Related
Hey there,
I just received my new Polaris - but one hole is not sealed by a cap. It's not the GPS antenna, but some other kind of antenna, but I don't know whether it's bad to have this hole on the back and whether there is a cap for it...
Does somebody also have this hole on the back and knows what this connector is for? Looks very similar to the GPS antenna... I already thought whether it's an antenna for radio or GSM...
Sorry, attaching a photo...
thats some serious hardware hacking...
if you got it like that return it back to the one that sold you it.
I have no hole or cap what so ever at that location. Are you sure this is a Polaris? Perhaps you got some test-model with an extra adaptor plug for something on it.
im asking the same question in another thread...
and hoping for answers there.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=3642734#post3642734
a guy there has dismatled the phone so im putting in a question about what is showed in your hole.
by finding out whats under there im thinking of (fm radio) maybe somone has built some extension from there.
example the personbe before you might have used the phone in a car alot and had bad FM reception and wanted to build a FM extension.
Good question
I wrote to HTC this morning. Let's see what they say...
Also I was wondering because the S/N for this phone is not known at HTC for the official download of the new WM6.1 update...
Anyways, somewhere behind the battery there is a "POLA100" printed on the phone... As it completely looks like that phone, as it has the "htc" logo on the front and as it has the "POLA100" written inside, it MUST be one..
Anyways, I was also wondering, because the plug for the power cable is some sort of UK one (without the third connector), no euro-plug..
Strange thing it is... I will let you know about the answer from HTC...
Ah, before I forget, I have a better picture of the hole... I attach it...
There is a slot for external gsm antena
UPDATE 5/26/2011: I have put together a tutorial and will keep it updated. It can be found at this link. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=14111386&postcount=207 The project is not fully completed but working! Keep following us as we progress through this thread.
Ok, I’ve been digging around recently and have been getting nowhere. From a bunch of emails and PM’s that took me a long time to write, I have gotten nothing back. So I am starting a new thread here.
I am in the process of finding info on the internal GPS module that the G-Pad is capable of having installed. I am willing to use my tablet as a demo to see if I can get it working! If it works, I will make a detailed thread on how to go about installing a GPS module into the G-Tablet. So speak up if you know your electronics please!!!
What I have compiled so far
A member from XDA forums literally bought a kit (eBay Post) that enabled GPS use. He posted that the chip that he installed was a RXM-GPS-SG-B found at this link (http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?lang=en&site=US&KeyWords=RXM-GPS-SG-B&x=0&y=0). After looking at the data sheet for this chip I’m pretty sure that this chip will work on the G-tablet board. All of the pins line up properly and everything. In the XDA post that I read, after the install of the chip he posted “I now have power to the chip and its working. When I click on the place app now it no longer just says wait but comes up with aps where to go.” This is a good sign in that it is already enabled in the VS bootloader kernel. Basically if you can get it soldered in and enabled it should work. The problem is that he claimed that pin 12 (vcc) did not have power and he had to power it from another source. He claimed that he tapped into the USB +5v power. That would have worked ok if the GPS chip needed 5v power. The chip itself needs 3.3v of power. This user was overvolting his GPS chip from the get-go. He had reported some issues with it and I think that this overvolting was part of the problem.
Here is a picture of the installed chip via the XDA forums. Sorry for the smallness it was as big as I could find. http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=585865&stc=1&d=1304460793
My theory is that you can tap into the 3.3v pin that is located on the mini PCI e headers and use this for power. This will provide the correct voltage. Here is a picture of the empty spots on the board. http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=585866&d=1304460792
As you can see in the picture above there is an “empty” power circuit located below where the GPS chip would reside. I read a post on XDA that claimed that if properly hooked up correctly it would probably produce the 3.3v output needed for the GPS chip also. The items that the user claimed could possible make it work were as follows.
http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail&name=NCP51460SN33T1GOSCT-ND Part# NCP51460SN33T1G
http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail&name=NCP551SN33T1GOSCT-ND Part# NCP551SN33T1G
I do not have enough knowledge about IC’s to know how these are used. If anyone has an idea let me know. They go in the power circuit somehow.
