I'm looking for some help unlocking my motorola droid bionic. it's currently got the newest jelly bean software update, and it is locked to verizon. I am trying to unlock it to switch to another carrier. Can someone please help getting this unlocked?
That's a tall order. The Bionic doesn't actually have a carrier lock. Verizon uses a different type of network than most carriers (CDMA instead of GSM). It is possible to change the settings, but it involves connecting your phone to a Windows computer via USB, rooting it, and changing some RadioComm settings. Bricking is a strong possibility. I would recommend simply buying a new phone, perhaps an unlocked Nexus. If you're still interested, the necessary steps are scattered around several forums.. (I should probably make a complete guide sometime, but I'm kind of lazy.)
There are a few threads that might help...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=50098080
That last one mentions another one that is probably more helpful for you. It looks like this will do pretty much exactly what you're wanting to do. Hope that helps!
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2394689
Related
Hello,
I have a couple of questions, that I'm hoping can be fixed so I can finally retire my HTC Dinc.
Upon purchasing the Sprint variant of the HTC ONE I made sure my carrier uses the exact model, so I got a used black colored one.
Anyways, i brought the phone in for activation waited a few hours for the tech person to come into work and a few mintues later they informed me i need an spc code to unlock the phone so he can program it. Ive been reading lots of threads about spc codes/unlocking and stuff but t always mentions msl, is msl and spc the same thing in regards to unlocking something.
My carrier uses cdma for its devices, are these sim unlock tuts what im looking for in order to activate my phone?.
What ive done so far however has been a failure, ive tried calling sprint, no go. Ive also tried the no root, no calling sprint mother that failed also*I was a public PC and its running xp maybe it failed cause of that* .
Right now the device is with a shop that does unlocking phones and I've link him to the methods I've tried, but he says it won't work with the 4.3 ota. He also mentions he would ha e to downgrade to 4.2 in order to unlock.
To sum it all up in a nutshell, does obtaining the spc/msl code in fact enable my carrier to activate the phone?
Also do these methods mention above only work on 4.2 and below?
Its been about a week since I've received the phone and my dinc is really starting to show its age, and would like a breath of fresh air.
Thanks in advance!!
v1ral said:
Hello,
I have a couple of questions, that I'm hoping can be fixed so I can finally retire my HTC Dinc.
Upon purchasing the Sprint variant of the HTC ONE I made sure my carrier uses the exact model, so I got a used black colored one.
Anyways, i brought the phone in for activation waited a few hours for the tech person to come into work and a few mintues later they informed me i need an spc code to unlock the phone so he can program it. Ive been reading lots of threads about spc codes/unlocking and stuff but t always mentions msl, is msl and spc the same thing in regards to unlocking something.
My carrier uses cdma for its devices, are these sim unlock tuts what im looking for in order to activate my phone?.
What ive done so far however has been a failure, ive tried calling sprint, no go. Ive also tried the no root, no calling sprint mother that failed also*I was a public PC and its running xp maybe it failed cause of that* .
Right now the device is with a shop that does unlocking phones and I've link him to the methods I've tried, but he says it won't work with the 4.3 ota. He also mentions he would ha e to downgrade to 4.2 in order to unlock.
To sum it all up in a nutshell, does obtaining the spc/msl code in fact enable my carrier to activate the phone?
Also do these methods mention above only work on 4.2 and below?
Its been about a week since I've received the phone and my dinc is really starting to show its age, and would like a breath of fresh air.
Thanks in advance!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes the SPC is the MSL. They use it to input their carrier specific settings. Edit: Here is a link to getting the SPC/MSL http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2254578
There are methods to unlocking 4.3 in the forums here. I'll find a link in a min. Edit: Here is a link to unlocking a 4.3 based HTC ONE http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=48867255
insuusvenerati said:
Yes the SPC is the MSL. They use it to input their carrier specific settings. Edit: Here is a link to getting the SPC/MSL http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2254578
There are methods to unlocking 4.3 in the forums here. I'll find a link in a min. Edit: Here is a link to unlocking a 4.3 based HTC ONE http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=48867255
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks!!
But I'm still confused, are the links for sim unlock? It states it'll be using gsm/uxxx stuff.
My carrier will be using CDMA I believe so is sim sorta the same thing or?
I do not want to root now till I get the device activated though, but if root is required then so be it.
v1ral said:
Thanks!!
But I'm still confused, are the links for sim unlock? It states it'll be using gsm/uxxx stuff.
