I have tentatively noticed a link between overclocking and signal loss on my G2X. Not so much as to be able to say there's a DEFINITE link between the two, but enough to warrant further investigation, I believe.
I had gotten recently to the point where if I didn't solve the signal loss issue, my G2X would have to end up on eBay and I'd have to eat the loss for buying a replacement for such a new phone. Of course first, it pays to research and find a possible solution.
Thus, in my experimenting, I've noticed that when I set the clock speed back to stock, things have gotten much better. I am still losing signal once every 2 hours or so, but that's much better. At 1408mhz, I was losing signal at least once every 5 minutes.
Now, it's a tentative link. I'm *still* losing signal more than I think I should. And, it does appear to be location-related, so maybe the issue lies in the ability to keep a WEAK signal, or to properly shift between towers as signal levels fluctuate.
jboxer has helpfully given a basic overview (very basic I'm sure) of how the RIL works here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=19300364&postcount=1051 ...
Since it isn't DIRECTLY affected by overclocking, that tends to remove support from my theory. But, everything in a phone must work in concert. Perhaps when overclocking, something's not synchronized correctly in the communication between kernel and RIL.
Now, I hear objections that "some phones just aren't stable when overclocking".. That I believe *is* relevant, but a bit misleading. My phone even at 1555 mhz tests out stable on any benchmark I've tried, is able to play 2 hour long 1080p video, play Shadowgun, etc... ie, totally stable. EXCEPT for signal loss.
I'm interested in 2 things in this thread. Both evidence and experiences from other users, as well as technical knowledge from those who know more about how these things work than I. Perhaps there's something that can be done to stabilize the signal loss to come out of this. I know from reading about the G2X that "weak signal" and losing signal despite a good signal strength is a common issue. I'd like to know why, and if it's something that can be addressed.
You can easily track your signal using this app: https://market.android.com/details?id=com.smartandroidapps.missedcall .. There's no reason to buy the Pro version, as the stats aren't as useful as I thought they'd be. But it *does* log every time your phone loses signal, even for just a second.
You have misinterpreted my answer to you. The RIL runs on the phone and issues commands to the baseband. The RIL can definitely be affected by overclocking. It is the baseband that is isolated from the rest of the system, not the RIL. If the phone is overclocked to a point as it is getting corrupted data on the dbus, then the RIL's commands to the baseband will be suspect, and the RIL could miss or corrupt data from the baseband. That can definitely cause a signal loss. My answer supports your theory. It doesn't discount it at all. I was agreeing with you.
jboxer said:
You have misinterpreted my answer to you. The RIL runs on the phone and issues commands to the baseband. The RIL can definitely be affected by overclocking. It is the baseband that is isolated from the rest of the system, not the RIL. If the phone is overclocked to a point as it is getting corrupted data on the dbus, then the RIL's commands to the baseband will be suspect, and the RIL could miss or corrupt data from the baseband. That can definitely cause a signal loss. My answer supports your theory. It doesn't discount it at all. I was agreeing with you.
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Ahh.... sorry about that then! I have been doing way too much hacking the last 24 hours, time for me to sleep.
Related
Hi.. I recently got g2x. Other than occasional reboot things seems to be smooth so far. But I am having issue with 4G at my work. If I walk few feet, I can get reception..but not at the place where I sit.
Is there any custom ROM that can improve the 4G reception slightly so that I don't have to walk around to get data.
I have seen few threads about reception issues..all of them seems to be couple of months old.. so wondering if there are any improvements lately.
Radio signals can act strangely, especially inside a building. Plus the higher frequencies used by modern cell phones are more prone to interference from the metal in buildings, etc. Coverage inside a modern building can be hit and miss, as you have discovered, unless your carrier has installed micro cells in the building, which obviously in your case, they have not. I don't think any custom ROM is going to improve signal reception. Singal reception is handled by the baseband, which if you got the GB update, has recently been updated. The custom roms use whatever baseband is alredy existing on your phone. As far as I know, nobody is writing custom basebands for Android phones.
Thanks for the reply.. looking at the bright side.. 1 less distraction to worry about at work
Which ROM is better to avoid the occasional phone switch off.. it happens once every 2 or 3 days.
Basically looking for a ROM which is most stable. Not worried about overclocking.. whatever I have now is plenty enough for my usage. Also would like to have better camera app.
Lot's of good ones. I keep going back to Weapon G2x. Butter.
homerxd said:
Basically looking for a ROM which is most stable. Not worried about overclocking.. whatever I have now is plenty enough for my usage. Also would like to have better camera app.
