[Q] Galaxy S2 Won't Register on Netowrk

Hi all,

I'll explain my situation. I had a work supplied HTC Sensation. The most god-awful handset known to mankind... except the iPhone. I digress. We are on Vodafone UK. When it came to renewing the work phones I was given an "upgrade" iPhone 5s. Long story short, I'm not using it. I have a Samsung Galaxy S2 which was on T-Mobile. I was given it and I thought I'd give it a go as it has to be better than the HTC Sensation.

Firstly I put in my Vodafone SIM. As I expected it didn't work. I have checked the IMEI number and it hasn't been blacklisted. So I thought I'd unlock the phone and root it. I followed the advice in this thread:

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2365701

After the first go of installing Jellybean which is what was on there initially I got to the end, rooted it and it wouldn't unlock using the method given. The method goes on to say that it works with ICS. So, I went through it again and installed ICS. Rooted it. Ran the unlock. Still locked.

Question 1: Is SIM lock the same thing as Network Lock?

At the moment, I have the stock ROM from the above thread for ICS installed. 4.0.3 I think it is. If I put my Vodafone UK SIM in this phone, when I try to make a call it says "Not registered on network". Tried following lots of advice in different threads. None worked. I thought, maybe that it can't register on the network as I am boosting my signal through a Sure Signal. I tried going to a place where I know I would normally get signal and tried doing it there. Still no luck. I keep digging and I come across the DEBUG MENU on the device:

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1882796&page=4

It suggests this:

dial "*#197328640#" to enter debug menu
click "6 [common]"
click "6 [nv rebuild]"
click "2 [erases three partition!]"

Except in the 3rd option there is no menu option 2. I have kept digging and then came across the "Personalizatiob Status" (http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=740167) and it shows this:

Network Lock
[OFF]
Network Subnet Lock
[OFF]
SP Lock
[OFF]
CP Lock
[OFF]

Please note that during all this my Vodafone SIM is NOT in this phone. It is in the HTC Sensation and is working just fine.

Question 2: Do I have to have my SIM in the phone when I do all this?

Question 3: How can I get this phone to register on the network with my existing Vodafone UK SIM that is working just fine?

I've tried the Galaxy S2 Unlock apps on the market store. The unlock code and unfreeze code show gibberish.

What am I missing? I don't actually care for using the stock Samsung ROMs because the phone is way out of warranty anyway. I just want to avoid having to use the iPhone I've been given.

Any advice welcome.

Any advice from anyone?

Cheers.

theunderling said:

Did you try spockys app

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

What is Spocky's app? Everything I've done is in the post.

theunderling said:

If you dont know what it is; then one would presume you havent tried it.
You can do a google or xda search, or charge up the iphone.........

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

Nope, haven't tried that one. I will give it a go later on this evening. I've tried a couple of unlockers that have been recommended in other threads and neither have worked. I'll keep you posted.

Any thoughts on the other questions I had on the original post?

With regards to the iPhone, I think I'd rather stick with the HTC Sensation despite its multiple daily crashes/restarts and almost constant need for recharging.

I tried the app and it said everything was unlocked except for CSC Lock. Now, I did some reading on that lock and that seems to be a geographic lock applied by Samsung. As this phone was bought in the UK and I'm putting a UK sim in it, then this won't affect me because both the original TMobile SIM and my Vodafone SIM are UK.

It said my unlock code was 00000000. I doubt it is that, but on the slim chance it is, where do I even put the unlock code in?

Attached is a screenshot of the lock status from GalaxSim by Spocky.

It now shows everything is unlocked. Any ideas?

I can see the sim operator is listed as Vodafone and the registered operator is O2 according to that. Weird as it had a working T-Mobile sim in it prior to my getting it.

Thanks.

Any further ideas? There has to be something I've missed.

Well, I have still not managed to find out why this phone won't connect to the network. Sadly my old HTC Sensation has pretty much now become unusable and I've had no choice but to start using the iPhone provided by my work as I've not been successful in getting the S2 up and running.

I cannot believe just how bad the iPhone is. I've always said they were rubbish from day one despite having never owned one. Now I have one, I can justifiably say that I was correct in that they are dreadful things, however, I didn't quite realise just how rubbish they really are. Now I know.