[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S8+ Questions & Answers] domiluci:
[S8+] Purchased a stock AT&T S8+ in a lot. It has latest bootloader and bad IMEI....

First off, I'm an engineering scientist with years of development experience developing both hardware and software for all sorts of phones and companies. So I feel I'm pretty familiar with Android and every conceivable (and off-the-wall) way to get this phone unlocked, rooted, and/or just flat out usable. And I have failed which is why I am finally giving this to the multiverse in hopes there is someone with some solution I have yet to attempt.

I have been searching and trying every possible option for a week and counting. I'm also aware of how close to impossible it is to work with locked Snapdragon CPUs. But not entirely impossible. There has to be a way of reviving this phone!

So I recently purchased a lot full of untested and "for parts" electronics. In there was an AT&T S8+ with a cracked screen. It was also stuck in a boot loop, so I can safely hazard a guess that someone tried to update the ROM, bricked it, and didn't realize they could reflash stock firmware and fix it. Well, upon further examination, I discovered they had attempted flashing a V7 bootloader. Yes, version 7. So that basically robbed me of any options I may have had, as well as all the bugs I could have used to root the device. All I could do was install Pie with a V7 bootloader. Voila! The phone boots up. But it gets better....

Now that the phone was working, I did some examining, one part of which was the IMEI as I wanted to unlock it if possible. I check the IMEI, and it is frakking blacklisted! So that blew ever being able to use this phone on a network. I even sat on hold for 46 minutes to speak with someone at AT&T to see if they could remove it off the blacklist. They promptly said "sure!", then transferred me to someone else to fix it and the guy said "no".. So it's stuck locked to AT&T, which sucks because I checked with several other networks who all said the phone could be used on their networks. But that's not an option if it is carrier locked and impossible to unlock. :silly:

Furthermore, OEM Unlock is 110% unavailable, and no bugs work or exist to force it to appear on Android 9 Pie like you can with 8 Oreo and 7 Nougat; and I tried for days. So the bootloader is permanently locked. If it wasn't, I could root the phone, fix the IMEI, unlock it, and get the phone functional again. Alas, I cannot, at least any time soon, if ever.

I've tried every possible thing out there to root this, unlock the bootloader, and/or try to roll back Pie to Oreo, Nougat, or some stock ROM with bugs that are still active. At the very least just to change the IMEI and get the phone working again. But there is no version of Oreo/Nougat that can be installed with a V7 bootloader.

Also, there is absolutely no Engineering Mode (NOT Developer Mode) available under this stock Android 9 Pie, either by code or by app/settings. Does anybody know of an exact Android 9 Pie stock ROM with an accessible no-root Engineering Mode?

And I've tried every way out there to force OEM Unlock to appear, but the bugs that work in Oreo and Nougat have all been patched and none of them work on Android 9 Pie. So I'm stuck with this ROM and bootloader :mad:

So I'm here today with these issues in hopes someone may have solutions for:

A way to force OEM Unlock to appear under Android 9 Pie (as no Oreo/Nougat hacks work under Pie)

A way to bypass KG state under stock Android 9 Pie (as no Oreo/Nougat hacks work under Pie)

A way to install Android 8 Oreo or Android 7 Nougat with a V7 bootloader

A stock ROM with Engineering Mode available

A way to change the IMEI without root

A way to modify the V7 stock ROM so it installs a Nougat/Oreo ROM instead of Pie

Another option to keep this phone from just being a fancy, pretty paperweight

Any solution we or I may discover, I will clean it up and make a guide to help others with these same issues as there is not much info yet V7 on bootloaders. So this is a group activity that could help many, many people; help me help us all!

Thank you all in advance for anything you can offer to help!

-DL

EDIT 1: I forgot to mention that the KG State is stuck on "Checking...." so I couldn't get "OEM Unlock" even by waiting