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I can't seem to find any legitimate way to root my G900A from AT&T.
I was with Sprint with my S4, and never had an issue. I made the switch to AT&T before buying the S5.. Was that mistake?
In all the threads I've combed through here there is one common, glaring, issue.. The G900A is not included in the supported devices.
Am I missing something obvious or am I screwed? Or am I just looking too soon?
Already gave the S4 to my daughter.
Thanks for any information or insight.
ACiD0N said:
I can't seem to find any legitimate way to root my G900A from AT&T.
I was with Sprint with my S4, and never had an issue. I made the switch to AT&T before buying the S5.. Was that mistake?
In all the threads I've combed through here there is one common, glaring, issue.. The G900A is not included in the supported devices.
Am I missing something obvious or am I screwed? Or am I just looking too soon?
Already gave the S4 to my daughter.
Thanks for any information or insight.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here is a universal root method.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2717061
Try to talk with a recovery developer to check your partition table.
(Other variant may have matching partition table with your variant)
I guess, @PlayfulGod can help you with it.
ACiD0N said:
I can't seem to find any legitimate way to root my G900A from AT&T.
I was with Sprint with my S4, and never had an issue. I made the switch to AT&T before buying the S5.. Was that mistake?
In all the threads I've combed through here there is one common, glaring, issue.. The G900A is not included in the supported devices.
Am I missing something obvious or am I screwed? Or am I just looking too soon?
Already gave the S4 to my daughter.
Thanks for any information or insight.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SandeepEmekar said:
Here is a universal root method.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2717061
Try to talk with a recovery developer to check your partition table.
(Other variant may have matching partition table with your variant)
I guess, @PlayfulGod can help you with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm sure eventually a root method will come about for that model. Unfortunately tho, the vzw & att models have a locked bootloader and most likely locked down with knox as well and currently no way to boot custom recoveries or kernels.
PlayfulGod said:
I'm sure eventually a root method will come about for that model. Unfortunately tho, the vzw & att models have a locked bootloader and most likely locked down with knox as well and currently no way to boot custom recoveries or kernels.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@PlayfulGod is absolutely right. Even if an exploit is found for the AT&T or Verizon models, it is unlikely that you'll ever have full root access - thanks to the combination of locked bootloaders, KNOX, and SELinux.
Check your contract - most carriers have a 14-day "buyer's remorse" period in which you can return your handset. You might be faced with a $35-$50 "restocking fee", but depending on how desperate you are for custom ROMs and/or Recovery, it may be worth it to you. Please note that your carrier may try everything they can to stop you from leaving (in terms of talking you out of it). Your contact with AT&T should also have a "back-out" period of 30 days (unless that's changed recently).
Couple other notes:
1) That's the primary reason I switched from AT&T to TMO when I jumped from the S4 to the S5 - I was sick of locked bootloaders. Otherwise, I really just like TMO a lot more as a company, including some of their political standpoints.
2) I've heard of several people now buying TMO S5's and taking them over to AT&T. It's a lot of money up front, but might be worth it to you.
Good luck.
Thanks guys
Thank you for the informative replies. They confirmed what I had already gathered, piece by piece, in a decent comprehensive manner so I appreciate it.
Unfortunately, this time around we gamed the system a bit and went in on this as a 'group' for the services and phones. As far as I can tell, as an individual, I don't have any options of returning the unit in favor of moving to another provider.
Besides that, I finally have good service where I live. I am in the middle of a city but my actual home was in a crap spot with Sprint. After doing research we found that we'd all have great service with AT&T. If the trade-off is no root, so be it I suppose. (Though I have heard that T-Mo has the same service in the same areas due to using the same connectivity)
The knox deal doesn't concern me so much.. This may be a bit cocky (and a little stupid), but I have yet to have to replace a galaxy since they started putting them out *knock on wood*. But it sounds like that's only one issue in a sea of others.
Long-winded story short, Thanks guys. I am much more informed on my situation than before. :good:
ACiD0N said:
I can't seem to find any legitimate way to root my G900A from AT&T.
I was with Sprint with my S4, and never had an issue. I made the switch to AT&T before buying the S5.. Was that mistake?
In all the threads I've combed through here there is one common, glaring, issue.. The G900A is not included in the supported devices.
Am I missing something obvious or am I screwed? Or am I just looking too soon?
