Hey guys.
My T-Mo G2/Desire Z is running CyanogenMod 6/Froyo 2.2. All of a sudden out of the blue the wifi just shat out on me while I was watching a Youtube video. I tried reconnectin to WiFi and it tries to turn on, but tells me it's "unable to scan for networks". I've been able to get it up for a short while by smacking the back of my phone, but I'm wondering if I'm missing anything obvious.
Did the following:
1) Pulled the battery with the phone on, waited 30 seconds, turned it back on, no go.
2) Powered off the phone, pulled the battery, waited 30 seconds, nope.
3) Grabbed a WiFi monitoring ap and noticed that the WiFi driver is unable to initialize, which probably means a hardware problem.
4) Like I said, smacking the back of my phone helped get it back for a few, but it went dead again as soon as I tried moving it.
I'm hoping this is something software related, but due to how old this phone is and how long I've had it for and how it has a tendency to get warm from long sessions of use, do you guys think the solder for the wifi antenna has gone bad? I'm a dunce and don't know how to solder, but I can only imagine the heat produced by the phone would be an issue for such a fragile solder point.
I don't really want to do a factory reset (don't have the original ROM around) - is there something I can check to make absolutely sure it's a hardware problem and not a software problem?
I love this phone too much to switch - might have to buy a used one because I don't want to take this thing apart - watched a disassembly video for it and it looked like a complete pain in the ass (and I've replaced the digitizer on my old HTC Herald).
Thanks all, your help will be much appreciated.
My son's G2 did the same thing. No more wifi. 3g still works, but not wifi.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
Bumping this, as I'm noticing there's a bit more activity on this forum. I've been running for over a year without Wi-Fi and I'd like to get that back. Still not sure what the problem is and nothing I've done has solved it.
I've had this tablet (SM-P600) for almost a year now & it has worked perfectly. Over the last week or so, the WiFi has been randomly turning on & off. Not just losing signal, but actually showing as off in the menus. As of this morning, wifi will not turn on at all. Just says "turning on" on the screen & sits. Never gets to the next screen showing all the open networks.
Everything is fully backed up so I went into recovery tonight. Did the full factory reset and wipe procedures. Tablet boots back like it is as supposed to, but wifi wont turn on when getting to that screen in the initial setup.
Tablet has been well cared in a case, not dropped, and not gotten wet. However I am still positive this is a hardware issue.
Any ideas for things I might try? Help!! Thx in advance
I've the same problem with my galaxy note 10.1 2014 edition SM-P605 :crying: Still haven't found solution
I am almost 100% certain this is some type of hardware problem. I tried flashing about 3 different ROM's and 3 different kernels, all of which successfully booted up. I finished by doing a 100% re-wipe (data & system included) & reinstalling a pure stock kernel and firmware. On every single revision, the words "turning on" would appear when clicking the WiFi option, but then it would get stuck. Message would eventually clear & I could continue using everything on the tablet . . . . . . . just no WiFi or Bluetooth functionality.
Final attempt was to gently remove the back cover. When lightly tapping around different points on the MoBo, the names of my local wireless networks would OCCASIONALLY appear. At one point they locked in & I really thought I had it. However, the whole thing disconnected again after a few minutes & I was back to square 1. :crying:
I never could figure out the perfect sweet spot to pinpoint the problem. My guess now is either a chip or ribbon cable that isn't seated properly, but I poked and pushed (gently!) on everything that was visible without removing any hardware other than just the back cover. Does anyone have a link to the layout of the motherboard that shows EXACTLY which piece is the WiFi/BT module? I did find an online disassembly tutorial with a random Google search, but for some reason they failed to identify this particular module.
Sorry for the long post, but I feel I am SO CLOSE to figuring this out once and for all. Just need a little more tech help to push across the goal line. Thanks!!
~Vol
Vol4Ever said:
I've had this tablet for almost a year now & it has worked perfectly. Over the last week or so, the WiFi has been randomly turning on & off. Not just losing signal, but actually showing as off in the menus. As of this morning, wifi will not turn on at all. Just says "turning on" on the screen & sits. Never gets to the next screen showing all the open networks.
Everything is fully backed up so I went into recovery tonight. Did the full factory reset and wipe procedures. Tablet boots back like it is as supposed to, but wifi wont turn on when getting to that screen in the initial setup.
Tablet has been well cared in a case, not dropped, and not gotten wet. However I am still positive this is a hardware issue.
