HOW TO: Free Unlock of Samsung Galaxy S Relay 4G - At your own risk!

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theZenman

Member
Jul 2, 2010
7
17
Hey guys. So, first of all, we've got our own forum! I don't know when it happened, as I wasn't really paying attention after the first few...months...but here we are!

Anyway, some of you may know about the free unlock method posted by owl74 in the Note II forum (link: http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=34661189, has screenshots). This turned out to work for the SGSIII, the SGSII and SGSII Skyrocket. Well this post is to verify that IT WORKS FOR THE RELAY 4G TOO! :D

Before proceeding: do this at your own risk. There is no guarantee it will work for you. You MUST be running a stock ROM with a stock modem. I am using the UVMA2 stock ROM with the UVMA2 modem on T-Mobile USA.

Read ALL directions first before trying this out.

This was ONLY tested on MY phone, with the UVMA2 update and modem, on T-Mobile USA.

Without further ado, here are the complete steps toward unlocking the Relay 4G (Thanks again to OP owl47):
*NOTE:* Never use the "back" button. There is an option when pressing the menu button to go back.
  1. First, dial
    Code:
    *#197328640#
    in the dialer app
  2. Hit option [1] UMTS
  3. Hit option [1] DEBUG SCREEN
  4. Hit option [8] PHONE CONTROL
  5. Hit option [6] NETWORK LOCK
  6. Hit option [3] PERSO SHA256 OFF
  7. WAIT exactly 30 seconds.
  8. Hit the menu button and select the "Back" option.
  9. Hit option [4] NW LOCK NV DATA INITIALLIZ
  10. WAIT exactly 60 seconds
  11. There will be no prompt, but reboot your phone. It should now be unlocked.

Verify that your phone is unlocked by using a SIM card from another network. I tested it using my wife's AT&T SIM card and it connected successfully.

The prompts and the menu for the Relay 4G is a bit different from the other phones, but the screenshots provided in the original link above should serve as a rough guide for what you might see. I personally never saw the 'PERSO_NV_INIT is SUCCESSFUL' prompt, but it still worked for me.

Your mileage may vary. If someone is brave enough to give it a try on earlier versions of stock ROMs, be my guest.

For a rooted UVMA2 rom, gee one posted a link to his FTP site where he is hosting a copy of the rooted rom (should be CWM flashable):
http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=38623790#post38623790

Post your success/failure below!
 

gtmaster303

Senior Member
Oct 19, 2010
1,556
417
Hey guys. So, first of all, we've got our own forum! I don't know when it happened, as I wasn't really paying attention after the first few...months...but here we are!

Anyway, some of you may know about the free unlock method posted by owl74 in the Note II forum (link: http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=34661189, has screenshots). This turned out to work for the SGSIII, the SGSII and SGSII Skyrocket. Well this post is to verify that IT WORKS FOR THE RELAY 4G TOO! :D

Before proceeding: do this at your own risk. There is no guarantee it will work for you. You MUST be running a stock ROM with a stock modem. I am using the UVMA2 stock ROM with the UVMA2 modem on T-Mobile USA.

Read ALL directions first before trying this out.

This was ONLY tested on MY phone, with the UVMA2 update and modem, on T-Mobile USA.

Without further ado, here are the complete steps toward unlocking the Relay 4G (Thanks again to OP owl47):
*NOTE:* Never use the "back" button. There is an option when pressing the menu button to go back.
  1. First, dial
    Code:
    *#197328640#
    in the dialer app
  2. Hit option [1] UMTS
  3. Hit option [1] DEBUG SCREEN
  4. Hit option [8] PHONE CONTROL
  5. Hit option [6] NETWORK LOCK
  6. Hit option [3] PERSO SHA256 OFF
  7. WAIT exactly 30 seconds.
  8. Hit the menu button and select the "Back" option.
  9. Hit option [4] NW LOCK NV DATA INITIALLIZ
  10. WAIT exactly 60 seconds
  11. There will be no prompt, but reboot your phone. It should now be unlocked.

Verify that your phone is unlocked by using a SIM card from another network. I tested it using my wife's AT&T SIM card and it connected successfully.

