Hi, I currently have an LG G3 that is over 2 years old and is unfortunately dying on me, so I'm planning on buying an HTC 10 in the next couple of days. My G3 is rooted and I've been enjoying the benefits of having root.
After doing some research, I've come to a cross-roads. I'm unsure of whether to get the Verizon variant of the HTC 10 or get an unlocked HTC 10.
I realize the obvious solution is "you obviously want root, get an unlocked phone, easily root it, and flash the Verizon radios". The problem is, I have no idea if, say a year from now, Verizon does something with their network so that the flashed radio on unlocked HTC 10's no longer works. Or somehow the flashed radio, in some way, becomes incompatible with Verizon's network (both very unlikely, maybe impossible, but that's why I'm asking). Perhaps the Verizon variant works on the network significantly better than the unlocked variant with a Verizon radio.
The other option is to get the Verizon variant. It will work as well as possible on Verizon's network. I won't ever have to worry about radio issues. But then I get Verizon's crapware and a locked bootloader and no rooting option except to mail it in to people I don't know (yes, I realize they can be completely trusted, and have been rooted and unlocking people's phones, but this is something I would really rather not do).
I think the safest option might be to get the Verizon variant and then wait for the exploit to be released so I can root and unlock the bootloader myself. The problem is, I have no idea how long this would take, and I need to go ahead and get this phone in the next few days.
What do you guys think? I'll probably end up getting the Verizon variant, but I love second opinions, especially by people who know way more about a topic than I do.
There is already a topic started on this exact same thing. A moderator will probably close this thread due to it being a duplicate. Please find the original thread and post your question on there.
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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.
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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.
Hello all,
I will need some UberGeek advice for this one...lol
I use TING as my MVNO provider. They offer CDMA and GSM networks backboning on Sprint and T-Mobile. I had to get a new phone and ordered a Sprint CDMA version G900P but received a Verizon model G900V. It works perfectly fine on the TING network.
I am just wondering if there is any reason not to get this phone and to go with a T-Mobile model instead? I normally would go Sprint/CDMA but wanted to try out GSM this time. Both have excellent coverage in my area. I also know about the ATT/Verizon bootloader being locked. I have already rooted this and it's running Lollipop just fine a sper the instructions found in threads here.
TING told me the phone is no different essentially and there should be no problems. As always their cust, svc. was excellent and informative. This phone apparently has dual radios...CDMA and GSM. I don't have to worry about warranties, KNOW tripping or Verizon's bs. As I said, I am rooted and running fine. I will either debloat this sucker or go with another ROM. Right now THE only bugaboo I see is that there are so few ROMs for the Verizon model. I am not into switching ROMs. If I ditch a debloated stock setup, it would have to be very something very clean and stable based on Lollipop. Seems like CM 12.1 could be nice but right now slightly risky and they don't have the Fingerprint feature working either.
Does anyone feel it would be smarter to return this and get a T-Mobile model? Any food for thought or advice or "Here is why you'll regret the Verizon model 6 months from now" kind of advice?
Thanks in advance!!!!!!!!
Besides the locked bootloader, the G900V is the same phone as the rest of the S5's (of course with different radios for CDMA). If you're cool with just running stock firmware forever then keep the Verizon model. The T-Mobile model would allow you to do whatever you like with it though, as the bootloader is unlocked. Virtually no possibility of losing root.
Sean89us said:
Besides the locked bootloader, the G900V is the same phone as the rest of the S5's (of course with different radios for CDMA). If you're cool with just running stock firmware forever then keep the Verizon model. The T-Mobile model would allow you to do whatever you like with it though, as the bootloader is unlocked. Virtually no possibility of losing root.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the response. Pretty much what I figured. I have it rooted and using Safe Strap and MIGHT toy with CM 12.1 since there are many out there with the Verizon model that seem to like it. Plenty of YouTube videos too.
I had an interesting conversion on AT&T's forum today. In short, I learned that both AT&T and Verizon had Samsung "hard code" their software to all their phones by altering the bootloader in version 5.1.1. This is nothing new to anyone who's tried to root their AT&T or Verizon Note Edge after the update. We know it as "branding", but in the past it was something we could usually bypass. No more. These "damaged" bootloaders will never allow these phones (and all future phones) to be rooted or upgraded EVER AGAIN. It's just not something a piece of software or an app can ever bypass. Even if you had AT&T unlock the SIM and you went to T-Mobile, you still have to live with AT&T's mountain of bloatware because the ROM can't be flashed. It like buying a PC and not being able to delete Windows Vista...ever. The horror.
What makes it worse is that doing a carrier unlock and jumping ship will get you no joy. I asked how someone gets OTA updates on a carrier unlocked phone and they said you can't. You can never update again. You'll need to go to Best Buy and have them flash updates for as long as you own the phone. How this doesn't violate the carrier unlock law is beyond me.
