Received a demo S8 - Samsung Galaxy S8 Questions and Answers

I was wondering if any firmware is available to I can get rid of the retail mode. I'm sorry if I posted in the wrong fourm. I'm aware that the phone doesn't have cellular capabilities I want to use it as a wifi only device

XxCyberHackerxX said:
I was wondering if any firmware is available to I can get rid of the retail mode. I'm sorry if I posted in the wrong fourm. I'm aware that the phone doesn't have cellular capabilities I want to use it as a wifi only device
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Click to collapse
"Received a demo S8" oh really? Maybe ask the store from where it was stolen from, they probably know the process to take it out of retail mode. If you bought it legitimately then it's the sellers responsibilty to provide a working phone. Is the wifi-only mode because the IMEI is blacklisted? I guess you don't live up to your username. Just kidding.
I googled it, there are pages and videos that tell you how to remove retail mode.

Go into development settings and turn off demo mode.. it's that easy ...
Settings...
About phone...
Tap build number until it says unlocked...
Then back out to setting
Then development settings
Then go down and turn demo off
Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

djxn40 said:
Go into development settings and turn off demo mode.. it's that easy ...
Settings...
About phone...
Tap build number until it says unlocked...
Then back out to setting
Then development settings
Then go down and turn demo off
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think he's talking about retail mode which is a totally separate thing. There's a Samsung Retail app and a code you have to enter.

Oh sorry ?
Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

henrybravo said:
"Received a demo S8" oh really? Maybe ask the store from where it was stolen from, they probably know the process to take it out of retail mode. If you bought it legitimately then it's the sellers responsibilty to provide a working phone. Is the wifi-only mode because the IMEI is blacklisted? I guess you don't live up to your username. Just kidding.
I googled it, there are pages and videos that tell you how to remove retail mode.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha that made me crack up. I bought the phone on eBay. I just need some firmware to put in Odin to flash the phone to factory settings

henrybravo said:
"Received a demo S8" oh really? Maybe ask the store from where it was stolen from, they probably know the process to take it out of retail mode. If you bought it legitimately then it's the sellers responsibilty to provide a working phone. Is the wifi-only mode because the IMEI is blacklisted? I guess you don't live up to your username. Just kidding.
I googled it, there are pages and videos that tell you how to remove retail mode.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
henrybravo said:
I think he's talking about retail mode which is a totally separate thing. There's a Samsung Retail app and a code you have to enter.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I want to reflash the phone to get rid of all the demo videos and applications

*UPDATE* I managed to completely get the phone stock

XxCyberHackerxX said:
*UPDATE* I managed to completely get the phone stock
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How did you go about this?
Thanks!

G_Loc said:
How did you go about this?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I sent you a message

XxCyberHackerxX said:
I sent you a message
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello there
I also have a GS8 + demo unit and would like to know how can you remove or flash a new firmware ??
Thanks

Wow.... Its amazing all these Demo phones getting stolen and sold already.
I am not blaming anyone who buys them on Ebay... but realize this. Once the stores send it in, the new blacklisting methods on carriers share among the carriers. Once its listed. Account gets flagged saying you have an unauthorized device. After that, they suspend the account till you put a clean IMEI.
I know AT&T and its network sister partner services do this for sure.
I would say those who buy this from ebay as a Demo device, or from Craigslist. Ask them for the Invoice receipt or proof of purchase. (Claim in case of warrenty issues) if they stutter or make up an excuse. Realize its a stolen store phone which will get tracked. They may not go after the small 100$ or entry level phones but the high end galaxies and iphones... they sure will.

Mysticales said:
Wow.... Its amazing all these Demo phones getting stolen and sold already.
I am not blaming anyone who buys them on Ebay... but realize this. Once the stores send it in, the new blacklisting methods on carriers share among the carriers. Once its listed. Account gets flagged saying you have an unauthorized device. After that, they suspend the account till you put a clean IMEI.
I know AT&T and its network sister partner services do this for sure.
I would say those who buy this from ebay as a Demo device, or from Craigslist. Ask them for the Invoice receipt or proof of purchase. (Claim in case of warrenty issues) if they stutter or make up an excuse. Realize its a stolen store phone which will get tracked. They may not go after the small 100$ or entry level phones but the high end galaxies and iphones... they sure will.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's very true. I go mine from eBay and will ask for the original invoice. If Samsung ever came asking for the phone I would give it to them

Mysticales said:
Wow.... Its amazing all these Demo phones getting stolen and sold already.
I am not blaming anyone who buys them on Ebay... but realize this. Once the stores send it in, the new blacklisting methods on carriers share among the carriers. Once its listed. Account gets flagged saying you have an unauthorized device. After that, they suspend the account till you put a clean IMEI.
I know AT&T and its network sister partner services do this for sure.
I would say those who buy this from ebay as a Demo device, or from Craigslist. Ask them for the Invoice receipt or proof of purchase. (Claim in case of warrenty issues) if they stutter or make up an excuse. Realize its a stolen store phone which will get tracked. They may not go after the small 100$ or entry level phones but the high end galaxies and iphones... they sure will.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
*facepalm*.
These are demo units, they are built with no IMEI or any of the cell antennas.
These are bought to use as WiFi only devices usually.
They are not blacklisted stolen units, those are completely different (and do exist a lot on eBay).