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Can't speak for other roms, but the CM7 nightlies are relatively stable. I haven't had any issues in a while. But if you want a2dp, you're SOL. It doesn't work on CM7 right now.
I don't mind the camera app, some people don't like it though.
Thanks for the info..started looking into the flashing steps.
Also..is it going to be a problem to send the phone back to tmobile for any warranty repairs once I flash custom rom? Can I easily get it back to factory settings before sending?
Hello,
I was wondering if some devs or anyone more knowledgeable about ROMs/Kernels/Modems than myself (which is probably most of you) could tell me what specific parts of a phone's software setup can impact quality of wifi reception.
Here's my issue - I have tried almost all the ROMs released for the Infuse from when this forum opened till now. I get bad wifi reception (one bar or less) on almost all of them, even within a reasonable distance from the router (next room)...
CM7 is an exception, it's usually a noticeably stronger signal than most.
MIUI is THE biggest exception, because I will have full (perfect) reception in the same exact location as when tested on other ROMs.
What I'd like to know is... is it MIUI's kernel? Are there other files than can impact this? Can modem play a role, or will that only ever affect mobile data and not wifi?
Lastly, if it IS possible to isolate a cause for the difference - would it be possible to run a different ROM and somehow incorporate whatever files/changes need to be made to wifi to fix it?
Thank you very much.
Hi guys
I've tried researching this issue from time to time but have never been able to find any definitive information. A couple of threads around the traps detailing similar problems, but that's it. Anyway, what happens is this: the phone will be showing a couple of bars or whatever, but there actually isn't any signal at all. Calls can be initiated, but wont actually connect, and then can't be ended either. The only way to resolve the issue is to reboot the phone, or activate airplane mode and then deactivate it again (which tends to take considerably longer than a simple reboot). I'm calling it a radio crash because that's what it seems to be, but I could of course be wrong about what is actually going on under the hood.
This post is basically part of an effort to diagnose the problem before I decide what this phone's future will be (have a new, different model on the way now).
Thanks for reading, and any advice/information will be much appreciated
It sounds as if you have a defective phone, or it could be you carrier.
Have you tried a different phone.
Do other people have the same problem with that carrier
You could also think of it like this, carrier problem, you can connect to wifi if it doesnt have internet connection, it still can show full bars but nothing will load
Sent from my MB865 using xda app-developers app
I have an SGS3 now, with the same SIM in it (cut down to micro of course). Average signal strength (as reported by third party apps that don't pad) is about the same, but no dropouts at all (as monitored and reported by the No Signal Alert app). However the SGS3 supports both my carrier frequencies, and the Atrix 2 doesn't. Having said that, the SGS3 seems to stay on 2100MHz all the time anyway where I am.
I've also put a different SIM in my Atrix 2, from a network that is more compatible (850/2100), and although the dropouts are less frequent, they are still occurring. However, I haven't had a "radio driver crash" in over a week. The dropouts have only been momentary too, lasting no more than a few seconds, 1-3 times per day (mostly in the afternoon).
I'm also planning to charge the phone up and leave it at a couple of other locations for a day or two while continuing to monitor signal interruptions. Should be interesting.
Thanks for the reply
Just a quick update: left the phone at another location for a few days where the average signal strength is stronger, and not a single dropout was logged during that time. In certain areas this phone is obviously not as good as some others at maintaining a signal, but I don't think the dropouts themselves are indicative of a fault given this new information.
The previous instances of radio lockups/crashes are still haunting me a little, but this strange phenomenon is still yet to occur again. I also forgot to mention that I'd previously done a full restoration of the official 4.0.4 ICS release in order to return to the phone completely to stock, which might have something to do with that. Previously it was rooted, with only some minor modifications, but I guess it's not beyond the realm of possibility.
Wait i have an idea
Send me your apn data.
Motorola doesnt have the best antennas either.
Also does it crash at a certain time after it is turned on or is it random?
Sent from my SOUL
Hi guys. I've got a saga to describe for those of you who are interested, but I'll try to keep it brief. I think it really boils down to one or two simple issues.
I've had Verizon phones for a long time, in Central Illinois. Probably about 10 years now. Rarely had problems with dropped calls. My previous phone was a Droid 1 ... worked great, very rarely (as I recall) had dropped calls.
Then in January 2012, as the Droid was killing me with general Android lag and unresponsiveness (but voice was still fine), I upgraded to a Galaxy Nexus. Loved it for Android performance. For the first 3 or 4 months I had it, I don't recall it giving me any undue trouble .. dropped calls were minimal if any, I think.
