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I bought the phone from Tmobile and then bought the unlock code online but for the life of me I am unable to get the prompt for entering the unlocke code.
One previous phones (G3, Note 3), it automatically poped up when I started the phone with At&t sim but I'm having no such luck with the G4. I have also tried all the codes that the seller suggested but still no prompt. I even tried the Tmobile's unlock application and it just gives an error that server is not responding.
Does anyone has any suggestion? I desperately need some help.
ajamils said:
I bought the phone from Tmobile and then bought the unlock code online but for the life of me I am unable to get the prompt for entering the unlocke code.
One previous phones (G3, Note 3), it automatically poped up when I started the phone with At&t sim but I'm having no such luck with the G4. I have also tried all the codes that the seller suggested but still no prompt. I even tried the Tmobile's unlock application and it just gives an error that server is not responding.
Does anyone has any suggestion? I desperately need some help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe that phone needs to be used for 30 or 60 days or something to let you unlock it.
Sent from my M8 M8
ThatKawaiiGuy said:
I believe that phone needs to be used for 30 or 60 days or something to let you unlock it.
Sent from my M8 M8
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought that requirement was only of I want to request an unlock code from Tmobile.
What if i use a different sim in that phone? My brother has been a Tmobile customer for over 10 years.
ajamils said:
I thought that requirement was only of I want to request an unlock code from Tmobile.
What if i use a different sim in that phone? My brother has been a Tmobile customer for over 10 years.
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Click to collapse
same "strick" requirements with S6/Edge.. to do permanent unlock your brother needs to have the ESN tied to his account as main user.. you can try the temporary unlock with his tmobile that could buy you 30days
Try putting this in the dialer 2945#*811#
Edit.. Doesn't work they gave me that code to unlock my G3 but it had the 851 suffix If you own the phone outright then customer service should give you the code
I was told by an in-store t-mobile rep that if you buy the phone outright, you can contact them to get it unlocked for free. If you buy it on the EIP, you have to make two payments before you can get it unlocked.
I did buy the phone outright but since they didn't want to sell the phone without a service plan I got the month to month plan and from what I've heard I need to keep the account for 40 days before I can request an unlock code.
With that said, since I already have the unlock code all I need is the access to the prompt to enter it.
Sticky situation...
I got the same problem. Any attempts to prompt to enter activation fail.
Tried entering other carrier sim cards and dialing 2945#*811# but it doesn't do anything.
All we need is a manual way to enter unlock code (which i already got). Would be nice if there was an app that just forces it to appear... It feela like T-Mobile is just masked it out of their dialer.
I have the same problem - I have the codes but cannot access the unlock menu?
T-Mobile 811
I did notice that there is a new app Tmo threw on here called unlock. Maybe that's why the code won't work. Maybe it has to go through the app now..
Swizzle82 said:
I did notice that there is a new app Tmo threw on here called unlock. Maybe that's why the code won't work. Maybe it has to go through the app now..
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Click to collapse
That's what it looks like. I contacted Tmobile and asked for an unlock code and the CSR told me that they do not have any record of my phone's IMEI so I should use it for few days and then call back.
I'm on new Tmobile account and just opened the phone today.
Swizzle82 said:
I did notice that there is a new app Tmo threw on here called unlock. Maybe that's why the code won't work. Maybe it has to go through the app now..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, but all that app does it checks if you're eligible for an unlock... I don't understand I gave them FULL payment for the phone (I don't owe T-mobile anything for this device, device is paid off in full).
But I did call them and they're saying you basically have to be with them for 40 days for them to give you the unlock.. It's really lame how they're hacking their phone not to display unlock option, even though you friggin' have paid off phone.... you don't force people to be your customers like that "Mr we give you so much freedom, we don't even have contracts".
That's total BS. I paid full price for the phone as well so I don't know what gives them the right to do something like this.
same here. not only did i pay full price. according to their pricing chart i had to pay a $30 premium on top of the MSRP because I'm a non-tmobile customer. Now i'm finding out that not only does the unlock process have to go through app, even though customer service gave me different instructions on how to unlock it (that didn't work), but I also have to find a tmobile customer that's within good standing temporarily give me their sim card to put into the phone so that i can run the unlock with the app. WHAT THE F**K TMOBILE!? and you want me to leave ATT for you? as bad as people say ATT is they've never given me issues like this. BS
I was a Tmobile customer since Voice Stream days but switched to At&t two years back and I'm never going back. The only thing that I hate about At&t is their B$ about locking bootloader and because of that my last 3 phones have been from Tmobile. But the way things are going with Tmobile now, it looks like I'll be buying my next phone will either be an international version or At&t
I'm with you guys! This is last time I did business with T-Mobile , forcing people to use your services even if you paid in full for the device is not the best way to gain business...
And by the way even getting someone with T-Mobile account will not magically unlock your device, you would still have to buy their service for 2 months ahead to unlock "YOUR" device.
Lobanovskiy said:
I'm with you guys! This is last time I did business with T-Mobile , forcing people to use your services even if you paid in full for the device is not the best way to gain business...
And by the way even getting someone with T-Mobile account will not magically unlock your device, you would still have to buy their service for 2 months ahead to unlock "YOUR" device.
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Click to collapse
The argument right now is that there should in no way be any restrictions from a carrier if the customer purchases a product at full value. Although, this restriction is technically included in their T's & C's.
