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Hi,
I bought my SGS2 from Phones4u 12 months ago as "unbranded SIM only".
Recently I had to take it to a Samsung authorised repair agent as there was an issue.
When the repair agent entered my S/N and/or IMEI number into his database to check warranty info he said "oh that's strange, the phone appears to be an O2 one".
I never thought anymore about it until today, when I recieved my phone back from Samsung where it has been for a repair under warranty.
It has been returned with "the latest software on it" - says Samsung.
Anyway, they have flashed the phone with O2 branded firmware.
This would suggest the phone was indeed originally O2 branded.
I suspect Phones4u unlocked it before selling it to me.
Does this mean the phone is now locked to O2?
I want to remove the branding/lock.
What I want to know is whether I can simply use Odin and flash a non-branded firmware onto it?
For the UK it's GT-I9100_XEU_I9100XWLP7_I9100XXLPS_I9100XEULP5.tar.md5
Would this remove the lock or create any problems?
Many thanks for any help.
vwgolfman said:
Hi,
I bought my SGS2 from Phones4u 12 months ago as "unbranded SIM only".
Recently I had to take it to a Samsung authorised repair agent as there was an issue.
When the repair agent entered my S/N and/or IMEI number into his database to check warranty info he said "oh that's strange, the phone appears to be an O2 one".
I never thought anymore about it until today, when I recieved my phone back from Samsung where it has been for a repair under warranty.
It has been returned with "the latest software on it" - says Samsung.
Anyway, they have flashed the phone with O2 branded firmware.
This would suggest the phone was indeed originally O2 branded.
I suspect Phones4u unlocked it before selling it to me.
Does this mean the phone is now locked to O2?
I want to remove the branding/lock.
What I want to know is whether I can simply use Odin and flash a non-branded firmware onto it?
For the UK it's GT-I9100_XEU_I9100XWLP7_I9100XXLPS_I9100XEULP5.tar.md5
Would this remove the lock or create any problems?
Many thanks for any help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it wont unlock it but will put unbranded firmware on it without problems
for unlock just google or use the search bar ''sgs2 unlock'' or ''i9100 unlock''
are you sure its locked? just put another sim in and try it
I think o2 phones are unlocked anyway.The last few I've bought have been......
sent by my s2 using xda premium
Thank you guys....
I checked to see if it was locked by entering...
*#7465625#
Everything displayed "OFF" indicating the phone was not locked.
Then I simply flashed the firmware to a Samsung stock unbranded.
All done. Thank you once again :good:
I have quite the opposite problem, ever since i got my SGS2 from a local salesman, the box said DNA sim locked. Tried the key combination and it was confirmed that this is network locked. The main problem now is that i have no idea what's the latest DNA (Finland) firmware and am too afraid to send my phone for a repair until i can figure out which FW needs to be in to keep my warranty. Since I got my phone in 12/2011 ive kept the original GB firmware for a mere 3 days and forgot to take screenshots from it. Any ideas how to find out the current FW for finnish phones?
Hi all,
I bought an I9505 in Madrid in early October (after jumping into the Mediterranean with my S2 in my pocket). I paid a higher price to buy it pre-unlocked, and it worked out of the box with a Spanish Orange pre-paid sim card. I rooted it at some point (with Odin and CF-Auto-Root-jflte-jfltexx-gti9505), and it still worked, and on return to the UK it worked with my giffgaff pre-paid sim card too.
On return to Australia, it doesn't work with either of two Optus sim cards, nor a friend's TPG sim card. On all three, it says the sim card is invalid and asks for a code to unblock the SIM network.
Since then, I've tried flashing on ME2 firmware so that I could do the free unlock process through the *#0011# settings, but that hasn't fixed it.
I note when I go to download mode that the CSC is still PHE (Spain). Is it possible that flashing on an Australian CSC would help, because of the newer S4 region-lock thing? I haven't been able to try this because hotfile is down and there's no Australian stock firmware floating around anywhere else.
Any help would be hugely appreciated, at the moment my $650 phone is useless as anything but a camera.
