yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S 5] diablo009:
If you are buying it for 650, buy it straight TMo. Why do you want a used one.

If buying used, you can get it for around 500. BUT... if the person reports it as stolen later, or if he defaults on its payment (if not purchased in full like on contract), the carrier can blacklist it, and you won't be able to use the phone.

S5 has been notoriously famous in US for that latter given that all major carriers are now using an integrated database of blacklisted IMEIs.

Request to see the bill from the person you are buying phone.

For AT&T, you can have him come to AT&T store, n then take the phone to the person there and have a new SIM inserted (different SIM, but same number) and register the IMEI on your name. This way the owner cannot blacklist the IMEI after the IMEI is registered on your name.

I am not sure if this process is followed by TMobile too.
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S 5] kv7shadow:
it's not used! it is packed

it has t-mobile logo on the box, but not on the phone

so basically if there is the Sim unlock code (with the phones IMEI), there is no problem?
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S 5] gridflash:
This process does work with tmobile. Craig's list has some interesting deals. Here is a list of the question I ask.

Clean IMEI? If it's not the rest of the questions are irrelevant.

Has it been activated? Just because it's in the box doesn't mean it's New.

Balance due? This question can only be answered by the owner. So the person doing the deal with you had better be the owner. None of this, "I doing the deal for my girlfriend."

If he claims he's authorized by the owner to do the deal ask for the Pin on account. Without that you don't have a deal.

Bottom line If the account hasn't been activated you have a deal.

If it's been activated it's not new but if the balance is paid up you can still cut a deal... for a better price.
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S 5] diablo009:
And for clean IMEI, check with TMo store, with the seller beside you. If he is genuine, he will come with you into the store.
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S 5] mahanddeem:
Buy from T-Mobile and then buy an unlock code. Save yourself the hassle and the headache.

I can't trust some dude on eBay or Craig's list. Especially on such purchases.
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S 5] kv7shadow:
tnx guys

the box is exactly looks like this.

he says it's unlocked

my question is, if i factory reset, or install official ROM, it'll be locked again?

what about custom ROMs?

is there possibility of Bad IMEI?

and if there is, would it be solved by installing a custom ROM?
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S 5] gridflash:
Tmobile says they don't sell unlocked Galaxy S5s. Which means if it's unlocked it's been opened.

Now T-mobile will unlock after 40 days.

Which raises the question, "If it's been unlocked what else was it used for?"

My questions would start with, "Are you the original owner and has this phone been activated.?"
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S 5] kv7shadow:
it's not mine

i want to buy it from a fellow
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S 5] gridflash:
Those are the questions I would ask your friend.

Edit: If the phone has been activated then you have to worry about account balance. And the second thing you need to check is the knox bit.
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S 5] TheArtiszan:
Have your friend check and see if they can get it unlocked from T-Mobile first.
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S 5] diablo009:
And if that person isn't the original owner, chances are, T-Mobile would not unlock it.
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S 5] fffft:
No, even though you are paying full price and the handset is not subsidized.. it will still be locked by default by TMobile. Yeah, it is great to be a oligopoly. If you ask nicely TMobile may unlock it right away for you, more likely they will try to make you wait a month or two before agreeing to do so. But there are plenty of third-party vendors that can and will unlock your S5 now for $15 - $30.

Once unlocked, the phone will normally remain that way permanently even after OTA upgrades or if you flash a different ROM. It is possible for a carrier to relock your phone, although I haven't heard of this happening to anyone. Phones are obstensibly locked at the outset to protect the carrier against subsidy fraud but carriers also like the barrier against you easily moving to a different carrier.

And if you are paying full price, you should buy directly from TMobile or have a trusted friend buy it from TMobile for you. Buying used adds considerable risk which you shouldn't take since you are paying full price. There are a lot of scammers that will buy a phone on contract, sell it.. and subsequently report it stolen (for the insurance) or default on the subsidized contract. Even if they paid full price in cash, without a contract, have a genuine receipt and the phone is not currently on an IMEI blacklist - it could end up there two weeks later if you are not the original purchaser and they report it stolen.

