Database Develop

Find 'My Xperia' Utility

Hi Everyone ,
I'm new to this whole Sony Xperia thing being a new convert from the iPhone , so forgive me if this sounds a bit odd.
I've just enabled and activated the Find 'My Xperia' utility , that on the face of it is like iPhone's 'Find my phone' , the only difference and correct me if I'm wrong here , whats to stop me turning it off in the settings (assuming i have no pin on the keypad - ok so i'd deserve it if that was the case). But it also seems easy enough to reflash my 'lost' phone with a virgin stock firmware and then thats the find my xperia utility disabled , as it needs to be active on the phone as well as online. IOS stops you doing this by locking the phones repair and activation unless you unlock it with your iTunes account.?
Does this seem a bit of a half hearted effort or am i missing something?
Thanks guys.
Sixx

I can and have pushed updates to my iPhone when I was playing with that and had the phone locked. Could have been a fluke but still should have never happened. I have also flashed ios firmwares that were no longer signed without SHSH blobs including betas without being a dev.
IMHO, lock your phone and see what it does. I do not use those apps because the iPhone one was wasted on me and if my phone is not in my hands or pocket we probably have larger issues.
You may need to log in with your PSN ID to unlock the device. This would be similar to using an Apple ID to unlock the device.

My Xperia Utility
Hi there,
Thanks for the reply , I tried it out by registering and locking my handle remotely , and as I guessed reflashing with a stock ROM wiped any trace of it and I was unable to trace it.
I'm assuming it's this way as the handset does not need to talk to an authentication server like the iPhone's do prior to activation.
Was interesting to do though.... Bored now.
Sixx

Yeah, My Xperia and similar solutions are useful, but if a determined and/or technically clued up person steals your device then you almost certainly aren't going to be able to retrieve it that way. They're more of a deterrent to the opportunistic thief than anything.
I have Cerberus and have it set to email me images via the front camera on incorrect unlock attempts. My phone also automatically switches over to a secure lockscreen when away from my home wifi. The power menu also don't display in the lockscreen, so makes it difficult for someone not in the know to power off my phone.
If my phone goes missing for more than an hour and I receive any notification of incorrect unlock attempts, then it's being wiped remotely and a message to call my other line is displayed to return the device. If that fails, then a phone call to my provider to get the phone totally blocked is the next step.
Sent from my C6603

Found a Lumia 635 (rm-975 model) on street NEED PASSCODE HELP TO RETURN TO OWNER

hello ALL!
i am an AVID android user, and have been using xda for YEARS, even contributed many things to this site, in way of help, mods, and other things, never built roms but worked closely as a tester with some big developers.
recently while riding my bike home from work, i saw a phone scattered in pieces down the street. i picked up all pieces and put back together when i got home, and surprisingly it turned on with no issue, didn't even need to charge battery.
so now, i cannot access it because it has a pin passcode(ive tried all your "run of the mill ones" Plus after a few guesses and then battery dying, , it is NOW telling me I HAVE to WAIT 2680 MINUTES until next attempt....seriously?!?! 2680 MINUTES?!?! THATS NEARLY TWO DAYS!!!!!!
anyways
i need someones help here, i am TRYING to return this device to it's owner, but without a valid passcode to enter, i cannot get into their contacts and try to call anyone they might know in order to return the device.
so if ANYONE knows of a toolkit, or command line thing i can do/use in order to remove/change this pin lock, i would be very grateful.
i DONT want to wipe the device and end up without ANY info on the owner or even anything that might help me return it.
ANY IDEAS ???
I HAD SEEN MENTION OF WINDOWS PHONE RECOVERY KIT
would THAT be useful in this situation?
or basically am i stuck with resetting the phone and HOPING something is left on sdcard that will have info as to the owner of device???