I've called Optus and Samsung, neither were able to help me at all.
Thanks =)
Australian stock firmware from either AndroidFirmwares.net or Samsung-Updates.com; try flashing & see what happens.
I found one for Unlock Australian phones: HERE. Remember this still being 4.2.2, if u are in 4.3 u cant downgrade ur phone without void ur warranty and u will have to wait SAM/Kies STOCK firmwares :highfive:
Thanks guys, I did find that link on samsung-updates but from there none of the download links work (RapidGator and TeraFile links don't point anywhere, and the ul.to link 404s). I couldn't find anything for Aus/XSA on androidfirmwares either.
Does this seem like the right direction? Is it conceivable that a phone rejects SIM cards and acts as though it just needs an unlock code, only because it has firmware from a different region?
Yep sounds like it might be region locked. There's been a bunch of threads about it on here over the past month or two, search for/read those. Might be info in those threads that can help you get around it (can't tell you definitely as I've only skimmed one or two & haven't run into the problem myself).
Dear all,
I've been trying to solve the following problem for three weeks on my own and have made no progress, and have probably made things worse. So, I figured it was time to get some help at long last.
I bought my S4 I9500 in Bangkok, and I was not aware that Samsung was region locking their phones now, as I had an S2 that I used in Thailand, China and Cambodia without any problems.
So, I bought the S4 and loved it. However, I moved back to China last month, and upon arrival I bought a SIM card. It didn't work... At this point, my firmware was 4.3, as it had auto-updated from 4.2 while I was in Thailand.
The folks at China mobile couldn't figure out the problem, so I did some research and found out that my phone was region locked. I went to 3 Samsung stores here, and none of them knew what to do, nor would bother to figure it out.
So, I had to try to fix it on my own. I read about entering service mode and tried it, but it didn't work. From what I read, it would have worked in 4.2.2, but not 4.3. I tried finding a place to download 4.2.2 to flash it back, but Hotfile is dead, so I got 4.4. I figured it couldn't hurt, right?
Well, it didn't help.
So, basically, my I9500 is at firmware version 4.4, and my phone is still locked. I am in desperate need of some help. I do not care about the warranty, as I am pretty sure I screwed that up already.
BTW: I did try some sites for the unlock codes, but either they didn't have what I needed, the IMEI code was not accepted, only accepted Paypal, or would not accept a UnionPay credit card. -_-
Thanks for your time.
In order to fully understand your case, you said " I bought the S4 and loved it" and "it had auto-updated from 4.2 while I was in Thailand.".
do you say you were using it there and you connected thai phone network with a local sim card for some time?
if yes the phone was to be normaly unlocked for any other region network....
lolo9393 said:
In order to fully understand your case, you said " I bought the S4 and loved it" and "it had auto-updated from 4.2 while I was in Thailand.".
do you say you were using it there and you connected thai phone network with a local sim card for some time?
if yes the phone was to be normaly unlocked for any other region network....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep. I used a Thai SIM card for about 4 months. When I inserted a Chinese SIM card, it once asked me for an unlock key.
Amarach said:
Yep. I used a Thai SIM card for about 4 months. When I inserted a Chinese SIM card, it once asked me for an unlock key.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sim lock is different from region lock,
since you have used your s4 in thai your phone probably is region unlocked by now. (as far as i know)
it seems like your phone is locked to mobile provider in Thailand,
try to use any website that provides sim-unlock code using imei of your phone.
