Evaluating Galaxy S3 without battery +

[mikedt]

The only 'scratch off card' that comes with a US SIM card is the SIM card number itself. PUKs are supposed to be carrier provided but as stated, here, they protect it like a government secret. They make claims that you should never see the request for a PUK, PIN2 or Subsidy Unlock unless YOU are doing something nefarious.

Well subsidy unlocks are really a different thing to PUKs. Carriers won't let them out usually until you've completed a contract or ToS in full. They can have subsidy locks on carrier supplied phones in UK as well. And the only time I've ever had to deal with that was when i bought the first iPhone from O2, as prepaid back in 2008. It was only £180, as opposed to the £400-500 Apple was asking for an unlocked non-carrier iPhone. I had no intention of using it with the included O2 SIM. Fortunately in them days the subsidy lock was easy to deal with just by jailbreaking the iPhone using YellowSn0w. Phones here in China are always unlocked.

 

[nickdalzell]

The only time I bypassed a Subsidy Unlock code (again, after being hung up on by an angry CSR) was when I temporarily re-activated my LG Optimus Net to get a sort of functional Android 2.3 device alive again, back in 2019. The problem was the *228 programming was EOL and to program my phone I had to enter the service menu, which was locked behind the subsidy unlock code, which made CSR rep angry.

But I ultimately got past it by using aLogCat, which when it popped up asking for the unlock code, the logcat app showed the code burned into the ROM which let me in when I copied and pasted it. I was unsuccessful in re-activating the phone though. While I had active 3G, the data didn't work (got 502 bad gateway in browser) and phone calls just went to rapid busy signal.

I still miss Android 2.3. Would love to use it today. Would love to play with WebOS today, or whatever the N95 had.

 

[shakushinnen]

what do you mean it has someone's name on the opening screen? like a person? or do you mean carrier?

Hi,
It was someone's name; but it disappeared after I did the factory reset.
....... john

 

[shakushinnen]

The most recent was when I had to contact Walmart Family Mobile (a T-Mobile MVNO) about an error I got on an unlocked Galaxy Note 8.0 cellular tablet, with it showing 'enter unlock code'. They outright accused me of hacking and then hung up, and trying to call again was met with even more hostility. I never got my unlock code, having instead to switch carriers to Tracfone and use a BYOP SIM kit to activate this tablet.

Before that we are talking Cingular Wireless times. Back then, I had times where I SIM-swapped and met with requests for PUK codes, which carriers were even more hostile about. Apparently, even asking for one is grounds for account termination, and exactly that happened.

Well, yes. These bloody carriers have WAY too much authority. And here, in Canada, they really hose us, price wise.
..... john

 

[shakushinnen]

Hi Nick,
I did another reset and wiped the cache, then installed an old SIM card I have here (from where, I don't remember).
Now it says that I have installed an unregistered SIM card. After that I get a black screen, with the charge level icon,
which of course is 100%, since I'm running directly off the USB cable hook-up.
This is the reason I wanted to fire this baby up, before wasting money on a battery (if I can't access the apps anyway).
Any other thoughts?
..... john

 

[Hadron]

The U.S. is also the only country who still does cellular contracts, and gimps prepaid a ton so people would prefer a contract for the gimmicks.

I don't know about the current state of pre-paid here because that's not a market I'm much interested in (though the last time I looked, about a year ago, it was possible to find quite reasonable deals, albeit you can always get better per month if you commit to paying per month for an extended period).

But you definitely are not the only country that still does cellular contracts. Very definitely not. Though you are one of a decreasing number who still locks phones to providers: some countries never did, others have stopped doing so (for the record the practice was banned in the UK and Ireland in late 2021), but I'll still be surprised if there is literally nowhere else that does it.

 

[nickdalzell]

I keep hearing reports online that most other countries got rid of contracts like they got rid of SMS (and make fun of the US over it).

But yea, we were getting away from carrier locking but then the 3G sunset happened and gave carriers the excuse to lock compatibility to a whitelist that makes no sense, making even a modern VoLTE handset not work because it doesn't have an AT&T or Verizon logo on it.

Prepaid is gimped in that the unlimited data plans (which are standard on contracts today) are super expensive, like $70-100/mo for 5G unlimited. Prepaid still throttles folks for 'overuse' and you don't get the upgrade deals or new-sign-up deals for new phones. You have to pay full price for prepaid phones. Want that iPhone 14 Pro or Samsung Z Fold? pay $1500 please! Plus $70 for unlimited data on top!

OP, the 'unregistered/invalid' SIM message means you put the wrong carrier SIM into it. You need an old, deactivated AT&T SIM card. You can also try an AT&T Prepaid 'BYOP SIM Kit' and activate it on a super cheap prepaid plan and pop it in, it will work for 5 minutes and then you'll get a text saying 'your phone is no longer compatible due to not having VoLTE' but you'll be able to access the apps after. It will work enough to get past the setup wizard. (also proves you don't need VoLTE, it's just a rule carriers forced, and enforce via IMEI scanning) You'll have to provide a compatible IMEI number to activate the SIM (don't use the SIII's) but it wouuld still provision the SIM enough to get past your issue.

