Unlock an AudioVox 5600 for free
Background: The following comes from my scouring of the Internet
to find out how to unlock an AudioVox 5600 (or SMT5600) that was locked
to the AT&T (Cingular Blue) network. I had to do this as Cingular
does not unlock their phones on the AT&T network, and I needed to
put in a local SIM while on a trip to Brazil. T-Mobile will apparently
unlock your phones by just calling, and is probably a safer way to go.
But for everyone else who is stuck, and doesn?t want to rely on
possibly dodgey sites that ask for money via paypal, continue on!
Note: actually doing the following probably voids your warranty
(I don?t know as I never read it), and botching it could well render
your phone unusable. But it worked for me, even with a few missteps I
didn?t include here.
Microsoft people: This doesn?t work for Magneto, but apparently
upgrading to Magneto seems to unlock your phone anyway? try it first.
BTW, if you?re thinking of upgrading, I don?t recommend it.
You need the following file:
UnlockAudioVox5600Apps.zip
What you?ll need:
- A SIM card on the network your AudioVox is locked to. For example,
if you?re locked to AT&T (Cingular Blue network) then you?ll need
an AT&T SIM card. For people who bought their phone off e-bay or
something, find a friend, as you need one of these to proceed!
- A SIM card on some other network to make sure things worked. Any network will do. Again, find a buddy.
Here?s what you do:
- Plug your AudioVox into your computer via the USB cable that came
with it. Open an explorer window via ActiveSync and browse the top
level directory of the SmartPhone? you should see directories like Temp
and Storage.
- Extract aeconfig.zip, say to C:\unlock5600. DO NOT SIMPLY OPEN THE .ZIP AND TRY TO COPY FILES TO YOUR SMARTPHONE, IT DOES NOT WORK!
You?ll get a folder named ?unlock-all? which contains two directories,
StartMenu and Temp, along with a manual. The manual is almost correct
for the 5600. What you want to do is:
- Put the ?Disable Security? file in StartMenu under \Storage\Windows\Start Menu\ in your 5600.
- Put ?AEConfig.exe? and ?DisableSecurity.xml? in Temp in \Temp in your 5600. Do not reboot your 5600, as it will erase these files in \Temp!
- Go to Start on your 5600, then select Disable Security and run it.
Phase 1 done. If you don?t see it via the start menu, use the File
Manager to run it. Sometimes it takes a bit for the Start Menu to
re-read the directory and include things.
- Open resetSecurity.zip and extract the files on your computer
somewhere. I?ll say C:\unlock5600, but feel free to replace that with
anything you like.
- On your computer, go to Start -> Run and type ?cmd? for a DOS
prompt. Change directories to the directory you put the files of
resetSecurity (e.g.
cd c:\unlock5600 using our example).
- Run RapiConfig as follows from the cmd prompt:
% RapiConfig.exe /p ResetSecurity.xml
This will unlock your phone to install new apps (needed for the next step).
- Confirm it works by putting ?CheckLock.exe? in the \Temp dir of
your 5600 and running it by going to Start -> File Manager on your
AudioVox and selecting CheckLock.exe under \Temp. It should say ?Your
phone is not locked.?
Phase 2 End.
- Open up SPV-Services.zip and copy the files somewhere (say c:\unlock5600).
- Copy the Cert.cab into \Temp of your smartphone
- From your smartphone Start -> File Manager, browser to \Temp and run Cert.cab. Install the program.
- From your computer, run SPVServices.exe. Click on the SIMLock
Toggle button and type AGREE. Don?t worry about the ?Doesn?t work on
AudioVox? as this did for this purpose.
- Unlock your AudioVox by clicking on the button. End Phase 3.
- Test out your new unlocked AudioVox with a friend?s SIM card on
another network (I used T-Mobile). You will need to power down the
phone, take out the card, put the new one in, and power up. If you see
?Network locked, enter unlock code? then something didn?t work. If you
see the normal home page with the carrier?s name, you?re golden.
Troubleshooting:
- Unknown error -2147467259 in read operation. I don?t know
why this happens. Some people have reported success by re-trying all of
the previous steps after rebooting the SmartPhone. Others have
suggested it?s because Cert.cab wasn?t installed, just copied over to
\Temp. If you get this, please report it in the comments and let us
know if you?re able to figure it out. UPDATEA post on the SPV Developers Forum appears to answer this by describing how to: resolve the read error by manually changing two registry keys. A file is included in the post to update the registry. Hat tip to Volkmar!
- Can?t copy files to SmartPhone. Remember, you have to extract files to some directory, then copy them. You can?t just copy directly? some lame bug in Windows.
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