Hello everyone,
Sorry if this was posted already - I am typing this up in between other projects and I wanted to put something out here so I wouldn't forget. This last weekend, I purchased a used Galaxy S5 CDMA phone branded by US Cellular. I searched and searched for a way to unlock it but I was not able to find anything that worked for me. My phone is currently running Android 4.4.2 and none of the *# dial codes would do anything for me. Finally I was near a local US Cellular today so I brought my phone in and they unlocked the SIM for me so I can use it with other carriers. I haven't had a chance to go through the phone yet after the unlock, but I plan on looking at it tonight when I get home to find out if I can figure out how it was unlocked so I can share that info with anyone on the site who would like to unlock their SM-G900R4. I'm hoping that during their unlocking process, the hidden menus were left visible so I can look at the phone's file structure. I'll report back as soon as I know more.
pellet said:
Hello everyone,
Sorry if this was posted already - I am typing this up in between other projects and I wanted to put something out here so I wouldn't forget. This last weekend, I purchased a used Galaxy S5 CDMA phone branded by US Cellular. I searched and searched for a way to unlock it but I was not able to find anything that worked for me. My phone is currently running Android 4.4.2 and none of the *# dial codes would do anything for me. Finally I was near a local US Cellular today so I brought my phone in and they unlocked the SIM for me so I can use it with other carriers. I haven't had a chance to go through the phone yet after the unlock, but I plan on looking at it tonight when I get home to find out if I can figure out how it was unlocked so I can share that info with anyone on the site who would like to unlock their SM-G900R4. I'm hoping that during their unlocking process, the hidden menus were left visible so I can look at the phone's file structure. I'll report back as soon as I know more.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just a quick follow up... I didn't have a chance to go through my phone extensively last night, but I did see something that may or may not be of interest. When I got my phone back after being unlocked, there was an icon for mceFramework. When I clicked on it, it ran in the upper corner of the phone and when I swiped down it said it would be uninstalled. From what I have read about it, it has really nothing to do with the unlocking of the phone though.
Depending on what time I get home tonight will determine if I get to really dig into the phone tonight or not. I'm hoping there is something I will be able to find that will be useful. The US Cellular phone is a bit different though, as I mentioned before regarding the *# codes... No matter what *# codes I try, they do not work... even something as simple as *#060# does nothing on my phone - even after being unlocked. If I find something, I'll report back.
pellet said:
Just a quick follow up... I didn't have a chance to go through my phone extensively last night, but I did see something that may or may not be of interest. When I got my phone back after being unlocked, there was an icon for mceFramework. When I clicked on it, it ran in the upper corner of the phone and when I swiped down it said it would be uninstalled. From what I have read about it, it has really nothing to do with the unlocking of the phone though.
Depending on what time I get home tonight will determine if I get to really dig into the phone tonight or not. I'm hoping there is something I will be able to find that will be useful. The US Cellular phone is a bit different though, as I mentioned before regarding the *# codes... No matter what *# codes I try, they do not work... even something as simple as *#060# does nothing on my phone - even after being unlocked. If I find something, I'll report back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any luck figuring this one out? I've been told that my phone is unlockable, but I have to take it to a US Cellular store. The closest one to me is 28 hours away I'd love to fix this myself. Thanks!
Hey same problem here. I will pay someone to help me please... [email protected]
clcherryrun said:
Hey same problem here. I will pay someone to help me please... [email protected]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am looking for help in this as well. Has anyone found the solution ? Getting to a US Cellular store is a problem for me as well .
To be able to dial the codes *#,
1- dowload root browser.
2- click on to efs folder
3- carrier folder
4-hiddemenu
5-click on open as
6-text file
7-RB text editor
8- change off to on.
9-Save ( top right icon to the left of SIZE ).
Found a couple apps earlier this evening that work well
Short cut master lite
And
Phone info samsung 3.3.10
Give every bit of info you would need to know and have temp read outs also
The US cellular unlocker is not available through Sammobile. Com. They have are handing people to us cellular for the unlocker
Its. CDMA, and i guess samsung does not run cdma based software.
SAMSUNG does have everything else though.
Firm ware
Odin 3.7.10
Keies
Etc
---------- Post added at 03:59 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:51 AM ----------
Ok ended that last post in haste
Those apps i listed will also reveal alll hidden commands and menus
There is a command one of them gives you to input into the dialer window,
*#0011#
Then press menu, back, menu,
Key in Q0 or Q0000
Then hit ok
This stated it did not need root permission to perform this
Could u please help me unlock my us cellular samsung galaxy s5 cdma phone its Model number is sm-g900r4
it works just on s6 s6 edge
Anyone got there s5 unlocked yet.....?
