Database Develop

OEM Unlock Fail

I finally received the OEM unlock toggle today and enabled it and easily installed magisk.
through restoring my apps, the phone froze.
When I rebooted it displayed a message in RED at the top "only official released binaries are allowed to be flashed" and would not go past the samsung logo.
in download mode it shows that FRP and OEM are both set to OFF. however i cannot flash my patched boot.tar, or even TWRP.
I get the same message in red...
N950F dual

mlkemac said:
I finally received the OEM unlock toggle today and enabled it and easily installed magisk.
through restoring my apps, the phone froze.
When I rebooted it displayed a message in RED at the top "only official released binaries are allowed to be flashed" and would not go past the samsung logo.
in download mode it shows that FRP and OEM are both set to OFF. however i cannot flash my patched boot.tar, or even TWRP.
I get the same message in red...
N950F dual
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can restore to stock in Odin, and I still have OEM lock off in download mode.
However I'm not able to modify anything. OEM lock has dissapeared from developer options, and it seems KNOX was tripped by flashing magisk.
Googling that RED message turns up zero results.. whats going on here??

mlkemac said:
I can restore to stock in Odin, and I still have OEM lock off in download mode.
However I'm not able to modify anything. OEM lock has dissapeared from developer options, and it seems KNOX was tripped by flashing magisk.
Googling that RED message turns up zero results.. whats going on here??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i read in the OEM unlock thread some were thinking that OEM unlock was on a timer for some? that it only displayed after a certain amount of time.. If that is true then its possible when you flashed back to stock it reset the timer.
Note: Just trying to help , i have never had this OEM issue
Maybe try looking in the oem unlock thread also might be worth checking out the root / TWRP thread

Mr.Ash.Man said:
i read in the OEM unlock thread some were thinking that OEM unlock was on a timer for some? that it only displayed after a certain amount of time.. If that is true then its possible when you flashed back to stock it reset the timer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is some type of time delay. it took 8 days for option to show up in the first place.
However the phone was successfully rooted with Magisk. and Google play was restoring my apps when it froze.
Currently restoring apps again on stock XSP.. no OEM in developer options.. but it still shows OEM lock off in Download mode
Any help is greatly appreciated.
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note: screen is not cracked.. glass screen protector did it's job

I'm facing the same problem. OEM Lock is OFF but am unable to flash custom recovery (currently unable to boot into OS either). Was working fine with Magisk and TWRP until I flashed custom ROM...(more details for my case: https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=73985590&postcount=27)
Anyone made any progress with this yet? I'm going to try flashing stock back and try again. Hoping for the best XD

I have the same issue. I've had OEM unlock as an option since day 1 and it never disappeared on me. Using an N950FD XSP I flashed TWRP/Verity. Rebooted into my stock ROM. I checked and the OEM unlock option had disappeared. Finished downloading a custom ROM and went to reboot into TWRP and I got the 'official binaries' message. So I went back into download mode and my FRP/OEM lock are both off. I can't flash TWRP again, I get the 'official binaries' message again. Going back to stock rather than letting an expensive brick sit on my desk.

mlkemac said:
I can restore to stock in Odin, and I still have OEM lock off in download mode.
However I'm not able to modify anything. OEM lock has dissapeared from developer options, and it seems KNOX was tripped by flashing magisk.
Googling that RED message turns up zero results.. whats going on here??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm in same boat. SM-N950F Australian TEL/TEL/TEL. Had to go back to stock as well after the soft brick.

Out of curiosity based on the screenshot above, what is the code to know if you tripped Knox on a Note 8?
I see it shows 1 (0x0303). Mine shows 1 (0x030c). I am back on the stock ROM and tried to use Samsung Pay. No luck, warning message about modifications to the device. I only made it as far as TWRP/Verity, so I guess that was far enough to destroy any possibility of me using it.
Also, I have no more OEM lock option. It shows off in download mode, but I guess I'm waiting until next week before having any chance of seeing it again. Perhaps it being off is why Samsung Pay isn't working?

wgpshadow said:
Out of curiosity based on the screenshot above, what is the code to know if you tripped Knox on a Note 8?
I see it shows 1 (0x0303). Mine shows 1 (0x030c). I am back on the stock ROM and tried to use Samsung Pay. No luck, warning message about modifications to the device. I only made it as far as TWRP/Verity, so I guess that was far enough to destroy any possibility of me using it.
Also, I have no more OEM lock option. It shows off in download mode, but I guess I'm waiting until next week before having any chance of seeing it again. Perhaps it being off is why Samsung Pay isn't working?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Warranty void 1 is tripped. Warranty void 0 is not tripped.

mlkemac said:
I finally received the OEM unlock toggle today and enabled it and easily installed magisk.
through restoring my apps, the phone froze.
When I rebooted it displayed a message in RED at the top "only official released binaries are allowed to be flashed" and would not go past the samsung logo.
in download mode it shows that FRP and OEM are both set to OFF. however i cannot flash my patched boot.tar, or even TWRP.
I get the same message in red...
N950F dual
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you explain exactly what you were using to restore apps? and were you restoring app and system data also?
--->

Mentalmuso said:
Can you explain exactly what you were using to restore apps? and were you restoring app and system data also?
--->
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was using TIBU (official/paid) to restore. was restoring missing apps/data, & system data
I've since sold that model and went with the N950N which doesn't have the OEM issue.
I'm actually using your rom right now. Love the audio options. Thank you!

yo lo quite subiendo a android 8 en n950f single sim

this is my problem with S6 Edge+/ SM-G9280 China Carrier
after opening Odin and starting to flash twrp .. Installation Failed..

