Phone SIM/network unlock idea - AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III

Does anyone know how many characters are in AT&T unlock code, and if there is any known pattern? I wonder if an unlock code could be brute-forced by a program, which just keeps entering all possible combinations until it succeeds. I see the "unlock" screen has a delay of ~3 seconds, which is 28800 combinations in 24 hours. I would imagine the unlock application just calls into radio, so it's likely even faster to brute-force, because you can likely do several tries per second.

It was my understanding that unlock codes are based on imei and each phone has a limited number of tries before it becomes hard locked to a carrier.

It uses an algorithm based on the imei and other information as I understand it. Very device specific. As for the limited number of attempts, I've heard that before too, but never a solid confirmation that it is true. I expect it is though, If for no other reason than to prevent cracking it by brute force or other means.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk

Related

numbers of attempts for simlock

Hello,
Does anyone know how many times i can enter a wrong code to sim-unlock a HTC phone, before the phone block itself ?
Does it depend on the model? I have a P3300.
Might be 3 or 5?
Thank you.
Any idea?
it's handled by the sim card itself not the phone
here it's always 3 but could vary with other countries
and companys
heck it even tell me 3 times max when i type in the sim after
a softreset
Ooops,
Thank you for the answer.
My question dealed with the network lock, if the phone is locked to a specific carrier and i want to use a sim from a different provider, i have to enter a code to allow this.
In that case, the number of attempts should be handled in the phone, but i will check this.
Thanks.

Unlocking network via brute force

I have one question, is it possible to unlock phone one this way?
Actually I need answer for the fallowing question : "How many attempts do I have to try to unlock network".
I want to make application which will try every single combination to unlock network. If there is not limit I think this will work just fine.
Thanks in advance
Usually 10 attempts on most phones,
There's from 5-10 digits for unlock codes or thereabouts. Some might be checksum digits or something, but unless the algo has been cracked noone knows which digits do what.
My Dells have 8 digits, some old LG Shines had 16 digits for example.
So unless you feel like playing russian roulette with your unlock chances you're not gonna get anywhere by brute forcing.
Usually once you run out you need the manu to apply some magic to add more chances, it's possible to find out how they do it but if that happened you'd prob already have a method to completely bypass the lock by then(?)

[Q] how to SIM unlock a T-Mobile G3?

Hi,
I just purchased a used T-Mobile G3 that I will be using on AT&T. Does anyone have any pointers on how to SIM unlock it? Is there a preferred method, or preferred supplied on eBay for unlock codes?
Thanks,
Toby.
tpdroc said:
Hi,
I just purchased a used T-Mobile G3 that I will be using on AT&T. Does anyone have any pointers on how to SIM unlock it? Is there a preferred method, or preferred supplied on eBay for unlock codes?
Thanks,
Toby.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
try this..
http://unlockcode247.com/imei/1/40/LG-USA-TMobile--ATampT-Unlock--all-models-
fisher421 said:
try this..
http://unlockcode247.com/imei/1/40/LG-USA-TMobile--ATampT-Unlock--all-models-
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, so I bought a code there, and 5 hours later is still hasn't arrived. So I bought a code from these guys: http://www.imei-unlocker.com/ which did come through. However, there are no instructions, so I found some on YouTube for the G3, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TFWgPX5Al8
The trouble is, when I put in my AT&T SIM card into this T-Mobile phone and start it up, I am not prompted to unlock the phone at all. It starts right into Android and behaves like an unlocked phone except it says the network is locked when I try to make a call. That's it. No indication anywhere of how to access the unlocking mode. I'm stuck.
Edit: I found these instructions on T-Mobile's website, which confirm the method in the video:
http://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-11974
Edit #2: about half hour after I wrote this the unlock code came through from the first site. I still no idea how to get past not being prompted to unlock, though.
Thanks,
Toby.
OK, resolved, if it helps anyone.
I managed to find an alternative method somewhere else that doesn't rely on an alien SIM card prompting an unlock code.
So the code from unlockcode247.com did eventually arrive, but without any instructions. A couple of hours after ordering it I gave up and bought a code from somewhere else. The email with that code took about 20 hours (!) to arrive, despite their page saying it would take a maximum of 2 hours. Bah! At least it contained a range of instructions on different methods to unlock in addition to the basic one of putting in an alien SIM. Someone might find these useful:
Method #1 Go to the dial screen and press “2945#*model number#”
for example if its a p999 you enter “2945#*999#” or if its a p990 you enter “2945#*990#” etc…
[so that's 851 for my T-Mobile phone.]
Method #2 to the dial screen and press 2945#*71001# as if making a call, enter code when prompted
Method #3 Go to the dial screen and press *#865625# as if making a call, enter code when prompted
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do find it strange that the phone didn't react to an alien SIM, but oh well, it's great that there's another way around it. All unlocked fine now.
do not use imei-unlocker
I ordered 2 days ago from imei-unlocker but no response, i have sent them various emails but no response.
On the website It says delay for lg services. Maybe thats why?
Sent from my SGH-I747M using XDA Free mobile app
Since this was a used phone it is possible that someone tried and failed unlocking it more than the maximum allowed tries.
I know whenever I have unlocked a phone, the prompt to unlock warns that you have x number of tries (I do not remember that number).
Also, I do not know if there is a way around it.
Barsky said:
Since this was a used phone it is possible that someone tried and failed unlocking it more than the maximum allowed tries.
I know whenever I have unlocked a phone, the prompt to unlock warns that you have x number of tries (I do not remember that number).
Also, I do not know if there is a way around it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As long as you don't have any debt to T-Mobile don't they need to have a free solution to unlock your phone? For example if I called them right now they would unlock me for free even though I still have debt because I have had the phone for 6+ months. People got it unlocked through T-Mobile days after buying the phone by just saying they were going abroad.
ThePagel said:
As long as you don't have any debt to T-Mobile don't they need to have a free solution to unlock your phone? For example if I called them right now they would unlock me for free even though I still have debt because I have had the phone for 6+ months. People got it unlocked through T-Mobile days after buying the phone by just saying they were going abroad.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe he has his unlock code. The problem is that when he boots up the phone with a different carrier's sim in it, it is not prompting him to enter an unlock code as it should.
Looking at my unlock instructions, I proposed the posibbility that someone tried and failed 10 times or more. Just guessing:
Read This First
* DO NOT use all attempts to enter the unlock code otherwise your phone will be hardlocked (all phones have at least 10 attempts)
* Make sure "Airplane Mode" and "Wi-Fi" is turned off under wireless connections if your LG is an Android device.
It also has other methods for trying. Perhaps another method will work:
Method #1 Insert a non accepted simcard, and enter code when prompted for a code
OR
Method #2 Go to the dial screen and press “2945#*model number#”
for example if its a p999 you enter “2945#*999#” or if its a p990 you enter “2945#*990#” etc…
OR
Method #3 to the dial screen and press 2945#*71001# as if making a call, enter code when prompted
OR
Method #4 Go to the dial screen and press *#865625# as if making a call, enter code when prompted
Quick question.... I just got my unlock code from Tmo. I was wondering if the unlock is retained no matter how much somebody may root/unroot/change ROMs/etc. Is it a "forever" thing? Or just for the current setup? Oh and do I unlock with Tmo SIM in or with the ATT one?
*Edit* oops replied to the op, disregard this post.

