Upgrading Radio Rom Illegal ?? - JASJAR, XDA Exec, MDA Pro Software Upgrading

Hallo,
On the dutch forum of Qtek support forum.qtek.nl there is being claimed that upgrading the radio ROM is illegal.
Since I upgraded to Radio Rom 1.04.02 a few problems I had concerning bluetooth and GSM functions are resolved
So I find it strange that solutions to problems are illegal ?
Can anyone comment on this ?
Kind regards,
Scotty

I doubt that there is any case, for it to be considered illegal.
This is especially true since you are reffering to the Qtek (similarly to the i-mate, but possibly different than other versions of the Universal): your device is similar to any other device (or PC for that matter) that you buy - you may change, alter or add to its software, I guess - as long as you don't infringe the software's copyright by distributing it, etc...
On the other hand - a company may rightly claim that a device's warrenty is void if its software was altered or changed. For example that is what most, if not all, of the cell operators claim (which is why I mentioned that the situation with the other versions of the Universal may be somewhat different).
Another point is - what the company doesn't know - can not hurt it.
and even more importantly - what you do with your fully paid-up device is up to you, and as long as the ugrade solved your problems, why care?

techDot said:
I doubt that there is any case, for it to be considered illegal.
This is especially true since you are reffering to the Qtek (similarly to the i-mate, but possibly different than other versions of the Universal): your device is similar to any other device (or PC for that matter) that you buy - you may change, alter or add to its software, I guess - as long as you don't infringe the software's copyright by distributing it, etc...
On the other hand - a company may rightly claim that a device's warrenty is void if its software was altered or changed. For example that is what most, if not all, of the cell operators claim (which is why I mentioned that the situation with the other versions of the Universal may be somewhat different).
Another point is - what the company doesn't know - can not hurt it.
and even more importantly - what you do with your fully paid-up device is up to you, and as long as the ugrade solved your problems, why care?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well.... The radio ROM in general 'governs' how the device is acting as a GSM 'client' or 'end-point'. I can imagine quite well that a bug in the radio ROM could cause havoc on a GSM cell if things go wrong, therefor I can very well imagine that at telecoms provider only wants to allow certain tested ROM's for it's device... A GSM phone remains a 2W transmitter, and is in general pre-approved by telecoms due to it being tested and accepted with a specific radio ROM version.

yes, but this should not be an issue with factory ROMs (altering may affect your license to use the network though).
the reason of this spread may be as there are some versions which are more generic (thus quite easily unlocked) than newer ones. this way downgrading is discouraged, not upgrading, in fact.

crusher said:
yes, but this should not be an issue with factory ROMs (altering may affect your license to use the network though).
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Click to collapse
I even doubt this very seriously. I bought my Magician straight from TMO with a 1.01 radio. After 3 months a regular TMO upgrade came along to radio 1.12. As I got my device on a 2 year contract after this period I can get the unlock code for free & put in any sim I like. So who's gonna stop me from using it on other networks then? And what about roaming use? I even could have bought it in a phone shop, same contract, higher price, but ... no simlock at all. Still everything perfectly legal.
Probably they know what can be done & try to discourage any changes with bold statements. To avoid any issues with your warrenty you can always flash it to a standard provider rom, before sending it back.
Maybe the only thing to worry about is a missing sim-lock, don't know whether they check it or keep track of the fact that you might have paid your provider for an unlock code. Mine for instance somehow just 'disappeared' very strange ;-).
Regards, M

