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SAM iPhone unlock

SAM is a jailbreak app for Cydia that allows you to unlock your iPhone so that you can activate and use a non-stock SIM card that is not supported by your existing carrier. SAM (Subscriber Artificial Module) can be easily installed and applied to any jailbroken iPhone that has Cydia installed. The developer of SAM, Sam Bingner (@sbingner), has made the process of installing SAM a lot easier with the latest version. This is good news for those who are new to unlocking. Previously you would have had to connect your iPhone to iTunes, and use the original SIM card and get a hold of country/carrier and SIM IDs to perform an unlock. With the latest version of SAM (version 0.1.16.-1), unlocking is now a streamlined process that involves just a few taps and a few minutes of your time.

SAM iPhone unlock installation

The unlocking procedure using SAM currently works on most iPhones, including the iPhone 4S, which is great news. This means you can just take out your ATT sim card and use a T-Mobile SIM on your iPhone, for example. Unlocking an iPhone is great for those who want to use a different carrier than the one their iPhone is “locked” into at the moment. Reasons for wanting to use a non-standard carrier vary from user to user, but it can be good for those traveling abroad, and also to use a non-standard phone and data plan on an iPhone which could help some people save money etc.

Update: As reported by a few users already, Apple has “patched” their activation servers so that the SAM unlock may not work for new users any longer. If you did have an activation ticket from before, you can still use SAM. We will keep you posted if new unlocking methods are uncovered.

Warning: A quick word of caution. Please proceed with unlocking at your own risk!

The following are the detailed steps on how to download and install SAM on a jailbroken iPhone.

Supported Hardware: iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, and iPhone 3G
Supported Software: iOS 5.x Firmware

Installing SAM

Before you can install SAM you will first have to jailbreak your iPhone and get the Cydia app. Follow the instructions on our Cydia page if you have not yet jailbroken your iPhone.

  1. Open Cydia
  2. Select the Manage Tab on the bottom
  3. Go into Sources
  4. Tap the Edit button on the top, then tap the Add button
  5. Type in http://repo.bingner.com as the source URL and tap Add Source
  6. After the download screen is done, tap the Return to Cydia button
  7. Now select Bingner from the Sources list
  8. Choose SAM from the list then tap the Install button and tap the Confirm button
  9. After the install is complete tap the Reload SpringBoard button
  10. You will now see the new SAMPrefs icon on your iPhone

Configuring SAM

Now that you have installed SAM follow these simple steps to configure your new SIM card on your iPhone.

  1. Remove your existing SIM card from your iPhone and insert your new unofficial SIM card
  2. Open SAM by tapping the SAMPrefs icon
  3. Make sure the Method selected is Auto Detect
  4. Go to the Utilities section and tap the Attempt Activation link.
  5. That’s it! Your iPhone will now reboot and your iPhone will pick up the new SIM and your new carrier name will appear on the top left of the iPhone after a few seconds.

SAM iPhone unlock activation

Troubleshooting SAM

Follow these steps if you get an error message in SAM. These steps basically involve deleting a few system files, which require the iFile app. Errors you may experience might read something like “You must select the original carrier SIMID of your iPhone” etc.

  1. Install iFile from Cydia.
  2. Open iFile and go to /var/root/Library
  3. Tap Edit and choose the Lockdown folder.
  4. Tap the zip button which creates a backup for you, then delete the lockdown folder
  5. Again in iFile go to /User/Library/Preferences and find SAM and delete com.bingner.sam.plist
  6. Turn off your iPhone, and turn it back on
  7. Put your new SIM card into your iPhone.
  8. Now again open SAMPrefs and make sure Auto Detect is selected. This will guess the correct SIM ID from the Region code of the iPhone.
  9. Tap Utilities & Attempt Activation. This may take a few minutes, so be patient.
  10. Your iPhone will reSpring and your iPhone should recognize the new SIM
  11. You can verify that your new SIM is working by calling 611 from the Phone app. You should hear the automated message from your new carrier such as T-Mobile.

If you run into any issues or have other suggestions for using SAM please share your experiences below.

Use iPhone mods and hacks at your own risk! Installing 3rd Party iPhone apps requires you to jailbreak the iPhone before installing the native software and apps. You can use Cydia to install this app. Browse the full list of all iPhone and iPod touch native 3rd party apps filed under the software category.

