[Q] Verizon Developer Edition - Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Ok, so I hope in my searching I didn't miss the answer to my question.
I'm looking at getting the S5 Verizon Developer Edition. I contacted Samsung (no, I don't know why I bothered). I wanted to know if download booster was blocked like on the regular version, what their return policy was, if the electric blue would be an option, what unlocking/rooting would require, etc.
My main question was about the rooting/unlocking and the download booster. Does anyone know what it takes to root/unlock the developer edition? I know it's not locked down like the normal version...but I don't know if it's an option you can just select or if I'd have to find a root/unlock here on XDA.
Any/all info on what the developer edition differences really are would be greatly appreciated!

I contacted them again today to ask. They are now telling me they do believe that Download booster is enabled. BUT...they're telling me I can only return the device if it's new and unopened. I am worried what if I have any issues with activation (which would require me to open the box...duh). They have transferred my call to 4 departments, and no one is sure if they would allow a return under those circumstances. I really don't want to spend $600 on a phone that I can't do anything with.
Does anyone here have any experience with the S5 developer edition??

Not sure if anyone reading this thread is interested as I've gotten no posts, but I did get an official reply directly from Samsung's offices (from the President's office to be exact).
Hello Mr. ____,
Thank you for your inquiry. Please see below responses to the concerns you have inquired about:
“does Download Booster work on this device as Verizon disabled it on their version?” -> The software on the device behaves the same as the consumer version of the Verizon GS5.
“does unlocking the device void the warrantee?” -> The device comes with an unlocked bootloader, the warranty is a 30 day hardware warranty or until the device has been modified beyond factory specifications. If the device requires service we will be able to provide a service estimate on repairs requires outside of the 30 day warranty period.
“My question is if I get the device and Verizon is unable to activate it on their network (which would require me to open the box to test this), can I return it?” ->For this reason the restocking fee can be waived on a case by case basis.
Best Regards,
Office of the President
Samsung Telecommunications America

smokeydriver said:
Not sure if anyone reading this thread is interested as I've gotten no posts, but I did get an official reply directly from Samsung's offices (from the President's office to be exact).
Hello Mr. ____,
Thank you for your inquiry. Please see below responses to the concerns you have inquired about:
“does Download Booster work on this device as Verizon disabled it on their version?” -> The software on the device behaves the same as the consumer version of the Verizon GS5.
“does unlocking the device void the warrantee?” -> The device comes with an unlocked bootloader, the warranty is a 30 day hardware warranty or until the device has been modified beyond factory specifications. If the device requires service we will be able to provide a service estimate on repairs requires outside of the 30 day warranty period.
“My question is if I get the device and Verizon is unable to activate it on their network (which would require me to open the box to test this), can I return it?” ->For this reason the restocking fee can be waived on a case by case basis.
Best Regards,
Office of the President
Samsung Telecommunications America
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for going through the trouble of contacting Samsung on this. I am generally concerned with the ability to root, and of course activate on Verizon network (???). I never thought activation would even be a question. Do you have anything that instigated that concern or are you just being thorough?

EnigmaRaptor said:
Thanks for going through the trouble of contacting Samsung on this. I am generally concerned with the ability to root, and of course activate on Verizon network (???). I never thought activation would even be a question. Do you have anything that instigated that concern or are you just being thorough?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, I didn't have a reason to think the activation wouldn't work other than being cautious.
I just know that when you buy an item and there are no returns once opened, I get worried that when some other company gets involved, it'll become a blame game and Verizon would say "We didn't sell it".
The more I play with other peoples S5's, the less I see a need to upgrade personally though. I'm running a great ROM right now on my Galaxy Nexus. I just want a phone that as everything, and his (and all phones) seem to be lacking in a few areas. I really wish I could just call them (Samsung, HTC, etc.) to tell them what I want in my phone!

smokeydriver said:
No, I didn't have a reason to think the activation wouldn't work other than being cautious.
I just know that when you buy an item and there are no returns once opened, I get worried that when some other company gets involved, it'll become a blame game and Verizon would say "We didn't sell it".
The more I play with other peoples S5's, the less I see a need to upgrade personally though. I'm running a great ROM right now on my Galaxy Nexus. I just want a phone that as everything, and his (and all phones) seem to be lacking in a few areas. I really wish I could just call them (Samsung, HTC, etc.) to tell them what I want in my phone!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am surprised that you can live with the Galaxy Nexus. I have one as well (with Verizon's extended battery), and the battery life is completely abysmal. the GS5 is a new world of long battery life and I can actually turn on ALL of the features I wan't without being chained to a charging cord. I had a retail S5 for about 3 weeks before selling it to pay for my Dev version. It was a monumental upgrade over my GNex in every regard, except I missed rooting too much to keep it.

Yeah, I hate the battery life. I have 2 of the extended batteries, and I keep one in my pocket at all times. The batter life is a joke...between waking up and leaving the house an hour later, I can be down to 70% battery life fairly often.
I do want the battery life of the newer high end devices (S5, M8), but I'm hoping the S5 active has everything I really want (3 GB RAM, image stabilization, Snapdragon 805, replaceable battery, memory card slot, etc. etc. etc).

Related

Nobody wants the KIN

Today I called Microsoft, Danger, Nvidia, Sharp, and Verizon about the KIN. I wanted to know about the Windows phone 7 merge claim from Microsoft, the rom for the phone, and the lack of support for the tegra apx series. Microsoft told me "I'm going to transfer you to the mobile service center" and after a ring the call ended. Danger's phone number doesn't even work anymore. Nvidia told me they only support the Tegra 2 series. Sharp claims "We do not make the kin here at sharp". While Verizon said they would be happy to release a rom to me as long as I had proper permission from sharp. So my question is... Who the hell wants to take responsibility for this damn device?
nice effort
Wow, quite a run around - frustrating that they don't want anything to do with this phone. I appreciate what you are doing.
If you aren't fed up yet, try again. Maybe with some "social engineering" Vzw will release the rom. Also, maybe a different sharp office?
Keep up the good work!
Jon
Thanks for the update this gives me a little hope of atleast getting a rom from verizon. My phone is currently bricked, but I think that if I was able to get a rom I could flash it and have a working phone again. I will contact verizon with the approach of fixing my phone.
Thanks for all the efforts and the info posted.
As stated above, a hope of a rom of some kind is a light of "hope" to get it working on our bricked phones and to do something with our cute smartphones. ^^
Can this device work on GSM networks? I am confused as some sites are selling unlocked codes for the Kin Two, to enable GSM functions? If this is true, I'll get one.
erlern said:
Can this device work on GSM networks? I am confused as some sites are selling unlocked codes for the Kin Two, to enable GSM functions? If this is true, I'll get one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope. It works on CDMA or kinda networks. Has no SIM either.
Just wandering again... what's the requirement on the stated by verizon: "sharp permission".
Cause if i read right, in other thread attempts, sharp was OK if verizon wanted to give it, and verizon is OK if sharp does...
So.. what's (exactly) needed to make verizon give away a rom?
I've been going into Verizon stores in several cities here in South GA the last few days asking about maybe getting a Kin Twom. (I travel around for work). So far EVERY sales person I talked to has told me that I should not get this phone.... That I will not like it and will want to bring it back within a week because it will stop working! Dang!....I would kind of like to have one! Are they just that bad...."really"?
Just FYI stuff mostly. Also I am a 50 year old man, so they probably think I can't figure out how to turn the thing on....lol
When I emailed Verizon about support for bricked phones, their reply was:
At this time,there are no software updates planned for the Kin Twom. Verizon Wireless does not have any control over the software updates because we are not the developers of this device. We simply offer the wireless service to the device.
All devices have a one year manufacture's warranty. If you experience a manufacture's defect within one year (and the phone does not have physical/liquid damage) Verizon Wireless is happy to replace the device free of charge. The "Updating Modem" screen (which has not been listed as a known issue) should not be a concern. Please remember, thousands and thousands of people have this device and only a small amount of people have reported problems.
dezgrz, maybe Verizon was just telling you what you wanted to hear about being willing to release the ROM if Sharp gives the OK. Nobody wants to own up and take accountability on this phone.
Alright, so I called Sharp, rep said they don't support the phone since they just developed the screen and then gave me a number.
1-800-229-1235
www.pcdphones.com
I talked with a tech explaining johnkussack's "updating screen" problem and tech said he never heard/seen that problem before. So then he said that I can send it in for them to look at.
Send broken/bricked phone to
Personal Communications Devices, LLC.
555 Wireless Blvd
Hauppauge, NY 11788
Include a letter with:
Your name
Return Address
Description of the problem with the phone
You pay to ship it to them, and they will pay for shipping it back. The returned guy said it could take up to 2 weeks.
So we have a place for support. Now someone else call and asked about how they restore a bricked phone back to factory functional form and if they can give us the tools to do so. Then ask about releasing the ROM.

