Database Info

Radio in Cell Phone?

alright first off before i ask my question i think all of you should know. i am an extreme newb to cell phone hacking and moding so please excuse my arrogance 2nd thing i do most off my posts off my cell phone so please excuse the bad grammer and spelling. anyways as i have been reading in the forum people list the mods to their phones and i notice one listed radio? so could someone educate me on what a radio is i figure that it is what keeps you conected to the service provider but other than that i am clueless so when you mode it do you physically open the device and replace something and 2 what is the point of changing the radio do. so could an expert educate me and feel free to tell me everything you know rather than just answering my 2 main questions.

I guess thats its the radio you use to listen to music, news etc... Most phones nowadays come equipped with built-in radio function. I hope that helps. =)

im not too sure about the exact thing you are talking about
however thats what a buddy of mine working in a cell repair shop told
for the radio(the one that broadcast phone signal not the radio you listen to)
you know that in order to use a 3g phone in the US or elsewhere
[but the problem is mainly US cuz here we use special 3G band compared to the rest of the world] you need to get the good frequency
however most of the time manufacturers only design and produce different radio chip for different region if they really have to
cuz you know running those factories is not given to anyone
and why redesign a phone when you already have one
a phone is like a computer.. "change a part, gotta change the whole part" concept..
however a phone might not work in certain 3G frequencies not because the radio cant but because the manufacturer didnt pass the regulations in those regions and it happen that the phone can be 3G but its locked in the ROM
so you need to mod the ROM to make 3G radio work
like the omnia
some ppl argues that it might be dual-UMTS but the US 3G is locked in the ROM
because samsung didnt pass the FCC(Federal C??? C?? the agency that rules communication) at that time(when the first omnia shipped)
so they couldnt put US 3G
same thing for the touch diamond but it was GSM that needed to be rom-unlocked

d3thstalker said:
I guess thats its the radio you use to listen to music, news etc... Most phones nowadays come equipped with built-in radio function. I hope that helps. =)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not the right kind of radio bud
vanilla_star_8 said:
im not too sure about the exact thing you are talking about
however thats what a buddy of mine working in a cell repair shop told
for the radio(the one that broadcast phone signal not the radio you listen to)
you know that in order to use a 3g phone in the US or elsewhere
[but the problem is mainly US cuz here we use special 3G band compared to the rest of the world] you need to get the good frequency
however most of the time manufacturers only design and produce different radio chip for different region if they really have to
cuz you know running those factories is not given to anyone
and why redesign a phone when you already have one
a phone is like a computer.. "change a part, gotta change the whole part" concept..
however a phone might not work in certain 3G frequencies not because the radio cant but because the manufacturer didnt pass the regulations in those regions and it happen that the phone can be 3G but its locked in the ROM
so you need to mod the ROM to make 3G radio work
like the omnia
some ppl argues that it might be dual-UMTS but the US 3G is locked in the ROM
because samsung didnt pass the FCC(Federal C??? C?? the agency that rules communication) at that time(when the first omnia shipped)
so they couldnt put US 3G
same thing for the touch diamond but it was GSM that needed to be rom-unlocked
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is what i understand about radios (the cell phone kind )
Your radio is what communicates with the tower and can affect how many "bars" you get. Not having the correct radio will also cause your phone
Camera not to work, to have a black screen, and/or to have no sound or intermittent sound.
The radio chip stores information, but you can change the information on that chip by "flashing a new radio."
This is just my own understanding so if i made a mistake don't be afraid to correct me

I believe the radio part of these devices is the information that tells the hardware in the phone how to act. What frequencies to use on the cell band, how the wifi antenna acts, how the bluetooth antenna acts, etc... Even how the GPS antenna works. Hence while in CDMA land my Titan needed a GPS enabled radio to make the gps work. There was a chip and antenna in there, but the radio excluded directions for the processor to interact with it.
My mind is simple, and this may be wrong but it is how I understand how the radio portion affects the phone.
Also, feel free to correct us if we are wrong!

Wow... Where.... wow.

