I went to a local 'store' and bought an 'unlocked' AT&T S6 for my wife to use on our T-Mobile account last year.
She wanted a new phone, so I got her one and went to sell this one, but found out that the IMEI in the OS doesn't match the one on the back of the phone. My first thought was that the mainboard was replaced...but here's the odd part:
1. The phone says it's an SM-G920A in the 'About' section of the settings.
2. The phone says it's an SM-G920A in the bootloader. Shows as 'official' and everything. Knox is NOT tripped.
3. The rom is AT&T branded.
4. The phone works with both AT&T and T-Mobile sims.
5. The IMEI shows that it is either an SM-G920F or SM-G920T (I get different reports, depending on which IMEI checker I use)
Is it even possible to put AT&T firmware on a T-Mobile mainboard, and still keep Knox official? Or was the IMEI of this model hacked?
How do I know for SURE (without opening the phone) what mainboard I have?
Related
Hi to all
I have a Stock AT&T Note 3 on KitKat, And I bought the unlock code from a website and the Code was working fine
I sent my phone to the Samsung repair center in TX to fix the memory card slot problem.
After a week they sent the phone back to me, and Of course the phone is back to the original settings
When I turned on the phone and inserted my T-mobile Sim card, the phone is asking me for the network
unlock code, so I entered the same code that I used before and it is not working ...
Thanks
You probably didn't get the exact phone you sent them. They probably sent a different one. Check for an old receipt, or the original box for the imei code. See if it's different then the new one. It most likely is. If it is, you will need to obtain a new unlock code.
I checked the IMEI number and they matched
I also thought of that it might have to do with the unlock code
so I ordered another Unlock code from a different site
and it turned out to be the SAME Unlock code from the other site !!
Yes there's only 1 unlock code per imei. It doesn't matter where you obtain the code, it will be the same.
I hate to tell you this, but you'll need to contact the warranty dept and probably send the phone back. Again :'(
440bro said:
Yes there's only 1 unlock code per imei. It doesn't matter where you obtain the code, it will be the same.
I hate to tell you this, but you'll need to contact the warranty dept and probably send the phone back. Again :'(
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Do you think this has anything to do with the Region lock restriction ?
No I don't believe it to be related to region lock.
Check one more thing for me please. Verify that the imei of the phone is what you believe it to be. Open settings and in "about phone" check under status and verify the imei is what you think it is. You can also Press * # 0 6 # on your keypad, Press 'Call' or 'Send' as if making a call. Your IMEI number will be retrieved and displayed on your screen.
440bro said:
No I don't believe it to be related to region lock.
Check one more thing for me please. Verify that the imei of the phone is what you believe it to be. Open settings and in "about phone" check under status and verify the imei is what you think it is. You can also Press * # 0 6 # on your keypad, Press 'Call' or 'Send' as if making a call. Your IMEI number will be retrieved and displayed on your screen.
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Click to collapse
Yea.. they are the same.. I still have the original box and they matched !!
I am contacting Samsung right now, let see what they can do about it
Ok, keep us posted please. And good luck!
440bro said:
Ok, keep us posted please. And good luck!
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Click to collapse
do you know anything about this ?
NOTES: If you have a Samsung Galaxy S3, S4, Note 2, Note 3 or your Android version is Android 4.4 (KITKAT): All SAMSUNG devices manufactured after the date of JULY 2013 and Samsung devices running on Android version is Android 4.4 (KITKAT) are subject to REGION LOCKING. If your phone has been used previously with the original carrier, this will not apply to you. However, if your device is BRAND NEW, your must activate it with the original carrier. If your Samsung device becomes Region locked, you will not be able to fully factory Unlock your Samsung devices so it can be used internationally. Even the correct code will not work anymore. In order for your Samsung device NOT to be region locked, you MUST activate (FIRST USE) your S3, S4, NOTE 2, NOTE 3 with your ORIGINAL carrier at least ONCE to take your region lock OFF. After your Region lock is off, you can Sim Unlock your device via Unlock Code. All Canadian Carriers are NOT subject to Region Locking. All USA and European Carriers ARE subject to Region Locking. Region lock is removed automatically after you activate your device with its original carrier. Make some calls before unlocking. (Insert an active original sim card into the device and make a few calls to activate the phone and bypass the region lock. Once you've activated the phone, you can input the unlock code.)
Well after reading that I'm amazed. I believed region lock was based on where you lived and used the phone. Like a person in Europe couldn't use an at&t phone overseas until it was used in the states. I was unaware a person in the U.S. had to do the same if they were using it in the U.S. but with a different carrier. My apologies.
You wouldn't happen to know anyone on at&t would you? Maybe a Samsung rep in bestbuy can help you with borrowing an at&t sim and making a call or 2 on your phone.