BUT!!! In line with those same T's & C's, technically there's no way for them to stop any of us from having an existing tmobile customer gain an unlock code using their account as long as sed customer claims it as their own during the unlock process. After it's done tmobile can't do sh**.
What you are describing falls under their eligibility requirements for "Unlock eligibility for monthly phones, tablets and mobile internet devices". What I'm trying to do technically falls under the standard device unlocking requirements (IN RED). They can't tell a tmobile customer in good standing that they can't unlock a tmobile phone that was purchased for them as a "gift" that was paid for at face value as long as that tmobile customer meets all of tmobile's requirements pertaining to the unlocking category they fall under. If they do that then they're in for a lawsuit for sure...
Unlock requirements
We provide mobile device unlock codes free of charge within two business days (or provides further information about timing) for eligible devices.
Device eligibility is determined as follows:
The device must be a T-Mobile device.
The device must not be reported as lost, stolen or blocked to T-Mobile.
The account associated with the device must be in good standing.
You have requested no more than 2 mobile device unlock codes per line of service in the last 12 months.
The device must satisfy all the Postpaid or Pay in Advance (Prepaid) Unlocking terms outlined below.
You may need a non-T-Mobile and non-MetroPCS SIM card to insert in the phone.
Unlock eligibility for monthly phones, tablets and mobile internet devices
The device must have been active on the T-Mobile network for at least 40 days on the requesting line.
If the device is financed using T-Mobile’s Equipment Installment Plan (EIP), all payments must be satisfied and the device must be paid in full.
If the device is on an account that is under a service contract term, at least 18 consecutive monthly payments must have been made or the account has migrated to Simple Choice no contract rate plan.
If the device is associated with a canceled account, the account balance must be zero, including all pending charges
T-Mobile may request proof of purchase or additional information in its discretion and certain other exceptions may apply.
Unlock eligibility for pay in advance (prepaid) phones, tablets and mobile internet devices
The device has been active on the T-Mobile network for more than 1 year on the requesting line.
If the device has been active for less than 1 year on the requesting line, the Pay in Advance account associated with the device must have had more than $25 in refills for basic phones or $100 in refills for smartphones or tablet since device first use date.
The account must not be canceled and in good standing.
T-Mobile may request proof of purchase or additional information in its discretion and certain other exceptions may apply.
I have unlocked phones for friends before. As long as the phone is registered on the network for at least 7 days and is paid off someone who has a T-Mobile account(older than 40 days) can unlock any device.
I was thinking of getting the G4 from T-Mobile and use it on ATT. However, I learned a harsh lesson when trying this for my wife with the S6 edge. There is no question in my mind that T-Mobile is going around the agreement that all carriers have to unlock the device. I too purchased a code and even though someone figured out how to get the unlock prompt up, it would not take the code. I decided to get prepaid service. Turns out that if you get prepaid service, to unlock the phone you have to have added at least $100 balance. Otherwise, you have to wait 1 year on prepaid. No one I spoke to was able to unlock the device. In the end I probably could have gotten the phone unlocked once I had $100 balance using the app but I thought this was ridiculous so I filed an FCC complaint. I was contacted the next day by someone form their executive office. She offered to unlock the phone. I had already returned the phone and was stuck with a $100 prepaid account I didn't need. So in the end I got a $100 visa card from them.
Despite me explaining to her multiple times, she would not acknowledge that they were preventing third-party unlocking by forcing the use of the T-Mobile app. I think they need to hear from more people. I gave the links in my S6 post. I am linking it here so maybe some of you can file the complaint as well and T-Mobile can stop this nonsense for phones purchased at full retail.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=60610687&postcount=46
I'm seriously thinking about returning the damn phone and getting the Unlocked version from eBay. It is not only cheaper but I won't have to deal with any of this account crap that I had to sign up for to buy the device. My only concern is that I've already filled the online rebates for the 128GB microSD and the LG promo, so I'm probably going to miss out on those.
Does anyone has any experience with returning phone + service to T-Mobile store? On the reciept it says that they could charge a restocking fees of up to $50.
i have a tmobile Z2 i bought online and was not able to unlock it. It is very clearly a tmobile version but when i tried to use the unlock from tmo it say i am not eligible for an unlock i then called and they said the device was not sold by tmobile then called moto and got the same story. as of now i stick in an att sim and it does nothing only works on a tmo sim. any advice on how to carrier unlock this device.
T-Mobile devices require usage on the network before an unlock is allowed. Sometimes they will allow an unlock without use on the network, but since you did not buy the phone from them that most likely will not happen.
What is the error message you are receiving? If it is the device is not eligible, than it is in the server database and you should be able to unlock it after you have used it on the T_Mibile network.
If however you are receiving an unknown error, than the phone is not listed and you'll probably never get it unlocked.
Either way, it might be easiest to return the device to the seller if you're still within the return period.
Well even if I cant unlock it yet I have a friend who would be willing to use it for sometime and let it get time in on his account. The phone was already in use on the original sellers account so I thought that was enough. I will slap this tmo sim in it and give it some time it's the device I plan to do development on. I have a z2 from at&t so that my daily and this one can get bricked for all I care. I want to support the Z2 community
I had the same issue. Look for my post in the older unlocking thread. It's very straightforward and you can use a prepay sim to do it.
What is the proper procedure to unlock an att s9 to use with another carrier?
