[Q] To root or not to root - Galaxy Note 3 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hi,
I am new to all this so please forgive what's probably a repeat. I have had a browse but can't find an answer to my specific problem.
I got a nearly new note 3 on e-bay and only saw the 'doesn't work in UK' warning after I bid (I know, stupid or what, but I swear it wasn't there before I bis as I was looking out for it). Anyway, I decided to take it on the chin and do what I needed to do to make it work.
I read around, this site is great, and decided that I would need to root and was quite prepared to do so but, then the phone arrived and the confusion set in.
The phone doesn't ask for an unlock Sim password or have the screen shown in the 'How to... you youtube videos' I don't have to dismiss anything to get into the phone and play with it. It's connected to my home network fine and and I can play with it to my hearts desire. It does everything in fact except make phone calls (my Dad thinks this is hilariously funny, a phone you can't use as a phone hahaha).
When I do try to make calls it says it is not registered to the network but when I have gone into settings to check it says it is!!!
I don't want to go to trouble of rooting if it doesn't need it but, what do I need to do!?!
Also there is the new kitkat thing that's thrown more confusion into my little life, if I root will I get that and if I don't, do I or should I care?
What good is a phone that doesn't make calls?
Any advice, hints or tips with this would be great x

Related

Can anyone clarify what a hard reset really does?

OK, I know that may look like a dumb question (and maybe it is!!!)
I have just unlocked my Vario 2 using the "Pof" method with both Sim and SuperCID.
Problem is, my phone needs to be sent back (long story - but basically I am getting a replacement Vario 3). Now obviously I am concerned they will tell me "sorry youve been playing with your phone sonny - its no longer under warrenty", so need to get it back to factory settings if I can.
I appreciate a hard reset will basically wipe any files I have, contacts and settings etc, but will this remove the unlocks that have been done? ie It really does go back to factory settings - or do these unlocks stay on there?
I have been searching the forum and WIKI, but not found the solution. I did think I would need to install a T-Mobile Rom - but all I could find was a hungarian version - which whilst in English, would probably look worse than as I currently have it!
Any help appreciated.
Thanks
EDIT:
For the record, if it makes any difference:
ROM Version 1.21.110.3
Rom Date 06/19/06
Radio version 1.16.00.00
Herm300 IPL-1.01
SPL 1.40.0lipro
a hard reset simply formats the internal drive on the phone and resets it to the factory settings.
generally t mobile wont bother looking at things like that, i unlocked my vario, dropped it, it smashed, they just replaced it after trying to repair it.
A few people have flashed new roms and bricked it, sent it back, tmobile are none the wiser, they are probably unaware people to this to their handsets!
we are all just stupid customers as far as they are concerned!
personally i wouldnt worry about it!
andaroo said:
a hard reset simply formats the internal drive on the phone and resets it to the factory settings.
generally t mobile wont bother looking at things like that, i unlocked my vario, dropped it, it smashed, they just replaced it after trying to repair it.
A few people have flashed new roms and bricked it, sent it back, tmobile are none the wiser, they are probably unaware people to this to their handsets!
we are all just stupid customers as far as they are concerned!
personally i wouldnt worry about it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK thanks for that. So I assume a hard reset will not over write anything regarding the bootloader radio change and unlocks? I appreciated that it resets the OS - hence the question.
I agree that they probably wouldnt in most cases look into the phone and check, but they have put a note on my account about "charging if not found faulty".
The problem I have been getting is missing calls - even if I am in a strong signal area. I actually work at Waterloo Railway station - and I would doubt too many places would get a better signal! An incoming call is made, my phone doesnt ring and the caller gets a single ring, then nothing. From what I can now gather, this may be to do with the cell shaking hands but not really being connected. ie the phone/cell are duping each other. This appears to be a 3G issue (so is probably likely to still be there on exchange.) Now the silly thing I have noticed; the phone seemed fine until I got web'n'walk put back on and the problem happens once I have been online. Strangely at the moment, I dont think the problem is persisiting (ie Im not aware of missing calls - though of course thats difficult to quantify unless someone tells me!)
Anyway - I have a feeling they will be looking more into this phone as this replacement will be my 5th! (The previous had similar problems with calls being made or incoming that would just fall over before being answered and the signal being completely lost when it was happening. Slightly different this time - but sound related!)
So will there be a way to put it back to being locked and the correct bootloader etc being shown?
Many thanks
I had the same problem with rejected and dropped calls, tmobile couldnt care less from what i learned or are unaware of the problem! try this
1. lock the phone to gsm only (this solved it pretty much straight away)
2) remove the voicemail from your account
3) If you are using gprs data, you will rarely get a phone call through, and by using it i mean looking at web pages or having programs update in the background.
Downgrading the bootloader is way above my head so i wouldnt like to advise.
As regard to relocking the phone to the network, i dont think thats possible, in any event, why would they check the simlock if the phone is having problems with calls!
If its your fifth handset, you should be looking at changing the model at least because thats ridiculous.
It sounds like a network issue rather than a handset problem!
andaroo said:
I had the same problem with rejected and dropped calls, tmobile couldnt care less from what i learned or are unaware of the problem! try this
1. lock the phone to gsm only (this solved it pretty much straight away)
2) remove the voicemail from your account
3) If you are using gprs data, you will rarely get a phone call through, and by using it i mean looking at web pages or having programs update in the background.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeh, the problems on this phone didnt start until I began using the net again. They did suggest switching off 3G, but since I bought the phone specifically on the promise of a fast connection and HSPDA speeds, that really is an unacceptable solution! I appreciate that signal varies etc - but if a central location where I work isnt good enough, then T-Mobile really shouldnt be advertising themselves as a 3G network!
As it happens, voicemail was switched off on the account. It got put back on again a week ago - and sods law - things now seem to be working, though internet speeds are still very slow.
As regard to relocking the phone to the network, i dont think thats possible, in any event, why would they check the simlock if the phone is having problems with calls!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dunno really. Its just a concern they will and then use it to wriggle out of an exchange!
If its your fifth handset, you should be looking at changing the model at least because thats ridiculous.
It sounds like a network issue rather than a handset problem!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I phoned, I was just looking to get a repair, but it was them that offered a Vario 3 which I accepted. It was agreed for them to be sending the set to me (last Thursday) but all that arrived was a grey bag to send my old one back. I spoke with them at great length again last night and suggested a straight courier swap so I wasn't without a phone. They went through to their repair department, who have now flatly refused the phone change - despite it being agreed already!
Anyway I spoke to another manager who went through my "book" of notes and quoted the sale of goods act and merchandisable quality thing and he has agreed they really have to address this. He is phoning me back today and he did come across as helpful and reasonable. (The second one in 2 weeks - must be a record!!!)
I do agree though, that this issue is likely to be the network and not the phone. I would really love to use O2 as at work and home I get 100% coverage and never had any problems at all - but I ain't paying their data rates! Maybe 3 will be ok - but again, when I had them a few years back, at home they were dire so never bothered again. But one thing is pretty certain, in 5 months time, T-Mobile will be history unless they make amends in a big way and these problems become non existant.
Thanks for your help..... its appreciated.

