Bootloader unlockable after service - Xperia Z3 Compact Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I had an issue with my Z3c where back of my phone unglued on a certain spot. Phone was under warranty so i sent it for repair.
They fixed the problem and by official Sony instrucions for repair centers they had to reflash my phone.
Surprisingly, my phone now says that bootloader is unlockable, and that there's no SIM lock limiting me to one provider.
Before it said that bootloader is not allowed to be unlocked and there were five SIM locks.
So my question is, can bootloader unlockability be changed by our precious developers?
If not, maybe we all should send our phones for repair.

lstic said:
I had an issue with my Z3c where back of my phone unglued on a certain spot. Phone was under warranty so i sent it for repair.
They fixed the problem and by official Sony instrucions for repair centers they had to reflash my phone.
Surprisingly, my phone now says that bootloader is unlockable, and that there's no SIM lock limiting me to one provider.
Before it said that bootloader is not allowed to be unlocked and there were five SIM locks.
So my question is, can bootloader unlockability be changed by our precious developers?
If not, maybe we all should send our phones for repair.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hehe congrats then I guess they unintentionally repaid you with an additional feature for your issues.
I dont think it can be done, but prove me wrong. Just wanted to congratulate you .

Thanks!
But obviously there is a way to do it, but they're keeping it a secret.

Is the IMEI the same? Sounds more likely that they give you a new phone or replaced the system board.

LadFromWales85 said:
Is the IMEI the same? Sounds more likely that they give you a new phone or replaced the system board.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
IMEI is the same, i double checked. As far as I can tell they replaced the screen (or digitizer), and the phone frame (scratches that it had are now gone). Repair documentation says that they replaced the touch unit and flashed the software.
Back is still scratched and in state as before I gave it for repair, but now it's not loose (that was the reason I gave it for repair).

No doubt that these values are stored in the TA and that a certain file could be flashed to change BL unlock-ability and remove simlock, we just don't have insight into what exactly to change. Now if you happen to have a TA backup from before the repair that could be compared to a post-repair version and might lead to the byte offsets of these flags within the TA.

Unfortunately I don't. At the time i sent it for repair the method for rooting with locked BL was not yet developed so I didn't even think about it.
But maybe some users could be guided by my case and do it before sending a phone for repair. In Croatia, there's only one place where Sony phones are sent and repaired under warranty, so the chances are great that it would happen to them too.

Have happened to my friend too but not on a Z3 Compact, but on a Original Xperia Z. He sent the phone in for repair and they replaced the camera, and they also unlocked both the simlock and bootloader restriction.
I believe they unlock the stuff by accident during their testing procedure, by using testpoints on the main board on the phone. So I don't think it is related to swaps of the actual board, but related to their diagnostics software.

is this what you mean?
my phone shows this...

jamies22 said:
is this what you mean?
my phone shows this...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, if it says no then you can't unlock bootloader and flash custom kernels and therefore Cyanogen roms.
You can't change from yes to no or other way around by yourself, but obviously it's possible in Sony repair centers.

I sent my phone to agram service shop because of broken screen. They replaced it, front digitizer, side housing, and also back panel, but my bootloader is still locked.

jamies22 said:
is this what you mean?
my phone shows this...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if your device a D5833 or D5803?

lstic said:
Yes, if it says no then you can't unlock bootloader and flash custom kernels and therefore Cyanogen roms.
You can't change from yes to no or other way around by yourself, but obviously it's possible in Sony repair centers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A guy with xperia U (or something similar from that class) posted that with emails to the provider (and from them to Sony) you can get info how to make the bootloader to be unlockable. I also think it can be done and now I'm going to find out who works in the Sony service in my country and become friends with them just for that reason.

jamies22 said:
is this what you mean?
my phone shows this...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How did you access that screen? Is it under the settings menu?

PuffDaddy_d said:
How did you access that screen? Is it under the settings menu?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In the dialer type *#*#7378423#*#* or to remember it in your head *#*#service#*#*

vikingsail said:
if your device a D5833 or D5803?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you unlock D5833 BL? Cause My Z3c is D5833 and it can't be unlocked. :crying:

android167 said:
I sent my phone to agram service shop because of broken screen. They replaced it, front digitizer, side housing, and also back panel, but my bootloader is still locked.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did they flash your software too?

