Hi guys. Newbie here - go easy...
I have recently purchased a refurbished Pixel 3 XL from a New Zealand company here in New Zealand.
The IMEI number begins with 35. With a bit of research I discover that this is a Verizon device.
I'd like to appy an official Google firmware image to my phone, but to do this the "OEM Unlocking" feature under settings needs to be set to enabled. This is greyed out on my device.
Researching this I understand that this had been enforced by Verizon for some reason. We do not have Verizon in New Zealand.
Is there some magic that can allow me to enable this setting somehow?
Otherwise I've just wasted a whole heap of money!
You're going to have to sell it an buy an unlockable Google version. Those IMEIs start with 99.
You can still apply a Google full OTA with the bootloader locked. There are instructions as well as downloads on the linked page.
Verizon locks the bootloader in a belief that it reduces their support costs due to people attempting flashes and getting it wrong, or installing modifications that cause problems.
Related
This is the only thing left to solve for a working phone. AT&T branded E980, but trying to use another carrier. Entering code "2945#*980#" gets me to the "SIM unlock process" 5 category unlock screen. They are all clickable, but the message "Your phone is not personalized" pops up on all of them, with the unlock code area grayed out, & then a "dismiss" message pops up. I can't enter an unlock code in a grayed out screen. With all of the software available, there must be one that allows USB unlocking. Can someone please point me in the right direction, even if I have to pay to have it done.
Ttongsul said:
This is the only thing left to solve for a working phone. AT&T branded E980, but trying to use another carrier. Entering code "2945#*980#" gets me to the "SIM unlock process" 5 category unlock screen. They are all clickable, but the message "Your phone is not personalized" pops up on all of them, with the unlock code area grayed out, & then a "dismiss" message pops up. I can't enter an unlock code in a grayed out screen. With all of the software available, there must be one that allows USB unlocking. Can someone please point me in the right direction, even if I have to pay to have it done.
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Are there not unlock sites anymore ? I bought mine unlocked and haven't unlocked a phone since my note i717
2SHAYNEZ
shayneflashindaily said:
Are there not unlock sites anymore ? I bought mine unlocked and haven't unlocked a phone since my note i717
2SHAYNEZ
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What good is a code if you can't access the unlock screen because it's grayed out? BTW, I may have not been crystal clear in other started posts, but I did buy it unlocked, even though it wasn't what we would consider unlocked, & the vendor wont admit it wasn't fully unlocked. I made the mistake of having played with it since then (my mistake), figuring it was returnable, but can't get around the grayed out code unlock screen.
Then I don't know what to tell you bud ...... Keep searching
2SHAYNEZ
Sent the phone out for warranty service. Received it back a few days ago with a voided warranty & a SOL message. Not happy. Today I looked for a local business that could help out. It was a fun day running around to different cell phone stores that listed unlocking as a service. I finally found one that knew what they were doing. They claimed the phone was already unlocked, & tried an AT&T prepaid SIM to test it. After it passed that test, all it took was a call to Metro to register the IMEI on their network, & then entering the correct APN numbers. I now have a fully functioning E980. As for the seller & the warranty center, pretty obvious they don't have a clue & need some lessons on customer service.
So you needed the APN set lol
Sent from my LG-E980 using XDA Free mobile app
shayneflashindaily said:
So you needed the APN set lol
Sent from my LG-E980 using XDA Free mobile app
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Ahhhh...... No. I figured out what the APN was from my other phone & entered it manually. It's the same one that's in there now, so it was a different problem causing the non-connection. The phone automatically found both AT&T, MPCS, & some other unidentifiable networks by searching. It wouldn't automatically connect, then it timed out. Then when the APN was manually entered it would save, but still wouldn't connect. It had to be registered manually with MPCS, through MPCS, & by MPCS. In fact, when I popped the SIM card in & started the phone, it would find MPCS, the company icon would briefly show on the screen, & then it would disconnect. After they registered the IMEI, it took a couple of minutes to find the phone over the network & connect. It's all good now.
Just so you know, if you are getting the "Your phone is not personalized" message, that means the phone is already network unlocked.
cougar214 said:
Just so you know, if you are getting the "Your phone is not personalized" message, that means the phone is already network unlocked.
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There was some confusion about that in other forum posts, because the wording wasn't exact compared known unlocked conditions. It can now be added to that group of known unlocked terms.
Hey folks,
I bought an S7 Active from eBay and I'm using it in Ireland. Everything is working fine that I need, but my carrier recently introduced WiFi Calling and upon trying to set it up from the setting menu where it reads
"wifi calling lets you make and receive calls over wifi with your at&t accoumt. when you use wifi calling, information about the country where the wifi connection is made will be sent to your carrier. Learn more about wifi calling (link).
