Possible solution unlocking international I9300 - Missing Samsung Service Mode menus - Galaxy S III Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hi guys/girls,
Well I had some issues last week with attempting to unlock an I9300T (same as I9300 only it picks up the 2400hz band from the Telstra service provider) anyway,eveyone was mentioning 'Just flash back to ICS to downgrade the bootloader, unlock and flash back again' or something along those lines. Needless to say the first thing I did was root the phone to back up the EFS/IMEI and in the process of rooting via Odin with CF-Root....the task in it's self bungled the EFS anyway. So corrupt EFS, no signal and IMEI displaying as 0049. On a side note I discovered a new and much easier way of recovering your EFS should anyone run into those sorts of issues.
It was told following tutorials from various sources that the Service Mode menu input for simlock works on international SGS3 models???? Well apparently it DOESN'T....so all my effort was wasted I guess? Flashing the phone and bricking it several times. Anyway my point I wanted to make was that there is quite a difference the Service modes available for Australian/International I9300 devices.
I am curious to know (if possible?) transplanting the serviceModeApp.apk from a device where Network unlock can be performed by simply pinning in the service code via the dialer....to un-sim-lock the device??
Would somebody who has successfully unlocked their I9300 via this method be willing to share their serviceModeApp.apk for me to be able to test this theory??
EDIT: Needs to be Android 4.1.1 from what I have just read now?

Oh and just for clarification, I would be needing the serviceModeApp.apk from the version of Android that you were running when you unlocked your device, not the one you are running now if you have updated firmware versions since then? So most likely I would be asking someone to dig through one of their Nandroid backups to extract the serviceModeApp.apk from that particular firmware...EDIT From reading I believe I'll specifically need Android 4.1.1 (Not 4.0.4 or 4.1.2)
The reason I request this is mainly due to the fact that older firmware versions are becoming difficult to come by since the collapse of most of the major online file-storage providers such as Hotfile. Seems like an awful lot of work for me to go through for one apk also ....then to learn that the one I choose for what ever reason was NOT the correct one for unlocking because of the region and/or service provider the firmware was from or any other long list of unknown variables.
So yeah if someone that unlocked during ICS can fish out that APK for me that would be really appreciated, not only that but if it proves to be successful we will have a lot less people bricking their phones
Many many thanks in advance!:good:

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Related

[Q] Blew it.. need help resetting

All,
I blew it while trying to flash my Sprint-based Samsung Galaxy SII. In any case, right now, I'm not getting a carrier (No Service) as it appears the phone doesn't know my MIED? Also, my "home" and "menu" buttons don't work while the phone is booted (although I can get into diagnostic modes, etc., so they do work in the strictest sense). It also appears that my wireless isn't working..
I've tried to do a factory wipe/reset, but it didn't solve these problems.
Here are the specifics from Settings->Phone Info
Model number: SPH-D710
Android Version - 2.3.4
Baseband version - unknown
Kernel version - 2.6.35.7.I9100XWKJ3-CL647431
Build Number - GINGERBREAD.EG39
Hardware version - Unknown
Is there any way I can just slam the stock Sprint kernel back on here to get this back to some sort of a baseline. Also, I guess there's the MEID issue.. I think I can get that from Sprint or on the phone, right?
Thanks in advance..
Maybe start searching for threads about losing your EFS folder??
Hope this helps
I didn't find anything specific to Sprint... maybe it doesn't matter? I dunno. I'd appreciate a little more guidance if possible.
When I try to go into About phone->Status to see this stuff, I get "The process com.android.phone has stopped unexpectedly."
Hi, I'm no expert, when I saw that your phone could not find the SIM my first thought was that you had lost your EFS folder (which is really BAD), however on looking again at your first post I see it says baseband unknown - maybe you need to reflash the modem?
Sprint doesn't use SIM? So I think this might not (?) be an issue.
I will begin to look for how to reflash the modem--if you know of a thread that is better than another for this, I would appreciate it if you could post it here. Thank you, in advance.
Yeh, sorry should have typed carrier rather than SIM.
AFAIK to flash a modem with Odin, you can use the firmware for your phone selecting only 'Phone' .
You would probably be safer to search first or you could reflash your firmware and take your phone back to baseline as you put it.
I can't find a Sprint baseline ROM, could/should I try this one?:
samsunggalaxysforums.com/showthread.php/4692-Full-Guide-How-to-Debrand-your-Samsung-Galaxy-S2
There is a site called www.sammobile.com which used to be www.Samifirmware.com it was always a good source of up to date firmwares.
Unfortunately I am at work and we only have IE6 (I know), so I can't search the site for you.

