[REQUEST] Nokia 7.2 Verify PIN

[glennd]

A customer recently bought a Nokia 7.2 Android phone. He set it up and the next day it popped up a screen saying "Verify PIN". He says he doesn't recall setting a PIN and he has tried every pin he thinks it might be without joy. I've done several factory resets but it always comes back to this Verify PIN screen. My googling has turned up nothing except that Android apparently has introduced a thing called FRP, Factory Reset Protection, which protects the phone even after a factory reset. The customer has only one google account and that fails to unlock it.

Any ideas?

 

[nlinecomputers]

The previous owner reset the phone in recovery mode and not in the OS. The PIN is whatever the previous owner set up. Nothing can be done until the previous owner resets it the proper way.

 

[phaZed]

It's only 10,000 combo's to try

If you were so inclined, setup a Micro on an XY gantry and have it input codes.. 3 per minute, including power off/power on when it fails.

That's 4320 pins per day.. should be able to crack it in 2.5 days.

 

[glennd]

The previous owner reset the phone in recovery mode and not in the OS.

I don't know what that means, recovery mode and not in the OS. The phone was bought from a retailer so there is no previous owner.

Nothing can be done until the previous owner resets it the proper way.

I agree with that. I'm of the opinion that something went wrong with FRP and it's bricked the phone. I'm advising the customer to send it back to the shop and demand a refund.

 

[nlinecomputers]

I don't know what that means, recovery mode and not in the OS. The phone was bought from a retailer so there is no previous owner.

Android phones can be reset either in the settings menu in the OS or you can boot into the recovery mode and do a wipe there. If you nuke the phone in the OS the phone is deregistered with the provider and/or Google. If you do it in recovery mode you nuke the phone and it comes up requesting either your Google credentials or a PIN code that was setup either by the end user or a master PIN code from the Provider to activate the device. This is to prevent anyone from stealing the phone and wiping the phone from the recovery.

I agree with that. I'm of the opinion that something went wrong with FRP and it's bricked the phone. I'm advising the customer to send it back to the shop and demand a refund.

If it really is a new phone then it shouldn't do this. Methinks we have an open box sold as new that they didn't reset properly.

 

[glennd]

Methinks we have an open box sold as new that they didn't reset properly.

If that were so, it would have asked for a pin the very first time he switched it on, but it didn't, he tells me.

I don't disagree that maybe I don't have the whole story, however I think this FRP thing is going to cost a lot more people their phones in the near future.

 

[nlinecomputers]

If that were so, it would have asked for a pin the very first time he switched it on, but it didn't, he tells me.

Yes but most stores will setup the phone for you. You go home with it booted up.

FRP has been around with Android lollipop. It’s not new.

 

[nlinecomputers]

And even if it was new and he nuked the phone himself, say trying to root it, he should still know his PIN number. What I really think is it’s a stolen phone.

 

[xtra pc]

FRP has been around with Android lollipop. It’s not new.

True, however I've recently noticed more of my clients having issues with FRP than before, as if Google has made it stronger, although I'm not sure of this. I'm working on a Lenovo tablet with Marshmallow on it that the customer bought from me last year (so I know it's not stolen). It was not booting all the way to the login screen so they provided me their password and since they said they only have one Google account, I was confident that resetting the tablet in recovery mode would work. I even tested the password (together with the customer) beforehand to make they could log in to their google account, which worked fine.

After completing the reset, however, the tablet was able to begin the setup process but when it asked for the account and password, it was rejected. This means that either the FRP is malfunctioning or that account associated with the tablet was changed and the customer doesn't remember or it was done without their knowledge somehow. When I talked to them about it, they said they were sure it was never changed. It's difficult for me not to believe them since they are one of my good customers who (whom?) I have known for many years and are honest people. I've tried some "gray area" suggested remedies I found while google searching, but nothing has worked so far. There is one procedure I found that is somewhat similar to jail-breaking that I haven't tried yet that's supposed to disable FRP. If it works, i'll update.