Related

SIM Unlock

I know its probably a "no no" to post HOW to SIM unlock this phone but I just want to know if there is a way to unlock it for free without calling t-mobile...i'm NOT asking for a how-to, i'm just asking if this information is out there somewhere...a how-to would be GREAT but totally understandable if it can't be posted...i just don't want to be out there on a wild goose chase trying to unlock this thing without having to pay $38 or calling t-mobile...
i saw an application in another subforum on this site but it says it is for PPC only and this is a smartphone so i don't think that'll work...
There's no free unlocker at the moment. My guess is someone will come up with a way to do it but I wouldn't hold my breath for it. If you are going to be using this phone, I suggest you pony up the cash for it.
You can't call T-Mo if you aren't a subscriber. If you are a subscriber, there's no problem in getting the unlock code, I got it within a week.
monakh, can you please provide more info about getting the unlock code from T-Mo? Did you purchase the phone from T-Mo? It surprises me that they would be willing to do this.
hassan-dash said:
I know its probably a "no no" to post HOW to SIM unlock this phone but I just want to know if there is a way to unlock it for free without calling t-mobile...i'm NOT asking for a how-to, i'm just asking if this information is out there somewhere...a how-to would be GREAT but totally understandable if it can't be posted...i just don't want to be out there on a wild goose chase trying to unlock this thing without having to pay $38 or calling t-mobile...
i saw an application in another subforum on this site but it says it is for PPC only and this is a smartphone so i don't think that'll work...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What is wrong with paying $38 to get the phone SIM unlocked as well as CID unlocked (T-Mobile won't CID unlock the phone for you). The phone is useless unless you do it. I did mine through IMEI-CHECK and it took 2 minutes and I was up and running. It was well worth the $38
Dan, I think for most people not having the phone CID-unlocked is not a huge deal so I disagree with you that the phone is 'useless' without it. Very few people go through with the tinkering the way you and I do. Frankly, so far I have not come up against this limitation and I have tweaked the phone to my satisfaction.
Someone mentioned that there's a way to downgrade the bootloader to install (at least) the new HTC test ROM that's been mentioned lately in this forum. I am not sure how true that is but if it is, then CID unlock is unnecessary at the moment. I do agree though, that $38 is a small price to pay to be able to have the freedom to do as you like with your phone. I keep wondering how IMEI-check does it. I have a feeling they have someone working with them over at HTC to make this work. It's not technical ability, it may be something else. They had an unlocker within a day or two of the Dash release. Corporate espionage or internal collusion or technical expertise, I am not sure what it is but somehow I don't think this has anything to do with the technology. We saw similar behavior with the Universal unlock application earlier this year.
maddog, it's a well known/enforced T-Mo policy that if you have been a customer in good standing with them for 90 days and have not made a similar request in that period (this is my 7th year with them), they will handily supply you with an unlock code upon request. For most people it's not a problem but if you are switching to T-Mo just to get a phone then you will obviously have to wait. I have had several phones unlocked through them since Y2K and have never had a problem.
monakh said:
Dan, I think for most people not having the phone CID-unlocked is not a huge deal so I disagree with you that the phone is 'useless' without it. Very few people go through with the tinkering the way you and I do. Frankly, so far I have not come up against this limitation and I have tweaked the phone to my satisfaction.
Someone mentioned that there's a way to downgrade the bootloader to install (at least) the new HTC test ROM that's been mentioned lately in this forum. I am not sure how true that is but if it is, then CID unlock is unnecessary at the moment. I do agree though, that $38 is a small price to pay to be able to have the freedom to do as you like with your phone. I keep wondering how IMEI-check does it. I have a feeling they have someone working with them over at HTC to make this work. It's not technical ability, it may be something else. They had an unlocker within a day or two of the Dash release. Corporate espionage or internal collusion or technical expertise, I am not sure what it is but somehow I don't think this has anything to do with the technology. We saw similar behavior with the Universal unlock application earlier this year.
maddog, it's a well known/enforced T-Mo policy that if you have been a customer in good standing with them for 90 days and have not made a similar request in that period (this is my 7th year with them), they will handily supply you with an unlock code upon request. For most people it's not a problem but if you are switching to T-Mo just to get a phone then you will obviously have to wait. I have had several phones unlocked through them since Y2K and have never had a problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you are on this forum you are probably interested in changing ROMs and modifying your Excalibur. I'm just dumbfounded that people are willing to buy this phone and then have it just sit there and not work because its not SIM unlocked and they don't want to pay an extra $38 to have it unlocked.
You still need to have your Dash CID unlocked to install the test ROM from HTC.
monakh said:
Someone mentioned that there's a way to downgrade the bootloader to install (at least) the new HTC test ROM that's been mentioned lately in this forum. I am not sure how true that is but if it is, then CID unlock is unnecessary at the moment.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's right, if you flash the bootloader (SPL-1.11) published here, you will be able to flash any ROM without CID checking, so you don't need to CID-Unlock your device.
monakh said:
I keep wondering how IMEI-check does it. I have a feeling they have someone working with them over at HTC to make this work. It's not technical ability, it may be something else. They had an unlocker within a day or two of the Dash release. Corporate espionage or internal collusion or technical expertise, I am not sure what it is but somehow I don't think this has anything to do with the technology.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They buy preproduction units to start investigation earlier, disassemble them, take all the flash chips out, read them... and I'm sure they kill several devices before they can release an unlocker.
DanITman said:
You still need to have your Dash CID unlocked to install the test ROM from HTC.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, you just need to flash the RUU_Excalibur_SPL-1.11_UpgradeOnly.exe first, no need to CID-Unlock, really!
Wow, great info, thanks pof.
Dan, I think one year ago you could have said that 'if you are on this forum, you are tinkering with ROMs and the like' but I daresay this is no longer true. Nowadays (thanks to Google and word of mouth), you will see many a newbie coming here looking for free unlockers and hoping for a silver bullet to solve all their problems. Just look at some of the posts in the newer device forums from people who *just* signed up and you will know what I am talking about. I think it would be fair to say that this site is no longer limited to incredibly hard-core geeks the way it was 12-18 months ago which is a lifetime in Internet time. That's probably a good thing and a bad thing. It's good because it drives traffic to this site and keeps them afloat but it's bad in the same a small mom & pop shop grows to the size of a Walmart losing the focus on the individual.
It's just the nature of the beast.
monakh said:
" I keep wondering how IMEI-check does it. I have a feeling they have someone working with them over at HTC to make this work. It's not technical ability, it may be something else. They had an unlocker within a day or two of the Dash release. Corporate espionage or internal collusion or technical expertise, I am not sure what it is but somehow I don't think this has anything to do with the technology. We saw similar behavior with the Universal unlock application earlier this year."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Almost all of your unlocking software is conducted by using an a pattern matching check sum. If you are a programmer of any sorts and understand how a GUID data type is constructed then the concept of unlocking is similar. A GUID is a data type that is a globally or guaranteed unique identifiable value that can be traced down to the exact machine, date and time the value was created. This is done be cause of an algorithm that uses the date time, machine name and computes a value.
SIM Unlock apps do the same thing, it uses the IMEI number as part of it's alogrithm. There have been documents published on how Motorola does it's sequencing for Locking and Unlocking devices. Once you have that pattern it is just a matter of knowing where in the ROM's flash memory the check sum value is stored, with that the IMEI number and the pattern algorithm you should be able to unlock your phone.
Why do you suppose IMEI-CHECK was able to produce an unlocker only two days after the Excaliburs Release?, and not only for the Excalibur, but simular phones from the same manufacture? like the T-Mobile MDA and SDA?
RazrV3 said:
SIM Unlock apps do the same thing, it uses the IMEI number as part of it's alogrithm. There have been documents published on how Motorola does it's sequencing for Locking and Unlocking devices. Once you have that pattern it is just a matter of knowing where in the ROM's flash memory the check sum value is stored, with that the IMEI number and the pattern algorithm you should be able to unlock your phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That might be true for Motorola, but it's completely different in HTC phones.
HTC phones are NetLocked and SimLocked using vendor specific AT command "[email protected]". The MSL code is a 8 digits string and has nothing to do with the phone's IMEI. If your phone is unlocked you can lock it to any MSL using this [email protected] command through the GSM AT command debugger ('rtask 7' or 'rtask b' bootloader command depending on which HTC device you're using).
imei-check only requests your imei to make sure you don't use their unlocker with other devices, but that's it, it is not used for computing the unlock code nor the radio patch.
Read here if you want understand it more deeply:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=280819&p=1046444
This was a great thread. Thanks pof for re-educating those that need it--not even a "thank you" from them. Especially those in denial of spending or "wasting" $38. I got my FREE unlock code from TMO (took about 5 business days) and have no problems with CID checks for at least the current HTC Excalibur ROM. Hopefully, the same will be case with future ROMs.
pof said:
That's right, if you flash the bootloader (SPL-1.11) published here, you will be able to flash any ROM without CID checking, so you don't need to CID-Unlock your device.
They buy preproduction units to start investigation earlier, disassemble them, take all the flash chips out, read them... and I'm sure they kill several devices before they can release an unlocker.
No, you just need to flash the RUU_Excalibur_SPL-1.11_UpgradeOnly.exe first, no need to CID-Unlock, really!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think so. My Dopod c720w is the Excalibur, as you all know, but I still can't downgrade my bootloader. It says : Invalid Model ID.
And by the way, my dopod is not SIM Locked. I don't know if it is CID Locked or not.
Any one have ideas?

