yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] MemoryController:
I dont think you can do that as it would be stupid from samny's side but try(after taking an efs backup). AFAIK no negatives except that some providers will block this IMEI
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] sparkyuiop:
I have dumped the efs of the default Samsung and will compare the hex in hex workshop against the original dump. I'm guessing the main file here being the nv_data_bin.

While it is good news for my customer that this ex-stolen phone now works on Vodafone I don't think it is very responsible of Vodafone to allow default IMEI numbers to connect to their network. If I had my phone stolen I wouldn't like to think that the thief could potentially use it again.
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] MemoryController:
Yes mine too was allowed on Vodafone after getting the dummy IMEI
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] sparkyuiop:
I remember reading some time ago that although illegal in allot of country's if you were able to change a phones IMEI number so as to connect to a network it would still not be a worthwhile effort as if the fake IMEI was the same as that on another phone you would get the other phones text messages and calls mixed up with yours.

I always had doubts about that as it made more sense that calls and texts would be sent to the phone broadcasting the correct SIM number ID. But I was assured by people much more experienced in this stuff than I that the IMEI was a more secure method of ID'ing the correct device to send secure DATA to.

So if this is true, surely that would mean I am the only person on the planet using the default Samsung IMEI number as I have had no odd text messages or phone calls since I got this phone. (I am now the owner as I swapped it for an 8GB iPod Touch!)

Anyone can un-confuse me here!
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] the donkey:
imei change

hi im a noob did u yave any luck with the chang of inei? i have a phone that i thot i lost over 2 years ago but its been blocked i tried all the things u said the imei changed but still wont let the o2 card register on the network any more help you could offer? its a samsung galaxy s2 it is locked to the 3 network i have rooted it :confused:
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] sparkyuiop:
As far as I know the default Samsung IMEI number will only work on the Vodafone network. If you have rooted your S2 then there is an app in the Google Play store that will unlock your phone to all networks. Search for 'Samsung Unlock' and you will find it. If not there are plenty of ways to unlock it for free that you can find here on XDA.

I'm pretty sure you won't get it working on any other network without changing the IMEI which is incredibly difficult, not worth the cost of the equipment you would need and of course illegal in most country's carrying a very real prison sentence. XDA and other cell phone development communities will rightly not tolerate IMEI changing discussions and almost always permanently ban members should they attempt it so that is as much as I will discuss that!

Another thing I found recently was a company offering to 'De-Blacklist' phones to certain networks that were on the UK blacklist. At first I thought this must be illegal as if it wasn't it would make a mockery of the entire blacklisting principle, i.e prevention of crime. However more and more companies are offering this service and nothing seems to be preventing any of them from doing so. There are two UK based phone unlocking / modding businesses with a huge reputation online that are also doing it now too.

If anyone knows what that is about please enlighten me. No amount of probing I did had any of the companies reveal any of the methods to me!

I had an iPhone 4 that was IMEI blocked (found in a skip by a charity shop - checkmend reported not stolen) de-barred to 'EE / Orange' 5 days after paying about £50 to http://www.beijingiphonerepair.com/store/#!/~/category/id=4425106&offset=0&sort=normal
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Deadeye74:
IMEI

If you were not cautious enough and you did not saved your efs directory before you made changes or ROM updates to your phone, then its possible that your phone "forget" your IMEI. So if you need to re-write your ORIGINAL IMEI back to that phone that its belong to, then its not a crime!!! There is an online program that can do that for around 4 EUR, 5-6 USD. If you are a half experienced browser user, you can find it by searching the keywords.

Although there is an easier way that you go to your provider and ask them to restore your phone IMEI, they can do that for you. If your wise enough, you put back your Original ROM, and zero the counter of ROM changes. As here in XDA you can find these methodes I wont give you any links, you can find it by yourself.

So, changing the IMEI is illegal in many countries but put back the original IMEI to the phone where it belongs is not!

UFF
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] sheffieldlad:
To the OP.

Did you experience loss of functionality at all?

Someone i know followed what you did on a barred s2.

