Develop Bugs

[Q] Device won't connect to any network

Hi, I have an SGH-I747M that was originally purchased through Bell. In an attempt to unlock to make it work on Koodo, I went through SamMobile (after reading there was no way to unlock post 4.3 OTA update) and that seemed to half work.They resell a service from 123unlock.nl which is a client that uses adb or something of the sort to mess with phone files. The program afterwards said "Your phone is now unlocked! However if you don't see any carriers you need to do something in the advanced option and pay another $2x.xx dollars to do so". I didn't feel like giving them any more money at this point because I was upset that what I originally paid for didn't work properly. The fix was apparently an option in the advanced options that was an NVM repair/rebuild or something of the sort. I should have screenshotted the issue but of course didn't.
Now, the phone will boot up and does not offer me a SIM unlock option anymore. When searching for carriers it will ever only find Rogers for some reason. It won't recognize Koodo or Telus or anything of the sort (or bell when my bell SIM is in). Every now and then when it boots up, it will successfully send a text but only within a 5-10 second time frame after boot (I've made 1 phone call as well for 3 seconds). I've tried the Koodo SIM in my own Nexus 5 and works fine so the network is okay at least (plus I called Koodo and they verified on their end things look good... if that makes a difference). The SGS3 won't even accept an original Bell SIM at this point. It's always on either no network, 1 bar or full bars, never anything in between. I've tried flashing different ROMs from Bell stock to Koodo stock and CM11 and it won't work no matter what I do. Under all ROMs it pops up an "ME Returned temporary error" message on the screen.
I'm hoping someone might have seen this issue before or know what's going on with the phone that I can fix. I'm assuming it's something to do with the modem part of the phone that's refusing to connect to carriers but I'm at a loss to fix it. I haven't tried flashing different modems on it yet because I'm unsure which one would be a good fix and no one has had roughly the same issue I could find in 3 days of Googling for this issue. Any ideas are greatly appreciated. Thanks.

sgtcanadian said:
Hi, I have an SGH-I747M that was originally purchased through Bell. In an attempt to unlock to make it work on Koodo, I went through SamMobile (after reading there was no way to unlock post 4.3 OTA update) and that seemed to half work.They resell a service from 123unlock.nl which is a client that uses adb or something of the sort to mess with phone files. The program afterwards said "Your phone is now unlocked! However if you don't see any carriers you need to do something in the advanced option and pay another $2x.xx dollars to do so". I didn't feel like giving them any more money at this point because I was upset that what I originally paid for didn't work properly. The fix was apparently an option in the advanced options that was an NVM repair/rebuild or something of the sort. I should have screenshotted the issue but of course didn't.
Now, the phone will boot up and does not offer me a SIM unlock option anymore. When searching for carriers it will ever only find Rogers for some reason. It won't recognize Koodo or Telus or anything of the sort (or bell when my bell SIM is in). Every now and then when it boots up, it will successfully send a text but only within a 5-10 second time frame after boot (I've made 1 phone call as well for 3 seconds). I've tried the Koodo SIM in my own Nexus 5 and works fine so the network is okay at least (plus I called Koodo and they verified on their end things look good... if that makes a difference). The SGS3 won't even accept an original Bell SIM at this point. It's always on either no network, 1 bar or full bars, never anything in between. I've tried flashing different ROMs from Bell stock to Koodo stock and CM11 and it won't work no matter what I do. Under all ROMs it pops up an "ME Returned temporary error" message on the screen.
I'm hoping someone might have seen this issue before or know what's going on with the phone that I can fix. I'm assuming it's something to do with the modem part of the phone that's refusing to connect to carriers but I'm at a loss to fix it. I haven't tried flashing different modems on it yet because I'm unsure which one would be a good fix and no one has had roughly the same issue I could find in 3 days of Googling for this issue. Any ideas are greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you check your phone's settings => About Device and let's know what parameters you have there (Android Version, Baseband Version, Build Number>.
You mentioned you can send text or make call within a limited time frame. Was that with the Koodo SIM or the Bell? If the former, it would suggest the phone is unlocked to some extent but you are probably experiencing a baseband failure or need to correct the APN settings. Did you also try doing a factory reset?

