Tampered without htcdev

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ascot17

Senior Member
Dec 17, 2006
559
447
I just checked mine, haven't even looked before.

Mine also says TAMPERED. Weird though, as it is Locked. I would have thought if someone had unlocked it, had a mess around and then locked it again, it should show Relocked, not Locked?

Could it be because it has the 'Carrier' ROM on there instead of a stock ROM? (TMob UK in my case)

Interested to hear more opinions on this

I also have a T-Mobile UK phone.
The bootloader originally said 'LOCKED'.
I unlocked via HTCDev - it now shows 'UNLOCKED'.
I have not yet rooted or flashed a recovery - I have no 'TAMPERED' message!
 

raikesy

Senior Member
Mar 26, 2009
727
201
I also have a T-Mobile UK phone.
The bootloader originally said 'LOCKED'.
I unlocked via HTCDev - it now shows 'UNLOCKED'.
I have not yet rooted or flashed a recovery - I have no 'TAMPERED' message!

Yea its strange, I contacted HTC who were also stumped and are looking into it further.

I'm not really bothered as I'm swapping it out next week (MAO issues again) but its hard to work out why it would show both TAMPERED & LOCKED straight from the factory. I would expect to see TAMPERED accompanied by UNLOCKED or RELOCKED, not LOCKED.
 

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kenyw

Senior Member
Apr 28, 2010
116
13
My handset is also showing TAMPERED and LOCKED. It was one of the early batches. I phoned the shop, but unfortunately as I have had the phone since early April they said they would need to send it to HTC for a warranty repair.

I brought it up in an online chat with HTC support and they don't seem to have information on this.

Update: HTC looked into it and sent me an email saying

"We have been looking into this for you. The "Tampered" words on your bootloader mean that the operating system has been modified or rooting in some way. This means that this will affect your warranty. I do apologize for the bad news regarding this."

Given that I haven't actually done anything to the OS, this isn't helpful at all. >_<
 
Last edited:

h.han

Senior Member
Feb 28, 2011
387
72
London
My handset is also showing TAMPERED and LOCKED. It was one of the early batches. I phoned the shop, but unfortunately as I have had the phone since early April they said they would need to send it to HTC for a warranty repair.

I brought it up in an online chat with HTC support and they don't seem to have information on this.

Update: HTC looked into it and sent me an email saying

"We have been looking into this for you. The "Tampered" words on your bootloader mean that the operating system has been modified or rooting in some way. This means that this will affect your warranty. I do apologize for the bad news regarding this."

Given that I haven't actually done anything to the OS, this isn't helpful at all. >_<

Strongly suggest you go to the shop physically and show them what it is and tell them you had not tried to root or done anything which would cause it to show tampered. So it means they sold you a bad device. And this is not obvious thing to notice so as a normal end user you should not have performed the bootloader check but the point of sell should ensure the quality of their product. Therefore, this device should be classified as DOA, defective on arrival. So the shop should exchange it.

Be strong, confused and very worried, mention this thing voids your warrenty so very serious and show a bit angry, but not too much. If it is a responsible shop or operator, it should listen to you.

The bottom line, ask them to call HTC customer rep and ask them to speak to HTC first. Emphresise you had done nothing but use the phone properly. If they can not describe the thing clearly, take the phone and speak to HTC yourself. But make sure the shop is on your side.

Worst case, if HTC still insist that you had caused the tamper, tell them to check you imei to see if you had unlocked via HTC dev website. That's the only way you would have rooted the device.

Nightmare case, they checked their record and found out your device had been unlocked, ask them to verify when that was done, they must have that info. So the date should be before when you bought it. So at this point, you are cleared and could immediately shout back: what a hell you allowed a unlocked and non-warrenty device to be on the market! And they would apollogise then you walk away with a shinny new one s.

End of story.

Sent from my HTC One S using XDA
 

oo03sjw

Senior Member
Oct 7, 2007
214
24
Totally agree with h.han, don't let them get away with it.

I brought mine on release and after a few emails to HTC and Handtec all sorted.

Took my old one in today and picked up the new one as arranged, no issues.

As a foot note the guys from Hantec where great and from the outset only appeared to want to help - they even mentioned that the phone was showing signs of chipping which I had never noticed because I always had the gel case on it!

Now the debate is wether to keep this or get rid as a new unopended unit?
It is a great phone but worth this grief? decisions, decisions...
 
