Cricket FAQ/Guides For First Time Users
Free Beginner's Guide to Modifying, Repairing, and "Flashing" Phones!
The following are the basic steps to "flashing" a phone to Cricket. Following these steps successfully only provisions voice and text on Cricket's network. Depending on your phone, it may require extra steps to unlock or get WAP and MMS working.
Before you go forward, be sure to review my original post, and be clear on all the terms listed in the Glossary section.
Things You Will Need Before You Start:
--An ACTIVE Cricket account
--A CDMA phone that has an ESN that Cricket will activate
--A means of connecting the device to your computer
--*The appropriate Phone Service Tools for your phone
--A Cricket PRL file
If you don't have any of these things, stop now. You are not prepared. Stop now and take the time to do some research. Read my original post and learn the terms I listed in the Glossary section. *DO NOT Private Message asking me or any other members where to acquire a PST for your phone. PST software is considered warez, and trading licensed software without purchasing them is ILLEGAL. If I get PM's asking me where to get warez, I will report you to the moderators. I encourage anyone else who is similarly solicited to do the same.
As the saying goes, "Google is your friend"!
Be advised that nether the manufacturer of the phone nor your service provider intended for end users to modify the system software of their phones: If you decide to take these steps, you are violating the terms of agreement with your provider and voiding any warranties therein.
Moreover, every time you write service programming information to your phone, you risk PERMANENTLY damaging it to the point where it will no longer function whatsoever. This is called "bricking" your phone. Be prepared to accept the fact that you may need to purchase an entirely new phone to replace the one you bricked. You must be willing to accept this cold fact, because if you're not, you may as well stop right now.
Lastly, neither I nor the operators or members of this forum are responsible if you permanently damage your phone following this guide. You have been sufficiently wardened of the consequences, and continuing with the instructions herein must be done at your own risk. You are solely responsible for the results, good or bad.
Speaking from experience, everyone here who has flashed a phone before will remind you of "acceptable loss". Again, if you can't deal with these consequences, then stop now for your own good.
Steps to "Flashing" Your Phone:
Step 1.) Unlock the Phone (if necessary): You need to acquire the SPC code for your phone. If you don't know what an SPC code is, stop now and refer to the Glossary section of my original post. There are various methods of acquiring the SPC for different models of phones from different carriers. If you can't find the phone's SPC after searching this forum or Google, then STOP RIGHT NOW. I'm sorry, but you are simply NOT qualified to flash phones. Do not take this personally. Not everyone is cut-out for this sort of thing. You can take your phone to a professional or even ask one of the senior members here if they can help you. Don't be surprised, however, if you are asked to compensate them for their time: After all, they ARE providing you with their professional services.
Step 2.) Load the Cricket PRL file to your phone: Connect your phone to your computer and use the PST to load the Cricket PRL to your phone. You will need the appropriate drivers for your phone. You can search this forum or Google for a Cricket PRL file. Do some research to learn which PRL file will work for you. Again, if you have difficulty with this step, this is where you STOP.
Step 3.) Enter the phone's service programming menu and enter valid MDN/MIN pair: Each manufacturer has a different special code to enter the phone's service programming menus. Moreover, these codes can change depending on what carrier the phone is for. Again, you must search for the code that applies to your particular phone.
Step 4.) Attempt to OTASP: Use the code that initiates the OTASP process. Be advised that all pones don't use the same OTASP code.
If all goes well, your phone will activate via OTASP. If it fails, this doesn't mean you can't use the phone to place calls or send text! It just means that you may not be able to get all of the features (such as roaming) to work. Consult the "Official OTASP Troubleshoot" thread located here in this forum using the search tool.
If you search the forums here or Google, you will more than likely find a solution that applies to your phone.
I will remind you that I will NOT answer Private Messages for help in the steps above! These are the same steps that I follow every time I flash a phone to Cricket. I have to search for answers for every handset I attempt to flash, and I always accept the responsibility that I might permanently damage the handset I am attempting to flash.
With that said, caveat emptor, and good hunting. You have been lead to the water....now drink at your own risk!
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