Related
Seen a thread somewhere on the net about this and thought I'd post it in this section seeing as how it would be an accessory upgrade I suppose. If anybody has any more info or specs on this let me know and let's get it up on here for reference. I'd like to give it a try and see if it will bring better speeds and performance for the A855. I'll keep my search up again and try to get the info on here.
Success
Ok guys and gals,I have tracked down some info on putting a Motorola D2 (A955 or A956) motherboard into a D1. It has been done and I'm posting the sites for the breakdown and info on it showing that it can be done. I just got a good used D2 off of EBay this morning for $50 and supposedly the screen doesn't work on it. If I can't get the screen to work I will implant the D2 motherboard into my D1 and possibly the keyboard as well. The designs are exactly the same and everything fits. I hope you all find this informative and hope somebody will give it a try as well! Enjoy!
http://www.pcworld.com/zoom?id=203022&page=1&zoomIdx=1
http://www.emoiz.com/motorola-droid-2-tear-down
http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Installing-Motorola-Droid-Motherboard/2981/1
http://www.ifixit.com/pdf/ifixit/guide_3508_en.pdf
If droid 2 to droid 1 is possible, can I have a droid 2 keyboard for droid 1?
That is, put my droid 1 motherboard into a droid 2 lower body, and remains the droid 1 screen?
Any sites with the 2 to 1 switch working with photos or videos?
anyone here on forums that done this?
No I have not found any videos yet but I will make one when I get ready to tear apart my D1. I have had my D2G torn apart about 2 months but have been busy. I'll let you all know when I begin.
Sent from my HERO200 using xda premium
andy_lowe02 said:
No I have not found any videos yet but I will make one when I get ready to tear apart my D1. I have had my D2G torn apart about 2 months but have been busy. I'll let you all know when I begin.
Sent from my HERO200 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Will it work with a global? does'nt that need extra space for the sim slot?
This is very interesting... might be well worth doing. Please post updates when/if you get this underway.
Just out of interest why wouldn't you just replace the screen in the D2 with the screen from your D1?
What implications will changing the hardware like this have for software compatibility?
taptaptouch said:
Will it work with a global? does'nt that need extra space for the sim slot?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi. I believe this would not be an issue as I have swapped motherboards from my Motorola Milestone (GSM) to a Motorola Droid (CDMA) and it fit perfectly fine. Put my sim on and worked great. I dont have any experience with the Droid 2 and D2G though, so I'm just guessing really.
I'm looking to do this with a milestone and a d2g. I can't seem to find any milestone 2 on ebay but I see tons of d2g for cheap.
Also does anyone know how to switch the home and back becouse there in a different place on the d2g. I think there's a button replace app but I'm not sure
Sent from my Milestone using XDA App
Got my droid 2 global the other day just got to figure out how to sim unlock it
Sent from my Milestone using XDA App
it seams that putting a droid 2 global motherboard in a milestone will not work. every time i try to turn on the milestone only the soft keys light up and nothing else happens. i also tried the opposite to see if i put something together wrong or broke a cable and with the motherboard of the milestone in the droid 2 global i got the same problem only the soft keys light up.
Will be doing this.
Sent from my Droid using XDA App
But then again, say good bye to an unlocked bootloader.
Sent from my Droid using XDA App
Droid2G and Droid1 under construction!
Hey guys,I've been attending college and working and tending to my kids lately and havent checked in on this in a while. My droid 1 processor just took a crap on me yesterday and I am now undergoing the transformation of the two Droids. I am essentially using the lower half(keyboard) from my Droid 2 Global, and the upper half(the LCD Screen,and digitizer) from my Droid 1 and going to inculcate them together. I will take pics along the way as I have no way of taking video except with my HTC Hero200. God I need to buy a video camera already! Thanks for keeping up with this thread and I look forward to giving you all the info as soon as I'm done!
Unlocking the Milestone or Droid 2 Global
Usually to unlock a GSM phone you can just call Verizon OR Motorola directly if your brave enough and ask them for the unlock code. I am in the military and always tell them I'm going overseas and need the unlock code so that I can take it with me. They usually don't ask a lot of questions and give me the code with no problem. Just thought I'd try to help out.
gwl123 said:
Got my droid 2 global the other day just got to figure out how to sim unlock it
Sent from my Milestone using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
any news? i might be getting a milestone 2 wich has a backlight problem (or screen, not shure) so, im really interested on getting the m2 motherboard runnning in my m1 case.....