Larry2999 said:
Can you check your phone's settings => About Device and let's know what parameters you have there (Android Version, Baseband Version, Build Number>.
You mentioned you can send text or make call within a limited time frame. Was that with the Koodo SIM or the Bell? If the former, it would suggest the phone is unlocked to some extent but you are probably experiencing a baseband failure or need to correct the APN settings. Did you also try doing a factory reset?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The information you're asking for is attached.
The texts I got off were from the Koodo SIM. I have updated the APN as well, and I did do a flash back to stock resetting all settings through Kies emergency update. I found a little trick where if you softbrick it by trying to flash 4.1, it'll give you the "Please use kies" error and that'll take you back to full stock 4.3. I'm pretty sure the baseband failure is the option I need to explore but at this point I don't know where to go to fix this.
Edit: I read this online and tried it: "The 4.3 update introduces a "security feature" which requires carrier- or region-locked phones to be activated once on the original locked network before the unlock code will work." The phone didn't recognize any network with the Bell SIM in except "EXT" which I've never heard of before and it did not connect properly so that didn't work. I also read that inputting #7465625*638*# will give me the Samsung SIM unlock menu which it did however I don't think the issue here is with the root and I'd hate to pay $50 at this point to have that not work as well.

sgtcanadian said:
The information you're asking for is attached.
The texts I got off were from the Koodo SIM. I have updated the APN as well, and I did do a flash back to stock resetting all settings through Kies emergency update. I found a little trick where if you softbrick it by trying to flash 4.1, it'll give you the "Please use kies" error and that'll take you back to full stock 4.3. I'm pretty sure the baseband failure is the option I need to explore but at this point I don't know where to go to fix this.
Edit: I read this online and tried it: "The 4.3 update introduces a "security feature" which requires carrier- or region-locked phones to be activated once on the original locked network before the unlock code will work." The phone didn't recognize any network with the Bell SIM in except "EXT" which I've never heard of before and it did not connect properly so that didn't work. I also read that inputting #7465625*638*# will give me the Samsung SIM unlock menu which it did however I don't think the issue here is with the root and I'd hate to pay $50 at this point to have that not work as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's unlikely to be the regional lock as this feature means your phone will work with compatible networks in the region but not in other regions. You may, however, run Chainfire's Region Lock Away to be sure <http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2470551>
Your firmware settings look OK so I'd be doubtful about a corrupted modem. You may still try to re-flash the modem via custom recovery. Download link for the CWM flashable zip is available here ... http://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=23252070760973552
The guys who sold you the original code seem to have sold a dud as there is no reason for them to be asking for secondary payments and this sounds like the footprint of a regular scam. I'd be surprised though as they seem to be well rated

Larry2999 said:
It's unlikely to be the regional lock as this feature means your phone will work with compatible networks in the region but not in other regions. You may, however, run Chainfire's Region Lock Away to be sure <http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2470551>
Your firmware settings look OK so I'd be doubtful about a corrupted modem. You may still try to re-flash the modem via custom recovery. Download link for the CWM flashable zip is available here ... http://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=23252070760973552
The guys who sold you the original code seem to have sold a dud as there is no reason for them to be asking for secondary payments and this sounds like the footprint of a regular scam. I'd be surprised though as they seem to be well rated
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've tried reflashing the modem and I've actually paid $50 for the unlock code from Bell, the original carrier. I used the code to get the network unlock menu and inserted the code. I still get between 1-4 bars now with no network access on either network. It's not showing anything except Rogers still in network operator selection.
Any ideas at this point? It refuses to connect to any networks. I'm out of options.
Edit: I don't know if this makes a difference, but when I do root explorer I can't actually find the nv_data.bin file. It doesn't have anything of the sort in the /efs folder.

