yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] amfractal:
For people reading this. You cannot go to 4.1.1 after upgrading to 4.3. It will brick your phone. But if you are on 4.1.2 you can go back to 4.1.1, unlock, and then upgrade to 4.3.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] TheStrokerace:
Yes you can. I just did it. Further more, you can not brick an s3.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] amfractal:
You absolutely can brick an S3.

You can downgrade the international version but not the AT&T version. I don't know about the Canadian version.

Here's a thread about this exact problem:

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2537910

People have had some success in debricking (with a lot of things not yet working properly) but no success in going back to 4.1.1.

These threads also mention this:

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2540998

http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=47676128&postcount=124

If you have successfully downgraded an "AT&T" S3 to 4.1.1 after receiving the "official 4.3 OTA" upgrade please do post the solution since it will be useful to a lot of people. Otherwise people will brick their phone for no reason.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] TheStrokerace:
AT&T is the exact same version as the Rogers version. There is nothing special about it. Those that Bricked their phone did something wrong. I can tell you that there is 100% no way of ever bricking any phone. Those that think they can, need to buy a better computer or use the proper cables and programs. Anyone that has what they think is a brick phone, then send it to me. I will gladly take it off your hands. 6 yrs of playing with phones and I have never ever seen a bricked phone yet. Have what appears to be a black screen, doesn't turn on etc. All brought back to live with a simple install. People have to understand that what they have is a mini computer that runs an Arm Chip. This is the same in all the S3 devices. They are all made in the same factory and loaded according to where its being sold.

Example: A cadillac STS sold in Canadian, is the exact same one as sold in the U.S or over seas. Only slight cosmetics are changed for each region. The same with the S3. Exact same phone, only the phone software is different per region. As each carrier might want certain features that others don't. They also want different access to the google stores.

Another way to look at it, Android O/S is a linux variant. Just like Ubuntu has several different variances on the market. Do you see what I am getting at here?? Maybe this will help those who don't know anything about linux. For an example, we will take XP, this would be your base O/S, like Android is. Now lets say you want to do some fancy things with it. So we change the themes of it to your like. Now this is what the carrier does to the phone.

These are just example and not exactly how the Android is or functions. I use it to help those that don't know anything about the phones or how they work. Now someone will come along, tell you all that I am so far off or I have no clue what I am talking about. They are only doing as they don't want everyone to know the secrets or loose money from donations etc.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] shortydoggg:
Oh really? Then why are you not a developer here, since you just contradicted all of them?
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] jack man:
I think the confusion with downgrading is that some people are equating the 4.1.1 ROM to the 4.1.1 bootloaders.

If you have upgraded to the 4.3 official bootloaders, you CANNOT downgrade to the older 4.1 bootloaders or it WILL brick the phone.

I have heard of some here being on the 4.3 official bootloader, rooting, installing CWM or TWRP, and running a 4.1 ROM of some sort. But that's different.

Downgrading bootloaders will brick you.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] amfractal:
The international version has a different chip than the US and Canada version . Also the Canadian versions are getting a different bootloader from US.

If you are claiming that no phone can ever be bricked, you will have to take it up with all the developers in this forum and others. Sure you can JTag the phone and there are unbricking methods that sometimes work but that doesn't mean the phone was not bricked.

As I mentioned there has been some success in unbricking the phone (read here for people who tried and bricked their phone: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2549068 ) but none of it takes you back to 4.1.1.

If you have installed the 4.3 OTA update that updates your bootloader with the new locked bootloader you cannot go back to 4.1.1. Do not try it (do not try any rom wth a bootloader). If you just installed a 4.3 "ROM" and did not upgrade your bootloader you can go back. If you just want to install an older ROM without a bootloader people have been able to do that but none of them resulted in an unlocked phone which is the point here (the posted unlocking technique doesn't work after you upgrade even when you install an older ROM).

