I sold a clean ESN rooted Sprint GS3 to someone. He went to a Sprint store. He calls me back saying he can't activate it. So I called Sprint and they asked me whether the phone has been flashed or rooted. I said neither one (since I can always ODIN/unroot back to stock). In their system, the rep said the ESN is indeed clean. But it is flagged as "incompatible". So now the phone is unusable. I've called Sprint to clear this "incompatible" flag and they said it'll take 24-48 hours for a response.
Personally, I have never gone to a Sprint store to activate a rooted phone. I have always done it online thru sprint.com.
I'm suspecting that the Sprint guy at the store noticed it was rooted, and he flagged the phone as "incompatible". Is this normal practice? Would unrooting (ODIN to stock ROM) and showing it to the Sprint store remove the "incompatible" flag?
It's probably easy to say incompatible because its status is modified now.
I'm willing to bet it'd depends on the sprint rep. Some are cool with phones being rooted and some can't blur the lines.
Sent from a planet far far away.
I think some Sprint rep is either being "overzealous" or nosy or has a chip on his/her shoulder, etc.. A phone being rooted has nothing to do with it being activated or not.
All the silly rep has to do is just mind his/her business, input the ESN/MEID (as long as it's clean), pick a plan/service options and have the customer go about his/her merry way.
I have never had any problems activating a rooted or non rooted phone online. I guess word to the wise... Do not try activating a rooted phone in a Sprint store.
Sent from my SPH-L900 using Xparent SkyBlue Tapatalk 2
My Epic Touch arrived rooted stock. Activation went without any more eye blinks than the time it takes to go.
Ouch that sounds rough. Around here, (north central Washington, like Everett, Marysville, Arlington), pretty much all the reps despise apple, and are pro root. I love it. All of them are understanding and don't pull crap like that. Anyways, this is no help. What you could try is have the person send you the phone back, do a full un root, reset flash counter, remove the recovery and set it back to 100% stock. Kind of obvious if they go to enter the phones recovery and you got twrp or clockwork recovery going on.
They may have flagged it due to the ROM that was on the phone, having activation bugs. As most of us who flash stuff, already have our phones activated. Another possibility is due to the new laws about not being able to transfer a carrier specific device to another. They could of seen tampering or seen it as tampering in an attempt to do that.
And simply if you want to avoid all the in person drama, just do it over the phone.. They make you enter a couple codes in your key pad, read off some numbers, and wait for the activation.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app
Yeah shouldn't matter if it is rooted. I've sold phones through CL and when we met up at the sprint store the employees same that the phone was rooted but still activated it.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2
Related
Hi All,
I have rooted DINC with Skyraider 4.3. My son dropped his Eris and broke the screen. I am thinking of moving to the TBolt as an early upgrade. Question is, when I move his number to my DINC (*228) will it reprogram or do I need to return to complete stock?
it will not reprogram. calling in and giving them the MEID to the phone to associate to your son's number and then doing the *228 should be enough to activate and you'll still have skyraider 4.3.
SWEET!!! Thanks, I was sweating it.
cpuspeed said:
it will not reprogram. calling in and giving them the MEID to the phone to associate to your son's number and then doing the *228 should be enough to activate and you'll still have skyraider 4.3.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't even need to call in anymore to do an ESN swap. If he upgrades to the Tbolt, that will leave the DINC "empty" of service. So he can just dial *228 on the DINC, choose option 1, and input his son's phone number (and the password to the account I believe), and it will switch over and program to his phone.
I actually got a Verizon rep to activate a very obviously rooted dInc for my girlfriend. He just couldn't figure out why it didn't have that Verizon backup assistant to transfer the phone book. It was running a Sprint derived ROM at the time.
When I activated my incredible I didn't have time to flash back to stock, but since I told the rep I bought it off ebay he told me that they had installed "off brand" software on it, and i played dumb.
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App
Yeah i did that too and it worked. More like bending the truth
Woot! Was gonna say. All I did was Call and found out I can do it all over the internet for Verizon.
When I had mine transferred I told the guy up front it was rooted. He switched it, no questions asked. He even showed it to the manager who wanted to see how well it worked. When I got my Tbolt I told him I intended to have it rooted before the day was done. The manager wanted me to bring it back to see how that worked out. I've had really positive experiences with Verizon and my rooted devices.
Bought a Sprint Galaxy Nexus off a guy on Craigslist. Device seemed to be in pretty good shape. The guy straight up told me it was rooted and that he had installed a custom rom (turned out to be Liquid Smooth which was pretty sweet). Anyway, I was so happy to be back on a nexus device. After activating it with Sprint the trouble started. I get NO mobile connection in my house. No calls, no text, no 3G, no 4G. Wifi worked. I tried flashing three different radios--none helped. I am totally stumped. I called Sprint and told them about my crappy mobile service in my house (which by the way turned out to be EXACTLY as crappy in my office--oddly, on the bus to and from work I get data back, wtf??!!) and the girl was pretty cool. She said "lets put insurance on it and then take it to a Sprint store for repair/replacement." So, now I HAD to restore back to factory. Thanks to Shabby for posting the files to flash via ODIN. I am now factory, re-locked, like out of the box. Tomorrow I go to Sprint and cross my fingers. Given the description of my stiuation, does anyone here have any ideas what the hell could be going on with the device? Even after restoring it to factory settings I have the same problem. Could Sprint service be THAT bad? I mean I just came from an s3 with Sprint and I had great service in my house and in my office. Leads me to believe it was the phone. I just hope not all Nexus's will have the same problem.
thanks for letting me vent. Any ideas/input would be appreciated!