I guess they had to unlock the BL for installing new hw driver's of the new screen\touchpad. Maybe the denied status can't be recovered once opened?

chesterr said:
Can you unlock D5833 BL? Cause My Z3c is D5833 and it can't be unlocked. :crying:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sorry i never tried this unlocking hack. I dont want to mess with my IMEI so... I hope you good luck.

My phone has replaced back glass, and now it says "Bootloader Unlock Allowed: Yes"
What does this change for me?

Related

Relocked boot loader after HTC repair

So I've never posted here before but been using the tips and tricks from the MDA all the way through nexus one.
Anyway, last Wednesday night i had a few too many drinks and my phone suffered a cracked LCD.
Sent my phone to HTC and what came back was a COMPLETELY stock, LOCKED boot loader. still my phone, because i marked the phone's internals with my initials before i sent it out. I called HTC and they said my phone still has a warranty.
just an FYI
Anyone else experience this?
What "internals" did you mark? Most likely it's not the same phone.
Could be same phone, different motherboard.
a referb motherboard would make some sense, I just marked the internal battery tray area with some initials.
This may be a silly question, but wouldn't my device #s be different if they changed out the motherboard? everything still matches the original imei and s/n both on the physical placard and in adb...
Let me know if this is a dumb question...
but why would they replace the mobo in response to a cracked AMOLED screen?
blindonejc said:
So I've never posted here before but been using the tips and tricks from the MDA all the way through nexus one.
Anyway, last Wednesday night i had a few too many drinks and my phone suffered a cracked LCD.
Sent my phone to HTC and what came back was a COMPLETELY stock, LOCKED boot loader. still my phone, because i marked the phone's internals with my initials before i sent it out. I called HTC and they said my phone still has a warranty.
just an FYI
Anyone else experience this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
my guess is they probubly flash the whole phone back to stock for testing. Its easier to troubleshoot when you eliminate all outside variables. They prob replaced the screen, used a .img file to flash everything back to stock including the SPL, which would account for the relocked bootloader, and tested to make sure the new screen was working correctly. Am i correct in assuming that all your apps and settings were reset too?
blindonejc said:
So I've never posted here before but been using the tips and tricks from the MDA all the way through nexus one.
Anyway, last Wednesday night i had a few too many drinks and my phone suffered a cracked LCD.
Sent my phone to HTC and what came back was a COMPLETELY stock, LOCKED boot loader. still my phone, because i marked the phone's internals with my initials before i sent it out. I called HTC and they said my phone still has a warranty.
just an FYI
Anyone else experience this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your not the first to have a re-locked bootloader. Everyone that sent their phone in for repair gets their bootloader re-locked.
futango said:
Your not the first to have a re-locked bootloader. Everyone that sent their phone in for repair gets their bootloader re-locked.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Second this.
I've sent mine in twice now for dust..etc.
Both times the same phone has been returned with a locked bootloader (for about 5 mins) ;-)
Amdathlonuk said:
Second this.
I've sent mine in twice now for dust..etc.
Both times the same phone has been returned with a locked bootloader (for about 5 mins) ;-)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I sent my unlocked bootloader back and HTC gave me a replacement for free. They didn't charge me anything. They even deemed it as a "software issue".
so u can send ur phone in for the dust under the screen? Whats the turn around on that. And Id be pissed if they re locked my ****. I dont wanna do all that again. Id have to tell them not to ...lol
My dust isnt bad.. only noticeable when screen the screen is in sleep mode in a well lit place.
HTC has absolutely the best customer service I have ever dealt with...
ogdobber said:
HTC has absolutely the best customer service I have ever dealt with...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with you
Hey me too!+++++
Iam a rough kinda guy and thought a gell case would do for protection so i took it to work and didnt even know i dented the back where the sim card is at with a sledge hammer!..bamm SOOOO I cracked the inside of the guts in the phone.. and sent it in for repairs right? I told the HTC tech that I had dust under the screen which I did and told em that the the screen crack from the inside was from constient temp change.... they charge me 130 to fix and I told them to keep the f**cking phone cuz when I had it ,it was all dusty and those bend test and all the videos of it being rugged was **** and was always swichin 3g and ****. so 2 days later I get my phone back .and looks ****in brand new.. the best part is 2 days later after I got it back theres an extra 150 in my account and its from google .130+20 cuz the tech hold fee.. sick uh?
So, if it still somehow the same phone, could it be possible that they simply reflashed something on top of the phone to relock its bootloader?
Meaning it IS possible.
leonnib4 said:
So, if it still somehow the same phone, could it be possible that they simply reflashed something on top of the phone to relock its bootloader?
Meaning it IS possible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Of course it possible. We just don't have the right SPL.

