Keeping track of companies that "care about your data 🥺"
android android-modding

Merge pull request #172 from ravindu644/main

Samsung: clarify their scams in detail ; added video and image proofs

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brands/samsung/README.md
··· 17 18 --- 19 20 - As of September 2025, all budget phones that have **Helio G99**, **Dimensity 6100+**, and **Dimensity 6300** have **serious connectivity and unfixable bootloop issues** after unlocking the bootloader and flashing a custom binary which "trips Knox". 21 22 **Example Devices Affected:** 23 - **Helio G99:** Galaxy A15 4G, A16 4G, etc. ··· 25 26 **If your device has Helio G99 or Dimensity 6100+/6300, you are a victim too!** 27 28 - As a result, in the Helio G99 models, the `ril-daemon` will crash every 6 hours, leading to your SIM cards being disabled and showing a NULL IMEI in the settings (temporary). The only fix as of now is restarting the phone or using "third-party" Magisk modules to restart the `ril-daemon` every 6 hours. This is unfixable even after re-locking the bootloader. 29 30 - In the Dimensity 6100+/6300 models, **you will completely lose 5G connectivity permanently**, and this is unfixable even after re-locking the bootloader. **The modem will crash when connecting to a 5G network**, leading to high battery drain and overheating. The only fix as of now is putting your device in 4G mode. 31 32 After intense analysis by ~5 experienced members of the Helio G99 and Dimensity 6100+/6300 community, we found why this happens. It looks like Samsung implemented checks at **both the modem firmware level and software level** to check for the value of the property `ro.vendor.boot.warranty_bit`. The software check uses a function called `DoOemSetwarrantyBit` in `/vendor/lib64/libsec-ril.so`. 33 34 **Why does a RIL-related HAL need to check "is Knox tripped?"** 35 36 - After patching the necessary libs in the vendor, we thought it was over until we found out 5G still wasn't working and discovered that a similar but different function is baked into the modem firmware itself by analyzing the contents of the `md1img` partition. This firmware check differs from the libsec-ril's function and isn't patchable by a third party. 37 38 > The only fix is to be aware of this issue and not unlock the bootloader and trip Knox in the first place if you don't like these consequences. You have to sacrifice something to root these 2 device types. 39 40 - **🔴 Regarding the unfixable bootloop issue**, it literally feels like a hard brick. The only thing that works is the display turning on. No matter what you do, even after flashing the stock ROM and re-locking the bootloader, this issue remains unfixable. 41 42 This was a serious issue in the initial firmware of the Dimensity 6100+ and 6300 devices and was **fixed by later firmware updates.** 43 ··· 52 **There is nothing to worry about regarding this issue if your phone firmware is already updated.** 53 54 **Sources:** 55 - - As the [writer of this section](https://github.com/ravindu644) of this documentation, I personally experienced this issue and lost $200. I have video proof but will not provide Telegram links here. You can find them in the Galaxy A16 Community if interested. 56 - [XDA Forum post regarding this exact issue](https://xdaforums.com/t/bootloop-without-access-to-recovery-need-insights-a156e-dsn.4707443/) 57 58 ---
··· 17 18 --- 19 20 + 🔶 As of October 2025, all budget phones that have **Helio G99**, **Dimensity 6100+**, and **Dimensity 6300** have **serious connectivity and unfixable bootloop issues** after unlocking the bootloader and flashing a custom binary which "trips Knox". 21 22 **Example Devices Affected:** 23 - **Helio G99:** Galaxy A15 4G, A16 4G, etc. ··· 25 26 **If your device has Helio G99 or Dimensity 6100+/6300, you are a victim too!** 27 28 + As a result, in the Helio G99 models, the **entire modem** will crash every 6 hours, causing your SIM cards to be disabled and showing a temporary NULL IMEI in the settings. 29 30 + <details> 31 + <summary>Click to expand image</summary> 32 + 33 + ![G99 Modem Issue](resources/G99_modem_issue.jpg) 34 + 35 + </details> 36 + 37 + Once the modem crashes after 6 hours, **there's no way to get it up and running again**. We even tried cutting off power to the modem and giving it back using a kernel-level hack, but it didn’t fix the issue either. 38 + 39 + The only solutions are restarting the phone or using "third-party" Magisk module to restart the `ril-daemon` before the modem crash occurs every 6 hours. 40 + 41 + **This remains unfixable even after re-locking the bootloader!** 42 + 43 + 🔶 In the Dimensity 6100+/6300 models, **you will completely lose 5G connectivity permanently**, and this is unfixable even after re-locking the bootloader. **The modem will crash when connecting to a 5G network**, leading to high battery drain and overheating. The only fix as of now is putting your device in 4G mode. 44 + 45 + <details> 46 + <summary><b>Expand to view proofs</b></summary> 47 + 48 + https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/dcf5c6d6-59fb-4e8c-9a1c-d44888f0a0d4 49 + 50 + </details> 51 52 After intense analysis by ~5 experienced members of the Helio G99 and Dimensity 6100+/6300 community, we found why this happens. It looks like Samsung implemented checks at **both the modem firmware level and software level** to check for the value of the property `ro.vendor.boot.warranty_bit`. The software check uses a function called `DoOemSetwarrantyBit` in `/vendor/lib64/libsec-ril.so`. 53 54 **Why does a RIL-related HAL need to check "is Knox tripped?"** 55 56 + After patching the necessary libs in the vendor, we thought it was over until we found out 5G still wasn't working and discovered that a similar but different function is baked into the modem firmware itself by analyzing the contents of the `md1img` partition. 57 58 + 59 + <details> 60 + <summary>Click to expand image</summary> 61 + 62 + ![Possible kill switch ?](resources/modem_strings.png) 63 + 64 + *Possible kill switch ?* 65 + 66 + </details> 67 + 68 + **This firmware check differs from the libsec-ril's function and isn't patchable by a third party.** 69 + 70 + We even tried porting an entire vendor from another Samsung 5G device. Even though the device boots and everything is fully functional, it didn’t fix the 5G issue, which means this problem is buried deep in the firmware! 71 + 72 + > [!WARNING] 73 > The only fix is to be aware of this issue and not unlock the bootloader and trip Knox in the first place if you don't like these consequences. You have to sacrifice something to root these 2 device types. 74 75 + --- 76 + 77 + **🔴 Regarding the unfixable bootloop issue in Dimensity 6100+/6300**, it literally feels like a hard brick. The only thing that works is the display turning on. No matter what you do, even after flashing the stock ROM and re-locking the bootloader, this issue remains unfixable. 78 + 79 + <details> 80 + <summary><b>Expand to view proofs</b></summary> 81 + 82 + https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/5338f5fc-5b0b-4e03-a179-9092bd54d841 83 + 84 + </details> 85 86 This was a serious issue in the initial firmware of the Dimensity 6100+ and 6300 devices and was **fixed by later firmware updates.** 87 ··· 96 **There is nothing to worry about regarding this issue if your phone firmware is already updated.** 97 98 **Sources:** 99 + - As the [writer of this section](https://github.com/ravindu644) of this documentation, I personally experienced this issue and lost $200. 100 - [XDA Forum post regarding this exact issue](https://xdaforums.com/t/bootloop-without-access-to-recovery-need-insights-a156e-dsn.4707443/) 101 102 ---
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