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I am coming from my last few phones being Samsung models , the Galaxy Nexus, Note 2 and 3, and the S4. The last Motorola phone I had was a Droid Razr. I left Moto because the hardware specks started to decline, no sd-slot, no removable battery, less desirable construction. I came back due to Samsung's questionable antenna and radio package. I never really had good strong signal with Samsung though. So, Motorola finally comes out with a beast of a phone in the specs catagory, although still no sd or battery pull but my signal is amazing, reception just about everywhere. So I'm confused why is there no development for the US Verizon Turbo? To me it seems like a no brainer.
That one is easy to answer... Until a vulnerability is found and exploited and root is achieved there is no platform to develop on. That doesn't mean that there isn't anyone working on it, just that not much is going to happen until root is achieved.
Then how do we get some of the heavy hitting android minds on this thing? It really is the best specimen out there currently.
PerCompLLC said:
That one is easy to answer... Until a vulnerability is found and exploited and root is achieved there is no platform to develop on. That doesn't mean that there isn't anyone working on it, just that not much is going to happen until root is achieved.
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I'm sorry, maybe I'm being a newbie here, but I never understood the software difference between Droid Turbo and Moto Maxx that makes the last rootable and the first not. Is it just the bootloader?
You can unlock the Moto Maxx bootloader. You cannot unlock the Turbo's. Plain and simple.
DarkLey said:
I'm sorry, maybe I'm being a newbie here, but I never understood the software difference between Droid Turbo and Moto Maxx that makes the last rootable and the first not. Is it just the bootloader?
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Two words. Unlockable bootloader.
DarkLey said:
I'm sorry, maybe I'm being a newbie here, but I never understood the software difference between Droid Turbo and Moto Maxx that makes the last rootable and the first not. Is it just the bootloader?
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All bootloaders can be unlocked by the manufacturer. But in the case of the Verizon variant (Droid Turbo) Verizon has asked/told Motorola to keep the bootloader locked. Ergo the need for a vulnerability - and someone who knows how to exploit it.
Everything I've been reading indicates that root for the Turbo is a long shot, since the folks that do that stuff really don't want to spend the efforts on a phone that's strictly on only one carryier, Verizon in this case.
this_is_nascar said:
Everything I've been reading indicates that root for the Turbo is a long shot, since the folks that do that stuff really don't want to spend the efforts on a phone that's strictly on only one carryier, Verizon in this case.
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Don't blame it on that. The Thunderbolt was exclusive and had root before it even was officially released.
It more boils down to that those who can do it have day jobs and probably don't have the phone nor care to have it.
adrynalyne said:
Don't blame it on that. The Thunderbolt was exclusive and had root before it even was officially released.
It more boils down to that those who can do it have day jobs and probably don't have the phone nor care to have it.
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Like I said, I really don't know. I'm just repeating what I've said, however I can understand your point as well.
Are there any recognized developers that even have the phone? I know its a bad idea to purchase devices and "loan" them to developers, but I feel like we should donate a few. Something like the bounty for root, but the money funds devices ahead of time. Find a few devs that would be interested and give them the device. It would have to be no strings attached though, if the Dev had no success people couldn't demand their money back. You would know ahead of time that you were donating for the chance at root, not a guarantee. Probably would just end up being an ordeal, but we really need capable devs with the device to take a look. I feel like at this point were just waiting for another moto device to get rooted that happens to work for us.
No root, no recovery, but moto maxx its same device basic "quark" have root and recovery too, but no roms or kernel, the real problem is device dont sell in all countrys, so no devs until now.
georgiadog3 said:
I am coming from my last few phones being Samsung models , the Galaxy Nexus, Note 2 and 3, and the S4. The last Motorola phone I had was a Droid Razr. I left Moto because the hardware specks started to decline, no sd-slot, no removable battery, less desirable construction. I came back due to Samsung's questionable antenna and radio package. I never really had good strong signal with Samsung though. So, Motorola finally comes out with a beast of a phone in the specs catagory, although still no sd or battery pull but my signal is amazing, reception just about everywhere. So I'm confused why is there no development for the US Verizon Turbo? To me it seems like a no brainer.
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I know this thread isnt about sd card slot, but why not go and use a otg usb sd mount stick? Its like having a sd card.