Thanks.
Just to clarify. This phone was purchased from Samsung directly with the new $150 discount for Att branded phones.
RossTeagan said:
So the phone is bought from samsung but lock on att?
Try the following to check if your phone is network locked be sure you really need to unlock it (otherwise, I don't think you need to unlock it).
1. Insert a GSM SIM card from another network (a non-AT&T SIM, liek Cricket ot T-Mobile)
2. Try placing a call
If your phone manages to connect and make the call with this other SIM card, then you won't need to unlock it, as it's already unlocked. And if the phone is locked, I recommend you check with AT&T, given that this phone is not tight to a contract.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't have the phone yet (2 more days,) but I did an extensive Google search, and it seems like this particular phone will be sim locked. It's paid off outright, no contract or anything, but there were several heavy discounts like $150 off msrp and another $150 off for trading in S6.
My Google search gave me two possible options -
1) Talk to ATT and ask to unlock,
2) Use an unlock site, like DeviceUnlock, pay 20-50 dollars for them to obtain and send an unlock code to you.
As for #1, I saw a post where a guy complained that talking to ATT and Samsung was useless to him in a similar situation - each company sent him to the other one to get it unlocked, so he got nowhere with this option.
Also, I saw a few posts that said that a locked phone may have to be activated on ATT first and used for up to 40 days before ATT will unlock it for you. What would happen with this Samsung bought phone though?
And for #2, I just don't know how this kind of business works - you send them IMEI and the locked carrier info, pay money, and a few days later, they send you an unlock code that you can enter yourself.
Is it safe? How does it work exactly? What if there's a problem because the IMEI is not actually registered on ATT because the phone was sold by Samsung?
I have many more questions, just because I don't know what I am talking about, but the bottom line is this. What should I do?
Thanks.
AS your phone is paid off and there is no contract on it, you should stick with your first option: ask att to unlock it but as you said you will need an activated phone, so you will need to activate the phone with att, however, you should go to them immediately and not wait for 40 days. While Samsung locked the phone, the actual company who controls the lock and who has authority of unlocking it att. So don't let them fool you to go search the code somewhere else.
Also, there is a law in the US that forces operators to unlock your phone if there are no debts or contract on your device. So keep that in mind.
Regarding third parties, they are a shortcut and you just have to provide them the devices IMEI and network lock. They, in turn, will look for the unlocking code for you. And if there are issues, as you said, I think you can ask for a refund (so if you decide to go for such a service, first make sure they have a money back guarantee).
TLDR Go with att, they should (have to) provide the unlock for you
Hi nabbed,
did you manage to unlock it?
what did you do in the end?
Giskardors said:
Hi nabbed,
did you manage to unlock it?
what did you do in the end?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I called ATT, spoke to tech support. The tech said that since I had no history/account with ATT, they had to make one to verify that the phone IMEI was clean. He created a new account - name, address, phone, email, imei etc info. He created a support ticket (and gave me its number) for sim unlock. He said that I should receive an email within 48 hours that would either tell me that I cannot unlock or will come with the unlock code (if it is decided that I should be able to unlock.)
I tried using their default web service for getting an unlock https://www.att.com/deviceunlock/#/unlockstep1 but that thing doesn't work - the Next button cannot be clicked.
If unsuccessful, I am considering going and talking to a retail ATT store representative directly. They probably don't know much, but perhaps they can be more convincing on the phone with ATT.
Third option is trying one of the unlock websites.
So I had to do this with my S9, same kind of situation as you (I have T-Mobile service, received an AT&T locked device).
As you know, the web portal won't work. AT&T never entered your IMEI in their database, so as far as THEY are concerned, your phone doesn't exist.
Call tier 2/advanced tech support and have them create a case with the Device Unlock Team. GET A CONFIRMATION NUMBER. You should receive an email confirming that the case was made.
48-72 hours later, you SHOULD have an unlock code. Should. This is AT&T, and they don't know their ass from their elbow. It took me 2 weeks.
Device unlock services didn't work, as the IMEI has to be in AT&T's database for it to work correctly. They'll just (hopefully) refund your money when it fails.
Don't go into an AT&T store. As a former AT&T retail employee, I can guarantee you, those employees are dumber than a bag of wet hammers, and have no way of helping you with this, whatsoever. In addition, since you're not BUYING anything, they're not going to help too much even if they could.
Good luck. It will work for you eventually.
entropism said:
So I had to do this with my S9, same kind of situation as you (I have T-Mobile service, received an AT&T locked device).
As you know, the web portal won't work. AT&T never entered your IMEI in their database, so as far as THEY are concerned, your phone doesn't exist.
Call tier 2/advanced tech support and have them create a case with the Device Unlock Team. GET A CONFIRMATION NUMBER. You should receive an email confirming that the case was made.
48-72 hours later, you SHOULD have an unlock code. Should. This is AT&T, and they don't know their ass from their elbow. It took me 2 weeks.
Device unlock services didn't work, as the IMEI has to be in AT&T's database for it to work correctly. They'll just (hopefully) refund your money when it fails.
Don't go into an AT&T store. As a former AT&T retail employee, I can guarantee you, those employees are dumber than a bag of wet hammers, and have no way of helping you with this, whatsoever. In addition, since you're not BUYING anything, they're not going to help too much even if they could.
Good luck. It will work for you eventually.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks.