The prompts and the menu for the Relay 4G is a bit different from the other phones, but the screenshots provided in the original link above should serve as a rough guide for what you might see. I personally never saw the 'PERSO_NV_INIT is SUCCESSFUL' prompt, but it still worked for me.

Your mileage may vary. If someone is brave enough to give it a try on earlier versions of stock ROMs, be my guest.

For a rooted UVMA2 rom, gee one posted a link to his FTP site where he is hosting a copy of the rooted rom (should be CWM flashable):
http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=38623790#post38623790

Post your success/failure below!

Already covered...
Check nocturin's portal thread. Tons of stuff there, including this
 

theZenman

Member
Jul 2, 2010
7
17
Already covered...
Check nocturin's portal thread. Tons of stuff there, including this

Whoops, you're right. I searched the forums and couldn't find anything about "unlocking" that wasn't talking about screen unlocking.

I guess this is what happens when you go for months without an organized forum and people are just cramming everything into mammoth threads...
 

_RaZziel_

Member
Sep 3, 2012
38
7
Sömmerda
Hi erveryone,

I am thinking about buying the Galaxy Relay, since my old phone broke, but because I live in Europe I'd have to import it. Is there any way (I could not find any using the search function) to SIM-unlock this phone without being on a t-mobile network?
 

theZenman

Member
Jul 2, 2010
7
17
Hi erveryone,

I am thinking about buying the Galaxy Relay, since my old phone broke, but because I live in Europe I'd have to import it. Is there any way (I could not find any using the search function) to SIM-unlock this phone without being on a t-mobile network?

As far as I know, sure. I had an AT&T SIM in there while I was unlocking it. After I rebooted, it connected to the network. I don't think you need to start connected to the T-Mobile network or anything.
 
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raphaelcno

Member
Sep 8, 2007
33
2
OSLO
I am thinking about buying the Galaxy Relay, since my old phone broke, but because I live in Europe I'd have to import it. Is there any way (I could not find any using the search function) to SIM-unlock this phone without being on a t-mobile network?

When you follow the above procedure you don't need to have a SIM card in the phone, you are not on T-Mobile or any other network.

I also imported my phone and unlocked it in Norway, it worked nice.
 
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kilr00y

Senior Member
Sep 23, 2010
75
38
Bayreuth
OnePlus 6
i bought an unlock code from an us site. seemed to be the easiest and fastest way to me.

never needed another simcard for the procedure than my T-Mobile Germany. And yes, it's specifically locked to T-Mobile USA.
A TM simcard from another country just gets rejected like any other provider's card.
 

dillalade

Senior Member
Sep 28, 2009
1,543
366
Richmond
This is a very handy tip for sim unlock.

I bought the phone for my cousin as he was jealous of my Relay.
Forgot about the unlock needed as neither of us or on Tmobile here in London. Happily saw this thread. 1, 2, 3 job done, for freeeee.

Thank you for finding and sharing this procedure.

:thumbup:

Sent from my SGH-T699 using xda app-developers app
 

NexusWarp

Member
Feb 28, 2013
8
0
Unlocking on Jelly Bean

Hey guys. So, first of all, we've got our own forum! I don't know when it happened, as I wasn't really paying attention after the first few...months...but here we are!

Anyway, some of you may know about the free unlock method posted by owl74 in the Note II forum (link: http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=34661189, has screenshots). This turned out to work for the SGSIII, the SGSII and SGSII Skyrocket. Well this post is to verify that IT WORKS FOR THE RELAY 4G TOO! :D

Before proceeding: do this at your own risk. There is no guarantee it will work for you. You MUST be running a stock ROM with a stock modem. I am using the UVMA2 stock ROM with the UVMA2 modem on T-Mobile USA.

Read ALL directions first before trying this out.

This was ONLY tested on MY phone, with the UVMA2 update and modem, on T-Mobile USA.

