yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] Torquemada288:
Be very careful about what you present as a "fact". This is total bull**** and there are many Australians using various carriers that now have OEM Unlock. Read through this thread before making such statements. I skipped over everything else you typed as your "facts" have no credibility.

When did you get it? You shouldn't expect it to appear until 7 days after it first booted and the timer will reset if you flash anything using Odin.

---------- Post added at 11:44 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:41 AM ----------

Maybe turn updates and data (Wi-Fi and Mobile) back on and see if it reappears. For all we know, that's what made it disappear.

---------- Post added at 11:46 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:44 AM ----------

How long ago did you flash it? You might have to wait 7 days after you flashed for it to appear. We're still not sure if flashing resets the timer of kills it completely, making the OEM Unlock option permanently invisible.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] MeltdownSpectre:
I activated the phone around 6 PM on the 20th of September 2017, it was on a very old build and the OEM Unlock option wasn't visible. Around 10 mins later, after the download for the latest build was complete, I flashed it and wiped the phone. Reactivated again and here I am now.

No OEM Unlock option even now, after 8 days.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] ravian29:
As some of you guys may know i left xda long time ago but now i am here only to help the note 8 community for this OEM unlock issue. I have seen not many developers are helping us ( users with the OEM unlock option hidden ) so i think i should share my knowledge here.

Anyway, OEM unlock is dependent on OTA option. Soon I will come with more proofs (screenshots of Samsung code) but still need time to understand the Samsung code, the extant of code i analysed i have concluded that Samsung is not targeting root but unfortunately root is effected ( by root i mean custom recoveries, root, custom Roms and all modifications etc) , Samsung is working on kill switch something like Apple iPhone locking which can not be bypassed (by general users) and to implement this Samsung has to secure the device in every way and OEM Unlock is the first in the list because if OEM is unlocked anyone can flash custom recovery, ROM and your device is gone with all readable data in it. OEM Lock will not allow any package installation other than Samsung signed and in this case Samsung want to take care of your device for you. if you are logged in with Samsung account then in settings search for Find My Mobile, it will help you guys in understanding what i mean. I am still analysing the code and trying to get the event which triggers to show OEM unlock option, It can really be time based or it can be series of some other events but i need time to find it. I hope i can find it. Here is a screenshot to proof this OTA thing

Note: The guys who have rooted their phone please backup efs partition as it has all the info regarding this OEM Unlock. In case its gone off you can restore efs partition in twrp if twrp is available to get it back
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] maybeonly:
Please check the time of the original post. probably Samsung updated the config for Australia, then they can OEM option after updated
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] jpinoy:
Not really. If you read on here where folks who got their phone from Clove UK were getting there's and right out the box enable Dev mode, and seeing OEM Unlock, and that's after they get it in 3 days or so, that's really not a bad advice to put on your order. Clove UK themselves make you agree to them doing the SIM/region unlock before sending it off. It's the folks who are getting their phones without the seller doing what Clove does that have to wait the 7 or so days.... Phones from Clove UK seem to be having a good track record with OEM Unlock.

It hasn't been seven days and I'm not even wasting my time with firmware flashes, since my wife don't really care about root. If it shows up on her phone, that's cool, if not, no problem either. [emoji6]
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] Brava27:
That's really nice of you. Good luck [emoji482][emoji482]
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] Torquemada288:
Sorry, I misunderstood what you wrote. I thought you wrote an eBay comment on your first order warning people to demand that OEM Unlock be visible when the seller does the region unlock. My bad.

The Clove UK phones do seem to have OEM Unlock option straight out of the box, which is good but puzzling.

That's fair enough. If it does appear, can you let us know so we can add that to the current dataset? Thanks.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] bober10113:
with network logs and a firewall it would be possible to isolate the server/requests and block. so once oem unlock appears, block the request url or server. even simply with hosts file maybe?

or does the oem unlock do requests by cycles and if one is missed like a time bomb function disappears again for 7 days or so.

keep us posted and welcome back

edit

also region locked phones seem to not abide by the same set of rules as the the region free ones as if once the region lock is lifted the state of the fone is in a 'trusted' state. oem trigger seems to always return as true and also it seems oem unlock is always visible regardless of right region or not,once region is unlocked and used abroad. so question is, what is the condition that the system sees to have this 'trusted' state? what do region free phones have to verify in order to comply that the region locked ones seem to comply by default.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] Torquemada288:
That's your speculation, not a fact. Learn the difference.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] turilo:
I'm not sure if I am speaking correct english here, but for those whom had the OEM unlock appear suddenly, that did enable it and root and install a custom firmware. when OEM disappeared once again while still rooted with a custom firmware, run into any issues, bootloops, freezing etc and had to Odin back to stock?
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] jpinoy:
Nah, I didn't warn folks to demand that OEM Unlock show up, it was a comment I put on my order with Clove UK to check for me during their region unlock process.