ashclepdia said:
hello ALL!
i am an AVID android user, and have been using xda for YEARS, even contributed many things to this site, in way of help, mods, and other things, never built roms but worked closely as a tester with some big developers.
recently while riding my bike home from work, i saw a phone scattered in pieces down the street. i picked up all pieces and put back together when i got home, and surprisingly it turned on with no issue, didn't even need to charge battery.
so now, i cannot access it because it has a pin passcode(ive tried all your "run of the mill ones" Plus after a few guesses and then battery dying, , it is NOW telling me I HAVE to WAIT 2680 MINUTES until next attempt....seriously?!?! 2680 MINUTES?!?! THATS NEARLY TWO DAYS!!!!!!
anyways
i need someones help here, i am TRYING to return this device to it's owner, but without a valid passcode to enter, i cannot get into their contacts and try to call anyone they might know in order to return the device.
so if ANYONE knows of a toolkit, or command line thing i can do/use in order to remove/change this pin lock, i would be very grateful.
i DONT want to wipe the device and end up without ANY info on the owner or even anything that might help me return it.
ANY IDEAS ???
I HAD SEEN MENTION OF WINDOWS PHONE RECOVERY KIT
would THAT be useful in this situation?
or basically am i stuck with resetting the phone and HOPING something is left on sdcard that will have info as to the owner of device???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could try to put the SIM in an other phone, he might have contacts stored on his SIM.
Also same thing with the SD Card but doubt there'll be anything helpful in there.
On WP unfortunately there is no way to remove the lock without doing a hard reset which will wipe everything except the SD Card and contacts on the SIM so it's the same as inserting the SD and SIM in an other phone, better not hard reset it so the owner doesn't loose all he has on there.

I like how you use the word "unfortunately" about there being no way to bypass the one crucial security feature of the phone... The lock screen is there for a reason! If you'd tried messing with my phone that way, it would already have wiped itself.
To the OP, leave it powered on and connected to the Internet, and the owner will be able to find it eventually. The "my Windows Phone" (or whatever it's called now) website allows the owner to get the phone's GPS location, and also to display a message (such as "please email me at <this address> if you found my phone!") on the screen. If they never come for it, then... free phone, I guess? I'm not usually a fan of "finders keepers" but there's no excuse for a WP owner not even trying the existing tools to get the phone back, if they want it back at all.
If you really want to go above and beyond the call of duty, I suppose you could check the SIM from the phone and see what carrier it's for, then call the carrier and see if they have any way to get in touch with the phone's owner...

This has likely long been resolved, but here's what I would do.
Take the SIM, put it in another phone. Check "about" to see what the phone number is. Call that number.
If you get an answer, there's your missing phone's owner with a new phone and SIM card. Let them know you found their phone. No answer, leave voicemail.

PepperdotNet said:
This has likely long been resolved, but here's what I would do.
Take the SIM, put it in another phone. Check "about" to see what the phone number is. Call that number.
If you get an answer, there's your missing phone's owner with a new phone and SIM card. Let them know you found their phone. No answer, leave voicemail.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes you are correct, has been resolved, good tip though thank you, found owner and was told to keep device, they had gotten new one, they don't know how it ended up on side of street, but I ended up giving to someone I had worked with who was in need of an at&t device.
Thank you, and all others, for all assistance.
Ended up that the owner actually knew someone that I was working with at the time, small world huh, funny how it all worked out, was just happy to help everyone out in the end. Was just a funny circle of events that led to the device getting to who has it now.

"Security Error"

So, my mother-in-law's G920T that she's been using for 1yr+ one day decided it was going to lose it's mind and start giving her the "Security Error, Phone has been flashed with unauthorized software and is locked" message.
She finally gave up and replaced it, so I asked her if I could take it away and try to revive it. The phone had never been flashed/rooted/attempted unlocked and has only been used on T-Mobile.
First thing I did was a factory default through the phone itself (which of course did nothing) - on further digging, I discovered the IMEI had been reset to 350000000000006. I tried re-flashing through SmartSwitch, Odin, backup/restore of EFS (after finally giving in and rooting), etc etc etc.
Nothing I've tried has seemed to help... At this point I'd just like a functioning device that I can hang onto as a spare - I've already tripped the Knox counter so I know Samsung Pay/etc. is useless and I guess I can always flash a 3rd party ROM (I haven't researched what is available, will take recommendations) to get rid of the Security Error (unless fixing the IMEI will get rid of that).
Any suggestions on how I can revive the IMEI on this thing? I'm not going to send it off for repair/pay to fix it, if I can't get it working I'll either keep it as a "dumb" device with no cell service or will throw it in the bin.
Thanks in advance.