.
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S 5] kv7shadow:
thanks

if it is unlocked, even if i install official rom (can i install G900F's?) will it remain unlocked?
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S 5] fffft:
You can install a 900F based ROM if there is some reason you want to do that. But you will still have the 900T bootloader aka baseband.

.
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S 5] elesbb:
FWIW, "aka" would not be a proper term to use. People will get confused xD Baseband and bootloader are two separate things. However, under your "about" you will see the baseband version which is the "modem" of the phone. It usually corresponds to which bootloader is on the device as well. Unless a different modem was flashed.
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S 5] fffft:
^ Another example of something that is usually but not always equivalent.

As you say, at a nuts and bolts, code level the bootlooder and baseband are not the same thing. But you are splitting hairs. In the context that I said that, they are not usually separated and are functionally equivalent.

.
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S 5] dc5dd:
Humm... I just tried flashing a G900F rom on G900T but the tmobile phone would not allow that? Am I missing something?
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S 5] fffft:
Apparently because lots of others have done it successfully.

However, you should start your own thread, rather than usurp an existing one. And provide a detailed description of what you did.

.
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S 5] mocsab:
It might be your recovery - depending on which recovery you are using.Sometimes a flash will fail but I guess the best question to ask you is what happened when you tried to flash a rom from 900F - (I have a (900T phone and I do it ALL THE TIME) so what did you see on the screen when the flash didn't work?

What custom recovery are you using? (I assume your phone is rooted - right?) and the other person was correct that you would be much better off startting a different thread or asking for support on the thread for the rom you tried to flash that failed)

Either way - good luck!
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S 5] gspears:
There are different types of "Unlocked." The Bootloader of the TMO S5 is unlocked, but the device is Sim-Locked to T-Mobile's network. I purchased this phone to use on AT&T's network because it has the same data and LTE frequencies that the AT&T S5 uses, plus some more. But most importantly, the bootloader in the AT&T version is locked. This means it's very limited in what ROMs you can install and other things. So for somebody who really wants to customize their phone, an unlocked bootloader is really preferred and that is why many AT&T people are picking up the TMO S5. Customizing is much more open and easy.

Once you have the TMO S5 you still have to "Network Unlock" the SIM so you can use it with a SIM card from AT&T or whatever GSM network you are interested in using it on. It's best if you can get your S5 already unlocked so you don't have to worry about it, but if not, there are many places that will sell you an unlock code or better yet if you're a TMO subscriber you might be able to talk them into giving you the unlock code. I got an unlock code from swift unlock for 20 bucks. It's easy to tell if it's network/SIM unlocked. You simply place a SIM card from another network in the phone and when it reboots it will say something like "SIM card not recognized, enter unlock code." At this point you enter the unlock code you got from TMO or purchased online and then you are network/SIM unlocked.

The previous posts that mention you should be VERY careful when buying a used one are correct. Unscrupulous people can get it on contract and sell it to you then default on the contract or can report it lost or stolen and then the IMEI number goes on the blacklist. If you are thinking about buying a used one, you can check the IMEI on several sites such as swappa, check ESN free, and others but the best place to check a TMO device is TMO website. They have a checker that will tell you if it's financed. If it is, I would not go anywhere near it because you are relying on them to pay off a phone over many years that they don't even have anymore.

And as stated earlier, the original owner can report it lost or stolen after he's sold it to you so it can be blacklisted at any time. Therefore you should make sure you can trust the person you are purchasing it from.
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S 5] dc5dd:
Guys I appreciate your help I've been getting sporactic answers to this question I know the thread is old but getting a concrete answer to this question is worth posting to an old thread.