sgtcanadian said:
I've tried reflashing the modem and I've actually paid $50 for the unlock code from Bell, the original carrier. I used the code to get the network unlock menu and inserted the code. I still get between 1-4 bars now with no network access on either network. It's not showing anything except Rogers still in network operator selection.
Any ideas at this point? It refuses to connect to any networks. I'm out of options.
Edit: I don't know if this makes a difference, but when I do root explorer I can't actually find the nv_data.bin file. It doesn't have anything of the sort in the /efs folder.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please let me understand a few things ... when you first acquired the phone, was it working normally on Bell prior to the first unlock attempt or you never used it at all until you tried Koodo? Secondly, was the unlock code you got from Bell identical to the one you got from the online service?
I'm trying to establish if it is a case of hardware failure not reported by the previous user especially if you bought it pre-owned from the secondary market. If you are not sure of the previous usage history, it could be a faulty or disconnected antenna which may require professional service. On the other hand if you are sure it was working fine prior to the unlock attempt, try the following ...
1) From the dial pad, enter *#197328640#
2) [1] UMTS
3) [1] DEBUG SCREEN
4) [8] PHONE CONTROL
5) [6] NETWORK LOCK
6) [3] PERSO SHA256 OFF
7) Press Menu => Back button and go all the way back to Step 3) above
8) [6] COMMON
9) [6] NV REBUILD
10) [1] NV REBUILD
Reboot and restart and let's see if this does it.

I've got a similar symtom different scenario (sister in-laws phone). I was also only able to see Rogers network on a search. I've got Telus version. It was working fine until it was brought to the Philippines, got unlocked there and brought back to Canada.
I was only able to see Rogers network until I went into the Service Menu (similar to above) and found the option to change the band. I changed it to Automatic. After that I was able to see Telus network. When trying to connect/register it would take a long time and give me an error "Unable to connect, try again later". I still need to do more troubleshooting, but that might be something to look at.
Note: Phone has stock MOD ROM, rooted and unlocked.

[Q] No IMEI on stock ROM, Network Unlock fail on DN3

Model : SGH-I317M
Network Locked: Rogers
I was running the official Samsung ROM with CF auto root. I made an EFS backup (Using EFS backup Pro) soon after completing the root.
A few days later I tried to flash the modem on my phone to enable AWS bands. After the process my phone got stock on the logo screen.
Then I downloaded the stock ROM + modem from samsmobile and restored it using Odin. The phone boots fine but has a null IMEI and baseband version. I tried restoring EFS using EFS backup pro and the dd command but no luck.
Then I tried the DN3 rom. My phone works perfectly. It boots fine, the network works fine, IMEI is correct!
The problem now is that I cannot unlock my phone. I have tried ordering an unlock code from 2 different websites. Both of them gave the same code. When I insert a different SIM and enter the unlock code I get a message "network unlock unsuccessful". The support team for one of the unlock sites told me enter the code from the UTMS debug menu. The problem is that this menu is not accessible in the DN3 rom. The other company (Koodo) refused to unlock unless I was on the offical ROM.
I tried opening nv_data.bin stored in the EFS parition and it is all 1's. Hence, My suspicion is that DN3 reads the EFS data from a different partition than the offical ROM (dev/block/mmcblk0p3 .
You could help me in 2 ways : Show me how to unlock my phone in DN3 rom. Help me get the offical ROM from samsmobile working.
Thanks in advance to anyone who responds.