For what it's worth, the correct IMEI does show when booting to Download mode and hitting the Home button (serial number/IMEI are correct/match the back cover), my baseband does show a version in "About phone" and I do get a signal strength in the menu bar, I just have a bogus IMEI.

Same problem. I have a perfectly good Galaxy s6. But after going overseas, it decides that it has unauthorized software and is now locked. I didn't even change the SIM card while overseas. I have T Mobile, which gives me 2G speeds in lots of countries. No idea what to do now.

I ended up finding someone to remotely reprogram the IMEI. It does not match the one on the device itself but has worked fine now for a long time. I don’t remember who I used to do this - sorry I couldn’t be more help. It was cheap (maybe $20 USD or less to get done) and quick.

Received Rooted Phone...Please help! sm-n900a ATT

My garbage HTC went out on me and someone gave me a like new Galaxy Note 3. I discovered it's rooted...The person who gave it to me bought it from someone so she doesn't know anything about it. I have no idea how to utilize the root...it has King Superuser on it and I downloaded TWRP because of some research I did...but honestly I don't know how to even begin taking advantage of a rooted phone. There are two things I'd like to do: upgrade from 4.2 to at least 7 AND bypass ATT's bs tethering block. Can anyone please guide me through this step by step considering I'm a layman regarding such things? A reliable source for ROMs and how to flash? I'm guessing I don't have all the apps needed to achieve my desired OS upgrade. I greatly appreciate anyone's time on this. Thank you.

Sorry to be the bearer of sad tidings, but you ain't gonna get there. Go back and do some basic research and you'll find that the Note 3 is very restricted concerning what you can do because of a feature called a locked bootloader. The best you're going to be able to do is load Lollipop, such as AllianceROM Ver. 12. Read, then reread this: https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2778933 . If you see that if you already have TWRP installed the procedure is rather simple. First, insert a SDHC card in your PC and format it. Then download the SafeStrap files for the ROM onto the root of that SDHC card. Another file you might need is the NC2 firmware (in case you want to revert at a later date. Now, shut down the power to the Note 3 and remove the battery. Reinsert the battery and boot into Recovery. Then do a complete backup onto the SDHC card. Next, do a complete factory reset and wipe. Now you're ready to go back to TWRP main menu and install the ROM file in the STOCK ROM sector. When the install completes reboot the Note 3 and let it run. You will have to enter all your configuration info (name, wifi config, account info, etc.). If you have any problems go back and re-read the instructions. Also, you can try different ROM files, the instructions are generally pretty similar. If you want pure AT&T ROM install the stock OC1 ROM files. Check back and let me know how it worked out for you.

I am sort of in the same boat, I just got a brand new out of the box Note 9 from Sprint, and saw in the hidtory log on the recovery menu that my "core" was swapped (? I think that is what was stated , and it said DEBUG so and so RETURN TO VENDOR IMMEDIATELY. My husband claims by disabling the bloatware it caused that. This is the 5th time it has happen since November. 2 with my Note8, twice with the temp prepaid phone, and now with my new Note9. The recovery screen to my galaxy's always read, no address, no device privapp_ATT . Again my husband said I must have "f-ed" up the phone once again. And XDA just brought up that my device is an AT&T Samsung Galaxy Note3. I know I did not do it, I am too scared to run anything that an possibly damage my phone... I just want to get my phone back to a Note9, and to find a way to keep my husband from changing it. ( I highly suspect he is into developing and made himself admin of the phones as well as our Google accounts). Is there anything I can possibly do??

