Develop Bugs

[Q]

Hi Guys,
I'm from the UK. I've previously owned a IPhone and I decided to try out Android and I love it. So I then purchased a Samsung Galaxy Note 2 from a local phone shop. I bought the phone brand new and I was the first one to open the seals.
I had the phone for 2 days and today I was getting a message saying mobile network unavailable, emergency calls only, so I restarted the phone and that didn't fix the issue. I then decided to try my friends sim card and that didn't work, so I came to the conclusion that the phone is blocked or blacklisted or reported stolen.
So I went for a trip to the phone shop where I bought it from. The manager tried another sim card and still it wouldn't make a phone call. The manager said he would flash the phone and do a factory reset. So I was waiting for about 45 mins and he came back and the phone had SuperSu installed.
What is SuperSu all about?
is it a illegal software?
Thanks

SuperSu is there when the phone is rooted. I suppose the guy has the phone rooted.

A Heppieboeddah says, the phone has been rooted and while there is nothing illegal or wrong with that (most of us on XDA do it as soon as we get a new phone so we can remove bloatware, install custom ROMs etc), it's not something I would expect a legit phone shop to do as arepair.
I would ask for a refund as it sounds like the IMEI has been blocked, usually meaning it has been reported lost or stolen like you say. Even if it hasn't the phone isn't fit for purpose so you're well within your rights to request a full refund.
Then go buy a new phone from Carphone Warehouse or Phones4U etc, somewhere reputable.
EDIT: I wrote my initial reply on the assumption that you haven't modified the phone in any way and it is 100% stock, but I should have asked first, have you done anything to the phone... like installing custom ROMs? Is so then SU is just part of the rooting process and it may be that you have done something to cause the problem yourself. It would also mean that if you do need to return the phone then you will need to follow certain steps to return it to an unmodified state. Talk us through what, if anything, you have done since buying the phone.

Hi, the phone is stock, I didn't install any custom roms or software. As I was new to Android, I wasn't too sure about rooting.
But I don't understand why he put SuperSu on the phone.

keebb9 said:
Hi, the phone is stock, I didn't install any custom roms or software. As I was new to Android, I wasn't too sure about rooting.
But I don't understand why he put SuperSu on the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SuperSU is part of the rooting process like CitizenLee said take phone back demand a refund and go to somewhere reputable and buy a Note 2

curious. after this "repair" the bloke did, could you then make phone calls?
i dont suppose you looked in the settings, about phone, status and noticed if you still had an imei number did you? before and after the "repair"
regardless, i agree with the previous posts and would definitely take it back, get a refund and get one from a known phone shop.

Bad imei/esn on the new AT&T S3 I just bought! ???

Is there a way to unblock these back to the original carrier yet?

paulmagglios said:
Is there a way to unblock these back to the original carrier yet?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unblock what? Does the imei read 0? Is the phone rooted or modified in any way?

paulmagglios said:
Is there a way to unblock these back to the original carrier yet?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where did you buy it?

Sounds to me like you are black listed. If so then you can probably do it if your name was the first attached to that phone and reported the ESN. Upon that failing, you can try to bribe someone to clear your ESN. What I have noticed is that there are a lot of bad ESN phones being sold to Canada, as it seems the checks are not compatible and could work up here. Aside from those options, it seems you have a bad phone.

BCSC said:
Sounds to me like you are black listed. If so then you can probably do it if your name was the first attached to that phone and reported the ESN. Upon that failing, you can try to bribe someone to clear your ESN. What I have noticed is that there are a lot of bad ESN phones being sold to Canada, as it seems the checks are not compatible and could work up here. Aside from those options, it seems you have a bad phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, it was a craigslist buy
Also I've heard about the options to sell overseas and to canadians, but would like to use the phone here in the States if at all possible.
So these craigslist and ebay ads about being able to 'fix' the imei back to the original carrier are false?

paulmagglios said:
Yeah, it was a craigslist buy
Also I've heard about the options to sell overseas and to canadians, but would like to use the phone here in the States if at all possible.
So these craigslist and ebay ads about being able to 'fix' the imei back to the original carrier are false?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My understanding is that bad IMEI or ESN is due to the phone being reported lost or stolen. I'm assuming here, but i'd be pretty confident in saying that the original owner would have to contact the original carrier to clear the block. Otherwise anyone could steal and un block ESN. On the other hand, the people offering this service may work for whatever agency or carrier deals with blocking ESNs. Here is an Ebay ad I've found for ATT. Seems kind of legit, but is definitely risky to give someone remote control of your phone in order to swap the IMEI number. Up to you entirely though. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bad-IMEI-ES...217?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cd6ca26e9.