The next part is the antenna connector. This would get installed in the empty “ANT2” connector. This should be an easy mount and is exactly how “ANT1” the wifi antenna is connected. http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=585863&d=1304460740
http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail&name=H9161CT-ND Part# U.FL-R-SMT(10)
Finally onto the antenna itself. Although I have read that a passive antenna can be hooked up to this chip, an active antenna seems like it would get much better reception. The antenna that I have read a lot about is the following.
http://search.digikey.com/scripts/D...&lang=en&site=us&keywords=931-1014-ND&x=0&y=0 Part# ALA.01.07.0095A
This antenna would literally just snap onto the antenna 2 connector and it should work. Now to run an active antenna the GPS data sheet says that a 300ohm ferrite bead needs to be installed. This is the part where the member at XDA also messed up. He wired an antenna with a 300ohm resistor thinking it worked the same as a ferrite bead. A ferrite bead basically reduces any interference coming from the antenna going to the chip. Here is a link to the proper ferrite bead.
http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail&name=445-6406-1-ND Part# MMZ1608D220C
The ferrite bead is also where I have run into problems. I do not know how to properly install one of these and I have no idea if there is even a spot on the board to do so. Any help in this area would also be appreciated. http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=585873&stc=1&d=1304461146
The antenna should be able to fit in the plastic up at the top of the case while also providing ample reception.
After all of this is installed hopefully the GPS chip will work. Although this sounds like a complicated project there is not actually that much soldering to do. The main GPS chip is actually most of the soldering. I am hoping that someone reads and appreciates that work that I have compiled/done so far. Any help on this project would be greatly appreciated. Also please do not post “why don’t you just use an external Bluetooth module.” I get that these work great, but I just want to see if the internal GPS will function. Attached below is everything I could possibly obtain after browsing through the entire internet looking for any type of documentation on this project Thanks for taking time to read through this post.
Last Thoughts
Here is a more in depth picture that shows the GPS connection and GPS schematic from the datasheet. It is very helpful. http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=585868&d=1304460792
I posted datasheets as attachments for the GPS Module and the Antenna I hope this helps out. http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=585875&stc=1&d=1304461367
Here is the entire system board for those who need a complete picture. http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=585867&d=1304460792
References
Thanks to the following people from XDA
mystkrh
6.055chevy
vsc
also to anyone I missed sorry
I will not be much help here, but I applaud your efforts.
I hope someone fills in the rest of the picture... I would love to do this to my G-Tab.
Great post Fosser2!
I too would like to have an internal GPS solution. I have a little electronics experience and I'm willing to go down this road as well.
For the ferrite bead, it looks like it gets soldered in at the L1 pad on the board.
All the other parts you listed look like they'll fit. The 3.3v chips you listed are just regulators. They "regulate" how much voltage goes through them. You feed them 5v (or whatever) and they spit out 3.3v.
What I'm wondering next is what about all the capacitors that are missing (all the C### labels on the board). Those regulators need some and the GPS chip itself looks like it needs some as well. I'll download the data-sheets and dig through those.
Hopefully others will chime in as well.
-John
twistedrotors said:
Great post Fosser2!
I too would like to have an internal GPS solution. I have a little electronics experience and I'm willing to go down this road as well.
For the ferrite bead, it looks like it gets soldered in at the L1 pad on the board.
All the other parts you listed look like they'll fit. The 3.3v chips you listed are just regulators. They "regulate" how much voltage goes through them. You feed them 5v (or whatever) and they spit out 3.3v.
What I'm wondering next is what about all the capacitors that are missing (all the C### labels on the board). Those regulators need some and the GPS chip itself looks like it needs some as well. I'll download the data-sheets and dig through those.
Hopefully others will chime in as well.
-John
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well honestly I'm not sure about all the C#### labels. I think when I order the parts (Thursday) I will only be ordering the GPS, Antenna, the ferrite bead and the antenna connector. I will be using that 3.3v from the mini PCI e header and pray it works. (hopefully bypassing the need for "regulators.") I'm just hoping that it will be detected software side. I guess time will tell But for all others keep posting on this topic because your expertise is greatly helpful.
Another alternative is looking into the Ericson 3307G which the Zpad, uses for GPS. (Gps version)
The 3307G has GPS and 3G, though it is a mPCIE card, so u need to put one of those on the board.
It may be easier though as you can modify the zpad roms for the gtab.
roguey said:
Another alternative is looking into the Ericson 3307G which the Zpad, uses for GPS. (Gps version)
The 3307G has GPS and 3G, though it is a mPCIE card, so u need to put one of those on the board.
It may be easier though as you can modify the zpad roms for the gtab.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For right now, I'm going to roll with the actual gps chip. I did put some though into installing the mPCIE slot but I'm hoping that the GPS is more just dropping in and hoping it works. The mPCIE slot seems like it would be tough to get working software side, but thats just my 2cents.
well apparently pershoot's kernel supports it (3g version anyway), its just the rom that needs the modifying.
Remember the Zpad and Gtab are basiclly the same thing, main thing missing from the Gtab is the pcie and Antenna.
Looks like a great project. I'll be following your progress.
I wanted to mention that the ferrite bead in your link is 22 olms not 300 you list in your post.
dhanifin said:
Looks like a great project. I'll be following your progress.
