Develop Bugs

Help flashing my htc evo to boost!!!

Hey! I purchased an htc evo from a friend of mine who fail to pay his phone bill, so the phone have a bad esn. Can someone guide me thru flashing it to boost mobile please. I look all over and couldnt' find nothing on flashing htc evo too boost. I found something on epic to boost that's about it. I heard writing the meid is different can someone please help me out. thanks. I purchase a boost incognito as a donor phone.

sakpase said:
Hey! I purchased an htc evo from a friend of mine who fail to pay his phone bill, so the phone have a bad esn. Can someone guide me thru flashing it to boost mobile please. I look all over and couldnt' find nothing on flashing htc evo too boost. I found something on epic to boost that's about it. I heard writing the meid is different can someone please help me out. thanks. I purchase a boost incognito as a donor phone.
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i have seen guides but from what i read it a royal pain the ass and don't work 99% of the time

I bet its a stolen phone

HERE'S a tutorial on flashing to metro. It will be a good start but you will need to change the addy from metro to boost. A little google searching should help you out but like I said, start here.

I know two people, that got there evo stolen too bad they can sorta still activate it on ghetto metro.
Any talk of boost/metro flashing should be banned >=]

The information in my post here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1008909 may be helpful.
I completely agree with both nsxla and weehooherod... stolen phones shouldn't be able to be able to be activated. At the same time the way providers tie you into using their devices is as ridiculous as Apple's software copyrights not allowing you to use software you purchase on non-approved hardware (that's another topic). I have an acquaintances that is a area sales manager for a big cell company and his only argument for carriers not accepting outside phones is that they are not optimized for the individual provider's network and hence can bog it down. Yeah... mmmm hhhmm

Flashing to Metro is perfectly fine, because you don't need to illegally modify your phone, hell metro openly flashes evo's to their service.
However, putting an evo on Boost is outside of the legal guidelines since it requires a donor phone to clone onto the evo.

As far as MetroPCS and other pre-paid services bashing them is just plain ignorant. In some states you'll get better coverage with Metro than you would AT&T or some other contract providers and the prices are good.
To the OP: Metro has better coverage than Boost in my area so it might be worth checking out where you live.

Serious questions about evo on other networks

Hi, i have seen evo work flawlessly on other networks and many guys on ebay and craiglist have been selling them. I have a few questions, i would appreciate if you guys can answer them as honestly as possible, coz i m considering getting one, but at the same time i dont want to land up in trouble. I will happily pay 20 bucks more a month than do something which is legally not accepted.
1. I hv seen phones which have their MEID registered in d databases of the other networks. Now my question is , is there anything wrong or illegal if people get the meid of evo registered onto the network by social engineering ?
2. Can you trust the craiglist/ebay guys, coz even if they get your meid registered, they will know your phone no and your meid, what if they mess with it later ? Can they misues the meid/no and if they do, who will be held responsible ?
3. What happens if later the network figures out by some means that the registered meid is not of their supported phones ? What action can they take ?
4. What challeges will i face if i need to transfer my number to a different handset or if i wish to port my number ? Will they block my number if they find that the meid is of an unsupported phone ?
5. Lastly, if i need to sell my phone, what do i do ? How do i get my number out of the phone and what all things need to be done.(sorry for my limited knowledge, i have very limited experience with cdma)
PS : I m only talking about where the phones meid is registered and not where the phone has been programed/cl*ned etc.
All help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks

techspark said:
Hi, i have seen evo work flawlessly on other networks and many guys on ebay and craiglist have been selling them. I have a few questions, i would appreciate if you guys can answer them as honestly as possible, coz i m considering getting one, but at the same time i dont want to land up in trouble. I will happily pay 20 bucks more a month than do something which is legally not accepted.
1. I hv seen phones which have their MEID registered in d databases of the other networks. Now my question is , is there anything wrong or illegal if people get the meid of evo registered onto the network by social engineering ?
2. Can you trust the craiglist/ebay guys, coz even if they get your meid registered, they will know your phone no and your meid, what if they mess with it later ? Can they misues the meid/no and if they do, who will be held responsible ?
3. What happens if later the network figures out by some means that the registered meid is not of their supported phones ? What action can they take ?
4. What challeges will i face if i need to transfer my number to a different handset or if i wish to port my number ? Will they block my number if they find that the meid is of an unsupported phone ?
5. Lastly, if i need to sell my phone, what do i do ? How do i get my number out of the phone and what all things need to be done.(sorry for my limited knowledge, i have very limited experience with cdma)
PS : I m only talking about where the phones meid is registered and not where the phone has been programed/cl*ned etc.
All help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks
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Simple answer to all questions. This would require MEID cloning which is illegal.