If you have an actual working method for going back to 4.1.1 as you claim please post it so everyone can do it. Otherwise if your solution is to tell people to send the phones to you and how all Cadillacs are the same, it's not much of a solution and you should not tell people to do it because you may have a solution that may work for you. People will brick their phone for no reason.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] TheStrokerace:
No, No and no. They don't have different chips. They have nothing different. You can not brick these phones. Regardless what people are saying. What they are doing is using poor ROMs on their phones. Every phone has the Arm v7 or v8 chip on them. Nothing different, nothing special. I have been playing with Arm chips for about 10 years. Those who install a premade ROM gets what they deserve. Can it be reversed, fixed, yes. Its real simple to do. What they can do and may have done due to using a poor computer, is blow a resister or a cap from too much power on the line or from over heating it. The bootloaders are the same on all phones, regardless what some may tell you. Its real simple to go back to 4.1.1. Go and do a factory reset. It will take your phone back to the O/S that was installed on your phone at the factory. If you use a rom that says its 4.1.1 then you could get into problems if the person who made it did use the base Android linux. Which is very possible as no one to this day has been able to remove it from the phone. People are saying that the Android O/S is open source, but that is not really the case. What is meant, is everyone is able to make Apps on its platform with no restrictions. What these ROMS are, is just the actual phone software to make the phone part of the work. So, if you are telling me that the bootloaders have changed, that just proves my point that no one has actually dumped the Android O/S
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] shortydoggg:
Really? Woow!! You are the only person in this world who is ever going to tell us that.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] amfractal:
I cannot believe we are actually discussing that bricking a phone is possibility or that these two models are different.

See here: http://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=4803&idPhone2=4238

The international version (I9300) has Exynos 4412 Quad-core 1.4 GHz Cortex-A9 with Mali-400MP GPU. The AT&T version (I747) has Qualcomm MSM8960 Snapdragon Dual-core 1.5 GHz with Adreno 225 GPU. Just because they are both ARM chips doesn't mean they are the same. For someone with 10yrs on ARM chips you should know this stuff. I747 is different to support 4G Network LTE 700 MHz networks.

The bootloaders are different between different versions and carriers are different. Anyone can download and get a diff or look at them in a HEX editor.

You haven't made a coherent argument with any references or citations in a while now (except for your years of experience!). If you have a solution post it. If not this discussion is over. Let someone who actually has an way to unlock the I747 after the official OTA upgrade to 4.3 present it.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] TheStrokerace:
Again, you are not seeing the picture here or what you are saying. Stop thinking that what is posted by all Devs is correct. They are all Atm chips. Its like a 1.5ghz intel chip and a 1.8ghz cpu. They all do the same thing. One may be faster then the other. If this was a computer, could you load windows on both CPU's??? Yes you can.

Bootloaders are no different. Wait, the bootloader is on a piece of software used to install or boot up and O/S. Just like Linux and windows have different bootloaders, yet they both work on the same CPU. Or should I compare a Intel CPU to an AMD CPU? It doesn't matter.

This is why nothing ever advances, too many people listen to nay sayers here. I had 4.3 on my phone. I reverted back to 4.1.1. with no issues. You can not brick a Android phone, unless you are using the poorly made ROMs that most here are using. Android is a linux system. So stop confusing it with your phone software. Which 4.3 is. Its like updating from winblows 7 to winblows 8. They say once you go to w8 you can't go back. Hello, you can. Its that simple.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] shortydoggg:
Ok, whatever.

Let's get back to the original subject here, which is unlocking phones with the 4.3 OTA, before this thread ends up getting locked by the moderators.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] rasdestroyer:
4.3 unlock w/ code unsuccessful?

As established earlier in the thread, I've been unsuccessful using any of the original methods described to unlock an i747 on 4.3. The weirder issue I'm now encountering is that entering an network unlock code purchased through a generally reliable third-party processor ALSO fails. I get a "network unlock request unsuccessful" message on all attempts.