GET STARTED"
I get the following error:
"Wifi Calling activation not successful, try again later"
I rang support for my carrier and they think it's something to do with the handset. They support the S7 and the S7 Edge but as the S7 Active is an AT&T exclusive and appears to have custom AT&T software, it seems like it might be trying to connect to AT&T and it can't?
Also, when I check for software updates, it says AT&T Software Update at the top of the screen, now this doesn't give any errors and it says software up to date, so I'm not sure if this is correct or if there's new software out that it can't connect to update?
Is there any way around this? I know maybe it's possible to ROOT and install a new ROM, but I'd rather avoid that hassle..
Any feedback would be great
I am in the same situation. S7 Active unlocked from EBAY, and using it in Czech Republic with Vodafone sim. Is here chance to get OTA Nougat update?
I'm using one in Canada and flashed the updates described in another thread in this phone's forum. They will reset your phone to factory, but you will have 7.0 nougat and security patches into April, 2017. I doubt any kind of OTA will be forthcoming unless you have an ATT SIM, but I'm not an expert in this at all. I plan on keeping good backups and flashing the updates as they become available. Aside from that, it's a great phone. If they make the s8 active global, then I'll look into getting one some time down the road.
Thanks for the replies. Does the S8 have an active version? I hadn't heard anything on it yet?
so when you flash nougat 7, does it completely wipe and install a new ROM on your phone, or it just updates the AT&T rom, so even with the update, you're still bound to the AT&T settings for updates/wifi calling etc?
Yes, it wipes out the phone completely, you'll have to set it up again. Everything else is same, such as AT&T bloats, wifi calling etc.
Ok thanks for letting me know. So no point I guess if it doesn't solve the issue
I live in Czech Republic. In situation, when I will buy prepaid sim card from AT T, and I will use it in my unlocked S7 Active, it is possible to get OTA Nougat update?
That's not a bad idea, would possibly work for the OTA update, but maybe not if it's not actually connected to AT&T?
It wouldn't work for the wifi calling though I'm sure?
faronium said:
I'm using one in Canada and flashed the updates described in another thread in this phone's forum. They will reset your phone to factory, but you will have 7.0 nougat and security patches into April, 2017. I doubt any kind of OTA will be forthcoming unless you have an ATT SIM, but I'm not an expert in this at all. I plan on keeping good backups and flashing the updates as they become available. Aside from that, it's a great phone. If they make the s8 active global, then I'll look into getting one some time down the road.
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I'm in Edmonton AB, Yes, there will be nothing for updates or WiFi calling if you are not on the ATT network with their SIM.
Which ROM did you update to, the QD4, or past it?
Keep it rolling
I'd love to know more about using the S7 Active internationally from anyone who has been down that road already. In the UK and considering getting one from Ebay but I would immediately want to update it to Nougat and I'm unsure if this will be possible? I have a Mac laptop in the house and would hope to use that to apply any upgrades. Really appreciate any info you guys have!
mmmbient said:
I'd love to know more about using the S7 Active internationally from anyone who has been down that road already. In the UK and considering getting one from Ebay but I would immediately want to update it to Nougat and I'm unsure if this will be possible? I have a Mac laptop in the house and would hope to use that to apply any upgrades. Really appreciate any info you guys have!
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ODIN is only available for Windows (Vista/7/8/10). You will have to run Wine for just the Odin program or Boot Camp for the full Windows OS in a partition.
Wine is the easiest solution, start there and install the program, USB drivers.
UnableToResetOldProfile said:
ODIN is only available for Windows (Vista/7/8/10). You will have to run Wine for just the Odin program or Boot Camp for the full Windows OS in a partition.
Wine is the easiest solution, start there and install the program, USB drivers.