^^ As i mentioned, these are not cloned ones. They have the og meid of d evo registered onto the database by some means. No techie work has been done on the phone, the meid that is printed on the box, d same meid is shown under the settings.

tgruendler said:
Simple answer to all questions. This would require MEID cloning which is illegal.
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It's only illegal if you are cloning a phone that you do not own. It's like downloading an ISO. If you already own the cd you can download it as much as you want.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

This is still pretty shady.

Out of curiosity, what is the advantage of doing this? At least in the United States there are really only 2 big players that support CDMA networks -- Verizon and Sprint. Personally I think Sprint has some of the most reasonable pricing for their unlimited plans. I suppose you could use it on Cricket's network as well but why would you want to do that other than price?
I think the $69.99 price/month (I guess it's actually $79.99 after you tack on the $10 for 4G) is really fair. I previously had a 25% discount through my employer which made the final bill each month $70. I have since dropped my own line and switched to my parents' family plan. Now I only pay $30/month.

It's only illegal if you are cloning a phone that you do not own. It's like downloading an ISO. If you already own the cd you can download it as much as you want.
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True. I would like to know one thing, if i get the phone from ebay/craiglist and later that guy clones a different phone(which he owns) with the meid and no which is on my evo(since he would knw everything abt my phone) and if caught, who will be the one who will land up in trouble ??
Out of curiosity, what is the advantage of doing this?
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Price ! Boost - $50 unlimited. I am happy with gsm, i m just considering it at the moment, but i first need definite answers to all my questions before i take a step forward.

I don't think Boost uses GSM. I believe it's iDEN networks. But the Evo is a CDMA phone so I don't see how you could use it on a GSM or iDEN network. Maybe folks outside the US don't have this problem but certainly in the States I think you're tied to a CDMA network so your only options are Sprint, Verizon, or Cricket.

gamblor01 said:
I don't think Boost uses GSM. I believe it's iDEN networks. But the Evo is a CDMA phone so I don't see how you could use it on a GSM or iDEN network. Maybe folks outside the US don't have this problem but certainly in the States I think you're tied to a CDMA network so your only options are Sprint, Verizon, or Cricket.
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No no, i m sorry i didnt explain it well. Boost uses cdma. What i meant to say was, i m currently happy using gsm, i was considering switching to cdma, only if i get proper answers to questions i listed

That makes more sense. Boost must have migrated because I swear they used iDEN. Still -- I like my family plan option (which I realize may not be an option for you). Yes it has 1500 minutes/month but you only use minutes if you call a land line -- mobile to mobile calls are free. Can't beat $30/month for an Evo.
Whatever you choose, good luck.

They use both now but, I think they are migrating to an all cdma network since sprint is really doing away with the nextel network. They started using cdma in early 2010. But if you can get it on the network it will work. I would personally do it myself *google*.... and stay away from the shady people and make sure it is done right.

[Q] What's bad ESN??

I know this is a stupid question bud Ive seen Evos with "bad ESNs" so cheap Ive began to wonder what it is. I know its something bad (duh its fkn obvious) but what exactly is this ESN?? and can I still activate the phone with sprint n use it? thnx!

You can't activate it if it has a bad ESN
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

Bad ESN's are phone's that are essentially "lost" or something else. You wont be able to use those phones on Sprint, but you can flash on another carrier like MetroPCS or Criket.

Electronic serial numbers (ESNs) were created by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to uniquely identify mobile devices.
The ESN is "bad" in the sense that it is reported stolen or the account has an outstanding balance remaining. It cannot be activated on a network. There are ways to zero out the ESN and cloning. ESN cloning is illegal. Thus, for all intents and purposes, a phone with a bad ESN can be your new Wi-Fi bound media device

oook, so basically if I want a PHONE (call, txt, web,...) I should avoid bad ESN phones, unless I want an HTC branded iPod... well thnx every1 for the fast replies =)

Please delete thread

WAITING FOR THREAD TO BE DELETED!
too much off topic bs.