But, I had mentioned earlier that the eBay seller was going to check for OEM Unlock on their new batch, and depending on that, send me the new one with OEM Unlock, or just refund if that option wasn't there. Today I told them to just refund after I read some folks having the disappearing act after it showing up and I didn't want to deal with that, reason I'm going with Clove UK. The seller was really great about it, even after I told them I needed it for flashing ROM/Firmware. I got nothing bad to say about the eBay seller, not their fault this was showing up.

Sure, no problem.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] bober10113:
i think they said it disappeared in stock firmware but custom recovery.

someone would have to confirm if this also happens on a custom rom.

i would guess once the issue identified correctly, a mod could be "baked" in a rom to disable the culprit function definately or at least trick the system, kind of like the local kms server windows 10 people use to hack their activation, always returning a true response to the activation process.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] GeoffNZ:
My OEM lock option appeared after 7 days then disappeared a day later.

I enabled the option before it disappeared and today I thought I'd check something.

I went into download mode and is says

FRP LOCK = OFF and OEM LOCK = OFF.

It seems even though the menu item has disappeared in developer options the phone is still OEM unlocked.

Does this sound right to you guys?
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] bober10113:
sounds right on the lines that this is the issue people have been having. ones with a custom recovery seem to have benn having soft bricks as a result of this.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] white7561:
If we could figure what's the connection with efs. We could root and change stuff on efs to make sure we'll always get oem unlock [MENTION=3545435]ravian29[/MENTION]
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] GeoffNZ:
Why would they be getting soft bricks if their phones are actually OEM unlocked?
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] bober10113:
i dont know but people have been reporting exactly that. once oem unlock was available, they flashed twrp and probably rooted and then after a while they couldint boot. this is what i gathered from posts here and on the twrp thread. I might be mistaken but this is what i understood.

maybe ask this guy exactly what happened

and
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] mahdibassam:
I can confirm the 7 day timer - i received and turned on my phone on Friday 22nd noon, and the option appeared today, 7 days later at noon. Device is a New Zealand 2Degrees one.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] turilo:
Ok so thats all I needed to know that will make me return my F/DS device and order the N950F from clove uk
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] bober10113:
yes i did exactly that. am waiting for it to come in ether 2morrow or Monday.( returning the signapore one)

im just happy my unlock never appeared because i would have tripped knox and would be stuck with the phone. a fix might eventually appear but this is not what i signed up for when i shelled out 1k$ for a exynos.

edit

this thread is making clove some sales, wheres our referral discounts! lol
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] GeoffNZ:
Hi mahdibassam.

By what's been going on I'd be careful with flashing anything just yet.

Be interested to hear from you if you still have the option in a couple of days.

I'm with Vodafone NZ so keen to know if the 2Degrees variant is any different...
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] Torquemada288:
Your technical expertise is very much appreciated and it seems that you've already made excellent progress in unravelling this mystery. Thank you.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] mahdibassam:
Hey mate, yip I'm gonna hold off on rooting and Roms for now. Might just sell this one and get a 256gb one from BecexTech, might cousin did that and his had the option from day one.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] GeoffNZ:
Oh wow.

Never even heard of that site.

Just checked it out and they've even got the dual sim and 128GB models. Awesome!

Thanks for the heads up mate. ;)

Crap, the wallet is going to be a fair bit lighter I think...
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] mahdibassam:
No problem mate, I have bought from the countless times so go for it. Let us know how it goes with this oem unlock BS!
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] white7561:
Or. We could use ROM with modified framework or things like that. To enable oem unlocking option all the time. Or we could change efs. If we can figure this out.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] Torquemada288:
It's early days yet. Before long, there'll be custom ROMs with this OEM Unlock code completely nerfed so that the device will always be OEM unlocked, or at least a simple app that will make the option visible all the time. We all just need to be patient and help each other where possible.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] white7561:
Yeah true. I'm getting mine this month. If it looks like this is going to happen. I might buy it. If not. Well. Think gonna use my S8+ lol
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] NZCloud:
NZ 2degrees

My OEM option showed up today too. NZ 2 Degrees Note 8

Bit of a pointless function from Samsung really.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] chloeleedow:
Did anyone flash other firmwares withing the 7 day period and still get OEM unlock on the 7th day ? Its been 7 days since i first fired mine up but have flashed other firmwares with one doing a factory reset because of CSC change. No unlock option for me on my 7th day yet N50f telstra australia
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] nader1450:
+1 Malaysia
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] wrollo:
Just appeared for me! Exactly 7 days after opening up and powering on. I'm on Telstra in Australia on a post-paid plan handset.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] rocketmail.com:
At least for now we see a trend.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] Andysmith71:
Hey mate, on day 7. Activated at 2pm last Friday and now 8:00pm... So nothing yet. Will advise if there in the morning or if it appears before.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] willcor:
Factory Reset,

Just something to consider.

