention the massively bad PR it would bring from the community.
I imagine that services like DC Unlocker or FunkyHuawei would likely find a way round it in any case.
I have my code, but holding off on unlocking for now in case I decide to trade it in - wavering on a OP6, but really appreciate the extra battery life. I foresee some treble goodness in my future....
gonzo99 said:
I honestly hadn't considered that - would they really be stupid enough to change their bootloaders in a future update to block all future unlocking? I'd imagine that could open them to legal issues for people who bought a device on
I imagine that services like DC Unlocker or FunkyHuawei would likely find a way round it in any case.
I have my code, but holding off on unlocking for now in case I decide to trade it in - wavering on a OP6, but really appreciate the extra battery life. I foresee some treble goodness in my future....
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I imagine any legal objections could be covered by simply mentioning the fact in the updates.
I too balked at the OP6 as I also fancied a.decent battery life through hardware rather than software tweaking and inspite of the furore I'm happy with my decision.
Hello all,
In my circle of friends there was a suicide case and I was asked by the family if I would be able to remove a screen lock from a Samsung Galaxy S21. The family can't explain why their son killed himself and would like answers to all their questions. They assume that there is information on the phone or reasons for the suicide.
Are there any serious ways to get around such a block? I don't have much information about the device yet, nor do I currently have it with me. Maybe there are exploits or bruteforce toolkits to bypass the lockscreen. Programs like Tenorshare 4uKey or PassFab Android Unlocker are probably scam or?
I will get the device in the next week and could provide more information then.
Currently the following information is available:
Device Model: Samsung Galaxy S21 5G | Samsung SM-G991B | Android 11 | One UI 3.1
Mobile contract: active
SMS PIN & PUK: available
Google account credentials: available and valid and linked to the device but no backups available in Google Drive
Samsung account credentials: present and valid but not associated with the device so no backups available
Does the approach via Kali Nethunter and a HID keyboard attack work with a current Android Samsung Galaxy S21 bruteforcing or do you always get into the temporally increasing lock?
A data recovery $pecialist might be able to, ask the police for assistance.
Find the password for the lockscreen, or maybe through their Gmail or Samsung accounts, again passwords needed.
I think if they wanted you in the phone they would have unlocked it...
blackhawk said:
A data recovery $pecialist might be able to, ask the police for assistance.
Find the password for the lockscreen, or maybe through their Gmail or Samsung accounts, again passwords needed.
I think if they wanted you in the phone they would have unlocked it...
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This is not a helpful answer.
The police in this country does not help in such matters if it is assumed that no outside influence was involved.
A data recovery specialist also only executes toolkits or exploits. I am also able to do this if someone gives me a hint which toolkits or exploits would come into question for this model. I work as a sysadmin myself and therefore I am not completely untalented technically. I just lack information about which approach would be the best.
This is a community of people who like to hack their phones, not hack into other people's phones... which is considered unethical.
Are you serious?
You really think it's unethical when a 21 year old boy takes his own life overnight and the family just wants to know why their son did it? Sure, the boy was of age at 21 and can do with his life what he wants. Nevertheless, any clear-thinking person can understand that the family wants to know why the son did that.
I have no bad intentions and I am only trying to help the family. This is not about hacking a stolen cell phone. Then I would just do a factory reset and use the phone normally and not write this post here.
Yes, well... be that as it may.
With a screen lock in place you can't simply factory reset as you still be locked out.
I believe my original response was valid. It's not an easy nut to crack... by design.
Hello, i own a phone repair shop and i'm a relation with a person specialized in unlocking phones. He said me that he can bypass the lock screen and keep data on all samsung phones and he can do it remotly. Being in this business i don't trust him a lot about keeping data. One of my customer's son is dead and his family want to access his phone, they gave me his phone and they are agree to loose data if things dont go good so i'm gonna try with this guy and if you want i will give you a feedback.
Hi sorry to hear that this terrible situation happened around you.
I am in a similar situation. My cousin died suddenly and his sister asked be to recover pictures and videos because he filmed himself before try to end his life and she would like to find if there is any video that could help us understand better.
I'm trying to find ways to do that and so far I haven't but I wanted to share some information in case it could be helpful to someone.
I tried the iMobie Data Extractor. It is supposed to help recover data from "broken phone". I guess it's the closest thing I found that didn't look scammy and could work. After about a month of back and forth with their support person, I managed to replaced the OS using Odin (because the official software left my phone in a non-bootable state) replacing all partitions except User Data. Unfortunately, that didn't remove the lock (PIN). I'm not surprised since I didn't wipe the User Data.
From a security perspective, it is good that it is hard (impossible) to access data of a locked phone, but from a family emotional perspective, it is hard to have to tell my family that I failed.
I wish you good luck and please post here if you find a way.
be safe
Touftaf said:
Hello, i own a phone repair shop and i'm a relation with a person specialized in unlocking phones. He said me that he can bypass the lock screen and keep data on all samsung phones and he can do it remotly. Being in this business i don't trust him a lot about keeping data. One of my customer's son is dead and his family want to access his phone, they gave me his phone and they are agree to loose data if things dont go good so i'm gonna try with this guy and if you want i will give you a feedback.
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What happened
I don't have easy-to-hear information for you. But I offer these words as a way to think about this situation.
I believe Samsung intentionally builds phones which are extremely hard to break into. This is a conscious design decision they make. Why? Because so many users do things like credit card payments, banking, and social media, where, if you lost your phone and a bad person found it, an easy-to-break-into device would have potentially catastrophic results. Aside from the harm to a user who lost a phone, Samsung themselves would be subjected to great reputational damage, too. It's bad press when it's easy to break into and steal something.
Also, you may not be able to break into the device, even with the help of a commercial vendor. Exploits in Android, when found, are patched regularly. A very smart person might have had a way to crack into a phone last week, last month, or last year. But again, Samsung intends to continually patch the software to keep it secure. They make a point to telling people that Samsung phones are patched for several years, so users will feel confident their data will be secure.
One suspects certain governments have police or security organizations who likely could break in, but they are unlikely to help in a personal situation, as you described.
Although this doesn't seem to apply to you, it's worth saying that Samsung phones are also backed up (by default) to their "cloud." It's possible that a lawyer might be able, with proper documentation of the owner's death, to get access to Samsung's (or Google's) cloud backup(s). I don't think it's easy though. Google, at least in the USA, allows the owner of an account to specify how Google should handle their data if they stop accessing their accounts. (I think Google treats an idle account as "dead" and for reasons like this, if you no longer want to use a vendor like Samsung or Google, you should proactively delete your account, not merely let it go idle.)
Anyone reading this post, might want to consider having what can be an uncomfortable conversation with your friends and family: "How would you like your friends and family handle your electronic, financial, and social accounts in the event of your death?"
Please, forgive me if any of this sounds insensitive. My father worked in insurance and as part of his job he knew all to well that all people eventually die. And how hard it is for those left behind to pick up the pieces, especially when secrets are involved. My family knows where to find my keys.