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brokenwindow

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 19, 2013
7
0
Hello guys, I recently bought a bad esn Sprint iPhone 4S off craigslist. I restored the phone back to factory setting but I noticed that the number of the previous owner is still there in the 4S info on iTunes. Is there anyway of removing this number?
 

Ann P

macrumors 68020
Jun 29, 2009
2,311
9
California
You mentioned that it was a bad ESN. Could be wrong but it probably means the line has unpaid fees, therefore the phone isn't cleared = bad esn. I think that's how CDMA iPhone works. I purposely bought a bad esn one (Verizon) to have someone flash it before. The previous number was stuck until I actually flashed.
 

brokenwindow

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 19, 2013
7
0
You mentioned that it was a bad ESN. Could be wrong but it probably means the line has unpaid fees, therefore the phone isn't cleared = bad esn. I think that's how CDMA iPhone works. I purposely bought a bad esn one (Verizon) to have someone flash it before. The previous number was stuck until I actually flashed.


Thanks for the replies, is there any way to flash the phone for free unjailbrokened?
 

brokenwindow

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 19, 2013
7
0
Yeah, there's nothing there. ):

----------

Correct.
But the sprint 4S does come with a sim to roam outside the US on partner GSM networks. That's where I thought that itunes was pulling the phone number from.

Oh I see. I didn't know that, sorry.
 

MuddyPaws1

macrumors 6502
Jul 14, 2012
399
0
Man we hear about this all the time. Not to beat you up too much but when are people going to start checking ESN's before they buy crap?
 

xraydoc

Contributor
Oct 9, 2005
10,740
5,169
192.168.1.1
Why would you purposefully buy a phone with a bad ESN?
With Sprint (and Verizon), you're at the mercy of the carrier as to whether or not they'll activate any particular phone on your service.
Have you called Sprint to see if there's a problem setting up this phone on your account?
 

617aircav

Suspended
Jul 2, 2012
3,975
818
Why would you purposefully buy a phone with a bad ESN?
With Sprint (and Verizon), you're at the mercy of the carrier as to whether or not they'll activate any particular phone on your service.
Have you called Sprint to see if there's a problem setting up this phone on your account?

You can never setup a phone with bad esn. Never. The carrier won't do it.
 

brokenwindow

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 19, 2013
7
0
Why would you purposefully buy a phone with a bad ESN?
With Sprint (and Verizon), you're at the mercy of the carrier as to whether or not they'll activate any particular phone on your service.
Have you called Sprint to see if there's a problem setting up this phone on your account?

I'm going to unlock it if I can using gevey or gpp sims because I have AT&T. I just want to get rid of this number that's tied to this phone and I was wondering if I can do it.
 

xraydoc

Contributor
Oct 9, 2005
10,740
5,169
192.168.1.1
You can never setup a phone with bad esn. Never. The carrier won't do it.

Depends on the reason the ESN is "bad."
If it's due to delinquency on the original owner's account, there may be ways around that. If it's due to the phone being reported stolen, then no...

But generally, you're right. Stay away, far away, from phones with a bad ESN.
 

Applejuiced

macrumors Westmere
Apr 16, 2008
40,672
6,533
At the iPhone hacks section.
Once you restore and use a gevey assuming it will work with the latest baseband version then the number will go away and be replaced with your sims phone number.
Untill then you cant remove it.
 

617aircav

Suspended
Jul 2, 2012
3,975
818
Depends on the reason the ESN is "bad."
If it's due to delinquency on the original owner's account, there may be ways around that. If it's due to the phone being reported stolen, then no...

But generally, you're right. Stay away, far away, from phones with a bad ESN.

What I meant was only the account holder can do this. You can't buy a phone that the esn has been blocked and use it. The carrier will not do this for you.
 
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