Skander1998 said:
*facepalm*.
These are demo units, they are built with no IMEI or any of the cell antennas.
These are bought to use as WiFi only devices usually.
They are not blacklisted stolen units, those are completely different (and do exist a lot on eBay).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
o.0 Where do you work at? Cause the "Demo" phones "I" get are fully functional from samsung. Then I install the retail demo software on it, which has the password. It syncs up with the demo software for that phone and off it goes. I can disable functions, protect it from hard resets and even open it all back up again.
Yes, they quite so have an IMEI.
However in fairness. If you have a wifi only S8 "demo" unit. Please share the screenshot of it showing no imei in the about phone info area.

Mysticales said:
o.0 Where do you work at? Cause the "Demo" phones "I" get are fully functional from samsung. Then I install the retail demo software on it, which has the password. It syncs up with the demo software for that phone and off it goes. I can disable functions, protect it from hard resets and even open it all back up again.
Yes, they quite so have an IMEI.
However in fairness. If you have a wifi only S8 "demo" unit. Please share the screenshot of it showing no imei in the about phone info area.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All demo units in Qatar and MENA region are like that (in Samsung shops), I'll get you a screenshot when I go out sometime.
It will show IMEI 0000000000
Here is an example demo phone http://www.ebay.com/itm/Samsung-Gal...198937?hash=item3d3ac81fd9:g:HyUAAOSw9OFZE-Kz
The back will have a NOT FOR SALE sticker without the usual IMEI printout even. Just a SRN

I see, so in those regions eh?
I know here in USA, Its a fully working model. Just is softwared to demo mode it.

G_Loc said:
How did you go about this?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
can you share this also?

Good job
XxCyberHackerxX said:
*UPDATE* I managed to completely get the phone stock
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hello brother can you also help me through inbox
:good:

XxCyberHackerxX said:
*UPDATE* I managed to completely get the phone stock
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How did you do it?

Related

samsung focus stuck in demo mode

I got samsung focus which is stuck in demo mode from a black man on cragslists. does anyone know how to fix it? please help me
Read the sticky here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=982626
does it mean that we have no solution to fix it?
The only solution is to flash with a stock ROM.
There is a ROM posted in Dev section. It may or may not work for you. Good luck.
No ROM available for The Focus??
Sent from my SGH-i917R using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
As of yet, there are NO confirmed Focus ROMs available. There is a ROM floating around but it looks like it may only be for special dev use only focus' from what I understand.
i did check with at&t. this's not a stolen phone. it's so weird. don't know why it stuck in demo mode. I'm gonna send it to samsung to fix it.
xuanphucn said:
i did check with at&t. this's not a stolen phone. it's so weird. don't know why it stuck in demo mode. I'm gonna send it to samsung to fix it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only demo phones at stores get loaded with Demo ROM. Retail phones don't have such thing as demo mode. And the only way to get rid of demo mode is to load the phone with a retail ROM.
i know. but i did bring it to at&t store. they checked the series number.they said that it was purchased by an account. it means that it's not a stolen phone :|
It doesn't matter what AT&T said. There is no demo mode on retail phones. You're out of luck until you can find a retail ROM for it.
EDIT: if the store said it is not a stollen property, you can ask them for a warranty replacement Regular phones have 1-year warranty regardless who you purchased from.
foxbat121 said:
It doesn't matter what AT&T said. There is no demo mode on retail phones. You're out of luck until you can find a retail ROM for it.
EDIT: if the store said it is not a stollen property, you can ask them for a warranty replacement Regular phones have 1-year warranty regardless who you purchased from.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Realize that there is a demo-rom installer available on this forum, and if the person this guy says he bought his phone from was ignorant enough to run such an installer, a non-demo non-display phone could have a demo rom on it. just throwing that out there.
sidicious said:
Realize that there is a demo-rom installer available on this forum, and if the person this guy says he bought his phone from was ignorant enough to run such an installer, a non-demo non-display phone could have a demo rom on it. just throwing that out there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The store demo phones are nothing but retail phones loaded with Demo ROM by store employee. They are not loaded with demo ROM from factory. But this is one way street. Once loaded, it can't go back unless someone finds a retail ROM.
Yeah wish there was more development for the focus....
i've just sent it back to samsung. i hope that they can fix it
I am closing this thread as there is no solution to this problem for the time being, and as the owner of the device states he had the serial number checked out and is legit, I will suggest contacting the seller to see if you can resolve the situation by obtaining a refund.
BR
Gaz

AT&T now blacklisting stolen or inproperly scanned phones.

