Back in business ! With an app to sim unlock your Galaxy S / S2 / S3 (and variants) (to use any other network operator).
A little background first. I bought my GS3 2 monthes ago. It was sim locked, but I didn't care as I read there was an app to unlock it. Unfortunately, what I didn't know at that time is that this method was not behaving the same way as official sim unlock method. And as you might know, sometime in July, starting from LG6 rom, Samsung added checks to prevent unofficial lock methods, that would relock your device upon each reboot. It looks like they recently did the same on GS2. So I took my favorite decompiler and started looking for a workaround. And here it is : "GalaxSim Unlock".
Now I won't lie to you. I won't tell you it will unlock your phone forever, as I can't say for sure. I won't enter into technical details, but I can't affirm that this app makes all the changes made with buying an official unlock code (at least, not yet). Why ? Because I honestly don't know what those changes are. So Samsung might add some checks in future roms that could probably relock the phone. Or they won't.
With my growing experience of Samsung's EFS, it seems however that they might not do more than my app, in other words, I'm starting to believe that this patch will still work in the future.
One thing for sure : as of now, this app does more than any other manual or automatic methods available, so your device won't relock with any currently available roms (post lg6, Jb leaks...).
So apart from buying an official code, that's probably your best chance to unlock your device for now.
*** FAQ ***
This app will :
This app won't :
*** Download ***
GalaxSim Unlock is now available in the Google Play Store here. It's free to download, with in-app billing to unlock, for what I believe is a fair price (I've made it that way so that people can see if GalaxSim Unlock is able to sim unlock their phone before buying).
Other features (device/lock information, nv error detection, efs backup/restore, efs export to a safe place like gmail or google drive) are free to use.
* Temporalily removed the xda version until more tests have been made and a new beta is released. *
In any case, I'd appreciate if you could rate the app on the Play Store.
*** How to use ***
Prerequisites :
Install the app, click on "unlock" and reboot.
If it worked successfully and you want to encourage my work (either by supporting more devices or by improving the unlock in case of samsung new ril update) a small donation is appreciated.
Recommendations :
What I would do coming from a previous unlock patch : restore efs, reboot (optionnal but recommended to verify efs has been correctly restored), unlock with the app, restore libsec-ril if needed (manually or by reflashing the rom)
*** Changelog ***
v1.02 (2012-08-24) :
*** Contact ***
Dont hesitate to contact me if you :
*** Credits ***
This app couldn't have been made without the work of a lot of people before me, starting on galaxy s up to latest samsung devices : dawen, Helroz, and NWolf, txlibre, dagentooboy, Odia... (if you feel somebody should be added here, drop me a pm).
Also a big thanks to beta testers : Mopral, Pyr0x64, tisazalay, balviforever, mabmed, OXINARF, xdafann, asphaeris, SweetthD3ViL
Last but not least, donators : Pyr0x64, superfloup, Adrian l., Pacoraban, Rudigus (5 donators for more than 5k downloads... Positive point : I guess my conversion rate could hardly decrease
. Edit : well, seems that it did nonetheless )
*** Disclaimer ***
As always, use with caution, I made my best to build something safe to use, but if anything goes wrong please don't burn my house
*** Legal notes ***
YOU MAY NOT USE THIS APPLICATION FOR COMMERCIAL PURPOSES.
Wow, you read it till the end ! Congrats, now go unlocking your device
A little background first. I bought my GS3 2 monthes ago. It was sim locked, but I didn't care as I read there was an app to unlock it. Unfortunately, what I didn't know at that time is that this method was not behaving the same way as official sim unlock method. And as you might know, sometime in July, starting from LG6 rom, Samsung added checks to prevent unofficial lock methods, that would relock your device upon each reboot. It looks like they recently did the same on GS2. So I took my favorite decompiler and started looking for a workaround. And here it is : "GalaxSim Unlock".
Now I won't lie to you. I won't tell you it will unlock your phone forever, as I can't say for sure. I won't enter into technical details, but I can't affirm that this app makes all the changes made with buying an official unlock code (at least, not yet). Why ? Because I honestly don't know what those changes are. So Samsung might add some checks in future roms that could probably relock the phone. Or they won't.
With my growing experience of Samsung's EFS, it seems however that they might not do more than my app, in other words, I'm starting to believe that this patch will still work in the future.
One thing for sure : as of now, this app does more than any other manual or automatic methods available, so your device won't relock with any currently available roms (post lg6, Jb leaks...).
So apart from buying an official code, that's probably your best chance to unlock your device for now.
*** FAQ ***
This app will :
- unlock/unbrand your phone the best as my current knowledge permits to. Which is sufficient to run any currently available roms (including JB).