Developer: Sam Bingner
Repository: com.binger.sam
Homepage: bingner.com
Version: 0.1.16.-1
Size: 0.57 MB

AppSafari Rating: 4.5/5

Price: Free
AppSafari review of SAM iPhone unlock was written by on April 28th, 2012 and categorized under Cydia Apps, Free. Page viewed 25317 times, 1 so far today. Need help on using these apps? Please read the Help Page.
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40 Comments to “SAM iPhone unlock”

  1. It does not show the sam file in preferences

  2. Try to do everything that I could read about jailbraking and unlock my iphones ( 4,4S ) Nothing works. What to do? I ha follow all your troubleshooting and every thing else that I find, but still no sucess to unlock my iphones. Please,can someone help me????

  3. It does show the sam file in preferences. And I removed it just like it said in the troubleshooting guide.

  4. “You must select the original carrier SIMID of your iPhone”

    ….even after troubleshooting 🙁

  5. In Utilities I only have Restore Activation, there is no Attemt Activation?

  6. Ilove that

  7. same issue as Zipperfield. my phone is already activated can only re-activate.

  8. I don’t get the ‘Attempt Activation’ option. I get: Backup Activation, De-activate iPhone or Restore Activation. The above instructions don’t mention these so I am stuck with this particular method. Next!!

  9. I don’t get the ‘Attempt Activation’ option. I get: Backup Activation, De-activate iPhone or Restore Activation. What to do?

  10. Can’t seem to find the ”com.bingner.sam.plist”

  11. I Want to unlock my iPhone 4..
    locked on Carrier 3 Ireland 14.0
    I want to unlock it for Any Indian Carrier..
    IOS 6.1.3
    modem firmware- 04.12.05

    What Procedure should i apply on it??
    please help..!!

  12. Can SAM work on iPhone 5. I have tried following the steps but cannot locate the lockdown folder.

  13. Can SAM work on iPhone 5. I have tried following the steps but cannot locate the lockdown folder in ifile library.

  14. Followed all instructions clearly but still receive this message after final steps

    “Sam Notification

    Activation reports Error:
    ActibationInfo rejected. You must
    select the original carrier SIMID of
    your phone.”

    Can anyone help?

  15. unable to open data_ark please help

  16. Yeah, this is horse shit just like all the comments state. “You must select the original carrier SIMID of your phone”. You must be doing this on an already unlocked phone making this whole ordeal useless. Thanks for absolutely wasting everyone’s time.

  17. Hope this works thanks

  18. If I go on Attempt Activation it says: “activation reports error: activation info rejected. You must select the original carrier SIMID of your phone”…
    Ive already deleted a few system files by the steps above… What can I do?

  19. I got all the way to the activation step and got the “You must select the original carrier SIMID of your iPhone” message. So I went to following the troubleshooting instructions. But after installing SAMpref,Cydia has now disappeared from my phone.

  20. this didnt work i am still getting error you must select the original carrier SIMID of your phone

  21. p7ZKpedrO5XI

  22. hi
    i want to open my iphone

  23. Hi i follow all your commands. But when i click activate it says ” unable to open data_ark. If someone please helps me. I reall appreciate it. Thank you.

  24. I did everything including using Ifile to delete the 2 files and I’m still getting, “You must select the original carrier SIMID of your iPhone”

  25. I also get the same error. You must select the original carrier SIMID of your phone. Were u able to find a solution for this?

  26. No, it did not work, I ended up uninstalling it, no sense keeping it if it doesn’t work.

  27. Picovina nefunguje

  28. i did everything u said but i cant send out calls only the codes working could u tell me what i left out or doing wrong im using a 5c

  29. is this unlock iphone method still works?

  30. i phone 4 saya kena iclode tolong doooonk

  31. tha

  32. Doesn’t work!

  33. Got pretty far and was impressed now can’t find com.bilinger in the ifile properties, is this because I haven’t registered? How do I trust this registering.? It seems like I can’t actually go through the ‘user’ option instead it takes me through var/mobile/libary/preferences.
    Any advice? Shall unjust pay a guy £35 for it over 6days? Maybe the best option as this didn’t work?!

  34. Me

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  39. Hi friends, its impressive article regarding tutoringand entirely explained, keep it up all the time.

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