My carrier will be using CDMA I believe so is sim sorta the same thing or?
I do not want to root now till I get the device activated though, but if root is required then so be it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well you dont need root to get the MSL. Yea that link was for SIM unlock. The person who is activating your phone shouldn't need that. I put it there just in case : P Cheers!
insuusvenerati said:
Well you dont need root to get the MSL. Yea that link was for SIM unlock. The person who is activating your phone shouldn't need that. I put it there just in case : P Cheers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In that case I wonder why hes saying about needing to downgrade cause the guide is for before 4.3 or something. I don't think hes doing it right IMO and I also think I can just do it myself.
The sim unlock link is a good read, it has steps to downgrading and all that which has got me wondering, if I do it, will I be able to use lte. I know this is an HTC one thread but this idea got me thinking, ATM there is only one phone on my carrier that does 4g lte which is the LG AS840 and I've checked the specs of it and the One and they match freqs for the lte side of things, what I'm saying is that will my carrier be able to make the lte function like with the LG AS840 device, if so then awesome if not oh well. What would make it NOT work with One, my carrier using phones from various stateside vendors, I wonder what they did to make the lte work on the LG AS840.
Anyways if the person has no luck then i will try and do it myself *save $50 in the process as well*.
Thanks again!!
v1ral said:
In that case I wonder why hes saying about needing to downgrade cause the guide is for before 4.3 or something. I don't think hes doing it right IMO and I also think I can just do it myself.
The sim unlock link is a good read, it has steps to downgrading and all that which has got me wondering, if I do it, will I be able to use lte. I know this is an HTC one thread but this idea got me thinking, ATM there is only one phone on my carrier that does 4g lte which is the LG AS840 and I've checked the specs of it and the One and they match freqs for the lte side of things, what I'm saying is that will my carrier be able to make the lte function like with the LG AS840 device, if so then awesome if not oh well. What would make it NOT work with One, my carrier using phones from various stateside vendors, I wonder what they did to make the lte work on the LG AS840.
Anyways if the person has no luck then i will try and do it myself *save $50 in the process as well*.
Thanks again!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If they are reprogramming your phone to work with another CDMA carrier then the SIM unlock will probably not help. Also you probably won't be able to do it yourself. I say probably because i've never seen it NOT done but I haven't seen anyone doing it either. It is a global phone so most people are sim unlocking to use it over seas. The thread I linked regarding SIM unlocking has an RUU that will bring you back down to 4.1 which is the initial software release when the phone first came out. That should be sufficient. Send him a direct link to that file and see if he can use it. It's just a simple program that does everything on it's own. Remember though the process will completely wipe your phone and internal sdcard.
v1ral said:
Hello,
I have a couple of questions, that I'm hoping can be fixed so I can finally retire my HTC Dinc.
Upon purchasing the Sprint variant of the HTC ONE I made sure my carrier uses the exact model, so I got a used black colored one.
Anyways, i brought the phone in for activation waited a few hours for the tech person to come into work and a few mintues later they informed me i need an spc code to unlock the phone so he can program it. Ive been reading lots of threads about spc codes/unlocking and stuff but t always mentions msl, is msl and spc the same thing in regards to unlocking something.
My carrier uses cdma for its devices, are these sim unlock tuts what im looking for in order to activate my phone?.
What ive done so far however has been a failure, ive tried calling sprint, no go. Ive also tried the no root, no calling sprint mother that failed also*I was a public PC and its running xp maybe it failed cause of that* .
Right now the device is with a shop that does unlocking phones and I've link him to the methods I've tried, but he says it won't work with the 4.3 ota. He also mentions he would ha e to downgrade to 4.2 in order to unlock.
To sum it all up in a nutshell, does obtaining the spc/msl code in fact enable my carrier to activate the phone?
Also do these methods mention above only work on 4.2 and below?
Its been about a week since I've received the phone and my dinc is really starting to show its age, and would like a breath of fresh air.
Thanks in advance!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
your SPC is the same as MSL, It is a security code used by carriers to enable some settings to be changed in the phone, your SPC/MSL is easily obtainable using software, I use CDMA workshop for stuff like that because it is very easy, there is other software that will read it for you but I think root is required, whoever the carrier of the phone is will also be able to provide it to you.
insuusvenerati said:
If they are reprogramming your phone to work with another CDMA carrier then the SIM unlock will probably not help. Also you probably won't be able to do it yourself. I say probably because i've never seen it NOT done but I haven't seen anyone doing it either. It is a global phone so most people are sim unlocking to use it over seas. The thread I linked regarding SIM unlocking has an RUU that will bring you back down to 4.1 which is the initial software release when the phone first came out. That should be sufficient. Send him a direct link to that file and see if he can use it. It's just a simple program that does everything on it's own. Remember though the process will completely wipe your phone and internal sdcard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But does he HAVE to downgrade the device to obtain the no root, no calling sprint way to get the msl code? Cause what I'm seeing is that there is no need to downgrade or root to get the msl code*this is what i need to activate the device and possibly save $50* , money aside though if he does it great, but ive been waiting a bit since I received the phone.
