topic Re: Unlocking Phone in Android

Unlocking Phone

Anonymous — Mon, 29 Aug 2016 17:31:57 GMT

Please Help!!

I have moved to Iceland and before I moved I was a pay monthly customer. I paid off my contract and asked my phone to be unlocked so I can use an Icelandic sim whilst abroad. When I inserted the Icelandic sim, it comes up with 'Unlock Sim Pin'. I have read online that this means my phone is not unlocked (even though I had requested it to be)! So I speak to an O2 GURU and he said he has processed it to be unlocked but will take 7 days and I shall recieve a text and confirmation email. I cannot recieve such a text as my phone number is no longer active and I recieved no such email. Does anyone know if the text i'm supposed to recieve will have the unlock pin on it? If so, any suggestions as to how i can recieve it? I have a pay as you go O2 sim which I have activated and topped up just now. The call said the top up was successful however when I tried to ring O2 just now, the call diverts me to top up, saying I have £0 credit!? Is this because I am in Iceland or it takes a while to go through? Please someone help me...I'm pretty sure noone else is in this position but please if someone has any advice I would be so appreciative seeing as O2 are being as helpfull as a rock.

Re: Unlocking Phone

MI5 — Mon, 29 Aug 2016 17:49:23 GMT

iPhones don't need a PIN, all you have to do is put your new sim in phone and connect to iTunes on your PC.
When you topped up your phone it would have bought your bundle allowances which you can only use in UK and if you want to reverse this to just credit you need to ask CS to do this for you.

Re: Unlocking Phone

Anonymous — Mon, 29 Aug 2016 18:44:40 GMT

Thanks for the reply but this is the android chat and therefore I do not have an iphone!

Re: Unlocking Phone

MI5 — Mon, 29 Aug 2016 18:57:14 GMT

Damn, I'm sure I read iPhone
The code will be emailed to you anyway, so no need to have to receive a text......

Re: Unlocking Phone

Beenherebefore — Mon, 29 Aug 2016 19:06:17 GMT

@MI5 wrote:
Damn, I'm sure I read iPhone

You're forgiven.....after all, it is that time of year when every thread on here seems to revolve around the new, latest, must-have Apple Smartphone

Re: Unlocking Phone

Anonymous — Tue, 30 Aug 2016 13:00:27 GMT

Hi UnhappyIceland

I have a similar problem. While I lived in UK, I bought an O2 payg phone (Sony Xperia Z1c), which I unlocked successfully in January, with the unlatching code that I got from O2 for a fee of £15. Now I moved to Germany and can't use my phone with a German sim, because it's asking me for a code to unlatch the network lock! The old code doesn't work. And all I got from O2 support was 'No, it must work, because we unlocked it'.

I suspect that there's a regional lock/ country lock that the O2 support people are not even aware of, because I could use non-O2 UK sims. Trouble is, nobody helps. They just insist that it's supposed to work. 😞

I don't want to pay fees to some dodgy offers for unlocking, which may not even help...I paid O2 for an official unlocking, and despite that I'm now left with a phone that I can only use for browsing the internet on wifi. Great. 😕

Re: Unlocking Phone

jonsie — Tue, 30 Aug 2016 13:21:40 GMT

O2 can only supply the official unlock code from Sony. If indeed it is region locked perhaps @viridis or @MI5 can advise.. I'm not sure that even rooting would fix it

Re: Unlocking Phone

MI5 — Tue, 30 Aug 2016 13:28:46 GMT

I'm not aware of any region locks on Sony devices and even if there was, it would have been released by the use in the UK.
How many different sim cards have you tried in the phone as it really should now be unlocked to all networks worldwide if done properly.
What other UK sim cards did you use when you were here?

Re: Unlocking Phone

viridis — Tue, 30 Aug 2016 13:31:53 GMT

*#*#SERVICE#*#*
Then
Service info
Then
Sim lock.
What does it say?

Re: Unlocking Phone

Anonymous — Tue, 30 Aug 2016 14:12:24 GMT

To clarify, it is a UK phone that I used for over 1.5 years in UK, unlocked it in UK, and now would like to use in Germany.