Samsung devices don't need anything backed up as far as wimax is considered ...
So one little question, what's the benefit of changing the wimax Mac? I assume spoofing, but why? Serious question lol
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

squshy 7 said:
Samsung devices don't need anything backed up as far as wimax is considered ...
So one little question, what's the benefit of changing the wimax Mac? I assume spoofing, but why? Serious question lol
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
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In addition, changing the Mac address is going to screw things up since Sprint's numbering/handset system uses that to route and authenticate wimax traffic. Why the hell would you want to do this?
I guess spoofing another 4G Wimax device... but not only would you have to spoof the wimax info but you'd have to spoof everything else as well....

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THIS THREAD IS TO FURTHER DEVELOPMENT NOT QUESTION WHY.
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Sounds like your wanting to do some dirty deeds dirt cheap.

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I'm not buying this...isnt this like esn cloning? Which is illegal here and In General?
Sent from my Epic touch 4G using xda premium

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autoprime said:
this has nothing to do with backing up files for safety. I want to use a different MAC address than the current one written to the phone. On the Epic 4G this was a STOCK option. I just want to see it back.
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autoprime said:
An option that was put there by Samsung in the original Epic 4G illegal? No.
Stealing someones MAC address to use as your own illegal? Yes.
See the difference? Editing a MAC address is not illegal. The MAC address is not the ESN. It is not the sole hardware identification ID. The ESN editing legal/illegal debate is for another time/place.
All the wannabe lawyers can go elsewhere. Nothing here is illegal.
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Ok - so you want to use a different MAC address from say a Wimax laptop on your phone instead of the MAC address already there. Fine - makes some sense. But how are you going to activate the phone? It needs to pull a profile from Sprint, and it uses 1xRTT first to do so in order to validate a number of other things associated with the device before it finishes the "Update profile" task. The way Sprint's system is, all of those things are tied together at the ESN level - so how would this work? How would this help with CM7+?
And you're right - it's not the sole hardware identification. But let me break this down for you:
Subcriber relates to a ESN/Phone#/MSID combination
ESN relates to MEID, MAC address, manufacturer, model, etc.
Just changing the MAC address isn't going to help you since you've now broken the relationships and the provisioning and routing path. So what's really at play here?
EDIT: Oh - and sure the option was there on the Epic 4G - but it wasn't for the user, but for the Sprint/Samsung tech's and provisioning, etc. You just happen to be able to get there because someone dumped the # codes needed and you have your MSL. Does not mean it was provided for you and should be something you should mess around with. I mean, sure - a shotgun has a barrel you can look down but that doesn't mean it was meant for you to do so... just ask Mr. Cobain.