The tech guy didn't say what kind of a support ticket he created. It may have been a general support ticket, or maybe he referred me to the unlock team directly, I don't know. He seemed like he understood perfectly what I needed. Anyway, the ticket format is like this - cm10230128_122673352, does that look right?
I have received an email confirmation that the call was made, but not that the case was created yet. The call ended at 5:30pm CDT on a Friday night, so maybe it would take until Monday to get a confirmation?
nabbed said:
Thanks.
The tech guy didn't say what kind of a support ticket he created. It may have been a general support ticket, or maybe he referred me to the unlock team directly, I don't know. He seemed like he understood perfectly what I needed. Anyway, the ticket format is like this - cm10230128_122673352, does that look right?
I have received an email confirmation that the call was made, but not that the case was created yet. The call ended at 5:30pm CDT on a Friday night, so maybe it would take until Monday to get a confirmation?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe it will take up to tuesday. That's the limit
Im going to the US for 2 weeks, I dont know if i'll be able to unlock it on time, but If I order it I'll get it on the 2nd week.
I really hope you can unlock it!
Keep us updated
Update:
Got the unlock code in an email. The instructions say "Please allow 24 hours upon receipt of this notification to complete the unlock process." Not sure what that means, gonna try to unlock tomorrow with a project fi sim.
Update2:
Phone unlocked fine with a Project FI sim card and connected to T-mobile.
We're on the same boat!
I'm also on Project Fi and I received my AT&T S9 today.
My IMEI was found in AT&T's database and I just submitted the unlock request.
Do you experience any issues when using S9 w/ Project Fi?
zenlifexxa said:
We're on the same boat!
I'm also on Project Fi and I received my AT&T S9 today.
My IMEI was found in AT&T's database and I just submitted the unlock request.
Do you experience any issues when using S9 w/ Project Fi?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just used the Fi sim card to facilitate the unlock procedure (the S9 is not mine, it's for a friend, and I am just setting it up.) I just looked at sim status in the options to confirm that provider was T-Mobile. In my research, I read that using Project FI T-Mobile was no different from any other unlocked gsm phone using T-Mobile. You will lose all Project FI apps because they don't exist with non-Google phones. There will not be carrier switching between T-Mob, Sprint and US Cell, and there will not be wifi calling. But if your T-Mob service is already good, there shouldn't be a problem.
As as side note, my own FI service is kind of awful. Ever since Google introduced "preferred partner" feature, where a FI phone would connect not to the strongest signal carrier but rather to a particular carrier, in this case Sprint in my area, I have had really bad sound quality.
US Cellular has best towers in this area, with signal strength of -70-80 db or so, while Sprint has crappy towers with signal strength of less -100 db. Yet I am constantly connected to Sprint with crappy sound quality because they are the preferred partner here. I have to constantly to remind myself to manually switch to US Cell if I'm to make a lengthy phone call.
Good luck.
A small warning here for those who need to send a previously SIM unlocked H932 in for LG repair:
After breaking its glass back, I had to send my TMO V30+ in for repair at LG’s center in Texas. At the same time I asked them to replace the screen under warranty, since there was a small cluster of dead pixels just above the navigation bar. They did all that. Cost $88 (including free shipping) with 11 days turnaround.
They also managed to lose the SIM unlock which I had previously been granted by T-Mobile using their Device Unlock app. Realizing this could be a problem, I had included a letter to LG Repair where I begged them to preserve the SIM unlock. Needless to say, the phone is paid off and all bills were paid (including the extra month TMO auto-charged my credit card and refused to refund).
After receiving it back, my Red Pocket GSMA SIM (AT&T prepaid MVNO) only does 3G, not LTE. The TMO Device Unlock app says the phone is “network locked” and not eligible for unlock.
T-Mobile Customer Service first requested unlock instructions to be emailed to me. After 2 days I received an email saying I had to use the TMO Device Unlock app. Duh. After much experimenting on my own (including with my now inactive TMO SIM card) I went to the T-Mobile store where I bought the phone. They were keen to help, but unable to solve the problem. We did confirm that with an active TMO SIM, everything was fine.
I then called TMO Customer Service again, this time asking for Tier 2. Here they finally escalated the case and requested an unlock from LG and said to expect a solution within 72 hours.
Different from the issue reported by @michy21 in this thread mine is the SAME phone with the same IMEI; it was just wiped by LG repair in a way that lost the SIM unlock. OR it really is a new phone or motherboard and they transferred the IMEI.
I should add that there has been no pushback or reluctance to help from any T-Mobile staff. It’s just that the company has baked everything so hard into the Device Unlock app now, so no human is able to do anything.
The only lesson here is to never buy carrier devices -- as @ChazzMatt has been stressing all along, and as I had been practicing myself in my Nexus days. But unfortunately carrier devices are where the best deals are -- which is the only thing that made it possibly for me to buy this class of phone in the first place.
I'll update this thread with the final outcome. Fingers crossed. I’ll be traveling overseas soon, really hope to have it fixed before.
TheDannemand said:
A small warning here for those who need to send a previously SIM unlocked H932 in for LG repair:
After breaking its glass back, I had to send my TMO V30+ in for repair at LG’s center in Texas. At the same time I asked them to replace the screen under warranty, since there was a small cluster of dead pixels just above the navigation bar. They did all that. Cost $88 (including free shipping) with 11 days turnaround.