I had OEM unlock option appearing

after about 8/10 days.

I enabled OEM unlock immediately.

Afterwards my OEM unlock, would

randomly disappear and appear.

I decided about 2/3 days ago

to do factory reset. (re Substratum theming issue)

Now i have no OEM unlock anymore...!

Been since factory reset.

Where it would disappear for an hour or so

and OEM lock would appear, nothing.

Question I'm asking myself,

has the factory reset i did,

resetted a OEM timer ?,( if it is time based..)

for 10 days again...?
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] ihaveaphone:
I was able to make my OEM option disappear just by turning on Flight mode and restarting. I checked immediately before flight mode, restarted then checked immediately after. I think that supports the idea that some sort of "phone home" checking function is related to the unlock option being present.

I turned flight mode off, restarted, waited 5 minutes then the OEM option was back. Restarting without flight mode does not make the option disappear.

edit: whoops, i meant to say restart, not reset.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] Andysmith71:
I'm with Telstra as well, I should have got mine around 2pm today (activated it that time a week ago). I did do a factory reset at around 2am Saturday morning (last week) after trying some firmware changes but went back to TEL/TEL/TEL. So guessing if it's a timing thing I should have it by the morning. That's if I did not stuff anything up by trying to flash XSA but went back to TEL and factory reset, all completed by 2am in the wee hours of the morning. Hoping I wake up to an OEM unlock.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] willcor:
Well hope you can sort it out.!

When my OEM option appeared

i switch OEM switch on,

to avoid any further issues.

Well I'm happy i did it,

but not happy OEM option is again missing.

Good luck
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] wrollo:
Alright how's this for weird...

My OEM unlock appeared this evening, around 7PM Sydney time (exactly 7 days after switching on my phone for the first time)

I immediately and successfully rooted my Note 8 and installed Renovate Ice ROM.

It all works fine, except now my OEM unlock option has disappeared again!

So what concerns me now is whether I can restart my device without bricking it.

I'm on Telstra in Australia. Purchased my device on a post-paid plan.

Edit: nevermind - OEM unlock is deliberately disabled in Renovate Ice
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] robbytf:
I got the oem unlock option on my note 8 n950f. I bought it unlocked from Harvey Norman Vicroria. I purchased it on 22 september and got the option now. Attached is proof and version I have. Im also using an optus sim only plan.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] bober10113:
did you flash rom via flashfire or twrp?

also a reboot might not affect your device but visiting twrp and then rebooting might. all this is still unclear but have been reports of a few people.

best of luck to you!
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] turilo:
So even after your OEM disappeared have you tried rebooting to see if everything is still okay with the custom ROM and Recovery that's my concern if it ever happens does the phone actually mess up if oem disappears
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] statikk1:
Hi all..

Here is my take on this weird oem unlock.

Purchased Note8 on 22nd. No oem unlock option in developer mode. Installed BK Package disabler and disabled a whole load of crap including software update Bixby knox etc. etc. I was wondering if all of this would stop me from getting the OEM Unlock but it did not. Exactly a week from starting the phone the option had appeared. I have now switched it on but won't do anything for a few days to see if it stays.

Phone was bought outright from JB HiFi

with csc xsa/xsa/xsa and connected to Optus
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] dr.ketan:
Read rom thread again. if i am not wrong, I have read that, that option said to removed purposefully in rom.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] Andysmith71:
2:45am and just got OEM Unlock on my phone :good:
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] LouK:
[MENTION=1467934]jpinoy[/MENTION]

Can you provide a link to clove uk?

TIA
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] rocketmail.com:
Maybe this will help.

https://www.clove.co.uk/samsung-galaxy-note-8
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] LouK:
Thanks muchly

ORDERED!

Now comes the hard part .....the waiting ;)
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] bober10113:
i ordered from there too but forgot to ask if they include a UK

to NA plug converter which i really doubt.

i doubt even more they would send an NA power plug.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] pswin09:
Oem unlock option is purposely removed in Renovate rom. Don't worry bro. [emoji4]
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] Brava27:
They don't. Just buy off amazon lol
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] bober10113:
i wonder if its just cosmetic? because the switch is one thing but the actual function running in the background is another.