I am guessing that since Verizon is furnishing mobile and internet to some major corporations, the corporate environment wants to have phones secure. Hence that is why they want the bootloader locked as to appeal to the major companies and sell more phones. That was the reason it was when I worked for a major company.
web_ninja said:
I am guessing that since Verizon is furnishing mobile and internet to some major corporations, the corporate environment wants to have phones secure. Hence that is why they want the bootloader locked as to appeal to the major companies and sell more phones. That was the reason it was when I worked for a major company.
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That is not the reason. All carriers have deals like that and not all of them are locking bootloaders.
Verizon is doing it for warranty, support, and insurance reasons.
adrynalyne said:
That is not the reason. All carriers have deals like that and not all of them are locking bootloaders.
Verizon is doing it for warranty, support, and insurance reasons.
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I am making the switch to tmobile at the end of the day today because verizon straight out is trying to over charge for stuff on the bill that shouldnt be there. No one on my account has ever used the visual voicemail paid version nor gone over usage and my fiancees line is said to be 600 dollars or more a month. Not happening. I called tmobile and talked to them for a bit, and explained to her about the bill she gave me the best deal plus with unlimited data for 70 a month. Bringing over my nexus 6. After that was all done I just randomly asked questions about locked bootloaders and root, and the lady spoken clear as day is we are not verizon or att. We support the development community (root and unlocked bootloaders), and that all devices are unlockable in that sense. Tmobile is a go to company for me. Yes some of the service is spotty but still its well worth it for having to deal with verizon since 1998. She even brought up that she is currently using an s5 with cyanogenmod. They actually allow their employees to do that stuff to their work phones as long as they know how to return to stock. Verizon you have been ok in the past but i am out.
Have a good day guys. Happy flashing
the_rooter said:
I am making the switch to tmobile at the end of the day today because verizon straight out is trying to over charge for stuff on the bill that shouldnt be there. No one on my account has ever used the visual voicemail paid version nor gone over usage and my fiancees line is said to be 600 dollars or more a month. Not happening. I called tmobile and talked to them for a bit, and explained to her about the bill she gave me the best deal plus with unlimited data for 70 a month. Bringing over my nexus 6. After that was all done I just randomly asked questions about locked bootloaders and root, and the lady spoken clear as day is we are not verizon or att. We support the development community (root and unlocked bootloaders), and that all devices are unlockable in that sense. Tmobile is a go to company for me. Yes some of the service is spotty but still its well worth it for having to deal with verizon since 1998. She even brought up that she is currently using an s5 with cyanogenmod. They actually allow their employees to do that stuff to their work phones as long as they know how to return to stock. Verizon you have been ok in the past but i am out.
Have a good day guys. Happy flashing
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I tried T-Mobile a couple of months ago for exactly the reasons you described. I wanted to stay with them so badly but I just couldn't deal the spotty coverage. Ended up back with Verizon. Hopefully you have better luck!
the_rooter said:
I am making the switch to tmobile at the end of the day today because verizon straight out is trying to over charge for stuff on the bill that shouldnt be there. No one on my account has ever used the visual voicemail paid version nor gone over usage and my fiancees line is said to be 600 dollars or more a month. Not happening. I called tmobile and talked to them for a bit, and explained to her about the bill she gave me the best deal plus with unlimited data for 70 a month. Bringing over my nexus 6. After that was all done I just randomly asked questions about locked bootloaders and root, and the lady spoken clear as day is we are not verizon or att. We support the development community (root and unlocked bootloaders), and that all devices are unlockable in that sense. Tmobile is a go to company for me. Yes some of the service is spotty but still its well worth it for having to deal with verizon since 1998. She even brought up that she is currently using an s5 with cyanogenmod. They actually allow their employees to do that stuff to their work phones as long as they know how to return to stock. Verizon you have been ok in the past but i am out.
Have a good day guys. Happy flashing
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As far as T-Mobile is concerned I hope you live in a better coverage area than I. Typically if you only stick to cities then your good but if your on the out skirts or in rural areas your screwed on signal. Even though the coverage map said to be strong network coverage where I lived it just wasn't so.