Carrier policies, any insiders

Gonna try and make this short and try and not get attacked or flamed.
I've done retail and sales, managed many big retail stores and even been a district manager.
In my business, you buy something, you own it, it's yours to do whatever you want. Also, there is a return policy and depending on the issue policy can be bent in a put out the fire situation.
The phone business is not like this and I don't understand. If I buy a phone, it is mine, I own therefore why couldn't I do what I wanted. I should be able to wipe my butt with it if I wanted to.
So why do carriers treat it differently. They have the policy about rooting, so why not let the buyer do it, take the risk, and just enforce the policy.
Especially considering we buy it, it's ours and we should be able to do what we want with things we own. Just my opinion because it is retail sales which I know like the back of my hand, but the mobile side of it baffles me.
Anybody an employee or former employee who can explain why mobile phones is one of the only things you can buy but never feel like you completely own it.
Just seems not right coming from years in retail with many many companies.
The problem lies in the warranty and being able to take advantages of services without paying.
Instance 1: A noob roots their phone, bricks it, and doesn't know how to get it back to normal. They call Verizon and say their phone just died. Verizon has to spend time and money sending a replacement.
Instance 2: We have unlimited. We root and unlock free tethering. They lose on "potential" revenues. (Although we do have foxfi on the play store, but its still slow as it goes through a vpn.
I do agree that we should have full control of our devices though. Unfortunately, we can only make changes with out dollars.
Yeah I can see that but as far as warranty they will check for root so that shouldn't be a factor. I'm sure at this point that is the first thing they check.
They have to know that tethering can be exploited either way.
And my understanding is they don't care and don't make money on the phones but their service charges.
I would encourage people to root if I were them because if they did it right they would make more profit because they wouldn't have to spend money to fix it forcing buyers to have no choice but buy another.
I know it will not change but as a person familiar with making money in retail they could increase revenu .
Not counting with them having for the most part the best service and networks thousands of people would flock there to get an unlocked verizon phone.
Busines wise, if done properly they would make a killing changing their stance
sprintuser1977 said:
Yeah I can see that but as far as warranty they will check for root so that shouldn't be a factor. I'm sure at this point that is the first thing they check.
They have to know that tethering can be exploited either way.
And my understanding is they don't care and don't make money on the phones but their service charges.
I would encourage people to root if I were them because if they did it right they would make more profit because they wouldn't have to spend money to fix it forcing buyers to have no choice but buy another.
I know it will not change but as a person familiar with making money in retail they could increase revenu .
Not counting with them having for the most part the best service and networks thousands of people would flock there to get an unlocked verizon phone.
Busines wise, if done properly they would make a killing changing their stance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Although i agree with everything that was said by you, the people calling the shots are probably way too old to understand that there's always a way through everything (for example root in order to get free hot spot working). The other problem is i would assume is that they can't always prove a phone was rooted. Let's say someone was trying to flash a custom rom and accidentally flashed the system leaving only the boot recovery present with no OS and they didn't know how to Odin back to stock, Verizon can't prove that the phone was rooted. For all they know maybe the user was performing an update and something happened.
Whatever the case... I wish we had full access over our devices :crying:
sprintuser1977 said:
Gonna try and make this short and try and not get attacked or flamed.
I've done retail and sales, managed many big retail stores and even been a district manager.
In my business, you buy something, you own it, it's yours to do whatever you want. Also, there is a return policy and depending on the issue policy can be bent in a put out the fire situation.
The phone business is not like this and I don't understand. If I buy a phone, it is mine, I own therefore why couldn't I do what I wanted. I should be able to wipe my butt with it if I wanted to.
So why do carriers treat it differently. They have the policy about rooting, so why not let the buyer do it, take the risk, and just enforce the policy.
Especially considering we buy it, it's ours and we should be able to do what we want with things we own. Just my opinion because it is retail sales which I know like the back of my hand, but the mobile side of it baffles me.
Anybody an employee or former employee who can explain why mobile phones is one of the only things you can buy but never feel like you completely own it.
Just seems not right coming from years in retail with many many companies.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can do what you want with it...but you bought a device that is locked down to increase sales to the Enterprise and Military community. You have the option of buying a developer's edition. You can certainly wipe your butt with it as you mentioned. As for your inability to root it...that is not the carrier telling you what you can't do with it...that comes in voiding the warranty...but look at it as buying a television and not being able to make a transmitter out of it. Of course you could...but it would require a lot of work and knowledge and also void the warranty. Bootloaders have been broken before and root obtained...again...with a lot of work and knowledge. The device works as advertised when sold. If you choose to purchase a device from a carrier with a history of locking them down (S4, Note 3, S5 and now the S3 with it's updates) then you are choosing to support what they are selling. Now as it is a communications device and you are in the US, there are things you cannot do with it per Federal law as stated by the FCC. But that is a whole other can of worms.
dapimpinj said:
The problem lies in the warranty and being able to take advantages of services without paying.
Instance 1: A noob roots their phone, bricks it, and doesn't know how to get it back to normal. They call Verizon and say their phone just died. Verizon has to spend time and money sending a replacement.
Instance 2: We have unlimited. We root and unlock free tethering. They lose on "potential" revenues. (Although we do have foxfi on the play store, but its still slow as it goes through a vpn.
I do agree that we should have full control of our devices though. Unfortunately, we can only make changes with out dollars.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Foxfi works pretty good for me. Going thru a vpn doesn't slow it down for me
my_handle said:
Foxfi works pretty good for me. Going thru a vpn doesn't slow it down for me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good to hear! It must have been my location. I get 5 bars of LTE at home. I'll try it there.
KennyG123 said:
You can do what you want with it...but you bought a device that is locked down to increase sales to the Enterprise and Military community. You have the option of buying a developer's edition. You can certainly wipe your butt with it as you mentioned. As for your inability to root it...that is not the carrier telling you what you can't do with it...that comes in voiding the warranty...but look at it as buying a television and not being able to make a transmitter out of it. Of course you could...but it would require a lot of work and knowledge and also void the warranty. Bootloaders have been broken before and root obtained...again...with a lot of work and knowledge. The device works as advertised when sold. If you choose to purchase a device from a carrier with a history of locking them down (S4, Note 3, S5 and now the S3 with it's updates) then you are choosing to support what they are selling. Now as it is a communications device and you are in the US, there are things you cannot do with it per Federal law as stated by the FCC. But that is a whole other can of worms.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please look up the Verizon Note 4 on Verizon, and show me where in describing the product it states the phone is locked and you can not edit certain things.
I may have missed it but I saw no where on the specifications or feature list where it says that? Only a person who is familiar with rooting or bootloaders and such would know.
As far as warranty, as I said, it's a policy and if I choose to break it that is my choice.
sprintuser1977 said:
Please look up the Verizon Note 4 on Verizon, and show me where in describing the product it states the phone is locked and you can not edit certain things.
I may have missed it but I saw no where on the specifications or feature list where it says that? Only a person who is familiar with rooting or bootloaders and such would know.
As far as warranty, as I said, it's a policy and if I choose to break it that is my choice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not to sound obnoxious but please look up ANY phone and show me where it says that you can root it and it has an unlocked bootloader and you are welcome to change anything you want? You are not brand new...you know what Verizon has been doing for years. There is nothing stopping you from using the phone exactly as advertised in the manual and specifications. Rooting is not an approved use of the phone and offers an extreme security breach of the software..so why would any carrier endorse it or even need to mention if you could or couldn't. Anyone that has been around for more than a year, knows that is what the developer edition is for and should be grateful that Verizon even offers that option. Also knowing you are not brand new, you would know that less than 1% of Verizon customers even know what rooting is. You see the trend, you have choices yet you still chose to support Verizon.
The original point is being ignored.
Simply put if we buy something we should be able to do whatever we want with it.
All retail is like this except phones.
All the details and other miscellaneous stuff is besides the point.
I'm just saying if we own it, we should own it
sprintuser1977 said:
The original point is being ignored.
Simply put if we buy something we should be able to do whatever we want with it.
All retail is like this except phones.
All the details and other miscellaneous stuff is besides the point.
I'm just saying if we own it, we should own it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, but I guess I am missing the point. What is it that you wish to do with this phone that you can do with say...a television, that is listed in the specifications and features of the product you purchased?
To think that executives of Verizon are oblivious to Rooting or custom roms, you are mistaken. Just because they are older does not mean they are dumb. Phones are locked down for one reason: reduce liability on Verizon.
---------- Post added at 07:49 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:46 PM ----------
KennyG123 said:
Sorry, but I guess I am missing the point. What is it that you wish to do with this phone that you can do with say...a television, that is listed in the specifications and features of the product you purchased?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I like this. Phones are locked down to reduce liability and cost of fixing it. This is why companies like HTC will unlock your bootloader while voiding your warranty.
I can't explain it anymore simply, sorry. Here is how it could simply be done:
-I buy the phone
-I want to root the phone
-I call Verizon, tell them I want to root
-They inform me If I do, it voids the warranty and I'm out $700 if I break it
-Ok, i will take that risk
- Verizon notes the account of this, therefore no tricks on cheating the warranty policy and they unlock it
Obviously over simplified, but general idea is they should have a way For us to request it, Note it, and allow us to do it.
Anyway, regardless of how they do it I don't care, it's the fact you buy a 800 dollar phone, if I want to risk breaking it and losing $800, that should be OK as its my property.
Anyway, not going to try and get into a back and forth. I got people's take on it and that's good enough for me.
Thanks everyone for your input.
chriskader said:
To think that executives of Verizon are oblivious to Rooting or custom roms, you are mistaken. Just because they are older does not mean they are dumb. Phones are locked down for one reason: reduce liability on Verizon.
---------- Post added at 07:49 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:46 PM ----------
I like this. Phones are locked down to reduce liability and cost of fixing it. This is why companies like HTC will unlock your bootloader while voiding your warranty.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, Verizon chose to lock down the phones to get huge corporate and military contracts by showing their version of the phone is the most secure. Of course AT&T is also doing the same fighting for those contracts.
sprintuser1977 said:
I can't explain it anymore simply, sorry. Here is how it could simply be done:
-I buy the phone
-I want to root the phone
-I call Verizon, tell them I want to root
-They inform me If I do, it voids the warranty and I'm out $700 if I break it
-Ok, i will take that risk
- Verizon notes the account of this, therefore no tricks on cheating the warranty policy and they unlock it
Obviously over simplified, but general idea is they should have a way For us to request it, Note it, and allow us to do it.
Anyway, regardless of how they do it I don't care, it's the fact you buy a 800 dollar phone, if I want to risk breaking it and losing $800, that should be OK as its my property.
Anyway, not going to try and get into a back and forth. I got people's take on it and that's good enough for me.
Thanks everyone for your input.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I understand and there is a thread in one of the Verizon Sammy phones...Note 3 I think...where a member actually discussed with Verizon executive services the possibility of the same thing HTC did (on other carriers since Verizon locked that door too). I believe the thread is "How much would you pay for unlocking the bootloader" or something like that. He was going to get an idea of how much people would pay for this code direct from Verizon. I think the majority was $25 atm. At least he was pitching the idea to Verizon and they were hearing him out. Perhaps more can do the same?
I was just trying to say that I did not understand how the inability to root would make you feel like the phone was not yours. The PS3 systems if you play online are locked down exactly the same...you jailbreak it and you cannot get on the Playstation network to play online. So it is not just cell phones that do not allow you to do more than the manufacturer promised. I also was stating that you can certainly root and unlock it...if you had the knowledge to do so. I think we just misunderstood each other.
No biggie. I can understand all points of view and in no way was I trying to disregard or disrespect yours.
If it came across that way I apologize.
This is my first verizon phone (it was my only option due to several reasons) and I am amazed at how adamantly opposed to unlocking phones they are.
I've rooted over a dozen phones and this is the first one that I would like to root but it's good enough that if I can't I still love it
sprintuser1977 said:
I can't explain it anymore simply, sorry. Here is how it could simply be done:
-I buy the phone
-I want to root the phone
-I call Verizon, tell them I want to root
-They inform me If I do, it voids the warranty and I'm out $700 if I break it
-Ok, i will take that risk
- Verizon notes the account of this, therefore no tricks on cheating the warranty policy and they unlock it
Obviously over simplified, but general idea is they should have a way For us to request it, Note it, and allow us to do it.
Anyway, regardless of how they do it I don't care, it's the fact you buy a 800 dollar phone, if I want to risk breaking it and losing $800, that should be OK as its my property.
Anyway, not going to try and get into a back and forth. I got people's take on it and that's good enough for me.
Thanks everyone for your input.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I could understand if you pay 800 but seriously of your gonna do that get dev edition as well most ppl get the phone subsidised for less then half of what the phone is woth off of contract so technically you don't own the phone as well you are right there is no where in the vzw policy that says rooting voids your warranty if you read all the rules but it is one of thoes unwritten policy's all companys go buy
jolly_roger_hook said:
I could understand if you pay 800 but seriously of your gonna do that get dev edition as well most ppl get the phone subsidised for less then half of what the phone is woth off of contract so technically you don't own the phone as well you are right there is no where in the vzw policy that says rooting voids your warranty if you read all the rules but it is one of thoes unwritten policy's all companys go buy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is one of the reasons also, the fact that many phones are subsidized through a carrier, and you really don't own them 100% unless you see the contract out to the end, or pay the ETF. I still agree that the customer should be able to buy out the contract, or void their warranty and accept liability themselves for the express purpose of obtaining an unlock code to root/ROM, etc... I think that Verizon may actually go this route some day, just not any time soon.
If I had the ability to not support Verizon and their tight locking policies, I would. But, like many other people, I'm in a region where the only reliable 4G LTE connection is Verizon and Verizon Alone. I had the unlocked Tmobile Note 3 on both Tmobile AND AT&T and my signal was horrible so I was basically forced into getting a Verizon phone for the stability.
I'd like to see the government step in and loosen the grip that carriers have on consumers, though that would mean the end of subsidized phone sales, and maybe the new edge, next programs as well. Tmobile has the right idea, but once they are the size of Verizon, I bet they tighten their rules too...
KennyG123 said:
No, Verizon chose to lock down the phones to get huge corporate and military contracts by showing their version of the phone is the most secure. Of course AT&T is also doing the same fighting for those contracts.
I understand and there is a thread in one of the Verizon Sammy phones...Note 3 I think...where a member actually discussed with Verizon executive services the possibility of the same thing HTC did (on other carriers since Verizon locked that door too). I believe the thread is "How much would you pay for unlocking the bootloader" or something like that. He was going to get an idea of how much people would pay for this code direct from Verizon. I think the majority was $25 atm. At least he was pitching the idea to Verizon and they were hearing him out. Perhaps more can do the same?
I was just trying to say that I did not understand how the inability to root would make you feel like the phone was not yours. The PS3 systems if you play online are locked down exactly the same...you jailbreak it and you cannot get on the Playstation network to play online. So it is not just cell phones that do not allow you to do more than the manufacturer promised. I also was stating that you can certainly root and unlock it...if you had the knowledge to do so. I think we just misunderstood each other.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do not agree about contracts. Phones can be sold to the government that are locked down, KNOX EMM helps with this substantially.
The ability to unlock my bootloader, however, can be sold or marketed along side that. Phones can be wiped when the BL is unlocked officially (fastbootx, etc). Instead, the dev community is forced to find exploits, thus weakening the phones "secure market value". Official unlock that wipes phone or an unofficial exploit that puts all phones at risk? I would rather have the option to officially unlock and void my warranty. However, I understand the stance of some carriers and manufactures for locking it down. Reduce liability for busted phones.
Government agencies also encrypt phones and discipline unauthorized usage.
chriskader said:
I do not agree about contracts. Phones can be sold to the government that are locked down, KNOX EMM helps with this substantially.
The ability to unlock my bootloader, however, can be sold or marketed along side that. Phones can be wiped when the BL is unlocked officially (fastbootx, etc). Instead, the dev community is forced to find exploits, thus weakening the phones "secure market value". Official unlock that wipes phone or an unofficial exploit that puts all phones at risk? I would rather have the option to officially unlock and void my warranty. However, I understand the stance of some carriers and manufactures for locking it down. Reduce liability for busted phones.
Government agencies also encrypt phones and discipline unauthorized usage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Since the community that roots their phones and actually breaks them and returns for warranty is probably in the neighborhood of 0.1% I doubt that has much impact on the decision of Verizon and AT&T to lock down the bootloader....if that was successfully the idea Sprint and T-Mobile would have done the same. I agree that for you Verizon users an alternative of paying to unlock your bootloader and listing the warranty as void would be a great offering...petition Verizon to consider that.
KennyG123 said:
Since the community that roots their phones and actually breaks them and returns for warranty is probably in the neighborhood of 0.1% I doubt that has much impact on the decision of Verizon and AT&T to lock down the bootloader....if that was successfully the idea Sprint and T-Mobile would have done the same. I agree that for you Verizon users an alternative of paying to unlock your bootloader and listing the warranty as void would be a great offering...petition Verizon to consider that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The petition thing is a great idea , and as I also said they could easily implement a way to offer it and track it.
The biggest problem with this whole issue is education as you are right, most people are not aware of exactly the reasons of rooting, what it even means, what they are giving up with bloated and locked down phones, or anything related to just how much privacy they do not have. I have thrown out information to people on my Facebook page and they had no clue.
As far as starting a petition, that is something I have never done before.
Does anyone have a suggestion for starting one, where to start it, or any info at all?
I would definitely do it if someone will head me in the right direction