Any ideas for things I might try? Help!! Thx in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What model is your tablet?
This was sent from my Lenovo A850 via XDA mobile app.
irfanadli97 said:
What model is your tablet?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry about that. It's just the initial release plain jane WiFi model. SM-P600
Update:
After a little more poking and prodding on the MoBo, I'm starting to see activity. Tablet will finally connect again, but will only hold the connection for 10-15 seconds and then drop back out. A few seconds later the cycle repeats.
I really wish I could find a good hi-res photo of the motherboard to help. HAS to be a simple loose connection, or maybe a not-so-good solder point somewhere???
Vol4Ever said:
Sorry about that. It's just the initial release plain jane WiFi model. SM-P600
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
......
never heard of 'em, is it a cheapo tablet? In my country there's a store of them (Allwinner 6.6" tablet with microSD slot, 2gb internal w/o bluetooth WIFI ONLY INTENDED FOR CASUAL GAMING, or should I call it kids only tablet, RM130 ($35))
That thing has a cheap plasticy housing, unneat design but has a pretty good performance (it plays dead trigger pretty well)
This was sent from my Lenovo A850 via XDA mobile app.
irfanadli97 said:
......
never heard of 'em, is it a cheapo tablet?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SM-P600 is Samsung's actual model number for the WiFi only version of the 2014 Galaxy Note 10.1. Most definitely NOT a cheapo tablet!! Although this wifi issue makes me wonder. I had the functionality back for about a day or so, and then it disappeared again. This has to be a simple case of a loose connector, but I sure can't find it. Ugh. Utterly frustrating.
oo...my bad
maybe software issue
This was sent from my Lenovo A850 via XDA mobile app.
What firmware version are you using because I am having the same issue. I manually updated to the september update (P600UEUCNI1) for the wifi version and started experiencing the same issue.
Same here. I think it's an issue with NII firmware.
*****PARTIAL solution*****
I have proven 100% that mine is problematic hardware . . . . . NOT software or kernel. For the time being my WiFi is back up & seemingly stable. I had to remove the back from the tablet for the fix. You have to be *extremely* careful, but it just snaps off with no screws. Lots of YouTube videos if you choose to attempt, but please don't say I didn't give you fair warning!
The reason I say partial solution is that I haven't pinpointed the exact location of the short. I am 99% sure it is somewhere on the extreme upper left hand corner as you face the front of the tablet. There are a couple of ribbon connectors in that area, and a few snap on type connectors that look like little motherboard chips. After gently poking & prodding the ribbons and disconnecting & reconnecting the snap connectors (being CAREFUL; I cannot stress this enough), my WiFi reappeared.
My final tip is to keep the screen on the page that shows the list of available networks. If you are having the same problem I was, this screen will just show "turning on" and nothing else for the WiFi. While poking around, I would occasionally see the list of networks pop up & then go back off. I finally hit whatever the magic spot is, and the networks held. Snapped the back cover on again, and I've been online for probably 4-5 days now without a single hiccup.
And before I get flamed, I know how dangerous it is to poke around with a powered, exposed tablet. There are probably certain points that could make connection and FRY the entire thing in an instant. I was just willing to take the risk as my tablet was useless without network capability. I had nothing to lose. I would recommend at least trying to poke & prod with the tablet OFF a few times to be safe, but I personally got tired of rebooting over & over & over & over. My luck sucks. With the tablet ON, I was at least able to monitor when something was happening.
Good luck if you attempt it!!
~Vol
Vol4Ever said:
I've had this tablet (SM-P600) for almost a year now & it has worked perfectly. Over the last week or so, the WiFi has been randomly turning on & off. Not just losing signal, but actually showing as off in the menus. As of this morning, wifi will not turn on at all. Just says "turning on" on the screen & sits. Never gets to the next screen showing all the open networks.
Everything is fully backed up so I went into recovery tonight. Did the full factory reset and wipe procedures. Tablet boots back like it is as supposed to, but wifi wont turn on when getting to that screen in the initial setup.
Tablet has been well cared in a case, not dropped, and not gotten wet. However I am still positive this is a hardware issue.