Already gave the S4 to my daughter.
Thanks for any information or insight.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I expressly bought a G900W8 model because of the locked bootloader issue with AT&T. I've come from Verizon on the S4, and I wasn't doing the whole locked thing again - it was annoying and I just wasn't going to have it. What I did was buy an S5 from AT&T on a $25/month installment plan, turn around and sold it on Swappa for full price, and bought an unlocked W8 model the same day. I payed virtually nothing except shipping, I get a nice unlocked phone ready for AOSP when it comes out, and I didn't have to pay the ridiculous $650 price for what would be essentially a developer unlocked phone.
If your phone is still new and you think you could sell it and get mint condition pricing on it, do your research on the G900T model. That's TMobile's phone, but it has an unlocked bootloader, can be rooted/flashed/whatever you like, and if I remember correctly (please someone correct me if I'm wrong), it works on all the bands that AT&T does and will be virtually the same as far as mobile data goes. If you already have your service activated on your current AT&T phone, you can literally just swap the SIM card out and you shouldn't have any issues after that. There might be a little caveat as far as having an AT&T SIM in a Tmo phone, but as far as I've read on the forum, this is very easy to get past; you may very well not have any problems whatsoever.
You could look for the W8 model, which wouldn't have any carrier branding on it, but those were hard to come by for me on Swappa, and the unlocked listing the main page gives you is for a phone that doesn't support 4G.
So like I said, if you think you could sell it, and you find a good listing on Swappa for an unlocked phone, I say go for it. Having an unlocked bootloader is going to put your device in a good place as far as updates go, and once developers start pushing out polished custom ROMs, you'll be happy to use your device for longer than the year's use that is generally expected.
Hey all posting here and a bit new, so excuse me as I had some questions.
Now, I have done research on unlocked factory phones for S5 but wanted to clarify as I will not jump into a purchase yet. I am thinking about a factory unlocked phone for the S5 on ebay. But, as I understand, this runs on GSM internationally. I am thinking of bringing one to Verizon, but as I am aware they run on Cdma technology and I wouldn't be able to use a sim card. Also, is it true the Exynos version of the S5 doesn't actually have LTE yet? If so, it may be a deciding factor.
Also, my girlfriend wants to possibly bring one to Virgin Mobile but I didn't think that you could as they are also Cdma. Again, wasn't sure how this would apply to unlocked phones from the factory that weren't locked to any carrier. I would also check the frequency, but there is no point of the international version has no ability to utilize LTE which are pretty fast in my areas. Any insight is greatly appreciated and as mentioned, I tried up read up a lot, but still want to make sure I fully understand. Thanks!
vexsilver said:
Hey all posting here and a bit new, so excuse me as I had some questions.
Now, I have done research on unlocked factory phones for S5 but wanted to clarify as I will not jump into a purchase yet. I am thinking about a factory unlocked phone for the S5 on ebay. But, as I understand, this runs on GSM internationally. I am thinking of bringing one to Verizon, but as I am aware they run on Cdma technology and I wouldn't be able to use a sim card. Also, is it true the Exynos version of the S5 doesn't actually have LTE yet? If so, it may be a deciding factor.
Also, my girlfriend wants to possibly bring one to Virgin Mobile but I didn't think that you could as they are also Cdma. Again, wasn't sure how this would apply to unlocked phones from the factory that weren't locked to any carrier. I would also check the frequency, but there is no point of the international version has no ability to utilize LTE which are pretty fast in my areas. Any insight is greatly appreciated and as mentioned, I tried up read up a lot, but still want to make sure I fully understand. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
as far as I know the GS5 is not dual radio, so it is GSM only, if you want to use it on CDMA, you probably have to buy from the carrier. But be warned, as of now there is no chance of bootloader unlocking and root on many carrier devices.
Exynos version has no LTE and has very little dev support.
Hellscythe said:
as far as I know the GS5 is not dual radio, so it is GSM only, if you want to use it on CDMA, you probably have to buy from the carrier. But be warned, as of now there is no chance of bootloader unlocking and root on many carrier devices.
Exynos version has no LTE and has very little dev support.
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Click to collapse
Hey there and thanks for taking the time to reply. Yeah seems like the phones too fresh. I will think about that then and maybe give the phone more time. Meanwhile, seeing what my S3 could do for flexibility.