I wanted to mention that the ferrite bead in your link is 22 olms not 300 you list in your post.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good call on that one. Here is what the data sheet specifically says about the ferrite bead.
Code:
"A 300 ohm ferrite bead should be used to connect this line to the
RFIN line. This bead will prevent the RF from getting into the power supply, but
will allow the DC voltage onto the RF trace to feed into the antenna. A series
capacitor inside the module prevents this DC voltage from affecting the bias on
the module’s internal LNA.
Maintaining a 50 ohm path between the module and antenna is critical. Errors in
layout can significantly impact the module’s performance. Please review the
layout guidelines elsewhere in this guide carefully to become more familiar with
these considerations."
If you can do me a favor and try to find the proper ferrite bead to meet these specifications that would be great. I'll keep looking on my end.
The other reason that I had this ferrite bead was the user "vsc" recommended it in this post. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=12242377&postcount=54
Here is what he said:
Code:
2) The GPS receiver datasheet says for the ferrite bead, 300 ohms at 100 MHz. But every bead that meets that specification that I found also doesn't have good isolation at ~1.5 GHz (GPS band). As such I picked a different bead based upon my "good" judgement which will provide isolation between the antenna and LNA supply.
It looks like you are serious about this - but - are you PCB hardware and software engineer? After all the hardware prototype, you have to make the BIOS recognize and get the driver for this motherboard..etc...ouches - lots of work...
Unless you are into this to make the business on it - I would say "waste of time" (sorry - if offended to you). And I assum this could be your hobby to play around with electronic, pcb..etc...but if you are very good at EE/EEE and assembly language, Java - you are welcome to try on this
good luck!
fosser2 said:
The ferrite bead is also where I have run into problems. I do not know how to properly install one of these and I have no idea if there is even a spot on the board to do so. Any help in this area would also be appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The ferrite bead would be soldered onto the PCB at L11 (upper left on the first picture). It goes between pin 17 of the chip and the antenna connector.
rcjpth said:
It looks like you are serious about this - but - are you PCB hardware and software engineer? After all the hardware prototype, you have to make the BIOS recognize and get the driver for this motherboard..etc...ouches - lots of work...
Unless you are into this to make the business on it - I would say "waste of time" (sorry - if offended to you). And I assum this could be your hobby to play around with electronic, pcb..etc...but if you are very good at EE/EEE and assembly language, Java - you are welcome to try on this
good luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Currently I'm like 85% sure that the GPS support is built directly into the software. I have been directly talking to roebeet. He said that in his newest firmware "brilliant corners" that he deleted a script that checked to see if there was a gps chip installed and then enabled/disabled it accordingly.
Code:
With my Brilliant Corners update, I actually noticed a script that gets run and changes the library file, depending on the GPS installed.
So well I am still unsure about a number of things, I'm going to press my luck and continue with the project I will be ordering the parts tomm.
Here is a 300 Ohm ferrite bead that should work. It's the same package size as the original 22 Ohm one that was posted.
http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail&name=445-2171-1-ND
-John
twistedrotors said:
Here is a 300 Ohm ferrite bead that should work. It's the same package size as the original 22 Ohm one that was posted.
http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail&name=445-2171-1-ND
-John
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice job on that find. I'll most likely be using this one in the build.
fosser2 said:
Ok, I’ve been digging around recently and have been getting nowhere. From a bunch of emails and PM’s that took me a long time to write, I have gotten nothing back. So I am starting a new thread here.
I am in the process of finding info on the internal GPS module that the G-Pad is capable of having installed. I am willing to use my tablet as a demo to see if I can get it working! If it works, I will make a detailed thread on how to go about installing a GPS module into the G-Tablet. So speak up if you know your electronics please!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looking at the pictures, you reference U39. This looks like a BGA IC which is going to be a real PIA to solder, if possible at all. Normally, BGAs are placed on the solder paste with +/- 1mil tolerance using a pick and place machine, then baked with all of the other SMT parts with the board. And even then you get fallout from the BGA shifting during reflow and needs to be x-rayed for voids and shorts. i can only cringe at the prospect of doing this by hand, but i've seen it done before.
In our case, the board is already populated and the only way to solder on the BGA would be find a heat source with a isolated stream (read no generic heat guns) and a crap load of kapton tape to insulate and hold the other SMT parts around U39 down.
Furthermore, the GPS module IC also comes in a QFN package which is also a PIA to solder. Granted, its not a BGA and has no pins directly under the IC but it will take a skilled technician with a industrial grade soldering iron with temperature control.
