Bought phone from ebay, now registration wizard won't let me pass

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velis74

Senior Member
Mar 12, 2010
911
1,154
Radovljica
So I bought this phone from eBay, like many before it. But this time it came with a twist: when I booted the phone, initial setup ran and all wend fine until I got to the register Google account screen.

There, the phone says: "This phone was reset. To continue, sign in with a Google Account that was previously synced on this device".

No matter what account I use, I always get a Toast message saying "Unable to sign in to device due to a unknown error. Please try another account or try to sign in again after 24 hours.".

I'm guessing this is some kind of theft protection where entering a previously synced account "proves" that you're the legit owner. The authorised service here told me that I need some kind of proof that I'm the legit owner and surely enough the eBay seller has issued no invoice containing the phone's IMEI (or any similar document).

Anyway, here I am with this gorgeous phone on my hands which is little more than a brick due to this.

Is there any way I could get it to work again? Returning it will just generate more costs for me and I'd like to avoid that.

I've seen guides on youtube where they managed to bypass this security measure, but both methods I've seen failed for me. I guess the version running on my phone is just too recent and plugged all the holes.

Do I have any way of downgrading the software at least? Note that this is a fully locked phone and I can't even start TWRP from fastboot.

Anything else?

Edit: Now that I'm re-reading this post, it occurred to me that there's very little chance that this phone wouldn't be a stolen one. Had it not been, the seller would easily issue me an invoice.

Leaving this post only because my searching hasn't turned up anything on XDA. Probably also reporting the guy on eBay.
 
Last edited:

zgfg

Senior Member
Oct 10, 2016
10,766
9,399
Redmi K20 / Xiaomi Mi 9T
Xiaomi Mi 11
So I bought this phone from eBay, like many before it. But this time it came with a twist: when I booted the phone, initial setup ran and all wend fine until I got to the register Google account screen.

There, the phone says: "This phone was reset. To continue, sign in with a Google Account that was previously synced on this device".

No matter what account I use, I always get a Toast message saying "Unable to sign in to device due to a unknown error. Please try another account or try to sign in again after 24 hours.".

I'm guessing this is some kind of theft protection where entering a previously synced account "proves" that you're the legit owner. The authorised service here told me that I need some kind of proof that I'm the legit owner and surely enough the eBay seller has issued no invoice containing the phone's IMEI (or any similar document).

Anyway, here I am with this gorgeous phone on my hands which is little more than a brick due to this.

Is there any way I could get it to work again? Returning it will just generate more costs for me and I'd like to avoid that.

I've seen guides on youtube where they managed to bypass this security measure, but both methods I've seen failed for me. I guess the version running on my phone is just too recent and plugged all the holes.

Do I have any way of downgrading the software at least? Note that this is a fully locked phone and I can't even start TWRP from fastboot.

Anything else?

Edit: Now that I'm re-reading this post, it occurred to me that there's very little chance that this phone wouldn't be a stolen one. Had it not been, the seller would easily issue me an invoice.

Leaving this post only because my searching hasn't turned up anything on XDA. Probably also reporting the guy on eBay.
From the Settings / About, what is exact (full) build name/number?

Generally, if you are on Nougat then IMO, rolling back to MM should completely reset your phone.

You cannot flash TWRP without unlocking Bootloader. But that will not help much for resetting Google protection.

Btw, enable Developer's menu, does it allow you to unlock FRP/OEM Unlocking - in that case you will be able to reset all from EMUI recovery.
 

Twisted Prime

Senior Member
Dec 24, 2016
417
1,509
United Kingdom
From the Settings / About, what is exact (full) build name/number?

Generally, if you are on Nougat then IMO, rolling back to MM should completely reset your phone.

You cannot flash TWRP without unlocking Bootloader. But that will not help much for resetting Google protection.

Btw, enable Developer's menu, does it allow you to unlock FRP/OEM Unlocking - in that case you will be able to reset all from EMUI recovery.

