I think someone has rooted my phone ??

robertrc01

I sent my phone away with GSM solutions to get fixed after water damage. No problems it back and in working order however, there is a yellow warning signal when i turn on the phone and also an app called 'CWM' aswell as a few other apps ive never seen.

It wont allow me to upload using the official samsung updates or anything now.

Can it be unrooted ? Or can i use this to update it to jellybean ? genuinly no idea about rooting etc.

pedatron

robertrc01 wrote: »

I sent my phone away with GSM solutions to get fixed after water damage. No problems it back and in working order however, there is a yellow warning signal when i turn on the phone and also an app called 'CWM' aswell as a few other apps ive never seen.

It wont allow me to upload using the official samsung updates or anything now.

Can it be unrooted ? Or can i use this to update it to jellybean ? genuinly no idea about rooting etc.

You're rooted alright. What phone have you??

robertrc01

Its a samsung galaxy s2. thats not right sure its not ? surely they cant just root my phone without permission.

Allyall

"Rooting" Just really means giving the user administrator rights.
Like when you try to open a program in Windows and it says "Administrator rights are required to continue, do you want to proceed? Ok or Cancel" or similar.

They may have been using ClockworkMod Recovery to fix/test any other problems they may have come across on the phone.

Did they put on a custom ROM? Does the phone look different?

robertrc01

Not really. When i got it back it had like a bright light wherever i touched the screen, not really sure how to describe it ha. Its not a big problem as i can still use the stuff i want, just strange. All my stuff was wiped and i was left with thousands of photos of some guy and his kids.

Edit: i dont know about the custom rom

srsly78

Sounds like they just gave you a replacement phone. Bring it back and demand that they put factory software back on it, then you can auto-update.

Custom roms can be pretty good tho, so if it works for you then keep it. The lack of auto-update is the only thing that annoys me about them.

housetypeb

robertrc01 wrote: »

All my stuff was wiped and i was left with thousands of photos of some guy and his kids.

Edit: i dont know about the custom rom

Are you sure it's your phone that they returned to you?

JustAddWater

robertrc01 wrote: »

I sent my phone away with GSM solutions to get fixed after water damage. No problems it back and in working order however, there is a yellow warning signal when i turn on the phone and also an app called 'CWM' aswell as a few other apps ive never seen.

It wont allow me to upload using the official samsung updates or anything now.

Can it be unrooted ? Or can i use this to update it to jellybean ? genuinly no idea about rooting etc.

let's just say GSM solutions have been in the news for precarious dealings. There was an article in the Sunday mirror

They take in phones off the street no questions. Cash is cash and all that...

Check that phone and be 100% that its yours, reference IMEI number with any receipts etc. I'd be suspicious having random photos on it getting it back

robertrc01

100% my phone. Same spiderweb looking scratch on the back thats makes it easy to identify. That was my first thought too though

kaimera

Bring it back.

Could have flashed someone elses backup to your phone. But then they shouldn't be taking backups of your phone.

frozenfrozen

robertrc01 wrote: »

100% my phone. Same spiderweb looking scratch on the back thats makes it easy to identify. That was my first thought too though

They could have taken the back off your water damaged phone and put it on that phone... check the imei number

srsly78

Yeah they messed something up alright, bring it back and demand they sort it.

Aren't they in breach of privacy regulations by giving the OP someone elses data (photos)?

Allyall

robertrc01 wrote: »

100% my phone. Same spiderweb looking scratch on the back thats makes it easy to identify. That was my first thought too though

It could be your back, but not your phone.

As Kaimera said, they shouldn't be taking backups of anyones phone.

If it's bugging you a lot, bring it back.

Explosive_Cornflake

Physically it's your phone, but you have different software and photos on it? That is bizarre. Check the IMEI, it should match what was on the box when you bought it (*#06#). Is your scratch just on the battery cover?
Rooting is ok, if you keep on top of ROM's and all that, but if you're not into that sort of thing, you are better of with a stock factory ROM. Easy to fix, but you should not have got a phone back in that condition. I believe they have even voided the warranty doing this, I am sure Samsung would not approve of this.
I wouldn't trust a phone someone else had rooted, it's technically possible anything is hidden on there. They block root access for a reason in android.

robertrc01

I have another couple scratches on the silver outlining on the phone so id be convinced its my phone.

