Is it possible to retry unlock process on an Orange San Franciso/ZTE Blade

[Guest sixman9]

Hi,

I just bought a White/TFT Orange San Fransisco and am worried I might have done the phone unlock incorrectly. The phone works on Orange but not on my other SIM (T-mobile). The phone no longer prompts for an unlock code.

I left the Orange store with a number already written down for me, so I assumed it was registered.

I tried the original Orange SIM, no network. I then put in my third party sim (phone still not registered to Orange at this point) and proceeded to get an unlock code from nextgenserver.com. The phone said the unlock was successful, however, still no SIM worked at this point. So, after searching the forums, I registered the phone (0800 No.), but it will now only work on Orange! When I restart with a 3rd party SIM, the phone does not prompt me for a unlock code anymore :) .

I've tried doing a phone reset from the settings > privacy menu but still nothing.

Is there a way I can I re-apply the unlock, somehow?

Cheers

Rich

[Guest Arr Too]

I wonder if Orange re-applied the network lock at their end, or by some magical text message to your phone (did you get any?)? I think there are two distinct parts to the network unlock process: 1) the phone validates the unlock code, and then 2) it sends this to the "network" (which may also validate the code before changing status). Maybe someone more experienced in the fine details can explain/confirm? (Incidentally, I think this is why some phones are hard to 'hack' a code for, since they may not do the first part, and hence the algorithm for the code is held solely on the "network" -- whatever that is!)

I'm working on an app for generating the unlock code on the Blade, and as part of that I'm investigating whether it'd also be possible to perform things like the unlocking automatically (or at least invoke the unlock dialogue).

[Guest JolyonS]

IIRC some or all of the Froyo ROMs available in this forum remove the SIM lock (or rather don't bother to check it) so you may want to try one of those.

[Guest geegeethatsme]

Arr Too, as the forum's 'go to guy' on unlocking magic, once unlocked, is there any enduring indication on the phone as to the success or otherwise of that action, e.g. an entry in a system or log file, or on a status screen? I know you can check by simply sticking in another sim card (or not insixman9's case :) ), but it would be interesting to know if there is a easy way of checking from the phone itself. A notification icon would be a bonus! :)

[Guest Arr Too]

I think there's something stored in NVRAM somewhere [the code itself, maybe?]. And I think this is what is checked to see if the phone is unlocked or not. So the OP may be in a state where the phone and the "network" [whatever that is] are out of sync. Although that wouldn't really explain how the 2.2 ROMs (and the Finnish[?] 2.1 ROM) avoid the network lock, so it can't be the complete story.

[Guest kendon]

try different simcards, my blade has problems with some simcards (provider independant, seems to be a mechanical problem, see also this thread: http://android.modaco.com/content/zte-blad...g-no-sim-card/)

[Guest sixman9]

Gentlemen, thanks, can't believe you all got back so quickly (aren't any of you guys at work? :) ).

I'll have a look at the link and I was planning on moving to 2.2 (or 2.3 if another post is to be believed), so maybe I'll be doing that sooner rather than later.

Thanks again :)

Rich

[Guest yorksims]

Gentlemen, thanks, can't believe you all got back so quickly (aren't any of you guys at work? :) ).

I'll have a look at the link and I was planning on moving to 2.2 (or 2.3 if another post is to be believed), so maybe I'll be doing that sooner rather than later.

Thanks again :)

Rich

I got a brand new OSF on saturday and unlocked it using the same method as you and it imediately accepted my Virgin sim with no problems,in fact it's never had the Orange sim that came with it in it.I did get a message on the screen saying something like "code accepted" or "network lock removed",I can't remember exactly what it said and that was job done.

I'm tempted to agree with the post above that the problem may be hardware,is it possible that the contacts on your third party sim are dirty or damaged? Oh,and is it in the right way round?I know it sounds stupid but I put the sim in my Samsung Galaxy the wrong way round once and spent a day looking for a fault that wasn't there!

before flashing another ROM I would advise that you check the build number because if it's like mine and the number ends in 808 you have a TFT screen and must use a suitable ROM.I spent saturday afternoon wondering why 2 ROMs wouldn't work properly before doing what i should have done and read all the info here in the forum about the difference.

[Guest Phoenix Silver]

i think it's B08 at the end (it's my case)

and not 808

B05 for the oled version

[Guest Arr Too]

Well... ahem... it seems it's really very easy to reset the Blade's idea of whether it's network locked (and... err... the number of retries you have left on the PIN). Mine is now back to asking for the network unlock PIN if I put an old Virgin SIM in. I'm pleased because now I can test a theory I have about why certain ROMs don't bother checking this...