I have a European model SM-G900T model with the latest ROM when I tried to flash the SM-G900F ROM it said something about aboot failed and it would stop. I used odin 1.85, 3.07 and 3.09 with a stock G900FZHU1ANF6_G900FZZH1ANF6_TGY ROM. When that failed I thought I had done something wrong and started my quest to find out what I did wrong little did I know that it was not possible! Mostly what I was trying to get was something plain and simple a stock ROM in a stock phone but with the added restrictions that seems like a long drawn out process.
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S 5] mocsab:
Ithe SM G900T is not an international model it is TMOBILE model and is the same model I use.'

What recovery are you using?

what rom did you attempt to flash?

Did yoiu try to start over by flahsing the stock rom via ODIN and then trying to flash the ROM Again?

it is possible you had a bad download and the fiash failed because of that - did you check the MD5 before y ou flashed?

Personaly, if you haven't yet, I would start over - odin back to stock - download the file you want to flash - make sure it is for either the G900F or the G900T
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S 5] dc5dd:
My Model is the Tmobile SM-G900T from european bought second hand if that matters. I was trying to shorten the explanation so I don't bored everyone. I used Odin and tried to flash the firmware G900FZHU1ANF6_G900FZZH1ANF6_TGY and it will not flash. I don't believe the firmware is corrupted because the G900TUVU1BNG3_G900TTMB1BNG3_TMB flashed ok so that rules out odin or my computer or the usb drives plus on the phone is says something about aboot I'm assuming it checked the aboot file and quit when it didn't recognize it. Recovery is stock. I'll try flashing the stock tmobile ROM and then "G900F" ROM but I don't think that is it also I don't have root.
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S 5] mocsab:
Well, BNG3 is the most recent firmware so if that flashes - you should be ok - I don't know that much about aboot or those kind of things - but I am wondering if you had troubles because you were trying to flash an older ROM - and Knox prevented you from doing that ? Just a guess - but I believe I have read that you cannot go backwards - meaning you can't flash older versions via ODIN once you have upgraded to the more recent versions.

You cannot flash 900F roms via stock recovery - impossible. You must first root your phone and then install either CWM, Philz Custom Recovery (also a CWM recovery varient) or TWRP. Once you have a custom recovery on your phone you can flash 900F roms. BUT you can only flash 900F roms thru the custom recovery. If you don't have custom recovery on your phone you can't flash 900F and you cannot flash 900F roms via odin.

if you try to flash a 900F rom on your phone via ODIN it will fail - and or you may end up BRICKING your phone - SO DON"T TRY IT! IT WILL NOT WORK.

Hope that helps.
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S 5] dc5dd:
I guess so I wish it was spelled out more clearly somewhere but then again I was never looking for that flashing X on variant Y. Hopefully someone will see this and understand without looking through a bunch of threads. Thanks for your help.

On not being the most current or newer firmware I believe that is a good theory but when flashing neither Odin or the phone nothing was said about an older firmware.
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S 5] mocsab:
You learn by reading - a lot - there have been quite a few posts on XDA about KNOX and how it has made flashing difficult.

You never did say if you had a custom recovery installed - if you don't - you can't flash 900F roms - ODIN will not let you do that - You can only flash 900T Roms on a 900Tphone with oDIN - once you have installed a custom recovery then you can flash 900F roms - in reading your previous posts - it was never clear what you were trying to do - so next time you post an issue or question - the more details you can - what recovery you are using - whether you are rooted - and so on - will help whoever tries to help you understand waht the problem might be.

Regardless - good luck. hope you get it worked out.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] rophaq:
Hi all, all kestrel owners are putting a request for a custom recovery for our device, that has just recently been rooted with towelroot (big thank you)

any of our clever DEVs @ XDA ,will be willing to make one and put us out of our misery :eek:

THANK YOU

EE Kestrel

GSM frequencies :850 900 1800 1900

Standard UMTS :900 2100

Type :Touch

Dimensions (W x H x D) :131,00 x 65,30 x 7,85 mm

Weight :145,00 g

Main display :Colour / TFT

16M colours

540 x 960 px (4.50") 245 ppi

Standard battery :Li-Ion 2000 mAh

Internal memory :8 GB

RAM memory :1 GB

microSD, microSDHC (up to 32 GB)

Operating system :Android 4.3 Jelly Bean

Processor :Qualcomm Snapdragon 400

Processor clock :1,20 GHz
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] rophaq:
reserved for recovery.img

Thanks opt_step for the quick find,

Download straight to the phone and use flashify, easy. I tried it on the G6 and kestrel.