Renz Kell said:
this is my problem with S6 Edge+/ SM-G9280 China Carrier
after opening Odin and starting to flash twrp .. Installation Failed..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You'll have to tell or show us the error Odin message to help.

Anything we can do with this github code for huawei bootloaders?

https://github.com/SkyEmie/huawei-honor-unlock-bootloader
Perhaps we can work with this?

borgqueenx said:
https://github.com/SkyEmie/huawei-honor-unlock-bootloader
Perhaps we can work with this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wonderful App, Unfortunately Huawei patched this vulnerability.
After 5 unsuccessful attempts, The Phone reboots itself to prevent the algorithm from working.

JazonX said:
Wonderful App, Unfortunately Huawei patched this vulnerability.
After 5 unsuccessful attempts, The Phone reboots itself to prevent the algorithm from working.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We dont know if this is a security fix or not. Maybe with some luck its a bug that could be circumvented somehow.

borgqueenx said:
We dont know if this is a security fix or not. Maybe with some luck its a bug that could be circumvented somehow.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is a workaround for the reboots described in this pull request https://github.com/SkyEmie/huawei-honor-unlock-bootloader/pull/16
I don't know if it is merged, but the guy forked the repo and implemented it I think -> https://github.com/mschabhuettl/huawei-honor-unlock-bootloader

xchatter said:
There is a workaround for the reboots described in this pull request https://github.com/SkyEmie/huawei-honor-unlock-bootloader/pull/16
I don't know if it is merged, but the guy forked the repo and implemented it I think -> https://github.com/mschabhuettl/huawei-honor-unlock-bootloader
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've read through the commits, Looks like a possible solution _ But I'm not seeing any success stories yet.
Also, continuously rebooting your phone maybe over a 1000 times is not really a good idea.
Have you tried this on your device or waiting for someone else to take one for the team ?

I note that fastboot files are included in this methods. Is it even possible to get latest huawei phones to fastboot?

JazonX said:
I've read through the commits, Looks like a possible solution _ But I'm not seeing any success stories yet.
Also, continuously rebooting your phone maybe over a 1000 times is not really a good idea.
Have you tried this on your device or waiting for someone else to take one for the team ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi there,
I don't have any Huawei device right now. Only one P20 Pro for my wife but I unlocked it with a code back then.
I had a Mate 30 Pro but sold. Waiting for some stable google services solutions and I will buy again.

borgqueenx said:
I note that fastboot files are included in this methods. Is it even possible to get latest huawei phones to fastboot?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes no problem at all.
ADB reboot bootloader works just fine, the usual white bootloader screen. No FRP lock though, which explains the "missing" switch in Developer Options.
Fastboot reboot, then reboots the phone as normal.
Didn't try any other commands.

Just waiting to get my pro plus to try this. Anyone else?

Any way to try it without erasing all the data? After hours of installing all the google apps it's not easy to just erase it.

GabiTM said:
Any way to try it without erasing all the data? After hours of installing all the google apps it's not easy to just erase it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately not. Although if all data is erased, it should have successfully completed its task and then you have a unlocked bootloader.
If no unlocked bootloader, your data should be kept on the device.

GabiTM said:
Any way to try it without erasing all the data? After hours of installing all the google apps it's not easy to just erase it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Make a backup with HiSuite on PC : Which you can restore later if the operation is successful.
Your data will only be erased if the Bootloader gets unlocked. At the attempt / trying stage It won't trigger a data wipe.
If the bootloader does get unlocked, It will be a massive win which is totally worth doing the google installations again.
Maybe next time onwards you can use Titanium Backup to backup apps and data., Push the Google Apps from the system dump of P30 Pro EMUI 10 to the Mate 30 / P40 Pro devices to have Playstore certified GMS, Host level adblocking and many more life-saving solutions.

Sorry guys and gals but the script doen't work on P40 Pro.
Fastboot works and the script reboots the phone but commands like oem unlock and oem info don't work.
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That is unfortunate. I dont think we can do more then. Will request a lock for this topic if no one else gives ideas this week.
Thanks for trying!

