Ok so basically my friend has a bad esn AT&T s4, I was wondering if I buy a t mobile or international logic board/mother board will it work? I want to buy a good esn t mobile or international one with an unlocked bootloader. He's practically giving it to me so I don't mind spending $90+ for a logic board
I just wanna know if it's possible
btort1 said:
Ok so basically my friend has a bad esn AT&T s4, I was wondering if I buy a t mobile or international logic board/mother board will it work? I want to buy a good esn t mobile or international one with an unlocked bootloader. He's practically giving it to me so I don't mind spending $90+ for a logic board
I just wanna know if it's possible
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Click to collapse
I took the motherboard out of a t-mobile gs4 (SGH-M919) and put it in my att gs4. worked fine. I saw an error on first boot about new hardware found, but never saw it again.
Best part... Had an unlocked bootloader
Definitely does. Put a Metro board into mine, unlocked and flashed away.
rebel1699 said:
Definitely does. Put a Metro board into mine, unlocked and flashed away.
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When you changed the motherboard did the phone change service with Metro or stay on AT&T and did you have to put in a Metro sim card for it to work
I have a very unusual question. I have a bootloader locked Verizon S4 that has a broken LCD and an AT&T S4 with an unlocked bootloader that works perfectly fine. Knowing my Verizon SIM won't work on the AT&T model and being a flashaholic, is there any way I can tear each of them down and potentially switch the hardware (ie. AT&T's mobo with Verizon's modem or vice versa) in order to keep the AT&T phone with CDMA network from the other phone's hardware and use my Verizon SIM?
I'm sure there is no in depth guide anywhere about such situation but some insight would be appreciated. Thanks!
And this is all cause I lost my Nexus 6
Might be better asking in the at&t or Verizon forum
While this is the completely wrong place to ask this, being the International S4 forum, the answer to you question is "no". You cannot mix and match parts like that as the motherboard of the SCH-I545 is designed differently from that of a SGH-I337. What you'll need to do if you want to use CDMA on the AT&T S4 is mess around in the service menu of the AT&T S4 and change from GSM to CDMA. Even then, there's no guarantee that will work. Assuming the AT&T S4 is carrier unlocked, you would still have an issue of potentially not getting service, as I believe Verizon requires phones to be registered on the network before they can be used. Worse, you may lose LTE service due to Verizon policies.
You'd be better off just replacing the broken screen and midframe. Less hassle, though much more expensive.
Prouder said:
I have a very unusual question. I have a bootloader locked Verizon S4 that has a broken LCD and an AT&T S4 with an unlocked bootloader that works perfectly fine. Knowing my Verizon SIM won't work on the AT&T model and being a flashaholic, is there any way I can tear each of them down and potentially switch the hardware (ie. AT&T's mobo with Verizon's modem or vice versa) in order to keep the AT&T phone with CDMA network from the other phone's hardware and use my Verizon SIM?
I'm sure there is no in depth guide anywhere about such situation but some insight would be appreciated. Thanks!
And this is all cause I lost my Nexus 6
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Wouldn't recommend you doing that, probably just screw up both devices. What you could do is replace one devices lcd with the working one. Much easier.
Actually, it's not that easy. He'd have to heat up the AT&T and Verizon S4 screens to peel them both from their midframes. If he didn't permanently damage the AT&T screen through use of a heat source like a heat gun in loosening the adhesive which bonds it to the midframe, he would then have to apply new adhesive to the Verizon midframe, and then place the AT&T screen on top.
Too much risk for too little reward, as there are too many opportunities to break an extremely thin screen. That's why he'd be better off buying a I545 screen/midframe replacement and moving the innards to the new midframe.
Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
Actually, it's not that easy. He'd have to heat up the AT&T and Verizon S4 screens to peel them both from their midframes. If he didn't permanently damage the AT&T screen through use of a heat source like a heat gun in loosening the adhesive which bonds it to the midframe, he would then have to apply new adhesive to the Verizon midframe, and then place the AT&T screen on top.
Too much risk for too little reward, as there are too many opportunities to break an extremely thin screen. That's why he'd be better off buying a I545 screen/midframe replacement and moving the innards to the new midframe.
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Or just change the digitizer.
The screen and LCD on the AT&T is fully functioning so I don't have to peel off anything. I guess I'm stuck with a bootlocked S4
Thanks for the replies
yilun said:
Or just change the digitizer.