He can't get passed the setup screen
 

zgfg

Senior Member
Oct 10, 2016
10,766
9,399
Redmi K20 / Xiaomi Mi 9T
Xiaomi Mi 11
He can't get passed the setup screen
- Boot to Recovery (switch off, press and keep pressing Vol+ and Pow). Does it boot to stock Recovery and does it allow there to Factory reset (it should but if FRP was unlocked)

- Boot to Fastboot (switch off, connect by USB to PC, press Vol- and Pow), do you see Phone (Bootloader) and FRP locked or unlocked?
 

velis74

Senior Member
Mar 12, 2010
911
1,154
Radovljica
- Boot to Recovery (switch off, press and keep pressing Vol+ and Pow). Does it boot to stock Recovery and does it allow there to Factory reset (it should but if FRP was unlocked)

- Boot to Fastboot (switch off, connect by USB to PC, press Vol- and Pow), do you see Phone (Bootloader) and FRP locked or unlocked?

It is stock recovery. I don't recall the option for factory reset. In fact there's no options at all, save for reboots.
Fastboot says everything is locked as it should be.

Don't know how to downgrade to MM.
 

zgfg

Senior Member
Oct 10, 2016
10,766
9,399
Redmi K20 / Xiaomi Mi 9T
Xiaomi Mi 11
It is stock recovery. I don't recall the option for factory reset. In fact there's no options at all, save for reboots.
Fastboot says everything is locked as it should be.

Don't know how to downgrade to MM.
Rollback instructions are here
https://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=72153575&postcount=2

But not sure would it allow you to setup.

That is Factory Reset Protection (FRP/OEM Unlocking) - if it was unlocked you would be allowed to reset from recovery.

You can ask seller - maybe he can login to his Google account and remotely remove Google account from the sold phone.

Or you can try DC Unlocker, not sure would it work
https://www.dc-unlocker.com/DC-Phoenix-flash-repair-tutorial
 
Last edited:

velis74

Senior Member
Mar 12, 2010
911
1,154
Radovljica
Well, DC unlocker ultimately worked, but not before buying a wrong package, having to ask tech support, etc, etc. Not to mention the guy really has no patience for people who don't have his level of understanding of the subject. Why does he do it then if he hates the whole thing so much?
 

zgfg

Senior Member
Oct 10, 2016
10,766
9,399
Redmi K20 / Xiaomi Mi 9T
Xiaomi Mi 11
Well, DC unlocker ultimately worked, but not before buying a wrong package, having to ask tech support, etc, etc. Not to mention the guy really has no patience for people who don't have his level of understanding of the subject. Why does he do it then if he hates the whole thing so much?
So did you use DC Unlocker to unlock Bootloader or DC Phoenix to reinstall the phone?
 

velis74

Senior Member
Mar 12, 2010
911
1,154
Radovljica
Final resolution: the seller sent me an invoice. I guess that means that the phone wasn't stolen after all since they can only expect that this will be entered into Huawei databases.

Sorry for bothering but I'm interested now - when Bootloader was unlocked (and FRP too), were you just able to pass setup or you needed to do Factory reset from Recovery or how did you get the stock ROM working for you

The procedure was thus:
1. unlocker unlocked the FRP
2. phone rebooted into a factory reset (low level) mode - it specifically said "low level"
3. phone booted into normal Android where the FRP protection was no longer active. On screen where it previously demanded a previous Google account it now only demanded A (any) Google account as I'm used to from all the other phones I ever bought.
 
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    From the Settings / About, what is exact (full) build name/number?

    Generally, if you are on Nougat then IMO, rolling back to MM should completely reset your phone.

    You cannot flash TWRP without unlocking Bootloader. But that will not help much for resetting Google protection.

    Btw, enable Developer's menu, does it allow you to unlock FRP/OEM Unlocking - in that case you will be able to reset all from EMUI recovery.

    He can't get passed the setup screen
    1
    Final resolution: the seller sent me an invoice. I guess that means that the phone wasn't stolen after all since they can only expect that this will be entered into Huawei databases.

    Sorry for bothering but I'm interested now - when Bootloader was unlocked (and FRP too), were you just able to pass setup or you needed to do Factory reset from Recovery or how did you get the stock ROM working for you

    The procedure was thus:
    1. unlocker unlocked the FRP
    2. phone rebooted into a factory reset (low level) mode - it specifically said "low level"
    3. phone booted into normal Android where the FRP protection was no longer active. On screen where it previously demanded a previous Google account it now only demanded A (any) Google account as I'm used to from all the other phones I ever bought.