I'm looking to buy a new phone but don't want/need the latest and greatest. I'm happy with the performance of my HTC One Mini, my work HTC One X/XL and my wife's S4 Active, all AT&T phones used in the U.S. My One Mini just suffered a horrible mountain bike crash which busted the screen up pretty bad, then too, my old eyes are tired of that tiny screen. I've also had bad luck with the built in battery and lack of SD card slot. So I was thinking S4 would be ok by me. Asking on the device forum I've gotten 50-11 answers some of which are conflicting answers. I was thinking the i9505 would be the right phone until someone piped up stating it wouldn't work on LTE here. From all I've seen it looks to me like that senior member don't know what they're talking about. Here's my criteria:
1. 4.5" to 5" screen
2. Unlocked/unlockable and can easily accept custom ROMs
3. Prefer to stick with a Kit Kat Rom as it gets along with my Do Not Disturb app better than Lollipop due to the built-in app on Lollipop
4. Removable battery
5. SD Slot
6. LTE service on AT&T/T-Mobile and Caribbean and South American Countries
7. Custom ROM must allow hotspot w/o AT&T controlling my use (I have unlimited internet on my plan and want to make use of it)
Background: I'm almost green having only installed a custom ROM on my work phone an HTC One X/XL from AT&T. Apparently it's one of the harder phones to unlock the bootloader and permanent Root is impossible I think. I 1st installed CM12.1 on the HTC ONE X and ran into conflicts and buggy operations. After a few weeks of testing I backed it up, wiped it and installed CM11 which I truly like. No experience or much understanding of KNOX, ODIN or ODEX. I only read bits and pieces on those while trying to figure out which S4 variant will fit my need. Lastly, were can I get a new phone off contract? Anybody purchased from www.Cell2Get.com? I was about to buy this phone prior to the member claiming it wouldn't work on AT&T.
http://www.cell2get.com/samsung-galaxy-s4-i9505-16gb-unlocked-gsm-android-cell-phone-p-5122.html
IRBent said:
I'm looking to buy a new phone but don't want/need the latest and greatest. I'm happy with the performance of my HTC One Mini, my work HTC One X/XL and my wife's S4 Active, all AT&T phones used in the U.S. My One Mini just suffered a horrible mountain bike crash which busted the screen up pretty bad, then too, my old eyes are tired of that tiny screen. I've also had bad luck with the built in battery and lack of SD card slot. So I was thinking S4 would be ok by me. Asking on the device forum I've gotten 50-11 answers some of which are conflicting answers. I was thinking the i9505 would be the right phone until someone piped up stating it wouldn't work on LTE here. From all I've seen it looks to me like that senior member don't know what they're talking about. Here's my criteria:
1. 4.5" to 5" screen
2. Unlocked/unlockable and can easily accept custom ROMs
3. Prefer to stick with a Kit Kat Rom as it gets along with my Do Not Disturb app better than Lollipop due to the built-in app on Lollipop
4. Removable battery
5. SD Slot
6. LTE service on AT&T/T-Mobile and Caribbean and South American Countries
7. Custom ROM must allow hotspot w/o AT&T controlling my use (I have unlimited internet on my plan and want to make use of it)
Background: I'm almost green having only installed a custom ROM on my work phone an HTC One X/XL from AT&T. Apparently it's one of the harder phones to unlock the bootloader and permanent Root is impossible I think. I 1st installed CM12.1 on the HTC ONE X and ran into conflicts and buggy operations. After a few weeks of testing I backed it up, wiped it and installed CM11 which I truly like. No experience or much understanding of KNOX, ODIN or ODEX. I only read bits and pieces on those while trying to figure out which S4 variant will fit my need. Lastly, were can I get a new phone off contract? Anybody purchased from www.Cell2Get.com? I was about to buy this phone prior to the member claiming it wouldn't work on AT&T.
http://www.cell2get.com/samsung-galaxy-s4-i9505-16gb-unlocked-gsm-android-cell-phone-p-5122.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
- AT&T has it's own variant of the S4. It's called the "SGH-I337".
- The I9505 will not work with LTE on the AT&T network. It support different bands. So the member was correct. You can see it here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsung_Galaxy_S4#Model_variants
- The "SGH-I337" has a locked bootloader and cannot be unlocked. Only some old devices will have an unlocked bootloader because they never upgraded their software. Thus you cannot use custom roms like CM.