Doing this would effectively give you a Droid 2 in the Droid 1 housing...don't see the point?!
scbond said:
Doing this would effectively give you a Droid 2 in the Droid 1 housing...don't see the point?!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unless your Droid 1 stopped working, and you bought a Droid 2 with a broken screen for cheap...
dstruct2k said:
Unless your Droid 1 stopped working, and you bought a Droid 2 with a broken screen for cheap...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In this case use the screen of Droid 1, in Droid 2, its better the keyboard of Droid 2... but i dont know the incompatibilities..... see the V3 and V3re the display are same but the flex connect its different....
I need a new phone with a physical keyboard. Was looking at the Droid4, which appears to have the best physical keyboard around, but am a bit of a newb at this stuff. My old HTC Dream (G1) is dying, and I need to figure this out sooner then later. Haha
Can it be unlocked to work on Rogers Wireless in Canada?
As of right now, no.
Dave Lister said:
As of right now, no.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thnx. Is it a case of no unlock? Or (lack of knowledge here) no GSM support?
Also, once an android device is rooted, is there an unlock app of some kind? Or?
demungtoe said:
Thnx. Is it a case of no unlock? Or (lack of knowledge here) no GSM support?
Also, once an android device is rooted, is there an unlock app of some kind? Or?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Currently GSM support is disabled in the firmware and AFAIK it will stay that way until Verizon releases an update to enable it.
Was a bit disappointing they do not have the global services available on the Droid 4. If your looking for a device with keyboard right now you may be able to pick up a used Droid 2 Global. I know those work up there as I had one when I was in Canada last year.
All I can say is, damn. I can't believe how messed up the mobile phone industry is. There is a device, I want to use it, so much so that I'm willing to pay the crazy $549.99 pricetag for it. However, they've decided that I'm not allowed to use it on my network. I hope chinese clones step up their game! Heh.
I was contemplating a droid3, however don't want to spend too much since I may want the droid4 once its actually usable.
I was contemplating picking up a motorola flipout for the meantime, cheap and weird looking!
Also, this probably isn't the right place for a question about this, but I'm at a loss as to what the heck unlock codes actually are (are they issued by the carrier? or hardware manufacturer?) and why there are numerous scammy websites selling them. Can anyone recommend a site I can do some reading about this on? About why I'll probably have to pay for one? I may need to know this if I pickup a different used phone.
The SIM Unlock codes are usually given by the carrier to their paid customers. Verizon will give them out if you have had an account in good standing for 6 months if I recall right.
As for sites to get the unlock codes, I cannot make any recommendations due to I have never paid for them. I have however seen on sites like deals extreme unlocker SIMs that go between the phone and the SIM but have no idea if or how well those work.
Also if you buy a used device you may be able to get one that has been SIM unlocked already. The SIM unlock is a one time task, even if the phone gets wiped or reset it will remain SIM unlocked.
I still keep my G1 as a spare. My next step from that was a TouchPro2 - it comes with WindowsMobile, but I'm running XDAndroid on it. It has an excellent keyboard. I think I still like the TP2 keyboard better than my D4's keyboard.
But, the TP2 has the exact same processor as the G1, and only a tiny bit more RAM. It has a much higher screen rez (800x480) but no faster hardware, so it is noticeably slow.
If I were you I'd look at picking up a used Droid3. I was considering the D3 as my next phone from the TP2, but waited instead for the D4 to come out. As it is, I'm finding that Verizon's 4G service is cutting out all the time on me, so it's still better as a 3G phone. And I'm heading off to Europe in a couple weeks, and will have to bring my G1 or my TP2 on the trip anyway.
Curses to Qualcomm, Motorola, and Verizon. Verizon for their stupid policies and selling a phone with full-featured hardware and intentionally crippled software. Motorola for their locked firmware that prevents end-users, who have legitimately paid for and *own* the damn hardware, from installing software on it as they see fit. Qualcomm for preventing end-users (again, who have legitimately paid for and *own* the hardware) from even seeing the specifications so that they can provide their own software.
demungtoe said:
All I can say is, damn. I can't believe how messed up the mobile phone industry is. There is a device, I want to use it, so much so that I'm willing to pay the crazy $549.99 pricetag for it. However, they've decided that I'm not allowed to use it on my network. I hope chinese clones step up their game! Heh.
I was contemplating a droid3, however don't want to spend too much since I may want the droid4 once its actually usable.
