yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Galaxy S III General] XIAOSpider:
in china we cant visit facebook by The normal method

we dont have GAPPS and S-VOICE in china mainland version.
[Galaxy S III General] Jack_Random:
Sidequestion... are you not starting the phone up to check it out before paying? Would never buy electronic products without being able to try then out first in asia in general... too many good fakes and cheats out there
[Galaxy S III General] aZooZa:
In response to your prior post, I'm well aware of all the GFC blocks, and I too use VPN to get around this.

No, I didn't check the phone out before buying it. My inference is that for the average buyer in China who hasn't a clue, the S3 isn't very functional at all. Of course I'm going to root and blow it with a UK ROM, but out of the box, it's a real disappointment. My GF bought it on her Union Pay credit card so she gets reward points, and her brother-in-law is a local ranking police officer, so I wasn't bothered about being sold a dud.

So, my warning is probably more aptly directed towards the expat community in China.
[Galaxy S III General] dcd8868:
re;

gees, sorry to hear that. i guessed you didn't see what they did w/ip4(lock sim, lockboot, etc. for those who knew, china unicom used to push (xiao ling tone "pcs" ala the old sprint on cdma) they then jammed the signal to wo-3g. unicom is only good for going online for china sites, any sites outside the country is either super slow or blocked.

i suggest you to sell the wo-gs3 , keep the sim and stick it to a ipad or tab for the remaining contract. ask your friends to get you a offical gs3 from HK. (offical samsung ph are covered in both HK and china for warranty)

don't really suggest a grey market one from other country, being paying rmb 4-5000 is not cheap and if it breaks, you're better off buying a new one than try to get it fixed.

hope this helps if not too late

---------- Post added at 01:04 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:40 AM ----------

sorry split it in 2 parts. google play and others can be downloaded in china. if you can unlock the wo-gs3 boot loader, and root it, then it's good. (scrap all the dumb unicom's bloaded system apps) but still reccomend to sell it. china rom is crap! really try now to buy ph from china carriers.

another advice is that try to get into tech forums like unwire.hk ,gfans, (HK sites) to get user advice, since the users there are always looking to sell or trade their ph to china after a few months.

HK's msrp $5598(usd 722) market hkd now $6000(usd 774)
[Galaxy S III General] Maniac8888:
No Google Apps

I tried this on my S3 (rooted) and it didn't work. I can install the Google Play Store apk but it doesn't load. This is the first time I have ever had a problem with China Unicom phones (My S2 China Unicom phone was no problem, I load and run everything). I think I've got a locked Boot loader. (Edit: According to Samsung China, all S3's have unlocked Boot loaders.

On top of everything else, I was unable the flash the HK ROM in my device. This is painful.

If anyone has any ideas, I'd love to hear them.
[Galaxy S III General] aZooZa:
I'm following the instructions here:

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1671969

Not completed yet as my GF's Win XP machine is in Chinese and she needs to translate all the Win dialogs for me. Anyway, this method apparently doesn't require rooting.

Will report back.
[Galaxy S III General] Maniac8888:
I tried this too (Odin is my friend). According the Samsung China, all S3's have an unlocked boot loader which, apparently isn't the issue. BTW, the link you reference is now quite old. Chainfire indicates that this http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1695238 is a much more up-to-date root solution.
[Galaxy S III General] missingu99:
zhongkao=Senior high school entrance examination
[Galaxy S III General] aZooZa:
Willing to pay

This is really teeing me off. I'm not complaining about anything HERE, just about the frustrating and circuitous route this flashing/rooting thing is taking me.

Here's the deal:

I'm willing to send anyone USD $50 via PayPal who can help me get rid of this Chinese ROM and replace it with a UK one, so that I can access all the Google stuff etc.

I'd prefer to do this WITHOUT Windows if possible - Mobile Odin looks promising but I can't get to the Android Market or Google Play to buy it.

I don't want ANY extras/plug-ins/mods/enhancements at this stage - I'm just looking to have an S3 that's EXACTLY like one I would have purchased in the UK, or as near as is possible. My China Unicom SIM will need to work also

Device details screenshot attached. Please make sure you have the expertise to help me with this here, and not refer me to countless other posts on this forum - all in one place here please, or PM me and we can do by email, although I think it would be very useful to others if it was posted here.