Commercial Repair Service
easytarget182 said:
I am sort of in the same boat, I just got a brand new out of the box Note 9 from Sprint, and saw in the hidtory log on the recovery menu that my "core" was swapped (? I think that is what was stated , and it said DEBUG so and so RETURN TO VENDOR IMMEDIATELY. My husband claims by disabling the bloatware it caused that. This is the 5th time it has happen since November. 2 with my Note8, twice with the temp prepaid phone, and now with my new Note9. The recovery screen to my galaxy's always read, no address, no device privapp_ATT . Again my husband said I must have "f-ed" up the phone once again. And XDA just brought up that my device is an AT&T Samsung Galaxy Note3. I know I did not do it, I am too scared to run anything that an possibly damage my phone... I just want to get my phone back to a Note9, and to find a way to keep my husband from changing it. ( I highly suspect he is into developing and made himself admin of the phones as well as our Google accounts). Is there anything I can possibly do??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well... You seem rather confused about what your situation actually might be. Is the actual, physical device a Samsung Model SM-N900A (Note3 AT&T version) or a Note9?
If it is a Note9, try leaving a question in the Sprint Note9 forum.
If it is a Note3 go back to the main page and start reading up on how to reload the operating system.
Other than that, my suggestion would be to first, take the device back to where you bought it and find out in plain language what the core problem is. Second, ask is the device still under warranty and eligible for free or discounted repair. If the answer is yes, have the repairs made on the spot. If the answer is no, then Google a commercial repair center in your area and give them a call with the information you then have. Chances are they device is hosed as far as warranty, but you don't know until you ask.
Third thing is to lock down your device and do not relinquish the password to ANYONE.
Good luck.

Unlock/Bypass lock pattern and/or backup data

Hi Guys,
I tried to follow this guide: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...ing-android-password-pattern-face-pi.2620456/ without luck, I'm not able to make adb pickup my mom's phone (I tried with mine and its working after enabling USB debugger). Do you guys know a way for me to bypass/unlock the phone or at least be able to retrieve the photos and videos?
Phone: SM-G780G
Story: My mom was changing the pattern password and she got a call in the middle of doing that (not sure how 100% correct this info is...) she said that after the call she didn't get any prompt and totally forgot that she was changing the password. She was able to still use the phone with the fingerprint sensor, but now the phone is only asking for the pattern and the one she used to use does not work, I already tried using the "new one" and cut it before to see if somehow it got registered, but I do not have such luck. Does anybody know how can I do this? We just want to retrieve the photos and videos, we don't care if we need to wipe everything afterward.
Thanks!

{Mod edit: Quoted post has been deleted}
Photos are on Phone or External Memory? I use External for this reason.
- Internal :/
Was Mom's phone set to "Developer" ?
- I don't believe so.
Can you get to Fast Boot/Boot Loader Screen? (Guides are on XDA)
- Is this the same as download mode? If yes, then yes.
Can You get to Recovery Screen? (Guides are on XDA)
- Yes
ADB can read Phone Partitions. You may have to Dump full partitions but photos will be in the mix.
- That would work. The 10/10 solution would be to remove/bypass the lock so she doesn't have to redownload everything and configure the phone again, but I'm happy only having the photos/videos

Feducu said:
Hi Guys,
I tried to follow this guide: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...ing-android-password-pattern-face-pi.2620456/ without luck, I'm not able to make adb pickup my mom's phone (I tried with mine and its working after enabling USB debugger). Do you guys know a way for me to bypass/unlock the phone or at least be able to retrieve the photos and videos?
Phone: SM-G780G
Story: My mom was changing the pattern password and she got a call in the middle of doing that (not sure how 100% correct this info is...) she said that after the call she didn't get any prompt and totally forgot that she was changing the password. She was able to still use the phone with the fingerprint sensor, but now the phone is only asking for the pattern and the one she used to use does not work, I already tried using the "new one" and cut it before to see if somehow it got registered, but I do not have such luck. Does anybody know how can I do this? We just want to retrieve the photos and videos, we don't care if we need to wipe everything afterward.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can't do it without root and/or custom recovery, neither of which are possible on a password locked device, unless you already did that before it got locked

{Mod edit: Quoted post has been deleted}
So, you don't know...
Why being so cryptic dude, phones are not my expertise...

use "find my mobile" samsung's website