Lennyz1988 said:
- AT&T has it's own variant of the S4. It's called the "SGH-I337".
- The I9505 will not work with LTE on the AT&T network. It support different bands. So the member was correct. You can see it here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsung_Galaxy_S4#Model_variants
- The "SGH-I337" has a locked bootloader and cannot be unlocked. Only some old devices will have an unlocked bootloader because they never upgraded their software. Thus you cannot use custom roms like CM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So is the GT-I9505G the preferred phone to have and to mod and if so, can I buy new one without getting a fake?
"Google Play Edition
At the Google I/O 2013 keynote, Samsung and Google revealed that an edition of the U.S. S4 would be released on June 26, 2013 through Google Play, initially featuring stock Android 4.2.2, later updated to 4.4.4, with Samsung provided updates; it has an unlockable bootloader (similar to Nexus devices) and supports LTE on AT&T and T-Mobile's networks. The model number is GT-I9505G."
I'm likely "that member", because I have an I9505 (not I9505G) running on Straight Talk, which is a US MVNO that rents bandwidth from all the major US carriers. The I9505 will not work on LTE here in the US because the LTE frequencies used worldwide (1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 20) are not the frequencies used by the carriers here in the US. The I9505G is a different story. It has the LTE frequencies needed to work here in the US, and does not have Touchwiz as it uses stock Android.
You can't purchase one new because they've been discontinued for some time now. You may want to check out Swappa (link at the top of the page) and see if they have a used one you can purchase.
Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
I'm likely "that member", because I have an I9505 (not I9505G) running on Straight Talk, which is a US MVNO that rents bandwidth from all the major US carriers. The I9505 will not work on LTE here in the US because the LTE frequencies used worldwide (1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 20) are not the frequencies used by the carriers here in the US. The I9505G is a different story. It has the LTE frequencies needed to work here in the US, and does not have Touchwiz as it uses stock Android.
You can't purchase one new because they've been discontinued for some time now. You may want to check out Swappa (link at the top of the page) and see if they have a used one you can purchase.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really good and interesting reply. Being new to this stuff and having not kept up with cellphone technology, some of the things you guys just know, I'm having to try to understand. At first I assumed all 9505's were the same, but apparently I was wrong there. Then I also thought that since most cellphone review sites showed a plethora of Freq. and bands, with at least on or two being those that AT&T and most other North American GSM carriers use, I assume that meant I could get that model of phone. little did I know that those two lines of freqs and bands were for different versions of that same model, one for here and being a carrier locked phone and the other line being and international phone without the proper band for use here. So now after learning that difference it appears to me that there may be now way possible to purchase a new S4 and turn it into a custom ROM phone. So if I understand you and the carrier stuff correctly, you're using a plain 9505 and piggybacking off AT&T by way of StraightTalk like so many of us do. However since your phone is an international version you don't have LTE, is that right? One last thing I've yet to read or learn about but saw when I was putting CM11 and 12.1 on my HTC One X/XL (AT&T), I kept seeing stuff about "the radio". The way it read made me think they were NOT talking about an FM radio for music, but the freqs the phone itself uses. I think I recall them flashing "radios" which I assume they meant they were able to change the original freqs/bands that the model came with to one more useful here. Is that something that truly exists and can be done even on an S4 variant? My assumption is that it CANNOT be done or else you'd have done so already on your i9505.
IRBent said:
So if I understand you and the carrier stuff correctly, you're using a plain 9505 and piggybacking off AT&T by way of StraightTalk like so many of us do. However since your phone is an international version you don't have LTE, is that right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Correct.
IRBent said:
My assumption is that it CANNOT be done or else you'd have done so already on your i9505.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Again correct. With Samsung, their firmware loading software, Odin, actually checks and makes sure the parts of the firmware match the model of the S4 connected to the PC. If they don't match, Odin will instantly fail. The only way to try and enable LTE on the I9505 is to delve into the low-level firmware for the LTE chip and attempt to rewrite it so it can see the added frequencies. However, I don't recommend it. Not only is it a very intricate process compared to something like rooting, it's also quite possible that you could render the LTE chip non-functional. I tried it, and nearly lost the ability to use my phone at all due to having my phone's SIM lock restored.