user525 said:
Model : SGH-I317M
Network Locked: Rogers
I was running the official Samsung ROM with CF auto root. I made an EFS backup (Using EFS backup Pro) soon after completing the root.
A few days later I tried to flash the modem on my phone to enable AWS bands. After the process my phone got stock on the logo screen.
Then I downloaded the stock ROM + modem from samsmobile and restored it using Odin. The phone boots fine but has a null IMEI and baseband version. I tried restoring EFS using EFS backup pro and the dd command but no luck.
Then I tried the DN3 rom. My phone works perfectly. It boots fine, the network works fine, IMEI is correct!
The problem now is that I cannot unlock my phone. I have tried ordering an unlock code from 2 different websites. Both of them gave the same code. When I insert a different SIM and enter the unlock code I get a message "network unlock unsuccessful". The support team for one of the unlock sites told me enter the code from the UTMS debug menu. The problem is that this menu is not accessible in the DN3 rom. The other company (Koodo) refused to unlock unless I was on the offical ROM.
I tried opening nv_data.bin stored in the EFS parition and it is all 1's. Hence, My suspicion is that DN3 reads the EFS data from a different partition than the offical ROM (dev/block/mmcblk0p3 .
You could help me in 2 ways : Show me how to unlock my phone in DN3 rom. Help me get the offical ROM from samsmobile working.
Thanks in advance to anyone who responds.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So this is a koodo phone, correct? And you had previously unlocked via the service menu?

No Its not a Koodo phone, it is a rogers phone. It has never been unlocked before. Koodo can unlock phones locked to other carriers as well. I took it to them because they were offering free unlock service for new customers. The agent at the kiosk could not find the UTMS menu so he said he could not proceed with the unlock.
I have also tried getting the unlock code by paying a website $20. I tried entering the code but the unlock was unsuccessful. Their support team said that they can only support people using stock ROM and refunded my money.

[Q] Unlock bootloader not found anywhere online

Hey guys. I'm very new and have spent the last few days researching about how the whole rooting, unlocking sim, unlocking bootloader, flashing radios and installing customer ROM's work.
From what I understand the process all start with having an unlocked bootloader so that you can install a recovery like TWRP. From there, you can flash ROM's, radios and kernels (if you want to) via zip files, from an micro sd card.
**please let me know if I understand this process correctly**
The problem is, I can't find a single place online (searched on this site and on google for over an hour straight last night) that actually tells you specifically for my model I317M with 4.1.1 (if that matters, I'm not sure) HOW to unlock the bootloader. I've seen a lot of people asking and no answers.
If someone could please tell me exactly HOW to unlock the bootloader for my phone that'd be amazing.
Is flashing the bootloader done via odin? (there is an option in odin for it) If not, how do you flash a bootloader?

Jay26Canada said:
Hey guys. I'm very new and have spent the last few days researching about how the whole rooting, unlocking sim, unlocking bootloader, flashing radios and installing customer ROM's work.
From what I understand the process all start with having an unlocked bootloader so that you can install a recovery like TWRP. From there, you can flash ROM's, radios and kernels (if you want to) via zip files, from an micro sd card.
**please let me know if I understand this process correctly**
The problem is, I can't find a single place online (searched on this site and on google for over an hour straight last night) that actually tells you specifically for my model I317M with 4.1.1 (if that matters, I'm not sure) HOW to unlock the bootloader. I've seen a lot of people asking and no answers.
If someone could please tell me exactly HOW to unlock the bootloader for my phone that'd be amazing.
Is flashing the bootloader done via odin? (there is an option in odin for it) If not, how do you flash a bootloader?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are lucky to have the device you do because the bootloader isn't locked! Some carriers lock the bootloader on some devices (it varies, like note 2 on at&t is unlocked but note 4 is locked). Some manufacturers even offer instructions or tools to unlock (ie htc offers Dev tools, on Google's nexus line it's a simple adb command "fastboot oem unlock").
Now for the i317, the procedure is simple. Gain root access with cf auto root (it's a tar.md5 file you flash with Odin. As a side note: Odin is a tool you will come to love because it can fix nearly anything you break. Just load the stock firmware for your device in Odin, flash and done. From there you can reroot or remain stock). Once you have root access after flashing cf auto root, have your custom recovery tar.md5 on hand to also flash in Odin.
So Odin, cf auto root, and recovery of your choice. (To flash the phone with Odin, the phone must be in download mode: vol-, home, power. Connect to computer and load up Odin)
Once you have flashed your root files and recovery, you can then enter recovery by holding vol+, home, and power, make a backup of your current stock setup, and then flash whatever rom you like as long as it's compatible with your device.
One more piece of advice: if you want to do anything like carrier unlock the device, I would do it now while you're on 4.1.1. In kitkat 4.4.2 and above some of the built in functionality of dialer codes and such were removed by Samsung... and people looking to carrier unlock who have already updated have to go through the tedious downgrade procedure to do so. Therefore, if that is something you are planning on needing at some point (or to just up the resale value of the device a bit), go ahead and root + recovery, then carrier unlock the device using dialer codes as specified in some of these threads. Then you can flash whatever you want and nothing can undo that unlock (mine is an att i317 on tmobile, so I highly recommend carrier unlock, you never know when you might need it!) Just do it before you move from 4.1.1 if you do want to do it
Good luck