PLEASE HELP Cingular 8525 and radio reset issues

I have a Cingular 8525 that is almost great. The signal strength is consistently at no less than 3bars but usually at 4 bars; but when I try to make a call, sometimes it goes through, other times it reads operation failed...which in the latter case is immediately followed by the signal completely disappearing and searching. It will reconnect and then allow me to place calls immediately afterwards. I also have been receiving alot of voicemails with no missed/received calls, as well as a lot of people saying that my phone rings and rings. (I of course do not receive all of my calls). This is really irritating....I've tried different roms (WM5/WM6) as well as at least half a dozen different radio roms also. I got the phone off of ebay it says that it is unlocked (could this have something to do with it?) B/c I got it off of ebay it interferes with the cingular warranty. ANY helpful suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Cingy 8525 from eBay...
The fact that you received the phone from eBay has nothing to do with your issues... I am not the most knowledgeable person here, but I have had my fair share of bad reception... Have you tried flashing the Cingy Rom? It comes with the stock 1.40 radio... I have a TyTn that I received off of eBay with Cingy service and I have had the best performance with the 1.40 radio.. Of course, it also has to do with your location, etc... You haven't mentioned which roms you have tried and what problems you have experienced other than failing radio strength and missed calls... Granted, that is enough... Post your info from the device information applet in your 8525 and give us more information about your 8525... maybe then, some of the more senior and smarter peeps can help you out...
Or, you can always use the link in my signature to do a more thorough search of the forum... your answer is bound to be here somewhere...
Thanks for the quick reply. From my understanding by me purchasing on ebay it has something to do with a the warranty (should I want to go through an exchange through cingular).
(I knew I was forgetting something) My device information is as follows:
(currently WM5, I just wanted to see if it would help at all)
Rom Version : 1.34.502.1
Rom Date: 09/21/06
Radio Version: 1.40.30.00
Protocol version: 32.73.7020.16H
As far as the roms go, I have no other issues besides the radio. But I've tried, the latest 2 Cingular stocks as of today, Custel 2.5/2.0, Black 3.0 and 2, LVSW 3.3, the all have their own pro's/con's but thats another issue. I'd throw whatever works on here if I can get a properly working radio.
I have searched and seen other forums regarding this issue, but none have released a solution. Radios 1.34 and 1.40 work best, but the problem is still there unfortunately.
Hmmmm... Okay, well the radio rom is the important part... have you tried the 1.41 radio? I see that you are running a lower version of the Cingy Official Released Rom.... Currently at 2.5 something I think... if you search for Radio Rom 1.41 you should be able to find it... At this point, I would think that it may be a combination of items, but am sure that if one radio sux, then try another one... just be careful... since you are already flashing roms, I guess I don't have to tell you that...
radio problems with 8525
Yeah I tried 1.41, didnt work too well for me. I am comfortable flashing, my old siemens sx66 has been flashed more than bourbon st. I did try to latest cingular official, (which is where I got the 1.40 radio from).
afaik 140.30.00 is the cingular tuned radio ROM. it should work best. As far as ROM's go, it should not really influence the phone functions. imo, lvsw latest ROM is as stable as they get anyway.
Try setting your network type to GSM only, and set the band to your local frequency. what you describe often happens when the phone switches between GSM & WCDMA.
Ill try it, im guessing it (gsm selection) can be done through settings? Does this occur even if the phone is in the same room while it occurs?
Good point, I would not have thought of that since I leave mine on Auto all of the time... I had forgotten that I had similar issues with the 1.38 radio...
ajmoncrief said:
Ill try it, im guessing it (gsm selection) can be done through settings? Does this occur even if the phone is in the same room while it occurs?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
start>settings>phone>band
I have that same issue with my reception in Memphis, Tennessee. It only happens once or twice a day though. The way it was explained to me by Cingular is that "yes you do have great reception. But when the phone tries to call, there is not enough bandwidth to complete the call." The gist of the matter was that too many other people were clogging up the airwaves. Not sure if that was bull**** or not, but that is what I was told.
I just know that it will happen between 3 and 5 pm, when more people are on the phone while driving home. I think they put more towers up as it hasn;t happened in the past week or so.
Also, the warranty is given with the PHONE not to the BUYER. The warranty should be good no matter where you bought it or who you bought it from. That is for factory warranties, not extra warranties or service agreements.
Hope this helps,
Jim
The most common cause of this problem is that fact that you are in Edge and not 3G.. The problem is most likely being caused by the fact that a data connection while in Edge is connected, this can cause dialing issues and phone calls not being recieved.. This problem has gotten better with the latest cingy rom and 1.40 radio that is packaged with it.. what you are experiencing is normal, or has been for me in the cingy/att world, it has happened with both the hermes and wizard..
All great suggestions, I did notice the occurence has dropped when I turned off my data connection. However, even with selecting GSM only and the other suggestions, I unfortunately still experience this problem. I guess my concern now shifts to is this a problem with my phone or not. By that I mean, would swapping phones have any effect on this occurence. (Anybody in the Charleston, WV area?...yea right) NEways, I have 3 cell phones in my family talk plan, and this 8525 is my 3rd or 4th phone on this one line in the last 12 months, I did not experience this with ANY of my other phones, so I know that it is not an issue regarding bottlenecked towers...which I have experienced before in another state.
Just an FYI. My first 8525 exhibited this same behaviour. I found NO solution to it and had to do the exchange via Cing which unfourtunately is not an option here...
Hard resets, radios, nothing fixed the issue. It steadily degraded and I had to do the return.
Now on a side note I did drop the phone once. It was about a 10 inch fall onto our concrete garage floor. The phone showed no damage AT ALL, but shortly there after the radio started acting up. It seem that perhaps the SIM did not sit tightly in the holder and as the phone was used the cover pushed on the battery which might have push on the SIM.
Take a look at how tight the SIM card is making contact. If it is loose and can wiggle freely you may want to try to tighten it up a bit VERY carefully!!!!
Sorry I can't offer a more permanent fix or precise problem!!
Just an update, I never could get the problem fixed (as I had expected). Luckily, however, I was able to keep calling Cingulars warranty department and got ahold of someone who did agree that the warranty follows the phone irrespective of where I got it. Luckily the person who told me that I couldnt do am xchange didn't note in on the system, so that prevented future reps being "tainted". So I am currently running Black Dymond very happily on my now working 8525. Thanks to all for the suggestions, maybe someone buying from eBay later will take heed to be sure to get a phone under warranty and to be persistent! =) Did I mention VERY happily running wm6?