Thread closed before imei swapping ideas are presented as that is illegal in some countries and not allowed on XDA.

[Q] Bought S4 that was rooted

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.

N900T Blacklist

Hi, I own Note 3 N900T bought from T-Mobile US and I'm using it in Macedonia with Chainfire's RegionLock Away App on Android 4.3. And now I want to update to Lollipop and do a factory reset but I checked my IMEI and it's Blacklisted. My question is can I unlock my phone with unlock code in Macedonia if I do a factory reset or I need to activate with T-Mobile SIM card?
Thanks in advance

Blacklisted IMEI.... ouch.
Yeah, you will need to have it unlocked somehow. I'm not sure if T-Mobile will do this for you, however. Give them a call.
Also, I thought that blacklisted IMEI's were only devices that people hadn't paid off, or something along those lines. You did in fact buy the device directly from T-Mobile? How long have you owned it now? Did you pay it off?
I only ask for the sake of connecting the pieces here to try and give you the appropriate advice.

411y0ur8453 said:
Blacklisted IMEI.... ouch.
Yeah, you will need to have it unlocked somehow. I'm not sure if T-Mobile will do this for you, however. Give them a call.
Also, I thought that blacklisted IMEI's were only devices that people hadn't paid off, or something along those lines. You did in fact buy the device directly from T-Mobile? How long have you owned it now? Did you pay it off?
I only ask for the sake of connecting the pieces here to try and give you the appropriate advice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I bought it from a guy in the US and maybe he is not paying the bills there, I don't know. I will buy the unlock code from ebay but I don't know if I can insert it after factory reset. Do I need to activate the phone after factory reset?

stavrov said:
I bought it from a guy in the US and maybe he is not paying the bills there, I don't know. I will buy the unlock code from ebay but I don't know if I can insert it after factory reset. Do I need to activate the phone after factory reset?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Honestly man, this really sucks. It sounds like he ripped you off.
T-Mobile blacklists IMEI's that are associated with an unpaid balance on a device. They do this to prevent people from getting a discounted phone, then taking it somewhere else.
You will need to call T-Mobile and talk to them about it. Not good. Usually they don't "unlist" them after they have been flagged.

411y0ur8453 said:
Honestly man, this really sucks. It sounds like he ripped you off.
T-Mobile blacklists IMEI's that are associated with an unpaid balance on a device. They do this to prevent people from getting a discounted phone, then taking it somewhere else.
You will need to call T-Mobile and talk to them about it. Not good. Usually they don't "unlist" them after they have been flagged.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As I heard you cannot use the phone in the US but you can use it in other countries, but I'm not sure. And now I don't know if I should perform a factory reset, if I need to activate the phone in the US (or with T-Mobile SIM card) I will end up with unusable phone.

stavrov said:
As I heard you cannot use the phone in the US but you can use it in other countries, but I'm not sure. And now I don't know if I should perform a factory reset, if I need to activate the phone in the US (or with T-Mobile SIM card) I will end up with unusable phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're confusing a Carrier lock with a Region lock. There is no region lock on the N900T, just carrier lock. You can purchase an unlock code from some place like cellunlocker.net and follow their instructions to unlock and use it with any carrier's sim.

toastido said:
You're confusing a Carrier lock with a Region lock. There is no region lock on the N900T, just carrier lock. You can purchase an unlock code from some place like cellunlocker.net and follow their instructions to unlock and use it with any carrier's sim.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So if I purchase an unlock code I can use the phone in my country?

stavrov said:
So if I purchase an unlock code I can use the phone in my country?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You should be able to, yes. There is no region lock, only Carrier/SIM lock, so an unlock code should allow it to operate anywhere, and it would be a permanent unlock, so you can factory reset even and not worry about it getting re-locked to tmo usa.

The region lock away app seems to also remove the sim lock, so I don't think you'll need an unlock code...

toastido said:
You should be able to, yes. There is no region lock, only Carrier/SIM lock, so an unlock code should allow it to operate anywhere, and it would be a permanent unlock, so you can factory reset even and not worry about it getting re-locked to tmo usa.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would say this is bad advice.
Why would you purchase anything without first giving them a call and finding out what is going on. IMEI stands for... ready....
INTERNATIONAL mobile equipment identity... not carrier specific. If T-Mobile flags a GSM device for "theft", as in, somebody not paying it off, it is essentially the property of T-Mobile's, and I promise you they have gone through the hoops to protect themselves from a product sales perspective.
It would be simple to give them a call. You should do it, and not spend any more of your money until A) You know why it was blacklisted, B) Know whether or not T-Mobile can fix this problem for you (maybe it was a mistake, but I doubt it), C) You call that idiot back that sold you the phone and find out why he sold you a device that was blacklisted (he knew).
That's all I really can say about it. And I hate to say it, but I think you are going to be SOL man. Sorry.