I was contemplating picking up a motorola flipout for the meantime, cheap and weird looking!
Also, this probably isn't the right place for a question about this, but I'm at a loss as to what the heck unlock codes actually are (are they issued by the carrier? or hardware manufacturer?) and why there are numerous scammy websites selling them. Can anyone recommend a site I can do some reading about this on? About why I'll probably have to pay for one? I may need to know this if I pickup a different used phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bell sells the Motorola XT860, I'm currently using it unlocked on Rogers without a hitch. The only issue, I'm not sure if this phone will get official ICS support... The devs are hacking away at getting all of the cool ICS features up and running though
You can probably find an XT860 on Kijiji, Craigslist or even eBay for a lot cheaper than the full Bell price... heck they were giving them away on 3 year contracts during xmas. You might want to check out the Droid3 forums in the meantime to get some more info on XT860
Fwiw, i'm in Ireland now and popped an Irish SIM into the phone. Interestingly enough, you can swap the SIM while the phone is powered on, in Airplane mode. It still didn't work, but the phone didn't complain about any SIM lock. But when I rebooted the phone, it complained then.
There are properties in /system/build.prop for enabling world-mode. I turned these on, but looking at the radio logcat, it seems that our current libril-xxx.so just doesn't support any GSM commands.
The interesting thing is that the Motorola Atrix has the same Qualcomm MDM6600 radio modem as this phone. I'm going to look for an Atrix ROM and see if I can kang some libril files from there to see if I can get any further. (Btw, I wrote the multimode RIL for the XDAndroid ROM; this sort of investigation is my specialty...)
Sent from my DROID4 using Tapatalk
I hope they hurry with this. I want this phone now. Its ridiculous that users outside USA cannot use this phone.
Bump, any development?
HerrDarkShadow said:
Bump, any development?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Look at the thread titled "Droid 4 for Hong Konger" in this forum for instructions on how to unlock GSM capability. This only came about a few days ago.
Dave Lister said:
Look at the thread titled "Droid 4 for Hong Konger" in this forum for instructions on how to unlock GSM capability. This only came about a few days ago.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And it's still not stable from what I've read...
This phone is too early to jump into for me. I'll stick to my 4G Slide for now and check back on this device in a few months. Maybe development will pick up by then and they'll have the GSM thing sorted out
Bumping this again. Any news?
I'm in the same situation as OP. Need to upgrade phone (from a Desire Z) and want something with physical keyboard. Droid 4 seems like the best bet.
eksobr said:
Bumping this again. Any news?
I'm in the same situation as OP. Need to upgrade phone (from a Desire Z) and want something with physical keyboard. Droid 4 seems like the best bet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The phone worked fine for me on Rogers when I had it. I did a bunch of tweaking in order to get all of the functions working, but this was back in ICS. Also, no LTE is available...
But you're much better off going full touchscreen, just get used to it... I think keyboard phones are going the way of the dinosaur
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4
eksobr said:
Bumping this again. Any news?
I'm in the same situation as OP. Need to upgrade phone (from a Desire Z) and want something with physical keyboard. Droid 4 seems like the best bet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
danifunker said:
The phone worked fine for me on Rogers when I had it. I did a bunch of tweaking in order to get all of the functions working, but this was back in ICS. Also, no LTE is available...
But you're much better off going full touchscreen, just get used to it... I think keyboard phones are going the way of the dinosaur
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK guys this is perfect timing.. and i dont have much support for th eextra tweaking issues we have in Canada, with some of these phones and roms..
Anyhow. Heres my story.. You will like the ending!!
Ive owned a Droid 3 (XT860-BELLMOBILITY) for over a year now.. I came from the original Milestone 1 from Telus Mobililty.
4 weeks ago I had my Droid 3 stolen from me in the laundry room of my condo.. Well it was more.. forgotten by me (i think it was lost there.. for sure!!) and some lucky sole got their hands on it.. I can now use google and its cached pages of kijiji to see that it wass posted the day of.. lol ive got the kid selling other goods so its only a matter of time before i force karma upon him
I took a risk, but being desperate QWERTYDROID junkies like we are, and bought an American Verizon Droid 3 (XT862)
--Keep in mind that i knew nothing about unlocking, rooting, restoring, and doing the whole ROM/Bootstrap/TWRP/SAFEBOOT etc.. Im 35, been into pc's since i was 15, but never into MAC or LINUX.