[Q] Is my phone software unlocked(versus factory) Please helpp?

Hello,
I will have to give background info on this before anyone can help so bear with me please :.
I live in Pakistan and I bought a i9300 directly from samsung. In the beginning of the six months i owned the phone, I never rooted or put custom ROMs on it. Then unfortunately I got SDS. I gave my phone to a local repair shop (non samsung, but highly reliable, I bought the phone from there) who switched the motherboard on the phone. After I got it, I rooted it and started installing custom ROMs on it. First it was cyanogenMod, then Paranoid Android and Supernexus +AOKP and others. Everything worked fine. Then I installed Omega ROM (Samsung based ROM which changes the modem). Everything went fine, but I was unable to connect to my network (No texts, calls, data connectivity). It detected my network(Ufone) but was unable to register on it when I manually tried to. I mega-wiped my phone, cleared cache and factory reset and did everything. Alternatively, the following steps I also tried.
1)Checked if my IMEI is intact. It was. (I have EFS backups too)
2)Checked if my serial # is different. It is still the same (No need for Ariza Patch)
3)Checked if my SIM works. It does on different phones.
4)Checked my APN settings. They were fine. I even manually changed them to match the carriers
5)Changed my CSC settings (using the playstore app). Still doesnt work.
6)Checked different modems from the appropiate thread (I have tried Europe Unbranded, Middle East, Egypt and many others)
7)Restored nandroid backup of original stock 4.1.2 Sammy ROM, still not connectivity.
8)Flashed using ODIN, the stock 4.1.2 ROM for my country (Using SAM mobile). Still no connectivity.
9) Matched my RIL with my baseband (using the GetRIL app), still didnt work.
Stock Samsung 4.1.2 ROM details before OMEGA flash in which everything worked:
AP: I9300XXEMA2
CP: I9300XXELLA
CSC: I9300OJVEMA1
This has happened to me the 5th time now (Phone is currently at the repair shop) and I have sequentially tried every one of the steps I have mentioned. I called up the repair shop and they said that I can come tomorrow and pick it up, all they have left to do is "SIM UNLOCK "the phone. That confused me a lot. I will go tomorrow and ask them details as to what they meant by that. So my question is basically this:
1) Is it possible that the motherboard they put into my phone is from a software-unlocked phone not a hardware unlocked? (Is the 'unlock' on the motherboard of the phone)
2) Is there a way to find out if my phone is software or factory unlocked?
P.S. Every single time I hand in my phone, I obviously unroot it and install stock on it (regardless of the fact that it doesnt connect to the network). But every single time I get my phone back, its ALWAYS ROOTED.. I even asked the technical team guy and he had no idea what I was talking about (repairmen here dont have that much of knowledge, they tend to follow guides online, thats it). So could it be that my connectivity issue is just because its software unlocked and not hardware?
Thank you!
Anyone?
bump
P.S. Every single time I hand in my phone, I obviously unroot it and install stock on it (regardless of the fact that it doesnt connect to the network). But every single time I get my phone back, its ALWAYS ROOTED.
Not a genuine service centre then .
IMEI
MODEM
CSC
all correct for network suggests a hardware fault .
jje
JJEgan said:
P.S. Every single time I hand in my phone, I obviously unroot it and install stock on it (regardless of the fact that it doesnt connect to the network). But every single time I get my phone back, its ALWAYS ROOTED.
Not a genuine service centre then .
IMEI
MODEM
CSC
all correct for network suggests a hardware fault .
jje
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But it's not a hardware fault? I mean whatever they do, they have to root the phone to be able to do it. Any idea what settings or configuration they might have changed using root for it to connect which I haven't already tried?
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app