absinthesummer said:
You are lucky to have the device you do because the bootloader isn't locked! Some carriers lock the bootloader on some devices (it varies, like note 2 on at&t is unlocked but note 4 is locked). Some manufacturers even offer instructions or tools to unlock (ie htc offers Dev tools, on Google's nexus line it's a simple adb command "fastboot oem unlock").
Now for the i317, the procedure is simple. Gain root access with cf auto root (it's a tar.md5 file you flash with Odin. As a side note: Odin is a tool you will come to love because it can fix nearly anything you break. Just load the stock firmware for your device in Odin, flash and done. From there you can reroot or remain stock). Once you have root access after flashing cf auto root, have your custom recovery tar.md5 on hand to also flash in Odin.
So Odin, cf auto root, and recovery of your choice. (To flash the phone with Odin, the phone must be in download mode: vol-, home, power. Connect to computer and load up Odin)
Once you have flashed your root files and recovery, you can then enter recovery by holding vol+, home, and power, make a backup of your current stock setup, and then flash whatever rom you like as long as it's compatible with your device.
One more piece of advice: if you want to do anything like carrier unlock the device, I would do it now while you're on 4.1.1. In kitkat 4.4.2 and above some of the built in functionality of dialer codes and such were removed by Samsung... and people looking to carrier unlock who have already updated have to go through the tedious downgrade procedure to do so. Therefore, if that is something you are planning on needing at some point (or to just up the resale value of the device a bit), go ahead and root + recovery, then carrier unlock the device using dialer codes as specified in some of these threads. Then you can flash whatever you want and nothing can undo that unlock (mine is an att i317 on tmobile, so I highly recommend carrier unlock, you never know when you might need it!) Just do it before you move from 4.1.1 if you do want to do it
Good luck
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow! Thanks a lot for that detailed reply. I wasn't expecting that
I managed to get a recovery installed and working. I've tried two ROMs today and that was neat. ( I put them on the external sd card and flashed the .zip from recovery ). Now my main problem is, finding a ROM that actually works decently (any suggestions would be nice) and unlocking the sim.
Now, I was on 4.1.1. and when I was there, I followed these steps http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2014982 and it seemed to have worked. It went just like the steps said it would.
Then, I actually went to a WIND mobile store today and asked if I could use a SIM to see if it would work with their network. It didn't (their network didn't show up on my phone )
I've since then tried that old method again but I am getting this error "connection problem or invalid mmi code" So I couldn't try doing that again.
Now I'm kinda stuck. I have been trying to find out if I can flash the radio with some firmware to fix it but I've had no luck finding anything.
I know this is a newish problem, but if you can guide me in the right direction or help me out I'd appreciate it. Otherwise, I might just have to buy a new phone.