GabiTM said:
Sorry guys and gals but the script doen't work on P40 Pro.
Fastboot works and the script reboots the phone but commands like oem unlock and oem info don't work.
Any other ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Huawei have probably taken away the unlocking option from the bootloader seeing as they don't support unlocking anymore.
There's no "FRP unlock" switch in Developer Options like on previous models (p10/20/30 etc) either which implies the same.
Shame, would have been nice to find a potential "backdoor" to unlock & root! With Magisk able to be installed, that would have solved all the Google/uncertified problems people are having.
The "Phone Finder" error message is interesting though, I assume you tried it with that disabled? I think iPhone's have a similar block... Maybe you can't unlock the handset with that turned on?

colthekid said:
Huawei have probably taken away the unlocking option from the bootloader seeing as they don't support unlocking anymore.
There's no "FRP unlock" switch in Developer Options like on previous models (p10/20/30 etc) either which implies the same.
Shame, would have been nice to find a potential "backdoor" to unlock & root! With Magisk able to be installed, that would have solved all the Google/uncertified problems people are having.
The "Phone Finder" error message is interesting though, I assume you tried it with that disabled? I think iPhone's have a similar block... Maybe you can't unlock the handset with that turned on?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The chance to find a security engineer/hacker that wants to dedicate time into finding a exploit and unlocking without incentive other then getting media attention, is quite low.

borgqueenx said:
The chance to find a security engineer/hacker that wants to dedicate time into finding a exploit and unlocking without incentive other then getting media attention, is quite low.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can we start a gofundme or something similar, money is a good incentive.

GabiTM said:
Can we start a gofundme or something similar, money is a good incentive.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, because this is a very well paid job.
It could start to be attractive if you also count the media attention at minimum 50k dollar.

If I was in Huawei shoes I would just unlock the bootloader again. Don't see what they gain from keeping them locked, while on the same time unlocking then might boost new device sales a bit

Gatos7 said:
If I was in Huawei shoes I would just unlock the bootloader again. Don't see what they gain from keeping them locked, while on the same time unlocking then might boost new device sales a bit
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just like I thought...
The ban will cost them sure a lot sales off smartphones... And also aocked bootloader ?

General Journal: A brand new OPPO Find X3 Pro (UK/EE) - From new to clean de-bloated android (hopefully)

To start this journal I will begin by stating, I am not actually sure if it will be possible to finish this journal; from what I have read there can be quite a number of obstacles with international versions of the OPPO, some of which can be quite troublesome, but I thought it would be an interesting and hopefully helpful (for my self and anyone else wanting to do the same) way of going through the process with such a modern device.
The device arrives tomorrow, I wanted to get the initial post in without knowing precise details about the device.
I will update this primary post with the journal entries and post into the main thread when I update it going forwards
-- Entry 1 29/01/2022 00:21 (Dellivery today at some point!)
So far I have found out that cpw means car phone warehouse, which used(still is?) a store in the uk, 'EE' a network provider in the UK releases of the Oppo x3 find pro are apparently identical to releases from this store.
I have asked the user who informed me of this if they could possible put any information they are aware of within this thread.
Also, I will be doing the unboxing and initial looking at what it is via youtube I hope this is ok? I could not see a way to embed video onto this platform!
-- Entry 2 29/01/2022 10:53 (Delivery)
This is just a few images of the arrived device, simply unboxed and put on charge nothing has been set on the device what so ever.
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Also note that this image showing the build number is by @alvydas it is not from my device yet! just some more information to add to the journal, this is believed to be the same as mine should show later on when I decide to video/start the phone up
Also for note the CPH (Possible related to CarPhoneWarehouse) prefix in the build number)
-- Entry 3 29/01/2022 13:11 (Turning on, Bootloader unlock, USB Debugging enabled)
Youtube video:
- May still be processing the HD version in google HQ!
-- Entry 4 30/01/2022 10:53 (Getting sorted)
Ok so we can't root it and we can't change the boot laoder .... however we can get novo launcher to start by default! The pro version at least!
Not exactly an amazing feat but hey its progress, I also removed the gmail mail application as I preffer outlook (mainly because I have 3 email accounts):
And boy .... you can really remove everything including:
130|OP4F57L1:/ $ pm uninstall --user 0 com.oppo.launcher
The coloros launcher its self X_X, so it seems you cannot get root, but there is no protected package, you can remove ANYTHING.
so this bodes the question .... other than wanting lineage OS of course, how thin can we get it ....
-- Entry 3 10/02/2022 10:53 (Hackery and cleaning)
.... So there is no fastboot on the international model, it is simply not there I even got EE them self to confirm this.
However, I have made some progress in discovering a way to get to the qualcomm flashable download mode, that is it will show up as a:
One of those (if you have the Qualcomm drivers installed), some information I put in the forum about this mode was this:
1) Turn the phone off (shutdown)
2) Hold the power button and the Vol up/down (I Forget which) down all the way through the phone starting, you will feel a little Bzzzzz
3) you will be presented with a menu probably in chinese, this is because you held down the power button and it auto selected the first language (its not a biggie), just press the back touch screen button in the top left <--
4) Select english (or chinese if you preffer!)
5) you will be presented with a menu that has 3 options, Format, Reboot, .... something else ...
6) Select none of the options! look to the bottom of the screen you will see a version mine was v12 o3 v1.2 - double tap this
7) you will get a warning you are entering 'customer service mode', and wallah .... you will get the device show up in device manager.
I was going to shoot a video of this, I still might! but its rather redundant at this point as I am now at a brick wall, I need to figure out how to deal with this mode, can I flash something to it .... how?
I am scrubbing the phone of all the bloatware I can and to be honest I have it pretty damn clean .... but still the fastmode is elusive and what else could be loaded onto this lovely phone.