HTC One Very bad focusing problems!

It seems to be happening all the time, my HTC One 32GB has a very annoying problem with focusing: it keeps refocusing at "light speed" to the point where it's just a blur in at some times! I have HTCDev unlocked my phone and installed a rom which I had hoped would solve the problem as if it were a software issue but oh no, it still does it and it makes the phone vibrate a bit when it keeps doing it.
I'm worried that with it being HTCDev unlocked and slightly chipped with a fall I made, that I wouldn't be able to get it sent back (I've heard HTCs' repair service is a bit on the crap side), is there any fix or am I screwed?
I had a video I could show you but with my 2 post standing, I can't post links D:
Look here : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=41053489
So probably hardware defect. I had the same problem.
Concerning unlocked bootloader: there are many threads here about relocking using s-off.
Neuer_User said:
Look here : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=41053489
So probably hardware defect. I had the same problem.
Concerning unlocked bootloader: there are many threads here about relocking using s-off.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had my phone HtcDev unlocked, and doesn't that mean they'll have my phone's code on file in case I try for a replacement? I got the phone last week on Car phone warhouse, do you think they'll replace it in store if I lock it again?
harry9991 said:
I had my phone HtcDev unlocked, and doesn't that mean they'll have my phone's code on file in case I try for a replacement? I got the phone last week on Car phone warhouse, do you think they'll replace it in store if I lock it again?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't worry about it being unlocked! They never check or refuse warranty. I've never read of anyone being refused warranty service for having an unlocked bootloader. I've sent many in and never had a problem. People need to stop worrying about it.
SkizzMcNizz said:
Don't worry about it being unlocked! They never check or refuse warranty. I've never read of anyone being refused warranty service for having an unlocked bootloader. I've sent many in and never had a problem. People need to stop worrying about it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That seems pretty good to me, how do you recommend going about locking it again as I've heard I need to do, and who should I return it to? HTC or CarphoneWarehouse? Many thanks!
harry9991 said:
That seems pretty good to me, how do you recommend going about locking it again as I've heard I need to do, and who should I return it to? HTC or CarphoneWarehouse? Many thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is it s-off? If it's only bootloader unlocked go into fastboot and type fastboot oem lock. It will say relocked tho. If you're s-off there are ways to s-on and make it show "locked" but I'm not sure the s-on works very well. If you're sending it in for repair don't bother locking it at all. There are many instances were HTC hasn't cared if it's unlocked. In fact, like I said, I've never seen anyone be denied repair services because of it being unlocked or rooted. Try calling the place where you bought it first to see if they will send you out a replacement. Then call HTC if they won't.
SkizzMcNizz said:
Is it s-off? If it's only bootloader unlocked go into fastboot and type fastboot oem lock. It will say relocked tho. If you're s-off there are ways to s-on and make it show "locked" but I'm not sure the s-on works very well. If you're sending it in for repair don't bother locking it at all. There are many instances were HTC hasn't cared if it's unlocked. In fact, like I said, I've never seen anyone be denied repair services because of it being unlocked or rooted. Try calling the place where you bought it first to see if they will send you out a replacement. Then call HTC if they won't.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello, many thanks for your reply. I think I'll try to S-OFF to get it back to untampered, locked S-ON (seems odd, but apparently it works), I'm just worried that I wouldn't get a replacement from the shop I'd bought it from due to the damage on the phone (it has a noticeable chip and scratch on the back), I only got it a week back! Do you think I'd still be eligible, if so, I could take it into town today or tomorrow and get a replacement (hopefully) as it's so close.. Otherwise I may resort to HTC. One thing I've also noticed is that the sound is no where as near to loud as some people have suggested. I'm quite young (17) and have no hearing difficulties but the phone isn't "boomy" at all, it's only slightly superior in quality and a bit in loudness to my ol' HTC Sensation. I fear I may have a faulty device but the tampering I've been doing it and the chips may turn the warranty against me..