Google created an operating system that was supposed to be open source. We were happy to play the root game for years, but now AT&T and Verizon have changed the rules of the game and effectively put an end to the idea of open source. Now AT&T and Verizon androids are no better than iphones. If you ever want to root your Samsung devices in the future, DO NOT BUY YOUR PHONE FROM EITHER OF THESE CARRIERS!
This is a practice that they have already admitted will continue.
Hi All,
As the title states, I'm looking for your learned opinion on which model you think I should get.
I'm still using with my Galaxy Nexus running Cyanogenmod, but it's getting a little long in the tooth.
I'm in Canada, but go to the US a lot where I've got a T-Mobile sim on the $3/day plan. I will probably be going overseas quite a bit in the not too distant future. It is a bit annoying to have to pull the phone out of the case, take off the back cover (which has started to break from the numerous on/off cycles) and swap the cards. Hence the reason I'm looking at a dual sim version. The biggest thing holding me back is the lack of root on it. There may be a chance that the H990DS might get root in the future, as the dual sim V10 got it, at least on Lollipop, but no unlocked bootloader and I will go on the assumption that root won't happen either. However, the US996 is not B&O tuned like the overseas models and I will still have to pop the back off and on everytime i want to change sims.
So, what are your thoughts?
I'm kind of newb at this S7 stuff, I'm more of an HTC guy. Yesterday, I bought an unlocked G930P (sprint) and am not sure, but think I learned that normally, people don't change out the ROMs to use a different carrier, they simply unlock the phone and live with the old carrier's bloatware. I started reading up, and first learned that TWRP apparently isn't available on a Snapdragon processor, so the G930A, G930P, etc, aren't candidates for TWRP. At first, I was kind of dismayed. Then, I found the G930U ROM and on a whim, I tried punting the G930U ROM to the G930P. I bought the phone off craigslist, and he said he didn't know where HE got it from, but it was unlocked. Anyhow, the phone took the rom without a hitch and now it looks like a U model...
My goal: Go with T-Mobile. Use Wi-Fi calling. Eventually have Nougat. Remove bloatware, but possibly keep some nice T-Mobile add-ons, if any, because I don't have their service yet (I hated ATT's crapload of stuff). Note this isn't specifically a "TMobile" question, substitute your carrier of choice for the questions...
Get to the damned question, you say? Ok, here goes:
1. I'm not going to ask any "do these bands work" when moving from a P model to T mobile. You guys seem to fight about that stuff until you can't type any longer. I'm going to assume what whatever bands work, that's what I get. Unless I get a T-Mobile specific phone.
2. But I will ask this: do the over the air bands it uses depend on the baseband ROM that is on the device? This is something I can't figure out.
3. I heard T-Mobile uses an updated boot kernel (3.0?) and ATT & others use an older boot kernel, and that if I move to T-Mobile boot kernel, I can't go back to any of the older ones. This process I seriously don't understand. Can I run a T-Mobile OS (or any OS) while using an older boot kernel ROM? I would think NO, right?
4. I don't like all of Carrier X's bloatware. I'd rather use a stripped down, cleaner ROM. I guess there are apps for that, but is it cleaner to do it with a stripped down generic ROM that I see floating around?
6. Speaking of ROM's - I saw a lot of Xetheros or whatever ROM's floating around, but it seems like there aren't any for the snapdragon-based ones. Is this true? The posts on this site don't really talk much about the snapdragon-based phones and why there aren't any ROMs for them, and why it won't work, and what, if anything, is being done to get around this. I guess the G930U is Samsung's answer to that, and allows fooling around with roms, but will the other phones ever be actually rom-able, or should I ditch this G930P and actually buy a G930U? Now that my phone THINKS it's a G930U, did that get me around some weird barrier and NOW I can update other funky roms intended for a G930U?
I'm considering selling the G7 I just got and going from a G930F (now that I'm a bit wiser). Any common sense why not to do that? I already HAVE an ATT G7 (not the sprint one I just bought), but it has a "bad signal". It gets only about 1 bar indoors, on a good day. I took it to a repair facility and they said, "nothing wrong with the antenna, it's your mainboard, don't bother just buy a new phone". Anybody have any advice on that?
thanks
BroncoBilli said:
I'm kind of newb at this S7 stuff, I'm more of an HTC guy. Yesterday, I bought an unlocked G930P (sprint) and am not sure, but think I learned that normally, people don't change out the ROMs to use a different carrier, they simply unlock the phone and live with the old carrier's bloatware. I started reading up, and first learned that TWRP apparently isn't available on a Snapdragon processor, so the G930A, G930P, etc, aren't candidates for TWRP. At first, I was kind of dismayed. Then, I found the G930U ROM and on a whim, I tried punting the G930U ROM to the G930P. I bought the phone off craigslist, and he said he didn't know where HE got it from, but it was unlocked. Anyhow, the phone took the rom without a hitch and now it looks like a U model...