They also managed to lose the SIM unlock which I had previously been granted by T-Mobile using their Device Unlock app. Needles to say, the phone was paid off and all bills were paid (including the extra month TMO auto-charged my credit card and refused to refund). Realizing this could be a problem, I had included a letter to LG Repair where I begged them to preserve the SIM unlock.
After receiving it back, my Red Pocket GSMA SIM (AT&T prepaid MVNO) only does 3G, not LTE. The TMO Device Unlock app says the phone is “network locked” and not eligible for unlock.
T-Mobile Customer Service first requested unlock instructions to be emailed to me. After 2 days I received an email saying I had to use the TMO Device Unlock app. Duh. After much experimenting on my own (including with my now inactive TMO SIM card) I went to the T-Mobile store where I bought the phone. They were keen to help, but unable to solve the problem. We did confirm that with an active TMO SIM, everything was fine.
I then called TMO Customer Service again, this time asking for Tier 2. Here they finally escalated the case and requested an unlock from LG and said to expect a solution with 72 hours.
Different from the issue reported by @michy21 in this thread mine is the SAME phone with the same IMEI; it was just wiped by LG repair in a way that lost the SIM unlock. OR it really is a new phone or motherboard and they transferred the IMEI.
I should add that there has been no pushback or reluctance to help from any T-Mobile staff. It’s just that the company has baked everything so hard into the Device Unlock app now, so no human is able to do anything.
The only lesson here is to never buy carrier devices -- as @ChazzMatt has been stressing all along, and as I had been practicing myself in my Nexus days. But unfortunately carrier devices are where the best deals are -- which is the only thing that made it possibly for me to buy this class of phone in the first place.
I'll update this thread with the final outcome. Fingers crossed. I’ll be traveling overseas soon, really hope to have it fixed before.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Worst comes to worst, sell the phone on eBay while at the same time buying one of the mint LS998 V30+ for $320. Immediately convert to carrier unlocked US998, bootloader unlock and root.
In the eBay listing for this phone stress the T-Mobile band 71, blah, blah, blah -- which you don't need on AT&T MNVO, but would interest T-Mobile users.
Sent via open market LG US998 V30/V30+
ChazzMatt said:
Worst comes to worst, sell the phone on eBay while at the same time buying one of the mint LS998 V30+ for $320. Immediately convert to carrier unlocked US998, bootloader unlock and root.
In the eBay listing for this phone stress the T-Mobile band 71, blah, blah, blah -- which you don't need on AT&T MNVO, but would interest T-Mobile users.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you, Chazz!
I had a suspicion you might suggest that :laugh:
But yes, that would have to be the outcome if I cannot solve it. I'll probably file an FCC complaint first, which michy21 reported had solved her problem. But again, there is no pushback from anybody, which is a positive.
The only attachment I have to this particular phone is my 2 year warranty, which gives me peace of mind. A phone bought used wouldn't have that (or any warranty).
Thanks again!
Edit: Actually, it's not quite true that I have no other attachment to this H932: If/when T-Mobile rolls out B71 in this area, I'll probably give them another try, as they generally have far better network speeds. AT&T service here is acceptable (and widespread) but doesn't blow me away. We only switched because TMO couldn't reach through our concrete brick walls. Red Pocket supports all four carriers, so I can switch to TMO network on my current plan to take advantage of B71.
So my hope is I won't have to part with this phone. AND that @runningnak3d will release H932 root later this year
TheDannemand said:
A small warning here for those who need to send a previously SIM unlocked H932 in for LG repair:
After breaking its glass back, I had to send my TMO V30+ in for repair at LG’s center in Texas. At the same time I asked them to replace the screen under warranty, since there was a small cluster of dead pixels just above the navigation bar. They did all that. Cost $88 (including free shipping) with 11 days turnaround.
They also managed to lose the SIM unlock which I had previously been granted by T-Mobile using their Device Unlock app. Realizing this could be a problem, I had included a letter to LG Repair where I begged them to preserve the SIM unlock. Needless to say, the phone is paid off and all bills were paid (including the extra month TMO auto-charged my credit card and refused to refund).
After receiving it back, my Red Pocket GSMA SIM (AT&T prepaid MVNO) only does 3G, not LTE. The TMO Device Unlock app says the phone is “network locked” and not eligible for unlock.
T-Mobile Customer Service first requested unlock instructions to be emailed to me. After 2 days I received an email saying I had to use the TMO Device Unlock app. Duh. After much experimenting on my own (including with my now inactive TMO SIM card) I went to the T-Mobile store where I bought the phone. They were keen to help, but unable to solve the problem. We did confirm that with an active TMO SIM, everything was fine.
I then called TMO Customer Service again, this time asking for Tier 2. Here they finally escalated the case and requested an unlock from LG and said to expect a solution within 72 hours.
Different from the issue reported by @michy21 in this thread mine is the SAME phone with the same IMEI; it was just wiped by LG repair in a way that lost the SIM unlock. OR it really is a new phone or motherboard and they transferred the IMEI.
I should add that there has been no pushback or reluctance to help from any T-Mobile staff. It’s just that the company has baked everything so hard into the Device Unlock app now, so no human is able to do anything.
The only lesson here is to never buy carrier devices -- as @ChazzMatt has been stressing all along, and as I had been practicing myself in my Nexus days. But unfortunately carrier devices are where the best deals are -- which is the only thing that made it possibly for me to buy this class of phone in the first place.