LG G4 H812 - Any way to get the FM Radio (RDS) to work?

I have done quite a bit of research and it seems like the FM Radio RDS is Disabled on all Canadian Versions of the LG G4. It's such a shame because I find this feature very nice and I use to use it all the time on the Sony Ericsson back in the day. I know the H815 version supports FM Radio, but the problem is it doesn't work on the AWS Frequency (Mobilicity and WIND, which I am on).
Just wondering if anyone has got the FM Radio to work on their LG G4 H12 version yet?
Now i'm not talking about TuneIn Radio or applications of that nature. Those applications use Data or WiFi.
Just to clarify, i'm talking about FM Radio using RDS. Which means when you plug in headphones/earbuds into the headphone jack, the phone uses the wire as a antenna and let's you listen to radio stations. Without having to rely on Data or Wifi. I know it's old school, but it's a feature that I would still put a lot of use into.
Anyways let me know guys. and thanks!
Probably not likely to happen. A lot of phones have it disabled in hardware (the connection just isn't there between the headphone jack and the FM chip (which is usually the same as the Bluetooth module).
Main phones available in Canada that have FM Radio support are the ASUS Zenfone 2, Moto X Play, and possibly some of the HTC phones (don't quote me on that last one - I haven't tried one in a while)
Lex10 said:
I have done quite a bit of research and it seems like the FM Radio RDS is Disabled on all Canadian Versions of the LG G4. It's such a shame because I find this feature very nice and I use to use it all the time on the Sony Ericsson back in the day. I know the H815 version supports FM Radio, but the problem is it doesn't work on the AWS Frequency (Mobilicity and WIND, which I am on).
Just wondering if anyone has got the FM Radio to work on their LG G4 H12 version yet?
Now i'm not talking about TuneIn Radio or applications of that nature. Those applications use Data or WiFi.
Just to clarify, i'm talking about FM Radio using RDS. Which means when you plug in headphones/earbuds into the headphone jack, the phone uses the wire as a antenna and let's you listen to radio stations. Without having to rely on Data or Wifi. I know it's old school, but it's a feature that I would still put a lot of use into.
Anyways let me know guys. and thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The H815(International Version) has the EXACT same hardware and frequency bands, so you can flash the H815 version onto your Canadian version (H812) and have all the stock LG apps and functionality.
SORRY GUYS THIS DOES NOT WORK UNLESS YOU UNLOCK THE BOOTLOADER. THE BOOTLOADER OF LG G4 H812 CANADIAN VERSION IS BY DEFAULT LOCKED SO YOU CANNOT FLASH ANY OTHER FIRMWARE. MY ADVICE FOR YOU IS TRADE IT FOR THE H815 EUROPEAN OR H811 T-MOBILE VARIANT IF YOU WANT THE FULL FEATURES. THANKS AND SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING THIS. I FEEL YOUR PAIN, I NOW HAVE THE H815 EUROPEAN VERSION AND IT HAS THE DEFAULT FM RADIO AND SMARTWORLD AND ALL THE ORIGINAL STOCK SOFTWARES. IT IS AMAZING LETS SIGN A PETITION TO LG TO GET YOUR BOOTLOADERS UNLOCKED THEN YOU CAN FLASH H815 ROM ONTO IT AND HAVE ALL THE DEFAULT APPS WORKING.
This is totally INACCURATE ...
BIG_BADASS said:
The H815(International Version) has the EXACT same hardware and frequency bands, so you can flash the H815 version onto your Canadian version (H812) and have all the stock LG apps and functionality.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you follow this individuals proclamation you will brick your phone. The H812 has a locked bootloader and cannot be officially unlocked - if you follow it, it will prove harmful and costly to your mobile health. He has not bothered to correct this post, even though he now knows this to be true. If you want FM radio, you will need to get another phone, like he has since done.
S.
Can someone confirm whether it is disabled at the hardware or software level? Thanks
BIG_BADASS said:
Can someone confirm whether it is disabled at the hardware or software level? Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know but you can try the following to see if the radio works. This could prove if it's a hardware/software restriction.
1. Go to your dialler and enter: *#546368#*812#
2. Go to Device Test -> SAAT -> Service Menu - Manual Test -> FMRadio Test
3. With headphones plugged in, test if you can hear anything at all.
htr5 said:
I don't know but you can try the following to see if the radio works. This could prove if it's a hardware/software restriction.
1. Go to your dialler and enter: *#546368#*812#
2. Go to Device Test -> SAAT -> Service Menu - Manual Test -> FMRadio Test
3. With headphones plugged in, test if you can hear anything at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The H812 does not have the FMRadio Test in the Hidden menu, anywhere, whatsoever. If the hardware was there, the test for it would be there. Unlike member BAD_ASS, who doesn't own an H812 anymore (he has an H815 now) and wouldn't know without getting someone who does own one to find out, I do own one and am very familiar with it.
Member BAD_ASS has continued to try and denigrate the H812 by posts like his childish, immature large font #3 post above (not his first by any means) as well as members who have legitimately tried to help others. His sole reason for posting on threads concerning the H812 is to try (somewhat more subtly now in some cases) and show how how smart he is and was by lying to an unsuspecting dealer in Qatar that his H812 was a US model in order to gain an H815 for what he purports was no cost to him (his Mommy, however, may have something to say about this claim of his). He has had his posts cleaned at least twice for wasting space and has provided misleading, inaccurate and in more than one occasion very harmful (hard bricking) advice to many unsuspecting members. Just a few of the reasons he has had his account suspended twice by the moderators
Fair warning.
htr5 said:
I don't know but you can try the following to see if the radio works. This could prove if it's a hardware/software restriction.
1. Go to your dialler and enter: *#546368#*812#
2. Go to Device Test -> SAAT -> Service Menu - Manual Test -> FMRadio Test
3. With headphones plugged in, test if you can hear anything at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see what you're onto, but you are still running the same software version. To get accurate results, we need to bypass the stock ROM.
I'd greatly appreciate if a H811 user with unlocked bootloader can flash the European H815 rom and see whether the FM Radio feature comes to life. Not sure if this has been done before, but if so, please do let me know. Thanks.
Supposing this works, we can try to flash H815 rom onto H812 with SteadfasterX's new method for devices with Locked bootloaders, like the H812.
---------- Post added at 05:31 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:12 AM ----------
sdembiske said:
The H812 does not have the FMRadio Test in the Hidden menu, anywhere, whatsoever. If the hardware was there, the test for it would be there. Unlike member BAD_ASS, who doesn't own an H812 anymore (he has an H815 now) and wouldn't know without getting someone who does own one to find out, I do own one and am very familiar with it.