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I to am in the UK and purchased a S7 Active from Ebay. The phone came in a sealed box and worked fine. No AT&T logo at startup or bloatware. However when I rebooted the phone after switching of, an integrity error came up which forced me to wipe/erase the phone. I thought maybe a first time glitch but it did it again and all was lost. Had my old S4 Active so persevered and read info on this post to reflash firmware to QB2 using ODIN. Now note this is the first time i have ever attempted anything like this so complete newbie. However all went well and I now have a phone on Nougat. It reboots without error now. But it is now back to AT&T with logo at Startup and US voice for google navigation etc... Google pay now does work though. I am pleased with my results but would love to have firmware that makes it non AT&T specific for use in the UK, any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Hello fellow members, I just have a quick question. I am about to purchase a Google Pixel XL from someone & I want to be sure that I am getting the Google version & the Verizon one. Ive done some research on Google, XDA & Reddit about this but I cant seem to be able to find a clear answer. It seems that the easiest way is to download "CID Getter" from the playstore in order to check that the CID is all "1's" if Im looking for the Google model as oppose to it saying "VZW_01" which indicates its the Verizon model. I am aware of the bootloader toggle & stuff but I rather go the extra step when it involves paying $500. Can anyone please verify if I am correct? Thanks in advance
Spider_Pig27 said:
Hello fellow members, I just have a quick question. I am about to purchase a Google Pixel XL from someone & I want to be sure that I am getting the Google version & the Verizon one. Ive done some research on Google, XDA & Reddit about this but I cant seem to be able to find a clear answer. It seems that the easiest way is to download "CID Getter" from the playstore in order to check that the CID is all "1's" if Im looking for the Google model as oppose to it saying "VZW_01" which indicates its the Verizon model. I am aware of the bootloader toggle & stuff but I rather go the extra step when it involves paying $500. Can anyone please verify if I am correct? Thanks in advance
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I just bought a pixel XL 128gb white google version. First i educated myself, didnt want to get scam with a verizon version. From what i read, did this is what i did. I contacted the person and just making sure it was the google version....dont take their word but at least is a start. When u meet up with the guy make sure u have ur sim or internet connection u can tether to connect the pixel to wifi. Turn on the phone and go to "developer option" since u are here u probably know how to enable it. (Tapping 8 time on build number). Check if u can ENABLE OEM UNLOCKING. if the phone does not have internet connection it will be grey out. Mine was grey out and became enable after i connected the device to the internet. If u can enable that then u are good to go knowing u have a google version. Just make sure everything else works has a standard purchase. Screen, no burn in, blown speakers etc
Hello all,
I was warned of an impending "update" a few nights ago. Since it hit, my mobile hotspot no longer works.
Does anyone else have an S7 Active on Red Pocket who has a working hotspot? If so, could you share the APN settings you are using, and the Android version you are on?
I think they rolled me back to January 2018. G891AUCU2BRB5
Would rather not factory reset or root, but getting very close to doing so. Neither RP or AT&T are helpful here.
Thank you,
Bob
Red Pocket Mobile Hotspot problem solved - stock Oreo 8.0 fixed it
Well, for anyone who might encounter this, I finally resolved it.
Pulled the SIM card and did a factory reset. Then it recognized the Oreo update over Wifi. Had to load an intermediate update first.
I put it Red Pocket's AP settings.
First time I tried Mobile Hotspot, it still didn't work.
Restarted the phone.
Still didn't work.
Then I remembered one rep saying to switch MVNO type to "IMSI".
3rd times a charm. Hotspot and USB tether now both working.
After ten hours of wading through poor advice, I'm back to where I was four days ago.
With one exception: I learned how to turn on Developer Mode (tap Build Number 7 times in Software Info)
AND SHUT OFF THE AUTOMATIC UPDATES UNDER DEVELOPER MODE SO IT WON'T HAPPEN AGAIN!!!
I have a stock S7 Active/G891A that I bought unlocked on eBay in March of 2018. It's currently running Oreo 8.0.0, build G891AUCS4CSA3. I just now disabled OTA updates thanks to you.
I've been trying to get Mobile Hotspot to work on this phone ever since I switched Consumer Cellular several months ago. Whenever I tried to enable hotspotting the phone screen would display a popup:
Please wait while verifying
Which was a normal message on the AT&T network, but now (using AT&T's network through Consumer Cellular), after 5-10 seconds a different window would appear:
Tethering/Mobile AP is unavailable.
A network issue may be preventing use of your Mobile Hotspot. Please call Customer Care at 611.
[excessive hard-coded line breaks omitted]
Over the course of several weeks in January I literally spent hours on the phone with several Consumer Cellular 1st and 2nd tier support techs trying to get past that error. Tier 2 support gave me new APN settings, had me do a network reset, and suggested that I do a factory reset. Which I did later, but that didn't work, either. Then CC tier 2 support gave up and bumped my ticket to tier 3. Tier 3 support then transmitted their version of an APN definition to my phone, but still no love. At the end of the 2nd week of phone tag, a Tier 2 tech told me that "it <Mobile Hotspot> just doesn't work with some phones not sold by us".
Maybe hotspotting won't work with my old Motorola Razor, but I was pretty sure that I'd eventually strike gold with my trusty G891A.
Because my S7 Active has version 4 of the boot loader (thank you, latest and final OTA), I haven't been able to find anything that resembles a working root. I even paid OneClickRoot to do it via remote desktop session, hoping that they had some good mojo that I hadn't yet discovered. But their support tech hit a wall, too, and ended up flashing my phone back to stock Oreo 8.0.0. They also refunded my purchase almost immediately which made me sort of happy but still sad that I had no Hotspot abilities.