I didn't see a thread on this so I thought I'd warn anyone who doesn't know.
AT&T now blacklisting stolen phones.
AT&T is now blacklisting all reported stolen phones, or devices they say were "Improperly scanned" out of inventory and major retailers such as Best Buy or Wal-Mart. What this means is that sometime after inserting your SIM card into one of these phones, AT&T will lock your SIM card and you will either get a message stating the device is blocked from the network, or the phone will only call AT&T's security division. Even if you put it back in another phone.
This lock is supposed to occur within minutes according to AT&T, however we have seen it take up to weeks for the lock to occur. This also applies to any pre-paid service such as Straight Talk and Red Pocket who use AT&T phones. If you are on one of these plans, you must call your carrier, not AT&T and request the account be unlocked.
Sounds like a good plan right? The only problem with this is, at this time, unlike Verizon, Sprint, and other carriers, there is no way to call in and check the IMEI before you purchase a used or refurb phone. Thus, if you buy a phone from Craigslist, Ebay, or a local used phone store, its imposable to check the esn like you would a CDMA phone to determine if it has been reported lost or stolen.
The best you can do is put your SIM in the phone and try it out before you buy it and, more importantly, make sure there is a return policy at the store you buy it from. At this time there seems to be no sure fire way to determine if a phone you buy from an individual or online has been reported lost or stolen, and AT&T will not unblock any phone reported stolen except by the person who reported it.
The only exception is if you have purchased a phone from a major retailer. In that case AT&T security division reports that if you take the phone back with the receipt, they will unblock it.
Just reading this reminds me about insurance scams where someone would sell their old phone on some site and then call in the phone as stolen. To me: this is just another risk for buying used phones now. Then again: I recall reading a very recent article about a iphone theft ring in San Francisco. Maybe it's better off this way.
Puts ATT in hard spot. They can either let the thieves sell the units and then the end customer's are unknowingly screwed or let the units work. I suppose their rationale is that if the unit stops working they can report who sold them the phone?
I think they very well should blacklist phones reported as stolen. They've been doing it in Europe for years. My problem is, unlike every other major carrier, you cannot verify if a phone is stolen or not before you buy it. This doesn't punish the thieves so much as the person who unknowingly buys it.
killgorian said:
I think they very well should blacklist phones reported as stolen. They've been doing it in Europe for years. My problem is, unlike every other major carrier, you cannot verify if a phone is stolen or not before you buy it. This doesn't punish the thieves so much as the person who unknowingly buys it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it's reported stolen that's one thing - but what about the phones that somebody hasn't paid their bill to on the major carriers - the money owed goes on that person's SS# anyways for life until they settle up - I see bad esn's being sold on ebay all the time. I don't feel bad flashing a phone to cricket with a bad esn since it's tied to somebody's social. If it's stolen by thieves of course - lock em down. I'm just sayin'
mook_ said:
the money owed goes on that person's SS# anyways for life...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. 7 years max.
killgorian said:
My problem is, unlike every other major carrier, you cannot verify if a phone is stolen or not before you buy it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. This service should have been offered FIRST and then a couple of years later they should have introduced the banning practice. As it is I can see a lot of people making honest mistakes.
You can call into att and have them check the numbers on the phone ...I just did this a week ago with my one x after getting.burnt on one
Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2
Some online stores have a very efficient and reliable pre-purchase customer care.
I bought my AT&T phone from europe from negrielectronics.com and I clearly asked to know the IMEI of the device before placing the ordere since we have some specific IMEI issues here n Europe.
They could immediately email me the code.
So just ask if you want to purchase on the internet; maybe you'll be lucky.
We can actually deactivate stolen / lost phones,
I`m not sure about blacklisting, savedesk knows that,
After we make reports on lost/stolen phones we just send them to savedesk
It has always been a long before practise to ask the customer to rescan again to where you have bought the phone in cases of phones tagged as warehouse are not deactivated
this post is approved by the national potato safety regulation
hey guys - so i just got taken. bought a phone on CL and turns out it's blacklisted. do you know if there's anyway for ATT to check who this phone belonged to based on IMEI? my long shot is maybe contacting original owner (i know ATT doesn't give out information) but could THEY possibly contact original owner and tell him someone found his device?
i figure this is better than me tossing the device?? any thoughts?
piotrus22 said:
hey guys - so i just got taken. bought a phone on CL and turns out it's blacklisted. do you know if there's anyway for ATT to check who this phone belonged to based on IMEI? my long shot is maybe contacting original owner (i know ATT doesn't give out information) but could THEY possibly contact original owner and tell him someone found his device?
i figure this is better than me tossing the device?? any thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have any of the seller's info you can report it to authorities.
The only info i have is a cell phone number. Which was a pay as you go number. So i dont think they can do anything if sim card has been tossed right?
What will they authorities do? Dont they have more important things? Ill they confiscate the phone? I just realized i could sell it for use in Europe potentially?
piotrus22 said:
The only info i have is a cell phone number. Which was a pay as you go number. So i dont think they can do anything if sim card has been tossed right?
What will they authorities do? Dont they have more important things? Ill they confiscate the phone? I just realized i could sell it for use in Europe potentially?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it's IMEI programmed.
so no matter what SIM you'll use it will still be blacklisted,
as long as a stolen phone can receive a signal and passes through AT&T's database it will automatically send out a code to lock out the phone,
it is n "as-is" basis though,
depends entirely on the phone
deathnotice01 said:
it's IMEI programmed.
so no matter what SIM you'll use it will still be blacklisted,
as long as a stolen phone can receive a signal and passes through AT&T's database it will automatically send out a code to lock out the phone,
it is n "as-is" basis though,
depends entirely on the phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, my first post here.
I have a customer (I do computer repair, not cell phones) who unknowingly bought a "blacklisted" att phone an HTC one x from craigslist. Is there anything he can do? I told him I would look into it to try and help him out. But I know nothing of cell phones. The guy's like 60 trying to make a few bucks while in retirement buying and selling cell phones.
He used it for a day or so then it just stopped working. when his att sim was deactivated he went to att as he knows the folks who work in the local store. They cleared his sim card, but not the phone. They weren't interested in taking the phone from him either. They said it could be blacklisted for several reasons from non-payment, to stolen or some other reason, but they couldn't tell him the reason. Some advice or a point in the right direction would be greatly appreciated. Would unlocking the phone make any difference (to use on another carrier) or is he just basically screwed with this one?
Thanks,
Chris
SIM unlock it and have it on T-Mobile.
Lil Chris said:
Hi, my first post here.
I have a customer (I do computer repair, not cell phones) who unknowingly bought a "blacklisted" att phone an HTC one x from craigslist. Is there anything he can do? I told him I would look into it to try and help him out. But I know nothing of cell phones. The guy's like 60 trying to make a few bucks while in retirement buying and selling cell phones.
He used it for a day or so then it just stopped working. when his att sim was deactivated he went to att as he knows the folks who work in the local store. They cleared his sim card, but not the phone. They weren't interested in taking the phone from him either. They said it could be blacklisted for several reasons from non-payment, to stolen or some other reason, but they couldn't tell him the reason. Some advice or a point in the right direction would be greatly appreciated. Would unlocking the phone make any difference (to use on another carrier) or is he just basically screwed with this one?
Thanks,
Chris
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AT&T is very strict with matters pertaining to blacklisted phones,
reactivation of a valid sim card is possible but not the phone,
i never had actual experience with AT&T phones since i'm not in the US and we only had experience navigating them during our training at AT&T tech support,
but you can try flashing the stock generic firmware from a AT&T HTC one X and using a T-mo sim instead of a AT&T sim to prevent execution and authentication of IMEI protocols which are nessesarry to deactivate the blacklisted phone,
Welcome to the bad ESN world
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app
cell128 said:
Welcome to the bad ESN world
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And corporate controlled america
--------------------------------------------------------------
By staring at this post you have waived your right to privacy
Complaints will be trolled accordingly
Im a bit confused. Maybe someone could shed some light. Can a at&t iphone that is not in good standing with at&t be used on straight talk. If so must it be a ST Tmobile sim?
Im buying my mom an at&t iphone 4s off CL and want to make sure it can be activated. Thanks!!
themow said:
Im a bit confused. Maybe someone could shed some light. Can a at&t iphone that is not in good standing with at&t be used on straight talk. If so must it be a ST Tmobile sim?
Im buying my mom an at&t iphone 4s off CL and want to make sure it can be activated. Thanks!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As long as it is not reported lost or stolen it can. If it has been blacklisted, no it cannot.

