Received a bootleg P10 from Amazon. At least I think. - Huawei P10 Questions & Answers

Ordered a P10 from Amazon with a specific "VTR-L29" plastered all over the title and in the description. Received the phone 5 days later with prime shipping, went to boot it up and the dreaded "Your device has failed verification and may not work properly." Immediately I became skeptical. I looked on the back of the phone and checked the IMEI online. Sure enough it was an VTR-AL00. At this point I figured I might as well look at the phone while I'm at it. Phone booted up and got to the initial setup screen congratulating me for using a VTR-L29. I went into the settings where it also stated it was a L29. Below that it has both IMEIs listed and both being AL00.
I want to say it's no big deal but to be honest it really pisses me off. Is this a custom global rom on a chinese version of the phone? When looking at the differences the Chinese version appears to have less accessible frequency bands. What would you do if you were me?
Thanks.

WalkinEvolution said:
Ordered a P10 from Amazon with a specific "VTR-L29" plastered all over the title and in the description. Received the phone 5 days later with prime shipping, went to boot it up and the dreaded "Your device has failed verification and may not work properly." Immediately I became skeptical. I looked on the back of the phone and checked the IMEI online. Sure enough it was an VTR-AL00. At this point I figured I might as well look at the phone while I'm at it. Phone booted up and got to the initial setup screen congratulating me for using a VTR-L29. I went into the settings where it also stated it was a L29. Below that it has both IMEIs listed and both being AL00.
I want to say it's no big deal but to be honest it really pisses me off. Is this a custom global rom on a chinese version of the phone? When looking at the differences the Chinese version appears to have less accessible frequency bands. What would you do if you were me?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's entirely possible that the band support is different, but for the most part, all I'm particularly aware of as far as differences go is which build of EMUI it's running. One thing that I've seen pretty commonly with devices from China is that if they're being exported someone will figure out how to load a global ROM on it so that things like Google Play can be loaded. (Almost all of the sellers on sites like AliExpress do this, and it's quite likely that some on Amazon do as well.)
Also - if it is actually an AL00 model, unless they went so far as to change the actual case, the model is printed pretty clearly on the back; the L29 would also have additional markings on the back.
Regardless, unless the place you got it didn't do the rebranding process correctly, as far as I've ever been able to tell it doesn't make too much difference. (I've rebranded a few Mate 9s to AL00, actually, so I could flash the EMUI 9 betas; advantage to having a Chinese region is FRP lock won't come biting you later.)
If I were you, I'd go take a double check on the page you found it on - most Chinese sellers that I've seen post that it's originally Chinese stock that they've changed the software on to a global version; beyond that, any hardware differences are likely to be cosmetic. (The title says L29, the description says "it was originally AL00 or DL00, but we rebranded it for worldwide use" or something similar. They'll do that with AL00 models primarily, as the DL00 models have a China Mobile logo on the back.)

Related

4G/LTE Samsung tablets also region locked?

