Unlock Motorola Phones with Windows

When you buy a new mobile phone you will probably get a good deal by signing up with a service provider at the same time. To make sure you stick with the plan, your service provider will lock your phone, making it impossible to use the phone with other providers or take advantage of the full GSM capabilities of your handset when traveling the world. Nor will you be able to use your sim card in other phones, or other sim cards in your phone. Unlocking the phone gets rid of these limitations and allows you to use multiple sim cards and multiple providers on your phone, in addition to greatly increasing the resale value of the phone.

Steps

Choose your unlock method

There are four ways to unlock your phone:

  1. Online IMEI Unlocking services: These use your IMEI code to unlock your phone remotely. Often takes up to 48 hours for unlock code to be processed. Search Google for unlocking codes
  2. Online cable unlocking services: Many companies will sell credits for unlocking software. This software connects to your phone by USB cable and unlocks it. Search Google for Motorola unlock software for Motorola unlock software resellers.
  3. Call your service provider and ask them to unlock the phone for you. Most networks will refuse or charge a fee.
  4. Unlock the phone yourself using software tools and a USB cable.

Before Unlocking Your Phone

  1. Be sure your Motorola phone is GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications). There is no reason to unlock a phone that is not a GSM phone, as only these phones can be used on different networks.
  2. Be sure your phone actually is locked. To test your phone's lock:
    1. Insert a new sim card.
    2. If you get a message along the lines of "Enter Subsidy Password", "Contact Service Provider" or "Enter Unlock Code" then your phone is locked.

Unlocking your phone yourself (advanced users only)

Please note that you will need some advanced experience of flashing phones to go through this process. This unlocking method is not compatible with all Motorola models, and is NOT recommended for the novice. You can quite easily render your phone unusable, which will void your warranty and you will be stuck with an expensive paperweight.

Download the USB drivers

To work with your phone you will need to connect to it using USB. To do so, you will need the correct USB drivers for "talking" to your phone. To download an install USB drivers:

  1. Be sure your phone is fully charged.
  2. Be sure your phone is unplugged from the computer.
  3. Download the USB Driver Installer software for your phone and operating system from the Motorola website: http://direct.motorola.com/hellomoto/nss/usb_drivers_pc_charging_drivers.asp.
  4. Extract the file Motorola_EU_Driver_Installation.msi from the driver package and Run the program.
  5. Click I Agree and then Next at the license agreement.
  6. If any warning messages appear, click Continue Anyway.
  7. Click Close to exit the wizard, once the installation is complete.
  8. You will now have a new program set in your machine.
  9. Click Start > All Programs -> Motorola Driver Installer -> Motorola Driver Installer.exe
  10. The package will do an initial system scan or "clean".
  11. Select the checkbox Clean and Reinstall and click the Start button.
  12. Click the Exit button once the process is finished.
  13. Plug in your phone. Your computer should now recognize the new device with a Found New Hardware message, first Motorola Phone (V3） and then Motorola USB Modem.
  14. You can now connect to your phone using the Motorola Phone tools and other applications. To unlock your phone you will need to install yet more drivers.
  15. Make sure Mobile Phone tools is not running.
  16. Download and install a P2K program. There are many available. The instructions here will continue for P2kMan. Other suitable programs include P2KCommander and P2KTools.
  17. Make sure the phone is still connected and no other programs are running that interact with the phone or the USB ports.
  18. The new hardware wizard should start and ask you if you want to connect to Windows Update.
    • If, for any reason, the new hardware wizard does not start you will need to open Device Manager. Under Modems, select the Motorola USB Modem. Right click it, and select Update Driver....
  19. Click No, not this time and Next.
  20. Choose Install the Software Automatically and then Next.
  21. The Accessories Interface will be installed and a confirmation screen will appear.
  22. Click Finish.
  23. The new hardware wizard will start up again. Once again refuse Windows Update and select Install Software Automatically.
  24. The Data Logging MCU Interface will be installed and a confirmation screen will appear.
  25. Repeat the above procedure for the Test Command Interface and click Finish
  26. The P2k drivers are now fully installed and the P2k programs should recognize your handset.

