Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Activating iPhone Help Please

G

gwabanaba

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 2, 2012
12
3
Hi I need help from someone please.
My cousin came here from Sri Lanka, he has a factory unlocked iPhone 4 that he bought from the apple store in Canada, he got a friend that lives there to ship it to him, it worked fine for him in Sri Lanka this whole time, it's be almost a year, He came here a week ago and he gave me is iPhone so I can update it and stuff. Now I just updated it to ios 5.1.1 and it's asking me for a compatible sim and stuff. He went to T-Mobile when he first came here and he didn't know but he bought a gevey sim anyway and has been using the gevey sim with t mobile, but now when I try to activate it I tried three different sims, an AT&T, Red Pocket and T-Mobile but nothing is working, I'm getting really frustrated it's been three hours so please can someone help me. Thank you.
 
I dont think his iphone was really factory unlocked.
If it was it would accept and work with any GSM sim.
It shouldnt need any gevey sim adapter or anything.
Maybe it was software unlocked while jailbroken and when you updated the firmware you lost his unlockable baseband and his unlock for good.
Go to this site and put in the imei number.
It will tell you if its unlocked or not.
http://iphoneox.com/
 
What?!

It says it's locked but that makes no sense how was it working in Sri Lanka this whole time then? And I think he bought the gevey sim by accident idk if he told the tmobile guy it was unlocked already. And even if it were locked wouldn't my att sim or my red pocket sim be able to activate it? Btw my att sim is currently not wokring but the red pocket one is.
 
gwabanaba said:
It says it's locked but that makes no sense how was it working in Sri Lanka this whole time then? And I think he bought the gevey sim by accident idk if he told the tmobile guy it was unlocked already. And even if it were locked wouldn't my att sim or my red pocket sim be able to activate it? Btw my att sim is currently not wokring but the red pocket one is.
Click to expand...

As already said, the iphone was software unlocked so duhhhh it will work will other sim cards in Sri Lanka. It wasnt just factory unlocked. You updated the firmware, so you lost the unlock. Now just youtube or google how to sofware unlock it again on your current firmware.
 
gwabanaba said:
It says it's locked but that makes no sense how was it working in Sri Lanka this whole time then? And I think he bought the gevey sim by accident idk if he told the tmobile guy it was unlocked already. And even if it were locked wouldn't my att sim or my red pocket sim be able to activate it? Btw my att sim is currently not wokring but the red pocket one is.
Click to expand...

Like I told you above.
It was probably unlocked with ultrasnow that's how.
Not sure what carrier that particular iphone is locked to but if you updated it to the latest 5.1.1 then there is no gevey sim adapter that will unlock it at the moment. Sorry, next time be more carefull.
I know you were doing him a favor and only trying to help him out but you're both probably regretting it now.

itouchaddicted said:
Now just youtube or google how to sofware unlock it again on your current firmware.
Click to expand...

Currently there is no way to unlock an iphone 4 on 5.1.1 stock baseband version 04.11.08 or 04.12.01
So he's SOL, I'll save him some time from searching. It cant be hardware unlocked or by using ultrasnow while Jailbroken.
There is an alternative way to purchase an IMEI official unlock on ebay or other sites that sell them.
They average from $30-40 to $120-150 but they officially unlock the phone and it will never lock back no matter how many times you restore or update its firmware. Seems to be the only option at the moment.
Best of luck.
 
Last edited:
Yes regretting it completely. I think we were jipped of our money.. What's the permanent unlock you were talking about? I'll do that if anything. What site can I do that isn't a scam? I'd like to do it now.
 
gwabanaba said:
Yes regretting it completely. I think we were jipped of our money.. What's the permanent unlock you were talking about? I'll do that if anything. What site can I do that isn't a scam? I'd like to do it now.
Click to expand...

Go to ebay and check. There's tons of sellers offering IMEI unlocks for iphones there.
I havent used one yet but another member told me to look for user211800 on ebay. He has reputable feedback for his services on ebay.
 