It now connects to virgins network but she can no longer switch on Bluetooth.

It tries to start then Bluetooth flicks over to off again.

Looking in phone details reveal that Bluetooth address is listed as unavailable.

Everything else seems to work fine.
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] sheffieldlad:
Quick update, my friend tells me virgin seems to have blocked the imei now.
[Thunderbolt Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] schwab16:
Okay I have a few ideas about getting a discounted phone and keeping unlimited data. First off my line is available for an upgrade this November, and another member of my family has an upgrade now, they do not have a smartphone now but will be getting a smartphone with 2gb data. So my first idea is once they get there upgrade, wait until mine is available and then transfer it to their line and have them upgrade again, and then I take that phone and put my sim card into it. Now I'm not sure, but I think the problem with that is when transferring my upgrade and having someone use it, will extend my contract and bump me to tired data, which I can't have happen. So if any of you have tried this method and had success I would really appreciate if you could tell me exactly how you did it.

The other method I read about was having a rep transfer the unlimited data plan to a tired data plan within the family and transferring the tired to the used to be unlimited, and then upgrading with tired data, and then switching the respective data plans back and maintaining unlimited data.

Again if anyone has had any luck with any of these ideas, or were able to keep your unlimited and get a subsidized phone another way, I would really appreciate it if you could leave a detailed response.

Thanks!!
[Thunderbolt Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] lukesed:
You can use the other person's upgrade no problem, but if anyone uses yours, you will need a new contract and lose unlimited. I don't know about the more complex tiered data switching scheme... sounds like something that might work if the reps were feeling very charitable.
[Thunderbolt Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] OffcerClancy:
Friend, just go to Gazelle and get a nice used phone for a couple hundred bucks and call it a day.
[Thunderbolt Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] BoulderGeek:
nevermind
[Thunderbolt Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] geoff5093:
You can use another family members upgrade by swapping phones after they upgrade, but you can't give your upgrade to someone else without losing unlimited. So either you convince your family member to give them your upgrade and you give them your old phone, you don't have many other options.
[Thunderbolt Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] schwab16:
Thanks everyone. It sucks Verizon is doing this to its grandfathered users, but I guess I will just have to keep using the Thunderbolt until I have enough to buy a phone of contract.
[Thunderbolt Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] heath2805:
Hell yeah, I used 8 gb last month w/ wifi tether...not giving that up for no one lol
[Thunderbolt Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] geoff5093:
The funny thing is, I typically use around 3GB per month, even when I tether. I just hate the idea of always checking how much data I used to ensure that I don't go over!
[Thunderbolt Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] arrghushakaboorga:
I'm kind of in the same boat. I am pretty much always on wifi now because I work from home, but I don't want to lose unlimited data in case I ever feel like using more data again. Been considering making a switch over to T-Mobile next time I feel like upgrading.
[Thunderbolt Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] geoff5093:
I would love to switch to T-Mobile, but I'm about 15 minutes from the city so I only get 2G here, and I could never live with that. If you do go T-Mobile, I'd check out either the $30/mo. for 100 minutes with unlimited text and data, or the $50 unlimited everything.
[Thunderbolt Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Gnoop:
I'm contemplating checking their service out. $50 unlimited everything works well for me since I do make fair use of minutes at times (mostly work-related). If their service in my area is good, I could see getting the Note 2 from them rather than buy it unsubsidized from Verizon.
[Thunderbolt Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] johnchad14:
Regarding the earlier comment about giving your upgrade to someone else, have you verified this? I had read through the grapevine an ok workaround was to transfer your upgrade to another line, use it, then activate it on your line again to bypass all the stuff. Just don't want to try the wrong thing when the time comes and get spanked for it hah.
[Thunderbolt Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] binkies:
If memory serves me correct it will lock you in for a 2 year contract so you would end up paying for 2 separate lines that way but I am not totally sure there.
[Thunderbolt Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] johnchad14:
Oh, we have the lines. And dumbphones on them that are used (grandparents on jitterbug like phones...heh) I know I can get away with upgrading one of those lines, then activating it on mine. I was just hoping someone had tried transferring the upgrade from smartphone to another line, upgrading, then activating back on real line. In essence, still using your own upgrading and just subverting contractual stuff by doing all the action on another line.
[Thunderbolt Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] dontsayeta:
You should check out the T-mobile thread in the Galaxy S3 section before switching. There are a lot of comments regarding the poor quality of service.
[Thunderbolt Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] binkies:
Think that has to do with the Samsung radio gripe which is really hit and miss but can be a problem. My mom has a g nex that gets a little flaky at times at home because of it. Before I put the update on it basically it was a coaster in my hosue
[Thunderbolt Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Gnoop:
I'll need to take a look at that and Note 2 discussion on T-Mobile. My area is possibly iffy for T-Mobile, which is why I'm concerned. AT&T was historically a problem. Verizon has had the best coverage at home so I'm reluctant to move away from them.
[Samsung Epic 4G Touch] mewikime:
I've had my E4GT for about 2 or 3 weeks now, I received the OTA update to FI27 last week, and overall I'm pretty happy with it (I was happy before the update though, but to be honest because I only had the phone a few days I haven't noticed a difference ).