Jay26Canada said:
Wow! Thanks a lot for that detailed reply. I wasn't expecting that
I managed to get a recovery installed and working. I've tried two ROMs today and that was neat. ( I put them on the external sd card and flashed the .zip from recovery ). Now my main problem is, finding a ROM that actually works decently (any suggestions would be nice) and unlocking the sim.
Now, I was on 4.1.1. and when I was there, I followed these steps http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2014982 and it seemed to have worked. It went just like the steps said it would.
Then, I actually went to a WIND mobile store today and asked if I could use a SIM to see if it would work with their network. It didn't (their network didn't show up on my phone )
I've since then tried that old method again but I am getting this error "connection problem or invalid mmi code" So I couldn't try doing that again.
Now I'm kinda stuck. I have been trying to find out if I can flash the radio with some firmware to fix it but I've had no luck finding anything.
I know this is a newish problem, but if you can guide me in the right direction or help me out I'd appreciate it. Otherwise, I might just have to buy a new phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im at work so I don't have a lot of time to explain, but the unlock probably worked fine. However, when you add a new Sim, you also have to program the access point name (or more commonly, APN). If you don't set the apn, the phone won't know which network to connect to. You may use a wind sim but if you still have the apn set for tmobile, it's gonna look for tmobile's network.
Apns can be configured under settings > more networks > mobile networks > access point names. You can have multiple apns programmed and switch between them as often as you switch sim cards. Search for wind apn and you'll figure it out (I keep a text file with lists of tmobile and at&t apns just in case.
Also you probably flashed a newer rom where Samsung/Google have removed the built in dialer codes, so you won't be able to use them anymore, but you can launch the codes you need using shortcut master (an app) where you can find the code you need and launch it fine with root permissions.

sgh-i257 Bell receives notifications but no network connection

I'll try to be brief. lol .Before finding this site I brought my unlocked S4 mini to wind to see if it will work. The guy found the 1700 freq in the phone service menu and changed something and said it won't keep on 1700 then he said something about the nv write. After a while he handed it back and said it wouldn't work. I put my bell sim in afterward it said no sim. it won't find any bell sim now. I tried a friends telus sim and it finds the sim fine and shows voicemail notifications but when I tried to call it says not connected to network. I can see the networks but when trying to connect, the signal drops and phone says "network not available try later". After it tries to connect the signal returns to normal.
So I found this site
I successfully rooted the phone with S4Mini_RootKit_v2.zip. It worked fine but had the same network problem. I fully rooted with cm11, then 12. Same problem.
I loaded a pit file gotten gaciously from sammobile. Same problem
I've returned all firmware to factory and undone root but still same issue.
The imei and serial number match the sticker on the back so they are not invalid.
The wifi and bluetooth and general operations are normal.
I'm guessing that the nv was rewritten and to recovery as well? But I really don't know as I am very new at this but have been doing a lot of reading.
1. Is there a way to restore the nv without a backup from my phone?
2. Is there a way to restore the service programming back to factory default? (I've seen this question asked before but only found the answer it is proprietory, whatever that means)
I have qpst and efs professional and a qcn file I was able to download from the internet
3. This qcn file is from unreliable source. Could I damage my phone more than it already is, and can i edit my imei and sn into it?
Thanks very much.