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raikesy

Senior Member
Mar 26, 2009
727
201
My handset is also showing TAMPERED and LOCKED. It was one of the early batches. I phoned the shop, but unfortunately as I have had the phone since early April they said they would need to send it to HTC for a warranty repair.

I brought it up in an online chat with HTC support and they don't seem to have information on this.

Update: HTC looked into it and sent me an email saying

"We have been looking into this for you. The "Tampered" words on your bootloader mean that the operating system has been modified or rooting in some way. This means that this will affect your warranty. I do apologize for the bad news regarding this."

Given that I haven't actually done anything to the OS, this isn't helpful at all. >_<

Yea, I would open a ticket up by email, so you can write it all down there and attach photo's of the bootloader. The important thing to remember here is that we CANNOT put the phone back to a 'LOCKED' state ourselves. So if it is still showing as 'LOCKED' yet is 'TAMPERED' then there is no way you could have done that yourself (as far as I understand it)

This is the reply I had from HTC after I sent them pictures etc.

"Thank you for providing me with the additional details to enable me to resolve your enquiry. I will continue with the escalation simply for investigative reasons as this is a worrying issue regardless, I would be interested to see if any replacement from T-Mobile has the same issue.
I am sorry to hear that you are also having issue with the Micro-Arc Oxidation on your HTC One S and hope that your have a better experience with your next HTC One S handset I look forward to hearing that this has resolved your enquiry, to close your email or alternatively to reply to me please follow the links below. You will shortly receive an email asking you to submit your feedback, I would appreciate if you could take the time to let me know about the level of service I have provided you with."
 
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kenyw

Senior Member
Apr 28, 2010
116
13
raikesy, what HTC have told you is a very different reply from what HTC has given me in another chat; it is quite frustrating that the answers are not consistent.

I pointed out to the support rep that I would have needed a htcdev token to unlock my boot loader, and his reply was simply that HTC were not currently issuing tokens for the One S, and that my phone must have been rooted via a different exploit (he mentioned that HTC are aware of a few). That HTCDev do not do One S unlock tokens is, as far as I can tell from the evidence on XDA, rubbish.

Quite disappointing, and I hope the email I shall send them will reach someone more knowledgeable.
 
Last edited:

h.han

Senior Member
Feb 28, 2011
387
72
London
raikesy, what HTC have told you is a very different reply from what HTC has given me in another chat; it is quite frustrating that the answers are not consistent.

I pointed out to the support rep that I would have needed a htcdev token to unlock my boot loader, and his reply was simply that HTC were not currently issuing tokens for the One S, and that my phone must have been rooted via a different exploit (he mentioned that HTC are aware of a few). That HTCDev do not do One S unlock tokens is, as far as I can tell from the evidence on XDA, rubbish.

Quite disappointing, and I hope the email I shall send them will reach someone more knowledgeable.

That's ridiculous and disgusting, I already feel very very pissed even the response was not to me.
Is this the way to treat a customer??!! Just stupidly pointing out wrong information about htcdev unlocking one s is already unprofessional, the guy even said HTC is aware of other exploit! What the f**k was he trying to imply??!! We are not criminal we don't deserve being treated like this. If he thinks the phone was rooted before, prove it, don't just sit at the desk eating popcorn while day dreaming.

Very offensive I feel, hope this is just individual case. Keep sending email mate, you paid for the phone, you deserve the product as expected, any defect is unexpectable. If necessary, complain through HTC complaint department. Those guys dealing with complaints are normally highly trained and professional cos that's the last chance for them to rescue their reputation.

Sent from my HTC One S using XDA
 

kenyw

Senior Member
Apr 28, 2010
116
13
Thanks for the support.

So far based on reading this thread and my own experience I'm summarizing the issue as:

- Bootloader screen shows TAMPERED and LOCKED on a supposedly factory condition unit.
- Possibly afflicting only a small number of handsets, but most users will not ever start their phone in bootloader mode, so the issue has low visibility anyway. An affected user is likely only to find out when denied warranty service.
- Affects both International and T-Mobile units, and therefore units of either colour (so far I've seen posts from T-Mobile units and International SIM free units)
- It is not possible to get TAMPERED and LOCKED by rooting using HTCDev. There are no other known methods of rooting the One S at present. People on XDA who have rooted their One S end up with TAMPERED and UNLOCKED/RELOCKED.
- HTC are regarding the presence of the TAMPERED flag alone as sufficient to void the warranty.
- At least one support rep in HTC has indicated willingness to investigate the problem.
- It might be possible to work around the problem by flashing an RUU, which apparently makes the TAMPERED flag disappear.