 

[shakushinnen]

Hi,
OK, it sounds like I'm screwed. This, as you all know, is a dinosaur, cell phone wise; and I'm NOT putting any money into it, other than a very cheap battery, assuming I can find one; and I have no idea where to find "an old, deactivated AT&T SIM card"; so it looks like the end of the road for this baby.
Thank you all, very much, for your help. As always, it's been a learning experience.
..... john

 

[Hadron]

I keep hearing reports online that most other countries got rid of contracts like they got rid of SMS (and make fun of the US over it).

SMS still exists. It's used less than it used to be, because more modern messaging systems are more capable, but it's still around.
But charging to send SMS has more-or-less disappeared in many countries (domestically - international SMS still incurs charges). And nobody charged to receive SMS unless you guys did.

Contracts still exist, even contacts that include paying for a handset (in those countries where such things ever existed). Some countries always had handset purchase and service costs separate. In others this model, the "SIM-only contract", has become more common. But you can still overpay for a handset by getting it cheaply with a contract and paying too much every month instead - what's really changed is that this used to be cheaper than buying the phone out of countract, but is now always more expensive (so is effectively a tax on those who can't afford to buy it outright). However fewer countries now allow providers to lock a phone to their service, even when bought that way.

But yea, we were getting away from carrier locking but then the 3G sunset happened and gave carriers the excuse to lock compatibility to a whitelist that makes no sense, making even a modern VoLTE handset not work because it doesn't have an AT&T or Verizon logo on it.

Your carriers always have been control freaks. I guess the habit dies hard.

Prepaid is gimped in that the unlimited data plans (which are standard on contracts today) are super expensive, like $70-100/mo for 5G unlimited. Prepaid still throttles folks for 'overuse' and you don't get the upgrade deals or new-sign-up deals for new phones. You have to pay full price for prepaid phones. Want that iPhone 14 Pro or Samsung Z Fold? pay $1500 please! Plus $70 for unlimited data on top!

I wonder how many people genuinely need unlimited mobile data? I suspect that many use not much, and only a minority are using hundreds of GB.

That said you can easily get unlimited data for a fraction of that cost in the UK (even paying off a handset, never mind SIM-free). Even on prepay: I did a quick check of one popular prepay provider and immediately found unlimited data for £25/month (albeit with speeds capped after the first 100 GB/month).

OP, the 'unregistered/invalid' SIM message means you put the wrong carrier SIM into it. You need an old, deactivated AT&T SIM card. You can also try an AT&T Prepaid 'BYOP SIM Kit' and activate it on a super cheap prepaid plan and pop it in, it will work for 5 minutes and then you'll get a text saying 'your phone is no longer compatible due to not having VoLTE' but you'll be able to access the apps after. It will work enough to get past the setup wizard. (also proves you don't need VoLTE, it's just a rule carriers forced, and enforce via IMEI scanning) You'll have to provide a compatible IMEI number to activate the SIM (don't use the SIII's) but it wouuld still provision the SIM enough to get past your issue.

Which really is complete nonsense, but see comment above about control freaks.

 

[mikedt]

Sounds like it might be a purely an American thing? But then US carriers always seem to do things differently to the rest of the world. Every SIM I've had, I'm sure the PUK has always been in the documentation that comes with the SIM, Sometimes in the form of a scratch-off card. And that's with SIMs from Vodafone, Three UK, Three HK, EE, Lycamobile, PCCW, Nihao Mobile, China Mobile, and China Unicom.

Although I can recall only ever having to actually use a PUK code once, about twenty years ago when dad forgot the PIN on his phone .

Replying to my own post.

I just bought a prepaid SIM on EE and sure enough the PUK and.default PIN was included with it.

 

[shakushinnen]

Hi all,
I'm afraid that I may not have told you ( and I appologize for that) but I cut up an SD cable and connected the two power lines to the power contacts that a battery would touch to fire up this baby, and it worked. (There's a video online describing how to do it; it's quite simple. I'm sure most of you know how.)
However, I still wasn't able to get past the access code ....... so ...... I'm done.
Again, I apologize for not letting you know.
..... john

 

[nickdalzell]

re:SMS

I still use it as it does exactly what I ask it to do. It basically becomes AIM for mobile. two-way chat. All I need it to do, no data needed (and since I hike a lot and work where I only get bars and no data not needing it works better plus no forced app updates like you get with WhatsApp, plus no giving your info to Zuck)

Overseas folks laugh at the US using SMS but it does the job I ask of it. If it ain't broke..


But in the olden days of 1998 when it became standard, they charged BY THE LETTER (especially Cingular, it was 1 cent per letter) so I think that was the origin of 'text speak' with hard-to-decipher messages such as 'whr r u?'