[Q] Rooting and back?

Hello. I'm sorry if I write this kind of questions, I know it annoys if it's already been asked, but I swear to you I looked *everywhere* and couldn't find a precise answer.
I'm coming from an iphone, and the sgs is my first android phone. Obviously I jailbroke my iphone on day 3, and I would like to keep the same tradition rooting my new phone today. The thing it's keeping me from doing it is warranty-related: on my iphone I knew that if one day I had to send it to apple (like for a broken wifi chipset), I could just connect it to my computer, hit the "restore" button and I was good to go. Now the question is: is the same also true for the sgs? Can I just plug it in with kies and restore it to factory settings?? Or with odin? I know about the samsung-firmwares website...does it provide truly *stock* firmwares without root? So that if I send the phone to samsung for repair it is *impossible* for them to see that my phone is-was rooted??
I also have a second question concerning these problems: why does rooting avoid your warranty?? Seriously, I can understand why apple doesn't want you to jailbreak your device...it's a double money loss for them. Either because you crack apps without buying them and/or because you use another "appstore" where you buy apps without giving them a cent...
But google I really can't understand: it's an open os, you can use other appstores right in your device (I read this info, but in fact apart from the samsung one, I've never seen alternative stores...), heck, you can also crack applications right in your device without rooting it!
So really, WHY?!?
I just wanted to root because of titanium backup. When I bought the phone I started playing with it for a while, downloaded some apps, changed some settings, tuned my homescreen, etc. Then I rebooted into windows to use kies and upgrade the firmware...and I found the horrible news: I had to do everything back from scratch. Now, that is something (coming from an iphone) that I find really disturbing. And then I read about titanium backup pro...but you need root. Seriously, why should that be something that avoids my warranty?!? Can someone explain this to me?