Without further ado, here are the complete steps toward unlocking the Relay 4G (Thanks again to OP owl47):
*NOTE:* Never use the "back" button. There is an option when pressing the menu button to go back.
  1. First, dial
    Code:
    *#197328640#
    in the dialer app
  2. Hit option [1] UMTS
  3. Hit option [1] DEBUG SCREEN
  4. Hit option [8] PHONE CONTROL
  5. Hit option [6] NETWORK LOCK
  6. Hit option [3] PERSO SHA256 OFF
  7. WAIT exactly 30 seconds.
  8. Hit the menu button and select the "Back" option.
  9. Hit option [4] NW LOCK NV DATA INITIALLIZ
  10. WAIT exactly 60 seconds
  11. There will be no prompt, but reboot your phone. It should now be unlocked.

Verify that your phone is unlocked by using a SIM card from another network. I tested it using my wife's AT&T SIM card and it connected successfully.

The prompts and the menu for the Relay 4G is a bit different from the other phones, but the screenshots provided in the original link above should serve as a rough guide for what you might see. I personally never saw the 'PERSO_NV_INIT is SUCCESSFUL' prompt, but it still worked for me.

Your mileage may vary. If someone is brave enough to give it a try on earlier versions of stock ROMs, be my guest.

For a rooted UVMA2 rom, gee one posted a link to his FTP site where he is hosting a copy of the rooted rom (should be CWM flashable):
http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=38623790#post38623790

Post your success/failure below!

I wanted to ask if I updated the phone to the jelly bean version before I unlock then I tried to unlock the phone will it work?
 

Kueber

Senior Member
Aug 5, 2011
165
37
Just got my locked relay, used this method - now it's unlocked.
Confirmed working, I guess.

Thanks for that!
 
Apr 26, 2011
16
4
Hey guys. So, first of all, we've got our own forum! I don't know when it happened, as I wasn't really paying attention after the first few...months...but here we are!

Anyway, some of you may know about the free unlock method posted by owl74 in the Note II forum (link: http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=34661189, has screenshots). This turned out to work for the SGSIII, the SGSII and SGSII Skyrocket. Well this post is to verify that IT WORKS FOR THE RELAY 4G TOO! :D

Before proceeding: do this at your own risk. There is no guarantee it will work for you. You MUST be running a stock ROM with a stock modem. I am using the UVMA2 stock ROM with the UVMA2 modem on T-Mobile USA.

Read ALL directions first before trying this out.

This was ONLY tested on MY phone, with the UVMA2 update and modem, on T-Mobile USA.

Without further ado, here are the complete steps toward unlocking the Relay 4G (Thanks again to OP owl47):
*NOTE:* Never use the "back" button. There is an option when pressing the menu button to go back.
  1. First, dial
    Code:
    *#197328640#
    in the dialer app
  2. Hit option [1] UMTS
  3. Hit option [1] DEBUG SCREEN
  4. Hit option [8] PHONE CONTROL
  5. Hit option [6] NETWORK LOCK
  6. Hit option [3] PERSO SHA256 OFF
  7. WAIT exactly 30 seconds.
  8. Hit the menu button and select the "Back" option.
  9. Hit option [4] NW LOCK NV DATA INITIALLIZ
  10. WAIT exactly 60 seconds
  11. There will be no prompt, but reboot your phone. It should now be unlocked.

Verify that your phone is unlocked by using a SIM card from another network. I tested it using my wife's AT&T SIM card and it connected successfully.

The prompts and the menu for the Relay 4G is a bit different from the other phones, but the screenshots provided in the original link above should serve as a rough guide for what you might see. I personally never saw the 'PERSO_NV_INIT is SUCCESSFUL' prompt, but it still worked for me.

Your mileage may vary. If someone is brave enough to give it a try on earlier versions of stock ROMs, be my guest.

For a rooted UVMA2 rom, gee one posted a link to his FTP site where he is hosting a copy of the rooted rom (should be CWM flashable):
http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=38623790#post38623790

Post your success/failure below!
I'm on a stock rom and stock UVMA2 Baseband, but I am rooted. Should this work? If this fails and I have a backup in recovery, can I roll back to that or might it brick my phone such that I can't even get to recovery?
 
Apr 26, 2011
16
4
I'm on a stock rom and stock UVMA2 Baseband, but I am rooted. Should this work? If this fails and I have a backup in recovery, can I roll back to that or might it brick my phone such that I can't even get to recovery?
I tried it. It did not unlock my phone. It did not harm my phone in any way I can tell, it just didn't unlock it. I've called T-Mobile to request a sim unlock code from them.
 

treaty

New member
Jan 31, 2008
3
0
undo

Gonna post this here just because it may be useful to someone.