If you do decide to get an S4, an I9505G is likely your best bet. Not only does it have the AT&T frequencies, it's also got an unlocked bootloader (unlike the AT&T model) and is also carrier unlocked right out of the box. That last means you can use it on T-Mobile and carriers which use GSM SIM cards. Other choices would be the T-Mobile S4 (SGH-M919) or the North American S4 (SGH-I337M). All these phones include the AT&T frequencies and also have an unlocked bootloader so customization is easier.
Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
If you do decide to get an S4, an I9505G is likely your best bet. Not only does it have the AT&T frequencies, it's also got an unlocked bootloader (unlike the AT&T model) and is also carrier unlocked right out of the box. That last means you can use it on T-Mobile and carriers which use GSM SIM cards. Other choices would be the T-Mobile S4 (SGH-M919) or the North American S4 (SGH-I337M). All these phones include the AT&T frequencies and also have an unlocked bootloader so customization is easier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thank you so much sir. This answer is direct and explains exactly what I wanted to know. I only wish it were possible to purchase one of those models new so I could ensure years of use void of glitches due to possible abuse by the previous owner. If I can't find one of the above models I will probably be looking for some other make/model, preferably a new phone not used. Do you know if it's possible to get a new phone that meets the criteria below?
1. Unlocked bootloader or one that can be unlocked
2. Removable battery
3. 4.7" - 5" screen
4. SD card
5. Capable of being used as a hotspot ( I have unlimited internet but need to thwart AT&T from controlling my use)
6. Rootable and custom ROM capable
7. Can be used in U.S, South America and Caribbean (I think most of those places all use the same freqs/bands as U.S.)
That is why on Swappa you search for the ones labeled Mint or New. My device was Mint off Swappa, and the main reasons were that it was always in a case, and had a tempered glass screen protector installed.
For a current flagship-level device, looking at your laundry list, I believe you need to adjust your expectations. Not because of the software, but because of the hardware. LG is perhaps the only manufacturer still offering both removable batteries and MicroSD card slots, but their flagship device has a larger screen than you want. Motorola doesn't have removable batteries. Google provides neither, just like Samsung. Sony is an unknown, but their devices are not common here in the US.
Your best option is to go with a larger screen size and get an LG G4. If you absolutely MUST have the smaller screen, then you want a used Galaxy S4 or S5, so long as they aren't AT&T devices.
Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
For a current flagship-level device, looking at your laundry list, I believe you need to adjust your expectations. Not because of the software, but because of the hardware. LG is perhaps the only manufacturer still offering both removable batteries and MicroSD card slots, but their flagship device has a larger screen than you want. Motorola doesn't have removable batteries. Google provides neither, just like Samsung. Sony is an unknown, but their devices are not common here in the US.
Your best option is to go with a larger screen size and get an LG G4. If you absolutely MUST have the smaller screen, then you want a used Galaxy S4 or S5, so long as they aren't AT&T devices.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess I should have made it clear too that flagships, latest and greatest wasn't necessary. I'm happy with the speeds my older HTC ONE X and HTC ONE Mini supply. But closing in on 50 years old, my eyes and the Mini's screen don't get along so well anymore.
If you have bad eyesight, a bigger screen can be a godsend.
Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
If you have bad eyesight, a bigger screen can be a godsend.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly. I need a bigger screen but a smaller phone because my hands can't reach around my HTC ONE Mini. Sometimes it sucks being 5'4". LOL
IRBent said:
Exactly. I need a bigger screen but a smaller phone because my hands can't reach around my HTC ONE Mini. Sometimes it sucks being 5'4". LOL
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Click to collapse
I would not recommend someone buying the S4 anymore. It was and still is a great phone, but newer models are just way better. The battery life is to short with the standard battery.
Based on your preferences I would recommend one of the following:
- LG Nexus 5
- Oneplus one
- Motorola X Play
But then again, maybe they are to big for you. The LG is the smallest but doesn't have a sd slot.
Lennyz1988 said:
Based on your preferences I would recommend one of the following:
- LG Nexus 5
- Oneplus one
- Motorola X Play
But then again, maybe they are to big for you. The LG is the smallest but doesn't have a sd slot.