I happened to purchase this phone expecting the development to be near non existent. I was wanting to see if I could use a phone that was non-rooted and bootloader locked for a period of time as I have never done this before in all the years I have used smart phones.
good luck with T-Mobile though.. love what they are doing just hated the service coverage areas.....
bkeaver said:
As far as T-Mobile is concerned I hope you live in a better coverage area than I. Typically if you only stick to cities then your good but if your on the out skirts or in rural areas your screwed on signal. Even though the coverage map said to be strong network coverage where I lived it just wasn't so.
I happened to purchase this phone expecting the development to be near non existent. I was wanting to see if I could use a phone that was non-rooted and bootloader locked for a period of time as I have never done this before in all the years I have used smart phones.
good luck with T-Mobile though.. love what they are doing just hated the service coverage areas.....
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Don't switch trust me, I just switched from managing T-maybe to managing Verizon I switched all my lines and have never been happier with the choice. T-Mobile even in a metro area constantly drops calls.
kwyrt said:
I tried T-Mobile a couple of months ago for exactly the reasons you described. I wanted to stay with them so badly but I just couldn't deal the spotty coverage. Ended up back with Verizon. Hopefully you have better luck!
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I switched as well a few months ago and the coverage was so spotty I had to switch back. Good luck though.
You'll have to forgive me, I'm a bit new to the Android rooting/hacking game. I have rooted several phones in the past but never tried to switch carriers before. Anyhow, I switched to VM years ago and have really good luck with them. It's come time to upgrade my personal device and I've decided on the S5 mini. The problem is I keep hearing completely different things from "all you would need to do is re-rom and have a VM SIM" to "It can't be done bc the device doesn't have the right hardware". So which is it? Has anybody gotten an S5 mini to work on VM? If not, what carriers are my choices?
Update: forgot to specify, I am in USA so the VM carrier in question would be VM USA. Or suggestions as to what carriers I could use with this phone are welcomed
Anyone?
bump for answers
will work for answers
Virgin Media UK? Or... ?
oops nope sorry VM USA
My understanding of Virgin Mobile USA is that you can only use a phone sold to you by them. A ROM change wouldn't work, and a SIM wouldn't cut it either.
You may be able to call and have them allow the device onto the network, but there's no guarantees.
Certain other workarounds are prohibited by federal law.
In my opinion, the S5 Mini is not an amazing phone. Official updates have been slow, and unofficial are still a work in progress. The phone has suited me fine, but I wouldn't get excited about acquiring one at this stage in its life. You might be better looking elsewhere.
As for alternate carriers, I'm not familiar with USA carriers enough to advise.
Good luck!
ok please dont give me any **** cuz ive been a apple dude since the beginning of time and now ive made the leap to android. that being said ive had the worst time so far between familiarizing myself with it and navigating any of it. the worst worst part......i did computer stuff for the military and i cant even figure out why my phone opens straight to contacts every time instead of the dialer......
alright the real problem.....i have boost mobile. its a sprint sim. i had a stylo 4 that just detroyed my life. i drive for uber and lyft and the amount of time that it took to change between the apps and for gps to catch up ive lost so much money. it was 8 days later after i switched companies that i was fed up well that 8th day meant no changing outta that phone and nothing they would do to help me. fast forward ive spent my entire 1st month in store and online troubleshooting and being told my phone sucked basically. now today.......the instore reps said you need to just get an unlocked phone and i was like well a note 9 looks aweome and they are all heck yea thats perfect on the network.........well it wont activate and the customer service said its not on the list......a quick google search reveals this phone is in fact not on the list currently but was and is used on the network by many.......i have the interational version SM-N960F/DS AND its brand new i just got it i need help i just honestly dont know what to do.
ComicDude said:
ok please dont give me any **** cuz ive been a apple dude since the beginning of time and now ive made the leap to android. that being said ive had the worst time so far between familiarizing myself with it and navigating any of it. the worst worst part......i did computer stuff for the military and i cant even figure out why my phone opens straight to contacts every time instead of the dialer......
alright the real problem.....i have boost mobile. its a sprint sim. i had a stylo 4 that just detroyed my life. i drive for uber and lyft and the amount of time that it took to change between the apps and for gps to catch up ive lost so much money. it was 8 days later after i switched companies that i was fed up well that 8th day meant no changing outta that phone and nothing they would do to help me. fast forward ive spent my entire 1st month in store and online troubleshooting and being told my phone sucked basically. now today.......the instore reps said you need to just get an unlocked phone and i was like well a note 9 looks aweome and they are all heck yea thats perfect on the network.........well it wont activate and the customer service said its not on the list......a quick google search reveals this phone is in fact not on the list currently but was and is used on the network by many.......i have the interational version SM-N960F/DS AND its brand new i just got it i need help i just honestly dont know what to do.