My own comments at this point:
The low visibility of the issue means that HTC probably have not anticipated it, hence the mixed messages coming out of HTC support. The advice I received was that tampering had occurred between factory and buyer (though in my own case, there was no sign of tampering with the packaging), and to exchange the phone, however my phone is out of its 28 day return period with the e-tailer and they would understandably be reluctant to just take it back.

Yet this is an issue that is not likely to be discovered early during ownership, if at all. My main concern is the second point in my list - that a normal user would only find out about this if something went wrong with their (stock) phone and HTC denied warranty service on the grounds of the TAMPERED flag in the bootloader.
 
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c_brown93

Senior Member
Aug 29, 2010
946
214
Indianapolis
Mine said Tampered and I got mine from T-Mobile and I went back and showed them. They exchanged it out no problem in the store because it was within 14 days. So now I got a brand new one and it doesn't say it now :)

Sent from my HTC VLE_U using XDA
 

orenfl

Senior Member
Jan 9, 2011
1,006
212
Has this issue been clarified?

I have my UK HOS and brought it the day of release.

Completely untouched by me, no playing etc.

Just checked and it shows *** TAMPERED ***
*** LOCKED ***
S-ON

what's the advice? Is there a problem with this and how to address it?

Many thanks as always.
I'm in the same situation but noticed it only yesterday, 5 weeks from buying it brand new in a Swiss MobileZone shop while I live in Israel...
 

orenfl

Senior Member
Jan 9, 2011
1,006
212
I'm in the same situation but noticed it only yesterday, 5 weeks from buying it brand new in a Swiss MobileZone shop while I live in Israel...
After running the 1.78 EU RUU, Tampered is gone and only LOCK is left :)
I hope I also fixed the network issues I had with that...
 

kenyw

Senior Member
Apr 28, 2010
116
13
After the chat that I had posted about previously, I filled one of the customary surveys and made known how I felt about the service from that chat.

Someone from the HTC complaints department rang me yesterday to get more details. I explained the situation to him. He sounded like he was trying to help, and in what I thought was a fairly courteous and professional manner explained that HTC were not able to deal with this issue directly with me, but they had processes in place with the distributors and retailers which they did deal with.

He said my comments would be fed back to the head office, so I made known my concerns on this issue, my main point being that a normal user would be very unlikely to discover this issue within their retailer's 2-4 week return period (if they even had one, the UK tends to be quite consumer-friendly in this respect), and therefore HTC needed to be able to do something about this.

For me, I'm conversing via e-mail with my retailer now (I bought the phone online and their physical premises are hundreds of miles away in another town). Hopefully they'll be able to take it back. HTC have my IMEI from the ticket and have probably just marked my handset as unwarrantied at their end so flashing the RUU won't solve that problem.
 

h.han

Senior Member
Feb 28, 2011
387
72
London
Yes, it's quite a process, but at least you made progress and I believe your point is really valid so hope you would get things sorted soon. Even you are out of the 2-4 weeks initial period, your warranty should still cover this fault and if HTC cannot prove you caused this they should honour the warranty. Good luck.

Sent from my HTC One S using XDA
 

tongueman87

Senior Member
Jul 7, 2011
883
124
Well I called T-Mobile and asked them about what was going on with the tampered locked on the phone. Luckily I got throuh to a guy that had some common sense. He called me back later in the day and explained what was going on. He said it is due because of HTC while flashing the HTC sense 4.0 and ICS into the devices it caused the tampered. So IMO if we can figure a way to unlock boot loader and s-off without HTC dev then we will be fine with warranty. Just putting my information that I was given out there XD

Sent from my HTC VLE_U using xda premium
 

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  • 3
    My handset is also showing TAMPERED and LOCKED. It was one of the early batches. I phoned the shop, but unfortunately as I have had the phone since early April they said they would need to send it to HTC for a warranty repair.

    I brought it up in an online chat with HTC support and they don't seem to have information on this.