I rooted my last phone, which was a Virgin Mobile LG Optimus V, but that was because Virgin loaded it with a bunch of bloatware and there was a very good ROM that removed all of it, improved battery life, etc etc.

But with this phone, I don't find I have any issues with battery life, I have plenty of space on my phone with way more apps installed than I had on the Optimus, it runs smoothly, and the only complaint I have is that my LED notification light isn't working correctly, which I know can be fixed with an app.

So, to all the people that have rooted and know what else this phone can do, is there a good reason other than "you can install lots of different custom roms" that I should root my phone? What else will I be able to do with it? What benefits will I see? Installing different ROMs doesn't mean much to me. Even though I did that on my old phone, there was a real reason to do it: I could install more than 4 apps on it (and I kept that same ROM on it the entire time). I don't have that issue with this phone, so why should I?

Thanks
[Samsung Epic 4G Touch] someguyatx:
I personally consider customization, removing bloatware, and tweaking to your own liking genuine and legitimate reasons. You also have Ad blocking & WiFi tether though.
[Samsung Epic 4G Touch] BluesRulez:
You shouldn't if you are happy with it.

I rooted for those reasons..

-Tired of stock look. Install new roms.

-Use apps needing root like titaniun backup.

-Get rid of stock apps.

I didnt root for almost 2 months. I was eager to try ics leaks before ota so I eventually rooted.
[Samsung Epic 4G Touch] mewikime:
Well this is what I don't really understand. What sort of customization and tweaking can be done to the phone? What are the effects of it?

Don't you really only need Titanium Backup if you are gonna be rooting though? The bloatware I can deal with as the phone hasn't (yet) told me that I don't have enough space to stop me from installing new apps.
[Samsung Epic 4G Touch] leaderbuilder:
There is no reason for you to root. You are happy that's good.

XDA's 4,697,117+ Members are just nuts. We're unhappy with our stuff and insist on making it less useful to us.

Nothing to see here....

Seriously if you need to ask and don't want to investigate for yourself then rooting and certainly these forums are not for you.
[Samsung Epic 4G Touch] hrffd:
I root because

- Hate Touchwiz look

- Customization

- Themes

- Battery Saving options

- AOSP (AOKP)

- JELLYBEAN

- Better reception and data
[Samsung Epic 4G Touch] patrao_n:
You may be happy with bloat. I do not want battery resources going to apps I will never open. I like battery life. I like optimization. I like customization. If you don't see a need then don't do it. But if your phone ever drowns don't complain that you lost all your game data or texts and stuff. With titanium backup I can even set a schedule to back up those items for me at whatever time to my sd card. So if my phone drowns I pop my as card into my new phone and its all there. Also make nandroids when I receive my replacement its like my phone never died. Its all exactly how I had it.

sent from my BAD A$$ Epic touch
[Samsung Epic 4G Touch] Omar04:
I run stock 90% of the time.

