Apologies if this is a stupid question, I'm pretty new to Androids in general.
I recently bought an unlocked Pixel 4 off Facebook Marketplace, and have started using it on Android 12 beta (I came from an iPhone 7). Overall I love it, but I'd like to have the option of rooting it if I feel like. I went to unlock the bootloader a few days ago, and the OEM Unlocking toggle says "Unavailable on carrier-locked devices." The previous owner used it on T-Mobile, but it's fully unlocked according to all the online checks I've done. When I talked to T-Mobile support, they said that yes it was carrier unlocked, but there was some sort of block on the device for the T-Mobile network. They said that to fix that I'd have to get in touch with the previous owner, which I've been unable to do.
Am I out of luck as far as rooting goes?
Yes.
There's 3 components that determine whether a bootloader can be unlocked:
1. At firmware build time, the ro.oem_unlock_supported flag is set. If this is 0, that prevents the next component from being changed.
2. The OEM Unlocking toggle controls the get_unlock_ability flag. On is 1, off is 0. If this is greyed out, it's because unlocking is not supported per #1.
3. The bootloader itself will reject unlocking commands such as
Code:
fastboot flashing unlock
if the get_unlock_ability returns 0.
Thus, it's only possible to unlock the bootloader, and therefore root the device, if the firmware as built supports it. Unfortunately, many carriers specify that this be set to 0.
What I don't know is what T-Mobile's network block has to do with this. To me, as a former telecom technician, "network block" means a server-side blacklist that prevents the device from being provisioned on T-Mobile's network. This is done using the IMEI, is often shared with a common blacklist used by other carriers, and typically happens if the device is reported stolen or the original user defaults on their payment plan.
Related
The whole unlocking process is different between the iPhone and Android devices. Obviously. I've always understood that once you get your iPhone unlocked and if you plug it into iTunes it'll inform you that your phone is unlocked. Now for Android devices such as the S4, how does the whole unlocking deal work? If I'm currently on CM10.2, can I put any SIM card into my phone and it'll work or do I still have to get an unlock code?
Carrier unlock is not related to the firmware you flash. You can change all the ROMs you want, if your phone is carrier-lock, it will remain lock unless you carrier-unlock it. You can look-up the forums for unlocking methods. I am not sure if anyone of them still works after the latest updates.
Seem s TMO G5 is easy to be unlocked to use other GSM carrier.
Many unlock service website say they can unlock it by several steps.
Typically check if the H830 can be unlocked, by following these 3 steps:
1. Install T-Mobile APP from Play store.
2. Open the app and press Permanent unlock.
3. The following message should appear: Unlock Failed: This mobile device is not eligible for unlock. blablabla...
And if you get a different message you CANNOT unlock this device.
So question is coming.
Is anyone experienced in this thing? In which cases G5 will appear "Unlock Failed" message?
I guess if the phone's IMEI is clean but not use TMO network for enough long time or just even never activated on network then we can pay extra money to that kind of website to unlock the phone. If IMEI is in blacklist so the problem is not just like "this mobile device is not eligible" so simple .
Am I right?
Hi All - I recently bought a Samsung Galaxy S8 from someone else. It worked fine when I was with T-mobile but when I moved to another network and popped in a new SIM, it asked me to "Enter network unlock code". I figured it must be locked to T-mobile so I reached out to them. They said my account met all the unlock criteria and said they'll send me instructions via email. I got the email two days later saying I need to use the "Device Unlock App". However, there's no such app on phone and there's no way to install it either (its not in the Play Store). I went back to T-mobile and they said since the device wasn't purchased through T-mobile, its not be a T-mobile "branded" phone. My questions are:
1. If its not a T-mobile branded phone, why does it only work on the T-mobile network? I checked its not rooted. It doesn't have any T-mobile apps and doesn't show any splash screen with the T-mobile logo.
2. Someone said that Samsung GS8 locks to the network of the first SIM you put into an unlocked phone. Is that true?
3. T-mobile says they've "whitelisted" my IMEI, so if I can somehow get the Device Unlock app I may be able to unlock it. Any idea how I can do that? Do I need to flash the firmware and install the T-mobile version or is there another way.
Thanks!
If you need to app, you can try here: https://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-14011
However, as your phone is asking for the unlock code, the app might work but not unlock your phone.
You really need to do a network check and see which network is your phone actually locked. If your phone needs unlocking code, you might need factory level codes.
