yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Galaxy Note 3 General] dovid:
CSC file name - SGS4 - LTA

Don't forget, this is the Samsung Galaxy S4 - I just posted in this forum because I was confirming what the previous gentleman from CLOVE was stating - that Samsung will be rolling out this "upgrade" on other devices.

It's here!

Here is the CSC (Again, from SGS4):

AP: i9500UBUBMG9

CP: i9500UBUBMG9

CSC: i9500UUBBMG9

The customer file on this SGS4 is in XML. Excuse me for not quite knowing how to parse properly.

<CSCEdition>ED005</CSCEdition>

<Country>TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO</Country>

<Settings>

- <Main>

- <Security>

<NbNetworkLock>20</NbNetworkLock>

<NetworkLock>460BB</NetworkLock>

<NetworkLock>250BB</NetworkLock>

<NetworkLock>255BB</NetworkLock>

<NetworkLock>502BB</NetworkLock>

<NetworkLock>510BB</NetworkLock>

<NetworkLock>401BB</NetworkLock>

<NetworkLock>525BB</NetworkLock>

<NetworkLock>452BB</NetworkLock>

<NetworkLock>505BB</NetworkLock>

<NetworkLock>515BB</NetworkLock>

<NetworkLock>470BB</NetworkLock>

<NetworkLock>404BB</NetworkLock>

<NetworkLock>405BB</NetworkLock>

<NetworkLock>603BB</NetworkLock>

<NetworkLock>602BB</NetworkLock>

<NetworkLock>432BB</NetworkLock>

<NetworkLock>604BB</NetworkLock>

<NetworkLock>416BB</NetworkLock>

<NetworkLock>424BB</NetworkLock>

<NetworkLock>425BB</NetworkLock>
[Galaxy Note 3 General] Dumbo53:
Gray market problem = cover story

Local activation = disinformation

Collusion & kickbacks = sop

(standard operating procedure)

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317
[Galaxy Note 3 General] s2kdriver80:
Perhaps you can compare the new xml file to an older Galaxy S4 xml file to see the differences, then delete the restricted network blacklist tags. Let's hope it's that simple.
[Galaxy Note 3 General] Onweel2:
Yes, I know the way to unlock it. I even can buy the code from the website.

What i try to fight now is....i try to find the truth. and i want to catch the lie. and want The Samsung know that not everybody stupid as they think. even they would not care me because I'm just normal guy.

Also now we can see a lot of website that we read or I ever trust or i ever feel they have some dignity. Now they don't. This story is proof that many of them just not care about reader. They act like PR from the company. So we can not believe what they say any more in the future.
[Galaxy Note 3 General] Compass Linux:
Sammy caught lying twice in a row

This is the second lie in a row from Sammy.

First this region lock fiasco and the fake benchmarks.

I guess Sammy wants on purpose to lose its market share. Other manufacturers certainly won't complain, as it is likely to drive customers to them with zero cost. :good:

Compass Linux.
[Galaxy Note 3 General] BullHorn7:
It is time for a class-action lawsuit. Why are we even wasting time on this crap?

You can't sell an 'unlocked' 'international' 'sim-free' phone while it's neither unlocked, international or sim-free!
[Galaxy Note 3 General] DMax99:
Because it says unlocked and I'm hoping the aussie version don't have the dodgy region lock thing. We'll find out today as they said the stocks should be available today
[Galaxy Note 3 General] sharl1987:
well, depends on your carrier, if its frequency bands are the same as the european version that you got, data should work?
[Galaxy Note 3 General] Onepagebook:
Bud, are you in Ohio?

I think I have teh same at&t as yours. now I just figured it out that only when I set the network preference to "GMS" only, it will work as "E" for data. other than that, no connection.
[Galaxy Note 3 General] wfire:
FGS Trading

Okay, I'm not related to this company at all, but I've bought about 20 different Samsung devices from them, through Amazon, in the past 4 years. I've always had reliable service from them. I buy from them because I don't want carrier bloat (although now with T-Mobile it seems they are adding very little bloat, so I may buy T-Mobile now to get the extra bands.)

But here is the response from them, just in case anyone is interested:

Here is their link on Amazon (US) in case anyone wants it:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aag/main/ref=olp_merch_name_3?seller=A1QPS08K9FKKNF

I also see that the N9000 and N9005 are now both on Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00F5PGBEE/

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00F0FVKN6/

Although I do not see any sign of an N900 yet.
[Galaxy Note 3 General] dxzh:
That is good to know as the region lock roll-out is due to be imposed on most Samsung phones which upgrade with official updates, whether an existing GS3/4, Note II/3 or presumably a new premium Samsung F. It will be relevant to many, come what may.

