Hi there, I bought a used, unlocked Galaxy S10+ G975U1 phone in like new condition from eBay. I put my SIM card from T-Mobile in the phone and it registered to the T-Mobile network just fine, but it could not hold a signal for long. The motherboard was bad, so I sent it to Samsung for a warranty repair. Samsung replaced the motherboard and sent it back with Sprint Firmware, which is what the phone was originally shipped with. When I put my T-Mobile SIM card in the phone, however, it appears to be locked, as it says, "invalid SIM card" and keeps asking me to "activate your device". I had been under the impression that devices were locked by the carriers, not the manufacturers, and once they were unlocked, they could not be re-locked? Was I mistaken? Am I now going to have to try and get an unlock code from Sprint? Or do I just need to flash the T-Mobile or Unbranded firmware to the phone to get the SIM to register? At this point, I'm afraid to tamper with the firmware, although I know it's supposed to be interchangeable on this device. What would happen if I installed the T-Mobile firmware while the phone was locked to Sprint? Would that brick my phone? If it was previously unlocked by Sprint, can I just call them and give them the IMEI number to unlock it again? Thanks for your help!
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Hi! first poster here.
I've just got this phone wich was recently unlocked from TELCEL MEX carrier. The weird thing here is that the phone work flawlessly with any domestic carrier sim cards, but not with my US T-Mobile sim card.
I've test this T-mobile sim card with other unlocked phones (Galaxy S4 i9500 and Alcatel Pop) here in México without problem, but in the S4 above mentioned asks for sim unlock code.
The cell phone is SGH-I337M with KitKat 4.4.2. and firmware CSC code TCE
Thank you very much in advance!
This may be relevant or not.
My previous phone was an HTC Desire S on O2UK.
O2UK give you a free unlock on all contract phones after 6 months and send a code by email to you.
Any time I tried changing sims to a different carrier it asked for the unlock code, except when it was Tesco Mobile UK.
It may be that the original carrier requires you to input the unlock code for anything other than certain providers.
I tried to get an unlock code for my I9505 LTE but they said it was factory unlocked so can't speak about the phone specifically but with the Desire S, also on O2UK, had a similar issue.
I've got the pin code
Thanks for your input, sure it's relevant.
I have the unlock code for the T-mobile sim card, but of course it's not recognized by the phone (or sim card?)
In the other phones tested the process was straight forward, just inserted sim, boot up and voilá.
Went to the Telcel's service center but the person there confirmed that it's unlocked.
I'ven reading about a "Regional Lock" of some Samsung devices, but i realy can tell if this the case.
Anybody else having this kind of issue?
Region locking I don't believe has anything to do with this. When the phone was unlocked, the region locking should also have been removed.
I bought this supposedly T-Mobile H918 on ebay. It says it works with T-mobile, Lycamobile, UltraMobile, Simplemobile. I figured (assumed (mistake)) the phone was unlocked. Tried to use a Freedompop gsm sim, no go. Went over to T-mobile they said it was NOT in database, couldn't unlock a phone not in database.but rep put his Tmobile sim in and it worked. I decided to order a T-mobile sim online for $10. In the meantime I went online looking for a LG IMEI checker. It turns out the phone is an Israeli H990. I guess someone flashed the T-mobile H918 on it. The IMEi is clear according to swappa and others. Should I send it back? It had H918 10K on it and I flashed back to 10J and rooted. I like the phone, but is it possible that it could get blocked down the line? If it's clear and can be used on different T-mobile MVNOs is it unlocked? I plugged IMEI into AT&T checker and it said something like, it's clear, we just need to get the right sim. Any help or info or ideas appreciated, Thanks Johnm
jmacie said:
I bought this supposedly T-Mobile H918 on ebay. It says it works with T-mobile, Lycamobile, UltraMobile, Simplemobile. I figured (assumed (mistake)) the phone was unlocked. Tried to use a Freedompop gsm sim, no go. Went over to T-mobile they said it was NOT in database, couldn't unlock a phone not in database.but rep put his Tmobile sim in and it worked. I decided to order a T-mobile sim online for $10. In the meantime I went online looking for a LG IMEI checker. It turns out the phone is an Israeli H990. I guess someone flashed the T-mobile H918 on it. The IMEi is clear according to swappa and others. Should I send it back? It had H918 10K on it and I flashed back to 10J and rooted. I like the phone, but is it possible that it could get blocked down the line? If it's clear and can be used on different T-mobile MVNOs is it unlocked? I plugged IMEI into AT&T checker and it said something like, it's clear, we just need to get the right sim. Any help or info or ideas appreciated, Thanks Johnm
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If you were able to root it, then its probably a database mismatch. The gsm simcards usually pose problem to T-Mobile's android handsets due to UICC activation (or UICC unlocking).
A crossflashed phone is hardbricked the moment u unlock its bootloader and load a custom recovery on it. (Had my chinese fake G3/G2 moments back in the days). Your phone is fine if you rooted it and its working right out of the box.
Two things that dont work if u modify the system of LG phones is RIL and the abnormal screen behavior. For your case, both work. I'm from Pakistan but I often end up having unlocked phones from American carriers. Right now I have Samsung Tab A which is from T-Mobile and UICC activation doesnt make my LTE Sim work on it. With T-Mobile its kinda common to end up into an "invalid sim card" error when u try to use a non-T variant.
dark_prince said:
If you were able to root it, then its probably a database mismatch. The gsm simcards usually pose problem to T-Mobile's android handsets due to UICC activation (or UICC unlocking).
A crossflashed phone is hardbricked the moment u unlock its bootloader and load a custom recovery on it. (Had my chinese fake G3/G2 moments back in the days). Your phone is fine if you rooted it and its working right out of the box.