Backup your data

  • Although this is an optional step it is a good idea to back up the data on your phone before attempting any modifications. To backup the data on your phone:
  1. Download PST 7.2.3 - Phone Programmer software. Make sure you use this version or above.
  2. Connect your phone to your computer using the USB cable.
  3. Click Start -> All Programs -> Motorola PST
  4. Click on Phone Programmer.
  5. Wait until the chimes stop.
  6. Click File -> New and wait for the new interface window to appear.
  7. Click the Phone Book File icon, and then hit OK.
  8. In the phone model drop-down menu select Phone -> Read.
  9. The software will attempt to establish a connection over USB to your phone. If successful, it will start backing up your phone, first the Motorola Device Interface, and then a lot of other things you don't need to know about.
  10. Eventually it will backup your phone book and show a progress bar. This process can take a few minutes depending on the amount of data you are retrieving.
  11. Disconnect the phone.
  12. Look for a new window that contains raw data of your contacts.
  13. Select File -> Save to create a backup file with the extension .phb.
  14. Put the file somewhere safe.

Unlocking

  • To unlock your phone yourself you will need to install the correct operating system version for the unlock tool to work, in addition to all of the drivers for your computer listed above. In cell phones and other smaller computers the operating system is also known as the firmware. Which firmware your cell phone uses depends on the bootloader, a program that controls the startup sequence of any computer.
  1. Be sure the phone is fully charged.
  2. Be sure all the correct drivers are installed.
  3. Install the Flash Interface device. This device is used to communicate with the phone while it is in bootloader mode.
    1. Turn the phone off.
    2. Press and hold * and # as you turn the phone on.
    3. Assuming the correct drivers are installed your Windows computer will recognize new hardware (your phone in this mode) and display the new hardware wizard.
    4. Once again, select No, not this time. at connect to Windows update and Install the software automatically
    5. After a while the Flash Interface Device will be loaded with a confirmation message.
    6. An alternative is to use the RSD Lite program to do this for you.
    7. Click Finish.
  4. Check your bootloader version:
    1. Press * # and start to see your bootloader version displayed on the screen. You will likely see something like this:
      Boot Loader 08.23
      SW Version :R374_G_OE.40.9CR
      Battery OK
      OK to program
      Connect USB
      Data cable
  5. To unlock your phone you will need to be running an older version of the firmware, specifically version 7.D0. If you are currently running 7.DO skip to the unlock section below, otherwise follow these directions for downgrading your phone's firmware. You will need, once again, RSD Lite:
  6. Download bl_826-828_to_07d0_for_V3_by_Archy.V2. Current link below.
  7. Flash the downloaded file into your phone with RSD Lite.
  8. Download the Moto Unlocking Software from the link below.
  9. Start your phone in bootloader mode.
  10. Run the Moto Unlocking Software, click connect and unlock.
  11. Your phone will now be unlocked.

Tips

  • If you have trouble finding Motorola PST 7.2.3 try a file sharing network like eMule or eDonkey.
  • Unlocking your GSM phone is legal in the USA, the United Kingdom and Canada, in addition to most European countries with the exception of Italy.
  • Always use the same USB slot on your computer for connecting to the phone, otherwise dear Windows will want to install all the drivers again and your work will be wasted.
  • Many people find these processes easier after installing the Motorola Phone Tools packet.
  • It is technically possible to unlock your phone using Bluetooth, rather than a USB cable, however it is not recommended. If you are interested in this method try the software MOBILedit! (link below).
  • If the hardware wizards have no luck finding the correct files try pointing them to C:\Programs Files\motorola\pst.
  • The USB cable used by many Motorola models is the same used with many digital cameras and other similar devices, especially those from Sony.
  • Many of the files you will download are in .rar format. You may need an extractor on Windows to unpack these files. WinRAR is a popular choice, and a link is provided below.

Warnings

  • If you enter an incorrect 8-digit unlocking code into most Motorola phones the phone may freeze itself with the message "Contact Service Provider". Simply leave the phone open and on for three to four hours. The display should vanish to be replaced with "Enter Subsidy Password", where you can try again.
  • If you are running Windows XP you will need Service Pack 2 installed to use these drivers.
  • It does void the warranty to hack your phone yourself. However, the phone can always be reset to the original factory settings.
  • Do not connect the phone through a USB hub, rather connect it directly to your computer.

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

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