Anybody else seeing this? I could've sworn I saw a post a few days ago that addressed similar difficulties, but for the life of me I can't find it in my search history or by querying the forums.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] amfractal:
It was probably mine. I had the same issue and I got my code from cellunlocker.net.

I was on SlimRom and it was not working. I finally went back to the official rom for one final try and it worked.

This is what I did. I'm not sure if just trying the unlock code would've worked but I did follow these steps (it's a bit weird since you don't actually change anything, maybe it forces the phone to refresh something.)

Just make sure you are on official ROM or it won't work (I tried only the code with the SlimROM and it did not work).

After unlocking I went back to SlimRom and then CM and it was always unlocked.

1. Make sure that the phone PROMPTS for the code with a NON accepted sim card and that your IMEI is correct by dialing *#06#

a. Go to the Dial pad and dial *#197328640#

b. Please click on number [1] UMTS > [1] Debugging screen > [8] Phone Control > [6] NETWORK LOCK

c. You will see 3 options

d. Please click on number [1] Perso Sha256 INFO, the screen will change slightly

e. Please hit the MENU button then when the menu pops up please carefully hit BACK to return to the previous screen

f. Next Please click on number [2] Perso Sha256 ON, the screen will change again to a one line message

g. Restart the phone on the screen by holding the power button and click RESTART

h. When the phone prompts for the unlock code simply enter the unlock code provided to you

i. Your phone is now permanently unlocked!
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] rasdestroyer:
Amazing, worked perfectly. Thanks so much! I wasn't on a custom ROM myself, but I think trying the methods at the beginning of this thread got my Perso Sha256 flag set incorrectly to OFF, which is maybe why the phone wouldn't accept the "official" network unlock code?

In any case, I really appreciate the help!
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] phatboyslim2014:
hey big question here, i accidentally updated to 4.3 before i found out you cant unlock on that ver.

well i found a similar unlock method for the s4 and i did not do the method in fear of messing the phone up but all the options are in the menu for the s4 method unlike the 4.1.1 method.

anybody try this as of yet????
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] mechanicalbmx:
Tried it (http://www.redmondpie.com/how-to-sim-unlock-samsung-galaxy-s4-gt-i9505-for-free/), no bueno

I don't think anything broke. I did not get that golden back up thing.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] gfinockio:
Yeah - you don't know what you're talking about. At all. Best to ignore this guy.

Disappointed that the software unlock on 4.1 doesn't survive an upgrade to 4.3. Guess I'll have to drop the money down to get a permanent unlock!
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] nestor.siu:
Hello. I have the Galaxy S3 variant from Telus up here in British Columbia, Canada (model SGH-I747M). I had preciously unlocked it using the (no cost) Android 4.1.1 method and was able to use the phone on the 7-Eleven SpeakOut wireless service without any problems, both for voice/sms and their unlimited web browsing add on. It was unlocked while running the official Android 4.1.1. Subsequently, it was updated Over-The-Air to the official Android 4.1.2 without any issues.

I'd like to report that after doing an Over-The-Air update from Android 4.1.2 to the official Android 4.3 from Samsung, the phone appears to still "work" with the SpeakOut service for the most part. I can make voice calls and send SMS text messages. It also works with their new data add-on (their unlimited browsing option was sadly discontinued). However, MMI codes/USSD codes that are not built into the phone no longer work. For example, dialing *777# now returns the error message "Connection problem or invalid MMI code" instead of returning the prepaid account balance.

Note that the SpeakOut service in Canada rides on the Rogers network in Canada, so I suspect that if you are a Rogers Network customer, you may achieve the same result with the same phone.

I don't know, however, why MMI codes are no longer working after the upgrade. My current theories are that either it's a bug in the 4.3 software, or the unlocking was partially broken after the 4.3 update.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] dntesinfrno:
Pics or it didn't happen.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] gfinockio:
Seriously! This guy's a bit of a tool.