At this point ive bricked these phones and the next one i speak about dozens of times, while attempting to do the practice makes perfect sort of journey to see what works, what doesnt, what sometimes does, etc.. Its always ended up being able to use the original stock rom's with no problems. (sometimes bloatwear was anoying) but not much support for our radios and etc.
So i had a bit of trouble getting this verizon droid 3 up and running as verizon themselves gives us extra work by trying to secure the load up of the activation process. Either way.. it worked, and still does, and ive gotten a few roms working on it like all SteelDroid, CM10.1, MiniMoto, and possibly a couple others. but these were the ones that can and will work, with a bit of trial and error.
shoot gotta run for a few minutes. so i wanna post this so i dont lose it all.
PART 2 of this story to follow within an hour!! But ill give you a bit of a spoiler.
I am using a Droid 4 now.. as a poster said justr before me, he had many issues to get past, well so did I, but them came the huge hurdles to get over also..
Still have my droid 3 xt862 that was wanting to sell. though,, im still not for certain ready to part with it..
be back shortly sorry about this..
next part in next post
What happened????
Sent from my Galaxy S Relay
eksobr said:
Bumping this again. Any news?
I'm in the same situation as OP. Need to upgrade phone (from a Desire Z) and want something with physical keyboard. Droid 4 seems like the best bet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as I'm aware, there shouldn't be any problem getting this to run on a GSM network outside the United States. If the phone is on ICS or JB the GSM is unlocked already. If you use any of the ROM's, there's a thread in the "Droid 4 Android Development" called "Enable GSM on any ROM Patch" which should fully enable it.
Sent from my XT894 using xda app-developers app
demungtoe said:
I need a new phone with a physical keyboard. Was looking at the Droid4, which appears to have the best physical keyboard around, but am a bit of a newb at this stuff. My old HTC Dream (G1) is dying, and I need to figure this out sooner then later. Haha
Can it be unlocked to work on Rogers Wireless in Canada?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a Droid4, updated with android 4.1, and I can confirm you that it works with Rogers
I've been using a defective Bionic since launch now. The last OTA update completely destroyed my data connection, to the point of it becoming so unreliable that I need a new one. After talking to Tier 2 Tech Support, they are sending a Bionic and want mine back. It is rooted and has safestrap with Eclipse 3.0 on the safe side. How can I be sure that Verizon will not know that I rooted it?
Only thing you can do is to reflash .902/.905. A hard reset isn't going to wipe the rom, just your user data.
Underwater Mike said:
Only thing you can do is to reflash .902/.905. A hard reset isn't going to wipe the rom, just your user data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Anyway you can link me to a guide or give me instructions on how to do so?
barronlroth said:
Anyway you can link me to a guide or give me instructions on how to do so?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8RTBFeMdso&feature=relmfu
this should work from whatever version you are on!
sbreen94 said:
this should work from whatever version you are on!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Even if I didn't flash ICS? This will remove root and my entire safestrap system?
I just sent one back that was rooted and on ICS. I didn't bother to wipe anything before sending back. I just pulled my cards and put it in the box.
Though i did tell Verizon that i flashed it i don't remember mentioning root. Does anyone really think they would pursue money on a phone with known data failure units? My problem was that i couldn't get/keep 4G.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2
If it was any carrier other than big red, they probably couldnt care less, but big red is evil and they are all about money! If there is a way for them to charge you for something, they will!
But like previous poster said he sent his back, if they havent said anything by now, then they wont. They probably didnt even check, all they are going to do is reflash .905 on it, then remarket it as a refurb.
sent from my DROID BIONIC via XDA App
Uninstall safe strap and use stock recovery to flash an update zip of whatever ota you told them messed up your data. You need to make sure you're in whatever version you told them because they do record notes for every open case. It seems to me that your phone is working well enough for you to use an unroot method that is posted here on xda
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2
Anyone had any luck with the data signal actually being better on the "new" device? I'm in the same boat, sending my rooted, but still stock Bionic back tomorrow, but not sure if exchanging one unit for another with the same hardware/firmware will really make a difference??
There were some earlier posts on AC about folks getting RAZRs in exchange for their BIONIC's.
Pelikin said:
Anyone had any luck with the data signal actually being better on the "new" device? I'm in the same boat, sending my rooted, but still stock Bionic back tomorrow, but not sure if exchanging one unit for another with the same hardware/firmware will really make a difference??