I'll update this thread with the final outcome. Fingers crossed. I’ll be traveling overseas soon, really hope to have it fixed before.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That does not make sense at all. Has the device IMEI have changed at all? Was the actual logic board replaced? The answer is likely no. So why would the device be relocked by LG? You are giving them way too much credit.
More proof that the device should have remained unlocked is that you can access the device with your MNVO (ATT), if it was truly locked you would not able to get a signal or make a call under your MNVO at all. Sounds more like user error or a miss configuration of your carrier, or both.
Also you should not be trying to run a T-Mobile Specific device unlock app under a different carrier sim,
and it might just be reporting wrong information. Had this happen to me several times in the past, when the device was actually unlocked. You said yourself, you were able to use the device on (ATT)!
jblparisi said:
That does not make sense at all. Has the device IMEI have changed at all? Was the actual logic board replaced? The answer is likely no. So why would the device be relocked by LG? You are giving them way too much credit.
More proof that the device should have remained unlocked is that you can access the device with your MNVO (ATT), if it was truly locked you would not able to get a signal or make a call under your MNVO at all. Sounds more like user error or a miss configuration of your carrier, or both.
Also you should not be trying to run a T-Mobile Specific device unlock app under a different carrier sim,
and it might just be reporting wrong information. Had this happen to me several times in the past, when the device was actually unlocked. You said yourself, you were able to use the device on (ATT)!
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Thank you. I understand where you come from. And no offense taken
The problem IS a SIM lock (or "network lock" as they call it). But not in the same way you're thinking where nothing works with an alien SIM. Both T-Mobile and LG have confirmed that.
Some details I didn't mention in my opening post (I meant to warn people here, not argue the matter):
1) LG warned me before they began repair that the phone would come back SIM locked, even though I'd included a letter asking if they could avoid it. I also talked to T-Mobile before sending it in, who said to just request an unlock code if needed (obviously that person was clueless).
2) I've seen other XDA users report how SIM locked V30s could connect on different networks, but NOT get LTE. That's what I am seeing too. One of my goals with visiting the T-Mobile store was to verify that there wasn't a problem with the phone itself preventing LTE. But once an active TMO SIM was inserted, everything works flawlessly.
3) I thought the same thing about not running the TMO Device Unlock app with the alien SIM inserted, but TMO's wording in the instructions they sent me are: "Before completing the steps below to unlock your device you must be connected to the internet via a cellular network in order to complete the steps", not mentioning it must be on TMO. And I DO have 3G internet with my Red Pocket SIM. Nevertheless, my second goal with visiting the T-Mobile store was so we could try the Device Unlock app with an active TMO SIM. And regardless of which SIM is inserted, the app reports that the phone is currently network locked and not eligible for unlock. When running this app on an unlocked phone, it shows the date of unlock -- even after a factory reset. They are obviously storing the lock/unlock state on the vendor, modem or carrier partitions or some such place. And on my phone it is in a locked state.
4) There is not much room for user configuration error here: The phone has been factory reset 5-6 times while testing this, with the only configuration being a Red Pocket APN. That same SIM and same APN work flawlessly in my Nexus 5 as well as my wife's V30 (also H932). Even if I mis-typed the APN, I wouldn't have done so 5-6 times -- and I would have caught it during one of the many times I verified the APN.
So I have no doubt that there is some form of network lock in place that is causing this. And again, T-Mobile and LG agree and have promised to solve it.
You are right that LG had no reason to replace the mainboard. But they did replace both the screen and the glass cover. I think it is possible that they sent me a refurbished phone with my IMEI transferred -- which would explain both their warning that the phone would come back locked, and why the Device Unlock app gets confused when seeing a blank (still locked) phone, but T-Mobile's IMEI database claims that the device is already unlocked (as I saw on the screen in the store).
So, we'll see if they manage to solve it or I have to sell this phone as suggested by Chazz.
Would paying a 3rd party carrier unlocking do the trick? Or does even that seem out of the question now? Before Frankensteining was a thing I did that so I could use an H931 on T-mo. It was $10 well spent as far as I was concerned.
jaysus145 said:
Would paying a 3rd party carrier unlocking do the trick? Or does even that seem out of the question now? Before Frankensteining was a thing I did that so I could use an H931 on T-mo. It was $10 well spent as far as I was concerned.
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Thank you for the suggestion. I'd have no objection to that at all, but various reports on here had given me the impression that 3rd parties aren't able to unlock the H932 because TMO locked it down so hard (as is the case with Sprint, but for different technical reasons). I could be wrong about that, so definitely something to try.
Thanks again!
Update: It's been four days since I talked to T-Mobile and they promised to escalate my problem and request that LG provide a solution. They said to expect a response within 72 hours, but I haven't heard back from them.
But yesterday, when I tried popping in my Red Pocket SIM (it's in my Nexus 5 until this is solved) everything suddenly worked: Instant LTE, which stayed all day, even as I drove an hour away across town and worked there for a few hours (using hotspot), went on several errands, and back home all last night. LTE Discovery Log showed how it had switched seamlessly between towers, without ever losing LTE. I was certain they had fixed it, and was much relieved.