Any ideas for things I might try? Help!! Thx in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I bought my Note in March of this year, I started having the WiFi issue after the April firmware update. At first I would get the Connected to... message at random times, even though I had full signal strength. At the end of September, I started losing connection at random times and in the middle of October, I had to send it in to Best Buy's Geek Squad service to have them repair it. It is a hardware issue, as the no matter what firmware version I use, it will never connect to the router. I know it, Geek Squad is aware of it, as I have sent it in for repair twice so far. I would have to send it in a third time before they will think about replacing it with a new Note. I will admit, that before I updated it in May, I did root it, because I tried to remove the Business Week+ and New York Times apps, as I never used either one of them. I tried disabling them, only to have them reactivate and update themselves.
Damn, what I read here is not good news. My SM-P605's died yesterday.
With Tapatalk on my Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014)
Hardware issue for sure. Same problem with mine. Opened the back case, disconnected the upper right (as your looking at the screen) small ribbon, reconnected, and boom, perfect wifi once again!
The EZ Package Disabler app is fine for debloating rooted and non-rooted devices with Touchwiz roms. It uses Knox, so that mustn't be removed. The apps are still on the system partition, but are completely dead now. While other apps, especually for non-rooted devices kill the system apps during boit and try to prevent their restart. But during boot the whole stuff is active until the app kicks in, allowing the system apps to receive updates, communicate, spam free flash mem etc.
The app wirks the same way on my rooted P605 and unrooted S5. And gives a reason to buy Samsung stuff, unlike Touchwiz and its bloatware. As far as custom roms go, i found that of my old LG L9 much better. Even if the early roms were AOSP 4.0.4 based, then 4.1.3, they had already had the fresh & bright look & feel of the future Kitkat, and a few useful enhancements like an integrated backup tool, which was more simple, but for me as useful as TB.
As for the main problem here, i think using a case with a hardened backside, and not one if these with a big hole(though being better than nothing), prevents oroblens like battery, display and seemingly wifi connectors loosening. Or bad solder joints. The backplate of the note gives thru any pressure on the back, especially in the middle area. It then rests on the battery, metal shields, connectors and stuff. This seems to generate enough wear over time for problems. The same back plate on a much smaller device(my S5, but that has a subchassis covering the innards, too) would be much stiffer, and my 7" tablet has an aluminium unibody case, such trouble is unknown there.
Hi Gents..
same problem here... I used to own a SM-600 purchased in 2014 unfortunately I lost it... (the first tablet worked without any proble until I lost it...) than I managed to found the same modell brand new on amazon... it worked for 2 weeks and 2 days ago wifi died... but funny enough not straight away.... first couple time just switched off the wifi... I managed to switch simply back... next day it only worked if restarted the device... now factory reset nothing... If it is hardware related why worked 2 weeks witout any problem? If it is software related why not working after software reset? Only installed a few apps from the store.. the device did not overheated or physically damaged...
I have the exact same problem.
Since I bought this a long time ago, I have to pay for the repair. I just want to know if it is worth it. How much did it cost you (if you bothered)?
In my opinion it would be foolish to spend a dime to repair a 4 year old tablet. If the battery is original, it may well be near the end of its useful life as well. FWIW, I bought this tablet used about 8 months ago and have not experienced this wifi problem.
It's still so well equipped, that you can't simply replace with a modern entry level or midline tablet, but with a top of the line one, so a repair is well an option.
I just don't have a clue about the SoCs performance level. To which current ones it would equal and where things get better. I can only compare it to my similarly(Snapdragon 801) equipped phone and my cheap 7" tablet's quad core Mediatek SoC, and that is considerably worse, though being three years newer.
I did a search and most of the Wifi problems seem to describe knox security and bootloader issues.
Here, I wish to describe/discuss what seems to be a hardware problem in my n7100 note 2.
This occurs with stock and dr. ketan rom on 4.4.2 even with wifipatch applied (technically not needed).
OS 4.4.2
boot loader: n7100ZSUFNL1 (I believe this bootloader should be ok - correct me if I'm wrong).
model GT-n7100
ISSUE
- the wifi icon doesn't turn on or wifi drops out when the system is running hot. This happened the first time after I flashed a ROM/upgraded and I thought it was a ROM issue.
- however, more recently, I have managed to keep the wifi signal absolutely stable when i open up the back cover and run a fan blowing on the back/cpu area at the top back of the phone around the camera area.
- with fan cooling => completely stable
- without fan cooling => drops out when system under load or randomly.
for some reason, omega rom had a problem for me where it kept disconnecting irrespective of the heat
I have seen discussions of our phone overheating but this seems to be a hardware problem with the wifi module.