Please PM or post here.

Thanks!
[Galaxy S III General] Maniac8888:
Chinese 4.0.4 ROM w/Google

OK. Here is the solution. Here are links to a Chinese modified ROM for the i9300 (China Unicom. This will not work on China Mobile). The only difference between the two links are the instructions. The exact same ROM is used. The ROM includes pre-loaded Google apps and I have loaded up Google Play Store (If you want to buy software, you will need "Market Enabler." The ROM does include English language. You will need to root your phone before flashing the ROM. This is unavoidable. The process is very easy if you are willing to spend the time to do some research if you have never rooted your phone and/or flashed a new ROM.

As far as I know, this is the only available solution at the present time. It has been documented that Chinese i9300 are incapable of flashing to a non Chinese ROM. I verified this by attempting to flash HK, Singapore and Taiwan ROMS and it didn't work.

Please don't ask me any questions. Everything can be answered by searching XDA Forums.

http://bbs.angeeks.com/thread-2194382-1-1.html

http://samsungbbs.cnmo.com/thread-11958795-1-1.html

UPDATE: I have been playing with this for several hours and in all honesty, I can't recommend this solution. I was able to load Google Market or Google Play just fine which was more than I could do with the stock FW. Sometime I could browse the store and sometines the application failed. Even when I loaded Google Market, it would register my device. It did recognize the paid for apps I moved over from my S2. It even tried to download updates but when it did the applicaton failed. I found this to be virtually useless and hardly a solution at all. The I9300 is a new device and China has a robust development community. I would expect new ROMS in a relatively short time. In the meantime, those of us with China Unicom I9300's are somehat stuck. They are pretty easy to sell though if that is your wish.

Good luck.
[Galaxy S III General] tian105:
get the **** out. we are chinese, if you cant read it, dont be here.
[Galaxy S III General] aZooZa:
All sorted - replaced Chinese ROM with UK ROM

I too have been playing with it all day and have it totally solved, and without a Windows machine. Now, this S3 is a power house ;)

I have flashed this Chinese brick with the latest UK ROM with Odin Mobile - all the flashing done on the device itself.

Everything that should be on this phone IS NOW ON IT.

If anyone would like to ask questions, I AM HAPPY to answer them.
[Galaxy S III General] Monsier Mona:
It works!

For all the ones who have difficulties with chinese (like me) here the solution.

1. I used Odin3 1.85 to flash the firmware "I9300XXALF2_I9300OXAALF2_I9300XXLF2_HOME.tar.md5" (uk firmware) and of course it failed. (but it is still important)

2. After that I recovered the phone with flashing "CF-SGS3-CWM-v5.5-v1.2.tar" via Odin (this step must be successful)

3. Now I copied CWM-SuperSU-v0.89.zip into the root folder of the external SD-Card (I needed a seperate card-reader)

4. Go into the recovery mode of your phone (volume up + home + power on key) and install this zip. (install from sd-card)

5. Do a factory reset / wipe cache

6. Reboot the phone and have fun with the new system

Hope that helps.

BTW: I a newbee and just got lucky ... so I have no clue what I actualy did and can't answer any questions
[Galaxy S III General] avataranjie:
Yep, same hardware= capability of odining other stock roms. Doubt any of you will be staying stock
[Galaxy S III General] avataranjie:
Use baidu or google and find the mobile Odin apk. Then find the .rar riles and flash. Pretty much just finding a pirated mobile Odin and using it lol
[Galaxy S III General] avataranjie:
The rules are rules. Follow them.
[Galaxy S III General] Jack_Random:
Idiot...
[Galaxy S III General] Jack_Random:
Actually I do have a queastion... does yr samsung apps app work as intended? Can you actually download stuff from there? Cause I can't... keep getting error 3013 "this email can not be used in this country"
[Galaxy S III General] dhang:
aZooZa,

Congrats on the successful flashing. please share the details on how you were able to successfully do this?

I basically did the following

1. Usng Odin v3.04, Flash I9300XXALE8_I9300OXAALE8_I9300XXLE8_HOME.tar.md5 (got it from xda site), this resulted in Error

2. Using Odin v3.06, flash contents of I9300ZNLE9.7z (downloaded from bbs.gfan.com/android-4381769-1-1.html) , this was successful

Currently, I have all google default apps (play store, maps, gmail, calendar, etc) running, but still prefer to root my device and load the "official" stock ROM.