I had unlocked and tried it in UK in January with a T-mobile sim, that worked.

I tried it with four different German sims now, to no avail: vodafone, t-mobile, congstar, and a German O2 sim. It always comes up with asking for a code to unlock the network lock, just as if I had never done it before. The message that pops up is in German (my phone's settings are in German language), so quoting it here would not make sense.

But it really is for the network locking, it's not asking for a PIN (or when it does, it does so before asking for the unlocking code), which really surprised me as I had unlocked it back then and I didn't expect this to happen.

I also wanted to install the vodafone app, but couldn't: it said that my device is not compatible, and showed 'Sony Xperia Z1 compact (O2)' or sth like that.

O2 support also confirmed that it is unlocked and should be working with foreign sims. It should, but it doesn't... 😞

@viridis, where do I need to enter this?

Re: Unlocking Phone

MI5 — Tue, 30 Aug 2016 14:18:43 GMT

GloriaTeasdale wrote:
@viridis, where do I need to enter this?

Just in case viridis can't get back to you immediately, you dial it as you would a phone number.

Re: Unlocking Phone

viridis — Tue, 30 Aug 2016 14:29:21 GMT

That^
In the dial screen

Re: Unlocking Phone

Anonymous — Tue, 30 Aug 2016 14:36:45 GMT

[x] Network 0
[] Network subset 0
[] Service provider 0
[] Corporate 0
[] Sim 0

Alright, it's screwed up now after I had typed in something more than 5 times. I typed in the code in January, then I tried the old code again yesterday, the O2 Guru asked me to type in the sim's Puk (just to ensure that it's not that one I'm asked for, he didn't believe that it's for the unlocking again), then he asked me to try the old code etc. Just today I read somewhere that you can only type in 5 times. I wish I had known...

Re: Unlocking Phone

viridis — Tue, 30 Aug 2016 14:45:36 GMT

Yup, it's hard locked to O2.
No one can unlock it.

Re: Unlocking Phone

jonsie — Tue, 30 Aug 2016 15:06:50 GMT

Seems the only answer then is to sell it on, either eBay or another outlet.

Re: Unlocking Phone

Anonymous — Thu, 01 Sep 2016 08:05:58 GMT

Strangely, the O2 Guru confirmed that it had been successfully unlocked in January. The device was not supposed to ask for an unlocking code again. I wonder whether now it's re-locked to O2 now that it's hardlocked, or would the unlocking for UK non-O2 networks (that already was in place at some point) still be valid. Now I don't even know whether I can sell it as unlocked or not.

What really annoys me most is that I get sent from O2 to Sony and back, and both claim that this problem is not possible. There must be an unofficial region lock that the support guys are not aware of, or they just deny it. I'm just left on my own with a useless device, expenses and hassle. I loved my Sony, and was sure I would always get another Sony once this one needs replacing, but this is really putting me off now. 😞

On the other hand I've read of a few cases with the same issue, with devices of various makes. I wonder whether OP has had more luck.

Re: Unlocking Phone

viridis — Thu, 01 Sep 2016 08:12:13 GMT

"Strangely, the O2 Guru confirmed that it had been successfully unlocked in January."

Why would you need them to confirm it, it apparently accepted a t-mobile sim according to your prior posts.

Re: Unlocking Phone

MI5 — Thu, 01 Sep 2016 08:15:32 GMT

There is no region lock on Sony devices. I actually doubt it was ever unlocked in the first place.
I think you have been given the wrong code which has now hardlocked the phone due to too many incorrect attempts.
Did you really test it in the UK with a working T-Mobile sim card or is it possible it was a different network?

Re: Unlocking Phone

viridis — Thu, 01 Sep 2016 08:17:36 GMT

Having spoken to someone who would pretty much definitely know, the Xperia Z series does not have a region lock, only a network lock which is still active according to your service menu result.

Re: Unlocking Phone

jonsie — Thu, 01 Sep 2016 08:26:12 GMT

So it can't possibly have ever been unlocked. Maybe tried it with a Tesco or giffgaff sim?