440bro said:
Well after reading that I'm amazed. I believed region lock was based on where you lived and used the phone. Like a person in Europe couldn't use an at&t phone overseas until it was used in the states. I was unaware a person in the U.S. had to do the same if they were using it in the U.S. but with a different carrier. My apologies.
You wouldn't happen to know anyone on at&t would you? Maybe a Samsung rep in bestbuy can help you with borrowing an at&t sim and making a call or 2 on your phone.
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I tried to use someone's ATT sim and it doesnt work
Also Samsung is telling me that "as you have unlocked the device from third party site , and this is not considered as official unlock for the device"
I might bring the phone to bestbuy and let them check it out.. since the phone is still under Warranty
There's defiantly something wrong if an at&t sim doesn't work. Are you the original owner? If not do you know the original purchaser? It could have been blacklisted.
440bro said:
There's defiantly something wrong if an at&t sim doesn't work. Are you the original owner? If not do you know the original purchaser? It could have been blacklisted.
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The phone is working Fine with an ATT sim card, it has signals
it is just that it is not working after I inserted my tmobile sim card
and entered in the unlock code... So the imei should be fine !
I believe you need approximately 5 to 15 minutes of use on an at&t sim card from my previous readings of other user experiences.
440bro said:
I believe you need approximately 5 to 15 minutes of use on an at&t sim card from my previous readings of other user experiences.
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Will try that out.. I am running out of solutions !!
Bought this phone off Craigslist come to find out the software IMEI shows a different IMEI than the backing. I spoke with a Samsung rep and they told me the IMEI from the status menu shows a SM-G925A. Strange because i looked up that IMEI on http://www.imei.info/ and it says it's a SM-920F, I'm inclined to believe the Samsung rep. The IMEI on the backing shows it's a SM-G920A which is what the phone physically is.
Phone works via voice and data, text, apps, etc. Everything works but Samsung Pay. In my fit of impatience (prior to my knowledge of the IMEI dependency) i flash my 5.0.2 to 5.1.1 and it froze after ODIN was completely and only after a AP reflash it booted.
So this looks like why my Samsung Pay is not working perhaps? I am so confused right now, any advise on what I should do?
Hello, i'm in trouble with an S5 g900a. The typical "phone not allowed mm#6" appeared one day, after almost 1 year I'd purchased it. By the way, i bought it unlocked, in a store located in Paraguay.
I've read many posts about this message that appeared, i went to my service provider (Claro Argentina) to ask for imei blacklisted, but they said it is clean. But there is something more i've found now, the imei that appears when i dial *#06# (this is the one my provider checked) is the same that is written by the label of the box, BUT... when i try to see my phone's imei through different software such as SamMobile app or EFS Professional with Qualcomm NV Tools, the imei informed is a different one (that belongs to a g900f model) and, what is more, this imei results to be blacklisted since the same day my phone became out of service.
- Why is my phone giving this 2 different imeis?
- How can i recover the original one?
Hope you can understant my English and give me any help or information on how to solve this.
Thanks in advance,
Maxi.
Hi guys, recently i bought a T-mobile galaxy s6 from craigslist, i checked the imei and it was clean nothing wrong with it at all.
The phone is completely stock not even rooted. But the thing is the imei number under the settings is different than the one underneath the glass cover in the back. Both imei numbers are clean. The phone is locked right now and i can't use it for my at&t number. I talked to T-mobile customer service and they said that the phone should be unlocked with the imei number on the back of the phone. But when i gave them the imei number from the settings they said that it is invalid and won't show up in their system or data. So, I called Samsung and they said they won't be able to do anything at all, i just have to call T-mobile, but T-mobile is telling me to call samsung, and its just going through a cycle a stupid one. Both are knows for bad customer satisfaction and it is true.
Please, anyone have any idea how to unlock the phone? or overwite the imei number to return it back to the original one! Both companies won't help as they don't know what to do. I am sick to the bones of being a customer for both. BTW the device unlock app thing by t-mobile did not help the issue. it says can't recognize the device
hammy88 said:
Hi guys, recently i bought a T-mobile galaxy s6 from craigslist, i checked the imei and it was clean nothing wrong with it at all.
The phone is completely stock not even rooted. But the thing is the imei number under the settings is different than the one underneath the glass cover in the back. Both imei numbers are clean. The phone is locked right now and i can't use it for my at&t number. I talked to T-mobile customer service and they said that the phone should be unlocked with the imei number on the back of the phone. But when i gave them the imei number from the settings they said that it is invalid and won't show up in their system or data. So, I called Samsung and they said they won't be able to do anything at all, i just have to call T-mobile, but T-mobile is telling me to call samsung, and its just going through a cycle a stupid one. Both are knows for bad customer satisfaction and it is true.