I'm in no way trying to shoot this idea down. It certainly is do-able but it is a true project with no guaranteed outcome (parts soldered down correctly = GPS will work). I certainly would entertain trying this out and this gives me the perfect excuse to pry open my 2 wk old gtab. i have all of the necessary tools available at my company to do this properly and if its a matter of simply soldering down these parts to see what happens, i can do this.
let me do a little more research on the GPS module. hopefully, the viewsonic design engineers used a reference design straight from linx so we can figure out at least the GPS module schematics so we can understand what needs to be soldered where etc (and find out what U39 is - it says its a uP for micro processor but in our case it might be a serial NMEA converter).
stay tuned. from a practical risk vs reward scenario this isn't worth the time/effort. thankfully, i enjoy doing stuff like this and its the process that i enjoy, the outcome is simply icing on the cake.
sorry for the long post.
dzasta said:
Looking at the pictures, you reference U39. This looks like a BGA IC which is going to be a real PIA to solder, if possible at all. Normally, BGAs are placed on the solder paste with +/- 1mil tolerance using a pick and place machine, then baked with all of the other SMT parts with the board. And even then you get fallout from the BGA shifting during reflow and needs to be x-rayed for voids and shorts. i can only cringe at the prospect of doing this by hand, but i've seen it done before.
In our case, the board is already populated and the only way to solder on the BGA would be find a heat source with a isolated stream (read no generic heat guns) and a crap load of kapton tape to insulate and hold the other SMT parts around U39 down.
Furthermore, the GPS module IC also comes in a QFN package which is also a PIA to solder. Granted, its not a BGA and has no pins directly under the IC but it will take a skilled technician with a industrial grade soldering iron with temperature control.
I'm in no way trying to shoot this idea down. It certainly is do-able but it is a true project with no guaranteed outcome (parts soldered down correctly = GPS will work). I certainly would entertain trying this out and this gives me the perfect excuse to pry open my 2 wk old gtab. i have all of the necessary tools available at my company to do this properly and if its a matter of simply soldering down these parts to see what happens, i can do this.
let me do a little more research on the GPS module. hopefully, the viewsonic design engineers used a reference design straight from linx so we can figure out at least the GPS module schematics so we can understand what needs to be soldered where etc (and find out what U39 is - it says its a uP for micro processor but in our case it might be a serial NMEA converter).
stay tuned. from a practical risk vs reward scenario this isn't worth the time/effort. thankfully, i enjoy doing stuff like this and its the process that i enjoy, the outcome is simply icing on the cake.
sorry for the long post.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dang, I guess I didn't think much about what the U39 part was. I sure hope that its not the NEMA serial converter. That would blow the whole project. Let me know if you find any schematics for this part. Either way, the project is still happening Let me know what else you find. Your help is appreciated.
fosser2 said:
Dang, I guess I didn't think much about what the U39 part was. I sure hope that its not the NEMA serial converter. That would blow the whole project. Either way, its still happening Let me know what else you find. Your help is appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure why U39 was referenced. Were the GPS serial port pins, TXA (pin 4) and RXA (pin 5), traced to that location? Or was the original author of that diagram guessing about U39?
The GPS module spits out NMEA sentences on TXA in a "serial" format. IMO, I don't know why there would be a need for any sort of hardware converter.
I am concerned about the software side though. By default the GPS module outputs NMEA commands at 9,600bps, 8 data bits, no parity, and 1 stop bit. If the micro isn't setup to accept the messages at that rate then we will have an issue. There is a command to change the serial port settings but I guess we can cross that bridge if we come to it.
-John
Edit: Here's a link to the GPS modules datasheet directly from the Linx website. http://www.linxtechnologies.com/resources/data-guides/rxm-gps-sg.pdf The link provided on Digikeys site doesn't seem to work.
Warranty voided!
So I cracked open my Gtab because I wanted to see if there was power on the voltage regulator pads of the GPS power section. And there is! U29 has 4.94vdc on it's input pin and U22 has 3.29vdc. What's interesting is that these voltages are present even when the tablet is powered off.
U22 is the power supply that is tied to the GPS's backup battery supply pin. For U22 to always have power makes sense, it's providing the power that the GPS needs in order to keep it's memory and RTC going. This allows for faster Time to First Fix, according to the datasheet.
But U29 provides the main VCC supply voltage to the module on pin 12. If it's always on, then the module will always be powered up. I wonder what that will do to battery life. The module is designed to operate automatically in different power saving modes so the difference in battery life may be negligible.
-John
Edit: Next, I want to figure out what capacitors are needed for the regulators.
twistedrotors said:
Warranty voided!