Verizon Moto G bootloader unlock exploit

I haven't posted on XDA for a while, but recently my friend purchased a Verizon Motorola G for himself and couldn't find a way to unlock the bootloader.
Being *that* kind of friend and all, I did a bit of research and discovered this:
http://blog.azimuthsecurity.com/2013/04/unlocking-motorola-bootloader.html
I was curious if this exploit was still viable, so I quickly captured the latest OTA update of the Verizon Moto G firmware and started IDA...
Amazingly, although the exploitation method would have to be a little different due to changes in the TrustZone kernel,
the original arbitrary memory writing vulnerability still existed and could be exploited.
Code:
int __fastcall smc_vector(int code, int arg1, int arg2, int arg3, int alwaysZero)
{
.........
do
{
*(_DWORD *)(_R6 + 4 * v40) = dword_FC492C8[v40];
++v40;
}
while ( v40 < 4 );
.........
}
The only downside is that to perform said exploit, the smc call would have to execute in kernel context (i.e. kernel space).
Has anyone capitalized on said vulnerability yet and built a bootloader unlocker using this method, or do I have to get to work
and release my own ""exploit"" for this bug?
Or is there some other technical problem hindering the feasibility of all of this?
joshumax said:
I haven't posted on XDA for a while, but recently my friend purchased a Verizon Motorola G for himself and couldn't find a way to unlock the bootloader.
Being *that* kind of friend and all, I did a bit of research and discovered this:
http://blog.azimuthsecurity.com/2013/04/unlocking-motorola-bootloader.html
I was curious if this exploit was still viable, so I quickly captured the latest OTA update of the Verizon Moto G firmware and started IDA...
Amazingly, although the exploitation method would have to be a little different due to changes in the TrustZone kernel,
the original arbitrary memory writing vulnerability still existed and could be exploited.
Code:
int __fastcall smc_vector(int code, int arg1, int arg2, int arg3, int alwaysZero)
{
.........
do
{
*(_DWORD *)(_R6 + 4 * v40) = dword_FC492C8[v40];
++v40;
}
while ( v40 < 4 );
.........
}
The only downside is that to perform said exploit, the smc call would have to execute in kernel context (i.e. kernel space).
Has anyone capitalized on said vulnerability yet and built a bootloader unlocker using this method, or do I have to get to work
and release my own ""exploit"" for this bug?
Or is there some other technical problem hindering the feasibility of all of this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SunShine will unlock the XT1028.
http://theroot.ninja
I was under the assumption that old exploits like this won't wouldn't work on the Moto G...you haven't tried this yet, correct?
d4rk3 said:
SunShine will unlock the XT1028.
http://theroot.ninja
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't trust or like SunShine that much; nor does my friend have the money to purchase the app.
d4rk3 said:
I was under the assumption that old exploits like this won't wouldn't work on the Moto G...you haven't tried this yet, correct?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Old exploits probably won't work out-of-the-box with the Moto G, things have changed...however the code above was in the latest firmware revision of the Verizon Motorola G,
which to me means that theoretically a few smc calls could unlock the Motorola G for good.
And no, sadly I haven't tried this yet, but it still *should* be possible.
XT1028 not unlockable with Sunshine
Sunshine will only unlock Android 4.4.3 and earlier on the Moto G. Verizon pushed the 4.4.4 update out via OTA long before November when Sunshine released support for the Moto G. You would have had to have bought your Moto G earlier in the year and would have had to continually refuse OTA updates to use it. And I also have read some people saying the OTA update went ahead and automatically installed itself anyway despite the phone's owner saying no.
---------- Post added at 10:26 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:07 AM ----------
joshumax said:
I don't trust or like SunShine that much; nor does my friend have the money to purchase the app.
Old exploits probably won't work out-of-the-box with the Moto G, things have changed...however the code above was in the latest firmware revision of the Verizon Motorola G,
which to me means that theoretically a few smc calls could unlock the Motorola G for good.
And no, sadly I haven't tried this yet, but it still *should* be possible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I suspect this exploit is what the Sunshine developer used in Weaksauce 2.0. But that temproot program has only been written for the HTC. It does not work on the Moto G.
Statements by jcase several months ago claim there is no known exploit for 4.4.4 on the Moto G and that Sunshine 3.0 when it is released in January will not work for the Moto G.
I cannot believe jcase is unaware of this exploit, however. So this indicates to me that jcase deliberately lied a few months ago. My guess is that he has figured out that Verizon has been watching and reading his public statements on this forum, and he knows that Verizon is extremely slow at releasing updates, and he does not want them to rush out an OTA update before he gets Sunshine 3 shipped.
Hopefully that is the case, and hopefully Verizon does not consider YOU worth following, and does not rush an update for Lollipop out for the Moto G. before Sunshine 3 releases.
Otherwise you may have just scotched it for the rest of us.
joshumax said:
I don't trust or like SunShine that much; nor does my friend have the money to purchase the app.
Old exploits probably won't work out-of-the-box with the Moto G, things have changed...however the code above was in the latest firmware revision of the Verizon Motorola G,
which to me means that theoretically a few smc calls could unlock the Motorola G for good.
And no, sadly I haven't tried this yet, but it still *should* be possible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We don't trust or like you, either. Also, that vuln in your OP is long patched and non-useful.
joshumax said:
I don't trust or like SunShine that much; nor does my friend have the money to purchase the app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yawn, it is safe, it works, and we are upfront about what we do.
joshumax said:
Old exploits probably won't work out-of-the-box with the Moto G, things have changed...however the code above was in the latest firmware revision of the Verizon Motorola G,
which to me means that theoretically a few smc calls could unlock the Motorola G for good.
And no, sadly I haven't tried this yet, but it still *should* be possible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That vulnerability is confirmed patched in the MotoG, and has no chance of working. The "unlock function" in trustzone is disabled once fully booted.
tmittelstaedt said:
Sunshine will only unlock Android 4.4.3 and earlier on the Moto G. Verizon pushed the 4.4.4 update out via OTA long before November when Sunshine released support for the Moto G. You would have had to have bought your Moto G earlier in the year and would have had to continually refuse OTA updates to use it. And I also have read some people saying the OTA update went ahead and automatically installed itself anyway despite the phone's owner saying no.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is true, and it sucks, but it still works on most out of box.
tmittelstaedt said:
---------- Post added at 10:26 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:07 AM ----------
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
tmittelstaedt said:
I suspect this exploit is what the Sunshine developer used in Weaksauce 2.0. But that temproot program has only been written for the HTC. It does not work on the Moto G.
Statements by jcase several months ago claim there is no known exploit for 4.4.4 on the Moto G and that Sunshine 3.0 when it is released in January will not work for the Moto G.
I cannot believe jcase is unaware of this exploit, however. So this indicates to me that jcase deliberately lied a few months ago. My guess is that he has figured out that Verizon has been watching and reading his public statements on this forum, and he knows that Verizon is extremely slow at releasing updates, and he does not want them to rush out an OTA update before he gets Sunshine 3 shipped.
Hopefully that is the case, and hopefully Verizon does not consider YOU worth following, and does not rush an update for Lollipop out for the Moto G. before Sunshine 3 releases.
Otherwise you may have just scotched it for the rest of us.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually no, WeakSauce2 targets dmagent, like WeakSauce1, its almost identical in fact, is very specific to HTC and the vulnerability is original to research done by myself and @beaups.
I haven't lied about jack, and dont appreciate eluding that i was, even "to hide" from Verizon.
Common sense says this vulnerability is patched, as it is fairly old. Actual effort to look at the trustone proves this.
jcase said:
I haven't lied about jack, and dont appreciate eluding that i was, even "to hide" from Verizon.
Common sense says this vulnerability is patched, as it is fairly old. Actual effort to look at the trustone proves this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No offense intended jcase but I have worked for software companies since 1990 (not as a developer - in accounting and later IT) and I have to believe that you don't quite really understand what you did with Sunshine.
As long as breaking root on phones was a hackers contest, and the exploit scripts were free, the phone companies and software companies didn't really give a damn about you or what you did or anything else that the security people came up with. They were fat, dumb, and happy and lazy and were contented to let Google and the manufacturer deal with security with minimal effort on their part.
The minute you started charging money, you became public enemy #1 to Verizon and any other carrier who wants to control their users. Because they know this - as long as the cracks are free the developers aren't going to have any incentive to wrap them in a slick wrapper that Ma and Pa Kettle can download, stick in a credit card number and click.
Once you start charging - why then you know (or will discover if you don't know already) that the revenue you get is directly proportional to how easy you make the package to run for Ma and Pa Kettle. And it really doesn't take a lot of extra work. For every 10% easier you make Sunshine to use, your going to see 1000% increase in revenue. Verizon knows this. Google knows this. Motorola knows this. And that is what scares them. Their goal right now is to shut you down. And they are gonna do it by doing whatever they can to break your stuff as quickly as possible.
Do you know how hard it is to find a cheap used Verizon Moto G nowadays off Ebay or someplace with 4.4.3 or earlier on it? Ever since November when you released support, Ebay has had a run on those phones. And Ebay is flooded now with Verizon Moto G's that have 4.4.4 on them and a bunch of panicked sellers who are doing whatever possible to make it hard for the buyers to determine what the Android version is.
A couple days after you released weaksauce2 the m8 sold out in every Verizon store in my city. Sold out - or recalled - or withheld, I don't know what.
Verizon and friends don't care about people like me who spend the hours of time on these forums to research to figure out what's what. They care about Pa Kettle who gets on Play Store, downloads an app and runs it and the app pops up a screen saying "you must root your phone to run this app" complete with an auto-installer that downloads and installs Sunshine and executes it for them. Pa Kettle is just going to fork over the $25 and think nothing of it and ca-ching there slips another phone out of the carriers control - a phone that can get ad-blocker loaded on it, a phone that can get that idiotic NFL garbage unloaded from it - a phone the carrier figures they have lost.
From their point of view you are stealing their customers. They don't care as much about the revenue from the wireless plan as they care about their ability to track their customers intimate buying habits and sell them to the highest bidder. They paid damn good money for the cost of the phone hardware so they could snare another mark to sell advertising to and you came along and flushed that money down the crapper with your software.
I guarantee to you there's been much discussion about Sunshine in the Verizon boardrooms. If your not lying now on these forums or at least being very evasive about what your working on, you should be. Their gunning for you.
That's a neat theory, but I can assure you the mfr's patch tactics have been no different with sunshine than they have been with our other (free) releases. Further, based on our sales #'s, I can assure you that sunshine has not caused any phones to sell out...its not like we have 1000's upon 1000's of sunshine sales. Lastly, your theory that "they don't care as much about the wireless plan revenue" is pure tin foil hat stuff.
