![]() |
Locked phone! |
The phone was usable (apps, wifi), but no mobile signal was picked.
Tried PUK code, known short PINs, asked the subsidy password to my carrier, and nothing worked.
(Interestingly enough: Unlike other people's experiences, I phoned Personal and after verifying I am the owner of the phone, they just gave me the subsidy password in a couple of minutes. Unfortunately, it did not work with my phone).
I suspect the code did not work out of the box because my phone was re-flashed long ago, I had installed Cyanogenmod 9 to get Android 4.x.
![]() |
System Settings / version |
So after looking for hours (days), I found one solution based on installing some update from the recovery menu. I had not used this for a long time so it was all fun and scary... again.
The source is this 51-pages forum in XDA. The solution uses a file named ICS_Defy_softunlock_v1.3(EPU_U_00.59.01).zip, and it is called a "soft unlock". I am documented what worked for me:
Pre-requisites:
- To flash CM9, I had already rooted and installed 2nd-init. I did this long ago, and it is the only actual requisite.
- I had CM9 previously installed - so the "ICS" version of the patch worked for me (and not GB for Gingerbread). I believe both CM7 and CM9 work.
- As shown in my System Settings page, my base band version is EPU93_U_00.59.01, exactly what this soft unlock requires. If yours is different, you may need to install the baseband update as well (from the same XDA forum).
Steps:
- Reboot in Recovery mode
Shutdown menu / recobe - Select "Install zip from SD card" and "Choose zip from sdcard"
- Pick the ICS_Defy_softunlock_v1.3(EPU_U_00.59.01).zip file and confirm.
- Reboot your phone without SIM card (or with the original one -- not the target carrier SIM!)
- Once fully rebooted, power off, insert new SIM card, and start the phone again.
It worked for me! The screenshot shows the phone in Claro network now.
![]() |
Working with new SIM |