[Q] event log showing when SD card removed?

I need to know if there is any record or event log kept in the phone as to when an SD card is removed or inserted, or when the phone is turned off, battery removed, etc., and if such a log exists, how to view it.
I'm using a Samsung Galaxy S / Sprint Epic 4G, firmware version 2.2.1
I've tried searching for "event log" to no avail, "SD card removed" mostly turns up people who are getting messages that their SD card is not there, etc. Not sure if there are better search terms to use to find the answer.
Long Story: My phone was stolen from my office, I sent several texts to it from other phones informing the person who had it that the phone had GPS tracking software enabled and I was recording everywhere the phone went (complete bluff). The next day, I was contacted by someone who was in possession of my phone, her story changed several times, from the person who stole it was a friend and felt bad and gave it to her to give to me, to she didn't know the person, to the person being her brother who found the phone in a 7/11 bathroom.
I find their frequent story changing very suspicious and suspect they are covering for the person who actually stole my phone, but I don't want to go to the police and press charges against someone who might just be a good Samaritan.
The phone was returned with the SD card removed. I suspect the theif thought it was a SIM card or something that could help locate or identify the phone and ditched it. Her "brother" told me he found the phone at 5:00, and is willing to say the same in a police report. I need to know if the SD card was removed from the phone before or after 5:00 before I decide to attempt to press charges against the people who returned the phone to me.
Sorry that happened. While I don't know the answer, the subject relates to a great free app I've put on my phone & is getting more popular called Android Lost. It helps track and remotely lock/wipe (including just the SD) and control the phone in lots of cool ways. Hoping it'll help other folks. The SD card use log though is not one of its features, so I'd be interested to hear if that's possible at all.
DroidApprentice said:
Sorry that happened. While I don't know the answer, the subject relates to a great free app I've put on my phone & is getting more popular called Android Lost. It helps track and remotely lock/wipe (including just the SD) and control the phone in lots of cool ways. Hoping it'll help other folks. The SD card use log though is not one of its features, so I'd be interested to hear if that's possible at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the response! I actually found out about Android Lost while I was trying to figure out what I could do to find the phone, but it was too late. I was able to remote install it via the android market web page (I see that it is installed now that I have the phone back), but it seemed to require manual activation from the phone to work before I could do anything, so it was too late.
There was another app called Plan B that supposedly will work with a remote install even without any use of the phone, it did install but it never worked. Tried it on a friend's phone right in front of us and it didn't work on his either, so I can't recommend Plan B to anyone who comes across a similar problem in the future.
I guess the real lesson here is, install and register Android Lost before the phone is lost! Which I have now done.
Now my goal is to try to find out who in my office is a thief, but without screwing over someone who might potentially be a good Samaritan just returning my phone to me.
stufff11 said:
Thanks for the response! I actually found out about Android Lost while I was trying to figure out what I could do to find the phone, but it was too late. I was able to remote install it via the android market web page (I see that it is installed now that I have the phone back), but it seemed to require manual activation from the phone to work before I could do anything, so it was too late.
There was another app called Plan B that supposedly will work with a remote install even without any use of the phone, it did install but it never worked. Tried it on a friend's phone right in front of us and it didn't work on his either, so I can't recommend Plan B to anyone who comes across a similar problem in the future.
I guess the real lesson here is, install and register Android Lost before the phone is lost! Which I have now done.
Now my goal is to try to find out who in my office is a thief, but without screwing over someone who might potentially be a good Samaritan just returning my phone to me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
dont press charges just tell him to box you. if hes a man he will.
schnowdapowda said:
dont press charges just tell him to box you. if hes a man he will.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
She was a woman with a 4 year old kid. The problem is that I don't know for sure if she is somehow involved with the person who stole the phone or not. I know she lied to me several times about how it was "found" as she says, but I want to be sure that the SD card was removed after she claims it was found before I go forward.
stufff11 said:
She was a woman with a 4 year old kid. The problem is that I don't know for sure if she is somehow involved with the person who stole the phone or not. I know she lied to me several times about how it was "found" as she says, but I want to be sure that the SD card was removed after she claims it was found before I go forward.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Combine the ideas. Box her 4 year old until she gives up the real thief.
(don't do that)
othan1 said:
Combine the ideas. Box her 4 year old until she gives up the real thief.
(don't do that)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL AMAZING LOGIC ROFL
But nah, this iswhere something like what htc has going on with the sense3.0 where you can remote wipe,track, lock,blahblahblah through the web
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA Premium App