Member BAD_ASS has continued to try and denigrate the H812 by posts like his childish, immature large font #3 post above (not his first by any means) as well as members who have legitimately tried to help others. His sole reason for posting on threads concerning the H812 is to try (somewhat more subtly now in some cases) and show how how smart he is and was by lying to an unsuspecting dealer in Qatar that his H812 was a US model in order to gain an H815 for what he purports was no cost to him (his Mommy, however, may have something to say about this claim of his). He has had his posts cleaned at least twice for wasting space and has provided misleading, inaccurate and in more than one occasion very harmful (hard bricking) advice to many unsuspecting members. Just a few of the reasons he has had his account suspended twice by the moderators
Fair warning.
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Click to collapse
Post #3 was just me warning everyone about that claim I made, which I now know could cause damage. It is in big bold red letters for emphasis. Yes it is true my mother bought me the H812 for my 16th birthday, and I didn't spend a single cent on it, true, but I had no idea my claims could be harmful back then, so please forgive.
Sorry for assuming this would work. But you cannot blame me for assuming, as you are doing the same thing with the FM Radio being disabled on the Hardware level. You are also making assumptions.
Also keep in mind, I don't have to give help and suggestions to you H812 owners. I have an H815 now and I can completely disregard your existence, but I have compassion and want to help you guys have the same experience as I do with my H815, so I give you suggestions and ideas that may or may not work. Unfortunately I cannot test any of these claims, as I don't have your device anymore. If I could test them, I would.
Guys i will assume this is just like the g3 in the end you can possibly get static i did on a att g3 but the antenna is not soldered and you will never get reception.
The hardware does not support it. And no u cant solder it yourself.
Post #3 was just me warning everyone about that claim I made, which I now know could cause damage. It is in big bold red letters for emphasis. Yes it is true my mother bought me the H812 for my 16th birthday, and I didn't spend a single cent on it, true, but I had no idea my claims could be harmful back then, so please forgive.
Sorry for assuming this would work. But you cannot blame me for assuming, as you are doing the same thing with the FM Radio being disabled on the Hardware level. You are also making assumptions.
Also keep in mind, I don't have to give help and suggestions to you H812 owners. I have an H815 now and I can completely disregard your existence, but I have compassion and want to help you guys have the same experience as I do with my H815, so I give you suggestions and ideas that may or may not work. Unfortunately I cannot test any of these claims, as I don't have your device anymore. If I could test them, I would.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Smells like more ...
sdembiske said:
Smells like more ...
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Click to collapse
Lol.
I did i got my att g3. With a bunch of mods to get static on it but no matter what will not get signal. Unless in theory if i was rite under the tower. Never tried. This has been on going since at the g2. And time and time again. Its not possible.
BIG_BADASS said:
Can someone confirm whether it is disabled at the hardware or software level? Thanks
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Hardware. Hense why it wont accept a headphone as being inserted. Its disable hardware and software. There is a part of the fm chip that isnt solderd its not possible to solder it. So the antennas arent grounded. If im not mistaken it lays in with the snapdragon.
TheMadScientist420 said:
Hardware. Hense why it wont accept a headphone as being inserted. Its disable hardware and software. There is a part of the fm chip that isnt solderd its not possible to solder it. So the antennas arent grounded. If im not mistaken it lays in with the snapdragon.
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Click to collapse
This statement from the Spirit 2 app on Play Store (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=fm.a2d.s2) would certainly support the notion that it is hardware dependent.
"! IMPOSSIBLE Devices: ALL Nexus & MANY Samsung & other devices have FM purposely & unfixably disabled in hardware. No app can EVER fix that."
Member BIG_BADASS just likes to beat dead horses ...
sdembiske said:
This statement from the Spirit 2 app on Play Store (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=fm.a2d.s2) would certainly support the notion that it is hardware dependent.
"! IMPOSSIBLE Devices: ALL Nexus & MANY Samsung & other devices have FM purposely & unfixably disabled in hardware. No app can EVER fix that."
Member BAD_ASS just likes to beat dead horses ...
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Ok that is the case for Sprint. But there have been some people who have got it to work on other American carrier variants by installing a 3rd party radio app like NextRadio...
Ok that is the case for Sprint. But there have been some people who have got it to work on other American carrier variants by installing a 3rd party radio app like NextRadio...
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Click to collapse
The LG G4 wireless chip is from Broadcom and has a closed-source driver. It is proprietary code. Carrier unlocking or rooting will not enable wireless FM on your phone and the Next Radio or Spirit FM apps will not work . As much as member BAD_ASS or any other member might like to think they can solve it, they can't unless LG makes it open-source or provides their private proprietary coded FM app to the carrier phone model and software version.
sdembiske said:
The LG G4 wireless chip is from Broadcom and has a closed-source driver. It is proprietary code. Carrier unlocking or rooting will not enable wireless FM on your phone and the Next Radio or Spirit FM apps will not work . As much as member BAD_ASS or any other member might like to think they can solve it, they can't unless LG makes it open-source or provides their private proprietary coded FM app to the carrier phone model and software version.
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Click to collapse
Well said good sir!!!!
sdembiske said:
The LG G4 wireless chip is from Broadcom and has a closed-source driver. It is proprietary code. Carrier unlocking or rooting will not enable wireless FM on your phone and the Next Radio or Spirit FM apps will not work . As much as member BAD_ASS or any other member might like to think they can solve it, they can't unless LG makes it open-source or provides their private proprietary coded FM app to the carrier phone model and software version.
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Click to collapse
Let's make a petition. BTW, which statement is more true:
FM chip was disabled
or simply:
FM chip wasn't enabled to begin with
?
Let's make a petition. BTW, which statement is more true:
FM chip was disabled
or simply:
FM chip wasn't enabled to begin with ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Member BIG_BADASS just likes to beat dead horses ...

