/e/ installation on galaxy s9 plus can't get into Teamwin

A label on the Samsung box with such a detailed explanation is very rare. My Galaxy S9 / S9+ boxes only say “European SIM card only”, if at all. Nothing more.

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After being routed from Samsung USA to UK they finally told me to contact Samsung Oman and that is when I stopped trying and sold the phone. Samsung is clearly trying to control where phones with unlockable bootloaders can be used.

Samsung uses its own Soc Exynos for many models in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region, while in the USA, LATAM and China it uses the Soc Qualcomm Snapdragon.

Qualcomm Incorporated, based in San Diego, California, USA, is a big player in the manufacture of semiconductor technology. Whether it was successful lobbying (America first) by Qualcomm and thus politically influenced or whether Samsung decided on the two-model principle for purely economic reasons - who knows the whole truth?

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Yes, its very sad the control tech wields here in the USA. Any of these S models with a non-Exynos chip can’t be used to its potential. What I’m seeing on these threads points me to believe Samsung is taking extra measures to ensure Knox blocks one’s ability to flash Exynos based phones in the US. I dont believe its going to get better moving forward, Samsung will likely continue the control tactics.

I just ordered a new Xiaomi Mi 8. I’ll move over to that section/forum once I engage with that phone and get /e/ up on it.

@aibd what does this lead you to believe is happening?

Xiaomi has imposed a 336 hour (14 day) wait on me for my Mi 9, instead of the usual 168 hours (7 days) before allowing me to unlock the bootloader. How long do you think you’ll have to wait?

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Its coming from Hong Kong and won’t be here till May. I will tag you once I get into it. :+1:t3: Why all the control over the hardware utilizing open source? Insane!

Far be it for me to speculate, but here is what Swayam Prakash thinks :slight_smile: . Samsung put these little triggers in to protect their commercial agreements, a small part of me thinks, what can be triggered in can be triggered out!

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So… Xiaomi isn’t much better than Samsung…? At least after 2 weeks you’ll be able to flash TWRP, right?

I would love to know how. Both you and @SuzieQ are far more experienced than I. :+1:t3:

Curious in this article that the author relates that TWRP needs so be present on the phone to achieve the desired result. With what @Redsidriver and I experienced Samsung appears to have found a way to make this not achieveable (if updates beyond BIT binary 2 are installed).

EDIT: We have OEM Unlock on but Knox/RMM blocks the TWRP flash with any device > BIT binary 2 (any device < = BIT binary 2 can have RMM prenormal removed by tools like Chimera, beyond BIT 2 (Android 9 & 10, these tools don’t work)).

Not only the waiting time dictated by Xiaomi is annoying but also the unlock procedure. You will experience it yourself. :0)|

But afterwards, unlike Samsung Galaxy, you can work with FASTBOOT, which is more flexible than Heimdall or Odin.

By the way: As an EU-European, I’ve been used to moving around without borders and controls for many decades. And except for one Samsung Galaxy, I’ve equipped all of them with TWRP. And there have been quite a few so far. Except for the one-off I mentioned. Here, the bootloader was completely and forever blocked by a stock Android firmware from the United Arab Emirates (VAE).

We also know this from Huawei in Europe these days. Who knows what the next few years will bring. It is quite conceivable that the big players will seal off their market and permanently block the boot loader.

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So seeing as I have no way of getting a sim card from another country and Ive already updated the phone to android 10 there is no more hope for my phone?

I am quite confident that once the phone is updated to stock Android 10(Q) (Edit: Anything other than BIT 1 or 2) there is nothing that can be done. So yes I believe you will be unable to get /e/OS running on that phone (unless you buy a plane ticket :grinning:). I am now in process of researching cellular bands on other phone manufacturers to figure out what to do next when these current Samsung’s are dead. As of now, and unless something changes, I won’t ever buy another Samsung product.

Buy a plane ticket just for the Samsung Galaxy and send it to someone who can unlock your Galaxy and flash it with /e/ OS ‘Q’ straight away. But first clear the duty formalities so that no import taxes/duties are due when sending it back from Europe. The shipping costs from the US to Europe and back are already expensive enough.

I remember the time this was called a postage stamp. But you still need to find out to which territory you might send the device!

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For me, Samsung’s statement is clear …

a European provider within the European region.

Currently, the European Union (EU-Europe) has 27 Member States. The list of countries in Europe lists the current 47 countries. So there is plenty of choice …

If the phone @Redsidriver received was the same as mine, it appeared to be from the UAE I believe. (EDIT: Though Samsung UK directed me to Samsung Oman when chatting with them. After this I sold the phone. A clue could be in the CSC code mentioned in the “UAE” link above👆🏼)

Carrier ID:   XSG = United Arab Emirates
Sales Code:   XSG = United Arab Emirates
Product Code: XSG = United Arab Emirates
Country Code: UAE = United Arab Emirates +971

Update
As it stands, the chances of being able to unlock the Galaxy are very very poor.

By the way:
The US carrier Verizon is known for permanently locking the bootloader of Google Pixel Phones.

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I wonder if you have done any reading at

https://forum.xda-developers.com

I do not want to tip you towards unwise interventions, because I think you still have a brand new phone that still works. (Please tell me if I am wrong.)

If you want to bounce any ideas off what you see there under RMM-State Prenormal I am listening. :slight_smile:

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