My goal: Go with T-Mobile. Use Wi-Fi calling. Eventually have Nougat. Remove bloatware, but possibly keep some nice T-Mobile add-ons, if any, because I don't have their service yet (I hated ATT's crapload of stuff). Note this isn't specifically a "TMobile" question, substitute your carrier of choice for the questions...
Get to the damned question, you say? Ok, here goes:
1. I'm not going to ask any "do these bands work" when moving from a P model to T mobile. You guys seem to fight about that stuff until you can't type any longer. I'm going to assume what whatever bands work, that's what I get. Unless I get a T-Mobile specific phone.
2. But I will ask this: do the over the air bands it uses depend on the baseband ROM that is on the device? This is something I can't figure out.
3. I heard T-Mobile uses an updated boot kernel (3.0?) and ATT & others use an older boot kernel, and that if I move to T-Mobile boot kernel, I can't go back to any of the older ones. This process I seriously don't understand. Can I run a T-Mobile OS (or any OS) while using an older boot kernel ROM? I would think NO, right?
4. I don't like all of Carrier X's bloatware. I'd rather use a stripped down, cleaner ROM. I guess there are apps for that, but is it cleaner to do it with a stripped down generic ROM that I see floating around?
6. Speaking of ROM's - I saw a lot of Xetheros or whatever ROM's floating around, but it seems like there aren't any for the snapdragon-based ones. Is this true? The posts on this site don't really talk much about the snapdragon-based phones and why there aren't any ROMs for them, and why it won't work, and what, if anything, is being done to get around this. I guess the G930U is Samsung's answer to that, and allows fooling around with roms, but will the other phones ever be actually rom-able, or should I ditch this G930P and actually buy a G930U? Now that my phone THINKS it's a G930U, did that get me around some weird barrier and NOW I can update other funky roms intended for a G930U?
I'm considering selling the G7 I just got and going from a G930F (now that I'm a bit wiser). Any common sense why not to do that? I already HAVE an ATT G7 (not the sprint one I just bought), but it has a "bad signal". It gets only about 1 bar indoors, on a good day. I took it to a repair facility and they said, "nothing wrong with the antenna, it's your mainboard, don't bother just buy a new phone". Anybody have any advice on that?
thanks
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Click to collapse
All U.S. models are built the exact same and will all accept each others firmware if done right , so any unlocked s7 you put the U firmware will essentially be a g930u other than the number stamped on the back , I dont believe the U firmware supports wifi calling or VOLTE , There is a t-mobile nougat firmware floating around if you want to try that , your att g7 if it has a hardware issue should be under warranty but if your using it with a different carrier I would flash the appropriate firmware to it and see if that fixes you signal issue and if not put it back to stock and call Samsung , as far as switching from the international model , Well i bought a international edge as soon as they release and it took a crap on me within 4 months and I was unable to warranty it , that was my only issue with using a international model but also i dont think you can get wifi calling on those either . hope that helps
edit* and yes the bands are dictated by the rom , U firmware opens all of them otherwise carrier roms unlock specific , and T-mobile nougat dowgrade back to MM will be dictated by the baseband , I know the Sprint nougat can be downgraded but not T-mobile for sure
goonygugle said:
All U.S. models are built the exact same and will all accept each others firmware if done right , so any unlocked s7 you put the U firmware will essentially be a g930u other than the number stamped on the back , I dont believe the U firmware supports wifi calling or VOLTE , There is a t-mobile nougat firmware floating around if you want to try that , your att g7 if it has a hardware issue should be under warranty but if your using it with a different carrier I would flash the appropriate firmware to it and see if that fixes you signal issue and if not put it back to stock and call Samsung , as far as switching from the international model , Well i bought a international edge as soon as they release and it took a crap on me within 4 months and I was unable to warranty it , that was my only issue with using a international model but also i dont think you can get wifi calling on those either . hope that helps
edit* and yes the bands are dictated by the rom , U firmware opens all of them otherwise carrier roms unlock specific , and T-mobile nougat dowgrade back to MM will be dictated by the baseband , I know the Sprint nougat can be downgraded but not T-mobile for sure
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The U firmware does support WiFi calling and VoLTE on T-Mobile.
myphone12345 said:
The U firmware does support WiFi calling and VoLTE on T-Mobile.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess us AT&T users just done get them features =/ , is it enabled or do you have to do something to enable those features ?
goonygugle said:
I guess us AT&T users just done get them features =/ , is it enabled or do you have to do something to enable those features ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't believe those features are supported on AT&T (probably at AT&T's own request). Perhaps that might change in the Nougat version but I wouldn't bet on it.