I saw a surprising note on clove.co.uk I think it was, they said all Samsungs shipped after 2013 are region locked. This was a note on the bottom of the page for a Tab S2 LTE. They went as far to say they were no longer selling sealed boxes because they are region unlocking all devices before selling to international buyers.
Can anyone confirm/deny there's a region lock on Samsung's 4G/LTE tablets? Thanks.
midnightrider said:
I saw a surprising note on clove.co.uk I think it was, they said all Samsungs shipped after 2013 are region locked. This was a note on the bottom of the page for a Tab S2 LTE. They went as far to say they were no longer selling sealed boxes because they are region unlocking all devices before selling to international buyers.
Can anyone confirm/deny there's a region lock on Samsung's 4G/LTE tablets? Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I dont think that's true. My Tab S LTE is international unlocked made in mid 2014 and sealed.
Tab A 9.7 lte I bought last year same thing.
Thanks. I didn't buy from them after I read that, I bought from another place to make sure I didn't get an open box item for the prices everybody is charging. It has not been shipped yet although it was supposed to go out Friday. I guess I will use it on wifi just to be safe until I get to the region where I bought it. Heading there for work anyway. BTW I didn't mean carrier unlocked, I meant region unlocked. Not sure if that came through ok.
midnightrider said:
Thanks. I didn't buy from them after I read that, I bought from another place to make sure I didn't get an open box item for the prices everybody is charging. It has not been shipped yet although it was supposed to go out Friday. I guess I will use it on wifi just to be safe until I get to the region where I bought it. Heading there for work anyway. BTW I didn't mean carrier unlocked, I meant region unlocked. Not sure if that came through ok.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I bought my 715Y from Amazon in USA.
It is unlocked but I still haven't gotten MM and it is out for 715Y for more than a week.
However my local SIM card works fine.
There was a time when you had to activate the SIM in the country you bought it from (mine is built in Vietnam, impossible for me) and then it was OK anywhere.
None of that merry go round with the 715Y.
Shofar1 said:
I bought my 715Y from Amazon in USA.
It is unlocked but I still haven't gotten MM and it is out for 715Y for more than a week.
However my local SIM card works fine.
There was a time when you had to activate the SIM in the country you bought it from (mine is built in Vietnam, impossible for me) and then it was OK anywhere.
None of that merry go round with the 715Y.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pretty much all of them are built in Vietnam.
In the end I couldn't find anyone to ship me an LTE model so I got the wifi only model which kinda sucks but is ok for now. I couldn't get the Exynos version either, the stores that would ship here only had the new one. I got a T819 with the Qualcom. I'll try to pick up an LTE version when I go to Europe for work later. Thanks guys.
ashyx said:
Pretty much all of them are built in Vietnam.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah it even says "designed and built in Vietnam" Kinda interesting, I had no idea Vietnam was a high tech center or that Samsung had a facility there.
Samsung UK support says LTE tablets are definitely region locked. I don't know if I believe them since they were trying to push me to buy a tablet in my country- which has no Samsung store, and no Samsung presence except for a company that is the "official importer" that has nothing in stock and doesn't import the tab s2 in lte anyway. I call B.S. and I would bet money the tablets aren't region locked like you guys seem to be saying. But I can't prove it until I see an LTE tab box with the region lock warning.
My S2 bought in Hungary died the day after i took it to the usa and put in a local sim. Specially the imei and the baseband went null. Hungary tech support says it's due to the out of region sim. Believe it or not.
The whole thing is kinda stupid. It seems to make some sick kind of sense with phones from a corporate strong-arming the customer point of view. On the phones they say you have to make an actual 5 minute voice call to unlock, they specifically say using data won't work. The whole point of an LTE tablet is not to make calls, although you can. It's supposed to keep you connected when you're away from wifi. So what are people supposed to do? Hold up a ten inch brick to their heads and make a 5 minute call to region unlock it?
The phones that are region locked are supposed to come with a warning sticker on the box. Unless your tablet packaging specifically warns of the region lock I call B.S. on Samsung support on this topic. Otherwise they've been reasonably helpful.