411y0ur8453 said:
I would say this is bad advice.
Why would you purchase anything without first giving them a call and finding out what is going on. IMEI stands for... ready....
INTERNATIONAL mobile equipment identity... not carrier specific. If T-Mobile flags a GSM device for "theft", as in, somebody not paying it off, it is essentially the property of T-Mobile's, and I promise you they have gone through the hoops to protect themselves from a product sales perspective.
It would be simple to give them a call. You should do it, and not spend any more of your money until A) You know why it was blacklisted, B) Know whether or not T-Mobile can fix this problem for you (maybe it was a mistake, but I doubt it), C) You call that idiot back that sold you the phone and find out why he sold you a device that was blacklisted (he knew).
That's all I really can say about it. And I hate to say it, but I think you are going to be SOL man. Sorry.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, it's not bad advice
It's a widely known FACT that tmo USA and AT&T, who share blacklists) ONLY blacklist within the USA.
OP it's up to you, but based on others experiences (Google is your friend) and KNOWN FACTS, you should be fine

toastido said:
No, it's not bad advice
It's a widely known FACT that tmo USA and AT&T, who share blacklists) ONLY blacklist within the USA.
OP it's up to you, but based on others experiences (Google is your friend) and KNOWN FACTS, you should be fine
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would assume that if they had blocked an IMEI, it would be borked indefinitely. If not, good for you OP.
If you have heard of somebody having a blocked IMEI, toastido, and then taking a device to another country and successfully using it, then there is hope for him.

stavrov said:
Hi, I own Note 3 N900T bought from T-Mobile US and I'm using it in Macedonia with Chainfire's RegionLock Away App on Android 4.3. And now I want to update to Lollipop and do a factory reset but I checked my IMEI and it's Blacklisted. My question is can I unlock my phone with unlock code in Macedonia if I do a factory reset or I need to activate with T-Mobile SIM card?
Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the chainfire region lock away only works on 4.3... so if you update the phone to Lollipop or any other 4.4, I do believe it won't work for you anymore....
if you get the sim unlock from ebay or anyone else, you can use it anywhere except Tmobile USA...
I do not think tmobile cares enough to feel sorry that you got ripped off, but sometimes, only sometimes, I heard they have pardon 1 or 2 people..

411y0ur8453 said:
I would assume that if they had blocked an IMEI, it would be borked indefinitely. If not, good for you OP.
If you have heard of somebody having a blocked IMEI, toastido, and then taking a device to another country and successfully using it, then there is hope for him.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it's blocked in the USA, then they are borked in the USA indefinitely, but fine outside of it. Now I can't speak for the European Union or Asia, but unless they have been blacklisted in the region they're trying to use it, should be good to go once it's unlocked - add long as its outside the us of a.

In Macedonia they can unlock it for you some small shops not Tmobile stores, it's like $10 and try One the carrier, you got nothing to loose, i srekno. IMEI is only blocked in USA.
Sent from my SM-N900T using XDA Free mobile app

purchased locked phone.

So my girlfriend just purchased an S6 (sprint) and when she took it to the store to have it activated they couldn't do it because it was "locked"...some kind of carrier lock I'm assuming.. Like they owed sprint money or something? Obviously if it was a normal security lock than we could just do a factory reset but apparently that won't work.
So.. Anyone know anything about this and a way around it? I'm a Verizon user and have never heard of this kind of problem. Thanks for any help in advance.

topshot17 said:
So my girlfriend just purchased an S6 (sprint) and when she took it to the store to have it activated they couldn't do it because it was "locked"...some kind of carrier lock I'm assuming.. Like they owed sprint money or something? Obviously if it was a normal security lock than we could just do a factory reset but apparently that won't work.
So.. Anyone know anything about this and a way around it? I'm a Verizon user and have never heard of this kind of problem. Thanks for any help in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All carriers, including Verizon, have a carrier BLOCK not lock. A carrier lock means the device is locked to that carrier. What exactly did Sprint say? If the phone is blacklisted, which you can check on any ESN checker online, then it will never work on Sprint.
Where did she buy the phone at?