Hello, I came across this thread and just thought I'd share how I was able to unlock my Galaxy s5 Mini (US Cellular). I tried just about everything, but what finally worked was simply flashing the stock rom which can be found at the sammobile site. Use 'Odin', instructions included on the website.
1.21jigawatts said:
Hello, I came across this thread and just thought I'd share how I was able to unlock my Galaxy s5 Mini (US Cellular). I tried just about everything, but what finally worked was simply flashing the stock rom which can be found at the sammobile site. Use 'Odin', instructions included on the website.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stock rom? like from a tmobile s5? Please clarify.
besusanameeva said:
Stock rom? like from a tmobile s5? Please clarify.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello -- stock rom by model number. I think in most cases this is just stock Android for the carrier of specified model, minus bloatware and network lock. Well, I correct myself -- there may be some bloatware, but certainly less than what was there after performing the factory reset. The link to 'sm-g900r4' rom is at sammobile(dotcom), firmwares, search for model number -- and download latest version.
In my case, phone model is 'sm-g800r4' (US Cellular). Everywhere I looked online suggested that I had to contact US Cellular and request instructions for unlocking, but they will only do this if you have the original sim card. So, I finally flashed the stock rom using Odin, following very basic instructions (included on the rom site). After flashing, I still had the US Cellular splash screen, but my verizon sim suddenly worked with the device. Next step for me -- root and replace that ugly US Cellular splash screen with the gorgeous lollipop boot animation. Very nice.
If you need assistance with specific instructions let me know, and I can provide a quick summary.
Simple instructions, great site to join for US Cell users.
http://teamuscellular.com/Forum/topic/9019-how-to-root-s5-on-601/
Help Please
1.21jigawatts said:
Hello -- stock rom by model number. I think in most cases this is just stock Android for the carrier of specified model, minus bloatware and network lock. Well, I correct myself -- there may be some bloatware, but certainly less than what was there after performing the factory reset. The link to 'sm-g900r4' rom is at sammobile(dotcom), firmwares, search for model number -- and download latest version.
In my case, phone model is 'sm-g800r4' (US Cellular). Everywhere I looked online suggested that I had to contact US Cellular and request instructions for unlocking, but they will only do this if you have the original sim card. So, I finally flashed the stock rom using Odin, following very basic instructions (included on the rom site). After flashing, I still had the US Cellular splash screen, but my verizon sim suddenly worked with the device. Next step for me -- root and replace that ugly US Cellular splash screen with the gorgeous lollipop boot animation. Very nice.
If you need assistance with specific instructions let me know, and I can provide a quick summary.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey man I have the GALAXY S5 SM-G900R4. I want to make sure it is unlocked for any network for when I travel.
Can you provide a walk through on what you did, what are the steps, I'm new to this I have no experience but I can follow instructions. Also how can I know if this phone is CDMA or GSM ?? I Opened it and it has the Sim Card Slot, Hopefully it is GSM which is what I need. Please help. Thank you very much.
prome002 said:
Hey man I have the GALAXY S5 SM-G900R4. I want to make sure it is unlocked for any network for when I travel.
Can you provide a walk through on what you did, what are the steps, I'm new to this I have no experience but I can follow instructions. Also how can I know if this phone is CDMA or GSM ?? I Opened it and it has the Sim Card Slot, Hopefully it is GSM which is what I need. Please help. Thank you very much.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but if you don't already know the us cellular brand is CDMA service
Cdarin1121 said:
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but if you don't already know the us cellular brand is CDMA service
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sorry to tell u but device is capable of receiving at least att cdma and ltes bands just not gsm the device can be unlocked just wont support everyone i am working on unlock as we speak and will figure this out
prome002 said:
Hey man I have the GALAXY S5 SM-G900R4. I want to make sure it is unlocked for any network for when I travel.
