[Galaxy Note 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] ChiefRA:
Samsung Reactivation Lock Activated - [ SOLVED ]

Hi guys,

I've succesfully deactivated the Samsung Reactivation Lock on my Samsung Note 4 SM-N910F - Android Lollipop 5.1.1. !!!

I'll tell you in detail how I did it. After 5 hours of data mining and documenting myself, I've gathered all the necessary data to do it.

Statement: On Samsung Note 4 with Lollipop 5.1.1, the Samsung Reactivation Lock cannot be deactivated!

In order to do that you need to downgrade it to KitKat 4.4.4. (thanks to brayhanrd for coming up with this downgrade-first idea in this post: http://xdaforums.com/galaxy-s5/help/reactivation-lock-root-custom-rom-t3097964#post60511431

It can be done following these simple steps:

1) Downgrade the Samsung Note 4 software version from Lollipop 5.1.1 to KitKat 4.4.4 - using the stock 4.4.4 version specifically designed for your phone which can be downloaded from www.sammobile.com.

(Obs: if it was purchased from Verizon then THAT's the version you need to get it. I'm telling you this to avoid a lot of downgrade failures because of mismatch files and Odin writing errors, believe me, I read a lot about it today! :rolleyes: )

- Downgrading from Lollipop to KitKat instructions and all the necesarry files to do it (e.g. Odin) can be found here: http://www.androidexplained.com/galaxy-note-4-how-to-downgrade-to-android-4-4-4-kitkat/ (thanks to Doug for documenting this :) )

If downgrade was successful, it should look like this: http://screencast.com/t/S9ONzxqPvaG

2) A work around to be able to turn off (deactivate) the Samsung Reactivation Lock can be found on this YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U23TdbqJehA

- Long story short, the video emphasize what you need to do to get into the phone's Samsung Account, trick the already locked account and re-register yourself with a new (yet existing) Samsung account, which later on, will be seen by Samsung as the phone's default account, thus allowing yourself to register with it. What this guy's doing, basically is using the Text to Speech Samsung update to get logged in to the Samsung Galaxy Apps with this new Samsung account he created (or already had). From there, he gets back to the first phone setup steps and use this Samsung account which will be recognized by Samsung Reactivation Lock as being the default account (because he already signed-in with it into the Samsung Galaxy Apps) and voila, passed the protection.

3) Turn off the Samsung Reactivation Lock: After you tricked the Samsung Lock screen and passed over it reaching the classic, well known home screen, go to -> Settings -> Security -> and find the "Reactivation Lock" option and UNCHECK it! It will ask again for your Samsung account password, insert it and - ONLY THEN - you will have turned off the Samsung Reactivation Lock.

4) Upgrade back to Lollipop 5.1.1: same instructions here, first, upgrade only with stock image made specifically for your Note 4 version, to ba taken from www.sammobile.com or any other respectable place.

If upgrade was successful, it should look like this: http://screencast.com/t/U0BgITnrMmzi

Voila! you have a fully functional Note 4 phone again! :D

I hope this post will help you spare those 5 hours I used for reseaching these things!

ChiefRA