While searching for possible workarounds (ROMS, root, mystical incantations) tonight I came across your posts:
bobcpdx said:
[snip]
Then I remembered one rep saying to switch MVNO type to "IMSI".
[snip]
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So I followed your tip. I created a new APN definition and copied in all of the values from the CC Tier 3 definition . I then set Mobile virtual network operator type to imsi . This value was set to None in all in all of the other APN definitions on my phone.
I didn't even need to reboot the phone. I selected my new APN definition and enabled Mobile Hotspot. The first message about verifying came up. But then the phone didn't direct me to dial 611. Mobile Hotspot simply started working.
Thanks every so much for sharing this insight.
bobcpdx said:
Well, for anyone who might encounter this, I finally resolved it.
…..
Then I remembered one rep saying to switch MVNO type to "IMSI".
3rd times a charm. Hotspot and USB tether now both working.
….
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WOW! Thanks so much for posting this. I've been struggling for a couple of months to find a way to hotspot my two unlocked LG's (G6 and a G7) on Cricket and Consumer Cellular. This trick enabled hotspot/tether quickly and easily.
My apologies to Cricket and CC, for my unflattering thoughts about them. I assumed it was their issue! Not sure why these unlocked LG's are fidgety like this. We got a Moto X4 (Android One flavor) in the family, and it can hotspot with no tweaking.
BTW - I have a similar issue with call forwarding on the LG's. Can't enable it, get an error. But the Moto X4 has no problem on either of these AT&T MVNO's. Anyone have an easy answer for that? Thanks.
This doesn't answer the call forwarding question. I'm not sure who pushes OTA updates, but soon after my last post I got a notification that an my phone needed to be rebooted for an update to finish. This was after I (at least thought that I had) disabled automatic updates. After the update the hotspot feature no longer worked. I checked APN settings and found that the update had reset the APN MVNO type to NONE . I manually changed it back to imsi and it's been working ever since. I also made sure (twice with reboot in between) that automatic OTA Updates are disabled.
Although enabling/disabling these features seems to be problematic with AT&T MVNOs, what I find more curious is that techs at Consumer Cellular claim not to know how to fix them. Maybe that's true, or maybe that's what they are told to say.
Was it coincidence that I received an OTA update within days of making this change, or is the Big Brother with the Blue Death Star logo watching us so closely?
Not really looking for specifics, but I am just generally curious how this is performed?
I have a Samsung A01 that's locked to StraightTalk/TracFone, that i'd like to get on to Verzion. They don't allow the device to be unlocked until after 12 months.
Regardless of my specific device, some websites mention they just send a code (my device doesn't prompt for a pin unlock), where others require access to your PC and do something to the tethered device.
How do these other services get the unlock codes, or perform unlocks on other similar situations? Do these sites have access to someone working at the carriers to supply the codes? Some sort of keygen? These seem to be the most legit, and last through wipes. Some sites say they do stuff to devices remotely, and the unlock doesn't last through a format - are these rooting or installing some sort of custom rom, or just adb'ing and editing some file?
Three categories:
1. Unlock codes supplied by carrier staff
2. Unlock codes generated algorithmically from IMEI/SN, reverse-engineered into keygen
3. Software vulnerabilities / hacks
The software is not bug-free: some devices have bootloader or kernel level vulnerabilities or logic check errors which could be used for unlocking. Sometimes the vulnerabilities could be used to make proper permanent unlock, another time they work only on exact software version and deactivate upon updating.
I remember the case when the vulnerability was used to unlock the phone on a single exact firmware version, that phones were sold on ebay/aliexpress pre-unlocked with that FW, with disabled updates, without notifying the potential buyer that the device is not fully functional.
Nowadays rare, but a decade ago it was fairly common for the manufacturers to implement unlock code generation based on IMEI or serial number. Since it's an algorithm, software researcher can find it in the firmware files, reverse-engineer and reimplement it in a form of keygen.
Many unlocking websites are run by people with superficial technical knowledge, driven by money. They find carrier staff who can provide them unlock codes or buy access to some kind of panel with the codes, then resell them on their website. If they have connections with software researchers, they may pay for making unlocking tool out of vulnerability concept (they call it a 'solution'). Sometimes they just take a free unlocking solutions off the internet, repack and make it look like theirs (happened to me multiple times).
As the website guys are not smart and the model range is huge, it's typical for unlocking page to contain generic instructions which could not be applied to all carrier-modified devices.