Database Users

Important Safety Tip For Hardware Locked Vibrants!

This might come off as me preaching here, but I hope I don't come across as high-handed...
If you have a hardware button sequence locked Vibrant you really need to think long and hard about whether or not you should be messing with custom firmwares, ESPECIALLY NOW.
The last few leaked firmwares (JI2, JI4, JI5) are ALL RUNNING A NEW KERNEL. One that is not compatible with JFD derived builds. Furthermore these great new custom kernels provided by our awesome dev's (Voodoo, JAC, Kingclick, etc...) are not compatible with these new leaked builds. So the likelihood of you ending up staring at a really scary screen on your phone is skyrocketing, unless you have reliable methods to deal with that scary screen.
I've ran across numerous posts here today, with all the fervor over the JI5 Kies leak, where people have Clockwork Recovered themselves into a nightmare because they simply didn't understand these points. Even simpler MOD's (like a few posts I found today where people were installing the JFD version of the MobileAP mod on JIx builds and screwing their phones up) can lead to grief if you don't do your homework.
If you cannot reliably get into recovery *AND* download mode, please please be sure you understand the risks your taking if you fail to be careful and read the information that is already here. Granted, I know few people can keep up with some of us and our ability to soak up info like a sponge. Still there is a process of risk assessment YOU MUST BE RESPONSIBLE FOR when you realize you are doing things that you probably shouldn't be.
This doesn't mean I won't continue trying to be helpful. I just want to make it clear to some of you that you really need to think things through more thoroughly before you let your excitement drive you into a corner.
I vote for the following statement to be made a sticky in this and the Q&A Forum...
"If you are updating firmware on a phone, and you've already hacked this and that, tweaked this and that, modified this and that...whatever the case may be you should be prepared to have to Odin your way back to stock.
If you are not prepared to Odin your way back to stock (don't know how, have a hardware button locked phone, etc...) then you should really be asking yourself whether or not you should be customizing your phone to the degree that you are.
It's just about risk assessment. Most risks are known, but some are not. Furthermore there can be bad synergies between multiple tweaks, mods, and/or hacks that no one can easily predict ahead of time. So it's not about anyone trying to be elitist. The best way to help people is to help them avoid making critical mistakes."

actually if u have a hardware locked phone, what you SHOULD do is call tmobile right now and complain that ur phone is defective and they'll send u a new one... keep doing this till u get a working phone, i did and i now have a phone that isn't HL'ed... only took one try

ookas said:
actually if u have a hardware locked phone, what you SHOULD do is call tmobile right now and complain that ur phone is defective and they'll send u a new one... keep doing this till u get a working phone, i did and i now have a phone that isn't HL'ed... only took one try
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Indeed!!!
The hardware locked Galaxy S thing appears to be a bootloader bug affecting more than just our Vibrants (some other batches of Galaxy S phones are affected) rather than a real hardware issue, so T-Mobile should be able to get these fixed readily. Not like we should care about T-Mobile here, but what this means also is that T-Mobile shouldn't be making a huge deal about swapping these out either.
I'd encourage everyone with a button-sequence screwed Vibrant to simply go to T-Mobile and get it replaced.

Admittedly, I was one of those fools who installed the wrong MobileAp and also tried to go back to a nandroid that didn't work (different kernel - or so I have learned.) Bricked the phone. But I wasn't hardware locked so I was able to get everything back thanks to some really helpful people here on the forum.
I agree that all hardware locked phones should be returned. If mine were locked then I'd still be staring at a dead phone.
I would like to add that I am new to the android thing. But, I am not a software noob (i did software testing for a living). The thing is that I am sometimes impulsive and that leads to mistakes. Thankfully, I have a way to get out of the mistakes (ODIN and non-hardware locked phone.) I always know the risk I am taking and take full responsibility for anything I screw up.

How can I tell if I have a hardware-locked phone, without attempting to flash a ROM, I mean?
Thanks

aad4321 said:
i have a hardware locked phone that i unlocked and have a custom recovery on. I have only accessed the recovery through rom manger. is there any other way to access it with hardware locked? If so can someone post details. it will be good to know when i mess up my phone and it dosent boot preventing me from accessing rom manager to get to the recovery
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you didn't unlock the hardware. You just simply rooted your phone. Hardware lock can not be unlocked and that's what this thread is trying to address. I have tried exchanging my phone from tmo once and the exchange phone they sent me still had the same problem, so i haven't bother with it. I wonder if i can just walk into a store and do an exchange since i got my phone from tmo online. Anyways, if you have a hardware locked phone, stick with roms that will flash through clockworks. That is the safest way, but keep in mind that there is still a slight chance of failure.

BruceElliott said:
How can I tell if I have a hardware-locked phone, without attempting to flash a ROM, I mean?
Thanks
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Never mind; I figured it out.