I presume that there may be micro fractures with the wifi chip solder (seems to be a theme in electronics) that may be causing wifi problems with overheating.
This happened with an iphone 4 voice audio processing chip once for me and the "online community" had figured out a fix by taping in a "pressure mount" for the chip.
//blog.lovefone.co.uk/iphone-4-faulty-microphone-audio-chip-problem
Any suggestions on taping in a heatsink or pressure against the wifi module?
Help would be appreciated. Just adding to the knowledgebase in the community.
When Samsung adopted RoHS some range of devices plagued with badly soldered BroadCom chips. I personally know one S3 and two Note 2 (one is mine own) with all the same problem: no WiFi from time to time and likely no BT too.
I paid ~100 euros to change the main board with BC chip guaranteed working about half a year ago.
Thanks for the quick reply and confirmation.
After ordering a new midframe; playing around with screws and disassembling it a few times; it does feel like a solder joint/connection issue.
I haven't heard much feedback from the net on this problem which is why i raised it.
Others on the net have mentioned loosening the screws securing the motherboard down. I will try that as well but I presume that with a loose solder joint; overtightened screws may warp the motherboard just enough for the connection to flake out.
THanks again.
PS - if anyone else has the same problem/suspicion; please chime in.
So, in follow up.
Adding aluminum tape to the wifi chip didn't seem to work. I took it off and reseated the midframe where the antenna is located.
Still was getting dropped wifi.
Disassembled; took a small screwdriver and gently lifted the wifi contacts from the motherboard up so that it makes better contact with the midframe.
Seemed to help.
It's definitely hardware. Whether it's a problem with the WIFI chip or with the antenna; i don't know but it's somewhere along that line.
Crazy hardware gremlins
Perhaps someone with more electrical engineering know-how can answer.
It's almost certainly a hardware issue. I don't know if it's the cable I'm using, some grounding issue, or what, but the problem is really annoying.
Full disclosure, I have a tmobile/at&t motherboard inside a N7105. I swapped it over last fall-ish because the N7105 motherboard developed a sleep of death problem that persisted through every rom I put on there, and even occurred when I was in recovery. Whatever, I can't get LTE on tmobile with this phone anyway, which is why I acquired a tmobile motherboard to swap in.
Perhaps it was always a problem, since I rarely use the headphone port. I got an unpleasant surprise a couple months ago when I tried- nothing but static through headphones. Long story short, it's apparently some grounding issue? I followed the recommendations in that post. I still needed to smack it a little before it would work. But it more or less solved the issue.
I've been having wifi problems recently, and it may or may not be a consequence of the above issue. My wifi would simply stop detecting wifi signals. It would stop connecting, and then the wifi settings would eventually realize that it couldn't see any networks at all. Turning the wifi on/off or rebooting wouldn't bring it back. I keep solving this by disassembling my phone (poor thing, it's been disassembled so many times in the past month), letting it sit for a bit, and reassembling it. I'm slowly working out that putting screws in any slot other than right by the wifi antenna would eventually result in the lost wifi. It does work to bring the wifi back, and anything less doesn't. I don't know why. It might be a contact issue, but I can't see any difference between this and the N7105 motherboard.
In any case, this means that whatever grounding connection needed to make the headphone port work just isn't happening. That's fine, I still have my trusty rockboxed ipod.
But the wifi problem persists, and it's completely absent in the N7105 motherboard (but sleep of deeeeaaaaath). It could be that the Anker 10ft cable I recently got is no good or allowing too much electrical noise through or something. Maybe it doesn't like being charged too quickly. The wifi problems do occur more frequently when I use the Anker cable to charge.
To be honest, I'm not holding out much hope for a solution. The phone is three years old, and even if I could have happily continued using it for another year or so, it is starting to show its age. I've been browsing Note 4s on ebay. It might be time for a change.
The motherboard in the ATT (i317) and Tmobile (t889) are not identical to the n7105 which may be part of the issue.
I have also read posts where XDA members had replaced their USB charging port and flex cable and would up with no cell signal and wifi.
Maybe the USB port/cable in the needs to be changed too?
I'm not sure if the motherboard is an issue, since I've used it in this configuration for months with no problems.
In any case, I've stopped using my 10ft Anker cable to charge, and as long as I leave most of the screws out, the wifi behaves. I don't know if it's electrical noise, more grounding issues, static electricity, or what. It's not ideal, but it's better than no wifi.