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well the 1 st part of ure message is just inexperience. just use and learn as you go. i mean no one can teach you what you will understand on your own just by trial and error. of course you can always search and read the internets..
the 2nd par is also inexperience. just check what the carrier's mobile technology is using (is it GSM or CDMA? very easy to search for) and AFTER you should have bought a device compatible. now in order to identify for sure why the device dosent work on X carrier. you need to tell us what acctualy that X carrier is. also what is your defenition of not working? do you get a particular message when you insert the sim of that X carrier? or is there just no signal?
anyways once we know what carrier it is and the particulars of the issue, you might end up simply switching to an other carrier that supports GSM( because i suspect that is the issue at hand, your carrier might be CDMA but your device requires a GSM carrier).
I'm going to assume you're from the US. I checked the Sprint LTE bands which are, 25, 26 and 41. The SM-N960F (International phone) supports 25 and 26 link and the SM-N960U (US phone) supports 25, 26 and 41 link. So the fact you're missing band 41 is probably going to be your issue.
Greetings. I'm looking to confirm if I should go with a 405QA7 or if 405UA will do. (Or...?)
My requirements:
- Phone needs to work on VZW for now (don't need WiFi calling or anything exotic);
- Maybe on T-Mobile later. It's a serious possibility.
- MUST be bootloader-unlockable and/or (at least) rootable.
- Might need to downgrade one I buy from 10 to Pie (or lower), understanding ofc that ARB is always a potential issue. (I'm familiar with LG V30, assume V40 is much the same.) I always ask sellers what Android version is on a particular phone; 9 out of 10 tell me they don't know, even on unboxed/used phones.
One reason I'm asking is because I see lots of 405UAs for sale, advertised as "unlocked! will work on everything but Sprint!" or whatever. Yes or no? Not nearly as many QA7s available, especially not "New In Box".
Any clarification will be greatly appreciated. T.I.A.
Moondroid said:
Greetings. I'm looking to confirm if I should go with a 405QA7 or if 405UA will do. (Or...?)
My requirements:
- Phone needs to work on VZW for now (don't need WiFi calling or anything exotic);
- Maybe on T-Mobile later. It's a serious possibility.
- MUST be bootloader-unlockable and/or (at least) rootable.
- Might need to downgrade one I buy from 10 to Pie (or lower), understanding ofc that ARB is always a potential issue. (I'm familiar with LG V30, assume V40 is much the same.) I always ask sellers what Android version is on a particular phone; 9 out of 10 tell me they don't know, even on unboxed/used phones.
One reason I'm asking is because I see lots of 405UAs for sale, advertised as "unlocked! will work on everything but Sprint!" or whatever. Yes or no? Not nearly as many QA7s available, especially not "New In Box".
Any clarification will be greatly appreciated. T.I.A.
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I guess for me it's fun to try to figure out what makes you think, or assume what, to ask this question.
So, the QA is the us open version. It's not tied to any carrier (no chance of it being locked to a carrier then, obviously).
The UA is the version that Sprint, at&t, Vzw (maybe more) use. They would certainly have a chance of being carrier locked. But, if you buy one and it say's not carrier locked... then... what's the difference?
Well, sure, it could actually be carrier locked, but if it was advertised as not, and it is, send it back?
It gets a little more complicated when you want to use it with a specific carrier, such as vzw (or sprint or at&t etc), then, you have to check with them what phones they will allow on their network and what capabilities it will have (for instance, at&t allows other (than their) phones, but only allows their phones to have capabilities like vowifi (and I think) volte).
Assuming it's a necessity you stay with vzw (at least for awhile), and you need the additional capabilities only allowed to their specific phones (determined by imei), then get a vzw UA phone. Vzw does make their kdz available (where sprint and at&t don't - but that's only really relevant if u were on vzw, crossflashed to something else, and wanted to go back - keep in mind, just crossflashing to the kdz isn't enough for carrier extra features, it has to be their phone / imei).