I also wonder if per the rom mod mentionned if someone on stock could activate oem unlock then use the hide/disable developper option toggle to see if that would secure the oem unlock switch/function from being reverted by itself.

---------- Post added at 06:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:34 PM ----------

yeah i did do so yesterday but wanted to try and weasel my way into getting one for free but forgot to try lol
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] LouK:
Not at my computer now but I believe it does include an adapter.

Anyway they are not expensive to get.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] pswin09:
Most of the roms for S8+ including reno rom hide this oem unlock option because of people accidentally turn off and rebooting cause phone serious bootloop problem. Only reflashing of stock firmware can boot up the phone. As far as I know, That's one of the reason to hide it. But our Note 8 has this oem unlock option appear and disappear problem, so people here confused. I am watching this group as my phone still don't have oem unlock. I'm a bit worry as I've flashed different firmwares before. My last flash is 5 days ago and waiting for 7th day, hoping oem unlock option to appear or its permanently disable. [emoji23]
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] bober10113:
yeah i understand the point of hiding the feature but again the mysterious issue with the note 8 is different and im thinking people are miss interpretating the 2 situations. Unless infact this oem unlock issue is not present at all on said Roms.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] pswin09:
This is the first annoying and stupid thing from Samsung. I have been used Samsung phones from N4, S6, S7E, N7, S8+ and Now problematic Note 8. I can tolerate N7 battery case because it's accidental mistake by them. But for Note 8, they purposely did this problem to their loyal customers. I am thinking of selling Note 8 if oem unlock option is still remain for advance users. Very disappointed. [emoji29]
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] bober10113:
not all note 8s have the issue so all is not lost.

but why this is even happening in the first place is concerning.

having an unlock bootloader is a plus for their sales revenue. i dont know why they have changed their approach. you either have a locked bootloader or you dont. now they have 1 locked, 1 unlocked and on this same unlocked 1 it has a variant which locks and unlocks by it self.(not really a variant because issue is software but still this is screwing with people who are getting the exynos for that particular reason: having an unlocked bootloader)
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] krabman:
Don't forget to take the time to contact Samsung and get your gripe in. Perhaps point out that this page has over 800 responses and should be hitting 30k views soon. Also if anyone has an in with one of the big blogs/sites, report this, I cant believe none of them have picked it up yet. I have a feeling after the Note 7 debacle a little unfavorable exposure might have more of an effect than normal.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] bober10113:
+1

maybe because there's no social media BS going.Im quite opposed to that type of practice but seems big companies dont care till issues hit social media.

here is my push in that direction:

on the N7 we had battery-gate

now we have on the N8 OEM-gate

i feel so stupid now
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] krabman:
Making this change without reporting it before hand was below the belt, when they started the SD lock down they gave advance warning which is as it should be. If they had done that I'd be disappointed in the policy change but they sell what they want and we can choose to buy or not. As far as I'm concerned when they cold-cocked us with this they opened the door, whatever comes through it, well, they got it coming.

Edit, I just tipped phonearena. Later I'm going to check in on other sites tip lines. By all means folks, hit phonearena and others, lets open a can of hurt.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] Iradj:
Today my Phone arrived finished the setup and then opened the developer menu and to my surprise i have the OEM Switch. Im on a DBT phone unlocked smartphone ordered from Samsung Online.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] jpinoy:
check your pm
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] LouK:
Thanks.

ORDERED as well .

Should arrive sometime next week I HOPE.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] ARNOB:
One Week Confirmation:

My device now magically has OEM Unlock option. It's been exactly one week since I've set it up. Although it says "Allow the device to be OEM unlocked" not "Bootloader is Unlocked" like other screenshots.

Model: N950F/DS

Country of Origin: Singapore

Country using the device: Canada and England

CSC: XSP

No flashing done at all.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] turilo:
Im on my 10th Day since I got mine and no OEM as of yet. But I did flash FW after FW in Odin to try and get OEM to show up. So I am guessing that trigerred something to slow dowm. All this is BS on Samsung side :rolleyes:
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] pswin09:
When is your last flash?
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] turilo:
I would say maybe 5 days ago, maybe by this weekend i will see oem. But seems now even unlocking OEM after it appears and people flash TWRP or custom roms when OEM disapears they run into serious issue if I am not mistaked
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] pswin09:
Same situation bro. My last flash was last Sunday night. Let's see how it goes.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] Andysmith71:
I did the same as you, it appeared 7 days after the last firmware flash I did to the hour
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] pswin09:
That's good news... Thanks bro.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Questions and Answers] turilo:
so who here has a custom rom on their F/DS device after the OEM appeared? If it disappeared is everything still working well?