$325- Google Nexus 4 16GB Brand New?!? Google disabled phone?? Help??

Hello fellow forums users. After getting a bad screen nexus 4, and later selling it. I decided to give the Nexus 4 another chance. I just found a great deal on Ebay for a nexus 4 16GB from a seller that has 64 100% positive feedback. But... there seems to be an issue with the phones imei, the seller says that google disabled the phones. I tried looking on google on anything on the matter but I came up short. Here is a copy of the items description on Ebay... What do you think? is there any way that Google can DISABLE phones like that?? ive never heard of that before with unlocked cell phones.... any help would be greatly apreciated.
Original Ebay item description:
The listing is for BAD ESN Nexus 4 16GB BRAND NEW SEALED IN BOX. I ordered it straight from Google and the package went missing. Google gave me refund right away but the package arrived a few weeks later. I did not want the phones so i wanted to send it back to Google but I was told to keep them since they are disabled anyway. I am thinking the phone is disabled by BAD ESN or IMEI. The phone is still sealed in box and never been opened. I am selling these phones AS IS. ALL SALE IS FINAL and NO RETURN WILL BE ACCEPTED. SHIPPING WORLDWIDE
Yes Google can disable the phone remotely. That phone will not turn on. Spend the extra 25 dollars and buy it from Google play store.
neotekz said:
Yes Google can disable the phone remotely. That phone will not turn on. Spend the extra 25 dollars and buy it from Google play store.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well you learn something new everyday. I didnt even think that was possible! Thanks!
I don`t know what you`re up to for sure but these kind of threads are not allowed. If you are a potential buyer DO NOT BUY THIS PHONE, if you`re fencing hot phones GTFO.
ferrojasaguilar said:
Hello fellow forums users. After getting a bad screen nexus 4, and later selling it. I decided to give the Nexus 4 another chance. I just found a great deal on Ebay for a nexus 4 16GB from a seller that has 64 100% positive feedback. But... there seems to be an issue with the phones imei, the seller says that google disabled the phones. I tried looking on google on anything on the matter but I came up short. Here is a copy of the items description on Ebay... What do you think? is there any way that Google can DISABLE phones like that?? ive never heard of that before with unlocked cell phones.... any help would be greatly apreciated.
Original Ebay item description:
The listing is for BAD ESN Nexus 4 16GB BRAND NEW SEALED IN BOX. I ordered it straight from Google and the package went missing. Google gave me refund right away but the package arrived a few weeks later. I did not want the phones so i wanted to send it back to Google but I was told to keep them since they are disabled anyway. I am thinking the phone is disabled by BAD ESN or IMEI. The phone is still sealed in box and never been opened. I am selling these phones AS IS. ALL SALE IS FINAL and NO RETURN WILL BE ACCEPTED. SHIPPING WORLDWIDE
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you buy phone from playstore. They can remotely disable everything. Nexus 4,7,10. As long as you bought it from playstore, don't worry. they
can disable the device in just one second. I would suggest you don't buy it unless google willing to activate the phone. I doubt it.
gee2012 said:
I don`t know what you`re up to for sure but these kind of threads are not allowed. If you are a potential buyer DO NOT BUY THIS PHONE, if you`re fencing hot phones GTFO.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey chill, im not fencing anything. I found the listing on Ebay and since ive never heard of remote disabling I came here to ask as I dont want to throw my $325- away.
Yes Google can disable it and no there is no way anyone can enable it. Its worthless paying that much money. I would suggest to pay a little extra and buy it from Google.
sounds like a tmobile nexus 4 phone ans the account or line is past due or they stopped paying the bill making the phone listed under tmobile as blocked/bad imei
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
gee2012 said:
I don`t know what you`re up to for sure but these kind of threads are not allowed. If you are a potential buyer DO NOT BUY THIS PHONE, if you`re fencing hot phones GTFO.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you even read his post. He's not selling anything let alone a stolen phone. He was simply looking for information on a disabled phone. Why don't you GTFO.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
Thanks for your help, i was looking into the matter and all I could find where apps that let you remotely wipe your personal information on the device, but not actually BRICKING it. I went to google's play homepage, and in the returns/refund section I read that when you ask for a replacement phone, the remotely DISABLE the phone buts thats what I dont get. How do they do that? How does that work? will the phone not power on at all? do they block the imei number worldwide? any ideas?
ferrojasaguilar said:
Thanks for your help, i was looking into the matter and all I could find where apps that let you remotely wipe your personal information on the device, but not actually BRICKING it. I went to google's play homepage, and in the returns/refund section I read that when you ask for a replacement phone, the remotely DISABLE the phone buts thats what I dont get. How do they do that? How does that work? will the phone not power on at all? do they block the imei number worldwide? any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google has a well known back door into phones and they can pretty much do as they please but have limited their efforts so far to just removing malicious apps from peoples phones.
I would stay away from this phone for if the IMEI is blacklisted as stolen, which is pretty much a worldwide blacklist now, then it cannot be recovered as no carrier anywhere will activate it.
They won't remotely brick it... They'll just have the IMEI blacklisted. It will likely turn on, you just can't activate it anywhere.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
joshnichols189 said:
They won't remotely brick it... They'll just have the IMEI blacklisted. It will likely turn on, you just can't activate it anywhere.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
they do brick it, when you turn it on you will get the red led and nothing else.
neotekz said:
they do brick it, when you turn it on you will get the red led and nothing else.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess the question is whether that's Google bricking it or whether it's just a defective phone. I'd venture to say that it's a bad phone. If Google disables your phone, it's by adding your IMEI as stolen.