use of MI 8 chinese version with Global ROM

Dear community,
I just bought a Mi 8 online. Unfortunately, after the purchase I read about the new rules Xiaomi made for Global and Chines versions of their phones.
I then checked what I bought and sadly it is Chinese Version with "official Global ROM and OTA updates".
I assume that the bootloader will be unlocked, which ist not so nice for some apps.
But what I am more concerned about is the question if I will brick the phone if I try to upgrade to MIUI 10 Global (which I think I will but please correct me if I'm wrong)
Are there any disadvantages in just using the Chinese ROM (english language would be fine for me)?
So would you think, it will be better to return that device and buy a Global version instead? (I bought on AliExpress and its not delivered yet)
Thank you very much and kind regards,
undefined
You can update to global MIUI 10 from OTA with no problem, i have done the same yesterday. The only thing you can't do is relock your bootloader
Thank you, roccovite, I didn't know that
Do you know if purchases in Google Play also work?
I think I would have to try, if my banking app will work too, even with unlocked boot loader. But I think I haven't locked the boot loader in my Redmi 3 pro neither and everything works.
Hi friends
I want to buy Mi8 in the next few days, In fact, this will be my first experience with Xiaomi devices, and frankly, I'm a bit afraid.
I did many web searches, I found that this problem is very widespread and it happens to many people, and this scared me frankly.
Is there a way to avoid this problem?, can I know if the phone is "really" Global, or Chinese, or -As in your case above- "Chinese Version with official Global ROM and OTA updates" before I purchase it ??, or I really need to purchase and open it to know??
thanks in advance
Dear A7.Rtb,
I think it highly depends on where you're going to buy. For example if you're going to buy on AliExpress, there is one major reseller which labeled all phones accordingly with "Global" or "Global ROM". You just need to look for the phones labeled "Global" and ignore all the others, even tho "Global ROM" is generally cheaper.
Maybe you can also see it on the box the phone came in with but I'm not sure about that
Kind regards,
undefined
Thanks for your answer,bro.
In fact, I'm from Syria, and here we can't buy online, and we don't have any of the purchasing agencies such as AliExpress or Amazon or others. There are only small local shops, which means I can check the box before I buy the phone, I think the phone type must be defined on the box, isn't it ???.
But there is something I didn't fully understand.
Do you mean that the phones labeled "Global ROM" are Chinese version in the first place, but with the global ROM installed on them - as if I purchased the Chinese version and installed the Global ROM from miui.eu on it, for example - ???
I'm really sorry if I bother you, but this phone is priced here about 220000 of the local currency, and this is not cheap at all, so I don't want to venture ...
Thank you again
Dear A7.Rtb,
don't worry, you don't bother me
First thing, I hope you are as safe as possible in Syria, my friend.
As far as I read here in the forum and at Google is that the Chinese version box has only Chinese letters on it and that the global version box has a sticker saying "Global" on it.
But I can't confirm that because I haven't seen it in reality yet.
Yes, many sellers on AliExpress taking the Chinese version, unlock the bootloader, flash the official global ROM and put it back in the box.
I read today about the disadvantages of having an unlocked bootloader. As far as I read, the phone will work fine but Google Pay and some apps like banking and Netflix won't work because they check if the bootloader is unlocked.
Hope I could help you a bit
Have fun and stay safe
Undefined
undefined999 said:
Dear A7.Rtb,
don't worry, you don't bother me
First thing, I hope you are as safe as possible in Syria, my friend.
As fast as I read here in the forum and at Google is that the Chinese version box has only Chinese letters on it and that the global version box has a sticker saying "Global" on it.
But I can't confirm that because I haven't seen it in reality yet.
Yes, many sellers on AliExpress taking the Chinese version, unlock the bootloader, flash the official global ROM and put it back in the box.
I read today about the disadvantages of having an unlocked bootloader. As far as I read, the phone will work fine but Google Pay and some apps like banking and Netflix won't work because they check if the bootloader is unlocked.
Hope I could help you a bit
Have fun and stay safe
Undefined
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for explaining more to me, you helped me so much.
And yes, I'm fine here in Syria, there is no war where I live.
thank you for your kindness, dear friend
undefined999 said:
Dear A7.Rtb,
don't worry, you don't bother me
First thing, I hope you are as safe as possible in Syria, my friend.
As fast as I read here in the forum and at Google is that the Chinese version box has only Chinese letters on it and that the global version box has a sticker saying "Global" on it.
But I can't confirm that because I haven't seen it in reality yet.
Yes, many sellers on AliExpress taking the Chinese version, unlock the bootloader, flash the official global ROM and put it back in the box.
I read today about the disadvantages of having an unlocked bootloader. As far as I read, the phone will work fine but Google Pay and some apps like banking and Netflix won't work because they check if the bootloader is unlocked.
Hope I could help you a bit
Have fun and stay safe
Undefined
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just love your empathy.
Kudos to people like you still care for people who are different from them without any racism and prejudice
Oh man; this is stressing me just a bit that I can ruin my new phone with one software button. Is it at least unbricka me from that state?
Cause I am buying a Mi9 More details here, idk if this is allowed to post this link
So I imagine I can convert it down the line. Bootloader unlocked isn't an issue for me since I always have my phone's rooted anyway which I need to unlock bootloader for anyway.
This is my first Xiaomi phone so curious, there is an official global ROM and a different one from xiaomi.eu? And one requires flashing tool and other can flash from TWRP?
Thanks in advance

