Locked Out Of Smart Phone!

[securespark]

The Secure boys are in trouble!

They have been fiddling with Mrs Secure's phone trying to get into it. Now it's locked her out.

We forgot the log-in details, so we have gleaned the gmail address and now got a password.

Well, here's the strange thing.

The password does not work to unlock the phone. So, I went back on the website to reset it. Having attempted to reset it, it allowed me to reuse the same password (which it expressly says it will not allow you to do). This leads me to believe the password is not genuinely set-up.

However, if I go to Gmail and sign in with that gmail address and that password, I gain access to the account.

But we can't gain access to the smartphone!

Has anyone been in this pickle before? How can we sort this out? I have tried to look up assistance for this problem, but can't seem to find much.

It just suggests resetting the password...

 

[chapeau]

If it hasn't been 'bricked' (q.v.) which it almost certainly isn't, then you will almost certainly be able to get in, even if it means connecting it up to your pc and reinstalling the operating system. You are going to have to do some research on the many forums of phone nerds, there are plenty out there. Telling them the phone etc would be a start. You might even try the software forum on here but your best bet is a specific forum for phones.

 

[enyam]

Secure why not give up on these blessed smart phones and go back to using a land line,you know you really want to.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Smart phones but not so smart users ....

 

[securespark]

Secure why not give up on these blessed smart phones and go back to using a land line,you know you really want to.

Not my phone...

Smart phones but not so smart users ....

Kids, eh? Don't you just love 'em?

 

[bhm1712]

what phone is it? i cant quite work out what Gmail has got to do with the phones security? what is exactly locked out?

 

[securespark]

Galaxy Ace 2.

They have tried to get past the password on the screenlock, without success.

If you enter too many failed attempts, you need to enter your Gmail account details to unlock the phone.

I've entered the right details (at least the details get us into the Gmail account from a PC) but it still won't unlock the phone...

 

[bhm1712]

ah right ok i get it now, ive never been locked out on an android phone so not sure.

Did your wife have the phone synced with the gmail account? it appears as though the only way to unlock it if the gmail password and username wont get you back in is to do a factory reset. Found this procedure on the android forums.

1. Turn the power off. Remove and replace battery.
2. Press and Hold the Home (center button) and Power button at the same time.
3. When the start up screen show, release all the buttons.
4. Use the Volume Up/Down button to navigate to "wipe data/factory reset"
5. Select "wipe data/factory reset"
6. Select "Yes -- delete all user data"
* Allow several minutes for the factory data reset process to complete.
7. Select "reboot system now"
* Allow several minutes for the reboot process to complete.


This takes some time to get right but you will lose all data on the phone, but not on the SD card. If your wife syncs the phone with gmail all of the apps she purchased will be stored and once she is back in the phone, she can go to market, select my apps and download them back to the phone without having to pay again. However as i said, anything else i.e stuff stored in the phone memory will be gone.

 

[securespark]

Thanks. That's as I'd feared. I was hoping to try and get away without losing all the stuff...

What I just can't get is that it will let us into the Gmail account??

So obviously we have the correct details?

But it won't let us into the phone??

Infuriating!!

 

[bhm1712]

If she has synced it she will barely lose anything - only texts really and stuff stores in apps like notepad or calendar. Everything else like contacts, photos, apps, emails etc should be synced up to the gmail servers a bit like iCloud on iPhone. It's strange that it won't recognise the account but it appears to be common when you search android forums. It's the only way to unlock it. If she has not synced to gmail - which is a specific setting in the settings menu the. I'm afraid it's bad news.

 

[bhm1712]

Just thought - that may explain why it won't recognise the account details - if she has not synced with gmail then the phone will not know the details.

 

[AndrewSchofield]

Secures - one question - has the phone in question got the 'mobile data' turned on and do you have an 'internet' signal? You wont be able to unlock the phone using google account details if the phone can't access the internet.

When i change my contract last year I put my old phone to one side. Few months down the line I sold the old phone and wanted to get my photos etc off it first. As i hadn't used it for a while I didn't have a clue what the screen unlock code was so got locked out of the phone after three attempts. I tried to access it using what I was certain were the correct google account details but no luck. The phone didn't have an active sim in it so couldn't access the internet. I wondered if this was the problem, stuck a SIM in it, tried again and it unlocked with google details straight away.

That might help you?? I was trying the same as you and was 100% certain I was entering the right account and password details and was pulling my hair out as to why it was saying they were wrong. Just needed the internet to check the account details!!

 

[securespark]

Thanks guys: I fear it's not synced: if it is, how will I know?

I'm sure packet data is turned on and I'm fairly sure it is linked up to our router too. But if it wasn't I'm not sure how I would change it, as I can't get in at all to change any settings!!

Just thought - that may explain why it won't recognise the account details - if she has not synced with gmail then the phone will not know the details.

We did have this same issue before, and I entered the details (can't remember now what they were) and we got back into the phone, so either it is synced OR the password access is not reliant on syncing.

 

[bhm1712]

Log into gmail and go to account. View dashboard, and on here you should see the android devices that are synced, and stuff like contacts, calendar etc..... near the bottom it will also tell you how long it is since the last sync was done.

 

[securespark]

Thanks. There's no mention of syncing, so I think I'm sunc!

Looks like I'm about to do a hard reset.

Thank you for all your help.