[Q] Advice needed: About to buy a NEW S4A on CL

I didn't know where else to post this question...
I'm about to buy a NEW Galaxy S4 Active from a guy on Craigslist that's going to get one new from the ATT store today. The selling price to me? $400.
That's a great price, so I'm wondering...
Is there anything that I need to be aware of? Can I lose out on this deal? I'm assuming that he's going to get an upgrade and extend his contract, because that's the only way he can make money on this deal. But what if he cancels his contract or doesn't pay his bill, won't the phone get blacklisted and I'll end up with a brick in a few months?
No blacklisting on att phones. The only way you can lose out is if the guy has insurance on his phone, sell it to you, then calls att reports it stolen. Then the phone becomes a glorified paperweight.
Alot of people run this Craigslist scam, because the insurance deductible is cheap, and they make a large profit selling it, then reporting stolen and get a brand new device, meanwhile you get scammed.
To prevent that from happening you can meet the guy at an att store and let them know you are purchasing the phone from him, and they will transfer ownership to you and he can't file a stolen device.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda premium
I would be very careful when buying an expensive phone from Craigslist. Tell him you only want to meet at an at&t store so they can make a note on his account that he sold you the phone. Then I would have them activate the phone there and then for you. If it's legit then he'll have no issue doing what you suggest. $400 is a good price for an active. But sometimes if it seems too good to be true, well you get the point.
Great advice you guys! That's what I'll do is meet him at the store and make sure I'm notated and the ownership is transferred to me. I didn't realize ATT would do that for me!
That is two good pieces of advice. Benefit of Craigslist over EBay is one-on-one contact. I would add, and you probably already decided, is if he doesn't want to meet with some excuse--don't buy it--
I just bought an iPhone for a family member. I met the seller at the AT&T store and I went in and had AT&t run the IMEI. they said it was not reported stolen but that is all they could do. According to the sales person there is no way to transfer an IMEI and that an original purchaser could theoretically still report the phone stolen.
I am not sure if I believe the second part but it could be. I can't see att trying to track every IMEI as phones change hands.
alphadog00 said:
I just bought an iPhone for a family member. I met the seller at the AT&T store and I went in and had AT&t run the IMEI. they said it was not reported stolen but that is all they could do. According to the sales person there is no way to transfer an IMEI and that an original purchaser could theoretically still report the phone stolen.
I am not sure if I believe the second part but it could be. I can't see att trying to track every IMEI as phones change hands.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah that's wrong. Basically an imei cannot be on two accounts at the same time. So going in to a store with the seller they could remove it from their account and it would be put on yours. With ATT however, there is very little ways for them to "blacklist" a phone. Sure it may not be able to be placed on your account but a sim will still work just fine in it. Verizon is different due to the way their activations work.
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imitenotbecrazy said:
Yeah that's wrong. Basically an imei cannot be on two accounts at the same time. So going in to a store with the seller they could remove it from their account and it would be put on yours. With ATT however, there is very little ways for them to "blacklist" a phone. Sure it may not be able to be placed on your account but a sim will still work just fine in it. Verizon is different due to the way their activations work.
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Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not sure why you say they can't blacklist. They can and are now doing so. EU has done it for years. No one in the USA did it in the past but the carriers are doing it now, and they are working on a shared database. So once a phone is blacklisted it will be unusable on any carrier.
Today a blocked AT&T phone could still be used on t-mobile.
The phone sends its IMEI when it connects to the network and AT&T can easily block it if it is reported stolen. There are other threads about people buying notes and s4 that are blocked.
alphadog00 said:
I am not sure why you say they can't blacklist. They can and are now doing so. EU has done it for years. No one in the USA did it in the past but the carriers are doing it now, and they are working on a shared database. So once a phone is blacklisted it will be unusable on any carrier.
Today a blocked AT&T phone could still be used on t-mobile.