My main reason to root at least after FF18

-Tethering

-Tethering nothing more

I said after FF18 because on Gingerbread there's no need to root for tethering thanks to FoxFi but since ICS, Sprint block it and they are working on a new version for ICS when they found a way again I'm back to Stock.
[Samsung Epic 4G Touch] jpkelly05:
Do what you want!

That is what is most important.

If there was any legitimate reason, it would be because you want to.

Otherwise you are just following what someone else says. Of course, there are very good reasons for both. The one thing I am told a lot by people on the other end of the phone conversation consistently, is that there seems to be feedback and they hear themselves a lot(- since I started Modding). What do I care, I hear everyone just fine. But I do care. I use my phone for work a lot. NOW, someone else is going to post after this that you can play with modems and what not to clear this up... which is true. And also you can reflash and do this & do that. What if the person using the phone just wants simplicity.... stay stock! Do not pass go. It takes tweeking, fine adjustments, research and ROM updates(The almighty Search box on XDA is awesome) and time to figure some of this stuff out. And ALSO it doesn't hurt to have an interest in android, Apps, ROMs and so on and so on.
[Samsung Epic 4G Touch] byrdcfmma:
Sometimes either the manufacturer or the carrier sends out updates that just don't work well. I like having the ability to keep it working properly, not working the way Sprint thinks is best for me.

You have only had your phone for a month. I have had mine for about a year, and others here have had it longer. If you are trying to convince us not to root, you should spend your time on the Sprint message boards instead of here.
[Samsung Epic 4G Touch] bricker1:
Your happy that's what matters. Your choice

Sent from my HTCEVOV4G using Xparent SkyBlue Tapatalk 2
[Samsung Epic 4G Touch] Imaginos:
It comes down to personal choice. Android is customizable right out of the box. It is even more so once you root and get under the hood.
[Samsung Epic 4G Touch] mjs2011:
Agreed with all that say it's your choice. Also your habits are very important. One of the reasons why I love Android is that I can literally change my software whenever I want. I was running AOKP 2 days ago, M'ICS the day after. Now today I'm on stock rooted FI27.

Honestly though, this phone is really good out of the box. I had the LG Optimus V for over a year as well, and the only way to get that phone to perform was to root it and put a custom ROM on it. It was actually a great phone for being low end. I had said that when I upgraded to this phone that I wouldn't root it, but that didn't last long. Really though, you can easily get the performance you're looking for on this phone without rooting it.
[Samsung Epic 4G Touch] m4xwellmurd3r:
I rooted for UV/OC ability.

And I really didn't like touchwiz, but I accidentally found that it comes stock with both the ICS launcher and TW launchers, so that was a plus.

I'm on a stock rom running agat's source 6.5 kernel. Runs great. Only thing better would be if I could find an optimized stock rom (much like Sprint Lovers on the OG Evo 4G.)
[Samsung Epic 4G Touch] Mattix724:
I'm rooted because I like to tell my devices what to do.

I guess rooting might make more sense if you've ever been an administrator or if you've ever ran any Linux machine.
[Samsung Epic 4G Touch] kingsway8605:
Tethering and titanium backup. There is no way to truly backup data without root and on something as accident prone as a smartphone that's a necessity.
[Samsung Epic 4G Touch] RainMotorsports:
You can't reliably backup say your angry bird progress without TiBu or the like and being rooted. Sure for this specific series of apps there have been applications made to back up the save progress but they have proven often at times to be unreliable.

Maybe your favorite app gets pulled from the market, lets say flash. Too bad you didn't back up the APK. Of course for flash you can download the apk from adobe still so not a great example but you get the idea.

But overall something like Titanium Backup comes in handy if you ever need to format the phone. Like say the OTA to ICS, problems for unrooted users were easily solved by a factory reset (except for that brick bug triggered by factory reset...). Nice to be able to restore all your user apps with all their settings and save data.