Manually edited
Miniwish said:
I'll try to be brief. lol .Before finding this site I brought my unlocked S4 mini to wind to see if it will work. The guy found the 1700 freq in the phone service menu and changed something and said it won't keep on 1700 then he said something about the nv write. After a while he handed it back and said it wouldn't work. I put my bell sim in afterward it said no sim. it won't find any bell sim now. I tried a friends telus sim and it finds the sim fine and shows voicemail notifications but when I tried to call it says not connected to network. I can see the networks but when trying to connect, the signal drops and phone says "network not available try later". After it tries to connect the signal returns to normal.
So I found this site
I successfully rooted the phone with S4Mini_RootKit_v2.zip. It worked fine but had the same network problem. I fully rooted with cm11, then 12. Same problem.
I loaded a pit file gotten gaciously from sammobile. Same problem
I've returned all firmware to factory and undone root but still same issue.
The imei and serial number match the sticker on the back so they are not invalid.
The wifi and bluetooth and general operations are normal.
I'm guessing that the nv was rewritten and to recovery as well? But I really don't know as I am very new at this but have been doing a lot of reading.
1. Is there a way to restore the nv without a backup from my phone?
2. Is there a way to restore the service programming back to factory default? (I've seen this question asked before but only found the answer it is proprietory, whatever that means)
I have qpst and efs professional and a qcn file I was able to download from the internet
3. This qcn file is from unreliable source. Could I damage my phone more than it already is, and can i edit my imei and sn into it?
Thanks very much.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I painstakingly manually edited using qpst and restored all changed setting to a previous copied save.

N7100, standard software, lost Network unlock after freeze, can't now unlock again.

Standard device, running 4.4.2, not rooted or changed other than by downloads provided by KIES, originally on 3 Ireland network, was unlocked and moved to Vodafone over 12 months ago with no issue, using unlock code provided by 3 after the end of contract period was reached.
Had a few strange issues recently but nothing I could be sure of, then one night this week, the phone locked and would not accept any key presses. Removed battery to force power down, then restarted, which has always worked in the past on the rare occasions when this has happened, but this time, when it restarted, it asked for a Sim Network Unlock PIN, which at the time I didn't recognise as being the unlock code supplied by 3.
I don't know if there are issues about the number of times this code can be entered, if there are, due to all sort of errors by Vodafone Support, that limit has probably been exceeded.
The other possibility is that a hardware issue has developed, but as it is only the phone network won't work, my instinct is telling me that this is a software and security issue that may have been triggered by too many failed unlock requests, though it still asks for an unlock code on power up.
So, what have I tried. After several frustrating calls with Vodafone and Samsung support failed to resolve the issue, I dismissed the PIN request and made sure I had some backups of things like Contacts, which worked, so the phone can communicate via USB, and it's also working with no issues via WiFi networking, as I can access things like Facebook via WiFi. My Google account is also working, it's downloaded and updated the applications that are installed on the phone,
In the absence of any real assistance from Vodafone or Samsung, in desperation, I've tried a factory reset, and also tried wiping the cache, but neither of these options are getting rid of the Unlock Sim request, which suggests to me that there is a flag or code somewhere deep in the system that's not allowing a full reset, and that may be related to too many failed Network PIN Entries.
Can I recover this phone, or am I better to just abandon it and get a replacement device, which in all honesty I don't need, the Note II is doing all I need at the moment, and a replacement is going to be an expense I'd rather not have to commit to right now.
I have all the details of the versions, IMEI etc, they are all accessible from within the phone using various *# codes, and they all are still correct and match what they should.
Talking to a local repair shop, if they ask for an unlock code, they are saying that the code they get will be the same as the one I already have received from 3, and as that seems to be not working, they are saying there's no point getting a code from them.
So, where do I go from here? Somehow, I think I need to find a way to wipe everything in the phone, and then reset the IMEI to the correct value, which should in theory allow the device to work again, and recognise the unlock code. That's a lot more than I've done on a phone, I'm computer literate, but not Android and phone experienced, so a lot of the buzz words are not familiar, or mean different things to what I've been used to on other systems.
If I am going to be completely wiping it all, is there any way I can change the service provider to get rid of the issues with the network unlock code, or is that asking for more aggravations?
Thanks in anticipation.

There is a free method that can be used to sim unlock the sgh-i317m which is the North American version of the Note 2. You had to flash back to a stock 4.1.1 ROM, and follow this guide: https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2014982
The 4.1.1 ROM for the sgh-i317m Note 2 from sammobile.com does not include the 4.1.1 bootloader which is why the downgrade from stock 4.4.2 to 4.1.1 works.