Thinking of getting one, but unsure which version is being listed here

I'm looking for a version that supports North American bands and from what I understand, the 12gb/512gb one should be the only one that does.
But I also stumbled upon this listing: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000182288484.html?spm=2114.12010612.8148356.2.24fcc18esuf2nD
Which supposedly is 8gb/128gb with North American bands. From what I understand this version shouldn't exist? It also mentions both 2x2 MIMO and 4x4 MIMO so I have no idea which it actually has.
In the description it says: "Tips: CN version, Officail Global Firmare,Mulit Language , Support Google Play and OTA upgrade"
Are they trying to say that it's the Tencent version but with global ROM? I thought OTA upgrades currently don't work on the global ROM?
They also write: " About package and firmware: we'll open the original box to check the phone and install Multi language ROM and Google paly store. Official ROM will be prefered. if custom translation may doesn't cover all the Menus. Not support OTA Update. we may update the ROM. So the OS version may different as the sreenshots."
But I think they have this as a disclaimer on all their phone product pages, whether it applies or not.
I'm trying to determine whether the listing is legit or not and whether to place an order. Did they make a mistake/ are they lying about the bands? Or is there an actual version like this/ did they manage to do something to the Tencent version? In terms of reputation, there's nothing particularly suspicious about the seller so I wouldn't imagine they would outright lie, but it's also a pretty big mistake to make, especially since they highlight the key specs (and bands) in red.
I'm leaning towards the "don't trust" side, with this one, but what do you think?
IMO, you would be better off waiting a few more days till the global version is released. That's a China version with global software, which has been nothing but trouble for most of the people i have heard about that converted.
They already told you.
This is china tencent edition. The phone is not is not brand new, we will open the box, we will turn on you phone, we will root it and unlock the bootloader, in order to replace CN ROM with WW ROM.
So, it will be 2x2, it will lack most bands, it will lack the cover and the cooling accessory included in Ww edition, which will be launched on 30th of September.
Of course, no warranty at all from ASUS and you may have trouble with NFC payments and banking apps. Some other apps may recognise your modified rom, too.
If you are ready, acknowledging all this, you can buy it asap.