I rooted so I could use a PS3 controller back on gingerbread. As time goes on many things that required root like taking screenshots have become officially available in Android or OEM firmware. Question is you want to be able to do completely normal and reasonable things up to a couple years ahead of Google catching up? Surely if someone locked down your windows PC so you couldn't do things you take for granted you would wish for root access.
[Samsung Epic 4G Touch] carole6m:
I waited about 5 months before I finally rooted my phone. My old phone was rooted and I liked CM7 and MIUI but with stock ICS on this phone I was getting amazing battery life and I was using GO Launcher and it looked great. The only thing I hated was the black status bar and it could only be changed if it was rooted.

There are a lot of roms for our phone but I really missed the CM7 rom I had on the old optimus S. It supported status bar transparency and I could change the color of the status bar and status bar text. It looks like no rom for our phone has that feature. Right now I'm on MIUI which has a great looking UI but battery life isn't nearly as good as the unrooted FH13. I get the best battery life with CM9 which is still a lot less than before when it wasn't rooted. My phone used to last around 60 hours with very light use and now I could only get around 48 hours with CM9 and maybe 30 hours with MIUI. But I'm still happy with it since I get tons of beautiful themes and new features and I like to try new roms and it keeps me busy lol.
[Samsung Epic 4G Touch] miketucky350:
Rooting allows you to have full control of the device whether its software or hardware. I agree that this phone is just fine stock. It just works and its fast.

Reasons why I'm rooted

Titanium backup, roam control, extended toggles, root explorer to push custom themed apps to /system/app. When rooted you can do almost anything with your phone that comes to your mind. There's a pic of the super super handy extended toggles that I can't live with out.
[Samsung Epic 4G Touch] mewikime:
I wasn't trying to imply that anyone who has rooted this phone is nuts, you shouldn't have done it, and that it's less useful. I was asking what are some specific advantages to rooting, how does rooting make it more useful, as at the moment I have had no issues with the operation of the phone, but I don't know the full extent of what it can do when rooted, and I thought that these forums would be the place to get such answers from experienced rooted users who have had their phones for a year and know more than I do. I should have worded my initial question differently to explain that better. :o

This is interesting to know. At home I get 1 bar of reception if I'm lucky, dropped calls, and no 3G data. I had to ask Sprint for an Airave. When I leave my street but am still in the general neighbourhood I get no service again. Is reception improved by root-only apps or certain ROMs?

Thanks for telling me that. It's not that I'm happy with them, I just haven't yet had my phone tell me I can't install a new app. When that happens no doubt I wouldn't be pleased. I assumed that because I hadn't opened the bloatware apps that they weren't using battery resources so it's good to know that they do, and that this is a good reason for rooting and removing them. Your reasons for using Titanium backup were something I hadn't thought of as well.

Again, good to know. As I said, I've had the phone a couple of weeks and only now with a lower workload have I really had time to sit and contemplate what to do with my phone, and look into what it does and what it can do. I have the paid EasyTether app but I haven't used it on this phone yet. I also saw that it comes preloaded with Sprint Hotspot app.. I take it then that EasyTether won't work on this phone with current stock setup?

I think if I did root, I'd do what I did with the OV and stick with the same ROM for a good time. Again, not to insult those that do (see above reply), but I don't think I'd have the balls to run different roms on a daily basis in fear of bricking it and also because once I've found something I'm happy with I'm usually okay not to look any further! :o

Yeah, no. No Linux experience here except for a tiny bit of stuff on my seedbox, installing 7zip and using Putty to unzip iso's and stuff.

I'm going to spend the next couple of days reading the various forums, looking at what ROMs are available, what they do, etc etc, checking out what apps that require root access I'm missing out on.. one has piqued my interest already: Root Call Blocker. But I use my phone to make calls, make texts, check emails, surf the web a bit, and let the kids play a few games on it. So this is why I was wondering if there were any other benefits for me to do this.
[Samsung Epic 4G Touch] mjs2011:
mewikime, if you're looking to stay very close to stock, but with some tweaks to enhance your battery life, maybe check out Dan's lightweight ROM. It even has a couple of flashable themes if you'd like to change your phone's look every once in a while.