So I cracked open my Gtab because I wanted to see if there was power on the voltage regulator pads of the GPS power section. And there is! U29 has 4.94vdc on it's input pin and U22 has 3.29vdc. What's interesting is that these voltages are present even when the tablet is powered off.
U22 is the power supply that is tied to the GPS's backup battery supply pin. For U22 to always have power makes sense, it's providing the power that the GPS needs in order to keep it's memory and RTC going. This allows for faster Time to First Fix, according to the datasheet.
But U29 provides the main VCC supply voltage to the module on pin 12. If it's always on, then the module will always be powered up. I wonder what that will do to battery life. The module is designed to operate automatically in different power saving modes so the difference in battery life may be negligible.
-John
Edit: Next, I want to figure out what capacitors are needed for the regulators.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Holy crap! this is some serious progress. I was not expecting this right now I'm really happy that there is power right beneath the gps but the thing that I am concerned about I guess is, is it worthwhile to try to rebuild the power supply circuit, or just run 3.3v from the mini PCI e. I guess I'm down for rebuilding the circuit because its the way it was initially intended to work.
fosser2 said:
Currently I'm like 85% sure that the GPS support is built directly into the software. I have been directly talking to roebeet. He said that in his newest firmware "brilliant corners" that he deleted a script that checked to see if there was a gps chip installed and then enabled/disabled it accordingly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
According to the TnT v1.1 kernel patch file from Viewsonic, enabling and disabling the GPS module (the comment in the driver mentions it is for a "MALATA_SMBA1102") is all that the kernel driver does. No code to anything beyond that. Are there any data lines connected from the GPS and where do they go on the gTablet board. Is it connected to an internal SDIO bus?--You can get GPS data that way.
Hi all,
Just a quickie, my wifi is not working on my phone (already got a thread for it) i'm wondering about the little gold connectors on the inside of the case.
I recently swapped my case for another one, and i'm thinking it's possible that the wifi is not making a flush enough contact.
Could someone try something please, just take the back off your phone and try to connect to wifi please??
It's just a theory but i'd like to see the result.
Many thanks.
You can't get wifi with ts back off unless your sat next to the router, your back cover won't be making the connections properly
Sent from my Sensation using xda premium
Hey XDA,
I just got a Nexus S and when I went to put the battery in noticed what looks like an antenna port to the right of the battery, just curious if anyone knows what it's for as I didn't see anything mentioned about it in the manual (doesn't show up on their diagram of it).
I saw this the other day too, some info on the subject would be nice.
external antenna port. Lots of phones used to have them.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
Thanks,
Do you know the connector port name/type is? I get 1 bar at best of coverage in my home and generally only use my phone in one spot and wouldn't mind an external antenna of some sort.
Edit:
Found the port name MMCX, now just looking for a antenna that will work.
If you see the W!,R1,,w2 holes. they are your attenas and recivers. if you poke the small hole with something you break connectivity. Which you can now get it replaced if you have insurecnce doe.... dont listen to me this is just my expeice that i had with my samsung insinct, I'm sharing education. this is fraud.
please disregard all grammatical errors its 2am and im tired but bored... this is sad.
[Q&A] WiFi stuck on turning on; MAC 02:00:00:00:00:00; G2 G3 G4 G5 Nexus5 Nexus 7 etc
Hi!
If you are reading this now, you are probably one of the unlucky fellows who's WiFi (and Bluetooth) stopped functioning, and if so, you are probably deperately searching for a solution/fix. I might have something for you, but first:
*** DISCLAIMER/WARNING ***
You yourself are exclusively responsible for whatever may (or may not) happen to your mobile device, to yourself or others. I am only giving hints/advices here that *MAY* help, but I will not take any responsability, nor will I provide any support, in absolutely *ANY CASE*, including, but not limited to: your problem not being solved or/and your mobile device becoming partially or completely broken. Let me be very clear: If you do anything to your device rendering it useless, destroying it, seriously or fataly injuring you or others, and then come blaming me or/and cry for help, I will point my index finger at you and laugh at you. Period.
If you are a impatient person and want to get straight to the point, jump right to section 6.
Table of Contents
0. Foreword
1. Description of the problem
2. Urgent advice
3. Things that didn't work
4. There is little hope
5. My most obvious advice
6. LET'S GET SERIOUS!
6.a Sellotape / Scotch tape
6.b Refrigerator / Freezer
6.c Oven
0. Foreword
Two or three months ago, one fine morning, the WiFi/BT of my LG G2 suddenly stopped working. Initially I thought this would be only one stupid annoying minor thingy, that I’d be able to solve it fast. I was wrong.
