Develop Bugs

Help -problems with 3G sim card -keeps losing signal and resetting.

Hello,
Sorry if this question has been answered elsewhere but I am a noob to this site. I have looked -promise!
Basically I have had an XDA Orbit on O2 UK which I have had for over a year with no problems. Recently I changed contracts but kept the same phone and O2 sent me a new 3G sim card.
Now when using the device for a long time (such as wi-fi, reading a book in Microsoft Reader, making a call) the phone will lose the phone signal and slow down. If left it will sometimes recover and get a signal again, or sometimes it keeps searching for a signal for a few minutes and then resets itself.
Sometimes when it is searching for a signal the top area of the phone gets warm.
I have tried a hard reset but this has not solved the problem. Is this to do with the 3G sim card? Should I try upgrading the ROM of the radio stack? Or would an entirely new ROM help?
The version details at startup are:
IPL 3.04.0001
SPL 3.04.0000
GSM 02.67.90
OS 3.4.0.0
Please help. Thank you.

Try to upgrade your Radio ROM. That can be a good solution.
Cheers

Thanks -I will try that tonight.

Ok I have updated the radio ROM and I still get the same problem. It will be fine for a bit but then the phone will lose signal, keep searching, and eventually reset itself.
Would using an entirely new ROM help or is the fact that this was not fixed by updating the radio ROM indicate that is this more of a hardware problem?
The details at startup now look like this:
IPL 3.04.0001
SPL 1.11.0000
GSM 03.21.90
OS 3.4.0.0
Thank you.

Yes... That looks like a hardware problem to me, since you upgrade your Radio ROM.
But for a last test you can flash a WM6.1 ROM and see if the problem is the same.
If it maintains then is surelly a hardware problem.
Cheers

I don't usually post on these forums but have been a reader for some time!
There are some things you need to know about 3G before you use this handset with this sim!
it's against your terms and conditions to use a none 3G handset with your sim 3 can and will cut your number off (ive seen it happen)
secondly 3 only have 3G netowrks they use orange's masts for when customers drop out of signal range to 2g. Hence your using orange masts which take it from me are rubbish! they have some of the worst reception in the country and ive only recently stopped selling mobile phones i doubt they changed much in 6 months!
to cut it short you need a 3G phone to go with your 3G sim im afraid this handset is not capable of 3G .

Hi thanks, for your comments.
I am not using a 3 sim card, it is an O2 3G sim card. I have tried today to reflash the O2 UK ROM image with the original settings to see if this helps but it still spends a long time without a signal and resets itself when it cannot get a signal for a while.
Is anyone else using a 3G sim card in this phone?
It worked well enough for me today to ring O2 and ask them if I could be "downgraded" to a 2G sim card. They said that they don't even do 2G sim cards anymore, but they said if I go to O2 store they may have a 2G pay as you go sim, and instead of activating it they could transfer my account details over to it. Anyone heard of that before?
When I went to the shop they said they didn't have any 2G sims and to reset the phone and try to get the settings sent to the phone from O2 online. Which I have done but surprise surprise no luck -not that I really believed the guy in the shop anyway but thought it was worth a try.
Any comments or suggestions?
Thanks.

Just to update, I have tried so many different things to get this fixed but it seems as though the 3G sim card is not the problem, as all fixed now by buying a replacement battery.
Now the phone works fine all of the time -it does not lose signal or anything. The old battery must have been faulty.
I do not know the exact fault but my guess is that when I turned the phone on at startup it was ok, but then as soon as I did anything it was drawing more current/amps from the battery it generated a fault which then made the phone lose signal and eventually reset.
I'm not sure on the science of it all exactly but it buying a new battery on ebay for £7 has certainly fixed the problem.
The Orbit/Artemis works fine with a 3G USIM -they are backwards compatible with a 2G SIM card and this obviously was not the problem.

Hi.
I have a similar problem... my o2 xda orbit for the last few days keeps hanging and reseting. It takes some time for me to be able to turn it on again.
even if i take out the battery and put it back in again...
Is this similar to what happened to you?
judgereinhold said:
Just to update, I have tried so many different things to get this fixed but it seems as though the 3G sim card is not the problem, as all fixed now by buying a replacement battery.
Now the phone works fine all of the time -it does not lose signal or anything. The old battery must have been faulty.
I do not know the exact fault but my guess is that when I turned the phone on at startup it was ok, but then as soon as I did anything it was drawing more current/amps from the battery it generated a fault which then made the phone lose signal and eventually reset.
I'm not sure on the science of it all exactly but it buying a new battery on ebay for £7 has certainly fixed the problem.
The Orbit/Artemis works fine with a 3G USIM -they are backwards compatible with a 2G SIM card and this obviously was not the problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

I think that I had the same problem but with a normal 2g sim. After an
intensive use over 1,5 years my Artemis p3300 had low signal and frquently resetting. I resolve all these problems changing the battery with a new one. It's important advise all Artemis owners that a lot of problems can be due to an old battery!