- work on any existing rooted rom
- support international Galaxy S3 i9300 (Us qualcomm based GS3 are not supported at this time)
- support other Galaxy family devices (S, S2 and their variant) (not extensively tested as of now, drop me a pm if yours is unsupported or supported but not written so)
- work if you previously unlocked your device with "voodoo unlock" or "galaxy s unlock"
- work if you installed a previous ril (aka mike's patch).
- warn you if you're using other dangerous methods
- warn you if your imei has been lost due to any error in nv_data caused by a third party app.
- give you detailed information about current locks status (be it locked, unlocked or "partially locked", ie unlocked with methods not compatible with newer roms)
- backup efs before modifying anything (that should guarantee you a safe use)
- enable you to restore your efs backup if you want to.
- be updated when needed (I need it as much as you )
- compute md5 files properly (no log hack)
- support more galaxy devices soon
This app won't :
- Restore your previously lost efs/nv_data/imei or any other magical stuff.
- Support non samsung phones
*** Download ***
GalaxSim Unlock is now available in the Google Play Store here. It's free to download, with in-app billing to unlock, for what I believe is a fair price (I've made it that way so that people can see if GalaxSim Unlock is able to sim unlock their phone before buying).
Other features (device/lock information, nv error detection, efs backup/restore, efs export to a safe place like gmail or google drive) are free to use.
* Temporalily removed the xda version until more tests have been made and a new beta is released. *
In any case, I'd appreciate if you could rate the app on the Play Store.
*** How to use ***
Prerequisites :
- Rooted rom
- Busybox (found on the market and already present in many custom roms)
Install the app, click on "unlock" and reboot.
If it worked successfully and you want to encourage my work (either by supporting more devices or by improving the unlock in case of samsung new ril update) a small donation is appreciated.
Recommendations :
- Even if this app makes a backup of your efs folder, you might want to make one yourself before using it (better safe that sorry)
- Don't delete /sdcard/GalaxSimUnlock/ folder, it contains the efs backup made by the app.
- You can use it with mike's fix libsec-ril.so, no need to restore another ril before unlocking. However, after your phone has been unlocked with this app, I recommend reverting to the ril provided with your rom / adapted to your radio so that the device's functions as expected.
- You can use it on a device previously unlocked with "voodoo unlock" or "galaxy s unlock". However, if possible, restore a stock efs (or uninstall any other previous patches). It's not necessary, but this way, the efs backup made by the app will be clean. And restoring this backup will revert to what your phone was in its initial state, not an intermediate state.
- However you need your .nv_core.bak/md5 (not one from another device found on the web). This is required because using nv_core (or nv_data.bak for the record) coming from another device is dangerous as you might lose your imei anytime in the future if your original nv_data.bin file gets corrupted.
What I would do coming from a previous unlock patch : restore efs, reboot (optionnal but recommended to verify efs has been correctly restored), unlock with the app, restore libsec-ril if needed (manually or by reflashing the rom)
*** Changelog ***
v1.02 (2012-08-24) :
- improved error messages
- added a check for busybox
- modified some checks for more safety
- added full product code string
- updated supported models (and the warning on untested models is not blocking anymore. Although you should be safe thanks to efs backup, USE IT AT YOUR OWN RISKS)
- added a "efs backup" button even if there was an error during prerequisite checks so that you can send me your efs if you want me to have a look at it.
- cosmetic changes
*** Contact ***
Dont hesitate to contact me if you :
- want to buy me a beer
- encounter a bug
- have any suggestion concerning GalaxSim Unlock
- have unlocked your device with an official unlock code and want to send me your efs folder so that I can improve this app.
- have any kind of information concerning nv_data that I should be aware of (Odia, if you read me... )
*** Credits ***
This app couldn't have been made without the work of a lot of people before me, starting on galaxy s up to latest samsung devices : dawen, Helroz, and NWolf, txlibre, dagentooboy, Odia... (if you feel somebody should be added here, drop me a pm).
Also a big thanks to beta testers : Mopral, Pyr0x64, tisazalay, balviforever, mabmed, OXINARF, xdafann, asphaeris, SweetthD3ViL
Last but not least, donators : Pyr0x64, superfloup, Adrian l., Pacoraban, Rudigus (5 donators for more than 5k downloads... Positive point : I guess my conversion rate could hardly decrease
. Edit : well, seems that it did nonetheless )*** Disclaimer ***
As always, use with caution, I made my best to build something safe to use, but if anything goes wrong please don't burn my house
*** Legal notes ***
YOU MAY NOT USE THIS APPLICATION FOR COMMERCIAL PURPOSES.
Wow, you read it till the end ! Congrats, now go unlocking your device
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