Radio function
Radio is the whole function of the cell phone part of your tiny portable PCs your carrying around.
Its a
Duplex (transmits and receives separate carrier waves at the same time) ,Two-way, VHF and UHF, FM tranceiver in its purest form.
The cell towers are nothing more than ham radio pioneered "repeater" stations, connected to land phone lines. 20 years before the 1st commercial cell phone, HAM radio operators were setting up their own area "club" repeater stations, and networking them much like cell phone operators do now. The biggest rush of my young electronic life was carrying a kenwood TR-2500 FM handheld with me on my Yamaha YZ-80 out to the remote areas of our trails, and making a phone-patch call from the handheld thru the repeater and to a household phone. It felt like star trek man. I felt so high tech and up to date as a 15 year old carrying a radio my license didnt allow yet. LOL The funny part was everyone who was on frequency would get to hear your conversation too. Modern cell phones are the same thing only with collars and leashes.
So , back to the PDA with a two meter radio crammed tight agaist a computer with buttons that are too small ...
Thats really what you have.
Everything that a PDA is , outside of Radio [ a patch(voice) connect or a modem(data) connect] is just a small computer.
By the way, I raised the room temp tonite by leaving a Touch Pro turned on and Idling its data connection ...

Circuit... great explanation! But how do I know what Radio version my X1i needs?

In Smartphones and Pocket PCs, 'Radio' refers to the RIL. Radio Interface Layer. An API (Application Program Interface) that sits between Windows Mobile and the hardware driving the phone. An API is a published series of functions/methods that an application or operating system can call.
Ther is a patent for it at http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/6826762.html.
It is so that the transmitter/receiver sits at arms length from WM or its apps, i.e. you can't go POKE the phone's registers directly, you have to ask pretty please through the API.
The Radio part of the ROM is the version that this API is at, for your device.

[Q] Fuze bad reception tips? (Solved - HW issue fixed)

[Edit: See post # 7 for hardware fix that solved my problem]
I need help with improving calling reception on the used AT&T Fuze I bought for use on the TMobile USA network, specifically North-Eastern USA (NYC metro area).
I have SIM unlocked the phone (thanks to purchased unlocker from Olipro), I have flashed with several ROMs (starting with NRG's EnergyRom "photon" series), and I have tried various Radios and matching ril dlls. It surprises me just how bad reception is. In areas that my old T-Mobile Wing (a.k.a HTC Herald)gets almost full signal, the Fuze fluctuates from three "bars" down to none, with the signal being lost and reacquired constantly. I have tried "locking" the band to 850 and 1900 GSM (which is what Tmo USA uses) with little effect.
I'm at a lost. I have tried searching this forum, but several posts are related to AT&T network (understandably as it is an AT&T phone) and issues with TMobile UK reception (which is supposedly bad). For the most part, it looks like TMobile USA should have great reception in general in my area..... but I don't. I know my area has coverage by looking at other phones, just not my Fuze.
Can anyone from the NYC Metro area (mostly northern NY area) who has successfully connected the Fuze to Tmobile help me? What ROM and Radio combo worked best for you?
Plus, can anyone with experience tell me if it is possible that my phone has a hardware problem. Could there be something wrong with the antenna? How could I test this, and or fix this if it is hardware?
(Note: I am referring to regular GSM signal. I know that there is no 3G for me due to unsupported 1700 3G radio band.)
Thanks.
Nonpaq

Radios I have tried are:
Ralp 1.10.25.18
Ralp 1.14.25.35
BS 1.17.25.09
Quartz 1.11.25.01
X1 1.10.25.18
Each was tried with the default RIL in ROM and the version specific RIL (when available). All have been identical with poor GSM reception.
Has anyone been successful with using the FUZE on TMobile in northeastern US?
Another question: Does keeping a radio for longer period of time help improve the signal locking, as if the tower and phone need to "learn" about each other? I remember old non-smartphones used to have to have their list of available towers updated so that the phone could recognize newer, closer towers. I assume that this is no longer the case.
Plus: Fieldtest shows occasionally the GSM 850 band is used, but most of the time the band is listed as "PCS". Is that the GSM 1900 band? I believe that Tmobile mostly uses 1900 in this area as well as 850. Is it possible I am not seeing the 1900 band?
-nonpaq

I have the Fuze on T-mobile as well. I am in the SouthEast and have good luck with Radio 1.14.25.05. I've tried them all. This Radio I've used for almost 5 months now; good reception, good GPS, good batery. Try it, with matching rilphone ofcourse. good luck.