Sending my phone back to HTC in the UK

Hi Guys
So, I'm going to send my phone back to HTC as it's only a little under 3 months old ... Can someone advise me on their experiences with sending back to HTC for repair in the UK? I'm on Hboot 1.54 so I'm unable to go S-Off and remove the tampered flag or change my bootloader to locked instead of relocked. I can wipe it all, flash stock ROM, install stock recovery and relock my bootloader but that's about it ... I assume it shouldn't be an issue, hopefully, as the device is faulty, not due to me unlocking the bootloader and flashing ROMs so my warranty should be ok
The guy on the phone when I booked it in said I should be fine as the issue has nothing to do with me unlocking the bootloader, but I was looking for any of your experiences in the UK
Cheers
I cannot tell you if you will have or not have a problwm but can you shate why you will return the phone ? What is the issue ?
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app
istoyanow said:
I cannot tell you if you will have or not have a problwm but can you shate why you will return the phone ? What is the issue ?
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The camera is faulty, it has lost focus unless you are doing a macro shot, all other shots are blurred. It also has what looks like a large area of screen bleed just at the top of the display (under the sensors and speaker grill).
hey
imalso sending mine in for a replacement now as its been in 3 times already for faulty loud speakers. each time it was returned with the same fault, they had repaired things that didnt need replacing.
anyway im also on the new hboot with android 4.2.2 installed/ i restored from backup.
im gona send mine back with a flat battery and hope they dont charge it as it has had its bootloader relocked
rotten.monkey said:
hey
imalso sending mine in for a replacement now as its been in 3 times already for faulty loud speakers. each time it was returned with the same fault, they had repaired things that didnt need replacing.
anyway im also on the new hboot with android 4.2.2 installed/ i restored from backup.
im gona send mine back with a flat battery and hope they dont charge it as it has had its bootloader relocked
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol, I'm sure they'll be able to tell but hopefully it won't be an issue for us as they're faults not caused by unlocking the bootloader ... You say you're on your third, was your bootloader unlocked on the others you sent back?
AllAboutTheCore said:
Lol, I'm sure they'll be able to tell but hopefully it won't be an issue for us as they're faults not caused by unlocking the bootloader ... You say you're on your third, was your bootloader unlocked on the others you sent back?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No mate I was on the lower hboot with s-off. I relocked and romoved the re locked tag when sending it back. It came back updated.
Was in 2 minds wether to root again and unlock bootloader but I really didn't expect to have the fault again.
Can see em not exchanging now u watch
rotten.monkey said:
No mate I was on the lower hboot with s-off. I relocked and romoved the re locked tag when sending it back. It came back updated.
Was in 2 minds wether to root again and unlock bootloader but I really didn't expect to have the fault again.
Can see em not exchanging now u watch
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ahhh, hopefully it won't be a problem, if they refuse I'll not be happy because the faults have nothing to do with unlocking the bootloader so it's irrelevant ... the guy I spoke to said if they didn't do it under warranty then they'd quote me or charge me £25 to return my phone to me. that's just bo**cks tbh. I paid £489 for the phone, I've had it less than 3 months and it's faulty so me unlocking the bootloader to remove the garbage they filled my phone with is just not on.
Fingers crossed we have no issues otherwise I'll be unsure what my options are, who to complain to or whatever ... I'd certainly never buy an HTC phone again if they don't sort it out under warranty, I could understand if something I'd done had caused the screen to bleed because it's not sealed correctly under the speaker grill, or if I'd somehow damaged the camera but that's not the case.
There must be some more people on here that's sent a phone back to HTC in the UK?