But yeh, they have voided my warranty by doing it .

Allyall

I have to admit, i wouldn't be happy either.

If i want my phone rooted, i'll do it myself.

I also wouldn't be happy that i have someone elses backup, God knows what they may be doing with phones in there. See if you can get info about the guy in the pics, and send him an email

Kenny Logins

Sounds like they loaded somebody elses backup file!!

Varik

robertrc01 wrote: »

I have another couple scratches on the silver outlining on the phone so id be convinced its my phone.

But yeh, they have voided my warranty by doing it .

You voided the warranty by giving it to them in the first place even if it was just fixed without anything else happening.

emaherx

Varik wrote: »

You voided the warranty by giving it to them in the first place even if it was just fixed without anything else happening.

No he voided his warranty by getting his phone wet!

robertrc01

didnt realise that , cheers. Im not really worried about the warranty, just want whatever they have done to it to be changed back.

Kavrocks

robertrc01 wrote: »

I have another couple scratches on the silver outlining on the phone so id be convinced its my phone.

But yeh, they have voided my warranty by doing it .

How can gaining access to something that is already on your phone void your warranty? That's all rooting is essentially, giving you full administrator privileges, that are on android reserved for the system.

There was a study on this done last year by some guy and he explicitly wen't through the laws around warranties and the warranties themselves in relation to rooting and found that by gaining root access will not void your warranty.

There are also plenty of stories around the internet of people who rooted their phones and then had them repaired under warranty, the bigger threat to somebody's warranty seems to be humidity, sweat and the tiniest bit of moisture.

robertrc01

I was just agreeing with someone else in the thread who said it was voided because of it, i dont know.

Allyall

The "Rooting" warranty only really applies to iPhones. (Surprise surprise)

Except they call it jailbreaking.

I think i read something similar to you Kavrocks, and not all android phones allowed rooting, as in, some warranties were voided after rooting.
I think it was Sony and possibly Huawei (Although Huawei could've been a joke for obvious reasons.)

But in the U.S. most, if not all manufacturers void the warranty when rooted. Even if they don't, the carriers do. Verizon most certainly does.

Explosive_Cornflake

One question so, if Samsung at totally 100% behind rooting etc, why do they display the big yellow Triangle?

Kavrocks

Allyall wrote: »

But in the U.S. most, if not all manufacturers void the warranty when rooted. Even if they don't, the carriers do. Verizon most certainly does.

What I read was about the US. Whilst they say warranties are voided technically they aren't.

Explosive_Cornflake wrote: »

One question so, if Samsung at totally 100% behind rooting etc, why do they display the big yellow Triangle?

What do you mean by 'totally 100% behind rooting'?

Allyall

Explosive_Cornflake wrote: »

One question so, if Samsung at totally 100% behind rooting etc, why do they display the big yellow Triangle?

Presumably so that you know it's rooted, and needs protection. Also, I wouldn't imagine any company are 100% behind it, it wouldn't make sense. I just read that article. But that doesn't mean the writer had all the correct facts, nor did it mention that anyone was 100% behind people rooting their phones.

I just repeated the bits i could remember.
Also, rooting it in the U.S. is definitely bad. So they would have that notification built in on all OS's, i presume.


This article states it does void the warranty, but doesn't specify who's.

Also gives some good info
http://www.lifeofandroid.com/news_detail/android-advice-should-i-root-my-android-smartphone-and-how-can-i-do-it/

Allyall

Kavrocks wrote: »

What I read was about the US. Whilst they say warranties are voided technically they aren't.


What do you mean by 'totally 100% behind rooting'?

Oh.. Technically... Maybe if no damage is done etc..

What I read was that the U.S. pretty much doesn't allow anything with a phone, that isn't there when you buy it. Going back to the Symbian (Possibly earlier) phones.

They were the strictest out of the three they wrote about. Europe, Australia and USA. I can't remember why they didn't include Africa, and Asia wasn't included because the laws are so different in each Country. In China you can do pretty much anything, in Japan, i think you can mess about a bit, but you don't own the rights to whatever changes you have made. and Singapore was different again..

Bluefoam

OP, I would demand a reaction from the companies MD or Directors whio are legally required to take action on issues of privacy invasion.