The phone sends its IMEI when it connects to the network and AT&T can easily block it if it is reported stolen. There are other threads about people buying notes and s4 that are blocked.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Weird. I've never seen a phone not connect to the network like that. I haven't told ATT I've switched phones since my OG Note a year and a half ago. That phone has long since been gone. The only thing that seems to be reporting to ATT is the sim. What happens when you use an imei from outside their database? How does it access their network then?
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imitenotbecrazy said:
Weird. I've never seen a phone not connect to the network like that. I haven't told ATT I've switched phones since my OG Note a year and a half ago. That phone has long since been gone. The only thing that seems to be reporting to ATT is the sim. What happens when you use an imei from outside their database? How does it access their network then?
sent from just the tip
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I switch phones all the time and I don't "tell" AT&T - this works fine without issue, but they do see the IMEI - this is easy to verify. Log into your AT&T account and look at your devices - it shows the actual phone that is being used on that number. I am not sure how often they update this, but it shows the system automatically sees the IMEI.
They only keep a database of Blocked or blacklisted IMEI. It is impossible for them to keep a database of approved phones, it just wouldn't work and it would piss people off. It is easier to keep a short block list.
On my account, I have 2 other family lines for dumb phones and they have data blocks. But these lines are using other smart phones, and they listed by brand and model when i log into my account. The IMEI can be used to detect brand and model. I still don't know why the CSRs ask for IMEI when this info shows up automatically, but i never give it to them.
And like I said, when i bought the last phone, I walked in the store and the guy knew what i wanted and looked it up to see if it was reported stolen. When it was not, he said everything was good. A few years ago, they would not have cared either way.
alphadog00 said:
I switch phones all the time and I don't "tell" AT&T - this works fine without issue, but they do see the IMEI - this is easy to verify. Log into your AT&T account and look at your devices - it shows the actual phone that is being used on that number. I am not sure how often they update this, but it shows the system automatically sees the IMEI.
They only keep a database of Blocked or blacklisted IMEI. It is impossible for them to keep a database of approved phones, it just wouldn't work and it would piss people off. It is easier to keep a short block list.
On my account, I have 2 other family lines for dumb phones and they have data blocks. But these lines are using other smart phones, and they listed by brand and model when i log into my account. The IMEI can be used to detect brand and model. I still don't know why the CSRs ask for IMEI when this info shows up automatically, but i never give it to them.
And like I said, when i bought the last phone, I walked in the store and the guy knew what i wanted and looked it up to see if it was reported stolen. When it was not, he said everything was good. A few years ago, they would not have cared either way.
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Click to collapse
See that's where I'm having this issue. I log into my ATT dealer site and it still shows me on the OG Note. When I log into my account it shows OG Note. My account doesn't update with what phone I'm using currently. Not sure if mine is an anomoly or not. AFAIK though ATT told us there was nothing that could be done when one of our ATT display phones was stolen. That's part of where my assumption that blacklisting was not a real thing with ATT.
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imitenotbecrazy said:
See that's where I'm having this issue. I log into my ATT dealer site and it still shows me on the OG Note. When I log into my account it shows OG Note. My account doesn't update with what phone I'm using currently. Not sure if mine is an anomoly or not. AFAIK though ATT told us there was nothing that could be done when one of our ATT display phones was stolen. That's part of where my assumption that blacklisting was not a real thing with ATT.
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Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I admit I never blocked a phone. But there is thread that has lots of details of a few users experience:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2315935
According to AT&T only the original owner can report a phone stolen - so maybe only new activations get treated this way. The AT&T rep said i could not add the IMEI of the used phone to my account to prevent someone from reporting it stolen, so their system has lots of limits.
I wish I knew more, but AT&T is not the most forthcoming with how things work.
alphadog00 said:
Today a blocked AT&T phone could still be used on t-mobile.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I read just the other day that Tmo and ATT are sharing their blacklists. And once a phone has been blacklisted on one carrier, the other will follow suit.

Unlocked, working, but then show "NO SERVICE". LTE Ok, but no signal, no phone calls.