The fact that the free SIM unlock doesn't hold in 4.3 means I will be holding off on that upgrade just a little bit longer...
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] ldjc21:
DOWNGRADE 4.3 STOCK galaxy S3 i747

Hi sorry, New in here..like lots of others..didnt know how to start a new topic.. I need Some serious help. Hope I didnt mess anything up.

Can you Down grade from 4.3 stock Firmware to 4.1.1. I upgrade to 4.3, then i try to root, and I think I bricked my phone. Since I reboot and it didnt get passed the AT&T logo. So I installed the 4.3 CM ROM, adn its working, I thought I can install 4.1.1 Galaxy Stock Firmware adn do the whole process again. But When I tried it..in Odin it says fail. AS it shows that somhow it keeps all this data. Is there A way I can go back to 4.3 Firmware? Please help.

Thanks..
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] audit13:
There is no Odin flashable stock 4.3 AT&T ROM and you can't flash an older stock AT&T ROM if it tries to install an older bootloader.

By trying to root your phone, it probably tripped the Knox counter which voids the Samsung warranty.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] ldjc21:
Hey thanks for reaponding..after hoira of research. I was able to manage to diwnload rom UCUEMJ2 no root knox Ip. From amother thread.

After I flashed it. It worked..I was very happy. I then flashed another zip that made my SE permessive..after flashing this file my root kicked in and was qorking great. But I noticed that with this Rom my status bar is not translucent like all the other 4.3 rom updates. I would live to have it translucent. Is there a zip that i can flash to have this fixed and not having to download xposed installer to do it. it be awesome to know there is. I am currently running on

UCUEMJ2 ROM

SE PERMESSIVE

MY PHONE YES ITS ROOTED.

UCUEMJB MODEM.

PLEASE HELP. I attached a picture of my home screen so u can see what I mean.

THANKS.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] audit13:
Are you running a custom recovery? If you are, create a nandroid backup. Xposedframework and Gravity Box is what you might want to try.

http://repo.xposed.info/module/de.robv.android.xposed.installer
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] galakanokis:
So messing around a bit with the service menu, *#0011# and then hitting menu > back > menu > key input > 1 you will briefly see the menu pop up. There has to be a way to get that to stay up. Anybody had any luck in unlocking a S3 ob the 4.3 bootloader without paying for it?

Don't really need to do this just curious more than anything.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] dubluv1:
This method worked for me.

FYI- my situation (maybe it'll help others): I bought a T-Mobile prepaid SIM card for my spare GS3 just to see if it would work. I contacted AT&T and they provided me a SIM unlock code (took about 2 days). However, it did not work! 5 days later, and they still haven't figured it out! I decided to take matters into my own hands. After many many hours of research and trying all sorts of methods I believe whats happening its that people are trying the dial pad method and setting their Perso Sha256 to "OFF". If you've done that then unlock codes will not register correctly... So get and unlock code, then set it back to ON following the steps above. Hopefully that helps others..

[Stock rooted 4.3 OTA I747 AT&T US]
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] Guerric:
Can't see what you mean...

Did anyone find a solution to this 4.3 unlocking issue?
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] Jimmyh18:
UK samsung s3 GT-I9305

Hi guys,

I've just gone back to my S3 as my N5 is being reploaced.

I have though changed my network and want to unlock it but I can't seem to after my 4.3 update.

The dial pad shortcuts don't work for me to get into any of the menu settings, for example *#197328640# doesn't work .

So I decided for the first time ever to go for a bought code from a reliable 3rd party, again that's offering me no luck all i get is network unlock code rejected.

Does anybody have any suggestions?
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] Guerric:
That's weird.:eek:

Even *#06# doesn't work? Have you done something to your phone? firmware, bootloader or anything...
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] Jimmyh18:
A few of the dial pad shortcuts do work but not all *#06# does work but that's about it

I'm running a stock version of 4.3 my S3 was only ever a stop gap phone so i never did anything to it.