Someone's privacy has been invaded by having their personal info ported to your phone... What is to say that your information hasn't been put on other phones, put up on the internet, shared with spammers.

My guess is that they kept your higher capacity SD card and replaced it with another lower capacity one from a returned phone & also flashed your rom

Kenny Logins

Bluefoam wrote: »

OP, I would demand a reaction from the companies MD or Directors whio are legally required to take action on issues of privacy invasion.

Someone's privacy has been invaded by having their personal info ported to your phone... What is to say that your information hasn't been put on other phones, put up on the internet, shared with spammers.

My guess is that they kept your higher capacity SD card and replaced it with another lower capacity one from a returned phone & also flashed your rom

Surely you'd remove an SD card from a phone before returning it for repair?

I think they flashed it with the wrong backup file.

copeyhagen

am i the only one wondering if there is saucy pics of the wife on there?

robertrc01

Unfortunatly there were no saucy pictures altough i have to say looking at the guy that was perhaps a relief ... Also i took my SD card and SIM out beforehand.

Finally got around to bringing it back to GSM solutions having been told via email they would have a look at it . They didnt have a look at it at all and instead insisted on sending it away for another ten days !! When i argued my point they said it was nothing to do with them and the yellow warning signal on boot is not to do with rooting but to do with temperature.

I am a complete novice (as you can probably tell) but is there anyway i can get rid of the firmware they put on myself and restore it to factory condition. I've tried the usual reboot etc. and their root is still on the phone .

Also, despite their website claiming they can fix most problems on the spot i was told they are purely a retail shop and have no technicians at all.

srsly78

Yes just use Odin and flash a stock rom. Look in the massive galaxy thread for instructions.

Kenny Logins

robertrc01 wrote: »

Unfortunatly there were no saucy pictures altough i have to say looking at the guy that was perhaps a relief ... Also i took my SD card and SIM out beforehand.

Finally got around to bringing it back to GSM solutions having been told via email they would have a look at it . They didnt have a look at it at all and instead insisted on sending it away for another ten days !! When i argued my point they said it was nothing to do with them and the yellow warning signal on boot is not to do with rooting but to do with temperature.

I am a complete novice (as you can probably tell) but is there anyway i can get rid of the firmware they put on myself and restore it to factory condition. I've tried the usual reboot etc. and their root is still on the phone .

Also, despite their website claiming they can fix most problems on the spot i was told they are purely a retail shop and have no technicians at all.

Temperature? At what temperature does this yellow warning come on at? :rolleyes:

TBH I wouldn't deal with them at all. They don't seem to have clue what they're doing.

witnessmenow

Water damage normally can not be repaired too easily.

So what probably happened is they bought a phone that had a broken screen or something, and put the motherboard into your phone.

You would still have the same case (scratches and all) on your phone, but it would have all of the replacement phones memory & Storage (Explains the pics and the fact that it is rooted).

I wouldnt have a major problem with it being repaired like this, its a common way of repairing something. What I would be annoyed with it is you never informed that this is what was happening. They definitely should have returned to phone to stock after the repair, but sure you are where you are.

If the donor phone was not all ready rooted another possible reason for rooting is the phone you sent in could have been locked to your network (02 or whoever) and so could the donor phone (to another netowrk). SG2 can be unlocked when they are rooted.

EDIT: Actually the more i think about it, my last point is very valid. Returning it to stock might mean you can no longer use it with your sim card.

gerryk

witnessmenow wrote: »

So what probably happened is they bought a phone that had a broken screen or something, and put the motherboard into your phone.

Yup.

witnessmenow wrote: »

EDIT: Actually the more i think about it, my last point is very valid. Returning it to stock might mean you can no longer use it with your sim card.

Not necessarily. A bootloader unlock (what would be necessary to install CWM) a root (gaining root access) and a baseband unlock (carrier unlock) are not the same thing. They are not even mutually required... you can root without bootloader unlock, and you can unlock either the baseband or the bootloader without touching the main filesystem. If the phone is carrier unlocked, it is likely to stay that way. Even a factory reset wouldn't change that.

ED E

I'd worry about this practice as if the bootloader is unlocked(not that it is) warranty would be gone and also a custom kernel could have been used to overclock the unit