I dont think you understand what I do, I work with carriers, OEMs and the like. I've trained some them, I go out to dinner with them, I've invited them to my home, I exchange christmas gifts with them, I have met their families. Their cell phone numbers are in my contacts list. I'm drinking my coffee from a cup one of them gave me, right now. When I am stuck, I've gone to them for help more than I can count. This is my industry, and these people are my friends. These people are not fat dumb or lazy. They care deeply about security, and work their butts off with the limited resources they have. The good ones engage the "hackers", and actually enjoy it. Many of them are on a skill level above and beyond myself.
I'm actually a firm believer they would rather see something packaged and sold, than out in the open, as it results in many times less people using it, as well as the time packaging it will stop or greatly slow down anyone trying to use the material for bad purposes (malware etc). Honestly, they probably don't care how something is distributed at all.
Verizon MotoG with 4.4.2 is is $65 at bestbuy and something like $75 at walmart, how do I know this, we bought many.
I've not lied nor been evasive, I've actually been more open on what I am doing with my time. We are working on 3.0 to add more support to HTC. These people know me enough to know they can ask what I am working on, and I give them a straight answer. More often than not, I will email the company who is responsible for what I find, and let them know before, or at release time when I release something. Often I will give them details and source code not public.
tmittelstaedt said:
No offense intended jcase but I have worked for software companies since 1990 (not as a developer - in accounting and later IT) and I have to believe that you don't quite really understand what you did with Sunshine.
As long as breaking root on phones was a hackers contest, and the exploit scripts were free, the phone companies and software companies didn't really give a damn about you or what you did or anything else that the security people came up with. They were fat, dumb, and happy and lazy and were contented to let Google and the manufacturer deal with security with minimal effort on their part.
The minute you started charging money, you became public enemy #1 to Verizon and any other carrier who wants to control their users. Because they know this - as long as the cracks are free the developers aren't going to have any incentive to wrap them in a slick wrapper that Ma and Pa Kettle can download, stick in a credit card number and click.
Once you start charging - why then you know (or will discover if you don't know already) that the revenue you get is directly proportional to how easy you make the package to run for Ma and Pa Kettle. And it really doesn't take a lot of extra work. For every 10% easier you make Sunshine to use, your going to see 1000% increase in revenue. Verizon knows this. Google knows this. Motorola knows this. And that is what scares them. Their goal right now is to shut you down. And they are gonna do it by doing whatever they can to break your stuff as quickly as possible.
Do you know how hard it is to find a cheap used Verizon Moto G nowadays off Ebay or someplace with 4.4.3 or earlier on it? Ever since November when you released support, Ebay has had a run on those phones. And Ebay is flooded now with Verizon Moto G's that have 4.4.4 on them and a bunch of panicked sellers who are doing whatever possible to make it hard for the buyers to determine what the Android version is.
A couple days after you released weaksauce2 the m8 sold out in every Verizon store in my city. Sold out - or recalled - or withheld, I don't know what.
Verizon and friends don't care about people like me who spend the hours of time on these forums to research to figure out what's what. They care about Pa Kettle who gets on Play Store, downloads an app and runs it and the app pops up a screen saying "you must root your phone to run this app" complete with an auto-installer that downloads and installs Sunshine and executes it for them. Pa Kettle is just going to fork over the $25 and think nothing of it and ca-ching there slips another phone out of the carriers control - a phone that can get ad-blocker loaded on it, a phone that can get that idiotic NFL garbage unloaded from it - a phone the carrier figures they have lost.
From their point of view you are stealing their customers. They don't care as much about the revenue from the wireless plan as they care about their ability to track their customers intimate buying habits and sell them to the highest bidder. They paid damn good money for the cost of the phone hardware so they could snare another mark to sell advertising to and you came along and flushed that money down the crapper with your software.
I guarantee to you there's been much discussion about Sunshine in the Verizon boardrooms. If your not lying now on these forums or at least being very evasive about what your working on, you should be. Their gunning for you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
jcase said:
I dont think you understand what I do, I work with carriers, OEMs and the like. I've trained some them, I go out to dinner with them, I've invited them to my home, I exchange christmas gifts with them, I have met their families. Their cell phone numbers are in my contacts list. I'm drinking my coffee from a cup one of them gave me, right now. When I am stuck, I've gone to them for help more than I can count. This is my industry, and these people are my friends. These people are not fat dumb or lazy. They care deeply about security, and work their butts off with the limited resources they have. The good ones engage the "hackers", and actually enjoy it. Many of them are on a skill level above and beyond myself.
I'm actually a firm believer they would rather see something packaged and sold, than out in the open, as it results in many times less people using it, as well as the time packaging it will stop or greatly slow down anyone trying to use the material for bad purposes (malware etc). Honestly, they probably don't care how something is distributed at all.
Verizon MotoG with 4.4.2 is is $65 at bestbuy and something like $75 at walmart, how do I know this, we bought many.
I've not lied nor been evasive, I've actually been more open on what I am doing with my time. We are working on 3.0 to add more support to HTC. These people know me enough to know they can ask what I am working on, and I give them a straight answer. More often than not, I will email the company who is responsible for what I find, and let them know before, or at release time when I release something. Often I will give them details and source code not public.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is 5.0 or 5.0.2 going to get Pie or cfroot on xt1028 Verizon when it comes out?
cell2011 said:
Is 5.0 or 5.0.2 going to get Pie or cfroot on xt1028 Verizon when it comes out?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Neither
Won't it be rootable or boot loader unlocked ever? If not I'll sell it and get 1031 boost. Do you this 1031 will ever get lollipop?
jcase said:
I dont think you understand what I do, I work with carriers, OEMs and the like. I've trained some them, I go out to dinner with them, I've invited them to my home, I exchange christmas gifts with them, I have met their families. Their cell phone numbers are in my contacts list. I'm drinking my coffee from a cup one of them gave me, right now. When I am stuck, I've gone to them for help more than I can count. This is my industry, and these people are my friends. These people are not fat dumb or lazy. They care deeply about security, and work their butts off with the limited resources they have. The good ones engage the "hackers", and actually enjoy it. Many of them are on a skill level above and beyond myself.
I'm actually a firm believer they would rather see something packaged and sold, than out in the open, as it results in many times less people using it, as well as the time packaging it will stop or greatly slow down anyone trying to use the material for bad purposes (malware etc). Honestly, they probably don't care how something is distributed at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your not working with the upper level execs. Your working with the lower level people who have no control over what their company does. Their upper execs tell them "make the phone so that we own it completely even if the customer forks over their money or your fired" and they work their butts off to do that. I'm not talking about the lower level people and I think you know that.
The upper level execs set the company culture. And the company culture at Verizon is the customer is nothing more than fodder. If Verizon's company culture gave a damn about the customer they would have both bootloader locked and bootloader unlocked phones for sale in the retail outlets. If bootloader locking is such a security advantage the customers would buy them over bootloader unlocked phones. But no, instead, the bootloader locking is hidden away and the only way to buy one that can be unlocked is to pay ten times more for one. Your friends may be friends with you but they are supporting their families off of that company. They cannot go against that culture even though they probably would agree with me that Verizon should give customers a choice about buying a locked or unlocked phone.
Verizon does not need to force Motorola to refuse to hand out bootloader unlock codes for the Moto G. Nor do they need to make it insanely difficult to do a network unlock. Verizon posts a statement on their website saying that after you have owned your carrier-subsidized phone for a year you can network-unlock it. But they say NOTHING about bootloader-unlocking it. And if you try calling Verizon's support and asking for a network unlock code you will waste hours of time. I finally got a support tech in Verizon who was willing to look at their own website - after they told me Verizon didn't unlock phones - and do what she needed to do to answer my question - which is, when I am ready to network-unlock my phone, I have to call in and get the request escalated to 3rd tier before I'll be talking to a tech that even knows what network unlocking _is_. And the FCC - who forced them to allow for network unlocking - didn't force them to bootloader unlock. And of course they won't do it.
Verizon could go to Motorola and say "every phone that is 2 years old or older you are free to hand out bootloader unlocks on" But they won't.
No, you are very naive if you think that your friends who work at the carriers represent the carrier's approach and view of it's customers. They don't. I have no doubt that they are nice people. But the organization they work for is rotten to the core. I judge carriers by how they treat their customers. I judge them about how they treat me. And when I bought my phone and called into Verizon asking about what date I would get my phone network unlocked - just as a test to see if Verizon is really upholding the terms of it's agreement with the FCC where the FCC required them to network unlock phones - I was repeatedly lied to by their support people. So I am not basing my statements about that carrier on reading some crank who is spewing on the Internet against the carrier because he doesn't want to pay his phone bill. I'm basing them on how I've been treated. Where I live Verizon is a requirement due to coverage issues. But I have no qualms about what kind of a company I'm dealing with. I'm dealing with a company that buys phones by the hundreds of thousands from Motorola at $50 per device, marks them up 100%, and has a contract with Motorola that says Motorola must advertise a MSRP of $200, so that the sheeple who walk into the Verizon store think they are "gettin a deal" I don't trust them any further than I could spit a rat.
The PC community - Dell, HP, and all the rest of them - worked with Microsoft to develop a standard for encrypted bootloaders too. But ya know what? Microsoft put into the standard for encrypted bootloaders a requirement that the customer and go into BIOS and turn them off. PC makers that don't adhere to this aren't allowed to advertise compliance with the security standard. Verizon has that behavior as a model. But instead of requiring Motorola to make turning off encryption an option for the customer, they did exactly the opposite.
You can go and buy a brand new low-end PC today in the $250 range. That's a cheap PC equivalent to a cheap phone. But it's bootloader encryption is customer-selectable. The same should be the case for cell phones. When you released Sunshine you firmly put yourself behind that ideal. But don't for a second believe that your friends are working for a carrier that has any other position that your software is completely opposite what they believe.
jcase said:
I dont think you understand what I do, I work with carriers, OEMs and the like. I've trained some them, I go out to dinner with them, I've invited them to my home, I exchange christmas gifts with them, I have met their families. Their cell phone numbers are in my contacts list. I'm drinking my coffee from a cup one of them gave me, right now. When I am stuck, I've gone to them for help more than I can count. This is my industry, and these people are my friends. These people are not fat dumb or lazy. They care deeply about security, and work their butts off with the limited resources they have. The good ones engage the "hackers", and actually enjoy it. Many of them are on a skill level above and beyond myself.
I'm actually a firm believer they would rather see something packaged and sold, than out in the open, as it results in many times less people using it, as well as the time packaging it will stop or greatly slow down anyone trying to use the material for bad purposes (malware etc). Honestly, they probably don't care how something is distributed at all.
Verizon MotoG with 4.4.2 is is $65 at bestbuy and something like $75 at walmart, how do I know this, we bought many.
I've not lied nor been evasive, I've actually been more open on what I am doing with my time. We are working on 3.0 to add more support to HTC. These people know me enough to know they can ask what I am working on, and I give them a straight answer. More often than not, I will email the company who is responsible for what I find, and let them know before, or at release time when I release something. Often I will give them details and source code not public.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They all come with 4.4.4 out of the box. Sucks that people charge for this even worse people actually spent money... Left this phone cuz of its horrible Dev capabilities. Got an lg g3 now. Would have loved to had a non Verizon moto g
Sent from my XT1028 using XDA Free mobile app
tmittelstaedt said:
Your not working with the upper level execs. Your working with the lower level people who have no control over what their company does. Their upper execs tell them "make the phone so that we own it completely even if the customer forks over their money or your fired" and they work their butts off to do that. I'm not talking about the lower level people and I think you know that.
The upper level execs set the company culture. And the company culture at Verizon is the customer is nothing more than fodder. If Verizon's company culture gave a damn about the customer they would have both bootloader locked and bootloader unlocked phones for sale in the retail outlets. If bootloader locking is such a security advantage the customers would buy them over bootloader unlocked phones. But no, instead, the bootloader locking is hidden away and the only way to buy one that can be unlocked is to pay ten times more for one. Your friends may be friends with you but they are supporting their families off of that company. They cannot go against that culture even though they probably would agree with me that Verizon should give customers a choice about buying a locked or unlocked phone.
Verizon does not need to force Motorola to refuse to hand out bootloader unlock codes for the Moto G. Nor do they need to make it insanely difficult to do a network unlock. Verizon posts a statement on their website saying that after you have owned your carrier-subsidized phone for a year you can network-unlock it. But they say NOTHING about bootloader-unlocking it. And if you try calling Verizon's support and asking for a network unlock code you will waste hours of time. I finally got a support tech in Verizon who was willing to look at their own website - after they told me Verizon didn't unlock phones - and do what she needed to do to answer my question - which is, when I am ready to network-unlock my phone, I have to call in and get the request escalated to 3rd tier before I'll be talking to a tech that even knows what network unlocking _is_. And the FCC - who forced them to allow for network unlocking - didn't force them to bootloader unlock. And of course they won't do it.
Verizon could go to Motorola and say "every phone that is 2 years old or older you are free to hand out bootloader unlocks on" But they won't.
No, you are very naive if you think that your friends who work at the carriers represent the carrier's approach and view of it's customers. They don't. I have no doubt that they are nice people. But the organization they work for is rotten to the core. I judge carriers by how they treat their customers. I judge them about how they treat me. And when I bought my phone and called into Verizon asking about what date I would get my phone network unlocked - just as a test to see if Verizon is really upholding the terms of it's agreement with the FCC where the FCC required them to network unlock phones - I was repeatedly lied to by their support people. So I am not basing my statements about that carrier on reading some crank who is spewing on the Internet against the carrier because he doesn't want to pay his phone bill. I'm basing them on how I've been treated. Where I live Verizon is a requirement due to coverage issues. But I have no qualms about what kind of a company I'm dealing with. I'm dealing with a company that buys phones by the hundreds of thousands from Motorola at $50 per device, marks them up 100%, and has a contract with Motorola that says Motorola must advertise a MSRP of $200, so that the sheeple who walk into the Verizon store think they are "gettin a deal" I don't trust them any further than I could spit a rat.
The PC community - Dell, HP, and all the rest of them - worked with Microsoft to develop a standard for encrypted bootloaders too. But ya know what? Microsoft put into the standard for encrypted bootloaders a requirement that the customer and go into BIOS and turn them off. PC makers that don't adhere to this aren't allowed to advertise compliance with the security standard. Verizon has that behavior as a model. But instead of requiring Motorola to make turning off encryption an option for the customer, they did exactly the opposite.
You can go and buy a brand new low-end PC today in the $250 range. That's a cheap PC equivalent to a cheap phone. But it's bootloader encryption is customer-selectable. The same should be the case for cell phones. When you released Sunshine you firmly put yourself behind that ideal. But don't for a second believe that your friends are working for a carrier that has any other position that your software is completely opposite what they believe.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tldr, you have no idea what your are talking about or who you are even talking to. If you think a single "high level exec" cares or even knows what an unlocked bootloader is, you are sadly mistaken.
Spend another 20 years in corporate america, like I have, and then maybe you'll have some wisdom to share in your lectures.
Hallaleuja brotha
Sent from my XT1028 using XDA Free mobile app
tmittelstaedt said:
Your not working with the upper level execs. Your working with the lower level people who have no control over what their company does. Their upper execs tell them "make the phone so that we own it completely even if the customer forks over their money or your fired" and they work their butts off to do that. I'm not talking about the lower level people and I think you know that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have, and I do.
tmittelstaedt said:
The upper level execs set the company culture. And the company culture at Verizon is the customer is nothing more than fodder. If Verizon's company culture gave a damn about the customer they would have both bootloader locked and bootloader unlocked phones for sale in the retail outlets. If bootloader locking is such a security advantage the customers would buy them over bootloader unlocked phones. But no, instead, the bootloader locking is hidden away and the only way to buy one that can be unlocked is to pay ten times more for one. Your friends may be friends with you but they are supporting their families off of that company. They cannot go against that culture even though they probably would agree with me that Verizon should give customers a choice about buying a locked or unlocked phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not going to go over the reasons why bootloaders are locked again. Feel free to search for one of the dozen times I've replied, I think I did it recently on google plus. You don't have an understanding why these bootloaders are locked.
I do not agree that the average user should have a device with an unlocked bootloader, the shear number of people emailing me daily on this that have absolutely nothing to do with me is enough to prove that point.
tmittelstaedt said:
Verizon does not need to force Motorola to refuse to hand out bootloader unlock codes for the Moto G. Nor do they need to make it insanely difficult to do a network unlock. Verizon posts a statement on their website saying that after you have owned your carrier-subsidized phone for a year you can network-unlock it. But they say NOTHING about bootloader-unlocking it. And if you try calling Verizon's support and asking for a network unlock code you will waste hours of time. I finally got a support tech in Verizon who was willing to look at their own website - after they told me Verizon didn't unlock phones - and do what she needed to do to answer my question - which is, when I am ready to network-unlock my phone, I have to call in and get the request escalated to 3rd tier before I'll be talking to a tech that even knows what network unlocking _is_. And the FCC - who forced them to allow for network unlocking - didn't force them to bootloader unlock. And of course they won't do it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
CMDA is a whitelist technology, it is not "unlocked" like GSM. Their devices are not "LOCKED" to their network, they network itself does the rejection. Their few devices that do support GSM, tend not to be network locked (some were locked against certain carriers).
CDMA != GSM
tmittelstaedt said:
Verizon could go to Motorola and say "every phone that is 2 years old or older you are free to hand out bootloader unlocks on" But they won't.
No, you are very naive if you think that your friends who work at the carriers represent the carrier's approach and view of it's customers. They don't. I have no doubt that they are nice people. But the organization they work for is rotten to the core. I judge carriers by how they treat their customers. I judge them about how they treat me. And when I bought my phone and called into Verizon asking about what date I would get my phone network unlocked - just as a test to see if Verizon is really upholding the terms of it's agreement with the FCC where the FCC required them to network unlock phones - I was repeatedly lied to by their support people. So I am not basing my statements about that carrier on reading some crank who is spewing on the Internet against the carrier because he doesn't want to pay his phone bill. I'm basing them on how I've been treated. Where I live Verizon is a requirement due to coverage issues. But I have no qualms about what kind of a company I'm dealing with. I'm dealing with a company that buys phones by the hundreds of thousands from Motorola at $50 per device, marks them up 100%, and has a contract with Motorola that says Motorola must advertise a MSRP of $200, so that the sheeple who walk into the Verizon store think they are "gettin a deal" I don't trust them any further than I could spit a rat.
The PC community - Dell, HP, and all the rest of them - worked with Microsoft to develop a standard for encrypted bootloaders too. But ya know what? Microsoft put into the standard for encrypted bootloaders a requirement that the customer and go into BIOS and turn them off. PC makers that don't adhere to this aren't allowed to advertise compliance with the security standard. Verizon has that behavior as a model. But instead of requiring Motorola to make turning off encryption an option for the customer, they did exactly the opposite.
You can go and buy a brand new low-end PC today in the $250 range. That's a cheap PC equivalent to a cheap phone. But it's bootloader encryption is customer-selectable. The same should be the case for cell phones. When you released Sunshine you firmly put yourself behind that ideal. But don't for a second believe that your friends are working for a carrier that has any other position that your software is completely opposite what they believe.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bootloaders are not encrypted.
I'm not insulting you here but I'm being to the point. You lack a fundamental understanding of each aspect of this conversation, which makes much of it not even worth replying to.
You don't have an understanding of the industry, of me, or how the devices work themselves.
Gsm rules
Sent from my XT1028 using XDA Free mobile app
Cdma will be extinct soon anyways soon
beaups said:
We don't trust or like you, either. Also, that vuln in your OP is long patched and non-useful.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm going to ignore any insults directed directly to me, because I understand people forget there's an actual person behind the text.
It seemed too good to be true, I just wanted some confirmation on whether the vuln was truly patched or not.
Have fun insulting others in teh interwebs