HTC One M9 Variants to avoid buying (rooting, bootloader unlock, s off)?

My LG G4 is dead and i need a good substitute ASAP on a tight budget ($200-$250 max). This pretty much limits me to 2015 era phones. Not getting another LG, Samsungs are too expensive and S6 has no microSD slot anyway. Narrowed it down to either an HTC One M9 and Moto X Force. Moto's limited development as well as an alarming number of nightmarish defective OLED displays has scared me off of it (shame as I love OLEDs).
So i'm about settled on an HTC One M9. I did my best to research any deal breaking hardware defects, any problems seem far less severe or common compared to G4 or Moto. Assuming I haven't missed anything...
So that said my question now turns to the software side- are there any carriers/variants of the M9 I should try to avoid buying? As the title says, I wish to unlock the bootloader, root, and eventually install custom roms etc. I'm prepared to pay for Sunshine if necessary provided all M9 variants are supported. I've done my best to read through as many threads and pages as I could before asking this. It SEEMS like i'd be safe buying pretty much any M9 and still be able to unlock bootloader, root and s off. Even Verizon models if i'm not mistaken? Am I correct in this assumption? I wanted to ask just to ensure I didn't miss any important caveats before buying.
I messed up buying an LG, many suffer from a motherboard defect causing unfixable bootlooping and mine finally succumbed the other day. Mine was also a region that didn't allow bootloader unlocking. I could root with some effort if I didn't mind being stuck forever on lollipop, but no custom roms and other annoying limitations.
I don't wish to repeat the same mistakes if I can avoid it, so any information regarding my query would be greatly appreciated. Any other advice or things to look out for regarding the M9 would be helpful too. Thanks very much in advance.
By the way, the version i'm looking at buying is listed as an AT&T model. From what I have seen, this variant seems to be pretty much perfect for doing all I want. But I still wanted to ask this in case I either get a different variant, or if the seller is listing the wrong version of the product. If all M9s are basically equal at this point, then I don't need to worry which kind I get.
Try to buy a worldwide edition. It's the sim unlocked from factory with region 401 ie x.xx.401.xx firmware version.
M9 is a solid phone. The camera isn't the greatest but it does take good shots. It can get a bit hot if charging and playing games at the same time and it is more than capable of draining the battery in an hour or two if you use resource intensive games or apps. The sound is very clear and boomsound is a major player in the satisfaction this phone gives, making the speakers significantly bassier than other devices on the market. The speakers 'can' be a little quiet at full but they ALWAYS stay crystal clear with no distortion at all.
You MUST get a protector case for this device as the front of the actual phone can crack if you apply pressure, by the front camera lens is cracked on mine. Tech21 make a good sturdy case for this device but it is a tad expensive at £30 GBP.
I Don't recommend using custom roms with this device as not only is the risk of a brick significantly higher it is also going to result in a slightly slower phone than stock rooted.
The different variants of this device are essentially the same but carrier locked versions can be a prick to find software to fix stuff.
In all you've made the right choice of phone if you plan on keeping it stock but the wrong one if you plan on modding it.
Beamed in by telepathy.
Sorry, but I have to disagree with some points of the post above this one.
If you live in the US then choosing either the unlocked/dev variant or the version of your carrier is the best choice. SKU 401 is optimized for the EU (in regard to supported frequencies and some GPS configurations). And it's important that you choose the correct hardware version for your carrier's technology (Verizon & Sprint: CDMA - all other variants: GSM). The firmware of CDMA devices and GSM devices isn't interchangeable. You can't even flash Sprint firmware on a Verizon device (or vice versa) without damaging it. However, you can change from one GSM firmware to a different one if you want to (S-OFF required).
Just for having it mentioned (I know that you don't need this information but who knows who else is going to read this): The Verizon version's bootloader cannot get unlocked via HTCdev (unlike the bootloader of all other versions). You need S-OFF for unlocking the bootloader of that version. Since sunshine needs root on the latest firmware version the only way to unlock the Verizon variant on the latest firmware is an xtc clip/java card. (This may change with a future update of sunshine.) Or you try to get a pre-Nougat Verizon M9 and use the temp-root of the sunshine app.
In addition, HTC provides RUUs for its US devices. Therefore, getting back to stock is easier with one of them than with all other non-US variants.
And in regard to custom roms: They don't hardbrick your device. The worst thing that can happen is a soft-brick/bootloop and that will only happen if you try to flash a custom rom whose base is newer than your phone's firmware (and some nougat roms are even compatible with the marshmallow firmware so this happens quite rarely in the recent time).
Aside from that, my phone is as fast while I use Viper 6.1 as it has been while I was playing around with the stock rom. If there really is a difference then you need laboratory equipment for being able to detect it. And I'm pretty sure that you get the same performance on other (sense-based) custom roms, as well.
The only thing that you need to be aware of is that there are more and more reports of dying memory chips. These nand deaths happen on stock phones and on modified phones. As far as I read, no one has been able to repair such a dead device except for HTC itself. I don't know what's the cause of the problem since I know enough people whose M9's are still working fine without any issues.