help me please

hi guys i bought an samsung galaxy s II I9100 not new but still in a good status and he is runing very good when i bought it he had the an stock android 4.0.4 informations in attachement when i want to update to the 4.1.2 version he says that this is the last update for the phone so i downlaoded an 4.1.2 firmware from samfirmware i update via odin without problems but when i verify the IMEI isn't the same at the back of the phone and another thing on the back of the phone there is NFC under the camera but can't find't in options :crying:
No Help
1) I9100 = no NFC. If that phone has NFC capabilities, it's not an I9100. It will more than likely be an I9100P.
2) If the IMEI (in phone settings) has changed to '0049...' (Do not post your actual IMEI here), you might be in a bit of trouble. If the phone is an I9100P, download I9100P firmware from Samfirmware & flash that; hopefully the IMEI will come back. If the IMEI doesn't return, flash another firmware, and another and so on.
If it is an I9100 & you're merely confused about the NFC thing, download a bunch of I9100 firmwares & flash.
If after flashing a bunch of firmwares you still have the generic IMEI, try one/more of the many 'guides' on here which claim to be able to recover your IMEI without an EFS backup (no idea if any of them work or not).
If you still can't get your IMEI back, take it to a local mobile repair shop; many have equipment which can write the IMEI back to the device fairly cheaply.
Edit - Use a descriptive thread title in future - 'Help me please' is more than likely the reason you've been sitting for 18 hrs waiting for help, many people won't even look at your thread without a title which gives some idea of whatever problem you're facing/question you have.
MistahBungle said:
1) I9100 = no NFC. If that phone has NFC capabilities, it's not an I9100. It will more than likely be an I9100P.
2) If the IMEI (in phone settings) has changed to '0049...' (Do not post your actual IMEI here), you might be in a bit of trouble. If the phone is an I9100P, download I9100P firmware from Samfirmware & flash that; hopefully the IMEI will come back. If the IMEI doesn't return, flash another firmware, and another and so on.
If it is an I9100 & you're merely confused about the NFC thing, download a bunch of I9100 firmwares & flash.
If after flashing a bunch of firmwares you still have the generic IMEI, try one/more of the many 'guides' on here which claim to be able to recover your IMEI without an EFS backup (no idea if any of them work or not).
If you still can't get your IMEI back, take it to a local mobile repair shop; many have equipment which can write the IMEI back to the device fairly cheaply.
Edit - Use a descriptive thread title in future - 'Help me please' is more than likely the reason you've been sitting for 18 hrs waiting for help, many people won't even look at your thread without a title which gives some idea of whatever problem you're facing/question you have.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for your help what if my phone is i9100 and i have flashed an i9100p firmware what problems i'll have?
Probably none. The firmware is identical except for the NFC bits, as the I9100 doesn't have the hardware, that part of the firmware doesn't do anything. Given the rom will likely be for a completely different carrier, the modem in the rom might not be ideal for your particular carrier, and you might have connectivity issues, or you might not. But that's moot given you have the generic IMEI, you should have pretty much zero connectivity anyway (you'll be able to see the network but not use it).

[Q] Official network unlock not working i9300

Hi everyone,
I come to you as I am a noob as far as twinkering with my gt i9300 goes and I think I messed it up big time.
Here is what I did :
I had android 4.2.1 on my gt i9300, the stock rom from sfr (french career).
I network unlocked it using my career official unlock code, which worked great. It recognized my japanese career sim very well (i am in japan now).
Then I got greedy and wanted to update my android version so I downloaded a 4.4 android rom from I don't remember well, and a cwm manager.
The network unlock worked fine at first but after a restart it did not work anymore. It asked me for a network unlock pin.
I thought it was asking for a sim pin at first, which my sim did not have as I hadn't set one. I got mad trying sim pin code and gave up. Had I given it the network unlock code instead of possible sim pin code it might have worked but I will never know.
Then I tried to solve the problem installing android 5.1 cyanogen version but I had the same problem except this time I understood it was asking for the network unlock code. The problem is that when I fed it to him, it did not work, the request was unsuccessful.
So I looked for a solution on internet and found all kind of things:
I read about restoring the efs partition, but i do not have any back up.
I read about installing a stock rom version, change the csc and retry the official network unlock code, but it does not work, whether I restore through Kies (which gives me a vodafone version) or manually (with an sfr version, french vodafone it seems).
I read about installing Galaxy simunlock app after rooting the phone and installing userbox, but it tells me that my locking system is not handled as it is too new.
I upgraded, downgraded, rooted in every possible way but nothing works.
I am running out of solution and I therefore turn to you for help, hoping you will be more creative than me.
I have the official network unlock code, the phone, no back up of any kind and really little hope.
Thank you in advance for any help you could give me !
Have a nice day !
Sadly you didn't make a backup of efs. That should be first thing before playing with customs.
Oh well, I suppose your efs may be screwed up due to entering couple times bad network unlock key.
I suggest go to next corner GSM shop and pay 2400JPY for efs fixing and perm sim unlock. But before that, check your IMEI and serial number are correct. Thay can fix all of this in one step.
You need to do this via box, you can't reprogram that or fix yourself because you did everything that may help and you still have a problem. You can't use any software on efs v2. It will not work.
____________________________________________
P3110 / I9300 / I9100 / NEXUS 5 / iPAD2
Thank you for your quick answer !
I will follow your advice and go to a "professional".
However I don't understand how they are able to do what I can't, do they have special softwares or anything ?
I would like to know because I do have the official unlock code.
Also, I would still like to upgrade to android 5.1 cyanogen version, do you think it will be possible after such a modification ?
I should not encounter any risk if I backup the efs beforehand right ?
Thank you again
Service will connect your phone to, so called, box, ie Z3X Box. This is some kind of pc-phone bridge hardware which can alow to decrypt and encrypt efs files, fix IMEI, serial number, flash firmware, IMEI certificate, remove network locks, sim locks etc.
Of course you can backup your efs now but it is corrupted and useful. Backup this partition after repair. Than you will be able to flash anything you want. Even CM12.1,no problem.
____________________________________________
P3110 / I9300 / I9100 / NEXUS 5 / iPAD2
Ok I understand better now.
Thank you very much for your answers, they have been really helpful !
Do not let them plug your phone to the box if you want to install 4.4 or 5.0 because if you give them they will replace your imei number with a clon imei number and you will stuck with max 4.3 and you need to install a patched modem and kernel every time you format your phone... tell them to try to fix without replacing your imei number first. Replacing the imei number should be the last thing to do...
Why do you think they will clone his phone's IMEI? It's even illegal.
If someone doesn't know how to use box than he should not work in GSM service.
You can rewrite original IMEI and serial number without cloning anything.
An probably IMEI is fine, it's network lock problem.
____________________________________________
P3110 / I9300 / I9100 / NEXUS 5 / iPAD2
Most repair shops dont care its legal or not. Also most costumers dont know this kind of things and as long as phone is working its okay for them. Mine is just a warning to make him look like he knows this things so repairman doesnt do something with no going back...