Note 4 Developer, No Longer Available???

This was the official link to purchase the developer edition, gone??
http://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/cell-phones/SM-N910VMKEVZW
Yeah it has been down for about a week or so. Looks like the end for them new from Samsung. Shame because I checked the stock on them the day before it was pulled and they still had over 80 of them.
Note Edge DevEd is gone too.
Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
Just when I finally decide to buy the developer edition it disappears from their site. It's getting harder and harder to find newer devices on Verizon that can be rooted and has external storage/removable battery.
Are they going to offer a Note 5 DE?
Get a unlocked phone off of tmobile and you can have removable back battery and sd card and you can put a verizon chip and root.
Sent from my SM-N910V using XDA Free mobile app
Confirmed by Samsung - no more developer note 4's for sale. off the website about a week ago.
good news though. there will be Galaxy S6 Developer Editions, this year, and there will be a Note 5 developer edition (next year)
rob
anticloud said:
Confirmed by Samsung - no more developer note 4's for sale. off the website about a week ago.
good news though. there will be Galaxy S6 Developer Editions, this year, and there will be a Note 5 developer edition (next year)
rob
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately, a non replaceable battery is a deal breaker for me.[emoji20]
Extra Virgin said:
Unfortunately, a non replaceable battery is a deal breaker for me.[emoji20]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was thinking the same thing. Especially if they go with an even smaller battery then what the N4 has, like rumors state.
I haven't been using the spare battery for mine. Just to see if it would be a total inconvenience or not. Hasn't really been at all. Though they never decide to die until it is a major inconvenience haha.
Well, I have to get my Note 4 reflashed back to developer. It's being sent to texas on tuesday. I wasn't thinking, and duked my device with the latest update from Samsung / Verizon. not a good idea, stuck in retail land. I am also planning to get a new screen put in as the one I have has some severe burn-in.
btw - if you are near contract's end, consider this (I am). Don't opt to renew your plan for a new two year agreement just to get a new phone. Verizon, if your plan is expired, will drop your rate 24.99 to keep you. either keep your existing phone, or, pay full retail for your next one.
I know, if you buy a Note 5 (or S6) and want gob loads of memory you pay big bucks. You could also purchase a S5 Developer off of Samsung's site for 599.00 and get the luxury of a new phone plus developer, plus removable battery, plus additional storage.
just a few thoughts your way.
There's this too. Verizon Will Drop Phone Contracts, End Discounted Phones
Yup. No more contracts or contract pricing as of this coming Tuesday. Only options for phone purchase from VZW will be EDGE or full price. If you want a subsidized phone price point, get to the store tomorrow (although it doesn't seem like ANYONE wants more contract... lol)
And, the retail note 4, discontinued...
Sadly the development has never been great for the DE. Lack of root for the retail version has killed an otherwise amazing phone for tinkerers and Nandroiders.
If I am wrong let me know and I'll try to get one used... but until then I stick with my extremely versatile note 2!
Note 5 is a no go for 2 simple reasons: SD and fixed battery.
Samsung Will Feel It.
Telemachus said:
Sadly the development has never been great for the DE. Lack of root for the retail version has killed an otherwise amazing phone for tinkerers and Nandroiders.
If I am wrong let me know and I'll try to get one used... but until then I stick with my extremely versatile note 2!
Note 5 is a no go for 2 simple reasons: SD and fixed battery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup, Note 5 looks great, but from a distance...
And that's why I picked up a 2nd Note 4, found one, at a Best Buy, who states their inventories are depleting and they are discontinued in their systems. So, as soon as they are all sold out, no more. I had to run to a store far away from my home to get a new one. Yup, it's retail, but of course has the two main features people want. And I'm holding on to it for right now, not sure what I'll do with it.
Samsung most definitely does not have em, and whatever Verizon has they REFUSE to sell one at full price walking out of the store with them - poop-heads
================================================================================================================
But Samsung will feel it, for sure - Hmmm, apple-wanna-bees, maybe we'll call them "Sample", yup, we tried it, doesn't taste so good anymore...
================================================================================================================
On a final note, and what might be regarded by most of you as a "Good luck with that.." attempt - this, is the reason I am named "Anti-Cloud"
I would like to start a petition, in which we, the users of phones, regain 100% control if it's use, who has access to it, what's on it, and with full administrative access rights. I would like that to see the petition be forged into a bill and work it's way up to Washington and become law: it basically puts the business of communication devices on a simple one-to-one basis, a simple business model - which in the end, if a person pays for phone service to make calls, send texts, run apps, browse web etc, that the business relationship is solely between "you" and the carrier - meaning you pay for the service and the carrier can only conduct business scoped to making phone calls sending receiving data / text - no collection of whereabouts, providing location services (which is BS anyway), nor using the phone by any means to sell more services - a simple contract more or less, that all other business conducted, whether the user knows about it or not, is prohibited by law - the phone is a phone, it is not a platform for a carrier / 3rd parties to conduct further business (or the government for that matter).
History / Background - A purchased computer, by any of us, is for the most part, an honest transaction - meaning once we purchase that computer, which may have an operating system / software on it, it is free to do with what we want. We, the user, can decide to employ administrative access to that PC, even go as far as completely remove an operating system. Note, not sure about apple, but with Microsoft, although a bit harder to do with Windows 8/10 etc, the user can still remove virtually anything they don't want in that operating system let alone they can fully preserve administrative access even in the midst of an update of operating system / software...
Phones, are not that way today. The phone's calling / data / text service is a basic service, yet there are many hands / fingers / services nested with a phone as it leaves the confines of the carrier, with the intent to solicit, collect, and control the business conducted of (on) that device - I want an end to it.
You realize that when you walk out of a carrier with your new phone it is not just a phone you can make calls with, send texts, browse the web - using Samsung / Verizon as a base example: It has Verizon, Samsung, Google, and the Government's fingers into it. The device is a platform to do "further" business with, on top of which we, the user, do not have full administrative rights to.
1. I seek to defund the business models (fingers), i.e. amputate - 3rd parties abilities to do ANY business (collect data, or sell) on devices that does not have to do with making phone calls, sending texts, using data (sending / receiving data between the carrier's towers and the device - the raw service, what you pay for)
2. Give the user FULL unadulterated administrative rights to the device with ability to remove ANY / ALL components / software / drivers - and that no non-essential-software shall be "baked-in" to the point that if removed the device becomes in-operable - i.e. NFL football, google maps. The device's ability to make calls, send texts, consume data must be independent of ALL other applications. Essentially, there would be no need for rooting / jail breaking as the phone's will come that way.
3. Location services can be disabled / removed and are completely free / untethered from the hardware GPS and or the phone's ability to operate - a consumer can, at will, have the ability to remove ALL location features even up to the point of removing drivers which employ the hardware GPS - if they so choose. And, a carrier / 3rd party cannot make the claim of greater accuracy (as that is a lie, complete lie) - using the hardware GPS is by far the most accurate and ALL software models at a minimum should be required to have the ability employ the hardware GPS only with no transmission of location datum to a 3rd party / carrier without the expressed consent of the user / knowledge there of.
4. Device manufactures and carriers MUST give the user a complete freedom from cloud service and or provide an equal means of storing / transmitting user's private data without the intervention / knowledge of a 3rd party provider / carrier - the user must have the choice as to whether to use the cloud or not. No carrier / manufacturer can put a device in service which forces the consumer to use cloud services. and the carrier / 3rd party provider MUST allow the user to move data off / on to the device in a sealed vacuum of privacy.
5. Operating System Providers MUST provide an operating system in which the user can have FULL administrative access to do all the above while maintaining a secure model - meaning carriers / manufactures cannot debilitate a secure service or claim the device is insecure if administrative access is gained by the local user. Secure models must be independent of administrative access - just like a PC!! It is an excuse, 100%, if a provider / carrier insists that security has been compromised if administrative access is gained.
This is a start -
Now, having said that. in a reasonable fashion, a carrier / 3rd party should have the ability to deem a device secure (or not) by virtue of a minimum set of requirements that deem the device safe to transact financial / secure private business - i.e. the user could remove components that defund a device's security model making it vulnerable for attack etc. carriers and 3rd party providers in order to maintain a secure model should be allowed to prevent an application / certain services from transacting if the device is not compliant. We see this in an application like Soft-Card etc. although I contend that a user gaining root access does not constitute a breach in security - if it does, it is because the operating system (or software) is weak - see #5, and providers must ensure that they can achieve a secure platform with administrative access.
any takers?
Ummmm...
Good luck with that!
lexbian said:
Yup. No more contracts or contract pricing as of this coming Tuesday. Only options for phone purchase from VZW will be EDGE or full price. If you want a subsidized phone price point, get to the store tomorrow (although it doesn't seem like ANYONE wants more contract... lol)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just to clarify, from what I've been reading if you are on a VZW legacy plan with a 2 year contract you can stick with it and get contract upgrades like normal going forward. I have not seen anything official from VZW on this, but that's the word on the street and I really hope it proves to be true. I still have unlimited data on 4 of my 5 family plan lines and if they steal the contract upgrade subsidies from me I'll be f*#king pissed since it's a value of around $20/month per line.
On a side note I'm looking for a DE Note 4. If anyone has any leads let me know. Those things are like leprechauns these days.
If someone here with a DE wants to move to a different phone I have a contract upgrade available with Verizon so I can trade you any new phone for a DE Note 4.
vmod32 said:
Just to clarify, from what I've been reading if you are on a VZW legacy plan with a 2 year contract you can stick with it and get contract upgrades like normal going forward. I have not seen anything official from VZW on this, but that's the word on the street and I really hope it proves to be true. I still have unlimited data on 4 of my 5 family plan lines and if they steal the contract upgrade subsidies from me I'll be f*#king pissed since it's a value of around $20/month per line.
On a side note I'm looking for a DE Note 4. If anyone has any leads let me know. Those things are like leprechauns these days.
If someone here with a DE wants to move to a different phone I have a contract upgrade available with Verizon so I can trade you any new phone for a DE Note 4.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@vmod32 I sent you a PM.
madchainsawer said:
Get a unlocked phone off of tmobile and you can have removable back battery and sd card and you can put a verizon chip and root.
Sent from my SM-N910V using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not to repeat what you just said but are you saying that if I get an unlocked phone designed for T-Mobile that I can run it on the Verizon network as long as I put the Verizon sim card in? That would be awesome as I want to buy a note 4 developer edition but can't find one.
burbank said:
Not to repeat what you just said but are you saying that if I get an unlocked phone designed for T-Mobile that I can run it on the Verizon network as long as I put the Verizon sim card in? That would be awesome as I want to buy a note 4 developer edition but can't find one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No - this doesn't work as Verizon has to white list the device for it to work on their network.
So is it just sadistic that this page is still up?
http://www.samsung.com/us/support/owners/product/ET-N910VMKEVZW

