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I was inspired to write on this topic after I had two encounters. First, I had to help a high school student unlock his Tecno N3 android device after his younger brother played with the unlock pattern on it too many times.

Secondly, I also had to help my girlfriend unlock her Samsung Galaxy Pocket S5300 android phone after her friends had too much fun trying to guess her unlocking pattern, well this I assisted her with through a phone call as we were several cities apart.

What happens is this: Whenever a wrong pattern is entered 20 times, the result is you will be locked “permanently” out of your phone and you will therefore be asked to sign in with your Google account. But no matter how hard you try, this won’t work.

The message: “Invalid username or password” will be displayed repeatedly even though you are sure you are entering a correct username and password to the point where you might begin to doubt yourself.

It seems the only solution which is usually a bitter pill to swallow is to factory reset your phone.

To reset your phone these are the steps.

 Samsung Galaxy Pocket S5300 only (I hope to write on the Tecno N3 very soon)

  1. Power off your phone.
  2. Notice that there are three buttons on your device: The volume buttons, the home button or the “OK” button at the center of the phone and the power button.
  3. Press your volume-up button, your home button and your power button till your System Recover Screen comes up.
  4. Scroll down to “wipe data/factory reset” and press the home button to select this option.
  5. A confirmation screen comes up. Scroll down to “YES — DELETE ALL USER” and then press the home button.
  6.  Select the “Reboot System Now” option next and wait for your phone to reboot.
    Your phone will then boot with all data wiped and all settings reset.Your consolation is in the fact that you can at least now use your phone after this.

 Your opinions and comments will be greatly appreciated.

Cheers.