I see that you used Odin Mobile, but please provide the steps and ROM versions that you used to root the phone and load the latest UK ROM

thanks!!
[Galaxy S III General] Maniac8888:
Congrats! Does this mean you can actually access Google Play Market with your Google ID and download paid software (after paying for it, of course)?

---------- Post added at 12:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:39 PM ----------

Good for you. Same question. Can you access Google Play Market and pay for applications?
[Galaxy S III General] dhang:
Yes, I have access to google play market. But, will need to switch sim cards to be able to buy apps from USA play store.

All is working, but i prefer to flash the UK version of the ROM. My S3 still boots up with the China Unicom logo
[Galaxy S III General] Maniac8888:
I can verify that this method works. In fact, it appears it works using any ROM indicated in step 1 above. I used the HK ROM because I needed the Chinese keyboard and other things and it worked great.

I also have access to the Google Play Market but you will need "Market Enabler" and perhaps a VPN (I used a VPN. I did not test without) to get access to and download paid apps (after paying naturally). It works like a charm.
[Galaxy S III General] aZooZa:
Okay, here's where I found out how to do this. I can't remember the order in which I did them, but it all works. I have Google Wallet ready to go in the Play store, but at the moment I'm trying to get OpenVPN to work so that I can buy paid apps. I can get the free ones.

To start with, the fool that suggests getting pirated software in his post is not likely to last long, so DON'T do it or suggest it.

The Mobile Odin files have been very kindly offered free by the owner here, and you'll need the Mobile Odin 2.45 **and** the I9300 Flash Kernel .zip files:

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1347899

The image I used is this one: XXALF2: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1646610

I rooted my device using the tutorial here:

http://galaxys3root.com/category/galaxy-s3-root/

The above site has loads of tips and tricks. I think these are the only links you need.

I don't have access to Windows - this was all done via my MacBook Air, and the Heimdall package worked for the rooting, but if you have Kies running, you'll get the 'cannot claim device' error from Heimdall. You have to kill the Kies communication processes on the Mac terminal first. It's all explained on the site.

Everything works now with the UK flash.There's still a bit of Chinese stuff on the phone which is obviously related to my Unicom SIM, but that's no worry.

NOW the problem I have is the 'tls-error' with OpenVPN. I installed 'BusyBox', 'OpenVPN Settings' and 'OpenVPN Installer' free from the Play store, but can't get it to work as yet, and no doubt it's a post for another forum here.

Good luck - just post here if you think I can help more in any way.

Edit: VPN is not the factor that allows you access to paid apps in the play store - it's the SIM card. I just put my UK SIM card in and was able to buy apps.
[Galaxy S III General] dhang:
I also confirmed that flashing in this manner works. everything works except the standard messaging app. everytime my phone starts it shows that message box "messaging has stopped". Also, when i try to open the messaging app, it errors out with the same message. I have clear application cach, force the message app to close, and i also rebooted into recovery to wipe data and do a factory reset. Still I have the same problem. My current work around is to install goSMS but i still prefer the standard messaging app.

Have any of you experienced this problem?
[Galaxy S III General] dhang:
All,

please let me know what you have , *#1234# gives:

Here is mine:

PDA: I9300XXALF2

PHONE: I19300ZNLE9

CSC: Unknown
[Galaxy S III General] Maniac8888:
Same "problem" here but I've always used Handcent SMS. In my opinion is is far superior to the stock messaging app.
[Galaxy S III General] dhang:
I have solved the problem now. I will post later today the steps to overcome this problem

My phone states the following when i dial *#1234#

AP: I9300XXALF2

CP: I9300XXLF2

CSC: I9300OXAALF2

messaging is working again. Phone is working with China Unicom.

i'll test more later today to see any problems come up
[Galaxy S III General] rayma6a30:
http://flashingdroid.blogspot.hk/2012/06/galaxy-s-iii.html

http://flashingdroid.blogspot.hk/2012/06/galaxy-s-iii-cyanogenmod-9.html

http://flashingdroid.blogspot.hk/2012/06/samsung-galaxy-s-iii-18ghz.html

bring you guys some installation guide for modding the gs3, they're written in Chinese :)
[Galaxy S III General] XIAOSpider:
TOMORROW is my Senior high school entrance examination... I want to achieve my dream and got a BLUE S3 with 32GiB rom...:D:D:D
[Galaxy S III General] Pippo_SHA:
So guys....after fighting with my GS3 China Unicom for the last 2 days I finally was able to falsh it with the actual UK rom.