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That's just as bad, because you still have to heat the screen to loosen the optical adhesive bonding the digitizer to the screen. You also run the risk of cracking the screen when you try peeling parts of the digitizer off. Twist the tool you're using to pry the two apart just wrong and you'll kill the screen. You should search back about two months. There was a poster who had asked whether his screen could be saved, after he had tried peeling off the digitizer. Just from the picture I could see his screen was toast, and told him so.
He went and bought an assembled digitizer and midframe off ebay, transferred the sensors and boards to it and has a perfectly working S4. After seeing enough people on YouTube and here break their screens trying to go the cheap route, I know for a fact the cheap route is not the best route.
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
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- 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.
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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.
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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?
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Correct.
IRBent said:
My assumption is that it CANNOT be done or else you'd have done so already on your i9505.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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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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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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 my motherboard is toast (yes, I'm positive) and I'm shopping around for a used one. Since I'm pretty sure all versions of the S8 use the same internal layout & connectors I can probably put any version motherboard in as its replacement.
That being said, which model motherboard would be my best bet for the following:
-Must support T Mobile USA (all the bands they utilize) if unlocked
-Has the best ROM support
a third bonus would be having great worldwide band support since I travel, given it's already covered my first requirement (having all t mo band support).
Thanks.
Well your kinda hindered a little bit because you have to go for the snapdragon variant of the board.
There is root but there are issues with it, and as far as I know not many people are developing roms for the snapdragon variant.
Also the snapdragon variant probably isn't going to work world wide, just like the exynos version doesn't support American bands, the US variant won't work in European countries
sofir786 said:
Well your kinda hindered a little bit because you have to go for the snapdragon variant of the board.
There is root but there are issues with it, and as far as I know not many people are developing roms for the snapdragon variant.
Also the snapdragon variant probably isn't going to work world wide, just like the exynos version doesn't support American bands, the US variant won't work in European countries
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Are you sure they aren't pin compatible? I'd be somewhat surprised if Samsung actually had two board produced (but maybe). If this is confirmed by teardown or whatever then thanks for the info
Hello motherboard issue here
I have a s8+ G955FD international version, apparently my motherboard died when i was charging my phone, somebody told me that i have to replace the motherboard but looking online the "FD" version it's very hard to find and also very expensive, any recomendations that i can do, can i replace it with a diferent version of the motherboard or i have to stay with the "FD" version?
alex010911 said:
I have a s8+ G955FD international version, apparently my motherboard died when i was charging my phone, somebody told me that i have to replace the motherboard but looking online the "FD" version it's very hard to find and also very expensive, any recomendations that i can do, can i replace it with a diferent version of the motherboard or i have to stay with the "FD" version?
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I have a bad S8 plus board and my friend has a working one but it's S8 not Plus....can I use S8 board to replace S8 plus ?
I currently have a S7 Edge from AT&T (G935A). Since carriers in the U.S keep bootloaders locked I was wondering if it could be possible to swap my motherboard with an international one (G935F) in order to install custom roms, magisk, etc etc. Do the motherboards vary in dimensions? Are the connections all the same? I read that the cameras may have slight differences in size.
zmbi3 said:
I currently have a S7 Edge from AT&T (G935A). Since carriers in the U.S keep bootloaders locked I was wondering if it could be possible to swap my motherboard with an international one (G935F) in order to install custom roms, magisk, etc etc. Do the motherboards vary in dimensions? Are the connections all the same? I read that the cameras may have slight differences in size.
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Not sure if it would work, on top of that, another question would be does the g935f work with AT&T?
Have you taken a look at this thread:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/s7-edge/how-to/guide-sm-g9350-s7-edge-qualcomm-sd820-t3410969
it doesn't say anything about unlock bootloader, but it does give you root.
zmbi3 said:
I currently have a S7 Edge from AT&T (G935A). Since carriers in the U.S keep bootloaders locked I was wondering if it could be possible to swap my motherboard with an international one (G935F) in order to install custom roms, magisk, etc etc. Do the motherboards vary in dimensions? Are the connections all the same? I read that the cameras may have slight differences in size.
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Click to collapse
Hei! Have you managed to swap MoBo's? I want to do the same thing with my galaxy s7's but I don't know the cons of this kind of operation. Am I gonna loose water and dust proof resistance? The guys who do this kind of "surgery" can destroy pins, connector etc and the battery?
The screen and the digitizer are sticked to the MoBo? Can they be separated?