Again thanks for your time.
v1ral said:
But does he HAVE to downgrade the device to obtain the no root, no calling sprint way to get the msl code? Cause what I'm seeing is that there is no need to downgrade or root to get the msl code*this is what i need to activate the device and possibly save $50* , money aside though if he does it great, but ive been waiting a bit since I received the phone.
Again thanks for your time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea you're right. He shouldn't need to downgrade to get the MSL. If all he needs is the MSL then no downgrade needed.
How about the use of 4g lte?
It baffles me that my carrier has it in the as840 device, will I be able to utilize it with the One or my mileage may vary?
So it turns out he was unable to downgrade, he says he tried every method he can. I don't think he has the right info on the table tbh, I will try tkmorrow when I have access to a PC. Makes me laugh a little inside, he's the GO TO guy for stuff, while I'm the GO TO guy at work for stuff like this*sorry for the ranting*.
Thanks again!!
Edit/update.
Through the msl thread someone posted a .apk file of msl utility.
Good news: the app installed and it DID show me the msl code.
Bad news*sorta*: I won't be able to check if the code works, if its even the right code. In other words I don't know the credibility of the app itself.
*crosses fingers* when I go to activate the phone.
Hey Guys. Love the forums. Searched but still not really sure about this. Couldn't really find much information for the XT1050.
About two weeks ago I purchased a Moto X from my carrier. They are a very small carrier. The firmware on my phone is android 4.2.2. It's the ghost_row.lra version. I would like to update to 4.4.2 (or to the most current version of android possible) but I can't find the update for my phone. I called Motorola and they told me that all updates have been released for ALL phones and that it's up to my carrier to release. With my carrier being so small, I have never seen them release a software update for any phone (except the iphone which apple updates). After searching I couldn't find any 4.4.2 firmware for the xt1050. Almost every setting in my phone references Verizon, so I was wondering if I could just possibly flash my phone with a Verizon rom? My biggest hold up is that I kind of thought the Verizon Moto X was the XT1060, does that make a difference? With my phone being pretty generic does this mean that my bootloader is unlocked and if so would flashing it lock me to a Verizon rom?
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Just not really sure what the best/safest thing to do is because I would really like to keep my phone up to date.
I personally am thinking its not a good idea. From what I am reading your carrier, Thumb Cellular, did partner with Verizon Wireless for the rural LTE project. That might be why you are seeing verizon wireless in certain parts of your phone.
It might work...might not. I dont think it will though. Have you reached out to Thumb to see when they plan to update to 4.4?
scoobaspeaz said:
I personally am thinking its not a good idea. From what I am reading your carrier, Thumb Cellular, did partner with Verizon Wireless for the rural LTE project. That might be why you are seeing verizon wireless in certain parts of your phone.
It might work...might not. I dont think it will though. Have you reached out to Thumb to see when they plan to update to 4.4?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Would there be any custom rom that I might be able to flash? I haven't found any specifically for the xt1050. I haven't contacted my carrier yet. VERY SMALL company. I may have to ask them but 90% of the time I have to go to my carrier for troubleshooting they never have any idea what I'm talking about or how to fix anything.
zachw91 said:
Would there be any custom rom that I might be able to flash? I haven't found any specifically for the xt1050. I haven't contacted my carrier yet. VERY SMALL company. I may have to ask them but 90% of the time I have to go to my carrier for troubleshooting they never have any idea what I'm talking about or how to fix anything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only way to flash a custom rom is if you can unlock your bootloader. Otherwise you are stuck with ROMs which have been digitally signed by Motorola.
You try this???
http://www.ntelos.com/motoxkitkat
http://www.ntelos.com/documents/6590 Moto X upgrade to KitKat instructions.pdf
So I see there is a thread about unlocking your phone in these forums but that says its a GSM unlock. I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to unlocking phones but I know I want to use my sprint M8 on Verizon since I'm switching services.