Man, I'm glad I read your post on hardware-locked problems. I didn't even realise this was a problem until after I dicked around with my phone a bunch, and then ended up reflashing with odin back to stock. I could have messed up big time.
My problem is that I can't replace my phone at all. I purchased a T-Mobile Samsung Vibrant online, brand new, unopened and locked for use here in Canada on the Wind Mobile network.
After hearing about this defective hardware I called T-Mobile, they said I have no warranty with them since it wasn't a T-mobile store purchase. Alright I guess. So they give me the number to Samsung USA,USA transfers me to Canada, I get transferred back again and this is what I'm stuck with.
My new phone has NO warranty, in either country. Both refuse to honour any sort of warranty, and refer to the other for support. I didn't think I'd get this sort of run around from Samsung.
USA says that because I live in Canada, I voided the warranty.,
Canada says that because it's a USA device, and I didn't purchase an international warranty, they won't touch it.
I'll just have to be careful what I install on my phone, and avoid Samsung products in the future.
Thanks for the warning

I wouldn't say your lack of warranty is any surprise. I don't know about Canada, but in the US, phone warranty is normally tied to the carrier, which means if you're not an active customer using the phone on the account that it was first activated on, you will have no warranty. Nothing special about Samsung here, all brands are the same.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

cwoodworth said:
Man, I'm glad I read your post on hardware-locked problems. I didn't even realise this was a problem until after I dicked around with my phone a bunch, and then ended up reflashing with odin back to stock. I could have messed up big time.
My problem is that I can't replace my phone at all. I purchased a T-Mobile Samsung Vibrant online, brand new, unopened and locked for use here in Canada on the Wind Mobile network.
After hearing about this defective hardware I called T-Mobile, they said I have no warranty with them since it wasn't a T-mobile store purchase. Alright I guess. So they give me the number to Samsung USA,USA transfers me to Canada, I get transferred back again and this is what I'm stuck with.
My new phone has NO warranty, in either country. Both refuse to honour any sort of warranty, and refer to the other for support. I didn't think I'd get this sort of run around from Samsung.
USA says that because I live in Canada, I voided the warranty.,
Canada says that because it's a USA device, and I didn't purchase an international warranty, they won't touch it.
I'll just have to be careful what I install on my phone, and avoid Samsung products in the future.
Thanks for the warning
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Click to collapse
Other companies will do the same thing. Warranties are country specific, no?

I don't know how it works with mobile phones, but whenever I've purchased computer parts, the country of origin has never been a problem. Maybe I've just been lucky.
Still have gripes about GPS, and lack of 2.2 though.
Don't misunderstand me though, I love this phone. Just surprised about the hardware issues.

I called Samsung today after tmobile rep gave me a number for warranty. After complaining and speaking to a supervisor, they said i could send it in and they would "fix" it. This is what they sent in the email.
Product Symptoms : Technical Inquiry/Internal Menu/Software Reflash - FOC/No fee. The Samsung Rep said a technician would look at it.
I got a shipping label and everything.
I have one question. How should i go about reflashing to stock? can i just factory reset + remove superusers. please help.

cwoodworth said:
I don't know how it works with mobile phones, but whenever I've purchased computer parts, the country of origin has never been a problem. Maybe I've just been lucky.
Still have gripes about GPS, and lack of 2.2 though.
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PC parts aren't as tightly controlled as mobile phones. That's the difference.
GPS and Froyo should be coming soon. I doubt if Samsung would let their best mobile phones fall behind by much. From the leaked firmwares popping up, it shows they're working on it.

Shop Bricked My Phone

Hi,
I just bought myself a Desire HD and took it into the local shop to have it unlocked. However, according to the bloke in the shop, he used the wrong software (for Virgin) instead of the software for T Mobile and now my phone isn't starting up. He says that he is waiting for some software to be sent to him, so that he can reflash the correct software onto the phone. Obviously, I am rather worried about this, so can anyone confirm that this is possible and that my phone will be OK. And that iut is a known problem. Apparently he was supposed to have used the software for T Mobile to unlock it, but after using the Virgin software the phone has two conflicting programs trying to run at the same time. A|ny advice will be very welcome.
Many thanks
Ian

why did you not do it yourself there are many guides on here just read through them and when you understand each step and feel confident just have a go ,i suppose its too late now the only thing you can do now is wait really and if after the shop cannot sort it out then they should be giving you a replacement as they have made the mistake

HACKDROID_X said:
why did you not do it yourself there are many guides on here just read through them and when you understand each step and feel confident just have a go ,i suppose its too late now the only thing you can do now is wait really and if after the shop cannot sort it out then they should be giving you a replacement as they have made the mistake
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Yeah get you phone back now, reflashing the firmware is relatively easy if he needs someone to send him software he's a muppet, get your phone back and some compo and get it sorted yourself. BTW did you confirm it was locked to start with AFAIK T-mobile phones are normally not network locked.