Sent from my HTC One M9 using XDA Labs
Thanks for the reply from both of you. I'm surprised and happy a mod actually replied too!
My LG was locked out from installing custom roms and such, but I have experience installing some on a first gen Galaxy S (currently using it as backup in fact). I'm sure things have changed somewhat, but I am aware of the potential risks in flashing custom roms. I've bootlooped and soft bricked my device doing so more than once. I'm not a programmer, but I was able to fix them all with patience, research and the right tools/software. I assume there are also methods to deal with soft bricks and bootloops on HTC One M9 if you consider it less of a threat than a hardware brick (which my LG G4 got even without flashing anything). I appreciate the warning and advice either way.
I'm not concerned with the carrier compatibility that much. I don't have service with anyone at the moment and can use whatever. Seller says the device is a GSM unlocked AT&T device, if accurate then i'm perfectly content with using GSM networks. Listing says "new AT&T carrier overstock item", which I hope means the device is okay. It's being advertised as running 5.0 Lollipop, which I assume means the stock rom it came with when first released and also hope is an okay starting point for doing whatever rooting and customization I want.
I hope the NAND issue doesn't crop up on the one I get though, that doesn't sound good. HTC attracted me because i've seen fewer people complaining about widespread hardware defects compared to many other phones. It's difficult to find phones that are a good value, are reasonably free of serious problems and include features I deem important (microSD card support for instance, and having reasonably fast processors). My options are limited.
I'm not sure if i'll need s off. I'm new to that term and don't know much about it besides it being some sort of HTC security. Not sure what doors would open up by having s off, still researching. Assuming the model I buy is accurately listed as AT&T, it sounds like I should be able to unlock the bootloader, root, flash TWRP and even get custom roms without having s off. Am I correct? Not even sure if it's required to flash kernels such as ElementalX.
That can happen if you post in the forum of a device that's owned by a mod. Don't forget that we're normal members, as well, if we don't moderate.
If you face a soft-brick you only need to keep both volume buttons and the power button pressed until the phone reboots to its bootloader. From there on you can boot to TWRP and only need to flash a working rom or to restore a backup of a working (stock) rom and the problem should be fixed. Hard-bricks only happen if you flash a CDMA firmware on a GSM device (or vice versa) or a Sprint firmware on a Verizon device (or vice versa). The phone will still be booting but from what I observed here on xda your SIM card won't be detected, anymore, even if you re-flash your phone's original firmware. Aside from that you can "kill" this phone if you're impatient while it's installing an update and power it down during the process (there was a time when that happened quite often). Therefore, I suggest you to just let it do it's thing after you started the update process. Depending on which update you want to install it might take up to approximately half an hour and the phone might reboot (and therefore vibrate) several times.
Correct, for flashing custom recoveries/roms/kernels you don't need S-OFF on this phone (as long as it's not the Verizon variant). Take a look at the further reading section of the ReadMe thread. There's an article linked that explains S-OFF. And Sneakyghost's firmware thread in the development section should contain an explanation, as well. If I remember correctly it should be located in the 5th post. Be aware that you don't need to (re-)lock this phones bootloader like you needed to do on older HTC devices if you want to flash a RUU with S-ON as long as you use the SD card method. That's the recommended method, btw.
I personally don't use a custom kernel. They had a huge impact on my last device (the HTC One S - released in 2012) but HTC seems to be learning at least from some of its "mistakes" since the battery optimizations are much better on the M9. Therefore, I haven't been using a custom kernel since one of the early versions of ElementalX. On the other hand, that means that I can't tell you whether the current version got optimized that much that it actually has an impact, again.
In regard to the nand issue: Don't forget that 95% of the posts here get made by people who face problems with their phones whereas most people don't post if everything is working fine. That might cause that an issue seems to be more common than it actually is. And as said in my last post, I haven't seen such a dead nand in real life, yet, and I know a lot of people who own this phone.
And last but not least a little tip: Find out your phone's firmware as soon as you get it. If it's a pre-4.x version (everything before android n) then try to find the latest 3.x RUU for your SKU*. If you install that one you will save some time that would otherwise be needed for installing a huge amount of OTA updates. (A RUU only needs around 5 minutes if you use the SD card method.) You can't directly install a 4.x RUU since HTC changed the encryption keys between firmware 3.x and 4.x. Therefore, you need to install the 4.x update via the software update function of the phone since OTAs aren't encrypted. More information, some useful files and instructions can be found in the ReadMe thread. (It's a big wall-of-text but reading and understanding it is worth the time that you need for doing so.)
Edit: * = Here's a download link for the latest 3.x AT&T M9 RUU (directly from HTC's server). However, now that I think about it I actually can't tell you whether the AT&T variant already received android n...
Sent from my HTC One M9 using XDA Labs

