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I have a Samsung A13 phone that has been used, but have no PIN code. The phone is turned on, but locked. To reset the phone I need to shut it down, but to shut it down I need the PIN.

The battery is at 100%. I want to fix this before tomorrow. (I could turn on the flashlight, so I'm doing that to drain the battery.)

This unlockjournal about the A13 mentions that I repeat entering the PIN to get alternative options to unlock the phone. The only thing that happens is that I get a 30 second time out.

Update

As @Robert suggested, I could restart the phone after holding Power + Volume Up + Volume Down for about half a minute. Then I could restart in Boot menu while holding Power + Volume Up. Then I did a factory reset and rebooted.

Guess what! The PIN is still needed, so this is not a reset to factory settings. Wiping the cache partition didn't make a difference.

Samsung knows the phone and expects an ID of some kind. It offers the option to login using a previously used Google account, but what if that is not possible?

Question

How do I reset the PIN?

SPRBRN
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    Next to every Android phone can be forced to reboot by pressing and holding the power button for 10-60 seconds. – Robert Jan 17 '23 at 14:20
  • That worked with all three buttons pressed, but still I cannot reset the PIN. See my update. – SPRBRN Jan 17 '23 at 16:00
  • How did the device enter this "PIN required" state? Where do you got the phone from? How long do you have the phone? – Robert Jan 17 '23 at 16:02
  • Phone is used by a colleague who is unavailable. The PIN he gave me doesn't work. I cannot use his account or reset his password to use his account to login to the phone. – SPRBRN Jan 17 '23 at 16:08
  • Is there a SIM in the device? Try removing the SIM and see if the result is the same. – acejavelin Jan 17 '23 at 17:21
  • SIM is removed. The phone offers the option to login using a previously used Google account. The colleague is back and has tried this, but it doesn't work. I've tried with my account, but it doesn't work. Colleague tried the PIN, doesn't work. I'm going to call the shop for support, – SPRBRN Jan 18 '23 at 12:40
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    you are talking about FRP. can be bypassed with samfw – alecxs Jan 20 '23 at 20:10
  • @alecxs, that worked and I could reset the phone, can start it up and do stuff. But.... I still can't login Google/Gmail? Each time my account login is refused, just like before the reset. – SPRBRN Jan 23 '23 at 11:49
  • well, why should it work without knowing pin? – alecxs Jan 23 '23 at 11:52
  • Problem solved, see my answer – SPRBRN Apr 03 '23 at 12:11

2 Answers2

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The process to reset an A13 is extremely finicky. The timing matters.

  • Press VOL DOWN + POWER and hold for exactly 10 seconds
  • While keeping POWER held down, release VOL DOWN and and hold VOL UP
  • When the Samsung logo appears, immediately release both POWER and VOL UP

If this process doesn't work, connect the phone to a USB C power source and try again.

This video may help with the timing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1VHVQd3M6o

moof2k
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  • Pressing all three buttons and keep them pressed until the phone restarts.
  • At restart press the Power + Volume Up buttons and keep them pressed.
  • You enter the boot menu, where you can choose to reset to factory settings.
  • Complete the reset by rebooting.

Solution

The account has 2FA with Yubikey/Webauthn. When I log in, I press the key against the back of the phone, and I see a checkmark that the key is recognized and accepted. I then remove the key, after which the login is rejected.

It turns out that I need to keep pressing the key to the back, until a redirect follows and the login is completed. Apparently Google says the login is accepted before it is actually accepted.

SPRBRN
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