Question 1st Oneplus phone user questions

Hi I just bought a 512 10 pro dual sim unit, I am 100% new oneplus owner.
I am wainting on the parcel, the unit suposed to be a CN unit with global rom on in. I do not know if it will get OTA updates or not.
If not I understand I may need to manual update them, but going to oneplus support site for firmwares and stuff there is nothing for the 10 pro.
Can anyone give me some advice on this please.
Also I understand that the T Mobile is IP67 but I undestand that the "others" are same but because the payment for the certification is not stated but the units are the same. I will never go blind to "check" if that is true but any support on that will be very much appreciated.
Thanks in advance
Hilario_Castillo_Chavarri said:
Hi I just bought a 512 10 pro dual sim unit, I am 100% new oneplus owner.
I am wainting on the parcel, the unit suposed to be a CN unit with global rom on in. I do not know if it will get OTA updates or not.
If not I understand I may need to manual update them, but going to oneplus support site for firmwares and stuff there is nothing for the 10 pro.
Can anyone give me some advice on this please.
Also I understand that the T Mobile is IP67 but I undestand that the "others" are same but because the payment for the certification is not stated but the units are the same. I will never go blind to "check" if that is true but any support on that will be very much appreciated.
Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check out my root thread if you want to root your device... also has info on unlocking the bootloader.
I would recommend using oxygen updater, it's an app from the play store that provides up to date firmwares, I'd say to turn on full updates always. Never install partial updates (incremental) if full firmwares are available.
Also what is your variant? I saw 512 but that's not a model number. It'll be 2213 or 2210 or something
dladz said:
Check out my root thread if you want to root your device... also has info on unlocking the bootloader.
I would recommend using oxygen updater, it's an app from the play store that provides up to date firmwares, I'd say to turn on full updates always. Never install partial updates (incremental) if full firmwares are available.
Also what is your variant? I saw 512 but that's not a model number. It'll be 2213 or 2210 or something
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thans for your kind reply, were do I look for the model number?
Is white one 512 gb dual sim
Hilario_Castillo_Chavarri said:
Thans for your kind reply, were do I look for the model number?
Is white one 512 gb dual sim
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah sorry 512GB wasn't thinking.
Your model is under settings/about device.
He has 2210 with either 2213 or 2215 rom
g96818 said:
He has 2210 with either 2213 or 2215 rom
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Before providing any advice it'd be better to check first...
dladz said:
Before providing any advice it'd be better to check first...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's no question that he has 2210 with either 2213 or 2215 rom. I didn't provide any advice and I'm not going to since he has a botched phone/rom combo.
g96818 said:
There's no question that he has 2210 with either 2213 or 2215 rom. I didn't provide any advice and I'm not going to since he has a botched phone/rom combo.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then why are you commenting on this thread? (Rhetorical) I wouldn't take your word for it only theirs.. If you're not going to help them then please refrain from posting in this thread, you're not helping buddy.
I have this exact same model, bough in French shop and using it in Europe. It was I think a grey import, model sticker is 2210 and it came with Chinese only doc, but ROM (found in about) is 2215. Came with oxygen os 12 (first boot was tricky because battery was empty, charge was slow and it finally booted in the bootloader, so I was a little worried... But after a full data wipe I rebooted in oxygenos12, got normal setup with all European languages and charge at 80w. Got a normal Ota to oxygenos13 since (all the way to c26, I think it went throug two or 3 intermediate versions), no problem in the end, I didn't even had to install oxygenupdater. Phone is not rooted and look like stock, as far as I can tell. Only issue I see is that it's wifi is a little bit temperamental, I need to stop/start it when I see connection troubles... Not sure it's the phone or my router, cause it happen only at home, not in the office...maybe it's because I have both 2.4 and 5ghz on the sale ssid at home...
AFAIK this is a special version (nickname fat panda/fat dabai) which is why it's Chinese only, but being the only 512GB version I guess there is a quite a lot of imports. So grey market, but there are good chance the internationalisation is done quite well.
I am happy with my 2210->2215 ROM, at least for now, but I did not attempt any rooting or ROM customisation yet. Not sure I will, as custom scene is very quiet to say the least, regardless if your phone is Grey market or completely stock with unambiguous region lock...
Not really blaming oneplus, it's now the norm for Android with very few exceptions (pixels, nothing... And old models).
Just sad oneplus used to be one of these few exceptions...
sorry for the delay the model is NE2215
Hilario_Castillo_Chavarri said:
sorry for the delay the model is NE2215
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your model is a china model with na rom on it
ChrisFeiveel84 said:
Your model is a china model with na rom on it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
2215 is NA/Global rom iirc, not North America only. I think most Grey import 512GB models will have this rom. Mine have at least, they did not install 2213 even if it was imported in France...
So far is working fine, since this is my first oneplus I do not have any other to compare.
The only "issue" is that when connecting to car unit for android auto use, the usb option list apear 2 tines so quick that I can not select the android auto option and it is only in charge mode, this was the thing that made me go for the 10 instead the 11, but now I am looking for a possible solution

Question S21 Ultra SC-52B Questions

So, I have an S21 Ultra running Android 13/OneUI 5.0, it is an international model from Japan known as the SC-52B (I think also may be referred to as SM-G998D?). The reseller on eBay listed it as "unknown carrier" but I did not expect it to come as a non-US variant, though everything does seem to work except 5G due to the correct bands being disabled. I can't find much info on SC-52B online, I know it has the Snapdragon 888 but no idea if it's any different to flash/program, or if I am just not doing what I need to do.
First, I was trying to flash USA U1 (stock) firmware to remove the bloatware but no luck, Odin gave me a "re-partition" error and some google results said this could be due to incompatible firmware. Sammobile does have firmware matching this model but they are all Android 12 and have the same carrier software I have now (Docomo). I assume I am probably out of luck on this conversion, I did read some info on changing CSC first but not sure if this will actually fix it.
Second, I am trying to unlock the correct bands for 5G operation on Verizon, and I found that Samsung Toolkit can do this as well as some ADB commands. From my understanding, this works on UI 5.0 but not 5.1 due to a patch from Samsung. I have 5.0, but I am getting the same issues as those with 5.1, and going via ADB does not bring up the hidden Service Menu either.
Lastly, is there any way to change the boot logo without root? I just want the normal Galaxy boot logo instead of this "DOCOMO" one, which I do understand would be achieved IF I could get the USA firmware loaded, I just don't want to brick it.
Just curious if anyone has any ideas or suggestions, or should I just trade this in on an S22/S23 Ultra? I only paid $300 and Samsung would offer $600 for trade-in, which is nice alternative but a $300 fully working S21U would be preferred. Seller does offer returns so I could also just look for an actual US S21U.

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