There were some earlier posts on AC about folks getting RAZRs in exchange for their BIONIC's.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In my area I don't get 4G. Only 3G and the signal is pretty bad near my work which is in the sticks. However when I travel to a 4G area I have no issues with my signal. Despite every phone using the same hardware/firmware there could be issues with the hardware itself that might be bad. Another phone may or may not fix the issue. It's almost like saying similar cars are going to perform the same. It will vary from batch to batch. There's no telling if you're not getting a phone with the same bad radio hardware or maybe it's not your phone and the actual signal coming from the tower. Verizon/Motorola isn't going to fess up to anything and unfortunately we're their pawns. It's always the blaming game for them. The RAZR and Bionic both share the same hardware but different firmwares. However the RAZR uses a processor that can handle the 1.2ghz speeds while the Bionic may or may not reach those speeds. The processor in the RAZR are stress tested to 1.2ghz while the ones in the Bionic were only tested @ 1ghz. I dunno how the radio hardwares are tested but some may be able to handle certain frequencies and some not. I have no clue about the deviances in the radio frequencies but is it possible my towers are different from your towers? I dunno that's not my area of expertise.
Dont worry about it being rooted i sent back 2 stratospheres with root and a custom boot screen and 2 droid 4 with the leak ics with root i really dont think they look at them
Sent from my DROID4 using xda app-developers app
I got a replacement Bionic and my data has been perfect on the new one.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2
Spent all weekend looking for an answer, no luck. Got a Droid Bionic off of Ebay and should have it in a few days. I plan to root, flash to Cricket and then ROM. Lots of info here and out there on the Interwebs about how to do that.
1 question I have though, is will I need to have an LTE and/or SIM card to do this? I've rooted and ROM'd my Optimus C a few times so I'm pretty sure that I can root the Bionic, still lots of support out there for it, a little less on flashing to Cricket but I'm sure I can figure it out, just wanted to clarify the LTE/SIM card info because of the conflicting information.
I've read about the workaround to bypass the activation screen (tap all 4 corners?) but then some flashing tutorials say you need the LTE card to turn off LTE and change it to CDMA only.
SO to make a long story short (I know, TOO LATE!) Will I need an LTE/SIM card to ROOT and/or FLASH (to Cricket) the Driod Bionic?
I just want to know so that I can buy/borrow one (If need be) so that when the phone gets here I can jump right in with the rootin' and the flashin'!
TIA for any/all advice.
Yea there is the guy I bought my phone from left his old one in. I haven't ever touched it, but it's here somewhere.
Deadman001 said:
Yea there is the guy I bought my phone from left his old one in. I haven't ever touched it, but it's here somewhere.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the offer, I got the phone flashed. It did come with a SIM card, don't know if it made a difference though.
Thanks again!
I used to work at the Best Buy Samsung Experience Shop. I went by there the other day. They have a tool that updates your phone to MF3 and it doesn't remove hardly any data. I rerooted and reinstalled safestrap and everything was still there.
So, this begs the obvious question: do you have any friends at that Best Buy that could maybe, you know... <hint hint> hit you up with a copy of whatever software they're using to do that?
HEY I HAD TO ASK!!!
I did this the other day and say that this works perfectly! So glad to be back on MF3!!
I don't think I can get a copy. The best I can do is make a flashable backup afterward and upload it. = / the software downloads it from a server.
chronicaust said:
I don't think I can get a copy. The best I can do is make a flashable backup afterward and upload it. = / the software downloads it from a server.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think he was asking for the file specifically but rather a copy of the software they are using. It's logical to assume that if we were able to obtain a copy of the software they use at best buy the it could still be made to download and flash the appropriate mf3 firmware file from anywhere with an internet connection.
Sent from my GT-I9295 using XDA Premium HD app
Does every Best Buy have a Samsung Rep?
Sent from my GT-P5110 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
dave5777 said:
Does every Best Buy have a Samsung Rep?
Sent from my GT-P5110 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not every one, but most.
dave5777 said:
Does every Best Buy have a Samsung Rep?
Sent from my GT-P5110 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your best bet is to call and ask at your local best buy. That's what I did. My best buy is small but they have one there. I'll be going there this weekend to see if they can update mine.
Sent from my LG-E970 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
tmease1 said:
Your best bet is to call and ask at your local best buy. That's what I did. My best buy is small but they have one there. I'll be going there this weekend to see if they can update mine.