On your GS4:

- you can parse CSC UUBBMG9 file name as UUB -Trinidad & Tobago; B - [do not know but guess B for "Blocked"]; M - 2013; G - July; 9 - version 9,

- the MCC block list on it has 20 MCCs, all of which MCCs are on the European region lock lists posted earlier in the thread:

460 China

250 Russian Federation

255 Ukraine

502 Malaysia

510 Indonesia

401 Kazakhstan

525 Singapore

452 Vietnam

505 Australia

515 Philippines

470 Bangladesh

404 India

405 India

603 Algeria

602 Egypt

432 Iran

604 Morocco

416 Jordan

424 United Arab Emirates

425 Israel

Indeed,

the MCCs blocked match exactly the first 20 of the MCCs blocked on the OXXBMH1 European region locked Note 3

posted at http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=46089580&postcount=762 (omitting the Middle Eastern and African ones it seems).

I would encourage anyone who has, whether

SUCCESSFULLY or unsuccessfully

, used their Note 3 with a SIM issued by a carrier from one of these countries (such as India or UAE) to post their CSC file name and MCC block list particularly if different to ones already posted as it might (do not know for sure) help highlight particular CSCs which are less restrictive in some way. Similarly anyone with a new GS4 with a region lock sticker.

To help I suggest:

To find CSC file name, dial *#1234# into your stock telephone dialler.

To find MCC blocklist in your Note 3, use a file manager app like ES file explorer to look at the file /system/csc/customer.xml and then look for the lines starting:

<Settings>

- <Main>

- <Security>

<NbNetworkLock>20</NbNetworkLock>

<NetworkLock>460BB</NetworkLock>

"NbNetworkLock" seems to be the number of Mobile Country Codes (MCCs) blocked on your phone.

Each "NetworkLock" below it consists of a MCC of three digits and a Mobile Network Code (MCN) with two letters "BB". As "BB" is a wildcard it seems to be treated as all networks operating in that MCC. This means that "460BB" is all the networks with a country code of 460 (ie Russia).

We have not seen any examples straying away from this format yet, but who knows if there might be some changes to allow individual MCNs to side-step a general block on their MCC. Perhaps CSCs for US carriers will show a different region lock pattern or have no such region locks at all. Crowd sourcing this information from those who have used their phone with SIMs from outside the region whether successfully or not may help show the extent of the issue given Samsung are not speaking up.

Perhaps may collate and put this on a spreadsheet and post it at some point too.
[Galaxy Note 3 General] BullHorn7:
Guys, Samsung doesn't care about XDA or their customers.

Do you know what Samsung cares about? MONEY.

So hit them WHERE IT HURTS! Go to websites that actually sell the phones, a la Amazon.com and write a 1-star NEGATIVE review.

Where else can I trash talk apart from Amazon? Just name it and I'll be there.
[Galaxy Note 3 General] maidangisme:
uhm, I surprised Samsung still keep their mouth shut.

-Samsung is good phones but after sale service is sh*t.
[Galaxy Note 3 General] sharl1987:
I have a European s3 and it works just fine on AT&T. What bands does your note 3 support for 3G?
[Galaxy Note 3 General] Ultimate Chicken:
Keeping their mouths shut at this time is a good idea.

Ask Apple Maps and Microsoft about their WP Phone upgrade, or heck the guys behind the DMCA. The correct procedure is to reign in your marketing folk and hope that the rage goes away, because with this level of anti-consumer plotting that's the best they can do. Marketing crap inflames consumers especially when the lines used have been proven to be LIES.

Looks like my trusty S2 will be the last Sammy I get. It's lasted long enough and I guess there is a silver lining to 4.1.2 being the very last stock I can get
[Galaxy Note 3 General] dglx:
It seems that the mere presence of applicable NetworkLock entries in customer.xml is not a sufficient condition for a network lock to actually be enforced.

I checked my Galaxy S4 purchased in May which had received an OTA firmware update about two or three weeks ago. CSC of the phone is I905AUTDMI1. The customer.xml file contains the following list of network locks. Whether these were added with the recent OTA update or have been part of the CSC from the start I do not know. Since the list contains an entry for MCC 515, I checked whether the phone still accepts a SMART Communications SIM as it did prior to the firmware update. A SMART SIM continues to work, so maybe there is at least partial truth to Samsung's claims.