Unlocked, working, but then show "NO SERVICE". LTE Ok, but no signal, no phone calls.
Maybe you guys from international forum can help me find a solution for this.
Here is the scenario:
I bought the phone from a Swappa Seller. Phone is t-mobile branded and was in the box, Brand new.
http://swappa.com/listing/ZPB505/view
Brand New Samsung Galaxy Note 4 SM-N910T White ( UNLOCKED) 32GB
Phone is brand new in its original box. The phone has never been used. All Accessories are still sealed in plastic - The phone model is SM-N910T. This is a great deal on a BRAND new - NEVER USED phone!
This phone is guaranteed to work with AT&T. There is no regional lock whatsoever
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Achraf G. Seller - Nov 03, 2014 - 11:32 PM
You will have to add $20 for one day-shipping. Let me know if that works for you. Thanks
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Click to collapse
Can anybody tell me why a T-mobile unlocked phone won't work with T-mobile?
I used the phone on my carrier and it was flawless. Everything was fine till suddenly i lost phone signal. It always show "NO SERVICE" message now, but strangely I still have 4G Connection. I can use the phone to navigate, not to make phone calls.
So I swapped carriers, and the phone was working ok, phone calls, data connection.... then the thing happened again: no service, but i have 4g LTE connection.
Inserted a third sim card, from another carrier. Phone is fine, workin as it should! But this is not my main sim card and i would like it very much to work with ANY carrier. Do you guys have any idea what the problem is? Factory reset did not work at all. For the others sim cards, it recognize the network for a second and then "no service". How can i have data connection if there is "no service"?
Im really desperate because i payed a lot for this note 4... Maybe if i root the phone and flash another ROM?
help please!
Try reflashing it with stock firmware. I don't know if this is a sign of phone being reported as stolen or lost.
Maybe some more expert can answer that as I'm not from US.
Phone might be blacklisted only on T-Mobile could take longer until it goes on us canada blacklist
Same problem here. Bought the device over the internet in Norway. Seems to be it is blocked on one network but the other is working. Anyway to fix that?
Pretty much the only way would be to write new imei which is illegal.
Sent from my SM-N910T using XDA Free mobile app
darekz said:
Pretty much the only way would be to write new imei which is illegal.
Sent from my SM-N910T using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
how?! lol
colliderz said:
Same problem here. Bought the device over the internet in Norway. Seems to be it is blocked on one network but the other is working. Anyway to fix that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
still have the problem?
edgarzin said:
still have the problem?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes sir. The IMEI is blocked by the provider.
colliderz said:
Yes sir. The IMEI is blocked by the provider.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why? what about the others providers?
in my country there are 4, i cant use in two of them. Called the costumer service, they said my IMEI is OK. If it wasnt, i could not use it in all carriers. Damn it.. have no idea what to do... Im think about sueing SAMSUNG and force them to give me a new device.
If it is bought from swappa, it must have passed their imei test, which means it is not blacklisted and already been paid off. This is strange, but contact seller and swappa immediately...
===========
Edit:
I have just read the conversation at swappa, and the seller seems to be hiding something based on his answer to the other person who asked a question.... he said this::
ms1121 - Nov 03, 2014 - 10:18 AM
it is unlocked to work with T-Mobile?
Achraf G. Seller - Nov 03, 2014 - 10:48 AM
No. Sorry. It will work with all other GSM carriers though. Thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
xdm9mm said:
If it is bought from swappa, it must have passed their imei test, which means it is not blacklisted and already been paid off. This is strange, but contact seller and swappa immediately...
===========
Edit:
I have just read the conversation at swappa, and the seller seems to be hiding something based on his answer to the other person who asked a question.... he said this::
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i noticed that.. that is very strange... what do you think the problem could be?
edgarzin said:
i noticed that.. that is very strange... what do you think the problem could be?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First ask swappa what was the IMEI number that the seller submitted, check that with the IMEI on your hpone. If there is a discrepancy, then it means the seller submitted an IMEI which is already paid off, then he sent you the NEW one, which he MIGHT have declared lost or stolen, hence the BLOCK.
Good luck
xdm9mm said:
First ask swappa what was the IMEI number that the seller submitted, check that with the IMEI on your hpone. If there is a discrepancy, then it means the seller submitted an IMEI which is already paid off, then he sent you the NEW one, which he MIGHT have declared lost or stolen, hence the BLOCK.
Good luck
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
did you send a message on the sale page? if you did, thanks, swappa answered me, device is blacklisted by T-Mobile. I just dont understand how can i use the phone on others providers like VIVO and OI, TIM and CLARO dont accept the phone in their network, i wonder if they have a bussiness relationship with TMobile.
I will contact Tmo and ask what can i do about this.
edgarzin said:
did you send a message on the sale page? if you did, thanks, swappa answered me, device is blacklisted by T-Mobile. I just dont understand how can i use the phone on others providers like VIVO and OI, TIM and CLARO dont accept the phone in their network, i wonder if they have a bussiness relationship with TMobile.
I will contact Tmo and ask what can i do about this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I did.. what did swappa say? Are they helping you? Also try to claim on paypal if you still have the window...
We have 2 major networks in Norway. It was blocked on the one for like 1 month and afterwards other operator also blocked the IMEI. The only solution is to change IMEI or the motherboard. Unfortunately there is no way out of this.

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