Sent from my LG-E970 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They can choose to either give you complete factory or just update only just do you know. Good luck it's a great tool I've used it. You should be good = ).
Please
chronicaust said:
I don't think I can get a copy. The best I can do is make a flashable backup afterward and upload it. = / the software downloads it from a server.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Upload a backup Please!
-TransformixS3
Well I stopped by a local Best Buy here in Vegas this morning, sat in line waiting to speak to the "Samsung rep" (there were like 4 people in front of me) and when I was finally up the guy said "Oh, the Samsung rep is right behind me in the other section..." DOH!!!
Anyway, I had returned my GS4A (I537 of course) to MF1 earlier this morning, no root, nothing else but the ROM flashed from that ODIN One-Click that's available and...
The software they're using at Best Buy basically ignored my GS4A completely, recognizing it's running MF1 but it wouldn't do anything else and said the ROM wasn't compatible. The guy asked if I'd been rooted and of course I said "No..." then he said is it unlocked and I said "Yes..." and he said that's why.
I commented that would be a bit stupid since they do sell the phones off-contract and by doing so a person could get the unlock code from AT&T (as I did, actually, through an eBay seller who got it from AT&T) and he just shrugged his shoulders and handed me my phone and that was that. The rep specifically stated 3 times in a row that if it's unlocked you can't flash it with their software, so I made note of it and I'm passing along what at least this one "Samsung rep" stated to me - I can't verify or confirm it's true but that's what he said, 3 times in a row. He never mentioned rooting more than the one question, but was quite adamant that I understood the reason it wasn't working which by his statements was that if the phone is unlocked they can't flash it; I personally think it's a combination of mine being rooted in the past with activeroot and also being (carrier) unlocked as well.
So... I don't think being rooted caused the problem more than being unlocked, but at this point I don't have any clue to be honest, it could actually be a combination of both for whatever reason but this MF1 isn't rooted, that much I know for certain.
Anyway, that's a dead end for me so I'll just put Safestrap back on and load up the AOSP ROM with the MF1 kernel modules and the camera fix and be done with it, that's enough ROM swapping for me for the time being.
So just for the record: if you're thinking about doing this and you've rooted your I537 at any point, that may stop this potential flash of MF3 at Best Buy on your device cold - if it's unlocked that might have something to do with it as well but I'm going to guess they're checking for root even if you've completely restored an unrooted ROM like MF1, or they're just getting wise to us with the MF1 and MI2 pre-release ROMs we've been toying around with, I just don't know.
Would be nice to get MF3 back on here just in case AT&T does drop 4.3 during October but, I guess I'm somewhat "stuck" now since I'd prefer to have working screenshots so that means MF1 or the AOSP ROM.
Just passing along my experience...
br0adband said:
Well I stopped by a local Best Buy here in Vegas this morning, sat in line waiting to speak to the "Samsung rep" (there were like 4 people in front of me) and when I was finally up the guy said "Oh, the Samsung rep is right behind me in the other section..." DOH!!!
Anyway, I had returned my GS4A (I537 of course) to MF1 earlier this morning, no root, nothing else but the ROM flashed from that ODIN One-Click that's available and...
The software they're using at Best Buy basically ignored my GS4A completely, recognizing it's running MF1 but it wouldn't do anything else and said the ROM wasn't compatible. The guy asked if I'd been rooted and of course I said "No..." then he said is it unlocked and I said "Yes..." and he said that's why.
I commented that would be a bit stupid since they do sell the phones off-contract and by doing so a person could get the unlock code from AT&T (as I did, actually, through an eBay seller who got it from AT&T) and he just shrugged his shoulders and handed me my phone and that was that. The rep specifically stated 3 times in a row that if it's unlocked you can't flash it with their software, so I made note of it and I'm passing along what at least this one "Samsung rep" stated to me - I can't verify or confirm it's true but that's what he said, 3 times in a row. He never mentioned rooting more than the one question, but was quite adamant that I understood the reason it wasn't working which by his statements was that if the phone is unlocked they can't flash it; I personally think it's a combination of mine being rooted in the past with activeroot and also being (carrier) unlocked as well.
So... I don't think being rooted caused the problem more than being unlocked, but at this point I don't have any clue to be honest, it could actually be a combination of both for whatever reason but this MF1 isn't rooted, that much I know for certain.
Anyway, that's a dead end for me so I'll just put Safestrap back on and load up the AOSP ROM with the MF1 kernel modules and the camera fix and be done with it, that's enough ROM swapping for me for the time being.