<Settings>

<Main>

<Security>

<NbNetworkLock>38</NbNetworkLock>

<NetworkLock>460BB</NetworkLock>

<NetworkLock>250BB</NetworkLock>

<NetworkLock>255BB</NetworkLock>

<NetworkLock>502BB</NetworkLock>

<NetworkLock>510BB</NetworkLock>

<NetworkLock>401BB</NetworkLock>

<NetworkLock>525BB</NetworkLock>

<NetworkLock>452BB</NetworkLock>

<NetworkLock>505BB</NetworkLock>

<NetworkLock>515BB</NetworkLock>

<NetworkLock>470BB</NetworkLock>

<NetworkLock>404BB</NetworkLock>

<NetworkLock>405BB</NetworkLock>

<NetworkLock>603BB</NetworkLock>

<NetworkLock>602BB</NetworkLock>

<NetworkLock>432BB</NetworkLock>

<NetworkLock>604BB</NetworkLock>

<NetworkLock>416BB</NetworkLock>

<NetworkLock>424BB</NetworkLock>

<NetworkLock>425BB</NetworkLock>

<NetworkLock>724BB</NetworkLock>

<NetworkLock>370BB</NetworkLock>

<NetworkLock>338BB</NetworkLock>

<NetworkLock>374BB</NetworkLock>

<NetworkLock>706BB</NetworkLock>

<NetworkLock>734BB</NetworkLock>

<NetworkLock>714BB</NetworkLock>

<NetworkLock>712BB</NetworkLock>

<NetworkLock>740BB</NetworkLock>

<NetworkLock>704BB</NetworkLock>

<NetworkLock>708BB</NetworkLock>

<NetworkLock>710BB</NetworkLock>

<NetworkLock>744BB</NetworkLock>

<NetworkLock>748BB</NetworkLock>

<NetworkLock>736BB</NetworkLock>

<NetworkLock>621BB</NetworkLock>

<NetworkLock>620BB</NetworkLock>

<NetworkLock>639BB</NetworkLock>

</Security>

<Network>
[Galaxy Note 3 General] Ev0d3vil:
So guys, this sim lock issue is still not solved? Even when using a unlocked sim in the correct region to unlock it?
[Galaxy Note 3 General] bubblesmoney:
i tweeted that to samsung mobile Uk so that anyone following them on twitter sees the tweet https://twitter.com/bubblesmoney/status/385710850876514304 hope many retweet it just so that there is more awareness that big companies that have existed for a long while in the phone selling business have stopped global sales / delveries of this phone due to region lock issue affecting their customers and even them as even their phone hasnt been unlocked during travel abroad.
[Galaxy Note 3 General] bogdan1980:
Yesterday my cousin came in România from China. He bought there an note 3, activated with China sim.

Back in România, can't activate, sim locked on Vodafone ro, digi ro, Orange ro
[Galaxy Note 3 General] dionysos77:
I prepared a tweet as

"#samsung put #sim_restriction #regional_lock on #galaxy #note3 #n9000 #n9005 devices.Do NOT BUY"

You can find my tweet by searching #sim_restriction or #regional_lock" and support the tags.
[Galaxy Note 3 General] alom5:
I'm not sure what you mean here mate. Do you mean he can use it on Vodafone, orange and digi or that he can't use it on these network and it only seems to be working with the Chinese sim? Please clarify. Thanks
[Galaxy Note 3 General] dionysos77:
I prepared a tweet as

"#samsung put #sim_restriction #regional_lock on #galaxy #note3 #n9000 #n9005 devices.Do NOT BUY"

You can find my tweet by searching #sim_restriction or #regional_lock" and support the tags. you can forward my tweet to other samsung twitter accounts.
[Galaxy Note 3 General] saziz77:
I just want to highlight something very strange I noticed from the sticker written in Arabic above; it's translation says exactly in the bottom line "This device might not work if you used a SIM card from an operator other than from the above mentioned Countries".

This is very strange that even the post translation is not identical over different languages !!

The case for me guys, even though I don't travel a lot, but I need the 4G model to be available in my area as I am interested in shooting in the 4k mode and the slow motion videos @ 120 frames/sec . these options are only available in the 4G model and it will be a big frustration not to have it
[Galaxy Note 3 General] wimbelgium:
I posted the question about the lock on the Belgian Samsung Facebook page yesterday and they still confirm that the device should work with all simcards once activated with the correct regional sim... Very confusing...
[Galaxy Note 3 General] Onweel2:
please see this....

https://www.facebook.com/samsungmobilebelgium/posts/576449762415446

They just copy and paste.
[Galaxy Note 3 General] dxzh:
Example of inoperative MCC block list following upgrade

Thank you. That is very helpful. I note that the presence is not sufficient condition - it seems important to try and collect and make sense of this, given Samsung currently will not do so in public.