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autoprime said:
The phone doesn't need to be activated on Sprint's network at all. Throw out all the standard thinking that you have to buy this at a Sprint store and tie it to a Sprint contract. I can walk into a Best Buy and buy the phone off contract. The WiMAX radio on our phones works independently from the CDMA/EVDO/WIFI/BT radios. An unactivated phone with working WiMAX still gets working data. Think SIP calls, Google Voice SMS, Internet Browsing, Email, Netflix/Hulu/HBO Go, Kindle, Google Music, Google Maps, Twitter, Camera/Cam w/Flickr support etc.. all over free/cheap WiFi/WiMAX-only connection. Oh, and all this fits in your pocket.
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Yep - you can use this phone without data via Wifi as well. My question, and it will help in this discussion, is how are you going to provision this phone? Just changing the MAC address is not going to allow the provisioning you need. This phone was programmed to interact with the specific Ensemble provisioning system put together by Amdocs for Sprint Nextel (and subsequently Boost and VM). You can't just provision Wimax from say Clearwire (because they're the only other Wimax provider in the US - and it's still just Sprint) on it without their provisioning program. It's all well and good to clone a MAC address - but just cloning a MAC address isn't going to resolve that provisioning that will need to take place, i.e. placement of RSA keys, etc. The Evo hack had to duplicate that transaction - but the framework was already there. You're talking about duplicating a framework for something that exists that we're not sure how (which is a good thing to learn how Samsung is doing it) and then trying to apply it to an entirely different provisioning schema... See what I am getting at?
autoprime said:
Any further development for WiMAX for either the Epic and Epic Touch would be beneficial to both communities. This project, if accomplished, would help the Epic's CM development as they do not have WiMAX working yet. That would, in return, help the Epic Touch's CM WiMAX development in the future when it comes time for that. We as a community have no info of how WiMAX works with Samsung phones. The Evo and all other HTC devices had their phones explored.. WiMAX partitions found.. extracted.. backed up.. edited.. etc etc. And after all of that knowledge look how long it still took to get 4G working with CM7 on the Evo. Yet the Samsung phones have none of this. A project like this might give another dev thats not involved with CM a chance and possibly be a huge break to us all. We've all been told that our WiMAX isn't like HTC's and we don't have to back it up.. or worry about it.. etc etc. But why? How's it work? No one's curious? Unacceptable. I'm not saying you have to care about this project or be involved... but all the nay sayers.. think outside the box or go away. This is my thread and no rules are being broken.
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Curiosity is great. Not saying it's not. By all means investigate! I hope people do. But don't get your panties in a bunch when someone questions your logic - and tell them to go away.
autoprime said:
Ok, so like you said.. its not the sole identifier and it's in no way illegal to modify the MAC address. BUT, just changing the MAC address IS going to help me since I'm only looking to get on a WiMAX network. Sprint provisioning isn't required at that point so throw all of that out the window.
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See the above and throw it all back in the window because you need the Wimax provisioning process from the OTHER provider (i.e. still Sprint in a round about way)....
autoprime said:
As far as the menus being for technicians only... it came with my phone. Officially sold by Samsung to me, the consumer. You do not need your MSL to run WiMAXLineTest.apk on the Epic 4G. Simply run the .apk and write a new MAC address. No elevated privileges are required. Any user that owns the stock phone can do this. This wasn't a special dev phone leaked.. or something acquired illegally... this is the RETAIL PHONE! Every phone on this forum has official bootloaders removed and replaced, roms tweaked and apps ripped from one phone and put on another. This is nothing different.
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This would technically be classified as something different since XDA does not endorse nor allow telling someone how to mimic another ESN, i.e. a stolen or bad ESN. So you're treading a thin line here
autoprime said:
...and yes, Kurt Cobain killed himself with a shotgun but that doesn't mean owning a shotgun will lead to suicide for everyone that owns or uses one. Know how to use a gun and it can be safe and possibly beneficial. I understand CDMA networks. I understand WiMAX networks. I understand 1x and EVDO. I understand authentication. I am only looking to use the hardware that I own the way I'd like to use it. WiMAX will be around for at least another 2-3 years at minimum.. any that's only by Sprint! There are other WiMAX networks this hardware can work on beyond those 2-3 years.
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Yep - good plan. We all want to use what we purchased. More power to you. But don't for a second think that your plea's to be left alone and not be questioned about your hypothesis or motives will in some way be granted so that you can say or do whatever you want. Challenging an idea, aka playing devils advocate, is NEEDED for anything to be improved, changed, discovered, etc.

I skipped to the end here. On the Epic you had to have 4g on when changing MAC address. I assume you tried that already. I just saw the Wifi icon in screenies...Sprint actually puts some sort of extra layer (proxy?) in there. I changed my Epic to my straight Clear MAC and averaged 1 to 1.5Mbps faster download but always went back to my Sprint MAC because most of Clear's plans have 1Mbps upload cap.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

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##33284#
Wimax CT
looks like you can change it there
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

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I can see how this would benefit a lot of people. Being able to change the WiMAX settings on a phone branded for one carrier and running on another carrier would be a great option, for example someone buys a refurbished phone from say... an "authorized Boost Mobile dealer" but the phone doesn't have WiMAX, Being able to edit those settings to enable WiMAX in some way would be great. I'll be watching this thread for updates keep up the good work kids.