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Click to collapse
Amazing discovery by me just now. Yes, I've seen folks here talk about the brand OnePlus but I didn't know who or what OnePlus was until just now. I used to keep up with all things electronics related, reading review sites and forums like this. 10 years ago or so a DVD manufacturer named OPPO was the talk. Excellent brand but unheard of. I just learned that OnePlus is a company started by an OPPO founder. I'm so out of the loop.
So here is the deal. All of the variants for the Galaxy S7 / S7 Edge now have unlocked bootloaders except the ones from the US, even the chinese qualcomm variants got unlocked bootloaders. The way they got the unlocked bootloader was through an unlock tool provided by samsung on the galaxy app store. My question of the day is...
Is this possible on the US variant?
Could a modified version of this app or straight up this app be used on the US variant?
My hope is that I can unlock the bootloader of my Verizon Galaxy S7 now that I have lived with this locked bootloader root for 8 months now, and possibly have it run the nougat firmware, rooted, and have TWRP.
Cm4nXD said:
So here is the deal. All of the variants for the Galaxy S7 / S7 Edge now have unlocked bootloaders except the ones from the US, even the chinese qualcomm variants got unlocked bootloaders. The way they got the unlocked bootloader was through an unlock tool provided by samsung on the galaxy app store. My question of the day is...
Is this possible on the US variant?
Could a modified version of this app or straight up this app be used on the US variant?
My hope is that I can unlock the bootloader of my Verizon Galaxy S7 now that I have lived with this locked bootloader root for 8 months now, and possibly have it run the nougat firmware, rooted, and have TWRP.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Put simply no. People have tried and it just doesn't work sadly.
Illogi.xbone said:
Put simply no. People have tried and it just doesn't work sadly.
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Click to collapse
That's to bad, love this phone.
The only thing that would make it better is an unlocked bootloader and TWRP. [emoji3]
sent from a galaxy far far away
Illogi.xbone said:
Put simply no. People have tried and it just doesn't work sadly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Has it been determined why Samsung won't let the US unlock the bootloader? TWRP would be awesome..
Binary Assault said:
Has it been determined why Samsung won't let the US unlock the bootloader? TWRP would be awesome..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not Samsung, it's the US carriers who insist on the locked bootloaders. Your next question is probably going to be, "Why doesn't Samsung stand up to the carriers and insist their bootloaders be unlocked?" The answer is simple. Samsung is in the business of selling phones. They're not going to stay in business very long if they make that stand, and two of the largest carriers with the most customers (Verizon and AT&T) say, "Fine, we won't carry your phones then." The people who root their phones and care whether or not their bootloaders are unlocked are such a minute fraction of the total wireless carrier customer base, so the carriers stance on the bootloaders is not likely to change.
landshark68 said:
It's not Samsung, it's the US carriers who insist on the locked bootloaders. Your next question is probably going to be, "Why doesn't Samsung stand up to the carriers and insist their bootloaders be unlocked?" The answer is simple. Samsung is in the business of selling phones. They're not going to stay in business very long if they make that stand, and two of the largest carriers with the most customers (Verizon and AT&T) say, "Fine, we won't carry your phones then." The people who root their phones and care whether or not their bootloaders are unlocked are such a minute fraction of the total wireless carrier customer base, so the carriers stance on the bootloaders is not likely to change.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well said
Verizon and att kinda has Samsung by the balls they could go on without sammi
now sprint and tmob need Samsung plus all the little companys need Samsung now like lg
all the carriers have lg by the balls if u don't make the software how we want we wont sell ure ****.
Samsung could survive without the us carriers it would hurt em but they could survive
now lg on the other hand could not theyre mobile phones division would go down if it wasn't for the us carriers this has all been gone over in of the lg threads on the same thing no bl unlock
Now out of curiosity are these bootloaders locked or are they signed with a key???
If a key what kind of encryption is used?
I know the g4 is encrypted with a 256 bit key which is basicly unhackable at this point in time.
TheMadScientist420 said:
Now out of curiosity are these bootloaders locked or are they signed with a key???
If a key what kind of encryption is used?
I know the g4 is encrypted with a 256 bit key which is basicly unhackable at this point in time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Locked, tighter than Apple too! Maybe we will see an exploit one day, look a t the Note 4 which took a year, or was it longer?, and then look at the s4 and the others, ONE exploitable bootloader then its locked down. It doesn't affect me too much personally, getting Pixel when taxes come in, but would like to see it in the future since my S7 will be my go to backup.
cant we try flashing that firmware version to our phones and use the app?