Huawei Ascend G6-L11 work TWRP

G6_L11_TWRP_port - https://cloud.mail.ru/public/78c8f2663965/twrp_g6-11_003.img
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] S3LEE:
If anyone would like to try and make a custom recovery for the kestrel here are some useful links

Rophaq's Stock Recovery Backup http://xdaforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=2810913&d=1403398068

Flashify (for root users) :http://tinyurl.com/n3nthns Use the backup kernel and recovery option

[ROOT] Rashr - Flash Tool : - http://tinyurl.com/ppvh8jl

http://speedy.sh/RGF5H/CarePackage.zip which has adb fastboot ect​
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] rophaq:
head over here for more ,as the G6 is identical to kestrel : http://cn.club.vmall.com/forum-324-1.html

its a bit hard to understand, use google translate,

they have the new version of Hi suite,which is better than the previous one, more features to restore stock incase something goes wrong.

the new HiSuite_2.0.01.1006.download : http://dl.vmall.com/c054qz3dsp
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Oxydeme:
Hi there, I don't have enought knowledgee to help but you all have my entire support since I got one two or three days ago :)
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] S3LEE:
Hi what is it you need to know i will try and help you as much as i can :laugh:
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] rophaq:
Download recover X from play store, there are a lot of huawei recoveries .but which one is safe to try. Have a look for your selves and get back here with some answers. We getting close.♿
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Oxydeme:
Crap yeah I almost forget this option...

RecoverX there was also a Windows app no?
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] snouki:
If i have a adress of partition i can modify file for making good recovery. I look this tonight
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] snouki:
RecoverX desn't work
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Oxydeme:
Seriously? That's annoying :S
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] snouki:
No news?

If you have the corretly adress of this:

BOARD_BOOTIMAGE_PARTITION_SIZE :=

BOARD_RECOVERYIMAGE_PARTITION_SIZE :=

BOARD_SYSTEMIMAGE_PARTITION_SIZE :=

BOARD_USERDATAIMAGE_PARTITION_SIZE :=

If i have this i can make a good recovery
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] snouki:
i tried with cm10.2 source but if it doesn't work i stopping this
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] S3LEE:
did it work?
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] snouki:
No sorry
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] rophaq:
still no custom recovery for the Kestrel .?
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] snouki:
doesn't work ^^
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] rophaq:
i've managed to install it, but couldn't make a backup. someone claims that huawei have told him the Huawei U9508 is compatible with kestrel, so he used the recovery in which is chiness from this thread http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2039998

this is what huawei wrote to him

Dear Customer,

Thank you for contacting Huawei device.

Sorry that there have no bootloader unlock code for U9508 items.

By default , you can do fastboot downloading for some images directly without Unlocking bootloader..

We suggest you'd better not root your device which would avoid the warranty and maybe cause it freeze.

Once again thank you for contacting Huawei device.

Best Regards.

Huawei Device
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] snouki:
I think the only way to correct cwm, is to do it ourselves with the sources. But I block the construction
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] RawPenguin:
Why?
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] rophaq:
what do you mean ,block construction ???
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] snouki:
I can not correctly configure the files for a recovery that works
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] rophaq:
have you tried this tool to extract the update.app .

http://xdaforums.com/show....php?t=2315547
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] snouki:
We don't have update.app
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] RawPenguin:
I'm not familiar with this... Is it Huawei's proprietary format?

I've been in the android scene for a couple of years; every device is different. Some need you to unlock bootloader, some don't. The OUYA doesn't even have a button combo for recovery.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] snouki:
The update.app it's a format for update huawei phone with original recovery.