1. Description of the problem
When turning on the WiFi, it would just stay in "Turning on..." forever. Similar thing for Bluetooth: It would stay on for a few seconds and then turn itself off again after. (But then, who needs Bluetooth anyway, WiFi ist probably 100 times more important...). I have thoroughly searched the internet, and I found quite some videos with exactly the same problem (remove the two blanks from the links to watch):
h ttps://w ww.youtube.com/watch?v=fRGnQz1zUmw
h ttps://w ww.youtube.com/watch?v=4W8YJMDFM88
h ttp://w ww.dailymotion.com/video/x2cuyjt_nexus-5-turning-wifi-on-frozen-problem_tech
2. Urgent advice
I want to prevent you from wasting countless hours searching for a solution - I wasted so much of my time already, no need for you to repeat that. Therefore: *Please* be aware that there is a VERY HIGH PROBABILITY that this issue is being caused by a hardware defect. I can not speak for all devices of course, but keep in mind that the main reason I wasted so much time, was me beliving it was some software issue! See the next section for a glimpse of stuff I have tried without any success:
3. Things that *DIDN'T* work
01. Restarting WiFi/Bluetooth several times
02. Rebooting the phone
03. Turning airplane mode on/off several times
04. Slapping/hitting the phone (this was indeed suggested in a forum)
05. Using WiFi-Fixer apps
06. Resetting to factory settings
07. Upgrading to newest Android version
08. Fully drained the battery and left it uncharged for several hours
(Rooted the phone)
09. Deleting the /data/misc/wifi/wpa_supplicant.conf
10. Deleting the whole /data/misc/wifi folder
11. Creating a file named ".bdaddr" in /persist/bluetooth containing a MAC-Address in hexadecimal format
12. Creating a file named ".macaddr" in /persist/wifi containing a MAC-Address in hexadecimal format
13. Flashing several custom ROMs to it (CyanogenMod, ParanoidAndroid, ...)
14. Going back to stock ROM
15. etc. etc. etc.
16. Several combinations and permutations of the above
4. There is little hope
Again, as the cause of the problem is most likely a hardware issue, I don't recommend going through all the steps as described in the previous section; however, though none of the steps worked for me, this doesn't mean that none won't work for you neither; you might be luckier than I was. In that case, enjoy your restored WiFi and be happy.
5. My most obvious advice
You need to replace the motherboard (main board) of your device.
Honestly, if you can afford it and it doesn't cause too many inconveniences to you, you'll be better off by simply buying a new device. If you don't want to buy a new device, send it in for repairs. If you don't want to do that as well, you'll have to fallback to a DIY solution:
I. Buy a new main board for your device. Be careful to get exactly the right component for your specific model. If you dont find any shop selling those, there are plenty of individuals out there that own devices with broken displays. You dont need the displays, you need the motherboard. Buy one such broken device, and you'll have your main board replacement.
II. Replace your main board or let someone else do it for you
Continues below.
continuation
6. LET'S GET SERIOUS!
If you are reading this, you either didn't read or you decided not to follow my most obvious advice in section 5. So be it. If you want to carry on from here, be sure to re-read my disclaimer at the top of my post.
There are 3 DIY possible fixes for the WiFi problem - none is guaranteed. I will describe them from the most harmless to the most kamikaze/deadliest. All of them will require you to open your device; if you are not careful and damage any of the components inside, you will end up with a worse device than before - but hey, don't say I didn't warn you.
At this point we assume that the cause of the problem is a faulty solder joint of your WiFi IC. The goal is to try to restore that solder joint. To do that, you will have to:
I. Open your device
II. Find your main board and separate it from all connected plugs
III. Find / identify the WiFi IC chip on the main board. I recommend searching for a service manual for your device, or/and searching for a disassembly video for your device; you need to know which one of the chips on the main board is the WiFi one.
Once you have identified your WiFi chip, you have 3 options, which you may combine with each other, but I recommend to try them out one-by-one as follows:
6.a Sellotape / Scotch tape
You need to make sure that your WiFi chip is pressed against the main board (ideally, this ensures the broken contacts touch each other, solving the problem). The best way to achieve this, is to attach a series of tape strips on the top of the WiFi chip, causing it to be pressed against the main board by the surrounding cover/hull once you reassemble/close the device. The tape strips are just a suggestion, do whatever you find convenient as long as you ensure that the chip is pushed against the board at all times.
This method may solve the WiFi problem already. When you turn your device back on, give it some time (5-10 minutes) and reboot it a few times if the problem still persists. My own WiFi didn't function right away, but after a while it finally recovered - hurray!
6.b Refrigerator / Freezer
Instead of using the tape as described in 6.a, you may first try to put your motherboard in a fridge for a few hours/days. But make sure to put it there in a plastic bag, and avoid moisture as much as you can, specially when taking it out of the fridge. Make sure its completely dry before reassembling your device!