    Update: HTC looked into it and sent me an email saying

    "We have been looking into this for you. The "Tampered" words on your bootloader mean that the operating system has been modified or rooting in some way. This means that this will affect your warranty. I do apologize for the bad news regarding this."

    Given that I haven't actually done anything to the OS, this isn't helpful at all. >_<

    Strongly suggest you go to the shop physically and show them what it is and tell them you had not tried to root or done anything which would cause it to show tampered. So it means they sold you a bad device. And this is not obvious thing to notice so as a normal end user you should not have performed the bootloader check but the point of sell should ensure the quality of their product. Therefore, this device should be classified as DOA, defective on arrival. So the shop should exchange it.

    Be strong, confused and very worried, mention this thing voids your warrenty so very serious and show a bit angry, but not too much. If it is a responsible shop or operator, it should listen to you.

    The bottom line, ask them to call HTC customer rep and ask them to speak to HTC first. Emphresise you had done nothing but use the phone properly. If they can not describe the thing clearly, take the phone and speak to HTC yourself. But make sure the shop is on your side.

    Worst case, if HTC still insist that you had caused the tamper, tell them to check you imei to see if you had unlocked via HTC dev website. That's the only way you would have rooted the device.

    Nightmare case, they checked their record and found out your device had been unlocked, ask them to verify when that was done, they must have that info. So the date should be before when you bought it. So at this point, you are cleared and could immediately shout back: what a hell you allowed a unlocked and non-warrenty device to be on the market! And they would apollogise then you walk away with a shinny new one s.

    End of story.

    Sent from my HTC One S using XDA
    1
    Yeah that is true. I will probably exchange it tomorrow. There is probably nothing wrong with it but it kinda gives me a funny feeling because it already says tampered. Like I said I plan to root but it makes me wonder if anyone else bought a phone like this.

    The phone should not come like that!

    It appears that you have been sold a refurbished phone as new. In the UK that is illegal! I don't know where you are, but would think that it would also be illegal wherever you live. I would certainly return it. Rather than plead ignorance, I would say that you googled the 'tampered' issue and know that it means the phone does not have stock software installed. Kick up a real stink and ask for compensation - get them to give you a free case or something for it.....?
    1
    not even sure how to do screenshot,

    Pressing power and home button at the same time might do the trick

    Edit: but of course that won't help if your in fast boot lol

    Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
    1
    Totally agree with h.han, don't let them get away with it.

    I brought mine on release and after a few emails to HTC and Handtec all sorted.

    Took my old one in today and picked up the new one as arranged, no issues.

    As a foot note the guys from Hantec where great and from the outset only appeared to want to help - they even mentioned that the phone was showing signs of chipping which I had never noticed because I always had the gel case on it!

    Now the debate is wether to keep this or get rid as a new unopended unit?
    It is a great phone but worth this grief? decisions, decisions...
    1
    My handset is also showing TAMPERED and LOCKED. It was one of the early batches. I phoned the shop, but unfortunately as I have had the phone since early April they said they would need to send it to HTC for a warranty repair.

    I brought it up in an online chat with HTC support and they don't seem to have information on this.

    Update: HTC looked into it and sent me an email saying

    "We have been looking into this for you. The "Tampered" words on your bootloader mean that the operating system has been modified or rooting in some way. This means that this will affect your warranty. I do apologize for the bad news regarding this."

    Given that I haven't actually done anything to the OS, this isn't helpful at all. >_<

    Yea, I would open a ticket up by email, so you can write it all down there and attach photo's of the bootloader. The important thing to remember here is that we CANNOT put the phone back to a 'LOCKED' state ourselves. So if it is still showing as 'LOCKED' yet is 'TAMPERED' then there is no way you could have done that yourself (as far as I understand it)

    This is the reply I had from HTC after I sent them pictures etc.

    "Thank you for providing me with the additional details to enable me to resolve your enquiry. I will continue with the escalation simply for investigative reasons as this is a worrying issue regardless, I would be interested to see if any replacement from T-Mobile has the same issue.
    I am sorry to hear that you are also having issue with the Micro-Arc Oxidation on your HTC One S and hope that your have a better experience with your next HTC One S handset I look forward to hearing that this has resolved your enquiry, to close your email or alternatively to reply to me please follow the links below. You will shortly receive an email asking you to submit your feedback, I would appreciate if you could take the time to let me know about the level of service I have provided you with."