So my question is, is there any way to unlock my phone to work on the Verizon network? Is that unlocking method make it work on Verizon or just ATT?
Sorry but I am extremely ignorant on the subject and am looking for some info, rather not rebuy my one.
Knnox said:
So I see there is a thread about unlocking your phone in these forums but that says its a GSM unlock. I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to unlocking phones but I know I want to use my sprint M8 on Verizon since I'm switching services.
So my question is, is there any way to unlock my phone to work on the Verizon network? Is that unlocking method make it work on Verizon or just ATT?
Sorry but I am extremely ignorant on the subject and am looking for some info, rather not rebuy my one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, extremely sorry that no one took the time to respond to this sooner. I believe there is 2 methods to do this, one being a SIM unlock and another being the GSM unlock you mentioned above. To my knowledge GSM unlock is what you want but sadly I don't think there is any 'free' way of doing this. I've never personally GSM unlocked one of my own phones but I have helped a friend do so. Anyways in order to GSM unlock a phone you need a special 'generated' (i think generated) code to input in your phone which will unlock it and allow it to use other carriers besides the one it was made for.
Here is a presumably valid tutorial on how to do this on an HTC One M8.
I would recommend trying freeunlocks.com first, only because I have a coupon from there which i'll gladly give you if you plan on using it. Only reason I have one and or am giving it away is because previously I bought one from there and they didn't have a code at the time so they refunded me and gave me a coupon code to enter if I ever purchased from them again which I most likely won't as I have no need for GSM unlocking, i.e why i'm giving it away. If by some chance freeunlocks does not work then you can try the one in the video or you can look for others.
If you would like to try this and want the coupon for freeunlocks.com then just say so in your response and I'll PM you it. I think its for either a discount or a free code, I don't really remember as this was quite a while ago when I was given it. (around a year)
Goodluck!
I'm just not sure if this would work because I'm trying to go from sprint to verizon, both being CDMA. If I did this would it mean I have to go to ATT?
Knnox said:
I'm just not sure if this would work because I'm trying to go from sprint to verizon, both being CDMA. If I did this would it mean I have to go to ATT?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think so, according to this it should have all the proper bands to support both Sprint & Verizon. On the off hand there is always the chance that this link I just sent is ONLY for the International model and I am wrong which I very well could be. I've had trouble truly understanding if all versions of phones have support for the same bands or if they don't. I'd recommend researching this a bit or waiting until someone else comes along with the proper knowledge to assist you in your question on the radio bands comes along.
Anyways LS;DR, It should work but I may be wrong so do your own research or wait for someone else with the proper knowledge to assist you to come along.
Android newbie looking for more in-depth rooting gotchas and unlocked s6edge on AT&T.
Hi everyone, and thanks for all the great info here. Let's assume I have my "how to root" links bookmarked and ready to go, but like a good boyscout I want to understand the gotchas/subtleties before I cliff jump. I'm also within my 15 days to exchange my s6edge AT&T for an unlocked one at Best Buy, which I plan to do today... :highfive:
(I'm technically savy, but a real newb in the world of android versions, manufacturer changes, and carrier versions and conflicts...) :crying:
1) How do I do a full ROM-level backup before beginning my adventures in rooting? Titanium Backup is no good since I need root to use it. I'd like an iPhone-style backup that I can just restore should I brick my phone.
2) After I exchange my phone I'm going to immediately airplane-mode it to prevent autoupdates (my current phone already autoupdated to unrootable OF4)... once I root how do I effectively get-latest? I'd obviously like the latest security updates, and 5.1 if I can manage it, and to maintain root.
3) AT&T doesn't have 5.1.... but if I go unlocked then can I run 5.1 on AT&T? (I've been iPhone forever -- carriers messing with you is really foreign to me). On a related note, can AT&T send some update/profile-change OTA to my phone that will conflict with updates I'm doing locally? If so any tips to avoid this?
4) An unlocked phone will perform just as well on AT&T as an AT&t phone, right?
Thanks for any info, help, and/or pointing me to resources where I can find the info, in advance. I'm technically savy, but a real newb when it comes to the gotcha-ridden ground of android and carriers.
Thanks again.
- Jason
JasonS6Edge said:
Hi everyone, and thanks for all the great info here. Let's assume I have my "how to root" links bookmarked and ready to go, but like a good boyscout I want to understand the gotchas/subtleties before I cliff jump. I'm also within my 15 days to exchange my s6edge AT&T for an unlocked one at Best Buy, which I plan to do today... :highfive:
(I'm technically savy, but a real newb in the world of android versions, manufacturer changes, and carrier versions and conflicts...) :crying:
1) How do I do a full ROM-level backup before beginning my adventures in rooting? Titanium Backup is no good since I need root to use it. I'd like an iPhone-style backup that I can just restore should I brick my phone.