But, to answer your question, QA? UA? why do u think that matters? in your situation?
cheers
Thanks for replying. First I want to reduce as much as possible the risk of having to send a phone back. As for ads, I see varying info especially for the UA, and I also know that quite a few sellers don't really know what they're selling. I've had my share of "wtf" transactions especially with phone buys, and I'm really tired of wasting time that way. The more I know about a particular model/variant up front, the better.
I simply don't want a branded phone, especially one filled with VZW (or any other) junk. Had my fill of those too. (I would not do custom ROM on this phone, so need relatively clean stock firmware.) I have tons of APN info for VZW and T-Mobile, can mod settings as I might need to... as long as the bands/etc are there. One thing I know from my V30 is that even crossflashing firmware is a relatively safe and sometimes even advisable thing to do. Like my carrier-unlocked US998 was actually born as a Sprint LS998 (or at least that's how it shows on imei-checker websites), but as it is, that means pretty much nothing to me.
There was one other question I probably should've included -- which variants have Android 10 OTAs out there, or not. If not for a particular variant (or brand), then I wouldn't have to worry about downgrading that variant.
Especially thanks for confirming that the QA is in fact the US wide-open version. Honestly, it seems to be getting harder and harder to find just simple statements of detail on various points, and even reading through XDA any more (I'm sorry to say) often has me turning in circles for hours and even days at a time, looking for simple, clearly and fully stated facts. But there are still (of course) a number of very expert (and willing) folks to assist and guide the rest us not-so-expert users (and players, and experimenters) in crunch times. XDA is still gold on that score. I've unlocked/rooted/ROM'd a big handful of phones and couldn't have done any of it, wouldn't have even known possibilties, without XDA.
Way too wordy I'm sure. I'll shut up now.
Cheers mate.
Moondroid said:
Thanks for replying. First I want to reduce as much as possible the risk of
<brevity>
Way too wordy I'm sure. I'll shut up now.
Cheers mate.
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oh no, that's fine, it helps to be able to answer the questions. It *sounds* like yer not really tied to any carrier, but trying to avoid hassle / bad experiences.
I'd suggest this, go with a UA version and crossflash it to one of the 'open' variants. The US Open kdz is only 9, but 10 will hopefully come out. I personally have an at&t ua crossflashed to Korean Open 10 (30e). But after copying over my OP partition (from US Open 9), it now behaves much like us open 10. It's of course bootloader unlocked and magisk, etc.
My mvno is mint mobile, and that allows for, with slight mods to the device, volte and vowifi.
Also, swappa is a good place to look for a device. Many sellers (volume, not individual) have them new or even better, open box. And their guarantee they are unlocked can't be beat. They have a reputation and the ability to sell on swappa to protect.
I still have a v30 with us998 on it doesn't get any use anymore though...
cheers
Yeah swappa! I've bought (and sold) a bunch of phones there. But no LGs to speak of lately. Actually I sold another V30 (US998) in, get this, less than an hour -- at my full asking price. It was the only one listed. But (duh) I didn't think to check there for a V40, will do that right after posting this.
Not on contract to anybody, nope, I'm free for whatever. I've been on Vz for 20+ years, family plan more or less, done just fine with them but if I can save $10-15/mo somewhere else... why not..... (I'm not a big data user, don't need unlimited, so that's one higher cost I don't worry about.)
I've seen a lot of refs for Mint lately. But I'll be getting fiber from Ting (mvno) soon and maybe could get a discount by going mobile with them too. If they can just settle the dust on their new pricing scheme.
So back to point: No real risk in going with a UA? And crossflash it. There are defo more UAs available. OTOH, I prefer not to deal with 10 at all, so no kdz for 10 would be ok with me.
Confession: One reason I needed to ask about this phone is cuz I'm purely burnt out from scouring XDA regarding 3 other phones in the past month. (Actually more, but 3 in exhaustive detail.) So I super-appreciate your willingness to help me out. You've saved me hours I'm sure.
Moondroid said:
Yeah swappa! I've bought (and sold) a bunch of phones there. But no LGs to speak of lately. Actually I sold another V30 (US998) in, get this, less than an hour -- at my full asking price. It was the only one listed. But (duh) I didn't think to check there for a V40, will do that right after posting this.
Not on contract to anybody, nope, I'm free for whatever. I've been on Vz for 20+ years, family plan more or less, done just fine with them but if I can save $10-15/mo somewhere else... why not..... (I'm not a big data user, don't need unlimited, so that's one higher cost I don't worry about.)