elesbb said:
All carriers, including Verizon, have a carrier BLOCK not lock. A carrier lock means the device is locked to that carrier. What exactly did Sprint say? If the phone is blacklisted, which you can check on any ESN checker online, then it will never work on Sprint.
Where did she buy the phone at?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm unsure what they told her exactly, besides that they can't activate it. Now what is the point of a carrier block? She got the phone off Craigslist.

topshot17 said:
I'm unsure what they told her exactly, besides that they can't activate it. Now what is the point of a carrier block? She got the phone off Craigslist.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup. Its definitely carrier blocked. NEVER buy cell phones from Craigslist without first checking the ESN from Sprint directly. You are better off selling the device on eBay FOR PARTS.
The point of a carrier block is so people who steal, or fail to pay off their device, can not use it anymore, and thus rip off good people on craigslist and eBay.

elesbb said:
Yup. Its definitely carrier blocked. NEVER buy cell phones from Craigslist without first checking the ESN from Sprint directly. You are better off selling the device on eBay FOR PARTS.
The point of a carrier block is so people who steal, or fail to pay off their device, can not use it anymore, and thus rip off good people on craigslist and eBay.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Joy. Problem with this phone is that it has a none removal back.. Can't look under the battery.. Can't get into the phone to check the ESN either without the previous owners Gmail account information.

topshot17 said:
Joy. Problem with this phone is that it has a none removal back.. Can't look under the battery.. Can't get into the phone to check the ESN either without the previous owners Gmail account information.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That I believe is an FRP lock.. Totally different from a carrier block. But if you go into download mode, you can press the home key to view IMEI. But FRP lock, which is what you just described, can be bypassed.
Check out this video and follow it to a T. You may need to improvise do to different android versions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJ8_qbj1DPQ
Hope it helps! If its just FRP locked, and not carrier blocked, then you should be okay to get it activated.

elesbb said:
That I believe is an FRP lock.. Totally different from a carrier block. But if you go into download mode, you can press the home key to view IMEI. But FRP lock, which is what you just described, can be bypassed.
Check out this video and follow it to a T. You may need to improvise do to different android versions.
Hope it helps! If its just FRP locked, and not carrier blocked, then you should be okay to get it activated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you, I'll check into it.

Saafir said:
The numbers for the device is located on the back panel, at the bottom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ahh it is.. So the phone did have an FRP lock on it but that was an easy fix.. But unfortunately it also has a carrier block due to an unpaid balance. Thanks for everyone's help.

topshot17 said:
Ahh it is.. So the phone did have an FRP lock on it but that was an easy fix.. But unfortunately it also has a carrier block due to an unpaid balance. Thanks for everyone's help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
can't you contact the person who sold it to you? threatening to bring the police in might scare them into giving you a refund. If the phone had a FRP lock and its flagged, then im pretty sure the phone was stolen.

The Android Attorney said:
can't you contact the person who sold it to you? threatening to bring the police in might scare them into giving you a refund. If the phone had a FRP lock and its flagged, then im pretty sure the phone was stolen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah It more than likely was. It's pretty much a dead end.. My gf payed for it but her brother met the person somewhere for pickup.. Only contact information is an email address which they haven't responded too after the sale. Apparently the phone was dead when he picked it up. I personally would have put it on my car charger and powered it on before paying for it.. And got more information.. But oh well.. Now she knows to be more cautious and I'll probably handle any future used phone purchases for her.

Saafir said:
Shady stuff man. I hope you have better luck with Craigslist in the future. I try to steer clear of them, sort of like Ebay. You could always inquire on what the remaining balance is. If it's something stupid like $48, I would just pay it off.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha yeah somehow I doubt it'll be anything under a few hundred.. Think I'll call and check just got kicks though.

topshot17 said:
Yeah It more than likely was. It's pretty much a dead end.. My gf payed for it but her brother met the person somewhere for pickup.. Only contact information is an email address which they haven't responded too after the sale. Apparently the phone was dead when he picked it up. I personally would have put it on my car charger and powered it on before paying for it.. And got more information.. But oh well.. Now she knows to be more cautious and I'll probably handle any future used phone purchases for her.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Who buys a used cellphone without even physically checking it ?? I mean seriously ?...next time when buying atleast have a number of the seller and complete info of what u are buying atleast
Sent from my LG-H815 using XDA-Developers mobile app