Can you provide a walk through on what you did, what are the steps, I'm new to this I have no experience but I can follow instructions. Also how can I know if this phone is CDMA or GSM ?? I Opened it and it has the Sim Card Slot, Hopefully it is GSM which is what I need. Please help. Thank you very much.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you ever figure out a way to unlock your phone?
hey guys i bought a brand new sealed box s7 edge 3 months ago and it suddenly got locked i called telus about the phone and they said it has been reported stolen because the owner did not pay the billsand voided the contract phone. the seller changed his number and i cant use my phone to make calls text or use data. is there anyway to unlock my phne to work? telus denied me any help. and im running 7.0
thanks
Go to the police/phone company with proof of purchase and there's a limited chance they will help you, besides that your out of luck I'm afraid
Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk
Rizrs said:
hey guys i bought a brand new sealed box s7 edge 3 months ago and it suddenly got locked i called telus about the phone and they said it has been reported stolen because the owner did not pay the billsand voided the contract phone. the seller changed his number and i cant use my phone to make calls text or use data. is there anyway to unlock my phne to work? telus denied me any help. and im running 7.0
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately this is a common scam and why you should never buy contract phones from anyone anyone who cant prove to you that it isn't a contract phone don't even bother with them. You could try police but i doubt it would get anywhere...
this almost happened to me when i bought my s7e the buyer told me it wasnt on contract so i bought it and when it arrived it was a branded network phone i asked if he could prove it wasnt and he just strung me along until he got angry calling me a scammer. ha i sent it back straight away while i still had money back guarentee via eBay.
i am surprised they even told you any information about it, that information should be confidential unless you can prove you are the original contract holder.
Your options are either use it without a mobile connection or re sell the device overseas.
it will not be blocked overseas.
there is no way to unblock a blocked phone in your country. with good reason too.
the only way to fix it is to replace the motherboard that has a different IMEI.
sorry bro
Officially... you're SOL the IMEI is blocked by the carrier. However, via root methods you can change your IMEI, unfortunately I dont think were allowed to talk about that here ;P
Just root and change your IMEI, just google it
went to cell phone repair shop they did the root and imei fix. but now i am on andriod 6.0.1 and the vibrate doesnt work my phone just emits a faint beep noise instead of vibration. also LTE doesnt work stuck on 4g?. Can i upgrade to 7.0 and fix these issues?
Thanks
LTE is the same as 4G, so no need to worry. As far as the vibrating is concerned, you're on a Nougat bootloader. You have 2 options:
1. Flash a Marshmallow bootloader via Odin. (no need to wipe data and you won't lose anything): LINK
2. Flash a Nougat firmware via Odin. (there's a reset involved, so you will lose all data and root).
Lao Mayer said:
LTE is the same as 4G, so no need to worry. As far as the vibrating is concerned, you're on a Nougat bootloader. You have 2 options:
1. Flash a Marshmallow bootloader via Odin. (no need to wipe data and you won't lose anything): LINK
2. Flash a Nougat firmware via Odin. (there's a reset involved, so you will lose all data and root).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is the right answer OP
sorry im still kind of new to andriod so if i flash to a nougat firmware i will be back on andriod 7 and lose my root but will i get to keep my altered imei? the phone store did all the software stuff not myself.
thankyou
Best way would be to get back to the guy that worked on your phone to make the update.
Lao Mayer said:
Best way would be to get back to the guy that worked on your phone to make the update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
he cant get my vibration to work and he said u can only stay on 6.0.1 ?
You can follow the steps below to update thread bootloader yourself. The guide is for the S7 flat, but the steps are identical. Just download the bootloader provided by me in the previous post and follow the steps:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s7/how-to/modem-samsung-galaxy-s7-sm-g930f-t3379596
You can use only the BL file.
Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk
Just sell it in another country ? I'm french and one day an ******* sold me a S5 blacklisted by himself for having a full refund with his insurance. So after that i sold the phone in switzerland and obviously informed the guy for the status of the phone. He told me that it wasn't an issue for him and phones are blacklisted by country so no problem
so if i flash nougat firmware via odin will i be able to make calls text data etc as in will my imei stay modified?
going to attempt it this weekend hopefully and get back on nougat