Entry 1 added - nothing really important

Entry 2 added, initial unboxing simply for charging, video to come soon: looking for details!

The CPW in the build number is more of a guess than anything else we all could be wrong

alvydasd2 said:
The CPW in the build number is more of a guess than anything else we all could be wrong
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@alvydasd2 Soon see! I hope you do not mind but I included your image in the journal at the top.

PaulGWebster said:
@alvydasd2 Soon see! I hope you do not mind but I included your image in the journal at the top.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yh that's fine

Entry 3 uploaded, many thanks @alvydasd2 We do have slightly different builds it seems!

So now next up I believe its rooting the phone should be fun, also I beleive there is a way to root a phone but hide it from applications like paypal ... would love to find more out on this

Also have to figure out if all the fancy camera things will work with a custom rom, such as the microscope mode and all the advanced functionalities
Maybe the best initial tangent is to simply root the phone and remove any bloatware as well as installing novolauncher, followed by re-rooting it
That way I will not lose the ability to use the special camera functions and in turn still receive updates, I believe I can actually freeze certain packages too so they are effectively immutable, so they show up but can never run or be changed ... hmmm

PaulGWebster said:
So now next up I believe its rooting the phone should be fun, also I beleive there is a way to root a phone but hide it from applications like paypal ... would love to find more out on this
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Rooting ain't gonna be easy on this phone that's if you can unlock the bootloader which is pretty much impossible unless you have a Chinese variant of the phone or somehow figure out a way to root it without unlocking the bootloader would be a miracle

alvydasd2 said:
Rooting ain't gonna be easy on this phone that's if you can unlock the bootloader which is pretty much impossible unless you have a Chinese variant of the phone or somehow figure out a way to root it without unlocking the bootloader would be a miracle
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check the youtube video, I appear to have lol ... though I did notice that going into the recovery menu is all in chinese ... so I assume its the chinese version:

The only problem being ... I have no idea idea what this menu says -_-

I guess that is tomorrows episode though, connecting it via ADB+TWRP

Usually first thing when you open recovery is choosing a language idk why English wasn't there and btw the difference between the builds is you're running lower firmware so if you try to update it you should get the same build number as me and if u had the Chinese version your model would have been PEEM00 or something like that

alvydasd2 said:
Usually first thing when you open recovery is choosing a language idk why English wasn't there and btw the difference between the builds is you're running lower firmware so if you try to update it you should get the same build number as me and if u had the Chinese version your model would have been PEEM00 or something like that
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ah ha I held the button down to long it auto selected chinese somehow I pressed back and got the recovery options ... not seeing TWRP though ... and when I do a TWP fastboot it does not boot into the bootloader...
The OEM Bootloader though is saying its unlocked in dev options

PaulGWebster said:
ah ha I held the button down to long it auto selected chinese somehow I pressed back and got the recovery options ... not seeing TWRP though ... and when I do a TWP fastboot it does not boot into the bootloader...
The OEM Bootloader though is saying its unlocked in dev options
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oppo has a weird bootloader cuz it can only be unlocked with an app that only works on Chinese version and to access fastboot u need a unlocked bootloader

just read this .... so there is no way to even fastboot the device https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...access-for-oppo-phones-starting-2016.3348114/

I wonder if you could flash on the chinese version of the firmware

it seems that the device is really a 'realme gt 5g' .... trying to verify this

PaulGWebster said:
it seems that the device is really a 'realme gt 5g' .... trying to verify this
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not -_-