The CSC file I905AUTDMI1 parsed seems to be: I905 (GSIV snapdragon model); AUT (Switzerland); D (unknown variable which is different to "B" seen in some other CSCs where network lock active - not sure of significance); M (2013); I (September); 1 (version 1). This suggests to me that it was pushed out with your update because of the date of the build.

Perhaps this may explain in part Samsung Switzerland's earlier statement on Facebook, and the subsequent retraction of the statement might be because of the lack of uniformity in the application of the MCC block list across CSCs.

You will see that the MCC list of 38 entries is the same as for the European Note 3 with CSC file N9005OXXBMH1 mentioned at http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=46089580&postcount=762. It suggests there will be at least some consistency across different models within a region - though noting that there are at least two very different versions of the MCC block list (one with 38 entries and another with 63 entries) out there currently in the European region.
[Galaxy Note 3 General] onyxogen:
OK, there's a russion website that seems to have a tool that generates a ultimate unlock key. If this tool could be acquired, everyone could generate it's own unlock key. What are the chances that this tool eventually leaks?
[Galaxy Note 3 General] wimbelgium:
Set omptays

Which website ?

Thank you.
[Galaxy Note 3 General] Leo bête à part:
Gray market ???

This is very confusing to me, if Samsung says it wants to fight against gray market, why are they updating models sold already for some time?:confused:

edit : updating and ADD region lock
[Galaxy Note 3 General] raggamuffin:
I was interested I buying a Note 3 from Kogan so sent them an email asking about the Region Lock and this was the response:

Thank you for contacting Kogan.

We can confirm that the Samsung Region SIM Lock will not influence any products you purchase from us.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you require any further assistance.

Kindest regards,
[Galaxy Note 3 General] ArKay74:
Maybe because they are still selling those devices?
[Galaxy Note 3 General] JU83:
I sent a few emails to Kogan too regarding this issue and to see if they could get any more information. I posted links and explained the situation to them. It took 3 emails before I got a response other than our phones are carrier unlocked and can use any sim. I would like to know with confidence that if I fork out 700 dollars on a phone that when and if I travel I can use a local sim card in the region I travel too.

Until reviews and reports say otherwise I am stuck with my Incredible S which is dying fast on me. Heaven forbid I migrate to the A brand.
[Galaxy Note 3 General] htc6500uk:
See the first post in this thread
[Galaxy Note 3 General] iznee:
When dialing *#7465625# I get connection problem or invalid MMI code
[Galaxy Note 3 General] ayjaym:
Unfortunately this dialer code doesn't work on the Note 3 - it did work on my Note N7000. So currently no known way to check lock status on Note 3, unless someone knows the new code.
[Galaxy Note 3 General] Scootmien:
Nor have they phoned me back within answer even though they promised to do so on Monday. It seems they are keeping tight lipped until we get bored and Foxtrot Oscar.

---------- Post added at 05:03 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:38 PM ----------

Carphone Warehouse in the UK have removed every negative review of the device from their website. The only reviews left are those that give a misleading 5 stars out of 5. No reviews mentioning the region lock remain on their pages...
[Galaxy Note 3 General] dxzh:
Thank you for trying at least! I have updated post accordingly - hopefully somebody else may be able to identify correct code to reveal lock status box. It also does not work on GSIV.
[Galaxy Note 3 General] lonelyw:
I called Samsung UK customer service team (+44 330 726 7864), they said if you first activate the phone with a UK sim card the region lock will be deactivated. I followed their instructions , put a UK sim first, placed a call, received a call, and sent an SMS (just to make sure ) the inserted a middle eastern sim card , received the invalid sim message and asks for network pin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I called them back again and told them I'm gonna send you back your region locked phone and you can *** your ***.
[Galaxy Note 3 General] wetsleet:
Just a thought, and I'm not volunteering to pay the return air fare, but might the middle eastern card work in the middle east, so that is is working on a home network?
[Galaxy Note 3 General] dxzh:
For anybody who has successfully unlocked their phone (Note 3 or GSIV) was there any alternative string of characters *#.............*...* suggested to enter before the [8] digit unlock code for your phone. Possibly as a alternative to simply entering the unlock code in the pop up box? A bit of a longshot but if know what combination could be used to enter the lock code via the dialler, then this might possibly give a clue as to what code combination needs to entered to bring up the lock status screen ...
[Galaxy Note 3 General] lonelyw:
Actually they suggested that to me, I said OK if you pay the full cost of a 2 weeks holiday to the middle east plus life insurance !!
[Galaxy Note 3 General] Chalao:
What are the options?