Questions on rooting and SIM unlocking (S4 eumk2 4.3)

Hey guys,
I'm new to this forum. A while back I found a phone in the gas station bathroom that I was working at. I kept it under the desk with a note and of course the camera watching it in case it disappeared without a customer picking it up. No one ever came for it and after 2 weeks (company policy) I took it home with me. Anyway, I've just been using it on my wireless internet and playing games, however my phone contract just ran out on my crappy verizon old flip phone and I want to go to straight talk and use this one.
So, I bought the Straight talk byop kit which includes a sim card for the phone, however, the SIM card that's meant for AT&T phones is too small for this one for some reason, however the TMobile one fits in it perfectly fine. The problem is that it's a tmobile sim card and I'm sure you all know that I need to unlock the phone to get it. So, last night I spent about 4 hours searching for ways to unlock it. I see it's possible to do it for free using the system settings phone codes, but the code combinations don't seem to work for me.
*#0011# - When i key enter 1 it doesn't do what the video I was watching says it's supposed to do.
*#9090# - Restarts my phone after I hit the what I'm told to.
There's another I tried however, I can't remember the code, it takes me to the debug menu, however option 6 isn't there to give me access to phone options or whatever.
So, I gave up as my laptop battery started to waiver around 10% and went to sleep.
Now, today, I hopped on and attempted to figure it out again, but got bored really quick, stumbling accross the same stuff I tried last night, so I tried rooting it thinking that getting admin access to my phone would make option 6 appear when I entered that number. I was wrong, but hey, I successfully rooted my phone so it's cool.
Anyway, I just want the SIM card to work. I really don't care if I have to unlock my phone or whatever, I just want my phone to be able to make calls. So if unlocking my phone works, please help me, if there's a way to get the super small AT&T SIM card to work, then that's be great.
I'm sure you need some of my phone info to help me out so here we go.
It's a Samsung S4 on 4.3 firmware, rooted. It's an I337 and the baseband version says I337UCUEMK2.
If you need any other information to help me out, please feel free to ask. I tried calling AT&T already btw, they said without a phone number they won't provide me with an unlock code.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2595457
I have tried this and it works
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I467 using Tapatalk
jmjoyas said:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2595457
I have tried this and it works
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I467 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I honestly don't understand 90% of the words in that post... Is there a post or article that'll teach me the basics to rooting and unlocking? I'd really love to do custom roms and everything. I honestly thought when I rooted my phone it'd give me admin access and the hidden system management options would become open to me.
Anyway, hope you can help, my wife is getting on my case about getting it unlocked. If I don't have it done tonight, she's going to make me add the straight talk to a different phone instead of this one and I really don't want to use a cheap piece of junk straight talk phone.
NeoGriim said:
I honestly don't understand 90% of the words in that post... Is there a post or article that'll teach me the basics to rooting and unlocking? I'd really love to do custom roms and everything. I honestly thought when I rooted my phone it'd give me admin access and the hidden system management options would become open to me.
Anyway, hope you can help, my wife is getting on my case about getting it unlocked. If I don't have it done tonight, she's going to make me add the straight talk to a different phone instead of this one and I really don't want to use a cheap piece of junk straight talk phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm doing research on getting a custom rom installed right now, I'm looking at Carbon ROM. I guess I have another question, is there any roms that give me full access to system manager or whatever it's called when you enter those numbers?
Okay, I made an attempt to use your walkthrough, method 2. I went and downloaded odin, and tried to flash the mdl modem however they don't exactly explain in the walkthrough how to do that, I figured I'd take a hit at it and went to do it and odin says it failed.
Is there a walk through I can read through to find how to flash?
I'm not sure what safestrap is, I can't find it on my phone and google only brings up droid ones for me as far as I've seen. It sounds like if I get the mdl modem on my phone that because it unlocks the hidden options in system manager I just have to do that and use the system manager walkthroughs I've seen to go ahead and unlock it.
EDIT: Okay, I got safestrap installed, now I'm just trying to figure out how to get a different modem installed, any help there? I'm looking and asking around but I'm not seeing anything.

