I went to switch to a different carrier, and was on cricket, and also tried tmobile both wich worked fine unlocked bootloader and rooted.
I then switched to sprint, and verizon and found out both carriers the phone would not work right. The data worked but the call and texting did not.
As a side note, I was informed by someone who was on sprint, and he said that you had to get on the network unrooted and locked bootloader, once registered you could then root and get the bootloader unlocked and be just fine.
So I then proceeded to unroot the phone ie: removing everything root, and keeping twrp with an unocked bootloader only, no sign of root. I took the phone back to the stores and tried again, and the phone still had the same issue.
After finally finding a way to finally after 6mo lock the bootloader again, and was at pure stock, locked bootloader and no root.
What this tells me is that some how verizon and sprint both some how some way detect an unlocked bootloader....how? I have no clue, I've never in my 5+ years of rooting multiple phones, never ever ever seen anything like this. The only reason I know this is what it was, is from common deduction and reasoning.........unroot = still doesn't work.....locked bl = works fine with not a single issue. Keep in mind this was all with base stock rom, not a custom rom.....everything was stock, accept for the root and un;ocked bootloader part. I rooted with magisk.
Since I had a very long time and issue with locking the bootloader, (about 6mo) after trying a ton of things, without resolve, I FINALLY got the bootloader locked.
If it's going to be anything like before trying to get it locked again to work on sprint and verzion, I really do not want to bother with unlocking it to begin with. It was an utter nightmare to get locked, no matter what I tried it just would not lock for whatever reason.
So given all that, my question is, how hard or easy is it now to unlock and lock the bootloader?
Related
So hi all, this is my first post on XDA. Finding information these days you think would be easy but alas it's been one big waiting game.
A little background, I've wanted for the longest time to link my ps3 controller (WIRELESSLY) to my s4, but Verizon forced an upgrade to Lollipop, I hate it and it's been a nightmare for me.
I learned I would have to be root to get the controller to work wirelessly, but I wanted root access for other reasons well such as bloatware removal and interface customization.
So I've been skulking around forums like a hawk, finally I found king root but it wouldn't root my phone and I wasn't about to install it on my PC, too risky... so I waited and waited and waited.
several months pass...
New update for King root will now work to root my phone, and I was able to replace it with super-sume, root checker showed I was rooted and Bazinga! Off I was at last. I removed a couple pieces of bloatware but before I continued I thought it might be wise to reboot the phone while rooted to make sure everything is kosher.
Phone comes back up, no problems. but now ROOT ACCESS IS GONE. I read up and discovered that in some cases the boot-loader will unroot the phone everytime you reboot. I don't want to have to re-root my phone over and over again, that's a pain in the arse.
I read up on some laws felt confident if I called Verizon they wouldn't be able to give me a hard-time, I just wanted to know how to disable the boot-loader locking things up.
I ended up with tier two, who they stated all their 4G devices are unlocked... when I got into the nitty gritty regarding the bootloader the techs I spoke with were lost.
I just want to be able to root my phone and KEEP root. I wish I had Kit-Kat because this wouldn't even be an issue but I don't. Can anyone help? I'm so sick of this crap.
HALP PLZ :crying: :crying:
Another small caveat I should mention, when I reboot my phone, it has an unlocked padlock but root checker states that root access in no longer properly installed and I can't do anything that I'd be able to do rooted either. Before the reboot, root was showing as properly installed.
Wrong forum, there is a Verizon subsection.
Verizon phones are all unlocked...... meaning you can insert whatever SIM card you feel like putting into it.
The bootloader, however, is locked. It will remain locked and it's more than likely never going to be unlocked. Write access is dependent on an unlocked bootloader. The security checks are set up as such that if you attempt to alter the system files, they'll just all return to normal on a reboot.
You can use a temp root method on Android 4.4, but as you figured out.... when you reboot, Bye Bye Root!
There is not, nor has there been, nor will there be a bootloader unlock unless somebody cracks Samsung's encryption keys. You have a better chance of winning the Powerball jackpot than doing that.