Mr_Milenko said:
I can see how this would benefit a lot of people. Being able to change the WiMAX settings on a phone branded for one carrier and running on another carrier would be a great option, for example someone buys a refurbished phone from say... an "authorized Boost Mobile dealer" but the phone doesn't have WiMAX, Being able to edit those settings to enable WiMAX in some way would be great. I'll be watching this thread for updates keep up the good work kids.
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That right there is 100% illegal.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk

Really.. How would it be illegal?
Sprint wont allow you to get a contract without a hefty deposit and the customer service agent mentions Boost or Virgin. Check.
Boost mobile "retailer" has an Epic 4G for sale with no WiMAX, Ok, nice phone but I want 4g.
Clear (A Sprint owned company) Offers 4g access nationwide.
I buy my phone, Its activated from a retailer on a sprint owned network. Editing the WiMAX settings to change the realm and activating that on Clear is not illegal as you are NOT cloning someone elses information. You're legally enabling your information to be processed through an alternate carrier.
Now if someone was running around ripping peoples phones apart just to get free WiMAX then yes we would have a problem, but this isn't the case here, and before you spout off about apples and oranges this same example can be applied to rooting your damn phone. You're changing something to enable more functionality of a device you paid for.

Guys this works 100% I know for a fact it does since I've done it myself to another phone and I'm sure it's completely legal as long as the Mac address is your own. autoprime check your PMs please.

Samsung to add Kill Switch - How?

Samsung agreed to add a remote kill switch to their Android phones. This is supposed to make a stolen phone useless to resell. My question is... Is this even possible? Wouldn't anything they do be able to be either hacked or overridden by simply reflashing the phone? Would they have to do something that physically damages the phone to kill it? Any thoughts on this?

richb500 said:
Samsung agreed to add a remote kill switch to their Android phones. This is supposed to make a stolen phone useless to resell. My question is... Is this even possible? Wouldn't anything they do be able to be either hacked or overridden by simply reflashing the phone? Would they have to do something that physically damages the phone to kill it? Any thoughts on this?
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There are namy ways Samsung could do this, from remotely wiping the IMEI which would prevent it from being used to using something hidden in the one of the unrightable partitions that would completely disable the phone and remotely brick it.

Or maybe just convert all the partitions to RAW format. Which is another way of bricking it.
Sent from my SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app

If they did this, would it be irreversible? How is that better than someone stealing my phone and my never getting it back? Either way I'd be out a phone. Wouldn't that be like requiring car manufacturers rigging a car to burn up if stolen?
I hope this is optional because I personally don't want anyone having a remote kill switch to my phone.

richb500 said:
If they did this, would it be irreversible? How is that better than someone stealing my phone and my never getting it back? Either way I'd be out a phone. Wouldn't that be like requiring car manufacturers rigging a car to burn up if stolen?
I hope this is optional because I personally don't want anyone having a remote kill switch to my phone.
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It's not. The only way they could track it would be by IMEI but this can be changed. To be honest if you phone is stolen your best bet would be report it stolen and forget about it. There is almost no chance to get it back and if you do everything will be erased anyway.
Wayne Tech Nexus

The deal is to stop the phone from getting stolen in the first place. Right now, if somebody steals a phone, they can sell/use it. There is no motivation to steal it if you know it won't work. If it bricks after getting lost until you enter your Google login or something you at least have a shot at getting it back.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

Not to sound too paranoid, but I think the plan is much more sinister. Remember a couple years ago when the gov shut down cell service (I think it was San Francisco) to quell a protest? I think this is what is really at the heart to why these AGs are so hell bent on this. A lot of government officials would love a remote kill switch in cell phones. If there is a kill switch, it's sure to be abused some day. Thus country is headed for a revolution and they are putting a lot of things in place for when that day comes.... gun control, cameras everywhere, gov buying so much ammo that there is a shortage, etc.

The way Apple appears to be complimenting it, is the phone is bricked after wiping until the account that previously owned it puts in their password. That leaves the power in the owners hand, not some remote teleco/govt kill switch.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

All they can do is make the IMEI useless....I already ran into this...I bought a phone from a local computer dealer and took it to an ATT store to have a micro sim put in it, and it did work for about 5 minutes till the IMEI hit the system and it stops you from making calls with the phone. I called ATT and they were like sorry there is nothing we can do and we wont do it, take the phone back where you got it and get your money back (which I did)

carriers say no
http://www.talkandroid.com/184987-u...l-switch-that-would-prevent-smartphone-theft/

dligon said:
http://www.talkandroid.com/184987-u...l-switch-that-would-prevent-smartphone-theft/
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richb500 said:
Samsung agreed to add a remote kill switch to their Android phones. This is supposed to make a stolen phone useless to resell. My question is... Is this even possible? Wouldn't anything they do be able to be either hacked or overridden by simply reflashing the phone? Would they have to do something that physically damages the phone to kill it? Any thoughts on this?
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Click to collapse
Guess what? http://www.techradar.com/us/news/ph...n-up-for-anti-theft-phone-kill-switch-1242938