General [CLOSED] --

USE UPDATED POST, HERE!
THIS POST IS NOW ONLY REFERENCE ONLY - WILL BE DELETED SOON.
Well I figured I'd make a quick How-To on how I successfully Carrier/Sim unlocked my Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G running the NEWEST Android update on bootloader 5 (USQU5BULJ)released in January of 2022.
***This does NOT trip Know and does NOT require a root or a paid service. ***
****Also Note - This is the process I took, you may find some of these steps are not needed but for the purpose or recreating my results, I'll be posting my exact process.
****This has ONLY BEEN TESTED ON SNAPDRAGON BASED SAMSUNG GALAXY S21 ULTRA 5G SM-G998 U & U1, if you try it on a different model or phone you may (and likely will) receive different results!!!!
Here's what you'll need:
•ANY (activated or not) Sim from the carrier you wish to switch too.(or a way to replicate the carriers cert from one)
•A computer
•Patched Odin
•BOTH the NEWEST U & U1 ROMs/Firmware - theres a full post on these and how to flash them here on XDA (Reminder for myself or mod to link it) or visit SamFW.com, it has both Odin and the ROM/Firmware files you will need.
•Android ADB platform tools (You can find them on the official Android Developers page here or use any ADB software of your choice, fastboot is not required or used in this process.(Google "Android Developer Platform Tools" to get them from the official Android devs page. )
STEP 1:
So let's presume you have a Verizon or T-Mobile carrier locked phone, if you look at your baseband, which you can find in Settings > About > Software Info, you should see this "SM-G998Uxxxxxxx"
*****IF YOU SEE "SM-G998U1xxxxxxx" STOP - Skip to step 2******
Head over to your preferred site to get stock Samsung Roms (Refer to link above if you don't know where to find) and download the U1 XAA rom and the U rom of the CARRIER YOU WISH TO USE. IMPORTANT! MAKE SURE YOU DOWNLOAD THE "U" ROM FOR BOTH THE CARRIER YOU WISH TO SWITCH TO AND THE U1 UNLOCKED ROM.
Put you device in download mode (Hold Vol up and Vol down and plug in the USB, which should be connected to your PC and now your phone at this point.)
Flash the U1 XAA Rom, place appropriate files in appropriate places in Odin, when you get to CSC, DO NOT use the "HOME_CSC" use the other.
Leave the rest of Odin settings alone and hit Start, wait for it to finish and reboot.
Step 2:
Once the phone boots, return to Settings>About>Software and confirm you are using the XAA rom by looking at Service Provider Software Version and it should say something like "SM-G998U1_XAA blah blah blah" you just want to see the U1 and XAA.
Now put in the Sim from the carrier you desire. A pop-up should appear prompting you to restart your device. Follow the prompt.
!MOST IMPORTANT STEP!
BEFORE the device fully restarts, force it into RECOVERY MODE, I was able to achieve this by holding the power and Vol Down buttons at the same time, starting to hold the directly after the "Samsung" Logo fades away upon initial restart. If you have trouble getting into recovery please comment below.
Once in recovery, use the volume keys to navigate to "Clear Cache" select and execute. Now go to Factory Data Reset/Wipe, select and execute. It should be the option directly above "Clear cache".
Once done, go up to "Reboot to Bootloader", Select, Execute.
AGAIN, Very Important step,you MUST interrupt the boot process again and force the phone BACK into download mode this time, so once the phone attempts to reboot, you need to hold the Vol Down and Vol Up buttons at the same time and the USB MUST be already plugged in.
We should now be back in download mode and be on the U1 rom. We have verified all of this in the steps above.
STEP 3:
Now it's time to flash the ROM from the carrier you wish to use. Make SURE you have a Sim from that carrier inserted during this process. It doesn't need to be a working or activated Sim, just simply one from the carrier you wish to have your S21 work on.
Flash all items as you did earlier, but using the "U" ROM for your desired carrier as described above. Same deal with CSC, DO NOT use the "Home_CSC"
BE SURE that you use the USERDATA file if there is one for your carrier. Very important to have the phone working properly.
Start the Odin flashing process.
Phone will Auto-Reboot.
Done!
You should now be on the carrier you wish to use. This can be (in theory, test at own risk) replicated for ANY carrier supported by Samsung, and, I should soon find out if it will lead to what my original goal was, a bootloader unlock on the QualComm SnapDragon variant of the S21 and future Galaxy devices.
If you have any issues please comment below.
PoC, results after doing above process.
Good luck.
-k0mrade
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}

There are some parts of my tutorial that are not well expressed and may be misleading. Please don't hesitate to post in comments if you need clarity.

IMPORTANT!!! I LEFT OUT ONE MAJOR STEP! ************ ----- BETWEEN STEP ONE AND STEP 2 - After you do the factory data reset/Wipe cache -> reboot to Bootloader -> force into download, you need to flash the U1 rom BEFORE putting in your desirced carriers SIM, then reboot, let phone fully boot, THEN insert your desired carriers SIM -> restart phone-> interrupt boot by forcing into recovery and repeat factory data wipe and cache wipe and reboot bootloader -> interrupt Boot Process again, but into Download Mode -> Flash your desired "U" carrier Firmware (must be same carrier as the SIM you put in as described above). -> Done.

And when/where does one need to use the required ADB-Tools?

tested and work only on S21 ULTRA 5G SM-G998 U & U1
thank you

OnnoJ said:
And when/where does one need to use the required ADB-Tools?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol this is likely one of those steps thats unneeded. i cant remeber off the top of my head why exactly i added that in. But it wont hurt to have the drivers, thats for sure.

Ive made a (Slightly) more clear post, hopefully better detailing this, Here. Mods may close this thread as they feel free but i will leave it up as a resource for the time being.