Use CF root if you wanna perm and thing solved..
I'm not sure what is up, this isn't a new thing, but people keep coming to me (1-2 a day) with this issue.
If your phone isn't stock, DO NOT RELOCK your bootloader. You will 'soft brick' it, and at this time there is no easy route to fixing it.
If you are on EE UK, Verizon or another carrier blocking bootloader unlocks, and you used dePixel8 to unlock it, DO NOT relock your bootloader unless you are sure you don't want it unlocked again.
Finally, dePixel8 is UNSUPPORTED. Don't come to me if you can't get it to work, don't come to me if you used it them messed up your phone by flashing something bad or whatever. Its on you.
Great announcement. With the monthly security update out today, it is recommended that you don't install the update or have automatic updates enabled.
I've got a S4 AT&T running OK2 with root and it ran my AirVoice Wireless SIM perfectly fine for a month while I researched and got a new phone. I'd now like to use it as a backup phone with a FreedomPOP SIM but it's giving me grief about "SIM network unlock PIN". This is the carrier lock correct? I found a tutorial that has you go into the Service Mode and turn off NETWORK LOCK. This tutorial doesn't seem to work (missing the options) in OK2. Do I have to downflash to 4.2.2 in order to get these options? If so, how do I go about doing that? I put OK2 with root on this phone but that process took 2 days and with all the mixed info out there and different versions, it's confusing to say the least.
My other question is, I tried flashing TWRP (jflteatt) and I believe I ended up with the "software not authorized by AT&T" error. Doing some reading, it looks like this may be due to not using a loki'd TWRP?
Any pointers/tips would be much appreciated. All this Samsung stuff is way over my head despite having rooted, recoveried and rom'd maybe a dozen Android devices. I much prefer LG and Moto
natenkiki2004 said:
I've got a S4 AT&T running OK2 with root and it ran my AirVoice Wireless SIM perfectly fine for a month while I researched and got a new phone. I'd now like to use it as a backup phone with a FreedomPOP SIM but it's giving me grief about "SIM network unlock PIN". This is the carrier lock correct? I found a tutorial that has you go into the Service Mode and turn off NETWORK LOCK. This tutorial doesn't seem to work (missing the options) in OK2. Do I have to downflash to 4.2.2 in order to get these options? If so, how do I go about doing that? I put OK2 with root on this phone but that process took 2 days and with all the mixed info out there and different versions, it's confusing to say the least.
My other question is, I tried flashing TWRP (jflteatt) and I believe I ended up with the "software not authorized by AT&T" error. Doing some reading, it looks like this may be due to not using a loki'd TWRP?
Any pointers/tips would be much appreciated. All this Samsung stuff is way over my head despite having rooted, recoveried and rom'd maybe a dozen Android devices. I much prefer LG and Moto
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah you're carrier locked. I think you can only downgrade to NB1 from OK2, not sure you can carrier unlock on NB1 or not. As for installing TWRP you can't due to the locked bootloader. You can only use safe strap recovery and boot only custom touch wiz roms. Loki only works on the MDB and MDL bootloaders, once you've upgraded the bootloader past MDL, you can't go back.
If the AT&T phone is like the i337m and m919, you may be able to flash down to 4.4.2, flash a 4.2.2 modem, root, run regionlockaway, upgrade modem back to 4.4.2.
Thanks for the replies. I grabbed NB1 from here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2616221
and flashed it via Odin. All went well but when it came time to follow various instructions I found online, they either yielded no unlock or the options weren't in the menu. I don't think the free unlock trick via the service menu works on 4.4.2/NB1.
I researched a bit more and feel very stupid with one of the results that came up... AT&T offers online unlocking of their devices and you don't even have to be one of their customers! I figured I could go to one of their retail stores but also figured they would deny me since I'm not a customer. I'll be jiggered though, here it is: https://www.att.com/deviceunlock/
Slapped my IEMI in with my e-mail and in less than an hour or so, I got my unlock code for free. AT&T said they would e-mail it but I checked back on the status page and found the code there. Hopefully this helps other people.