By the way, try the refrigerator option BEFORE you try the freezer option!
6.c Oven
If everything else fails, the oven might be your last chance. This is not a joke, but as you probably can assume, it is "All-In" i.e. highly risky. The theory behind this is that high temperature will cause defective solder joints to reflow, reconnecting and thus fixing the problem.
You should only try this as a matter of last ressort. Be warned that you may fully destroy your main board, and there is a high chance that you will. Also, you may cause serious injury to yourself or others. Make sure you make backups of your data first. DO NOT BAKE THE WHOLE DEVICE, ONLY THE MAIN BOARD. DO NOT BAKE THE BATTERY!!
If you are still reading:
I. pre-heat your oven to 385° Fahrenheit (196° Celsius)
II. put your main board in the oven, bake it there for 7 minutes
III. remove from the oven, let it cool down until every component of the board has room temperature
Finally, here is a video of a guy doing a similar thing, but with a heat gun:
h ttps://w ww.youtube.com/watch?v=A4n0j3uaS7E
Ok, this is all, I hope I could help you.
Good luck!
Summary
Hello all,
first of all, I want to thank brysclar and xbing6 for their valuable feedback! Thanks a lot guys! :good:
Now, in an effort to update this thread and in an effort of trying to summarize it in fewer words (my disclaimer above applies!):
- The described problem seems to affect mainly (all kinds of) LG devices
- The issue seems to be caused by a defective soldering of the Wi-Fi chip on the main board
- The defect seems to be induced by dropping or/and overheating the device; recharging the battery, big/long app or android updates or the flashing of custom roms could cause excessive heating
- brysclar pointed out that replacing the battery might solve the problem (I haven't tried this out myself, so I can neither deny nor confirm this)
- My recommended solution is 6.a - applying pressure on the Wi-Fi chip, pushing it against the main board, using tape stripes
- There is a video of a brasilean guy doing some similar, but using pieces of an old credit card instead of tape strips: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJkdva2iOag BUT PLEASE NOTE THAT HE IS APPLYING THE PRESSURE ON A RANDOM SPOT, NOT DIRECTLY TO THE WIFI CHIP! It *may* work for you, but if it doesn't, find/identify your Wi-Fi chip and apply the pressure there
- If everything else fails, and only as a matter of last ressort, you may try what I have written in 6.c
So... this thread has over 500 views, but not one single reply.
Guys... what has your experience been? Have you tried anything out from the posts above, and if so, what was the result? Did it help you? Do you recommend anything? Has something else, not written here, worked for you?
There are a lot of people out there having the same problem. It would be great if you could give any feedback, share anything that helps the community.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I honestly didn't see this post before. You really covered every detail very well. So far, returning my G3 to stock and replacing the battery has fixed it for me. Weird. I know. I did try 90% of the things on your "things that don't work" list and you are correct. They don't work.
wlanmac 02/00/00/00/00, Bluetooth is OK
Hey, i just got an LG LS990 with same Wifi issue and i'm ready to try so WITNESS ME!
Thanks for an amazing and detailed post lml
Simply awesome.
I have similar issue with my Nexus 5x. It is QCA6174 hw 3.2 chip, lspci does not detect this chip any more. I am going to do a little bit investigation from device driver (cnss) perspective. It enables one GPIO to provide power to this WiFi chip, I will try read back this GPIO status to see if it is enabled. I do not have the schematics, I do not know how to check if power is supplied to this wifi chip.
lspci used to show below:
$ ./lspci
00:00.0 PCI bridge: Airgo Networks Inc Device 0300 (rev ff)
01:00.0 Network controller: Atheros Communications Inc. Device 003e (rev ff) (this is qca6174)
If kernel driver investigation does not reveal anything helpful, I will ask other guys to replace the chip.
I thought it is because of vendor partition is accidentally wiped out, maybe it is unlikely.
---------- Post added at 08:49 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:40 PM ----------
As Bluetooth can not be turned either, I am tending to think this is hardware related as well. As described previously, I will see if I can check that gpio status.
investigating
xbing6 said:
I have similar issue with my Nexus 5x.
(...)
I am going to do a little bit investigation
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi xbing, and thank you for your feedback! :good:
I am really curious and looking forward to hear the results of your investigation! I believe that in your case, too, the Wi-Fi/BT chip is not being supplied correctly due to a defective soldering. Note that I don't think that the chip itself is defective, only the contacts between the chip and the main board. So, before replacing the chip, I'd recommend to first try what I've written in 6.a (or check my update/summary above).
Keep us posted about everything you find out!