I think you should visit :
https://support.t-mobile.com
As of this point the warranty on it has long since expired (for both Motorola and Target, the place where it was purchased) so we're pretty much willing to try anything to get it working
I've got with me here a G5 Plus XT1687 that, at best, I can describe as being in a state of "limbo". Its bootloader mode can only be set to flashing_unlock and flashing_lock. We've obtained the unlock key from Motorola's tool and have tried fully unlocking the bootloader multiple times following the guide on XDA, but it seems to not want to accept the command fully and remains on flashing_unlock. When I try to relock everything to start over, it gets stuck on "flashing_lock" and won't go back to fully locked. When it's in the flashing_unlock state I am able to flash ROMs and TWRP builds, so technically it's unlocked.... sort of. I'm unable flash SOME things, like new bootloaders or gpt partition tables, but other things will work just fine, albeit with the occasional "invalid signature" message following flashing. But this right here is only the start of our problems.
Having purchased the US retail XT1687 model, it was supposed to come carrier unlocked out of the box. My friend who got this didn't have a SIM when he got it at the time, so he just used it as a WiFi-only media player sort of thing. When he finally got a T-Mobile SIM and put it in, it asked him for an unlock code. This of course doesn't make any sense, because we didn't get this from a carrier, so why would it be locked to anything in the first place. It was tried with multiple different SIM cards, running multiple different ROMs (and even stock firmware) all with the same result: the phone seems to be network locked to nothing at all.
I tried calling Motorola and they said they can't make an unlock code for us since it's the carrier that decides what algorithm to use for network unlock codes... but this phone didn't come from a carrier, so I don't know what to do.
Fixing the bootloader thing would be nice, but my main goal here is to try and remove this nonsensical network lock so my friend can actually use it with T-Mobile. At this point he doesn't want to send it back (since we'd have to pay for the repairs, and he got a cheap LG to use as a primary phone anyway). That being said, we're pretty much willing to try anything to get it working. Any suggestions?
EDIT: just want to mention as well, we've never had a problem with the IMEI being set to 0. It's always been what it originally was
I have quite a few devices which appear on the LineageOS site as "no longer officially supported", such as the BQ paella device.
With these devices (quite annoyingly) you can't download images anymore and have to go and hunt for them on archive sites, but at least you can still build it yourself.
In fact I think it would be possible for someone to take on such a device and resurrect it.
The Kagura doesn't even appear on the unsupported list. Was it never supported by Lineage? I'm a bit surprised by this.
What is the best, most stable Lineage based ROM out there? preferably Lineage based? Is there one with source code available?
My son's one is acting up. It doesn't respond to inbound phone calls, and on querying the network for call forward status it says "SIM error". Putting the SIM into a different phone works perfectly so I think Sony has messed up something.
I think it's time for a custom ROM. 8.0 based is fine. It just needs to work.
I have compiled/built from source for other devices so I'm not frightened to do so with this one.
Any suggestions?
For the time being I won't be able to put a custom ROM on this
I followed these instructions https://developer.sony.com/develop/open-devices/get-started/unlock-bootloader
at the end of the instructions "Tap Service info > Configuration > Rooting Status. If Bootloader unlock allowed says Yes, then you can continue with the next step. If it says No, or if the status is missing, your device cannot be unlocked."
I have "Bootloader unlock allowed: No"
dieselnutjob said:
For the time being I won't be able to put a custom ROM on this
I followed these instructions https://developer.sony.com/develop/open-devices/get-started/unlock-bootloader
at the end of the instructions "Tap Service info > Configuration > Rooting Status. If Bootloader unlock allowed says Yes, then you can continue with the next step. If it says No, or if the status is missing, your device cannot be unlocked."
I have "Bootloader unlock allowed: No"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then there is no way to unlock your phone
EugenStanis said:
Then there is no way to unlock your phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I suspect that it's because it's operator SIM locked.
Apparently I can unlock it myself with a tool called qunlocktool, but when I downloaded it my antivirus got quite excited.
I will contact the operator next week and ask them to unlock it. I had this phone from new so I think that they have to.
dieselnutjob said:
I suspect that it's because it's operator SIM locked.
Apparently I can unlock it myself with a tool called qunlocktool, but when I downloaded it my antivirus got quite excited.
I will contact the operator next week and ask them to unlock it. I had this phone from new so I think that they have to.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In my country (Poland) local provider doesnt allow to unlock the phone bootloader even after sim unlocking (also the charges are high)
Phone is now SIM unlocked, but I still have "Bootloader unlock allowed: No"