This is why my next phone will either not be a Galaxy S7, or will be the international one. I'm eyeing the Pixel 2 for my next phone though. I didn't want the Pixel because of the lack of water resistance.
Have not found a "place where this is being worked on" per-say, but please let it be known to any developers working on a method of unlocking the US S7/S7 Edge - I purchased an S7 Edge (T-Mobile) and shortly later ended up aquiring a S7 G930U - My understanding is that even though it's "U" It is only unlocked to use any carrier/sim, but still locked bootloader - which I would say seems true as it complained after the "soft-root" and me then enabling to many 'rooted' apps - causing a lockdown and no way around it but to re-flash.
** The reason for posting this ** - I am more than willing to 'test' any possible methods on the G930U that I have. I'm not a skilled android dev. but neither am I a novice, I am quite capable of providing any needed data, and also have quite a bit of software that could possibly help in finding answers, DFS and others. I also am very good at acquiring software, If there is anything I can do to help with this please get in touch with me!
Dycast - coming from my beloved rooted S4 as a crazed flash-a-holic - now with lovely S7's LOCKED to the hilt and hating it.. Like I just had a leash and muzzle strapped on.. If it wasn't for being able to play with the VR end of things I would just as well go back to my S4..
Shadowops34 said:
cant we try flashing that firmware version to our phones and use the app?
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No unfortunately not. THe chinese phone uses a special keycheck that the US variants don't have.
So when you use the app it sends a packet request for a non-existent key.
there was a whole thread about this and the guy tried to reverse engineer it and it wouldn't work
Silkmeister
The reason why what works for the international variants of the s7 won't work for the United States ones is because the US ones use the qualcomm snapdragon. Two different processors. Also it is both the carriers and samsun who have a say in locking the bootloader. Samsung makes the devices it is their choice how they make it. Verizon and att models of samsung phones have always had locked bootloaders. Tmobile and sprint in the past have not. People were shocked the tmobile s7 had a locked bootloader. Even tmobile said it should not have been locked according to them. You never see unlocked bootloaders for iphones on any carrier because apple juat doesn't do it and also their software isn't open source like android is. The s8 is going to have a locked bootloader as well from what I have read. I am hoping tmobile goes back to their roots heh pun intended. So that we can get an unlocked bootloader for samsung phones again.
TheMadScientist420 said:
Now out of curiosity are these bootloaders locked or are they signed with a key???
If a key what kind of encryption is used?
I know the g4 is encrypted with a 256 bit key which is basicly unhackable at this point in time.
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Illogi.xbone said:
Locked, tighter than Apple too! Maybe we will see an exploit one day, look a t the Note 4 which took a year, or was it longer?, and then look at the s4 and the others, ONE exploitable bootloader then its locked down. It doesn't affect me too much personally, getting Pixel when taxes come in, but would like to see it in the future since my S7 will be my go to backup.
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The question still remains, what makes it as locked as it is at this point? Is it because Qualcomm wrote the the original closed source code for Android's "aboot"? Or is it something that is more obvious?
Delgoth said:
The question still remains, what makes it as locked as it is at this point? Is it because Qualcomm wrote the the original closed source code for Android's "aboot"? Or is it something that is more obvious?
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Everything points to them just being signed now. So we cant flash anything thats not signed with lgs or in this case sammys key
At this point it's been over a year now and still no unlocked bootloader. I'm dying without any custom ROMs like lineage is. I just love playing with my device. Can't they just let me do that.
Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
Realistically that shouldn't be hard to discover either. We know where to look for their encrypted key. In the footer of the .Tar files, and the last few bytes of the partition images. Now the question is, how we use DD to strip off all but like the last 2048 bytes of the boot.img's, to compare amongst the different incremental builds for the same device.
That should give us all the different keys generated from Samsung's private signing key. This gives us a method to reverse engineer the algorithm used to create the public keys from the private key. This in turn will then lead us to either A.) Reverse Engineer the actual private key, or B.) Give us an equation with which to generate our own key which the Device will accept.