Two things that dont work if u modify the system of LG phones is RIL and the abnormal screen behavior. For your case, both work. I'm from Pakistan but I often end up having unlocked phones from American carriers. Right now I have Samsung Tab A which is from T-Mobile and UICC activation doesnt make my LTE Sim work on it. With T-Mobile its kinda common to end up into an "invalid sim card" error when u try to use a non-T variant.
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Wow Thanks, this story is getting more interesting. I appreciate you relating your crossflashing experience. I guess I'll try to get some different gsm sims to try. Thanks, take care, johnm
I have a question. If I bought this phone outright, and sprint basically locked rooting it via boot loader version 5+, could another carrier flash it with "something special" to get it on the carriers firmware? If I own this, and Sprint locked a feature on me, wouldn't that make them liable for damages?
tonysak said:
I have a question. If I bought this phone outright, and sprint basically locked rooting it via boot loader version 5+, could another carrier flash it with "something special" to get it on the carriers firmware? If I own this, and Sprint locked a feature on me, wouldn't that make them liable for damages?
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Not really. You bought the phone to use specially on Sprint as a Sprint phone. When it came out, no one knew about the u firmware or using it on other carriers. There is a post on here about unlocking additional lte bands. If the phone is carrier unlocked, you will get some service on all carriers, but not all the bands will be unlocked.
So I ordered my S7 Edge online through eBay (I know I know) anyways the model is shown as SM-G935V on the backdoor of the phone along with the Verizon logo, but when I got Phone Info in settings it shows SM-G935U. I activated it on AT&Ts network just to make sure it's unlocked. My questions are what kind of unlocking process would change the phone's software from 35V to 35U? Is it possible that the company flashed the unlocked model over the phone's software if so how do I check if it's ever been rooted or had anything flashed on it? I want to take the phone to Boost but I'm not sure just HOW unlocked it is & if it will work on a CDMA network other than Verizon. Assuming that it's been fully unlocked it should Right?
I can tell you that it's a Verizon phone originally (which is by unlocked anyways) all they did is flash the U firmware on it (like i did with mine) which is good thing bc it gets rid of all the Verizon bloat. Bt anyways your phone should be unlocked for use on any network
Bought "Unlocked" phone, has sprint branding, seller insists that's how Samsung works
Hi everyone, I bought a Galaxy S10+SM-G975U (same model that all 4 major US networks use) that was sold as "Unlocked" without specifying that it is Sim unlocked, Network unlocked, or Factory unlocked. Most of the time unless a seller specifies which unlocked then it means the phone is Factory unlocked, I gathered this from 9 years of buying and selling Android devices so it's not just a guess.
When I got the phone Sprint OMADM pops up and tells me I have an incomplete activation, "about phone" told me it was Sprint Network Unlocked; after a week it now says unknown under "Brand" in the "status" section.
The seller said that when you buy a factory unlocked Samsung phone and put in a network sim card that Samsung then loads the branding (bloat in my opinion).
1. Is this true that Samsung could have loaded Sprint OMADM?
2. If true can I remove it so that I don't have to "Force Stop" it after each startup?
3. Is there any piece of software or database that I can look up the origin of this phone so that I can either change my eBay review of the sale and apologize for my mistake, or affirm that indeed the seller failed to disclose branding that he knew wouldn't go away when a buyer puts in an ATT simcard such as I have.
I've read one single thread by a user and not a Samsung official that claims that you can pop in a network sim card and then restart to change some software but I have not found even one more thread mentioning this phenomenon.
My background:
I've bought factory unlocked my Moto Pure X and a OnePlus 5 and neither did any ridiculous **** when I switched networks, so that's why I doubt this claim.
I bought a AT&T branded one for use on TMobile. It kept popping up errors. I flashed the unlocked firmware and it works great. I get unlocked updates and everything. You'll need to look on here but there's a walkthrough somewhere. But there are a few advantages for running the carrier branded version so you could flash the AT&T firmware instead. I wanted less bloat so I went with the unlocked one.
Think this might be the thread:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/s10-plus/how-to/sm-g975u-firmware-downloads-tmo-spr-att-t3908657
That said after I did all this I did read there was going to be a update to the firmware which would do what you described.... Switching firmware based on the sim card. Never seen it happen on mine still on unlocked unbranded firmware. Maybe this phone is running old firmware prior to the update that implemented this?
not normal. LIke you, I purchased an 'unlocked' phone and when I powered on, it was a Verizon phone. I popped in my TMo sim, and it worked OK, but I would get the annoying Verizon popups reminding me that I'm on on their network. I installed the unlocked firmware and it went away.
But there's more: when the phone had a problem, I sent it back to Samsung under warranty (still unlocked) and when it was returned, I just installed the original sim and powered on. Now it seems to be a TMo phone, and when I look at the phone's software version, it shows TMB/TMB/VZW. It's been receiving OTA updates and I've disabled bloatware, so I'm OK with it.
Just to be clear I'm not going to flash anything. I'll just turn around and sell it. I need a stable phone for work and I used to mess around with flashing different roms and while it was fun it was a frequent activity and I don't have time for all the annoying trouble this phone has been. Thanks everyone.
Flashing rom is different from flashing a stock firmware. In your case the only way to be completely off from the previous network you are getting the notification from is to flash a G975U1 or G975U stock firmware which is unbranded or your network branded respectively and you are good to go. I switched my yesterday and am okay ?. I will be happy to assist should you change your mind
HIS YB said:
Flashing rom is different from flashing a stock firmware. In your case the only way to be completely off from the previous network you are getting the notification from is to flash a G975U1 or G975U stock firmware which is unbranded or your network branded respectively and you are good to go. I switched my yesterday and am okay . I will be happy to assist should you change your mind
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Thanks. I'm going to see if it will sell first.