So what did I do?

First of all I tried to flash the DBT "unbranded German" stock rom which was sucessful...at least for 99%.

Odin failed at the modem.bin.

After a recovery with CF-Root-SGS3-v6.3 I actually was already able to use the Google Market and Gmail etc. but CSC was unknow what actually didnt satisfy me.

So I tried again and again...finally used Odin mobile to flash the actual UK rom and it works!!

AP: I9300XXALF2

CP: I9300XXLF2

CSC: I9300OXAALF2

After typing *#272*my IMEI# ( u will get ur IMEI no. with *#06# )

I changed to DBT...Root it again with CF-Root-SGS3-v6.3 and everything works fine!!

Cheers from Shanghai
[Galaxy S III General] esist:
If what you want is one which is definitely new, and not something dodgy like cheap ones on Taobao, it's cheaper to just buy one from Europe than buy the Mainland version. Especially since it saves the hassle of flashing just for Google apps.

The biggest retailers usually won't ship outside the EU (Amazon etc.) but there are still plenty of reputable ones which will. I used unlocked-mobiles.com. GBP£436 including postage, brand new, fully sealed with full warranty. There's always the risk you get caught by customs and have to pay VAT (17%) but even then its only slightly more than a domestic one, and the risk of paying VAT is very low (overseas Taobao sellers estimate it as lower than 1-in-10 chance)

Only downside is you can't claim the EU warranty from Samsung China (but it is a two-year one, unlike the Chinese one-year one).

There's sellers on Taobao that will post international ones directly from Europe, but I'm always hesitant to buy expensive electronics from Taobao. My friend bought a "sealed" Galaxy Tab on Tmall and it had fingerprints already on the screen. And Tmall is supposed to be the most secure.
[Galaxy S III General] XIAOSpider:
YEAH. There are some 32GB BLUE Asian version on TAOBAO.It costs CNY 4100.
[Galaxy S III General] Markaine:
Hello guys!

I have the same problem that many of you seem to have. The difference for me is that I have a China Mobile SGS3. I've tried all the guides and posts here on the forum to get the same kind of "software" as nordic (Swedish) phones have but so far I've failed each time.

I'm pretty new to all this so I'm asking you all for help.

I've tried to install nordic and Swedish things that are listed here:

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1671969

I can "unroot" it, no problem. But I still don't have Google Play and the likes nor Swedish & English languages. I'm starting to lose faith and feel stupid for buying this phone in China before I left.

Can anyone please offer me some advice?

When I boot my phone and unroot it the bar in Odin is yellow, not light blue as it is in most guides, but it can unroot it no problem. Though that doesn't actually change anything on the phone. But as soon as I try to install the things listed in the link above it just fails.

Is there anything else I can try? Or any advice you guys can offer?
[Galaxy S III General] aZooZa:
I'd follow dhang's post above (#51) to the letter, and get the UK system installed first. If that works OK, then try the Swedish stuff.
[Galaxy S III General] Maniac8888:
The China Mobile SG3 is totally different than the China Unicom unit. China Mobile uses TD-SCDMA for 3G and China Unicom uses WCDMA. Two totally different standards and handsets. The firmware is different for both. I don't know for sure, but I don't think you can flash WCDMA firmware on a TD-SCDMA device.
[Galaxy S III General] esist:
They're not totally different. They're not as different as the US models are since they use the same processor. AFAIK the only difference is the radio. They're sufficiently similar that trying shouldn't do any harm, even if the image doesn't work. Course it could just brick it, though with Samsung phones' tendency to be unbrickable...

I'd say the best chance of working is flashing a i9300 image, with a modem for i9308. This might work.
[Galaxy S III General] Markaine:
Yes, it seems China Mobile is different from the others, and I can't access the Chinese ROM that the poster above said I should download. I don't know what TD-SCDMA actually is, but WCDMA is a setting you can choose for mobile network on the phone right? That and GSM?