Well, let's face it. We got region-locked devices. Samsung is lying about it straight into our faces. The Unlock-code provided by puman.ru is just temporary for 14 days as it seems.

What are the options?

Would rooting be of any help regarding the region-lock? I read something about Knox which would then disappear but why should we care about that? At this point I should maybe mention that I am absolutely new to Android as I am still using a Nokia N8 with Symbian. So please bear with me, I am eager to get into it :)

What about just waiting a couple of weeks and see what will happen? Samsung has to realise at some point that they are losing tons of customers and profit to their competition which should make them to reverse the region-lock. What do you guys (and girls) think?

Finally, if the two options mentioned above don't work or don't come into being, what else would permanently remove the region-lock (and avoid any firmware upgrades by Samsung at a later moment as they´re doing now with S3, S4 and so on?

Thanks for your thoughts and input!
[Galaxy Note 3 General] rain_cs:
Doesn't matter what S*itsung liars said. They are liars and cheaters, proved a lot of times. Your phone will be locked in region lock (no matter which sim-card you insert first), until you enter requested code. There is no workaround on this moment, only some ulockers sites on the Internet can provide you this code, based on your IMEI. Right now there is absolutely no reason to buy "unlocked" phone, because, in most cases, you receive all unlock codes simultaneously. :cyclops:
[Galaxy Note 3 General] tommy1945:
Bad news!

:crying: I have 2 galaxy smartphones, very satisfied until now. But I wouldn't buy a sim card dependent phone. No way!
[Galaxy Note 3 General] Scootmien:
I agree that waiting for a couple of weeks is probably a good idea. I was hoping to buy the phone before I jetted off to LA for work for a month but I guess I shall just wait until I get back and see the lie of the land then.

It does appear that rooting means a user can remove the blacklist in order to circumvent the region lock. This is only going by threads found on here though. Still very early days so the waiting advocated above is still a very good idea I think.

I honestly don't think Samsung are ever going to backpedal on the region lock. I think it's here to stay whether we like it or not. Again, i'm sure that the people holding off buying one of these devices is not even a blip on their sales sheets for the week so far so I don't think they'll start sweating. They are just keeping their mouths shut until we stop harping on about this and either bend over and let them shaft us or go to the competition. It's despicable for them to do this and although I know it wont affect them, I hope it comes back to bite them severely on the ass.

All of this is just my opinion though so please don't take any of it as gospel.
[Galaxy Note 3 General] Tubgirl:
Rooting will blow the efuse though and you'll void the warranty!

GT-N7100 via Tapatalk 2
[Galaxy Note 3 General] rl421403:
In my opinion, Samsung will impose region lock and other sh*t on all Android phones. Pretty soon.

And they will try to make us buy their Tizen OS phones. They are just creating background right now.
[Galaxy Note 3 General] kersh:
What they are creating is the background for the comeback of HTC or the final rise of xiaomi and LG

Remember when HTC believed they were gods and they could launch a phone every 6 months, lock the bootloaders, don't update so's and lying everywhere.

2 years later they are about to go bankrupt and maybe its too late to change that.

With samsung if XDA doesn't buy more from them, they will lost a lot of sales. Android phones are sell by the geeks first, if the community doesn't work with a brand, they are simply condemned in a no big time frame. We need more competition again
[Galaxy Note 3 General] wetsleet:
People (and no disrespect to you, yours was just the conveneint mention of it...) keep saying that rooting will void the warranty, like it is gospel. This is a thread about the European Note 3 and here in the EU your warranty is nothing to do with Samsung. By law the warranty is the obligation of the retailer who you bought the phone from. And they can not circumvent the law by making their own T&Cs, the law is sovereign over their T&Cs. So then it comes down to whether the failure is related to the rooting. That might be a sticky point, depends what goes wrong. If the screen comes unstuck or the buttons fall off, that is nothing to do with the firmware, so no contest. If the speaker packs up - was it being over-driven due to the introduced firmware? Etc. That will be the issue. But just to say as a blanket statement that rooting the phone voids the warranty must be false.