Must joyously and selfishly announce that thanks to shabby and his files to flash via Odin to return to stock, sprint is replacing my device for $0!
Thanks!
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
Hey guys I have a quick question,
I have a Sprint Note II that I want to activate on my line but I'm having a little issue. Back story: I acquired it because my sister failed to pay Sprint so they canceled her plan and she needed cash so she gave me her Note II in exchange for the money she needed since she no longer has Sprint. So the phone works fine, but they won't remove it from her account because she owes a balance of over $500. She's called in and even though the phone isn't financed through Sprint they won't release the SN/MEID from her account so needless to say, it cannot be added to my line. I'm wondering if there's a manner to get it off her account or change out the SN/MEID to make it usable? I've been running an HTC Evo Design for the last 2 years and really need to upgrade my phone but again, I gave my sister money so I no longer have the cash. I cannot for obvious reasons of her being my sister and requiring money tell her to give me back my money.
I originally thought they wouldn't remove it because when I called it wasn't her on the line. Even after being able to fully verify her account. I was speaking to the rep and he said that there is a manner but obviously couldn't tell me what it was so I'm turning to the trusty XDA forums.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
(even if it's not a program or something, a manner of speaking with them or getting them to take it off her account without having to pay the balance)
Thank you,
Tag
The only way it "could" have been done is if you were able to reactivate the account for a short duration then call in and Swap the phone out with an older device. It would free up the phone and you could let the acct go out again.
Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda app-developers app
xKrisx said:
The only way it "could" have been done is if you were able to reactivate the account for a short duration then call in and Swap the phone out with an older device. It would free up the phone and you could let the acct go out again.
Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks man, Hoping I can do something, attempted again and they won't activate the account. lol.
Are you on Sprint too?
Odds are you're hosed if so. They always permanently brick the MEID of devices on accounts that are cancelled due to lack of payment. You can flash the device to another carrier and use it however.
Skripka said:
Are you on Sprint too?
Odds are you're hosed if so. They always permanently brick the MEID of devices on accounts that are cancelled due to lack of payment. You can flash the device to another carrier and use it however.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah pretty much. Or you can do the gsm mod and use it anywhere but the US.
Hmmm, I might flash it and put it on TMobile then..... Wonder who'd accept it...
I have my bad esn flashed to cricket no problems. Anywhere you flash it you will lose 4g, but mine works flawlessly with cricket. I have far greater reception abd 3g speeds from my previous carrier, boost mobile (which is sprint).
cmtag said:
Hmmm, I might flash it and put it on TMobile then..... Wonder who'd accept it...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can't flash it to T-Mobile, they're GSM. You can only flash it to another compatible CDMA carrier. Ofcourse there are other, shall we say clandestine ways to get it on Sprint, but obviously taboo to discuss on here.
I bought a t-mobile S4 and discovered it came rooted already. Is this normal? It was from an authorized t-mobile reseller. I don't mind the fact that it's rooted, but what precautions can I take that some malware/spyware isn't installed? Is running a scan with malwarebytes good enough? The reseller said it was rooted to remove some bloatware, but how can I make sure nothing bad was installed? Since the phone is rooted, that also means I can't receive OTA updates, is that right?
Thanks for any info.
It's not normal if you got it from a T-mobile store. An independent but authorized site is different. Maybe someone rooted it but returned it or traded in. If you're really concern just Odin flashed the stock firmware.
☞ Sent from here☜???
baseballfanz said:
It's not normal if you got it from a T-mobile store. An independent but authorized site is different. Maybe someone rooted it but returned it or traded in. If you're really concern just Odin flashed the stock firmware.
☞ Sent from here☜???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Odin back to stock would deffinately work.
But you don't really have to do that. You could just put on a custom recovery, and flash any rom.
Any spyware that a previous user put on the device you have to reside in th esystem partition. Flashing any other rom would wipe out the system partition and installing a fresh one over top.
re: Unrooting
pcglue said:
I bought a t-mobile S4 and discovered it came rooted already. Is this normal? It was from an authorized t-mobile reseller. I don't mind the fact that it's rooted, but what precautions can I take that some malware/spyware isn't installed? Is running a scan with malwarebytes good enough? The reseller said it was rooted to remove some bloatware, but how can I make sure nothing bad was installed? Since the phone is rooted, that also means I can't receive OTA updates, is that right?