How many different devices have you tested this on?

iBowToAndroid said:
How many different devices have you tested this on?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ive just finished doing it on my 6th one device, 4 were Verizon 1 was Tmobile and 1 was ATT. I seem to be able to replicate this process over and over again so far with no issues so far, but i am making sure to update each device manually via odin 1st to latest u1 Firmware first as described above.

K0mraid3 said:
ive just finished doing it on my 6th one device, 4 were Verizon 1 was Tmobile and 1 was ATT. I seem to be able to replicate this process over and over again so far with no issues so far, but i am making sure to update each device manually via odin 1st to latest u1 Firmware first as described above.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And for each device, did you personally verify that it was not already unlocked before starting?
Because normally you can't get that restart popup prompt on U1 firmware unless the device is already unlocked

iBowToAndroid said:
And for each device, did you personally verify that it was not already unlocked before starting?
Because normally you can't get that restart popup prompt on U1 firmware unless the device is already unlocked
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thats essentially the point of going from u to u1 then back to u after you booted atleast once into u1 with the desired carriers sim, somewhere along in the process of interrupting the bootloader and flashing the carriers U Firmware its overwriting the system policy. Theres a hole in here somewhere im positive. still trying to pin point exactly where this weakness lies.

iBowToAndroid said:
And for each device, did you personally verify that it was not already unlocked before starting?
Because normally you can't get that restart popup prompt on U1 firmware unless the device is already unlocked
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
End Game is to find a BL exploit to force enable OEM Unlocking on these qcomm s21s.

K0mraid3 said:
End Game is to find a BL exploit to force enable OEM Unlocking on these qcomm s21s.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're definitely not going to find that, as that's not related to SIM unlocking whatsoever

iBowToAndroid said:
And for each device, did you personally verify that it was not already unlocked before starting?
Because normally you can't get that restart popup prompt on U1 firmware unless the device is already unlocked
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And sorry to answer your initial question, yes, verfied carrier lock, getting errors like this, see attached.

iBowToAndroid said:
You're definitely not going to find that, as that's not related to SIM unlocking whatsoever
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I like a challenge

This "temporary" thread is now closed. Main thread is here.

How To Guide Carrier/SIM Unlock - Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G SM-G998U & U1 (QualComm SnapDragon) USA/CANADA! - NO ROOT- FREE