Please, anyone have any idea how to unlock the phone? or overwite the imei number to return it back to the original one! Both companies won't help as they don't know what to do. I am sick to the bones of being a customer for both. BTW the device unlock app thing by t-mobile did not help the issue. it says can't recognize the device
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Click to collapse
There was a guy on here named Stilfilz i think was his name. Maybe ask him.
Possibly the IMEI tmobile cant find in their system can be a metropcs galaxy s6 IMEI which is also sm-g920T hardware.
good luck
tyrone1 said:
There was a guy on here named Stilfilz i think was his name. Maybe ask him.
Possibly the IMEI tmobile cant find in their system can be a metropcs galaxy s6 IMEI which is also sm-g920T hardware.
good luck
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah i was in touch with the guy last night, but sadly the flexihub did not work on my computer we tried many times but no luck i always get no internet connection even though the internet is working . Do you think if i flash a metropcs stock rom it would help unlocking it? i think the phone is refurbished thats why i have a different imei number.
when i looked up the imei under the settings, i checked online for the imei and it says for model number SM-G920F ? should i flash a stock rom for that model number or what
Quick update ....
So I flashed a galaxy s6 AT&T stock rom 6.0.1 and its working fine. No longer need the t-mobile device unlock app, but now i am to the point where it asks for the unlocking code.
Should I purchase an unlock code online using the imei number the one from the settings?
UPDATE:
Thanks to Stilfilz , i flashed the stock rom then rooted it, then Stilfilz got it unlocked. Took only 3 minutes. now it is working with an AT&T sim card with no issues.
Hi, i have the same problem with my galaxy S6 edge, the IMEI number under setting is different from the one in the back plate. if you have a way to fix this please please email me at [email protected]
Thank you.
Please help me with this issue, i tried to flash it with original ROM using Odin, but no success. Any input would be appreciated. Thank you
I apologize if this has been addressed elsewhere already, but I've been hopping all around the forums the last few days without any luck of finding something that addresses my particular situation (and I apologize if this' the wrong place for this too)...
Phone info:
Unlocked Samsung Galaxy Note 9, 512gb, bought off Amazon.
Model # is SM-N960U
Android 8.1.0
Verizon Branded
It came with a Verizon SIM card, but I already have a Sprint SIM card.
My situation: I have a Sprint branded Samsung Galaxy Note 9, it got damaged, but I didn't want to upgrade to a newer model (for reasons not relevant to this) and for $200 more than the repair costs, I was able to buy the same phone, but the 512gb version...
...So I did.
However, after activating it, which means putting my Sprint SIM card in it, and following all the steps with Sprint, I could receive calls and text-only SMS messages, but I could not get my mobile data to work on the phone and decided to blame the fact that it is Verizon branded* for this
*Sprint Customer Service kept saying I need to reset the PRL, among other things, like I would on a Sprint branded Note 9, but you can't do any of that on one that's Verizon branded; the options/menu in the settings is different
...So, this led me to downloading:
Odin3 v3.14
Sprint Branded Firmware from Updato: https://updato.com/download-samsung-galaxy-note9-firmware/spr/
...Specifically, I downloaded the one dated October 29, 2018 on Updato since it seemed like the closest to what was on the phone...
...I then turned on USB debugging through the Developer Options (could not find or gain access to the OEM Unlock option though, no matter what I tried, on my phone), rebooted my phone into Download Mode, but did not "proceed" as it were, plugged my phone into my laptop, Open Odin as an Administrator, put the firmware files (i.e., BL, AP, CP, and CSC) in their respective places...
...I picked the CSC, not the Home CSC, for the CSC spot in Odin, in case you were wondering...
...and finally pressed Vol Up to "Proceed," as it were, into Download Mode and clicked start on Odin, which did its thing...
...And, after a bit, I got a green "Pass" in Odin and my phone was now in Recovery Mode, since I left the "Auto Reboot" checked in Odin...
So, I selected "Reboot Now" and... I got the Verizon Splash screen and it was like nothing had happened to the phone... Except... My Sprint Mobile Data now works on the phone...
Now, I could technically live with this and begin transferring my data from my old Sprint branded Note 9 to this new Verizon branded one, now that the mobile data works, but there are WAY to many smaller annoyances with the new phone (like how one updates the PRL) that I was hoping to fix by rebranding it as a Sprint Note 9 via Odin
...So, any advice on what I should do?
Also, I'm not married to Oreo either, I just went with that because it is what the new phone has on it as my old phone is running Android 10 with One UI 2.5... And I figured I'd update the new phone to that, via OTA, once it was rebranded too...
Just clarify:
-Is "rebranding" possible with my Note 9?
-What can I do to make it happen or what have I done that I could do differently to make it happen?