Hi Everyone,

Well first and foremost, thanks a lot to everyone who replied to my question. It has been quite an experience on the whole.

I asked a simple thing about whether the security code of a phone can be retrieved/changed without needing to go to a repair shop and pay for it. And I see that it has generated quite a stir. Less was talked about the problem and more about ethics and moralities.

I understand what Striek said about the social re-engineering and his "pathetic" humor attempts. But I was not really looking for that. And this being a discussion board and a forum to help others, I understand the risks involved if unknowingly you end up helping a hacker in doing something illegal and perilous. I also understand the strong assertion of groovicus asking for any similarity between a cell phone and a computer; and the posting of such a topic on this site.

I appreciate those who stood up against the usual banter, .. "We won't help", "Give us proof", "You are a hacker" et al. I think if these are issues that every person who posts a question that he does not know a solution to, then this site has a major handicap. How do we differentiate between who is a hacker and who is posting out of genuine bona fide inquisitiveness?????

I read all the replies and I think most of you have misunderstood the code I was talking about. I consider myself lucky, that I did not totally depend on this site for help. I did some research on my own and found out quite a lot about this.

However, to help others who were confused about the various issues raised in the discussion, let me address them one by one:

1. I AM NOT A HACKER AND THE REQUEST WAS A GENUINE ONE.

2. (for groovicus) --> A cell phone is a mini-computer and in case you are not updated on the latest models coming out, it has a small microchip circuit board programmed just like a computer would be. The wireless applications, as had been detailed by other users in the forum, are usually data instructions transferred between the chip-sim and the network provider. The software of a cell phone is similar to that of a computer OS, though till now it was not on the similar scale of grandeur. But the new models that are coming up are bridging the gap between computers and mobile phones. So please don't doubt again that a cell phone is not a computer.

3. I had mentioned about the security code. Most people have been confused with this. Nokia cell phone has the following codes:

PIN - This is provided by the service provider. Its a sim lock code. You can change it to anything that you can remember.

PIN2- This is also provided by the service provider. It is used to set basic functions in a mobile phone, viz. Call rates setting etc.

PUK - In case PIN is lost or forgotten, you need a Pin Unlock Key (PUK) to open it again. Your network provider gives the PUK.

PUK2 - PIN2 unlock key.

And finally comes the Security Code. This is a code that is set for the phone by the company itself and not any service provider. This code helps a user to make sure that no new sim can be placed in the phone, in case its lost. When anyone enters a new sim, the phone asks for the security code so as to make sure that the legitimate user of the phone is putting in a new sim card. So its a security feature by Nokia.

Where I got unlucky was that I changed my security code to something that I remember and then now when I need to recall it the most, I cannot remember what I had changed the code to since its been nearly a year I changed it.

I heard that the security code can be changed in case you have forgotten it. There are two ways. One is to take the phone to a repair shop and pay for the repair. Other way is to use your IMEI to obtain some unlock code using some software.

After searching for this on the net, I found out that you need a data cable for it and also it is hacking in a way. Since I didn't have a data cable, and having no knowledge of mobile phone tampering, I had to go to the repair shop and pay for it.

The only reason I posted the question here was that I thought that one can just punch in some numbers in the mobile phone and create a new security code. But all this data cable, software, mobile tampering stuff seems incongruous to me.

I hope that settles the doubts of all who seem too bothered.

BTW, my mobile is working fine now and I have learnt a lot from this fine experience .

Cheers and everyone have a wonderful day,

Thank you once again for posting to my query,

Regards,
Nicechap.