Here's a free How-To on how i successfully Carrier/Sim unlocked my Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G running the NEWEST Android update on bootloader 5 (USQU5BULJ)released in January of 2022 that was carrier locked to Verizon and now fully Unlocked.
DISCLAIMER:
*This does NOT trip Knox or Void your warranty and does NOT require a root or a paid service. **This is the process I took, you may find some of these steps are not needed but for the purpose or recreating my results, I'll be posting my exact process.***This has ONLY BEEN TESTED ON SNAPDRAGON BASED SAMSUNG GALAXY S21 ULTRA 5G SM-G998 U & U1, if you try it on a different model or phone you may (and likely will) receive different results!!!!
You can read more on how this method works to force a carrier update to your device, here, on the Official Android dev site.
Here's what you'll need:
•ANY (activated or not) Sim from the carrier you wish to switch too.(or a way to replicate the carriers cert from one)
•A computer
•Patched Odin
•BOTH the NEWEST U & U1 ROMs/Firmware - theres a full post on these and how to flash them here, Stock Firmware and ODIN Flashing Guide (XDA) or visit SamFW.com, it has both Odin and the ROM/Firmware files you will need.
•(Optional?) Android ADB platform tools (You can find them on the official Android Developers page here or use any ADB software of your choice, fastboot is not required or used in this process. Link: Android Dev Platform Tools (Official)
Step 1:
So let's presume you have a Verizon or T-Mobile carrier locked phone, if you look at your baseband, which you can find in Settings > About > Software Info, you should see this "SM-G998Uxxxxxxx"
NOTE:
It Is CRITICAL that we flash the U1 rom BEFORE putting in the desired carriers SIM, then reboot, let phone fully boot, ONLY THEN should we insert the desired carriers SIM.
Step 1b:
Head over to your preferred site to get stock Samsung Roms (Refer to link above if you don't know where to find) and download the U1 XAA rom and the U rom of the CARRIER YOU WISH TO USE.
IMPORTANT! MAKE SURE YOU DOWNLOAD BOTH THE "U" ROM FOR THE CARRIER YOU WISH TO SWITCH TO AND THE U1 UNLOCKED (XAA) ROM/Firmware.
IF YOU ALREADY HAVE U1 FIRMWARE
I.e "SM-G998U1xxxxxxx" - you can skip to step 2, but I would recommend reading through the next part.
Put you device in download mode (Hold Vol up and Vol down and plug in the USB, which should be connected to your PC and now your phone at this point.)
Flash the U1 XAA Rom, place appropriate files in appropriate places in Odin, when you get to CSC, DO NOT use the "HOME_CSC" use the other.
Leave the rest of Odin settings alone and hit Start, wait for it to finish and reboot.
Step 2:
Once the phone boots, return to Settings>About>Software and confirm the device is now showing the "U1_XAA" in the Service Provider Software Version - it should say something like "SM-G998U1_XAA blah blah blah" - you just want to see the "U1" bit.
Now put in the Sim from the carrier you desire. A pop-up should appear prompting you to restart your device.
! CRITICALLY IMPORTANT STEP !
We will now initiate a reboot, but BEFORE the device fully restarts, we need to force it into RECOVERY MODE, I was able to achieve this by holding the power and Vol Down buttons at the same time, starting to hold them directly after the "Samsung" Logo fades away upon initial restart. If you have trouble getting into recovery, please comment below.
Once in recovery, use the volume keys to navigate to "Clear Cache" select and execute. Now go to Factory Data Reset/Wipe, select and execute. It should be the option directly above "Clear cache".
Once done, go up to "Reboot to Bootloader", Select & Execute.
AGAIN, Very Important step! We MUST interrupt the boot process again and force the phone BACK into download mode this time, so once the phone attempts to reboot, we need to hold the Vol Down and Vol Up buttons at the same time and the USB MUST be already plugged in, essentially it should remain plugged in throughout this process.
We should now be back in download mode and be on "U1" as we have verified in the steps above.
STEP 3:
Now it's time to flash the ROM/Firmware from the carrier you wish to use. Make SURE you have the SIM from the same carrier inserted during this process as mentioned at the beginning. It doesn't need to be a working or activated SIM, just simply one from the carrier you wish to have this S21 work on.
Flash all items from the "U" ROM/Firmware as you did earlier, ensuring to use the "U" ROM/Firmware for your desired carrier as described above. Same deal with CSC here, DO NOT use the "Home_CSC", use the other.
BE SURE that you use the USERDATA file that comes with the "U" ROM/Firmware. Its Critical in order to get the phone working properly on the new carrier.
Start the Odin flashing process & wait.
Phone will Auto-Reboot.....
Done!
You should now be on the carrier you wish to use.
This can be (in theory, test at own risk) replicated for ANY carrier supported by Samsung.
Please comment your experiences/ issues etc below. Don't be afraid to ask for clarity of something.
PoC, results after doing above process pictured in this screenshot.
Good luck.
-k0mrade
Send me Crypto if I helped?
Before process, this message would appear shortly after inserting a new SIM in testing devices:
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
After preforming above procedures I now find pictured below by running this activity:
com.samsung.ssu.unlock.MainActivity
And verify twice by checking my work in Settings>About>Software Information> Service Provider Software Version & Carrier Configuration Version.
For anyone whos still having trouble, try following the directions on this thread. Maybe they explain it a bit better or their process omits/includes parts ive missed.
Alternative Guide To Carrier Unlocking S21
Good Luck.

-

Have you attempted this on lower bootloader revisions?

iBowToAndroid said:
Have you attempted this on lower bootloader revisions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have not. But am very interested to see how it goes if you or anyone decides to give it a shot, it SHOULD work on any BL considering the method of attack. But I can't verify it does.

Hello. I did everything as in the guide. I downloaded U1 firmware for XAA, but for some reason CCT remains on the phone. Also in the step where to insert the Sim, my phone does not ask me to reboot the device.

xDpakaX said:
Hello. I did everything as in the guide. I downloaded U1 firmware for XAA, but for some reason XAS remains on the phone. Also in the step where to insert the Sim, my phone does not ask me to reboot the device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried doing a normal reboot and forcing into recovery first, wipe cache, factory reset, reboot to Bootloader, then before full boot force into download mode with your SIM from the carrier you want to go to already inserted and downloading the "U" Firmware for the carrier you want and flashing it? What does Odin and/or your Baseband in settings say after doing above e process?

Thanks for the guide! Is there any chance this process might also work on other phones? I have a Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro that I've been trying to unlock for months. I've called Verizon many times, and they claim they already unlocked it, but when I put another sim in I still get the message "Sorry, your device can't be activated on another carrier's network right now. For help, contact Verizon at (800) 922-0204 or (888) 294-6804 (prepaid plans)."

Proverbs2 said:
Thanks for the guide! Is there any chance this process might also work on other phones? I have a Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro that I've been trying to unlock for months. I've called Verizon many times, and they claim they already unlocked it, but when I put another sim in I still get the message "Sorry, your device can't be activated on another carrier's network right now. For help, contact Verizon at (800) 922-0204 or (888) 294-6804 (prepaid plans)."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What's the Baseband Version?

iBowToAndroid said:
What's the Baseband Version?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

@Proverbs2 it can be done with a computer, but not with the method listed above. It would have to be done by a professional business that offers SIM unlocking, so it wouldn't be free. If you want to have it done, don't do any more software updates until after it's unlocked

iBowToAndroid said:
@Proverbs2 it can be done with a computer, but not with the method listed above. It would have to be done by a professional business that offers SIM unlocking, so it wouldn't be free. If you want to have it done, don't do any more software updates until after it's unlocked
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! I tried paying a service to unlock it already, but they were unable to unlock it and refunded my money. I unlocked the bootloader and rooted the phone before getting the sim unlocked, unfortunately, so none of the usual methods seem to work.

