HELP

[mehere_surviving]

Did a swap with someone through Facebook and got a Galaxy Note 9, but the person didn't take screen lock off and now won't answer my messages. Friend of mine said they knew how to bypass the FRP Google lock, because I wasn't confident doing it myself, but I now have a useless device (praying it can be saved).

The screen currently says "An error occurred while updating the device software. Use the Emergency recovery function in the Smart Switch PC software". I've looked at a few pages to try and work out what's gone wrong and come up with nothing. The Smart Switch application doesn't seem to give me the recovery option it's supposed to, and when I've tried to use Odin3 to download the firmware onto the device, after clicking 'Start', it only gets so far and then just freezes and doesn't finish.

Can anyone give me any ideas what I can do?

 

[matther22xdroid]

Did a swap with someone through Facebook and got a Galaxy Note 9, but the person didn't take screen lock off and now won't answer my messages. Friend of mine said they knew how to bypass the FRP Google lock, because I wasn't confident doing it myself, but I now have a useless device (praying it can be saved).

The screen currently says "An error occurred while updating the device software. Use the Emergency recovery function in the Smart Switch PC software". I've looked at a few pages to try and work out what's gone wrong and come up with nothing. The Smart Switch application doesn't seem to give me the recovery option it's supposed to, and when I've tried to use Odin3 to download the firmware onto the device, after clicking 'Start', it only gets so far and then just freezes and doesn't finish.

Can anyone give me any ideas what I can do?

If it's locked with a pin code or something nothings gonna unlock it and it was likely a stolen phone. I'd call the carrier and check the IMEI.

 

[Mr-Guy]

if it is locked due to entering the wrong information too many times it locks and it needs to be sent to Samsung to unlock. happened to me with a note 4 and Sprint screwed up...

 

[Gary02468]

Just a friendly reminder that on any internet forum, it's helpful and courteous to use an informative subject line. That way, people can tell at a glance which threads they want to read or contribute to, and they can more easily find their way back to specific threads later. Imagine if all the subject lines were like "I need help", "Has anyone seen this?", "Angry and frustrated", "I have a question", etc. They'd all be indistinguishable. A descriptive subject line may also get you faster and better replies.

 

[EMGSM]

As mentioned, I would check to make sure it's not stolen. Good luck with this matter. Hope all works out for you.

 

[mehere_surviving]

It's definitely not stolen as the guy gave me it in the original box with all accessories and sales receipt. Was a straight trade for a Sony Xperia that I got with my new contract, but decided I didn't like it. Spent 3 weeks trying to get in touch with the bloke, to ask him the screen lock pin, but got no reply, so like I said a friend of mine said he knew how to do a factory reset and bypass it, but all he seems to have done is brick it.

 

[Knightmayre90]

Just a friendly reminder that on any internet forum, it's helpful and courteous to use an informative subject line. That way, people can tell at a glance which threads they want to read or contribute to, and they can more easily find their way back to specific threads later. Imagine if all the subject lines were like "I need help", "Has anyone seen this?", "Angry and frustrated", "I have a question", etc. They'd all be indistinguishable. A descriptive subject line may also get you faster and better replies.

This, after the guy pleads for help? Like that's the main thing on his mind? Get a grip.

 

[Gary02468]

This, after the guy pleads for help? Like that's the main thing on his mind?

It's not like this is an emergency where someone's life is in imminent danger. If a user is calm enough to log in to a forum, they're calm enough to choose a helpful subject line while they're at it. It's to their own benefit as well as everyone else's. Subject lines that just say "help" are usually about something trivial and may be ignored by readers who would otherwise contribute good advice.

 

[jhimmel]

This, after the guy pleads for help? Like that's the main thing on his mind? Get a grip.

I passed by this thread the first few times because of the vague subject. It might help his cause to put a small hint about what he is looking for. People versed in this kind of issue are more likely to be drawn in. It was polite advice - I don't see any lost grip.

 

[jhimmel]

It's definitely not stolen as the guy gave me it in the original box with all accessories and sales receipt. Was a straight trade for a Sony Xperia that I got with my new contract, but decided I didn't like it. Spent 3 weeks trying to get in touch with the bloke, to ask him the screen lock pin, but got no reply, so like I said a friend of mine said he knew how to do a factory reset and bypass it, but all he seems to have done is brick it.

Still suspicious. You got a locked phone and the guy disappeared and won't respond. Check the IMEI number anyway.

 

[buzzy3970]

Still suspicious you got a locked phone and the guy disappeared and won't respond. Check the IMEI number anyway.

I agree. Seems a little weird that the person would go ghost knowing they left info on the phone.

 

[mehere_surviving]

Okay, so I've been told that all I need to do is put the phone into download mode and then flash the firmware again with Odin3. But I still have the ''Error has occured screen", and the usual buttons to start the phone in download mode don't seem to be working at all. Any clues?

 

[B. Diddy]

Sorry, but there's no legitimate way to bypass Factory Reset Protection. You need to get the previous owner to help you log in with the previously associated Google account and password. If that person won't help you, then you're pretty much out of options. We don't allow discussions on how to bypass security features here, so any hacking suggestions will be deleted and the thread will then be closed. Sorry!

 

[Gary02468]

Sorry, but there's no legitimate way to bypass Factory Reset Protection. You need to get the previous owner to help you log in with the previously associated Google account and password. If that person won't help you, then you're pretty much out of options.

One remaining option would be to go to the police to report possible fraud or theft.

 

[Gary02468]

It's definitely not stolen as the guy gave me it in the original box with all accessories and sales receipt.

Did you check the IMEI on the receipt against the one on the box label and on the back of the phone?

 

[B. Diddy]

One remaining option would be to go to the police to report possible fraud or theft.

True, good point.

 

[matther22xdroid]

Did you check the IMEI on the receipt against the one on the box label and on the back of the phone?

We've suggested it about 5 times but no answer on the IMEI yet.

 

[j_hansen]

If it's not because the previous owner forgot to delete his Google account then it could be as simple as you using the wrong version of odin.. As in using 3.12 instead of 3.13
I made this mistake on my previous Note 8

 

[Gary02468]

We've suggested it about 5 times but no answer on the IMEI yet.

The previous suggestion was to check the IMEI with the carrier, which is also a good idea. But I was asking to check if the IMEI on the phone matches the box and the sales receipt.

 

[jhimmel]

The previous suggestion was to check the IMEI with the carrier, which is also a good idea. But I was asking to check if the IMEI on the phone matches the box and the sales receipt.

He does not seem to want to deal with questions of the phones legitimacy. I'll leave it at that.