Then this morning, it had locked itself again. Phone had been on all night, clearly T-Mobile must have pushed another lock. Or rather: One of the TMO services/apps locked it after pulling TMOs servers. No amount of Network Resets, reboot or toggling Mobile Network settings have worked to get it back. I promised T-Mobile not to make any more attempts with the Device Unlock app as it messes things up for them, but I am sure it it would still say "Ineligible for unlock" even though the IMEI is clear in TMO's database (and listed as already unlocked).
As always, the same SIM gives perfect LTE service in my Nexus 5 and on my wife's V30, with the same APN.
I called T-Mobile Customer Care and was unable to persuade them to transfer me to Tier 2. But they did says to expect a call within a day.
It is almost certain I'll have to go the FCC complaint route. It's sad because T-Mobile is otherwise not a bad company. Probably just a small handful of idiots who got this "bright idea" how to protect TMO phones -- which ends up causing so much trouble for legitimate customers.
@jaysus145: Which Unlock service did you use? The ones I looked at which support T-mobile unlock cost $75-150 -- and they don't seem to guarantee success.
TheDannemand said:
@jaysus145: Which Unlock service did you use? The ones I looked at which support T-mobile unlock cost $75-150 -- and they don't seem to guarantee success.
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Click to collapse
I used celllunlocker.net, it cost me $10 to unlock my AT&T version, and took less then a day to complete.
jaysus145 said:
I used celllunlocker.net, it cost me $10 to unlock my AT&T version, and took less then a day to complete.
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Click to collapse
Thank you!
T-Mobile called me back yesterday and assured me they were still working on it and they would get this phone unlocked and please sit tight another day. They confirmed there was nothing on the phone's IMEI or my old account that should prevent it.
I'll check out unlocking services if it comes down to it.
Thanks again!
Final update on this (and solution):
T-Mobile solved the server side problem with a manager override, so that the Device Unlock app now says "Permanent Unlock approved". But it continued reporting "Unlock Failed" nevertheless. Some say because the phone is already unlocked, personally I think because the servers report the phone as previously unlocked. The app also says "Phone is currently network locked" when first running.
Notably, the connection problem persisted, and T-Mobile (after discussing with LG) said it had to be a bad SIM card or a problem with that SIM ICCID and my phone's ESN. As previously described, I get perfect connection and service using the same SIM in my Nexus 5 and in my wife's V30. T-Mobile said that was all they could do.
I then decided it was time to take the matter in my one hands. After much searching and countless Factory Resets and Network Settings Resets, I managed to get the phone working right with the following steps:
1) Remove Google account to disable Device Reset Protection.
2) Factory Reset from the Service Menu: *#546368#*932# (replace 932 with your model number, though this is likely a T-Mobile only problem). From there SVC Menu - Factory Reset (R&D Only). This takes quite a bit longer than normal Factory Reset.
3) Initial setup with WiFi, no Google account. No APN. Phone shows usual connection slowness.
4) Airplane mode, then WiFi on.
5) T-Mobile Device Unlock app, Permanent Unlock. Got the same "Unlock Failed, but Approved" message.
6) Enter APN.
7) Network Settings Reset (Android Settings - Reset menu). Wait for reset to complete. It may go straight to LTE already here.
8) Power off/on.
After this, everything is back to normal. Instant signal and LTE connection, even after subsequent Factory Reset. It's such a relief :laugh:
Edit: I should add that it is quite possible that not all of these steps are required. Probably the Service Menu Factory Reset was the key to undo what LG had done during the repair. I am merely listing all the steps which I used, and which brought my phone back to life.
Hey all,
So I'm learning more and more about this phone. Turns out, if someone finances their phone through T-mobile and fails to pay it off, you will not be able to unlock the phone for free. You still can apparently unlock it by paying for a code. If the code doesn't work, I'm only out ten dollars.
I got it for $110 so it was a steal, but the listing said it had a bad IMEI. I looked it up and it said the IMEI wasn't flagged whatseover (Financed Sprint phones will be flagged, but for some reason this T-mobile one wasn't.) So I get the phone and do all the rooting and realize that's not how to carrier unlock this phone, even though it works for the h930.
So I had to unroot it and try through the T-mobile app. I got an "unlock failed, device not eligible." I called T-mobile and they said they couldn't help me and I had to go to the T-mobile store.
Went to the T-mobile store and it came up as the original user didn't pay their bills.
Anyway, I re-rooted it and noticed that when I put in my red pocket sim card, I get a prompt to put in an unlock code. Curiously, my old T-mobile SIM seems to work, I would just need to pay for service.
We'll see if the unlock code works. Worst comes to worst, it goes back up on eBay and I lost ten dollars.
I've got four more hours left to wait on the code.
Yeah, just as I assumed from the discussion in the other thread:
ChazzMatt said:
For the sake of discussion the comments below assume it has a bad IMEI...
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If it does have a bad IMEI, then T-Mobile is not going to unlock it for you. You may need to try unlocking service. Good luck.
Here's the caveat... Even if you do get it carrier unlocked by unlocking service (and it still has the same IMEI), you will not know if the unlocking is successful until you try a non-U.S. SIM card outside the United States. Because all U.S. carriers will still have the phone blacklisted due to the bad IMEI.
As you know, "bad IMEI" is when people either don't finish paying for the phone or don't pay for their contracted term of service. Or the phone is reported lost or stolen.