So, moving forward now, is OK2 the best I can do with a locked bootloader? I ran it for a while but I found that I burned through my data real quick because when I would leave my WiFi coverage and come back, it would reconnect but for some reason wouldn't actually use WiFi (data was still on, had the 4G icon) until I restarted the phone. Basically, every time I left and came back home, I had to restart my phone. Is this a known issue, did I botch something in the install process? I may make another thread for this.
*EDIT*
Running OK2 for a while, I no longer have the WiFi issues I had before. Doing some thinking, I can only attribute the issue to either incorrectly followed steps the first time around flashing OK2 or the use of the debloater script found in the OK2 downloads thread. I've been using Link2SD to remove system apps and so far haven't removed anything that has affected WiFi.
It looks like the T-Mobile v20 is carrier unlocked via the Device Unlock app. That assumes the phone is eligible for an unlock, which mine is. The problem is that I'm running a custom ROM, and the Device Unlock app doesn't appear to work on anything other than a stock load. That's even running Magisk and confirming that everything is "hidden". I base this assumption only on some stuff I found while searching the forums.
So the obvious solution is to flash back to stock. If that's the only way to do it, fine. It's a pain but I'll do it. Does anyone know if there is an alternative bit of trickery so that it can be done on custom ROMs?
It's not so much the backup/wipe/load/unlock/wipe/restore process I'm trying to avoid. I do that all the time when I want to play with other ROMs. It's the bootloader/recowvery stuff, and plus it looks like the stock image isn't just a standard zip.
I appreciate any input, even if it's just to confirm I have to go back to stock.
as far as I know the bootloader has to be locked for the app to work... I'm always on stock and despite removing root the app would just keep trying to contact the server. it wasn't until I locked the bootloader that the app went through and contacted the server
Hi all. I have been searching high and low for information on this specific question:
Will activating an unlocked Pixel 3a on Verizon disable the OEM Unlock and bootloader unlock capability?
I got a Verizon variant before I realized that there was not way to unlock the bootloader. Bummer. So, I returned it for an Unlocked version from Google, which I just received tonight. I breezed through the setup (without the SIM card) and noticed that OEM Unlock was disabled stating I needed to connect to the internet. So, I enabled WiFi and the OEM Unlock was then available. It would seem that I an now able to follow the unlocking procedure.
My goal is to unlock the bootloader and root, but do I have to do it immediately? My concern is that activating the phone with my Verizon SIM could:
1) Prevent unlocking the bootloader in the future if I don't unlock it before I activate with SIM (research seems to indicate that factory resets will undo disabling OEM Unlock if this can happen if I understand correctly)
2) Re-lock an unlocked bootloader - maybe this is not even possible?
I don't want to mess this up. All the info I am finding are discussions related to trying to unlock a Verizon variant and I cannot find good info on what happens to bootloader unlocking options on unlocked phones that are activated on Verizon. The only reason I may want to delay this process is because I dont have a lot of time at the moment and would rather not rush the bootloader unlock and root process. However, my HTC 10 is in bad shape and need a phone to get through the holidays. I was hoping that I could activate it on Verizon now, use it with its locked bootloader for a few weeks, and when things cool down after the holidays, implement the bootloader unlock and root.
If that is not advisable, what about unlocking the bootloader immediately (doesn't seem too hard and I have used ADB before), and activating without root. Then root later? Any possibility of concern #2?
Can OTA's re-lock a bootloader and prevent future unlocking?
I appreciate anyone's incite, experience, or links to the needed information for clearing this up. Thanks you!
I would advise you to unlock the bootloader asap. If you wait it will be a pain later because unlocking causes loss of data. If you don't care about that, wait as long as you like.
As far as Verizon is concerned, if the phone is unlocked, I don't see how they could possibly lock the bootloader. They may restrict your services but they can't touch the lock status of a device you purchased.
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