Very weird i9500, dont know what to do, plz help :/

Ok, so my mum bought a i9500 online for $590 it was supposed to be brand new and sealed in the box, but when we received it, it seemed slightly used, and it was in chinese... So I went to the settings and changed the language which helped, but not really as the play store and everything else was still chinese apart from menus and what not. Not only this, but I open up the camera app and the camera is absolutely horrible, extremely blurry and laggy, and the front camera is even worse... I know what ur thinking, its a fake, but its really not, im 100% sure of it, exact same design, beautiful amoled screen, extremely fast and responsive etc, its a samsung for sure. Sooo I contact the guy and he tells me he had no idea and that it was a gift etc, he offers to refund me $200 and i keep it, I say no etc etc etc and eventually he refunds me $450 and I get the phone. Not a bad deal, as I figure I could probably fix this... given time. So I try and get cyanogen on it so it is english and maybe the camera works better... and that is why im here. This phone is completely fkd, I dont know what to do with it, I enter recovery mode and it gives me a menu completely different menu from what every other tutorial shows. I cant get Odin to recognise the phone, keis wont even recognise it, it only shows up as a USB mass storage. I think I might be able to flash a new firmware onto it through the recovery menu, but all the firmware for the i9500 is in some other language because its an international phone, so theres no point in trying that. Can someone plz help me here I have no clue what to do with it?

Sad to hear.... but ur Phone is duplicate and its Chinese..
So.. u can only return to online market dealer if possible unless device is not real s4, u r scammed..
..
Read this also..
http://thedroidguy.com/2013/07/bewa...amsung-galaxy-s4-how-to-avoid-getting-scammed
Sent from my GT-I9500 using xda app-developers app

Bro the site u ordered it complaint on that site u paid for new and orignall and got duplicate
it is about money also and it is to expansive and they are cheating people
Best of luck:good::good::good::good:

Most likely is a fake. Get your money back.

Most like a fake one. post a photo of device info + photos of device itself?

My condolences
It's definitely a fake S4!
This is one of the reasons that I never purchase electronic gadgets online, including SmartPhones. Nothing beats peace of mind, not to mention you will be able to examine and scrutinize the merchandise personally before buying it.
Just charge it to experience and be smarter next time. Your goal now would be to retrieve your hard-earned cash. Getting back 2/3's of it is better than getting nothing at all.

always try to buy things using paypal, as paypal really helps you out when you are scammed.

yeh i eventually figured it out because i did a quadrant test and the CPU was dual core. I am stunned that they could pull of such a convincing replica. I bought it off ebay, the seller was in my region (australia) and sent straight from there so i figured it cant be some chinese fake. Anyways the seller is giving me the whole money back so its all fine, thanks for the help

Samsung Galaxy S4 Demo Unit

Hey there you guys!
(Optional reading)
I am all new in this forum, and I have a few questions about a Demo unit I have gotten my hands on.
Before anyone, asks me how I can have a Demo unit, and if it's stolen, then allow me to explain. Even though you only have my word for it, I hope it is enough.
I work at a electronic store, here in Denmark. (Elgiganten)
Anyway, we had a Samsung Galaxy S4 Demo Unit, in the store.
I was told by my boss to throw in the trash,I asked if I could take it home, which he allowed me.
(Actual post)
Anyway!
What this post is about, Is that I have a few questions about it.
I have been googling and checked out this forum, about the Demo units.
The can't ever be "real" phones ever. They simple miss the modem and antenna hardware.
I don't think that I quite understand, whether it is possible to flash the phone with original/modified firmware.
As far as I have understood, a lot of demo units have been F***ed up, and ended up with no Wifi options and stuff.
I was wondering, if there is a known way to flash it?
And what's I am suppose to do exactly?
I was wondering if I bought a replacement motherboard and threw in it, would work?
Like one I can buy on Ebay?
I'm sorry for the long post, and the loads of question.
I hope that you guys can help get it up and running properly, whether it is without the calling compatibilitys or not
So thank you very much!
- Madsmaten

So it's not really a phone, it's a 5 inch tablet?

Skipjacks said:
So it's not really a phone, it's a 5 inch tablet?
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Click to collapse
I guess you could say so

Madsmaten said:
I guess you could say so
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd be hard pressed to believe that Samsung went to a lot of trouble to write an entirely different rom for it. So I'd guess that it's got the same rom as the normal 9505
But I can see where trying to flash a rom it it could go badly. So using odin to root it might be risky. It also might work flawlessly with ease. There is only one way to find out...and sometimes in life you've got to roll the dice.
I would also think you could easily toss a different motherboard in it. You could probably add the radio antenna too. I'd also be hard pressed to believe that Samsung made an entirely different plastic housing just for the demo. So it's probably got all the space and screw holes and all tha tstuff to hold the radio antennea.
So you can either use it as a wifi table as it sits now, with touchwiz, or take a chance and see if you can root it. You didn't pay anything for it so there's not too much risk. That said, how much custominzation do you need for what's probably going to end up being a tablet for the bathroom? It'll probably play games fine, browse the web fine, etc. Do you really need to flash a custom rom to it for those purposes?
I might just leave it alone and enjoy the free wifi device. Makes a great MP3 player / Pandora streamer / etc too.