Proverbs2 said:
Thanks! I tried paying a service to unlock it already, but they were unable to unlock it and refunded my money. I unlocked the bootloader and rooted the phone before getting the sim unlocked, unfortunately, so none of the usual methods seem to work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep then you're screwed. It can't done if Knox is tripped

Proverbs2 said:
Thanks for the guide! Is there any chance this process might also work on other phones? I have a Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro that I've been trying to unlock for months. I've called Verizon many times, and they claim they already unlocked it, but when I put another sim in I still get the message "Sorry, your device can't be activated on another carrier's network right now. For help, contact Verizon at (800) 922-0204 or (888) 294-6804 (prepaid plans)."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm I have not tried it, but, in all reality, I used this exact same method YEARS ago on my S7 Edge and it worked then. I have not tried it on another Samsung but I'd imagine anything other then the newest flagship would probably be quite simple to fix as there should already plenty of resources available via Github and such. If you take it on let me know, I'll do what I can to help.
If you want to test it out on your device, i see no reason why it shouldnt work if done correctly, but you may have to play with the order in which you interrupt the bootloader and force the update. Even if you have tripped Knox, there is indeed a way to completely disable Knox all together and not get locked out of the device. I did it on the S21 that I unlocked when I was mucking about on the phone. But that's an entire different tutorial and I'd need people to test it on other Samsung devices. But I'd be happy to share that too if you'd like.

Proverbs2 said:
Thanks! I tried paying a service to unlock it already, but they were unable to unlock it and refunded my money. I unlocked the bootloader and rooted the phone before getting the sim unlocked, unfortunately, so none of the usual methods seem to work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is it still unlocked and rooted? That would make life another easier. We can repair the IMEI, baseband etc. It's worth a go if the phones just a paper weight right now imo. But ultimately up to you.

K0mraid3 said:
Hmm I have not tried it, but, in all reality, I used this exact same method YEARS ago on my S7 Edge and it worked then. I have not tried it on another Samsung but I'd imagine anything other then the newest flagship would probably be quite simple to fix as there should already plenty of resources available via Github and such. If you take it on let me know, I'll do what I can to help.
If you want to test it out on your device, i see no reason why it shouldnt work if done correctly, but you may have to play with the order in which you interrupt the bootloader and force the update. Even if you have tripped Knox, there is indeed a way to completely disable Knox all together and not get locked out of the device. I did it on the S21 that I unlocked when I was mucking about on the phone. But that's an entire different tutorial and I'd need people to test it on other Samsung devices. But I'd be happy to share that too if you'd like.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you! I'll give it a try and report how it goes.

Good luck! Worst case, look up a program called "Samsung TFT Module", just be sure to scan it for viruses and bad code if you have the ability.unless you are able to find the 2022 update of it, you'll have to settle for whatever version is available. It'll likely be old, clunky and out-of-date, half the program defunct, but a few key parts still work, and quite well. Don't forget ADB drivers. Let us know how it goes!
Proverbs2 said:
Thank you! I'll give it a try and report how it goes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Ok, I tried to follow each step carefully, but I had to make one minor change to the procedure: after flashing the U1_XAA firmware, I had to power off the phone in order to insert the SIM card. (In the XCover Pro, the SIM card slot is obstructed by the battery, so there is no way to insert the card without powering off the phone and removing the battery.) After inserting the card, I booted directly into recovery and followed the other steps from there.
Unfortunately, it didn't work for me: the phone is still locked, showing the same message: "Sorry, your device can't be activated on another carrier's network..." Perhaps that's because I wasn't able to perform that one critical step, inserting the sim card while the phone is turned on. Any suggestions for a workaround?

K0mraid3 said:
Have you tried doing a normal reboot and forcing into recovery first, wipe cache, factory reset, reboot to Bootloader, then before full boot force into download mode with your SIM from the carrier you want to go to already inserted and downloading the "U" Firmware for the carrier you want and flashing it? What does Odin and/or your Baseband in settings say after doing above e process?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I followed the guide. The problem is that when I'm on U1 my phone doesn't ask me to reboot.

Hello. I did all on VZW SQU3AUDB phone. Did all steps.
I have question. But in first start after step 3 (i flash G998U VZW) i see: Sorry, your devic.... verizon message
STEP3: Now it's time to flash the ROM/Firmware from the carrier you wish to use
It min - i need to flash not VZW ROM? some other? I need to use Ukrainia operator sim. Or i need flash G998W or else?
can someone help me?

Does my bootloader need to be unlocked