So just for the record: if you're thinking about doing this and you've rooted your I537 at any point, that may stop this potential flash of MF3 at Best Buy on your device cold - if it's unlocked that might have something to do with it as well but I'm going to guess they're checking for root even if you've completely restored an unrooted ROM like MF1, or they're just getting wise to us with the MF1 and MI2 pre-release ROMs we've been toying around with, I just don't know.
Would be nice to get MF3 back on here just in case AT&T does drop 4.3 during October but, I guess I'm somewhat "stuck" now since I'd prefer to have working screenshots so that means MF1 or the AOSP ROM.
Just passing along my experience...
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Wow that sounds like a horrible experience. What I'm gathering from this is that the rep didn't know what he was talking about. My i537 is also unlocked, rooted, triple booting roms (safestrap) and I got the update just fine.
Here is what I bet happened. The tool they use has 2 different functions, and one isn't as well known. The one they usually use is basically connecting your phone (no download mode) and it updates, and that's that. That one never works. The other one requires them to press ALT + F10 on their keyboard and enter a password to get into the actual system that will give you the update to MF3. My guess is the rep didn't know about this.
I am 100% positive it can be done Br0adband. That rep was clueless.
chronicaust said:
Wow that sounds like a horrible experience. What I'm gathering from this is that the rep didn't know what he was talking about. My i537 is also unlocked, rooted, triple booting roms (safestrap) and I got the update just fine.
Here is what I bet happened. The tool they use has 2 different functions, and one isn't as well known. The one they usually use is basically connecting your phone (no download mode) and it updates, and that's that. That one never works. The other one requires them to press ALT + F10 on their keyboard and enter a password to get into the actual system that will give you the update to MF3. My guess is the rep didn't know about this.
I am 100% positive it can be done Br0adband. That rep was clueless.
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Yah, he just plugged in the phone with it on and operational, clicked a tile on the screen (there were like a dozen of them each one supposedly for a different device), and after 20-30 seconds of it reading data from the device it just pulled up the ROM build (MF1) and then said it was incompatible.
Interesting, but I'm not sure if it's worth going back and dealing with the guy a second time - maybe I'll try again later tonight before they close and hopefully someone else will be on shift and I can mention the ALT+F10 thing, hopefully they'll have a clue.
My question to you is: did they require doing the ALT+F10 to get your device flashed properly?
Thanks for that tidbit of info, kinda wish you'd mentioned it earlier but but but...
It took the rep a few tries with mine... And one of those he switched the cable. I'd try a different best buy (if u can) or wait till someone else is at the keyboard. The last few months talking to AT&T tech support, they gave me all kinds of excuses too, but I could tell they had no clue or real skills beyond their training courses. Mine is not unlocked though.
br0adband said:
Yah, he just plugged in the phone with it on and operational, clicked a tile on the screen (there were like a dozen of them each one supposedly for a different device), and after 20-30 seconds of it reading data from the device it just pulled up the ROM build (MF1) and then said it was incompatible.
Interesting, but I'm not sure if it's worth going back and dealing with the guy a second time - maybe I'll try again later tonight before they close and hopefully someone else will be on shift and I can mention the ALT+F10 thing, hopefully they'll have a clue.
My question to you is: did they require doing the ALT+F10 to get your device flashed properly?
Thanks for that tidbit of info, kinda wish you'd mentioned it earlier but but but...
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Yes sir it did. If they don't know the password, it's probably smart100 if they act like it's a big deal tell them to call their field support hotline. Lolol
Not sure if it's worth all this hassle but, we'll see what happens if I decide to head back to Best Buy later. Thanks again for the info.
Going to best buy in the am
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I went at 10 when they opened the Samsung rep doesn't come in til noon. I'll try it tomorrow.
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I just got my phone updated to MF3 at my local Best Buy. First try said it was incompatible, so he called his support line and was told to put phone in download mode to update firm ware. Now I'm on official MF3. The Samsung rep was very cool let me watch the whole process.
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Will have to pass along that info to the Samsung rep if I do decide to head back to get MF3 installed. Running nicely on MF1 right at this moment so I'll stick with this for the time being. Thanks for the report.
Now if we could just yank that MF3 off yours into a flashable zip or whatever...
Pretty sure those days are coming to a close with the 4.3+ releases as Samsung apparently has every intention of locking down everything to as many degrees as possible.