Thanks for any info.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes a rooted phone will not be able to update using OTA or KIES.
There is another easier way to Unroot the phone, just click on superSU
then click on the settings tab and scroll down til you see "Full Unroot"
"cleanup for permanent unroot" (you still will be able to re-root the phone).
That way there is no reason to flash any roms unless you don't like
what you already have, also even without root you still can use
a custom recovery if that's what you want to do.
After unrooting you will no longer be able to use any apps or
anything else which requires root access.
Good luck!
Skipjacks said:
Odin back to stock would deffinately work.
But you don't really have to do that. You could just put on a custom recovery, and flash any rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Would I be able to use tmobile's wifi calling if I use a rom other than stock?
Thanks everybody for the help and useful info!
pcglue said:
Would I be able to use tmobile's wifi calling if I use a rom other than stock?
Thanks everybody for the help and useful info!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As long as it's a TouchWiz rom based on the T Mobile Stock ROM.
Skipjacks said:
As long as it's a TouchWiz rom based on the T Mobile Stock ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I just found out some other disturbing info. The IMEI on my S4 is 0. It's obviously different from the sticker on the back. And on 2 other S4's I bought at the same time, the IMEI's look valid, but are different from the stickers on the back as well.
I bought these from an independent tmobile store. Why would the phones I bought be rooted and have non-matching IMEI's? Do I have stolen/black market/refurbished phones? I thought I got a discount because of the quantity I bought (5 total, it was for 2 families), but now I think there's something shady about these phones. I don't have ready access to the last 2 phones I bought in this batch, but I suspect they are rooted with non-matching IMEI's as well.
What are the implications of this? I would think these phones are not under Samsung or Tmobile warranty, even though the guy at the store says they are. And in the future, would Tmobile help me (unlocking or I don't know what else) if I am using these phones? They should still help with account/plan changes, but I imagine there are probably some things they won't help with. I'm thinking of returning these phones to avoid future hassles now. Or am I being too paranoid?
pcglue said:
I bought these from an independent tmobile store.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is where your worries should stop.
You bought these from a store. You have a receipt. Take them back to the store and tell them to fix it.
If they won't, take the matter up with T Mobile and tell them that one of their authorized retailers (if it says T Mobile it's an authorized retailer, even if i'ts an independantly owned shop) is selling stolen phones. I promise you that T Mobile will take this very seriously, though you may have to get past the front line customer service rep to find someone who cares.
If it's not a T MObile authorized retailer and it's just a random genric cell phone shop, then T Mobile isn't going to care. But the cops will.
I'd also file a complaint with your local consumer protection agency.
It's one thing is a back ally deal from a guy in a trench coat who started the transaction with "Pssst....hey, buddy...wanna buy a cheap cell phone?" goes south. It's another thing entirely when it's a legitimate store that's ripping you off and cahrging to sale taxes and stuff on tope of your purchase.
And if they didn't know what they were doing when they sold you stolen / broken / semi-refurbished goods, well quite frankly that's their problem. It's not your problem. They told you they were selling you new phones. If they sold you not new phones, they have defrauded you. It doesn't matter if they knew or not.
The IMEI's on the stickers on the phones should match the receipt. That will be proof that you're not pulling a switcheroo on the store.
If they don't match the receipt and you left the store with them anyway, there is a certain amount of Caveat Emptor that applies. (Latin for "Let the Buyer Beware"). You might be out of luck.
Hey everyone,
I recently switched from Sprint to Tmobile and have a question regarding their repair procedures. I have noticed that my charging port is not working correctly as the charger cord will move and not charge the phone if not held in a certain way (found out the hard way when I woke up with a dead phone).
I know with Sprint, there were certain repair stores i would go to and have them look at it and they would give me a new or refurb phone if they found it was an issue that was caused by misuse. To my understanding with Tmobile, i can take it to any Tmobile store and have them look at it. If they see that it is a defect or an issue that wasnt caused by me physically damaging it, they will order me another one that will come in a day or so, is this correct? I have had the phone for about 2 months now.
If this is true, I plan on unrooting my phone and putting stock KK back on the phone. Is there anything else i need or should do? Thanks.
Pretty much. I just did a warranty claim on mine for GPS issues. The following applies if you are on Jump or the insurance program. I took mine into the closest tmo retail store. Mine was rooted when I went in and the rep realized it. He told me he couldn't process the claim for me since he noticed root. That's just a word of warning. So if you're rooted, take it back to stock before going in. But the guy was nice about it and just told me to unroot and take it to another store, or call tmo's technical support number. 1-877-453-1304, or 611 on a tmo phone. I suggest not calling from the phone you are trying to get fixed. I ended up calling and explained the situation to the rep. He walked me through a couple of steps and was super nice about it and processed a claim for me. I had actually done most of the things he suggested so he didn't harp on it and just took my word for it. The new phone was at my door about 12 hours later with a return mailer.
Thanks for the response and I'm glad it worked out for u
Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk
Unroot it first before going to the service center, they wont fix a rooted unit.