iPhone 2G from eBay Activation Problem

Hello everyone, my name is George.

I'm in the UK, and I have bought an iPhone 2G from eBay UK.

I received the iPhone yesterday, the previous owner had restored it from a jailbreak so I immediately plugged it in to activate it.

Of course I assumed that the iPhone was locked to the 02 carrier, so I popped in an 02 sim to activate the iPhone.

But it would not activate. iTunes says: 'The SIM card inserted in this iPhone does not appear to be supported'.

And I have tried two different carriers as listed below:

- T-Mobile
- Vodafone

All sim cards are active and the iPhone connects to their networks with full signal strength. (Maybe it's unlocked, but then wouldn't any sim activate it?)

I have tried restoring the iPhone which during the process updated it to IOS 3.1.3.

I have also noticed that the iPhone box (which is original) has an AT&T logo on the bottom.

I have also contacted the eBay seller and filled him in on the situation.

He said he bought the iPhone in Hong Kong.

He has also offered a full refund in return for the iPhone. So all is not lost.


I'm kinda stuck at the moment, and don't really want to Jailbreak the iPhone.
So if anyone could help me out here, I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks kindly for any replies in advance.


George.

ct2k7 said:

That phone most likely won't accept anything but the original carrier SIM. I know my original iPhone doesn't.

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Yeah, that's what I was thinking too.

The iPhone is a model: MA712LL/A
Which believe is an American model, since all of the google search results point to American websites. Such as eBay.com.

There is also the AT&T logo on the bottom.

Okay so now i'm thinking that if I get an AT&T sim card from somwhere I can use that to activate it and go from there.

telf22 said:

Frustrating! If i were you i might ask for a full refund but thats just me as I don't purchase of ebay very much.

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I don't think i'm quite ready to return the iPhone just yet, but atleast I have the option if I can't straighten this out very easily.

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ct2k7 said:

It will only accept an AT&T SIM, call AT&T and see if you can get it unlocked, or if the seller can.

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That's probably what i'm going to have to do.

But the weird thing is that, it will pick up a different carriers signal if their sim is inserted. Weirder still it will receive text messages and phone calls even though it's still not activated.

ct2k7 said:

Yep, it's roaming etc.

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Roaming?

ct2k7 said:

Use a partner carrier network in a foreign country

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I'm not really sure about calling AT&T.

For starters I think I would have to call them in America, and that wouldn't be cheap. I'm not really looking to spend a whole lot of money on this iPhone.

And what are the chances that they would actually grant me an unlock?

ct2k7 said:

Skype ? They should be able to, or its former owner.

Do it online: https://www.att.com/deviceunlock/client/en_US/? you'll need to provide the former account details though.

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Ah see, I don't have the former account details and I would bet that the seller doesn't either.

He said he bought it in Hong Kong (it's real), and he also said that he used it straight out of the box with a T-Mobile sim.

I don't know when he bought it or if he was the original owner, so I've messaged him on eBay and am now awaiting a reply.


Oh yeah and I don't have skype.

TSX said:

Luckily with the 1st gen you can downgrade firmware. Download 3.1.2 and jailbreak it and unlock it. If you have to watch some videos on YouTube on how to do it.

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So I can't Jailbreak 3.1.3?

TSX said:

No, only 3.1.2. Watch some YouTube videos if you don't know how to do it.

Click to expand...

It's ok. I took it to my local phone repair shop.

I explained the situation to the guy and he took the phone over to his desk, pulled out an AT&T sim card and activated it for me.

And he didn't even charge me for the pleasure, and the best part is the phone is unlocked so I don't have to jailbreak at all. 3.1.3 forever!