[Q] Returning phone for repair

Considering i bought the htc one from ebay with the tester bootload and changed IMEI, would they repair my phone camera if i send it to HTC? Would they keep the phone or would they send it back?
Terramoto said:
Considering i bought the htc one from ebay with the tester bootload and changed IMEI, would they repair my phone camera if i send it to HTC? Would they keep the phone or would they send it back?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would imagine since that's a hardware problem they wouldn't do much digging around. As long as you are on stock rom and don't have any obvious changes or root files.
Unbourne said:
I would imagine since that's a hardware problem they wouldn't do much digging around. As long as you are on stock rom and don't have any obvious changes or root files.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The IMEI was changed probably ba ESN, wont they use the IMEI to check warranty? Either way i dont believe they would keep the phone as its not illegal to change anything on the device (I think).
Terramoto said:
The IMEI was changed probably ba ESN, wont they use the IMEI to check warranty? Either way i dont believe they would keep the phone as its not illegal to change anything on the device (I think).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I highly doubt they would keep it. They may check against serial number as far as warranty but I've never dealt with HTC directly. I want to say HTC's warranty is a year and no HTC one has been out a year so every HTC One is still covered by warranty. If anything comes of it just play dumb and say you bought it on Ebay.
When I had to send my One back to get its screen repaired, I asked the rep I was on the phone with about the bootloader. He told me that the bootloader/ROM only becomes a problem when they can't flash it to stock for whatever reason, in which case the repair center will charge extra for the hassle of reflashing your phone. I was also told that flashing my phone to as close to stock as possible should be fine. I doubt they check your software any more than this. As with the "keeping the phone" deal, they probably wouldn't do such a thing unless it was listed as a stolen phone and some agency forced them to keep it.
My broken (shattered glass) screen wasn't covered by the warranty so they probably didn't check my warranty status. It may be different in your situation, but I hope that this helps.
Its to repair the known issue of the red/blue/green tint on the camera, i just want to play safe and get a new camera or a new phone.
Edit: Funny thing happened today, i somehow fixed my camera.
Anyway i was contacted by HTC in Portugal telling me, that because my phone was modified by Sprint the warranty is not valid in europe....
Terramoto said:
Its to repair the known issue of the red/blue/green tint on the camera, i just want to play safe and get a new camera or a new phone.
Edit: Funny thing happened today, i somehow fixed my camera.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
how?????

[Q] Broken headphone jack, warranty repairment

Hej guys, I'm the owner of 2 months old Z3C, but I've noticed toady that my headphone jack is kindly broken and stops music at any movement
Problem is that, I bought this machine having all necessary document, but I unlocked the bootloader from Sony website.
Now I have custom recovery and original stock ROM
Will they repair me it on warranty ? Or they write my IMEI number on blacklist forever?
lamale78 said:
Hej guys, I'm the owner of 2 months old Z3C, but I've noticed toady that my headphone jack is kindly broken and stops music at any movement
Problem is that, when I bought this machine having all necessary document, but I unlocked the bootloader from Sony website.
Now I have custom recovery and original stock ROM
Will they repair me it on warranty ? Or they write my IMEI number on blacklist forever?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Chances are very big that they will refuse to repair your device.
I'm in the same boat as you, but I can repair the phone myself.
Dsteppa said:
Chances are very big that they will refuse to repair your device.
I'm in the same boat as you, but I can repair the phone myself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
any reason is fine to refuse free repairment, even if it has nothing in common with software,
Sony's policy?
lamale78 said:
any reason is fine to refuse free repairment, even if it has nothing in common with software,
Sony's policy?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, before you unlocked your BL you saw many warnings that it was against the TOS, so they have a valid reason to refuse it. Even if your problem isn't software related.
try contacting the store you bought it at, not sony themselves.
Even if they write your IMEI on some kind of Blacklist its no proof that you actually went ahead and unlocked it.
Of course if you did not save your DRM keys then they can just check.
Sine you live in Europe you are still covered since the headphone jack has nothing to do with the software changes made whatsoever. And inside EU its legal to root and unlock. If any damage is done that way they have to prove it.
Also your phone is too new , I think they will repair it. As long as you did not damage the headphone jack yourself.

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