Skipjacks said:
I'd be hard pressed to believe that Samsung went to a lot of trouble to write an entirely different rom for it. So I'd guess that it's got the same rom as the normal 9505
But I can see where trying to flash a rom it it could go badly. So using odin to root it might be risky. It also might work flawlessly with ease. There is only one way to find out...and sometimes in life you've got to roll the dice.
I would also think you could easily toss a different motherboard in it. You could probably add the radio antenna too. I'd also be hard pressed to believe that Samsung made an entirely different plastic housing just for the demo. So it's probably got all the space and screw holes and all tha tstuff to hold the radio antennea.
So you can either use it as a wifi table as it sits now, with touchwiz, or take a chance and see if you can root it. You didn't pay anything for it so there's not too much risk. That said, how much custominzation do you need for what's probably going to end up being a tablet for the bathroom? It'll probably play games fine, browse the web fine, etc. Do you really need to flash a custom rom to it for those purposes?
I might just leave it alone and enjoy the free wifi device. Makes a great MP3 player / Pandora streamer / etc too.
Click to expand...
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Thanks for the answer!
I would be delighted with it, using it as a tablet in my home.
The thing, is the Galaxy resets everything every 15 minutes, or reboot.
Which is obvously damn annoying.
And that is why, I am asking these questions
- Madsmaten

Madsmaten said:
Thanks for the answer!
I would be delighted with it, using it as a tablet in my home.
The thing, is the Galaxy resets everything every 15 minutes, or reboot.
Which is obvously damn annoying.
And that is why, I am asking these questions
- Madsmaten
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well that's stupid. Maybe it is a different rom afterall....
If its not usable now then you really have nothing to lose by flashing a rom in odin.
Sent from your phone. You should be more careful where you leave that thing.

[Q] Do you care about your flash counter?

I keep seeing all these posts worrying about your flash counter. Seriously, who is actually gonna go out of their way to go into DL mode and actually look?

hkbladelawhk said:
I keep seeing all these posts worrying about your flash counter. Seriously, who is actually gonna go out of their way to go into DL mode and actually look?
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Repair depot technicians, that's who! LOL
It's funny actually, I don't even think I have a warranty on my international model, but I still haven't rooted my Note 4...

I think the bigger drawback of rooting is that OTA updates may no longer happen . Or am I confused there?

I've had two different rooted S3s replaced at Best Buy and they have never checked for anything.
EDIT: But I did revert back to the stock rom before going to BB.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using XDA Free mobile app

schlepprock said:
I've had two different rooted S3s replaced at Best Buy and they have never checked for anything.
EDIT: But I did revert back to the stock rom before going to BB.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using XDA Free mobile app
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What was the reason you brought two S3's back? I'm sure if it was something that needed immediate replacement, they may not bother, but a "regular" repair might involve checking your software/counters.

I don't really care since mine is far away from Hong Kong, and I think it doesn't support warranty (not too sure). I won't wait even it does, pretty sure it will gonna take over a month to get it fix plus fees. And I always change a new phone after a year, so unless hardware failure, I'm happy to have it even it tripped the Knox~
P.S. I rooted my phone straight away after I unpack it Now counted 2 already~

Normally rooting and Xposed is the first thing I'd do but I havent done it yet as I'm nervous about the flash counter and losing OTA updates. Really need root though for Viper and Xposed.

EP2008 said:
What was the reason you brought two S3's back? I'm sure if it was something that needed immediate replacement, they may not bother, but a "regular" repair might involve checking your software/counters.
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The first time it was due to bad modem/radio( bad reception and dropping calls). The second time they couldn't have checked anyway, I destroyed it with a skid steer. But we've taken our kids S3s several times to be replaced and they didn't go into settings or anything like that so I know best Buy at least, doesn't know anything about checking for root.

On US carriers tripping Knox may be an issue with the 'Full-Price' upgrades (Next, etc.) -- That is how I picked up my N4, but if they look in detail, I would be on the hook for the remainder of the balance even though I had surrendered the phone back to them. There may be a work around / bypass eventually - there were in past phones that utilized counters. I would think there would be one if someone had the knowledge to dump everything and reload after a 'hard wipe'. They need to install them at the factory somehow. I am probably grasping at straws as my cooking experience was Windows Phones.