S7 Edge Stolen

Hello guys, yesterday my S7 edge was stolen and I was able to track the device till one location, but couldn't find the device or the robber once I got there. I had the SM-G935F international variant (Exynos) - stock and first question I would like to ask is: Is it possible to turn off the device from the lock screen without the pincode/fingerprint? Because I think it was not possible when I had it.
I'm just asking because once I have reached the location the google maps timeline, stopped recording the movement of my device.. and have stopped since there..
Around 3 hours later my girlfriend (I put her contact as security), received a message on her device saying the SIM card had been changed. I had the device with 4G (wifi I'm not sure) and the lock screen was secured. I tried using Samsung find my mobile and was even more useless than google maps timeline, because It couldn't locate the device even when google maps could.
I went to the police and they say that, they could locate (but It's going to take a while) the sim card that was put on that IMEI.
Do you guys know another way that could help me know some information sooner? At least something I could help the police with..
Hope you can help me in some way.
I'm in Czech Republic btw.
Best Regards,
Neto
damn man, I'm so sorry for u, f*cking crappy ppl...
the easiest way to track ur phone is to detect via SIM/IMEI, for that u have to know that new code that was inserted (not easy for us, but police should have), all other services (google, samsung,whatever) works just when de phone is on and have a network connection/GPS active (that cannot be turned off with the phone locked), sad is, the phone can be turned off w/o problem at any moment. Last updates with google apps, doesn't let u use your phone even giving a factory reset because u need to put the last google credentials used in that phone (but I don't know if u have to activate that in some settings, in my older phone it was on by default)....
sad is no much to do here, hope police in your country is more competent that mine's
I also advise going the police route.
File an official complaint and ask for a file number so you know it's official and the investigation will be active.
Keep us posted on how things go.
I've already talked with the police, gonna know if they can find them by the EMEI..
Wish tracking devices were made much more simple..
Brother's stolen phone (iD*ot 6S) was found by czech police within two days (in Prg), so finger's crossed for you! If you are from Prague I could ask him which office he went to.
Not sure there is anything you can do at this point, but I will recommend an app that I use called Where's My Droid. You can get the paid version (I would highly recommend paying the small one time fee for this) and it does quite a lot. You can track it online from a computer, and even through text messages. You can use text message commands to take pictures from the front and rear cameras, get GPS location, lock the sim and prevent others from being used, and even change your pin through text. You set up the keywords needed so that others cannot send out a generic code to lock you out of your own device. I would highly recommend that app for your next phone. It may not prevent a theft, but at least you could get a picture of the criminal and provide that to the police as well.
Good luck on finding your phone, and I feel for you.
Outbreak444 said:
Not sure there is anything you can do at this point, but I will recommend an app that I use called Where's My Droid. You can get the paid version (I would highly recommend paying the small one time fee for this) and it does quite a lot. You can track it online from a computer, and even through text messages. You can use text message commands to take pictures from the front and rear cameras, get GPS location, lock the sim and prevent others from being used, and even change your pin through text. You set up the keywords needed so that others cannot send out a generic code to lock you out of your own device. I would highly recommend that app for your next phone. It may not prevent a theft, but at least you could get a picture of the criminal and provide that to the police as well.
Good luck on finding your phone, and I feel for you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you man, I will do that once hopefully I have my phone back. Does it drain a lot of battery?
Hgneto said:
Thank you man, I will do that once hopefully I have my phone back. Does it drain a lot of battery?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here's a screenshot of how much it has used.
Outbreak444 said:
Here's a screenshot of how much it has used.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
wow. Wish I wouldn't have took a lot of measures in order to save battery and making the tracking of my device harder.. never again.. :crying:
Yeah, it's unfortunate, especially for a new phone that's not cheap.
One workaround I did when I broke my phone screen out of anger right after I upgraded was open a new line on my account so I only had to pay the upgrade price for the phone again. Not sure if you have that option for your carrier or even country for that matter. But hopefully the police can help you out greatly.
I'm sorry about what happened, my s7 edge was stolen too like 2 weeks ago, I feel you bro. ****ing thieves

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