Thanks so much, now is this a permanent solution, as in I can update and restore and reboot and use a tmobile sim without any other problems?
 
gwabanaba said:
I just checked him on ebay and it says the phone has to be from AT&T. How do I know what the original carrier is?

----------



I just checked this one too and it says the phone still has to be activated first, that's the main issue here :(
Click to expand...

I noticed that too.
Not sure if you can find out what carrier its locked to. Some sellers can unlock any locked iphone and others can only unlock certain carriers locked iphones. You will have to contact them for details.
I read the other posters link and it says the phone still has to be activated first. That's false and doesnt make any sense. Once the iphone is officially unlocked it will not need AT&T's or any carriers sim. You can just restore and it will activate with any providers GSM sim.
Before you do anything contact the seller and explain to him that you're not sure what carrier its locked to. Most of them if they cannot unlock it they will issue you a refund.
Good luck bro.
 
Thanks for all your help. I'll try and visit the apple store tomorrow aswell.
 
Applejuiced said:
I noticed that too.
Not sure if you can find out what carrier its locked to. Some sellers can unlock any locked iphone and others can only unlock certain carriers locked iphones. You will have to contact them for details.
I read the other posters link and it says the phone still has to be activated first. That's false and doesnt make any sense. Once the iphone is officially unlocked it will not need AT&T's or any carriers sim. It will activate with any providers GSM sim.
Before you do anything contact the seller and explain to him that you're not sure what carrier its locked to. Most of them if they cannot unlock it they will issue you a refund.
Good luck bro.
Click to expand...

Applejuiced knows more than me but just from my experience I would just like to add that if its ATT locked iphone than you can just use any non workable ATT sim to get past the activation screen. I have done this several times to get past the activation screens. Most Ebayers are saying that you will have to get past the activation screen after they unlock it. So once they unlock it and you restore your iphone, than just use any old non workable ATT sim to get past that activation screen. But again provided your iphone is ATT locked.
 
I already tried an att sim, and the model number is MC603C, I read online that the C meant Canada, which is where he got it from, and LL means USA like mine. I also read that in canada if it's from Fido or Rogers you can get it unlocked. So if I order one of their sims off ebay would I be able to use that to get past the activation screen?

----------

And for Carrier it says Carrier Lab 12.0, what does that mean?
 
gwabanaba said:
I already tried an att sim, and the model number is MC603C, I read online that the C meant Canada, which is where he got it from, and LL means USA like mine. I also read that in canada if it's from Fido or Rogers you can get it unlocked. So if I order one of their sims off ebay would I be able to use that to get past the activation screen?

----------

And for Carrier it says Carrier Lab 12.0, what does that mean?
Click to expand...

Fido or Rogers will only unlock it if you're the original account holder, your contract is up and other restrictions along with paying them an unlock fee.
So I dont know if contact them will get you far but give it a shot. Maybe the Apple store can tell you what carrier its locked to. I remember there was a few IMEI check sites that gave that info along with other details about your phone.
And again even if you use one of those sims to activate the phone it will not work or accept any other carriers sims. You will just be in the home screen and use it as an ipod touch but still wont be able to make phone calls with other carriers sim cards unless you IMEI unlock it.
Like I said above dont let that confuse you. If you can get it IMEI officially unlocked by one of those sellers it will activate with any sim. That's what an unlocked iphone does. Works and activates with any GSM sim.
 
So what about if I just activate it by buying one of their sims off ebay and then unlocking it through the method from this link?
And still, what does carrier lab 12.0 mean?
My phone says AT&T 12.0
 
gwabanaba said:
So what about if I just activate it by buying one of their sims off ebay and then unlocking it through the method from this link?
And still, what does carrier lab 12.0 mean?
My phone says AT&T 12.0
Click to expand...

You wont even need to buy any of their sims. Once its unlocked and you restore it you will be able to activate it with a Tmobile sim or AT&T sim etc...
I think you get carrier lab 12.0 displayed when you have a gevey sim adapter inside.
 
Oh okay, and right now I don't have the gevey sim inside but it still says that.
Well now I'm looking around for a place that can unlock it. Ugh. Sometime I really hate apple products. Then again it's my fault :/
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back