I've seen a lot of refs for Mint lately. But I'll be getting fiber from Ting (mvno) soon and maybe could get a discount by going mobile with them too. If they can just settle the dust on their new pricing scheme.
So back to point: No real risk in going with a UA? And crossflash it. There are defo more UAs available. OTOH, I prefer not to deal with 10 at all, so no kdz for 10 would be ok with me.
Confession: One reason I needed to ask about this phone is cuz I'm purely burnt out from scouring XDA regarding 3 other phones in the past month. (Actually more, but 3 in exhaustive detail.) So I super-appreciate your willingness to help me out. You've saved me hours I'm sure.
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hey no probs. Yeah basically, the UA is perfectly fine. The only caveat would be that if u want to be carrier specific, then it gets into have to use their specific phone for specific svcs etc.
You can crossflash any of them (except t-mo, don't buy t-mo). It seems the only ones that result in probs cross flashing are the ones (ebw) that have dual sim, and they sometimes lose one or both sims working. But US carriers don't have that variant, so no worries for us.
really the only thing to be aware of, with carriers moving to do away with 3G, you want to be sure that which phone u end with, what it's cross flashed to, and the carrier, will volte work? Because if that doesn't work, in the not to distant future u might not be able to make a call!
be aware though, if u buy at&t or sprint, they don't make their kdz available, so if u think u might want to go back to their OS, back it up first.
cheers
AsItLies said:
...
really the only thing to be aware of, with carriers moving to do away with 3G, you want to be sure that which phone u end with, what it's cross flashed to, and the carrier, will volte work? Because if that doesn't work, in the not to distant future u might not be able to make a call!
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Click to collapse
Yeah that always sits in the back of my mind these days. Checking around it looks like the V40 might be a little safer than the V30.
Oh and I already had a note that I had grabbed from somewhere, "NOT the t-mo variant" ... but didn't know about the ebw's, so thanks for that.
First I'll see if I can find a decent QA at a decent price. If not, then I'll grab a UA. Again mucho mega thanks, and have a great weekend!
Cheers and out.
Long time lurker, first time poster here. First of all, a massive THANK YOU to everyone here. You guys and gals are Awesome! <3
So, I bought a Samsung S10 (SM-G973F/DS) on Ebay recently and flashed it to Lineage OS 19.1. All was fine until I tried to activate it. We did everything...manually changing the ASP settings, and a bunch of other stuff to try and get this thing to connect to the mobile network. Even placed the SIM card in another phone just to confirm the SIM card was fine, which it was.
Long story short, I think the device was perhaps locked even though the seller claimed it was unlocked. Whatever, I'm over it. I flashed stock back on it and re-locked the boot loader, sent it back. Not worth the aggravation. However, I am questioning if there wasn't something else I could have done?
I was trying to activate the S10 on Mint Mobile USA (a T-Mobile reseller, so GSM) it should have been fine. The default language on the device was German. I don't think that should matter, but maybe it does? Do European phones have problems activating in North America?
My question is: If I decide to get another S10 (SM-G973F/DS) from the secondary market (if its even worth it at this point, since the SM-G973F/DS is really hard to find), is there anything I can find out from the seller first so I don't end up having to send it back?
Or, should I just give up my dream of having an S10 installed with Lineage OS and it's glorious headphone jack and expandable storage forever? If so, are there any worthy alternatives to the S10 worth considering, given my affinity for headphone jacks and expandable storage?
Hello PhonePerfection, all a novel why you speak S10 G973F / DS in the United States.
Already your model S10 G973F/DS exynos 5G or the first 4G model so if these this Europe chip model, if now installed Samsung phone info look at who is scoring at worst take screenshots.
I don't understand your question United States, locked unlocked the seller.
You buy in the back market refurbished and unlocked telephone all operator therefore for sim card, the concern these the chip to install network either US or ASIA controls your model if these good SM-G973F/DS and not SM-G973U or G973U1.
Don't forget to say hello
I think what @meric57 is trying to say is that your phone doesn't have the right chips to communicate on the frequencies in the USA. It's made for other markets and other frequencies... so it won't work here.