Yes that's basically exactly what happened to me. It would lose signal, keep searching then eventually reset. When I turned it back on it would still not have a signal and would take lots of times of turning it on and off before it would settle down again.
I bought a new battery from ebay for £4.95 (+£2.95 p&p) and now everything is working fine and has been for over a couple of weeks.
I had tried changing the ROM and still had the same problem. I would advise you to get a new battery and try that.

Hi, I am from CZ... - P3300 by Vodafone CZ
When I connect to wifi I sometimes lose the signal for phone.. One time I lose signal during the phoning and sometimes I lose signal when I use GPS...
Phone is 1,6 years old...
It is the same problem, isn't it?
It's a pity :-(
Can you give me an advice where I can buy the best battery? Should I buy a battery in CZ (home) or in abroad I can find cheaper and better??
(sorry about my english)

Yes that sounds like the same problem to me, I got a new battery from ebay because I thought it would probably be cheapest.
Try Vodafone first as they will be able to sell you a new battery and it may not be too expensive.

No data transfer on 3G

This may have been posted already, but having searched the forum I've not been able to find any answers to this...
I have a Desire on Orange and I've flashed it back to factory spec. Before doing this and afterwards, I'm finding that when the data status bar displays 3G, I cannot receive or send data. If I try browsing like this, it eventually switches over to HSPDA and I get good data transfer.
I know it's a 'feature' to swap onto HSPDA, but I reckon that if I have four bars of signal and it's displaying 3G, I should get some connectivity, no matter how slow.
Is anyone on Orange or any other network experiencing this? I tried phoning Orange, and they were next to useless, trying to tell me that there were 3G masts down in the area (and getting very confused when I asked them why I could get on the 3G network with no problems).
Hope this gets sorted out soon and it's not a problem with the handset!

You're not in the City of London by chance..?
The reason I ask, is that I'm on Orange, and I too have problems with 3G data transfer there - but like you, when the H appears it works just fine. Normally I just get the 3G with an 'up arrow' but nothing coming back down.
That problem only occurs where I work, and I'm not alone. At least 3 of my colleagues in the office with Orange iPhones have the same issue.
I spoke to Orange about this and they acknowledged that 2 of the transmitters in the area have known faults (one of which is ongoing since something like the 22nd March). Until they fix these, it's likely to continue to be problematic.

Interesting, because I'm in Bristol and they told me that two masts were down as well. Coincidence or lying about not having a clue?

anthropolyte said:
Interesting, because I'm in Bristol and they told me that two masts were down as well. Coincidence or lying about not having a clue?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think in my case they were fairly genuine with their comments. The person I spoke to gave quite specific details about the faulty cells and when I spoke to my colleagues who'd also been having difficulties, they actually commented that that date in March was about when their iPhones started playing up.
Interestingly, one thing she suggested as a workaround was to shut the phone down and take the battery out for a minute or so. What she said was by doing this, the phone would 'forget' all the local cells and stop trying to connect to them when I powered it up again. The idea being that the phone would always give priority to cells that it knew of, ahead of any alternatives that may actually be working.
I'm not sure how true that is, but to be fair to her that does actually seem to work very well when I'm having problems - although I actually found simply shutting the phone down seemed to be just as effective.
I did however enjoy telling my colleagues with the iPhones that all they had to do was shut down their phones and take the battery out for a minute!

They said the exact same thing to me. Haven't tried it yet, but I will give it a go. Thanks!

Frequent call drops/network drops - frustrated cry for help!

I have an original Desire bought in Norway, and imported (and hence VAT free!) to the UK, using my T Mobile SIM that has worked perfectly well in my G2/Hero.
Every few minutes or so, irrespective of how many connection bars, the network will suddenly drop off, and I get the "Cross of doom" on the reception icon.
If I am in the message app (standard HTC messages), and this happens, it will kick me off any message I was composing at the time, and I have to start again when the connection is back. It will also have no messages in the inbox until the network is back some seconds later and everything loads. It's almost like a blackout all of a sudden.
It will drop calls for the same reason, and 10 seconds or so I am back on connection.
I sent it back to HTC using the Global Warranty Scheme, who have changed the Main Board, FOC, and collected/delivered by courier. Very efficient service BTW. I was so disappointed to find it still having the same problem.
I have also exchanged my SIM with T Mobile for a new one (Same number). I have ordered a Vodfone PAYG SIM just to experiemt the likelyhood it may be the network provider. However, it looks more like the radio suffers a sudden loss of power, and conks out.
The APN settings have been set to WCDMA only (changed from AUTO/WCDMA) as it seemed to sort it out, but I got excited too soon.
At my wits end, as the phone is miles ahead of my G2 in so many ways, and I love it, but I don't know whether it's a T Mobile issue or if I should send it back to HTC again. As it's not provided by T Mobile, and I have another 7 months left of my contract, I am stuck if it's network related.
Any suggestions gratefully received.