.app it's huawei format for .zip
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] RawPenguin:
Can't the stock recovery use .zips to flash?

It just seems odd... Are they compressed the same?
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] snouki:
Stock recovery can use .ZIP if is update.ZIP and if the signature is correct.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] RawPenguin:
Ok, makes sense. Is there a way to do this so I can backup/restore until we get CWM? I REALLY want to install Xposed but I don't want to take ANY risks.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] snouki:
You can use xposed, i have tested and work perfectly
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] RawPenguin:
Thanks, what about backup/restore? Are we able to do it through fastboot or something? I'd really like to backup my data at the very least or there won't be much point.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] snouki:
Sorry but it's not possible
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] RawPenguin:
OK, thanks for your help.

One question about the update.app : Will we have to wait until an update is released to grab it? If so, were will the update.app be located on the device? (How would we obtain it?)

--EDIT--

With Xposed, check Disable Resource Hooks or it will not install properly on Huawei roms
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] snouki:
Wait official update.

For xposed test all option
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] RawPenguin:
Do you think they WILL release an update? Everything seems fine at a standard consumer perspective... What have other Huawei devices been like for updates?
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] rophaq:
The kestrel has been added to online nandroid app. Still can't make a backup as it can't detect SD card and recover folder from cwm.

I have a cwm recovery for huawei G6. If anyone wants it I'll upload it here.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] RawPenguin:
I can test it, though failure rate will be high...
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] rophaq:
this recovery.img has to be flashed through adb , first unzip and put the recovery.img in your adb folder

fastboot flash recovery recovery.img

one is standard recovery ,the second is advanced

somehow, my phone reboots to stock recovery, but on nandroid manager its showing Clockworkmod 6.0.37, i'll have to flash it again and see
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] RawPenguin:
I have tried to flash both but when I try to go into recovery, it just shows the bootloader (I've reflashed stock)
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] rophaq:
here are some screen shots, sd card is not detected ( or detected with space of 0mb ) in nandroid manager, although the dev emailed me back that he added it to the list, G6.hwg535, still can't make a stock backup.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] RawPenguin:
That's because of Huawei's odd way of manipulating drives. It emulates them (or something) which makes most apps (and terminal) not able to find the SDcards
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] rophaq:
i've read something about it in emui chinese forum about the G6, weird though
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] RawPenguin:
Yeah, the Stock Huawei roms seem to have some features from custom roms. This doesn't help with Xposed and other Root-enabled stuff... About the Recoveries: They didn't work as I was just but straight into the bootloader after flashing. I have reflashed the stock recovery.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] rophaq:
Same here too. I had to reflash the stock one.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] RawPenguin:
At the moment I am so sick of waiting for an update... I hope the Kestrel isn't abandonware :( I would LOVE there to be a port of PACman on the Kestrel, that is my dream ;) Cyanogen is the bare minimum.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] rophaq:
Cos it's a new phone, same as the G6. The G6 is a kestrel apart from camera, any development for G6 will work on kestrel. Patience is the key. Lol
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Oxydeme:
Man for me only Cyanogen Rom would be a dream ^^'
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] rophaq:
I've had HTCs all time, usually with in a day or 2 I'll have it moded. Kestrel : first time I'm stuck with stock for 3 months. If only I can have a nandroid backup, I'll be trying out anything.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] RawPenguin:
Every phone I've had has been old. this is my first 'modern' phone. All my other Android devices have had GREAT mod support
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] DANfour20:
g6 ROMs work

Yes g6 ROMs work fine, even the camera surprisingly.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] rophaq:
or maybe there are too many phones coming out every month or so, DEVs can't cater for every single phone, mods just for the top models.mind you, kestrel still a good phone though.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] RawPenguin:
I have to say that makes sense... It's just that the Kestrel is deemed one of the cheapest modern phones you can get so I thought support would be greater. I just hope that Huawei creates an update as I really don't like the skinned feel of EmotionUi. I can't even find themes for it :(