If you use FrequencyCheck you can see what carriers support what frequencies on your specific model: https://www.frequencycheck.com/comp...m-td-lte-512gb-samsung-beyond-1/united-states
Scroll down to the "United States" area and you'll see it doesn't support the frequencies used in the USA (except for GSM 2.5, which is old and dead here in the USA). The US is primarily on LTE... and you can see that phone model doesn't support ANY of the available frequencies.
Bottom line "GSM" doesn't tell you enough. You have an incomatible phone model for the USA market. No SIM card will fix that.
Note, in SOME cases, you can activate other frequencies by loading different ROMs into the phone. My old LG V30 did this, for example. I have heard that you can run some Exynos phones here in the USA, but I don't know the details to help. FrequencyCheck may help you figure that out. Be sure the look for the complete model number, not just "Galaxy S10" or something... the naming is worthless for figuring this out.
schwinn8 said:
I think what @meric57 is trying to say is that your phone doesn't have the right chips to communicate on the frequencies in the USA. It's made for other markets and other frequencies... so it won't work here.
If you use FrequencyCheck you can see what carriers support what frequencies on your specific model: https://www.frequencycheck.com/compsomethingatibility/RdEkS7k/samsung-sm-g973f-ds-galaxy-s10-global-dual-sim-td-lte-512gb-samsung-beyond-1/united-states
Scroll down to the "United States" area and you'll see it doesn't support the frequencies used in the USA (except for GSM 2.5, which is old and dead here in the USA). The US is primarily on LTE... and you can see that phone model doesn't support ANY of the available frequencies.
Bottom line "GSM" doesn't tell you enough. You have an incomatible phone model for the USA market. No SIM card will fix that.
Note, in SOME cases, you can activate other frequencies by loading different ROMs into the phone. My old LG V30 did this, for example. I have heard that you can run some Exynos phones here in the USA, but I don't know the details to help. FrequencyCheck may help you figure that out. Be sure the look for the complete model number, not just "Galaxy S10" or something... the naming is worthless for figuring this out.
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schwinn8 said:
I think what @meric57 is trying to say is that your phone doesn't have the right chips to communicate on the frequencies in the USA. It's made for other markets and other frequencies... so it won't work here.
If you use FrequencyCheck you can see what carriers support what frequencies on your specific model: https://www.frequencycheck.com/comp...m-td-lte-512gb-samsung-beyond-1/united-states
Scroll down to the "United States" area and you'll see it doesn't support the frequencies used in the USA (except for GSM 2.5, which is old and dead here in the USA). The US is primarily on LTE... and you can see that phone model doesn't support ANY of the available frequencies.
Bottom line "GSM" doesn't tell you enough. You have an incomatible phone model for the USA market. No SIM card will fix that.
Note, in SOME cases, you can activate other frequencies by loading different ROMs into the phone. My old LG V30 did this, for example. I have heard that you can run some Exynos phones here in the USA, but I don't know the details to help. FrequencyCheck may help you figure that out. Be sure the look for the complete model number, not just "Galaxy S10" or something... the naming is worthless for figuring this out.
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Click to collapse
Hey, this is great info. Good to know. It looks like that S10 could only communicate on 1 of 8 bands used by Mint/T-Mobile. That 1 usable band appears to have been deprecated by T-Mobile as it is. I think that explains it perfectly. Thank You!
You're welcome.
Yeah, frequencies/bands are very important to watch, particularly if you're buying out of market devices. You have to know model numbers and carriers to be sure of anything, and unfortunately this info is relatively hidden.
schwinn8 said:
You're welcome.
Yeah, frequencies/bands are very important to watch, particularly if you're buying out of market devices. You have to know model numbers and carriers to be sure of anything, and unfortunately this info is relatively hidden.
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The CSC on that device was DBT (Germany). I had to find that out in order to put the correct stock OS back on there.
Makes me wonder if the ebay seller even knows this. They appear to specialize in mobile phones with tens of thousands of transactions, so I would hope they've encountered this situation before. They were more than happy to accept a return on the device. Sent me a prepaid shipping label immediately.
Back to the CSC... Let's say I look for another S10 (SM-G973F/DS) but I ask what the CSC is for that device. Are there any regions outside the lower 48 states with reasonably good chances of it working? I suppose I would need to study the mobile frequency website for the answer to that.