Then sometime around April or May, started getting a ridiculous number of dropped calls. Mostly at my home, throughout the day, but not just there, I've also experienced them a mile or two away from my house. The neighbor hood is fairly wooded, but that's never been a problem before.
Additionally, my wife has a "feature phone" (non-smartphone) also with Verizon and very rarely if ever has dropped call problems.
The topography at my house is along a river, we're right near a high bluff overlooking the river, with line of sight (besides the trees, of which there are not a ton, really) for at least a mile or so across the river. I think we're possibly within range of several cell towers.
I notice at most points when I'm in my house, using some apps that help you track signal strength and show you the cell tower ids, that I'm mostly one just two different ones, both of which seem to be maybe about 1 mile away. Also, if I'm walking up one flight of stairs, I pretty reliably see that same app showing the phone switching among possibly as many as 4 or 5 towers, in the space of about 5 or 10 seconds!
I suspect this may be caused by the topography in my area.
I also suspect that most of my dropped calls *may* have something to do with being in range of so many towers, or with the phone switching too frequently (or unnecessarily, really) among the towers, while I'm on the call, if this is possible (I have very little technical knowledge of cell phone radio technology -- hence this post).
Now, I've done a fair amount of research and talked to Verizon customer support about this at length. They've actually been very patient and good with me, but we still haven't arrived at the solution.
I originally thought the problem my be the Galaxy Nexus, but after getting a warranty replacement on that one, and even getting to try a Droid RAZR and then finally the GS3, I'm seeing virtually the exact same behavior on all of the phones. The symptoms do *not* seem to be directly related to signal strength exactly. I get usually about 50 - 60% of the total bars (maybe 3/5 or 4/5) in most parts of the house, yet *still* get these persistent drops.
Verizon's final best solution for me, basically, was to use a Network Extender. Despite my misgivings towards this, I have acquired one and it does seem to solve the problem for me, when I'm home, and when I'm in range of the device (its range seems pretty good in my house). One big problem with it though, ridiculously, is it seems that whenever it's on, my wife's Verizon phone starts dropping calls (and it never does otherwise). So there's a Catch-22 there, added to the fact that I'd rather not have to be running a Net Extender *and* the fact that I still see other drops when taking a walk or driving at least a mile or two from my house.
So, for those of you still with me, I'm wondering if
a) my theory about excessive switching, etc., is plausible, or if you have another one based on the facts I've outlined
b) if doing something like flashing an alternate radio ROM (I barely even knew there were separate ROMs for the radio -- I've done some rooting before of Android, but not the radio) might give me some more control or better performance. It'd be great if there were a setting somewhere where I could tell the phone to be less willing to switch towers or to give a higher preference to one tower, at least while in a certain GPS area (I know, I'm sure it's a reach).
Anyway, looking for a little education into why your opinions are of what may be causing this and if I have any remedies available that are feasible and may actually help.
Thank you for your attention and expertise.
This has been happening since the first day I got the One Plus One. I was hoping it was a software issue, but I am on the latest and still no fix has been implemented. It seems that I am not the only one with this issue, however there are many that do not have this problem at all.
There's a page on it: https://jira.cyanogenmod.org/browse/BACON-228
(Copied and pasted to OPO Support)
I don't know if there's something wrong with my phone but it's been happening from Day 1 and I'm fed up that no firmware has fixed anything. I began with Rogers in Canada, and for the most part it works but it would stop the upload/download on the top right for a bit then start again. I switched to Wind Mobile and still does the same thing. I changed the SIM cards, did hard resets, etc, and still nothing will fix it. I have a feeling I have a defective chip because others have reported no issues. It does the same on LTE or 3G. I can never watch a full YouTube clip or anything. The issue happens when I roam as well.
I also did the *#*#4636*#*# and played with different modes but it did not fix the issue. I also have random bar jumps. This happens every few minutes so I literally browse for a minute, data stops for a minute, browse for a minute, data drops for a minute, etc.
I get exactly the same, in the UK on EE network. The data just seems to freeze for no reason, totally independent from signal strength etc.
SimonTS said:
I get exactly the same, in the UK on EE network. The data just seems to freeze for no reason, totally independent from signal strength etc.
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I'm on Wind, and haven't noticed any issues, the speed is slow but that's a carrier-side issue since they only use 3g networks not 4g/lte. Um, there was another thread that had a couple different modems, perhaps you might see some success in stability by flashing those? It's either a issue with the modem, or the radio chip, but logcats would be helpful in determining and pinpointing the problems. (Just run the app catlog, and recreate your issue, then dump it and paste it to JIRA so the devs could have a better look, and as well as here, so perhaps someone could help/suggest something).
What's your current modem version?