Rooting and flashing advantages and disadvantages

Hi,
I am with my STOCK G5 since a year. What to say. I recently switched to Evie Launcher, as it gives me a bit of edge over the stock Launcher3. I am quite disappointed in this phone, as my brother in law's E4 is much more fluid than my phone.
Would you recommend me to switch to a custom ROM? What are the advantages and what are the disadvantages?
What are the risks to brick the G5 ?
Thank you
Advantages
Latest version of android
No bloat pre-installed apps that are bundled with phones
Potentially greater available free internal storage space (depending on how much bloat there was)
More customisation through appearance/themes settings etc
Disadvantages
Will have to return to full stock if wanting to officially upgrade device
Device would need to be wiped before flashing roms
Some apps will not work if rooted (although you can use magisk to hide root but not guaranteed to be successful)
Bugs may be present in custom roms
There is always a chance to of bricking the device - normally this would only be a soft brick (bootloader still accessible)
As long as you don't touch the bootloader then you can always just flash another rom
Read threads fully before you begin
And of course, it voids your warranty, but in my opinion is worth it, custom roms allow for better speed and customisation.
Exanneon said:
And of course, it voids your warranty, but in my opinion is worth it, custom roms allow for better speed and customisation.
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Click to collapse
That depends on the country you live in
In Europe (eec) it doesn't unless it can be proved your modification due to rooting caused the fault
Anything unrelated would still be covered
TheFixItMan said:
That depends on the country you live in
In Europe (eec) it doesn't unless it can be proved your modification due to rooting caused the fault
Anything unrelated would still be covered
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow, really? I live in the UK, does the same apply here?
Exanneon said:
Wow, really? I live in the UK, does the same apply here?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes - the manufacturer may moan about it & refuse to fix it but the law states they have to prove the fault didn't already exist or is a direct cause of your modification.
Eg
If the volume buttons stop working because of a design flaw that shows a loose connection to the motherboard than this is covered
If the volume buttons stop working because you flashed a custom rom that's buggy then you tried to restore stock & mucked it up & your phone no longer boots than you're not covered
Wear & tear is normally excluded
Basically if it's hardware related you're normally covered
If it's software related & you're rooted you're probably not & that includes phones that no longer have a bootloader due to incorrect flash or upgrading of roms
The wiki entry for this explains
European Union
The Free Software Foundation Europe argues that it is legal to root or flash any device. According to the European Directive 1999/44/CE, replacing the original operating system with another does not void the statutory warranty that covers the hardware of the device for two years unless the seller can prove that the modification caused the defect.[39]
United Kingdom
The law Copyright and Related Rights Regulations 2003 makes circumventing DRM protection measures legal for the purpose of interoperability but not copyright infringement. Rooting may be a form of circumvention covered by that law, but this has not been tested in court.[34][40] Competition laws may also be relevant.[41] See also "European Union" section above.
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Click to collapse
The USA is more complex - looks like its legal to root a phone but not a tablet but you can't root a phone that was made after 2013 if the purpose is to unlock it for use on another carrier lol & it goes on like that. Basically they have ammendments on top of ammendments on top of ammendments which makes it extremely complicated - even providing a rooting tool in America could be illegal as its not defined as being excluded from the copyright act.
Because non of these things have really been tested in court its just one big grey area
TheFixItMan said:
Yes - the manufacturer may moan about it & refuse to fix it but the law states they have to prove the fault didn't already exist or is a direct cause of your modification.
Eg
If the volume buttons stop working because of a design flaw that shows a loose connection to the motherboard than this is covered
If the volume buttons stop working because you flashed a custom rom that's buggy then you tried to restore stock & mucked it up & your phone no longer boots than you're not covered
Wear & tear is normally excluded
Basically if it's hardware related you're normally covered
If it's software related & you're rooted you're probably not & that includes phones that no longer have a bootloader due to incorrect flash or upgrading of roms
The wiki entry for this explains
The USA is more complex - looks like its legal to root a phone but not a tablet but you can't root a phone that was made after 2013 if the purpose is to unlock it for use on another carrier lol & it goes on like that. Basically they have ammendments on top of ammendments on top of ammendments which makes it extremely complicated - even providing a rooting tool in America could be illegal as its not defined as being excluded from the copyright act.
Because non of these things have really been tested in court its just one big grey area
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see, well thanks for taking the time for explaining to me anyway ^-^
Exanneon said:
Wow, really? I live in the UK, does the same apply here?
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Click to collapse
This is one of a wide range of areas in which EU membership has been enormously helpful to consumers. Not for much longer though since, in its wisdom, the UK will be turning its back on these protections over the coming 3 years.
thesoupthief said:
This is one of a wide range of areas in which EU membership has been enormously helpful to consumers. Not for much longer though since, in its wisdom, the UK will be turning its back on these protections over the coming 3 years.
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Click to collapse
I for one am glad we are leaving the EU - These rules will still apply as all EU law will be implemented into UK law but of course they can be changed if our government decides to by debating & voting on new laws & it is right that our government that we vote for decides this & not unelected people in Brussels.
But that's enough of politics
TheFixItMan said:
I for one am glad we are leaving the EU - These rules will still apply as all EU law will be implemented into UK law but of course they can be changed if our government decides to by debating & voting on new laws & it is right that our government that we vote for decides this & not unelected people in Brussels.
But that's enough of politics
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Click to collapse
But then again I doubt many would fight for these things, but who knows.
Yes,
I started reading a bit about the different ROMs.
I can see the usual qualcomm fup job: firmare blobs never converted to 64bit, stuff only working on a single configuration and more.
Therefore I found out that the only thing really not working on custom roms is USB tethering (as per LineageOS 15 declaration), but it can be fixed with an external app.
What seems to be working but not completely is: FM Radio (but, please, prove me wrong if I am), Camera (the wrapper should be working, though).
What isn't extremely clear to me if the stock Lenovo ROM feature of OS navigation through fingerprint reader (a feature I reckon would be Oreo Stock) AND always on display (again, wasn't it a new feature of stock Oreo ?!) .
Last but not least, on a parallel thread there's a guy that says ( https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=76406077&postcount=5 ) : if you go from 32bit to 64bit is fine. Going back will brick your device and/or lose your IMEI.
I hope to have summed up all known elements, if I haven't, please, help me.
Regards,
sweetsuicides

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