OK...have now popped the PAYG Vodafone SIm into the phone, and it barely has reception and drops out too.

...so have phoned HTC again, and UPS will once again be collecting it on Monday. I asked what happens if a fault is still not found, and after the third return I can apply to have the phone replaced by HTC. It's not ideal, but beats having to pay for a flight to exchange it abroad.
Still, if anyone have any suggestions, please let me know!

Norwegianpiglet said:
At my wits end, as the phone is miles ahead of my G2 in so many ways, and I love it, but I don't know whether it's a T Mobile issue or if I should send it back to HTC again. As it's not provided by T Mobile, and I have another 7 months left of my contract, I am stuck if it's network related.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just an FYI, but I too am on T-Mobile, and recently replace my G2 with a Desire.
I find the network reception on the Desire is much better than on my G2, and I've no problems with dropped connections.
I know this doesn't help you, but it does point to the problem being your particular device.
Regards,
Dave

foxmeister said:
Just an FYI, but I too am on T-Mobile, and recently replace my G2 with a Desire.
I find the network reception on the Desire is much better than on my G2, and I've no problems with dropped connections.
I know this doesn't help you, but it does point to the problem being your particular device.
Regards,
Dave
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks Dave, this does strengthen the case thinking it's the device. HTC were pretty swift in returning the device last time, so if it means a week X 2 being without it, I can live with that as I can then ask for it to be replaced on warranty direct from HTC.

I have the same issue with a Stock Desire from Vodafone..
Signal drops but more often it fluctuates like hell ... calls are dropped...
or other people can't hear me properly ...
Maybe it is an issue that will be resolved with a "Radio" update from HTC ?
Does someone know maybe this happened in the past with other HTC handsets and got sorted out later..
It is really buggy...

my girlfriend is having the same issues with her Desire
we applied the official update that was released a week or 2 ago (with a new radio) but that didn't solve the issue
sometimes she also hears a weird sound before the call goes dead..
did anybody have any luck in getting this solved?
will a custom rom fix the issues?
thanks!

coming from a htc hd2 (switched for this particular reason) i can report that this has happened on many htc phones, it is NOT a device problem, it has been mostly linked to your location and interference (buildings etc) as the frequencies used by the latest htc antennas use a frequency which does not penetrate as well.
you can read the 50 or so pages of it for the hd2, SOME progress has been made but never fixed, the only hope is HTC releasing a fix.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=614119

thanks for your fast reply!
I checked the thread you mentioned but it seems to be all about internet issues
my girlfriend never uses mobile internet so the issues she has are call related
these don't happen every day but every few days
about once every 3 weeks she gets a total signal drop which can only be solved by rebooting (this seems to be something mentioned in the thread)
then again most probably internet, call and signal issues are most likely to be caused by the radio so it could be the same problem..
is anybody experiencing the same weird loud static noise sound from time to time before a call gets auto-ended?
I just want to get all the facts straight because she is planning on sending it back to HTC for repair but if it's a new radio flash she needs there is no point in sending it back
sorry for the long post

Why don't you try setting it on AUTO, or GSM only, even better?
Sound like sudden loss of WCDMA connection.

tried that this week but the issue still remains..
is this something that can be fixed by flashing a custom rom?
or do we need to wait for HTC to provide another radio?

Maybe....
Maybe this is not your case but I want to share with you.
I had the same problem with Hero and then with the Desire. It was very frustrating. Then I got it: all the programs like auto-killer. task-killer etc were acting killing (apparently random) my voice call. Incredible ! Now I have the same Disre, but I haven't installed any task killer or task manager. The device works good and I don't have dropped calls anymore
Again, maybe it's not your case. Maybe could be helpful for someone else...
Just try if you have some task killer installed. Uninstall it

Mobile Network Drop

Not sure if anyone else has had this problem but i randomly get mobile network drops once or twice a week. The phone works perfectly well but the mobile network just drops, you cannot scan for network at all. The only way i have found around it is to enable plane mode to drop all connections and then turn plane mode back off so the network starts up. This often takes between 5 - 10 mins for it to kick in.
Tried two roms but now back to stock but still happening.

Have you tried flashing the latest radio? They are listed in the dev section.