Using @droidvoider 's Dirty cow based root console, we can pull the .pem files from the stock firmware, and also pull the other firmware specific certificates. Using his console along with combination firmware also allows us to mount the /system & /data partitions as RW in an environment which does not care about DM-Verity success. That gives us a route for installing a system-Ish root that can persist through a reboot without an eng kernel.
But if the signing keys are the last roadblock, I think the greyhat root project is almost done with that thanks to a the other member(s).
We will see soon.
TheMadScientist420 said:
Everything points to them just being signed now. So we cant flash anything thats not signed with lgs or in this case sammys key
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Im currently running G930U AQC1 (Android 6) firmware on G930V. Do I need to unlock bootloader in order to get the root access?
Sent from my SM-G930U using Tapatalk
ahmedk49 said:
Im currently running G930U AQC1 (Android 6) firmware on G930V. Do I need to unlock bootloader in order to get the root access?
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https://forum.xda-developers.com/ve...-to-notes-root-install-xposed-unroot-t3411039
No, because you cannot unlock the bootloader.
Delgoth, how close are you?
TL;DR: Specifically looking for a Note 4 that satisfies the following:
- GSM Unlocked 4G LTE and works in the US*
- Has an unlocked bootloader (is rootable, custom ROM-able, etc.)
- Is exempt from, or at least has the fewest reported instances of, the infamous eMMC failure, if possible
*I don't have much knowledge on carrier frequency bands - if it does calls, SMS, and 4G LTE data at reasonable speeds for a 6 year old phone (can stream a video at 480p), that's fine
I have a N910A (the AT&T one) and it's by far and wide the best phone I've ever had. It has an unparalleled set of hardware features that no phone on the market today has beat (IR, S-Pen, user-removable battery, user-servicable internal electronics to an extent, 16MP camera with focus, stabilization and 1080p60 recording, SD card slot, and headphone jack, all in one package). But sadly it fell victim to the eMMC issue earlier this year. So far the cardboard fix combined with wakelock has kept it usable, but it still runs slow, overheats, and randomly freezes doing simple tasks.
However I refuse to give up on the 4 just yet. I have a bunch of spare batteries, plus all my chargers are still micro USB, and the phone still does everything I need it to and more; had it not been for the eMMC issue it would still be going strong.
I'm leaning toward either the N910T (Snapdragon, T-Mobile) for its great software modding potential, or the N910C (Exynos) because I've heard the Exynos one may be less prone to the eMMC failure (?) and has better performance (?), but this is speculation. Plus the Exynos one is more expensive and harder to find. I had thought about just getting a motherboard of one of those two models to put in my AT&T shell, but with that comes the hassles of possibly needing to swap the cameras too, coming across other incompatibilities like carrier frequencies, and worst of all getting one with a bad ESN.
If I'm right that N910T or N910C is the way to go, I'm hoping for some input to steer me in the right direction by addressing a few questions I have that I couldn't find clear answers to:
1. Is it true that the Exynos one isn't prone to eMMC failures, or is every Note 4 susceptible all the same? If the latter is true that pretty much confirms I would go for N910T.
2. Is the Exynos version more or less equivalent to the Snapdragon one in terms of usability when used in the US?
3. Does one or the other have greater custom ROM support?
4. Would I run into any other issues using the Exynos one in the US that the T-Mobile one wouldn't have?
Any input is appreciated, but please be aware I'm really looking for input based on my question. If you're only here to recommend a new phone outside of the Note series, it will take some hard convincing
My carrier is TracFone. Let me know if you need any more info. Thanks for your help!
It's hard to say really, but what you need to know first is.. Which carriers had the most eMMC failure, then go from there.. If your here in the states, then either ATT again, or T-Mobile. I have had 3 Note4 1 with Verizon, and 2 Sprint.. Neither one had failures.. I sold the one from Verizon when I went back to Sprint.. The first Sprint I had for less than 6 months, as I got bored, and wanted something new.. But with the phones being locked down, and me not happy with phones I have had including my Pixel 3a Xl which is being kept in it's box only as a spare.. I went back to this phone, because of root, removable battery, S-pen, really decent camera that came in the custom rom etc. And believe it or not, with a little tweaking, it is just as smooth as my Pixel.
Seeing as you live in the US. It would be more beneficial for you to get a US variant of the Note 4. As both the international variants won't receive LTE from US Cell Providers with the exception of T-Mobile, I believe