G5 toast after update

My phone updated overnight and I woke up to the invalid sim. After reading through these forums I understand now why that happened and why I can't fix it. I run this phone through cricket and after reading some of the posts on here, I went ahead and paid for an unlock code. Problem is I have no way of entering it even with the service codes. Did this update block being able to enter unlock codes? BTW only reason I did this is because Sprint gave me the run around by stating that even though the phone is eligible for unlock, the previous owner has to call even though I already had the owners permission and all the info I needed and then it could take 2-3 days. I figured why not buy a code, didn't realize I would need a remote unlock figuring that I could get that screen to come up. My question is, is there some way of forcing the screen to enter the SPC or NPK codes to unlock the phone or am I just out 8 dollars and need to find another service that could do it remotely? Also how reliable are these remote unlocks?
The short answer is no.
Sprint doesn't use unlock codes for their devices.
Even you did manage up bring up the sim unlock prompt the code wouldn't work. You're out $8 unfortunately. You're gonna need to find someone to do it remotely.
Jdelrio99 said:
My phone updated overnight and I woke up to the invalid sim. After reading through these forums I understand now why that happened and why I can't fix it. I run this phone through cricket and after reading some of the posts on here, I went ahead and paid for an unlock code. Problem is I have no way of entering it even with the service codes. Did this update block being able to enter unlock codes? BTW only reason I did this is because Sprint gave me the run around by stating that even though the phone is eligible for unlock, the previous owner has to call even though I already had the owners permission and all the info I needed and then it could take 2-3 days. I figured why not buy a code, didn't realize I would need a remote unlock figuring that I could get that screen to come up. My question is, is there some way of forcing the screen to enter the SPC or NPK codes to unlock the phone or am I just out 8 dollars and need to find another service that could do it remotely? Also how reliable are these remote unlocks?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Also when doing a remote unlock ask seller if it unlocks apn menu also or that particular sellers in no good to you as you will have service but no data or no mms

How do 3rd party sites unlock devices?

Not really looking for specifics, but I am just generally curious how this is performed?
I have a Samsung A01 that's locked to StraightTalk/TracFone, that i'd like to get on to Verzion. They don't allow the device to be unlocked until after 12 months.
Regardless of my specific device, some websites mention they just send a code (my device doesn't prompt for a pin unlock), where others require access to your PC and do something to the tethered device.
How do these other services get the unlock codes, or perform unlocks on other similar situations? Do these sites have access to someone working at the carriers to supply the codes? Some sort of keygen? These seem to be the most legit, and last through wipes. Some sites say they do stuff to devices remotely, and the unlock doesn't last through a format - are these rooting or installing some sort of custom rom, or just adb'ing and editing some file?
Three categories:
1. Unlock codes supplied by carrier staff
2. Unlock codes generated algorithmically from IMEI/SN, reverse-engineered into keygen
3. Software vulnerabilities / hacks
The software is not bug-free: some devices have bootloader or kernel level vulnerabilities or logic check errors which could be used for unlocking. Sometimes the vulnerabilities could be used to make proper permanent unlock, another time they work only on exact software version and deactivate upon updating.
I remember the case when the vulnerability was used to unlock the phone on a single exact firmware version, that phones were sold on ebay/aliexpress pre-unlocked with that FW, with disabled updates, without notifying the potential buyer that the device is not fully functional.
Nowadays rare, but a decade ago it was fairly common for the manufacturers to implement unlock code generation based on IMEI or serial number. Since it's an algorithm, software researcher can find it in the firmware files, reverse-engineer and reimplement it in a form of keygen.
Many unlocking websites are run by people with superficial technical knowledge, driven by money. They find carrier staff who can provide them unlock codes or buy access to some kind of panel with the codes, then resell them on their website. If they have connections with software researchers, they may pay for making unlocking tool out of vulnerability concept (they call it a 'solution'). Sometimes they just take a free unlocking solutions off the internet, repack and make it look like theirs (happened to me multiple times).
As the website guys are not smart and the model range is huge, it's typical for unlocking page to contain generic instructions which could not be applied to all carrier-modified devices.

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