The recent OTA 1.21.405.2 update included a new radio I think. Did you put this on too?
Since then, I have also been having the network drop out. I am missing a lot of calls as a result. Prior to this update I had two months of problem-free operation on my stock 2.1 ROM.
From reading the google forums, this is a wide-spread issue. The light at the end of the tunnel seems to be that people updating to 2.2 froyo seem to see the problem stop. Two weeks to wait for us stock ROM boys according to the rumours then! Fingers crossed.
It's a bit embarrassing having this flashy toy when it struggles to be a phone at random intervals. At the weekend one of my less techy friends was waving his Nokia 6210i in my face saying, "At least I can make and recieve calls!". So I changed the language on his phone to Turkish when he left it lying about. The old ones are the best.
I am going to test the 1.21.405.2 theory by doing a factory reset later this week when I have time. Problem should persist if it is the new radio. Will post back with the results.

OK did a factory reset this morning. I left all my apps off, and did not set back up any google account business. I basically left it as a standard mobile phone.
Within 7 hours, guess what....yes it's lost the connection again. Strongly believe this is a radio problem. I'm too noob to know if I can flash the radio without rooting. Anyone?
I have since submitted my complaint with HTC CS. Will await their response, and post it here.
In the interim, turning airplane mode off and on again does regain the connection, and I have installed an app from the market place called "No Coverage Alert". It will now beep and buzz if I loose the connection so at least I will be aware every time it bombs out. Far from ideal but should do for now.
Watch this space.

Yes i have tried the two radios posted but i havent tried any international ones such as europe or asia. I still randomly get network drop and i need to turn radio off and back on again for it to pick up.
Maybe i should ask a chef if these drops are logged anywhere on the device so i can root in and look at the logs myself and diagnose what the network drop is on my phone.
Just to confirm, tried multiple radios and roms, i know exactly what i am doing all i would like is explaination of why it happens. It is not user error as i have tried with stock rom, no fancy apps etc to stop it from working or changing config.
its got something to do with the network radio libs that need a service restart. i am 100% sure if i rooted in and knew which service to restart it would work also

Erm.... this is a little embarrassing but I feel I need to own up to prevent misleading anyone. I have arranged with HTC customer support to send my Desire back for repair. They pick it up Monday.
I bought a cheap £10 phone to keep me going. It arrived this morning. After I had finished laughing at it, I put the SIM card in and powered up the phone.
"No SIM card instered" was the message it greeted me with. After numerous power-up and power downs, and some SIM card hoakee-coakee, it finally recognised the SIM card......then dropped the signal to Orange. EXACTLY what my HTC Desire did.
Doh.
I had tried the SIM card in another phone (my girlfriends Blackberry) when the problems first started and it had worked straight away. But the SIM card seems to be random in it's failures. Should have tested more rigorously.
Sorry guys but in my instance it seems I have simply a faulty SIM card. The first one I have ever had go wrong in 12 years, but there you go. I was too fast to blame Android/HTC.
A|ex, please try your SIM card in another handset. Do several power-ups to see if it goes wrong. Would explain why trying numerous radios/ROMs has not helped you.
Let me know?

I had the same issue. Talked all day and evening, then toyed around with the phone a little, flashed a new ROM, no connection. oO okay, that's weird. Tried 3 different ROMs, reset to factory settings. Went to Orange, the SIM was borked. Thankfully, getting a new one took all of 5 minutes and didn't cost me a dime.

Yep. Was the SIM card. The new one arrived from Orange this morning. Popped it in and it's working straight away. My 3G has even improved slightly I reckon.
Six hours of use and not one drop yet.
Thank god for that.

No Sw. Dead radio - any way to diagnose?

My 2 month old One X seems to have developed a problem today, with it's GSM/UMTS radio. Was working fine this morning in Dublin. Caught a ferr y back to the UK and it was still fine but by the time I got to my office in Chester, it was showing no service. I just put it down to a local issue with the Vodafone network. But, on the 200 hundred mile drive back to London, despite rebooting and trying to force it to re-register as GSM, WCDMA in GSM/WCDMA modes, I've still not managed to get anything other than No Signal. Clearly not a general Vodafone network problem as the UK news and internet sites would be all over it.
I got back home and tried the other Vodafone SIM that I use in my Galaxy Tab (screwing up the SIM slot in the Tab, in the process) but exactly the same problem. I've spoken to Vodafone and despite me trying the other SIM, they've just said it looks like your SIM isn't registering with the network, so we'll send another out. All good except I'm off on holiday tomorrow.
I'm wondering if the radio "chip" itself has gone AWOL and wondered if there is any way to diagnose that on the handset itself? Any ideas if that's possible or anything else I can try to diagnose the issue?
Failing that, I guess it needs to go back to HTC for repair/replacement. Anybody know how warranty repairs work and how long it's likely to take to resolve and anything I should do with the phone beforehand?

You need to try your sim in another phone to eliminate the sim card
If its the same in another phone its the sim if it works fine its the phone