2) After I exchange my phone I'm going to immediately airplane-mode it to prevent autoupdates (my current phone already autoupdated to unrootable OF4)... once I root how do I effectively get-latest? I'd obviously like the latest security updates, and 5.1 if I can manage it, and to maintain root.
3) AT&T doesn't have 5.1.... but if I go unlocked then can I run 5.1 on AT&T? (I've been iPhone forever -- carriers messing with you is really foreign to me). On a related note, can AT&T send some update/profile-change OTA to my phone that will conflict with updates I'm doing locally? If so any tips to avoid this?
4) An unlocked phone will perform just as well on AT&T as an AT&t phone, right?
Thanks for any info, help, and/or pointing me to resources where I can find the info, in advance. I'm technically savy, but a real newb when it comes to the gotcha-ridden ground of android and carriers.
Thanks again.
- Jason
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's likely any replacement phone you get at this point will have OF4, or at least OF3 on it. It will likely be unrootable out of the box.
There is no current bootloader unlock for ATT branded devices - if you are lucky enough to get a rootable device, you can run a the two roms in the ATT section. You can run XtreStoLite v 1.5 from the regular S6 section, and maybe other 5.0.2 roms from there as well, I'm not aware of any others being tried.
In either case, we will not have 5.1.1 until after ATT releases it.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk
Thanks for the info -- this is where I get confused. If it's a 925F, and I put my AT&T sim in it, it isn't an "AT&T branded device", right? So the bootloader shouldn't be all locked up by AT&T? I should be able to put any GSM sim in there and run on that network... so can't I just do what I want with the hardware at that point without AT&T controlling me?
dandrumheller said:
It's likely any replacement phone you get at this point will have OF4, or at least OF3 on it. It will likely be unrootable out of the box.
There is no current bootloader unlock for ATT branded devices - if you are lucky enough to get a rootable device, you can run a the two roms in the ATT section. You can run XtreStoLite v 1.5 from the regular S6 section, and maybe other 5.0.2 roms from there as well, I'm not aware of any others being tried.
In either case, we will not have 5.1.1 until after ATT releases it.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How about a simpler version...
- Can I use the "download booster" function (that AT&T removed) if I have an unlocked 925F on AT&T? Can I use 5.1 on AT&T with a non-AT&T edge?
I'm trying to work out if AT&T controls all phones or just the AT&T branded phones (925A).
Thanks.
Oh, guess I misunderstood your situation. Since you have an F model, you should be able to do whatever you want in terms of root/rom, just follow the instructions over there. I think as long as your APN is set up correctly, you should be set. As long as its working now, worst case would be full factory reflash of what you're currently running. Just remember if you root in a way that trips Knox, it's tripped forever.
I think I've seen people posting that they had download booster enabled while on ATT, but I don't recall seeing any comments about whether or not it actually worked.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk
Hello! I've used this little font of knowledge over the years to gain the full potential of my phones, but I never posted anything here until now. It's been pretty easy for me to pick things up here and use that information successfully, so I want to thank everyone that was involved for freely sharing those various posts and assisting those of us in need. I've been trying to follow along with all of the information provided for the Razer Phone 2, but quickly learned that it is a different beast all together.
My RP2 is currently locked with AT&T. I was able to flash the device with the latest global stock ROM since AT&T didn't seem like they were going to upgrade the Android OS any time soon. Now I have a global RP2 that works perfectly, yet still locked to AT&T. Recently, I was in the position of not being able to keep up with my phone bill and instead of working with me, they released my phone number and sent a bill for the full amount that was left on the phone along with some lovely fees, all of which will never get paid off in time before they send it to a collector.
My question is, what is the best and most foolproof way to unlock the phone so I can use it with other mobile service providers, if I'm even able to do that? I don't really want to root it and/or flash another ROM just yet. I'd prefer to keep the phone as it is, only unlocked as well. I'm not ready to backup, upload, download, restore, or set it up all over again. Right now my research just keeps me going in a confusing loop with no definite answer. I just want to unlock the phone without wiping anything out.
Is this possible? I'd appreciate any assistance! Thanks!
Phone needs to be paid off and not under any contract then you can SIM unlock the phone.