I'm not an expert on this field, but these are the questions that come to my head as I think about the logistics to support a kill switch. I'm probably wrong in some of the assumptions that I'm making here. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Telcos don't have an incentive to make this work. It has always been possible for a Telco to disable an IMEI at their end thus making any particular IMEI unusable in their network. They already do this when you call them to report your phone stolen. If a worldwide database of stolen phone IMEIs existed then Telcos could have the ability to disable any IMEI in that database. The issue is... who would be responsible for maintaining such database and for the problems that will certainly come up due to inaccuracies and timing of updates (Telco, Government entity, phone manufacturer or a third party) . Can the maintaining entity monetize the overhead of maintaining and supporting such database? Who would pay for it? Who makes the final ruling to include or exclude an IMEI? The end user?... I doubt it. Where would the master database copy reside? And of course... would Telcos in all countries support it? Remember, the Telcos make money off any phone that is active in their network (stolen or not). All they care about is that the user of any active phone in their network is paying the network usage bill. For Telcos the more IMEIs that exists and that can be connected to their network... the better.
I can think of a bunch of issues that could come up when the end user is able to disable the actual phone. I doubt the user would be able to disable the IMEI remotely unless they own the phone and the telco allow it. The issue in the US is that a lot of the phones are subsidized (owned) by the Telco for the duration of the contract. So, in the case that the phone is subsidized the Telco should also have the right to trip the kill switch. I'm assuming that the phone kill switch will be tied to a password known to the rightful owner and "maybe" the renter. The password will render the phone unusable unless the correct password is entered. I'm assuming that if a phone on contract is stolen then the user would either contact the Telco or trip the switch via the Internet. (Lookout and other apps do something similar remotely, but they only wipe the phone.. they do not disable it) If the Telco also has the ability to disable the phone then if the bill isn't paid not only will they disconnect you, but they will also render your phone useless. Good bye data and apps. I also assume that the ability to trip the kill switch remotely would also depend on the network on which the phone is connected. The IMEI (physical address) is translated to an IP address when using the Internet. If I steal a phone in the US and keep it turned off until I register it in a Telco in another country how will the owner trip the kill switch as only the Telco would know which IP address is associated with the IMEI.....
Gotta go to work... Given that I don't know how the kill switch will actually be implemented I don't know if any of the stuff I just wrote above is relevant or makes sense. Just curious as to how the kill switch would work.

tamanaco said:
I'm not an expert on this field, but these are the questions that come to my head as I think about the logistics to support a kill switch. I'm probably wrong in some of the assumptions that I'm making here. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Telcos don't have an incentive to make this work. It has always been possible for a Telco to disable an IMEI at their end thus making any particular IMEI unusable in their network. They already do this when you call them to report your phone stolen. If a worldwide database of stolen phone IMEIs existed then Telcos could have the ability to disable any IMEI in that database. The issue is... who would be responsible for maintaining such database and for the problems that will certainly come up due to inaccuracies and timing of updates (Telco, Government entity, phone manufacturer or a third party) . Can the maintaining entity monetize the overhead of maintaining and supporting such database? Who would pay for it? Who makes the final ruling to include or exclude an IMEI? The end user?... I doubt it. Where would the master database copy reside? And of course... would Telcos in all countries support it? Remember, the Telcos make money off any phone that is active in their network (stolen or not). All they care about is that the user of any active phone in their network is paying the network usage bill. For Telcos the more IMEIs that exists and that can be connected to their network... the better.
I can think of a bunch of issues that could come up when the end user is able to disable the actual phone. I doubt the user would be able to disable the IMEI remotely unless they own the phone and the telco allow it. The issue in the US is that a lot of the phones are subsidized (owned) by the Telco for the duration of the contract. So, in the case that the phone is subsidized the Telco should also have the right to trip the kill switch. I'm assuming that the phone kill switch will be tied to a password known to the rightful owner and "maybe" the renter. The password will render the phone unusable unless the correct password is entered. I'm assuming that if a phone on contract is stolen then the user would either contact the Telco or trip the switch via the Internet. (Lookout and other apps do something similar remotely, but they only wipe the phone.. they do not disable it) If the Telco also has the ability to disable the phone then if the bill isn't paid not only will they disconnect you, but they will also render your phone useless. Good bye data and apps. I also assume that the ability to trip the kill switch remotely would also depend on the network on which the phone is connected. The IMEI (physical address) is translated to an IP address when using the Internet. If I steal a phone in the US and keep it turned off until I register it in a Telco in another country how will the owner trip the kill switch as only the Telco would know which IP address is associated with the IMEI.....
Gotta go to work... Given that I don't know how the kill switch will actually be implemented I don't know if any of the stuff I just wrote above is relevant or makes sense. Just curious as to how the kill switch would work.
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All you need is flashing software, suck as cdma workshop or dsp tools. Boom bypass any lock, because you changes the calling info, such as the IMEI.