Sprint declined to fix my LS990 due to "water damage" being the reason for it not working, and wanted to charge me a $150 deductible for a $100 phone. Shimming the WiFi chip against the metal covering with some thermal pad I had lying around and adding a bit of sticky foam on top of the ribbon cable for the camera worked great! Much thanks!
Tomcat5 said:
Sprint declined to fix my LS990 due to "water damage" being the reason for it not working, and wanted to charge me a $150 deductible for a $100 phone. Shimming the WiFi chip against the metal covering with some thermal pad I had lying around and adding a bit of sticky foam on top of the ribbon cable for the camera worked great! Much thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any idea if thermal paste/grease could work?
unlikely
NavHur said:
Any idea if thermal paste/grease could work?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi NavHur,
since the problem is mostly caused by a loose Wi-Fi chip, respectively a defective solder joint, using thermal paste or grease is unlikely to help; again, what you need to do is to have your Wi-Fi chip pushed against your main board. You can use your imagination on how to accomplish this; what Tomcat5 described he did ultimately led to exactly having his chip being pressed against the board.
Of course you are free to try whatever you want - if you find new solutions please post some feedback.
Good luck.
NimbleWeasel said:
Hi NavHur,
since the problem is mostly caused by a loose Wi-Fi chip, respectively a defective solder joint, using thermal paste or grease is unlikely to help; again, what you need to do is to have your Wi-Fi chip pushed against your main board. You can use your imagination on how to accomplish this; what Tomcat5 described he did ultimately led to exactly having his chip being pressed against the board.
Of course you are free to try whatever you want - if you find new solutions please post some feedback.
Good luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks you so much, I placed a small piece of plastic above the wifi chip and one next to the camera lens. Now the wifi works fine. However my screen was pushed up so it bended a little. The faulty thing was my battery, not the added plastic. I compared mine with the one of a friend, mine was 1 mm bigger. (also with the battery of my friend's g3 the screen was fine)
I'll be changing it soon.
same problem as u but sometimes wifi works(mainly fully charged) and sometimes dont
i have lg g2 D802 model. It had a wifi problem as u shown in your videos,my phone also behaves same like yours but sometimes it works normally like while charging,works like 2 or 3 times a day(for 5-10 min).please tell me whether my phone got ic problem or software issue
Pratap94 said:
i have lg g2 D802 model. It had a wifi problem as u shown in your videos,my phone also behaves same like yours but sometimes it works normally like while charging,works like 2 or 3 times a day(for 5-10 min).please tell me whether my phone got ic problem or software issue
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Click to collapse
Hi Pratap94,
nobody, neither here in this forum nor elsewhere in the internet, will be able to give you a reliable answer without having a *physical* look at your phone. Nobody.
However, I can give you my opinion, based on the stuff you wrote: The fact that it works normally sometimes, specially while charging (probably it heats up in the process?), indeed seems to indicate a hardware issue. I believe you have a loose Wi-Fi chip i.e. a defective solder joint, like I had on my LG G2 D802 as well. I solved my problem by doing the stuff I described in 6.a.
Good luck.
Thank you so much
NimbleWeasel said:
Hello all,
first of all, I want to thank brysclar and xbing6 for their valuable feedback! Thanks a lot guys! :good:
Problem solved good bless you!! the problem is fix in that youtube video XD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sadly step 6.a did not help me. Well, it worked for first 5-10 minutes and then back again.
Olzhas18 said:
Sadly step 6.a did not help me. Well, it worked for first 5-10 minutes and then back again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Olzhas18,
that might be an indication that your WiFi chip is still a bit loose and is not sitting tight enough on the main board. On LG G2, it is difficult to push the chip against the board because it's covered by a metal cover...
Also, did you check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJkdva2iOag ?
Good luck!
NimbleWeasel said:
Hi Olzhas18,
that might be an indication that your WiFi chip is still a bit loose and is not sitting tight enough on the main board. On LG G2, it is difficult to push the chip against the board because it's covered by a metal cover...
Also, did you check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJkdva2iOag ?
Good luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you this tip and this whole thread. I have seen this video, but still the same effect. 5-10 minutes, I can rean some news and back to flashing. I'm going to buy Huawei Honor 8 soon, it was the last chance to recover my G4. I doubt I will purchase any other phone from LG.
Same boat
But bluetooth working
In cm roms also wifi tethring can be onn
But u cnt turn onn wifi
I had the same issue, can't turn on Wifi after factory reset.
I turn off my device off after one hour and reboot wifi was OK but when I want to upgrade some apps iwifi turn of again and my phone reboot with no SIM card.
I do "6.a Sellotape / Scotch tape" + a creedit card cut with this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_0jzp65eLY#t=73.319872
My LG G2 works fine