---------- Post added at 08:33 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:26 AM ----------

So far I haven't broken anything, but I haven't been able to actually fix anything either. When I look under "about device" it says GT-I9300. How exactly do I try what you just said? More importantly, where do I get the necessary files?

I guess it's not possible to send the phone to some kind of Samsung repair shop and ask them to flash it for me? Without the use of any kind of guarantee of course...
[Galaxy S III General] Maniac8888:
Different in that they have different model numbers. You are probably correct. A modem image for a i9308 should probably work after a i9300 flash. Nothing really to lose by tryiing.
[Galaxy S III General] x11.vip:
你们蛋疼了？
[Galaxy S III General] Jack_Random:
DO NOT EVER flash a FW of a different model... bricks the device, screws it up completely and the phone will be unusable!

I9300 FWa are for I9300, I9308 FWs for I9308 and nothing else...

What you could try is to root phone, get google play store apk from somewhere, and install it using root explorer (or even better a flashable zip). This did not work for my old china bought I9003, had to flash a non chinese FW, but its worth a try and for the moment your only chance... as far as I know i9308 is specific for china unicom market and therefore not be available anywhere else, which means you might be screwed!

(Another thing that might work is going to a china unicom store and ask one of the cracks there to fix your google aps (huge electronic markets usually have a few vendors that are great at getting that stuff sorted out!)

Please correct me if I am wrong, but I have seen many posts of people who had to get a new phone cause they flashed a FW from another model

Info about flashing, rooting as well as a Firmware thread is all available in these forums... search is your friend

For example:

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1646610 < FW info, download links as well as flashing guides and feedback...
[Galaxy S III General] XIAOSpider:
administrators, the rule is English only.
[Galaxy S III General] Maniac8888:
Actually, the i9308 is for China Mobile, the i9300 for China Unicom.
[Galaxy S III General] darshanmatharu:
Does China has original Samsung s3 or its Chinese use and through ones.
[Galaxy S III General] Jack_Random:
My bad, sorry, my point still stands though

of course they have original ones! Also the other model, the i9308 is an original s3 from samsung but for china mobile only cause it has a different radio
[Galaxy S III General] esist:
Since you asked: you're wrong :p. I know its been pointed out, but just pointing out why it should still work.

That's assuming that just because the model number is different, the underlying hardware is sufficiently different to not work. This is not the case.

Just look at the S II forums, and all the people who flash i9100 ROMs over Korean variants. My roommate has done just that and has no problems. The Korean variants also have different model numbers (SGH something...).

Also, the reason installing the Play Store as you described didn't work for you (and won't work) is because it needs the underlying Google apps framework to be installed as well.

A Samsung service centre might help you flash one regions i9300 over another (if its unlocked) but I strongly doubt they'd help you flash over what they technically classify as a different model.

Use ODIN to flash (guides around for that, but its very simple to be honest). To get the firmware you want I would use CheckFUS. There are links on the forums to file hosting services but they are always limited in download speed, and the exact firmware you want might not have been uploaded by someone.

CheckFUS will download it directly from Samsung, so you can pick whatever you want, and its not limited in speed.

Download and flash the i9300 you want. Then download an i9308 image and just flash the modem.

Though I have to say, if you were going to buy a phone in China just before you left (back to Sweden I presume?) you should have bought the China Unicom version. CU uses the same 3G as Europe. CM uses the same 3G as... well nowhere that I know of. :o You could always see if anyone has a CU unit and wants to swap for a CM one.

If all else fails and you just want Swedish (Google Apps can be flashed separately if needed) MoreLocale 2 should do it (can be downloaded from Play store, but I'm sure you can find it elsewhere since its free). Most Samsung ROMs have all languages built in, but the menu only lets you select the languages for the intended region of sale. I have a UK/Ireland generic i9300, it doesn't have Chinese/Japanese/Hebrew/etc. as an option but all will work perfectly if I use MoreLocale 2 to change it.
[Galaxy S III General] darshanmatharu:
Ok thanks
[Galaxy S III General] Jack_Random:
good to know and thx for pointing that one out

Yes, but if you are lucky the google framework is in there... happened before I am told. all I am saying is... worth a try!