I tried this unlock method - but I tried it AFTER I had done the OTA update to Jelly Bean. It obviously didnt work. I then went to T-mo and got them to give me an official unlock code. The unlock codes they gave me would not work though - just kept saying "unlock unsuccessful" no matter how many unlock codes they gave me to try. I noticed it seemed like it wasn't even going out on the network to try to validate the unlock before saying it was unsuccessful... so I did the unlock backwards kinda:

in the dialer app
Hit option [1] UMTS
Hit option [1] DEBUG SCREEN
Hit option [8] PHONE CONTROL
Hit option [6] NETWORK LOCK
Hit option [3] PERSO SHA256 ON
WAIT exactly 30 seconds.
Hit the menu button and select the "Back" option.
reboot your phone.​

After I did that - I was able to get the unlock code from T-mo to actually go out and validate and unlock the phone.
 

reaper000

Senior Member
Aug 3, 2009
1,482
1,188
OnePlus 9
I am unable to complete the instructions in the OP because the network lock menu on my Relay 4g does not have the 4th option... Only 3 options.
Failure to unlock...



Sent from my One using Tapatalk 4
 

reaper000

Senior Member
Aug 3, 2009
1,482
1,188
OnePlus 9
What version of the stock rom are you using? Maybe you have to flash back to a previous version.

Haven't begun to even play with it! Straight out of the box, not rooted, nothing. It is running 4.1.2, though. I was hoping to confirm it worked on Straight Talk before I really started to mess with roms and flashing stuff...

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 4
 
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gee one

Senior Member
Jul 29, 2010
1,979
866
linux command line
Haven't begun to even play with it! Straight out of the box, not rooted, nothing. It is running 4.1.2, though. I was hoping to confirm it worked on Straight Talk before I really started to mess with roms and flashing stuff...

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 4

4.1.2 is Jelly Bean. Maybe you have to flash back to Ice Cream Sammich. See the posts above about issues with Jelly Bean.

To flash back, I think you either need heimdall or a custom recovery (although I think you need heimdall to flash a new recovery).


sent while running with scissors
 

yohan4ws

Senior Member
Oct 23, 2012
532
183
Calgary
Hey guys,

I just got my Relay 4G in the mail yesterday.... I was playing with it and without SIM just wifi enabled I did all the updates, then I found this thread... (oops)

I hitup www.samfirmware.com, I rolled back to UVMA2 update using Odin 3.07 (put the .tar.md5 file in PDA and flash)

Then I booted into recovery and did a factory wipe. I followed the directions in this thread, voila ... unlocked phone, it works now on my Virgin Mobile SIM card in Canada.

(Did this help you ??? There's a button for that ;0)
 
Last edited:
Sep 20, 2013
27
5
Succes on two phones here

Thanks for the instructions, worked perfectly!

I bought two used, one was already on Jelly Bean, and as noted above the option just is not in the menu as listed in directions. After flashing it back to the Ice Cream Sandwich stock rom I could proceed with the unlock and it worked perfectly. The other phone was ICS already and it unlocked first try. :good:
 

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  • 12
    Hey guys. So, first of all, we've got our own forum! I don't know when it happened, as I wasn't really paying attention after the first few...months...but here we are!

    Anyway, some of you may know about the free unlock method posted by owl74 in the Note II forum (link: http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=34661189, has screenshots). This turned out to work for the SGSIII, the SGSII and SGSII Skyrocket. Well this post is to verify that IT WORKS FOR THE RELAY 4G TOO! :D

    Before proceeding: do this at your own risk. There is no guarantee it will work for you. You MUST be running a stock ROM with a stock modem. I am using the UVMA2 stock ROM with the UVMA2 modem on T-Mobile USA.

    Read ALL directions first before trying this out.

    This was ONLY tested on MY phone, with the UVMA2 update and modem, on T-Mobile USA.