Very Specific Question about GT - i9300 (S3). Expert advice please.

Hi all,
I have a UK GT - i 9300 locked to Orange and i have just been signed up to EE.
EE claim the phone is already unlocked.....it isn't. They failed to provide a SIM unlock code, so i went to a third party (computer shop) to get the code. They provided an unlock code, and an unfreeze code. They don't work. It just says "registration code unsuccessful" or something similar when i try to put it in upon booting up the device. The guy at the shop is now at a loose end and is happy to refund the unlock code fee, but says he cannot unlock the phone.
I have tried the codes that start with #1972.... to enter the hidden menus, i actually had to enter #0011# i think....regardless, that didn't work as under network options (or whatever it was called) i have no option to tell the phone to allow other sims.
I mention all of this because please believe me when i tell you there is not a simple solution to unlocking this phone....i have read pages and pages of forum advice and nothing works.
My very specific question is; can i root this network locked GT i9300 (UK version) which is currently running on 4.3....or not? It is the only possible solution i can see to save this phone from becoming a paperweight.
I can promise you that hours upon hours of research has not got me a sensible, definitive answer to this question.
Thanks guys. Much appreciated.
Paul
It doesn't matter if the phone is SIM-unlocked or not when you root it. If i can find a stock ROM for the i9300, or if it is 4.1.1 or 4.1.2 with the old bootloader, it is unlockable for free. http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s3/help-i9305/guide-sim-unlock-i9305-t3267901 this is the thread, tell me if you want me to find a stock ROM and i will try to make it zip-flashable.
Alexander_the_B0ss said:
It doesn't matter if the phone is SIM-unlocked or not when you root it. If i can find a stock ROM for the i9300, or if it is 4.1.1 or 4.1.2 with the old bootloader, it is unlockable for free. http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s3/help-i9305/guide-sim-unlock-i9305-t3267901 this is the thread, tell me if you want me to find a stock ROM and i will try to make it zip-flashable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your reply.
Unfortunately after nobody responded yesterday i decided to flash the phone back to an Orange UK version of 4.0.4 and see if the Galaxsim unlock program worked from there. It has now given my phone the generic IMEI number 004999010640000 and Galasim is just saying "UNABLE TO READ NV DATA"
I've tried the method of changing the nv data bin files, and it doesn't work.
I have no backup of my original efs folder.
The bottom line here is that i have been going round in circles with this pile of sh1t service from Orange and EE, and codes that don't work for over a month now. I mean no offence by asking this bluntly, but can someone just give me a simple yes or no answer as to whether i need to buy a new phone or not?
It seems everyone has a theory on how to unlock this phone, and none of those theories actually work.
Currently phone is sat on
Android version - 4.0.4,
Product code - GT-I9300RWDORA
Original Product Code - ORA
IMEI NUMBER - 004999010640000/01
Sim Operator - EE(23433)
Registered Operator - @[email protected]
OS version - 4.0.4 (15)
Baseband - i9300BVLE4
Bootloader - I9300XXUGNB5
Patform - exynos4
LOCKED TO ORANGE.
Some simple instructions on how to fix this, or an honest answer as to if it is even possible would be GREATLY appreciated.
Thanks

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