Any ideas?
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] audit13:
For the i747 and i747m, the only way to unlock it for free was to be running a stock 4.1.1 ROM with a stock 4.1.1 bootloader.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] Anisrael:
That worked for me too. But no data yet. Gotta work on that one now. I don't think it's an APN issue since I'm using the same one as I'm using on my other phone. Maybe they've also got it provider locked.

Thanks a $M
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] chinna7392:
help me to unlock my s3 i747UCUEMJB (AT&T)

I VE UPGRADED TO 4.3 JB AND NOW I NEED TO NETWORK UNLOICK MY PHONE PLEASE HELP ME. TRIED MANY WAYS BUT ALL UNSUCCESSFUL.. :crying:

IMEI :x

MODEL SGH-S3 I747UCUEMJB

THANKS IN ADVANCE
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] Larry2999:
If you've upgraded to 4.3JB, you would need to use a carrier unlock code. There does not seem to be, for now, free unlock options for full stock 4.3JB as you require the 4.1.1 radio for that. You may try to request the unlock code from AT&T using the request form below ...

https://www.att.com/deviceunlock/client/en_US/

Or you may purchase one online.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] Pop45398:
While not free, the cheapest unlock from a reputable site I found was at UnlockSamsungOnline. Their price for unlocking via software and USB cable was $19.97 which can be discounted by 10% by sharing their site on Facebook or other social media (which I did then immediately deleted), bringing the total down to $17.97. Unlocking by code is higher but I didn't check their price. Most sites wanted $29.99 or more.

Unlocking by cable was a PITA. First, the phone must be rooted if on 4.3, which mine already was. The software download and installation took quite a bit of time and I had to repeat the installation several times because I kept getting an error when trying to run their server client. It kept reporting: "Run-time error '339': Component 'MSCOMM33.OCX' or one of its dependencies not correctly registered: a file is missing or invalid." I could not locate that .ocx, and not wanting to wait for their tech support, I finally downloaded MSCOMM32.OCX, placed it in my Windows\System32 folder and registered it via a command prompt with the command: "regsvr32 mscomm32.ocx" and their software finally ran.

You must change some USB settings on your phone using the dialer pad. Step 7 of their manual says, "Type *#9090# Select option 2 (DM/DUN over HSIC)) but my phone did not respond to it. Step 8 says,"Type *#7284# (if *#7284# does not work type *#0808#, this happens on newer firmwares)" and I had to use *#0808# but then it says to, "Set USB to AP (PDA)" in step 9 but that option was not available. Step 10 says, "Set USB settings to DM+Modem+ADB," which I was able to do.

Once that was done I connected my phone to my PC, entered my User ID and Password supplied in their confirmation email then clicked to connect to their server. I tried selecting I747 from their model dropdown menu but that didn't work and I had to select I747-ns1 instead. Next I clicked Rescan and made sure a comport and modem appeared then clicked Direct Unlock. I had to click OK a couple of times on my phone so ADB would communicate with my PCs RSA key and allow ADB root access. It failed to unlock a couple of times so I changed the Comport Mode from Fast to Normal and unlocking finally succeeded; however, in the process my IMEI was lost but after rebooting it came back.

After completion of the unlock I again entered *#0808# and set the USB mode back to MTP/ADB in order for my PC to recognize it as usual..

I'm happy with the final outcome but there were some harrowing moments and lots of frustration, that hopefully those reading this and go that route can avoid.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] Larry2999:
Seems a rather complicated and not entirely risk-free process. I know of a service online that costs $20 for the unlock code and has worked accurately the first time in more than 10 purchases. This forum isn't, however, about endorsements so I wouldn't be giving any referrals.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] Pop45398:
I wouldn't call my post a referral, more of a warning and guide. Thanks for the useless information.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] Larry2999:
Oh! Sorry but you misunderstood me. When I said "referral", I was referring to the site I mentioned which charges $20 and what I was really saying was that I wasn't mentioning the site's name for fear this could be misconstrued to be a referral in violation of the forum's rules. Apologies if my post ticked you off.