I did some quick searching, and supposedly there are websites that say the 973F/DS will work on MM (mint mobile)... but they don't detail how. For example: https://de-googled.com/blogs/news/a-word-on-network-compatibility-of-our-degoogled-phones
and https://www.ebay.com/p/15030406771 (in the description).
So, maybe it is possible? I don't know, so maybe someone else can chime in.
Personally, I stuck with U-version phones and gave up rooting/romming. It's just getting too hard to find phones that offer this, so I figured I'd just adapt back to a stock ROM, since choices are limited. I had done a bunch of that in the past, but I found that stock roms (today) are pretty good... and allow enough customization that made root/rom unnecessary... for me. My current is an SM-G975U1 (unlocked, USA, Snapdragon S10+) on Total Wireless (VZ MVNO)... it works great and I don't miss root/rom at all.
Rumor is that the Galaxy S23 will only be offered as Snapdragon, so maybe that will open up more options... but I doubt it. Samsung loves it's Knox system, and will likely lock down the phone even more with every generation.
schwinn8 said:
I did some quick searching, and supposedly there are websites that say the 973F/DS will work on MM (mint mobile)... but they don't detail how. For example: https://de-googled.com/blogs/news/a-word-on-network-compatibility-of-our-degoogled-phones
and https://www.ebay.com/p/15030406771 (in the description).
So, maybe it is possible? I don't know, so maybe someone else can chime in.
Personally, I stuck with U-version phones and gave up rooting/romming. It's just getting too hard to find phones that offer this, so I figured I'd just adapt back to a stock ROM, since choices are limited. I had done a bunch of that in the past, but I found that stock roms (today) are pretty good... and allow enough customization that made root/rom unnecessary... for me. My current is an SM-G975U1 (unlocked, USA, Snapdragon S10+) on Total Wireless (VZ MVNO)... it works great and I don't miss root/rom at all.
Rumor is that the Galaxy S23 will only be offered as Snapdragon, so maybe that will open up more options... but I doubt it. Samsung loves it's Knox system, and will likely lock down the phone even more with every generation.
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Thanks for the link. I think I may try for an S10 again if the seller can tell me what the CSC is. That page on De-googled.com affirms that American devices are more restrictive than their European counterparts.
It just doesn't make any sense to me personally to use a device with an open source OS that has loads of telemetry, spyware, bloat, etc. Which is a contradiction that I am not comfortable with. It's like installing a Linux distro that comes bundled with Facebook.
To me, being proactive about privacy is the equivalent to standing up for yourself in the real world. Sure, you can use a stock ROM and there is nothing wrong with that. It's having the freedom to choose which is most important. So long as that choice is available, I will happily go that route.
I like the added bonus of an Android device that seems faster with a longer lasting battery as well. I mean, I paid for this device. I should have the right to decide what apps are running on it.
No argument there... I agree with why we should be allowed to root/rom. Unfortunately, the carriers pull the strings in the USA (business over people) so we are losing options. Frankly, it pisses me off that they can still prevent phones from connecting to their network just because the IMEI doesn't match (even if the software is correct). In the end, if the device CAN work on the network, the carrier should have no say in allowing/disallowing it on the network. They like to claim that a "bad" device could "hurt" the network, but if that happens, they can lock out that phone and figure it out. I doubt that's even ever happened, but whatever. (They prevented me from using my already-working V30 US998 phone on the network, even though it ran as VS996 with no issues for years... they only later saw the IMEI wasn't "theirs" (original SIM card failed) so they prevented me from re-registering it. So stupid.)
Good luck, and let us know if you figure it out... I'm always curious to learn!
yes, most japan and europe phones do not have the correct radios channels in them for 4g and 5g. i ran into this same problem with my xperia phones that i bought overseas. this is a common problem that can happen.
The S10 and all it's variants is a world compatible GSM phone. So yes, the F variant should work with most GSM carriers and resellers in N. America.
There are various websites that will tell you what frequencies and carriers any particular model will work with if you do a search. Like this one.
WillMyPhoneWork.net - Check if your phone works on a network
Check 2G, 3G, and 4G LTE Network Frequency Compatibility for a Smartphone, Tablet, and Mobile Device in any Country and Mobile Network Carrier
willmyphonework.net
According to that site the SM-G973F/DS supports all 2G, 3G, and 4G frequencies used by Mint.