Sent via open market LG US998 V30/V30+
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I've seen many bad IMEI and it often is because of financing or Buy One Get One Free deals (BOGO). T-mobile had a bunch of those on the V30 when it was introduced, and while it was indeed buy one get one free, you had to open a new line, keep it open for a period of time, blah blah blah. Same with Sprint. People go to the store, get the two phones, try to sell one or both on eBay and walk away from their contractual commitment. Thus the bad IMEI. It's not always going to show up as just "financing" as the situation gets complicated than just financing.
How did the seller know it was bad IMEI when it doesn't show up for you that way in the databases? Or they knew it had bad IMEI because they are the one who walked away?
I'm also curious if the 3rd party unlocker code will actually let it be used with U.S. carriers. Will it still be on some bad IMEI database? Carrier unlocking and bad IMEI are two different things.
At least with Sprint, you can convert to US998 with Frankenstein to carrier unlock it and carriers outside the U.S. don't care about the "bad IMEI" report:
crumbling9999 said:
Bought a bad IMEI LS998 for cheap when eBay had the sitewide 10% off, did the usual (converted to US998 to carrier unlock), works fine in Australia.
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Whereas with T-mobile H932, you can't do that. T-mobile still has full control, unless a 3rd party unlocker can do it AND (for inside the U.S.) it's still not on some "bad IMEI" database.
ChazzMatt said:
Yeah, just as I assumed from the discussion in the other thread:
I've seen many bad IMEI and it often is because of financing or Buy One Get One Free deals (BOGO). T-mobile had a bunch of those on the V30 when it was introduced, and while it was indeed buy one get one free, you had to open a new line, keep it open for a period of time, blah blah blah. Same with Sprint. People go to the store, get the two phones, try to sell one or both on eBay and walk away from their contractual commitment. Thus the bad IMEI. It's not always going to show up as just "financing" as the situation gets complicated.
How did the seller know it was bad IMEI when it doesn't show up for you that way in the databases? Or they knew it had bad IMEI because they are the one who walked away?
I'm also curious if the 3rd party unlocker code will actually let it be used with U.S. carriers. Will it still be on some bad IMEI database? Carrier unlocking and bad IMEI are two different things.
At least with Sprint, you can convert to US998 with Frankenstein to carrier unlock it and carriers outside the U.S. don't care about the "bad IMEI" report. With T-mobile H932, you can't do that. T-mobile still has full control, unless a 3rd party unlocker can do it AND (for inside the U.S.) it's still not on some "bad IMEI" database.
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My guess is they knew it was financed. When it came in the mail, it was on the 10d firmware so it was ready to root. I imagine they tried to do it through T-Mobile and T-Mo said the original account owner had a balance to pay off. I actually asked the seller why it said Bad IMEI when the database says it's clean and they said "It will be a bad IMEI soon." The phone still doesn't show up in the database as bad IMEI, but it's in T-Mobile's database as financed so I can't use their unlocker.
I'm curious if the phone would actually work on T-Mobile's network. I'm guessing not, but I did get full bars when I put in my T-Mobile sim. I'm not going to spend $30 on a month of activation to test it, however.
It seems to still be on a global whitelist. I imagine all the 3rd party service does is brute force a code and send it to me (somehow). That said I should have paid for the better service (that was $15 at another site) instead of this one because I'm still waiting for a code. But once I get that code, I can't see the phone not working on Red Pocket/AT&T.
Anyway, I guess this keeps me occupied for the time being. Even for bad IMEI phones, there's quite the market on eBay. There's probably a lot of people with those Octopus boxes.
Nah, its more for international buyers. IMEI blacklist are only country-wide, and they're a great way to get a cheap phone, even accounting for shipping and import charges. Its kinda unethical, but the phone is already stolen, and if you don't buy it someone else will so /shrug. H932 never sells, because there aren't any reliable way to unlock them, compared to the rest of the lines.
Runningnak3d over in the V20 forum gave cracking the T-Mobile unlocking system a shot, but no dice. It seems to drop some sort of file, which is read by the modem firmware on boot to trigger the unlock. Someone can dump their partitions, relock the phone then reflash it to unlock it. But the same partition dump can't unlock a different phone, which suggest the file is generated on the fly on T-Mobile server on the app's request, then dropped by the app. 3rd party T-Mobile unlock services presumably has a backdoor into T-Mobile service to change their database and approve unlocking for blocked/financed devices
crumbling9999 said:
Nah, its more for international buyers. IMEI blacklist are only country-wide, and they're a great way to get a cheap phone, even accounting for shipping and import charges. Its kinda unethical, but the phone is already stolen, and if you don't buy it someone else will so /shrug. H932 never sells, because there aren't any reliable way to unlock them, compared to the rest of the lines.
Runningnak3d over in the V20 forum gave cracking the T-Mobile unlocking system a shot, but no dice. It seems to drop some sort of file, which is read by the modem firmware on boot to trigger the unlock. Someone can dump their partitions, relock the phone then reflash it to unlock it. But the same partition dump can't unlock a different phone, which suggest the file is generated on the fly on T-Mobile server on the app's request, then dropped by the app. 3rd party T-Mobile unlock services presumably has a backdoor into T-Mobile service to change their database and approve unlocking for blocked/financed devices
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Click to collapse
So I bought the codes but can't figure out where to put them. I put in an ATT Sim and it asks me for a code. It accepts the code but doesn't do anything, it seems