If only...

With the Samsung Galaxy S8 (T-Mobile, US version) comes buyer's remorse. "If only" is the operable phrase. If only I had done more research. If only I'd given more time to compare other mobile phones.
Perhaps I am not the ideal customer for T-Mobile. But, years back when I switched from Sprint, I seemed to be. It was because T-Mobile was supportive of customers having full ownership and control of the mobile phone. Rooting was, if not encouraged, at least not dissuaded. Support was better in-store than by phone. The purchase experience was soft-sell and congenial. The unlimited data plan was indeed unlimited (not throttled as it is today).
Switch to present day, where T-Mobile, in my view, has become quite the opposite. The purchase experience was high-pressure. Costs are high. Disclosure minimal. And now, too late to turn around.
The Galaxy S8 is a superb mobile phone. The stock Android is great as is the integration. Unfortunately Samsung adds bloat-ware, including that awful "Bixby" thing, and leaves me, the owner, no control over my device. Yes, I can turn Bixby off, but otherwise cannot root, which I use to prevent being overloaded with spam and ads, and to provide greater control over features, such as re-mapping the Bixby button, which I learn will be lost with the next update. Turning off access to that re-map is an ARROGANT expression from Samsung and T-Mobile. A raised middle finger. Not good.
All this I might live with, but now my mobile phone is intermittently refusing to fully charge (80%). It also triggers a repeating and annoying alert that charging has been discontinued due to high temperature (indeed, simply sitting in a stock Samsung wireless charger, it has issued this warning). I've also seen the warning while mobile.. somewhat understandable in the sunshine. Even charging at home by cable has triggered this warning.
I called Samsung and their "solution" was to do a factory reset.. a tedious process to restore everything that's installed, plus passwords! That's no way to solve a problem, and lowers confidence that they know what they're doing.
In summary, if only I had done more work before purchase, I probably would NOT have chosen this mobile phone and may have switched carriers.
I'm looking forward to switching in the next year. Others with similar remorse, please share your story and what you might have done to solve it.
Hi there. I am not feeling the fuzzies for T-Mo, or Samsung but felt writing to support and discuss other options likely worse.
On this device the S8Plus. I am using Samsung Pay consistently - and very happy that it works on standard vendor hardware.
Now T-Mo has increased rates and screwed me over my plan- that is bad. I am still on the fence on moving because Verizon and Sprint require branded devices. My bro had a hard time working my standard Nexus 6P on Sprint.
So open Network is a benefit. Tho Sprint seems less expensive at the moment.
Only regret I have is If I had waited, I could have bought the unlocked 6 gb version for the same price.
Good Luck with the charging problem. I would recommend the reset so you can find out if that's what it indeed is or does the device have additional issues. and it needs to be replaced .
Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Categories

Resources