    Without further ado, here are the complete steps toward unlocking the Relay 4G (Thanks again to OP owl47):
    *NOTE:* Never use the "back" button. There is an option when pressing the menu button to go back.
    1. First, dial
      Code:
      *#197328640#
      in the dialer app
    2. Hit option [1] UMTS
    3. Hit option [1] DEBUG SCREEN
    4. Hit option [8] PHONE CONTROL
    5. Hit option [6] NETWORK LOCK
    6. Hit option [3] PERSO SHA256 OFF
    7. WAIT exactly 30 seconds.
    8. Hit the menu button and select the "Back" option.
    9. Hit option [4] NW LOCK NV DATA INITIALLIZ
    10. WAIT exactly 60 seconds
    11. There will be no prompt, but reboot your phone. It should now be unlocked.

    Verify that your phone is unlocked by using a SIM card from another network. I tested it using my wife's AT&T SIM card and it connected successfully.

    The prompts and the menu for the Relay 4G is a bit different from the other phones, but the screenshots provided in the original link above should serve as a rough guide for what you might see. I personally never saw the 'PERSO_NV_INIT is SUCCESSFUL' prompt, but it still worked for me.

    Your mileage may vary. If someone is brave enough to give it a try on earlier versions of stock ROMs, be my guest.

    For a rooted UVMA2 rom, gee one posted a link to his FTP site where he is hosting a copy of the rooted rom (should be CWM flashable):
    http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=38623790#post38623790

    Post your success/failure below!
    4
    Hey guys,

    I just got my Relay 4G in the mail yesterday.... I was playing with it and without SIM just wifi enabled I did all the updates, then I found this thread... (oops)

    I hitup www.samfirmware.com, I rolled back to UVMA2 update using Odin 3.07 (put the .tar.md5 file in PDA and flash)

    Then I booted into recovery and did a factory wipe. I followed the directions in this thread, voila ... unlocked phone, it works now on my Virgin Mobile SIM card in Canada.

    (Did this help you ??? There's a button for that ;0)
    2
    2015 update

    Just an update. There is a lot of hard to find information in this thread. So many damn letters to keep track of. Dead links. Ugh.

    A couple of notes:

    • Jelly Bean (4.1.x) WILL NOT WORK to unlock your device using this method. The menu option [4] will never appear as its been removed from this image. Don't bother downloading the JB images, they won't help. Don't waste your time unless....

    • You'll need 4.0.4 (aka IceCreamSandwich), aka UVMA2. Either this already needs to be installed, or you'll need to flash the device with Odin with UVMA2. (LINK NOT ALLOWED SINCE I AM A NEW USER.....) Choose the T699UVAMA2_T699TMBAMA2_TMB.zip package. Contains the complete factory UVMA2 image (bootloader, recovery image, system image, and radio). Unzip, and find the complete md5 file, ready for uploading via Odin

    My Relay 4G came from eBay with 4.1.x installed already. Doing the instructions on 4.1.x doesn't work.

    To downgrade to ICS/4.0.4/UVMA2, I used the image I mentioned above, flashed it with Odin, booted into 4.0.4, and performed the unlock. Menu option [4] appeared immediately, instructions worked perfectly. Verified by installing a non Tmobile sim, works fine.

    Now I'll put ClockworkRecoveryMod back on, and upgrade to CM11...
    2
    Haven't begun to even play with it! Straight out of the box, not rooted, nothing. It is running 4.1.2, though. I was hoping to confirm it worked on Straight Talk before I really started to mess with roms and flashing stuff...

    Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 4

    4.1.2 is Jelly Bean. Maybe you have to flash back to Ice Cream Sammich. See the posts above about issues with Jelly Bean.

    To flash back, I think you either need heimdall or a custom recovery (although I think you need heimdall to flash a new recovery).


    sent while running with scissors
    1
    Hi erveryone,

    I am thinking about buying the Galaxy Relay, since my old phone broke, but because I live in Europe I'd have to import it. Is there any way (I could not find any using the search function) to SIM-unlock this phone without being on a t-mobile network?

    As far as I know, sure. I had an AT&T SIM in there while I was unlocking it. After I rebooted, it connected to the network. I don't think you need to start connected to the T-Mobile network or anything.