While I see this as an option on stock roms. It will most likely be easily removed if flashed with a custom rom, but as google is also part of it we may see something added to aosp as well.
Bat cave One

Dark Souls87 said:
All you need is flashing software, suck as cdma workshop or dsp tools. Boom bypass any lock, because you changes the calling info, such as the IMEI.
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I understand that it could be bypassed in a phone with root and with an unlocked bootloader. This might not be as easy with a phone with a locked bootloader like the S5. Changing the IMEI is only an option if the IMEI you're changing it to is valid in the Telcos network. I'm thinking that a kill switch implemented by the manufacturer might be tied to the CPU id or some other unique serial number burned into the hardware..

makers, carriers embrace anti-theft initiative
dligon said:
http://www.talkandroid.com/184987-u...l-switch-that-would-prevent-smartphone-theft/
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Starting in July 2015, all smartphones manufactured by the companies will come with free anti-theft tools preloaded on the devices or ready to be downloaded, according to wireless association CTIA, which announced the agreement on Tuesday.
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New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and San Francisco District Attorney, George Gascon welcomed the voluntary agreement but said it fell short of what they have advocated to prevent theft.
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http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/15/smartphone-theft-idUSL2N0N71WW20140415
Looks like a bit of software, not anything on the hardware layer.
No 'Killswitch Engage' . Just an OS killer or partition reformat?
[Edited for typo]

http://www.androidauthority.com/google-android-anti-thect-kill-swtich-369066/
I don't think the switch is to prevent it from being resold if it was stolen or to brick the phone but to protect your data. Last thing I want is to have my phone stolen and on top of that, the jerk to buy everything in the play store and me be broke on top of no phone or to access my bank account, etc.
It also seems you can restore it all back if you actually get your phone back.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

tamanaco said:
I'm not an expert on this field, but these are the questions that come to my head as I think about the logistics to support a kill switch. I'm probably wrong in some of the assumptions that I'm making here. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
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Gotta go to work... Given that I don't know how the kill switch will actually be implemented I don't know if any of the stuff I just wrote above is relevant or makes sense. Just curious as to how the kill switch would work.
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Dark Souls87 said:
All you need is flashing software, suck as cdma workshop or dsp tools. Boom bypass any lock, because you changes the calling info, such as the IMEI.
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Dark souls makes a good point. IMEI is tied to the software. That's why we can back it up and restore it, etc. and cdma workshop in combination with an old throw away phone IMEI or even buying a 20$ feature phone and using that IMEI it to easy to do. But it can a be a good deterrent I believe for most. It'll just have us XDA'ers concerned lol.

drago10029 said:
Dark souls makes a good point. IMEI is tied to the software. That's why we can back it up and restore it, etc. and cdma workshop in combination with an old throw away phone IMEI or even buying a 20$ feature phone and using that IMEI it to easy to do. But it can a be a good deterrent I believe for most. It'll just have us XDA'ers concerned lol.
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While this is partly true the imei is also hardcoded into some of the hardware. This is why when people mess up their IMEI they cant fix it. Not to mention changing the IMEI is completely illegal. Meaning XDA doesnt advise or condone doing this.

zelendel said:
While this is partly true the imei is also hardcoded into some of the hardware. This is why when people mess up their IMEI they cant fix it. Not to mention changing the IMEI is completely illegal. Meaning XDA doesnt advise or condone doing this.
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Wow illegal?? I had no idea lol. And yea i figured some of its hardcoded. Speaking of it being hardcoded. I gitta back mine up. Why are a lot of i747 people losing theirs? Anyone know?