Mobile Phone Unlocking

ZrByte · 07-12-2006, 11:59

I have a Sony Ericsson w810i that needs unlocking. It is currently on vodaphone and I need it to be able to work with an o2 sim. This is mainly because Voda dont do any good pay as you go offers like o2 do and besides this is a present for my girlfriend and her contract doesnt expire until feb so she will need to use it with her contract o2 sim in the meantime.
My sister took the phone down to our local slightly dodgy market place in the towncenter yesterday. The first shop she took it to couldnt unlock these phones. The second also couldnt unlock the phone but he claimed that a firmware upgrade (For wich he wante Â£20) would do the job as a two in one sort of deal.
Does anybody know if he was right? the phone isnt blacklisted or anything, I just need it to be network unlocked. When I put my o2 sim in the phone it just says "please insert correct sim".

Druchii · 07-12-2006, 12:22

Sounds right to me, they'll probably flash the unbranded firmware to the phone like they were going to do with my K750i.

I'm a bit weary of this though, having never seen the results of it.

ZrByte · 07-12-2006, 12:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by Druchii

Sounds right to me, they'll probably flash the unbranded firmware to the phone like they were going to do with my K750i.

I'm a bit weary of this though, having never seen the results of it.

Ive heard good things about it personally, supposedly takes away annoying logos and pointless network irrelevent menus, adds disabled menus and since its normally the latest firmware it will also address some bugs (Like crashing) and even potentially speed up the phone. I just never heard anything about it unlocking the phone aswel before.

Shaun · 07-12-2006, 12:36

Worked great on my K700i. But I did it at home with the Â£5 cradle off Ebay and a Â£6 unlock code from the davinci team.

ZrByte · 07-12-2006, 12:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shaun

Worked great on my K700i. But I did it at home with the Â£5 cradle off Ebay and a Â£6 unlock code from the davinci team.

I have been looking into this aswel, but isnt that just for phone unlocking and not network debranding via firmware upgrade?

Shaun · 07-12-2006, 12:43

No you can do both with the davinci team - I unbranded my Orange K700i in a few minutes.

Druchii · 07-12-2006, 12:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shaun

No you can do both with the davinci team - I unbranded my Orange K700i in a few minutes.

Sounds about right, i'm thinking of when i have a bit of spare cash going and getting my K750i de-branded and unlocked in one go.

I think it's possible as it's just the firmware released by SE themselves and therefore no operator has been able to fiddle with it. Of curse it does mean you'll need all your settings once more

ZrByte · 07-12-2006, 12:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shaun

No you can do both with the davinci team - I unbranded my Orange K700i in a few minutes.

Deffinatley worth knowing. Was it easy? or was there a little trial and error involved? Just dont fancy screwing up my phone, would gladly pay the extra Â£9 the guy in the market is charging and have a working phone at the end of it then end up breaking it with a bit of DIY

.

---------- Post added at 12:55 ---------- Previous post was at 12:53 ----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by Druchii

Sounds about right, i'm thinking of when i have a bit of spare cash going and getting my K750i de-branded and unlocked in one go.

I think it's possible as it's just the firmware released by SE themselves and therefore no operator has been able to fiddle with it. Of curse it does mean you'll need all your settings once more

Brand new phone so settings wont be a problem

Its my girlfriends crimbo prezzie

As some of you will have seen from my other thread about the chocolate mission I dont do simple christmas presents, there always has to be some sort of challenge to it.

Shaun · 07-12-2006, 13:31

Piece of cake mate. Just downloaded the firmware - plugged it into the davinci client and away it went.

If I can do it then anyone can mate

Lord Nikon · 07-12-2006, 14:20

Having debranded and unlocked a V3 Razr for a friend it's not that hard to do, also recovered a couple of XDAs from failed flash upgrades, unlocked them at the same time (XDAII and XDA Exec also an SPV M5000 orange branded Exec)

I can see the justification for the initial sim lock, after all the network subsidises the phone knowing they will make the money back on the contract over 12 months, but it's annoying

ZrByte · 07-12-2006, 15:43

Well I sortof chickened out. I went down tot he town center this afternoon and enquired again, this time in person. The guy told me the same thing he had told my sister, that it would cost Â£21 to debrand it and that may or may not unlock it, he also said it would be an additional Â£15 for unlocking. So I asked him how certain he was that the debranding would also unlock it, he said he wasnt sure at all as it worked on most older phones but some of the more recent phones they had done didnt work.
Since he wasnt sure he phoned his boss who confirmed that it wouldnt work but offered me both for Â£21 wich I thought was pretty sweet

works out to Â£10.50 each wich I dont think is all that bad a price since unlocking codes seem to be about Â£10-Â£15 on thier own and to do a DIY flash would cost me about Â£11 minimum.

**Jefferson T** · 07-12-2006, 15:49

Just as long as you are aware there is a small chance of bricking your phone.

ZrByte · 07-12-2006, 15:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by dilligaf1701

Just as long as you are aware there is a small chance of bricking your phone.

Wich this place guarantees against. I thought my sis had gone into the dodgey market but she had actually gone into a legit shop wich has been running for a good few years.
They offer a supposed un-bricking service so I guess if they screw up the phone they will just restore it to how it was and tell me it cant be done.
I knew that'd be a very big risk if I did this myself.

**Jefferson T** · 07-12-2006, 15:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZrByte

Wich this place guarantees against. I thought my sis had gone into the dodgey market but she had actually gone into a legit shop wich has been running for a good few years.
They offer a supposed un-bricking service so I guess if they screw up the phone they will just restore it to how it was and tell me it cant be done.
I knew that'd be a very big risk if I did this myself.

Well if it's their risk then why the smeg not

Let us know how you get on.

ZrByte · 07-12-2006, 15:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by dilligaf1701

Well if it's their risk then why the smeg not

Let us know how you get on.

Sure will, pitty I had to leave it with them really but im in work in just under an hour so have to pick it up in the morning.