Well I loaded up Energy Titanium latest build (Nov 10) and had radio version 1.17.25.09 from before, and all of a sudden I was getting 3 to occasionally 4 "bars" in my home (previously I would get two "bars" max). It would occasionally drop and rescan for signal but not often. Outside had a solid lock on the signal.
I thought I finally found the perfect combo, but unfortunately when I got to work, indoors, 40 miles away from home, it was the same ol' story. Mostly no signal lock, with an occasional 1 bar signal.
Watching FieldTest data is interesting though. While scanning for signal, I can see the NCell info get data, which I understand are cell towers the phone "sees" but are not locked in. It fluctuates from 1 to 6 towers seen, down to none with the phone not moving. The receive strength reported for these towers varies from -106 dbm to -97 dbm, but does not lock on to the signal. (I occasionally get GPRS lock with zero bars). Can anyone explain this to me.
Plus, can any of these reception problems be related to using an AT&T phone on the T-Mobile system, preventing the towers from allowing a lock? I always thought that the SIM card's IMEI controlled access, but could tmobile somehow lock out unknown phone models?

tt1114 said:
I have the Fuze on T-mobile as well. I am in the SouthEast and have good luck with Radio 1.14.25.05. I've tried them all. This Radio I've used for almost 5 months now; good reception, good GPS, good battery. Try it, with matching rilphone ofcourse. good luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I flashed the Radio 1.14.25.05 and installed the matching RIL version and now I'm getting a lock of 1 "bar" where previously I did not. Fieldtest shows the same signal strengths as before for Neighboring Cell Towers [NCells] except now it is locking onto a signal of -105 dBm or better. (I even got 2 "bars" at -103 dBm ) According to the ARFCN field , it is now locking into the 1900 band (CNs in the 600s) where previously it would only lock into the 850 band (CNs in the 100s).
Looks good so far as I can actually get phone calls now!!! Thanks for the recommendation. (By the way... it looks like the signal gets better as time passes. By the time I finished this post, the phone is showing a steady 2 "bars").

My saga continues.....
My two bars at work were short lived. Signal is now back to 1 or no bars. I am going to experiment with some of the older radios.
Heres an interesting thing. I experimented with another persons AT&T SIM card and reception was great!! From the same location, AT&T gives "Full Signal" yet TMobile gives barely 1 bar and cannot hold onto the signal. Now I realize that the TMobile towers might be located further than the AT&T towers causing the difference in signal levels, but if not that, what else can cause one to be so much better than the other. (Keep in mind, my other TMobile phone, the HTC herald, gets great service, as does the other person's regular AT&T phone. So I know there is service here.)
I know the ROMs are not service specific, but are the radios optimized for particular services. Is there any radio that may be more generic, or optimized for the 850/1900 GSM band that TMobile USA uses?

I fixed my bad reception problems with my fuze on TMobile USA. It turns out that it was a hardware issue, the antenna was not making a good contact to the circuit board.
I opened my Fuze by removing the four screws under the back cover. Then use a flat plastic "stick" to separate the casing from the keyboard (careful, the back speaker is connected by a short wire from the circuit board to the back plate.) The GSM antenna is at the bottom (looks like black tape from the outside back). It connects to the circuit board by contact tabs that touch when the back plate is on. What I did was slightly lift these tab "fingers" so that they extended a little more. The theory is that when I reconnect the back plate they will press harder on the contacts on the other side.
After putting everything back together, I'm getting full service where previously I got only two bars.
If you have bad reception, and you are not afraid of voiding your warantee and cracking open your phone's case, you should try this simple fix. I recommend looking up the disassembly guide as there are several potential problems you need to be careful of. First, the back speaker wire can easily be broken. Second there is a main circuit board and a smaller daughter board which can separate. There are two connectors, a large one about the middle of the phone, and a small on on the side. Make sure both are connected (pressed together) before reassembling the phone case.
Let me know if this is useful for you. I can put together a step by step guide if you want. Just PM me.

where did you get the radio 1.14.25.05?
where can i find this radio with the matching RIL???
thank you im also having the same trouble with my htc fuze for t-mobile

[Q] When di dthe Charge get FM Radio?

I was reading this http://www.droid-life.com/2011/08/2...ail&utm_campaign=Feed:+DroidLife+(droid+life) and took a closer look at the specs when I noticed that is says the Charge has FM Radio. I know I can stream FM Radio from the Internet but that is not the same as an FM Radio.

If its not a mistake, then it is news to me also, but I'm sure its a mistake

SM-G930F FM Broadcast Receiver Functionality Questions and Theories

This thread pertains to the Samsung Galaxy S7 international factory unlocked model (SM-G930F).
First of all, I am aware that the SM-G930F is not able to receive FM radio broadcasts over the air. However, I have encountered conflicting explanations as to why. Some speculate that the hardware SoC on the 930F simply does not contain FM broadcast receiver circuitry. Whereas others speculate that the circuitry may in fact be present, but that the firmware upgrades have yet to enable it. If the latter is true, then a reasonable inference is that at some point in the future Samsung may decide to enable FM broadcast receiver functionality on this device. If the former is true, then obviously there is no chance for that.
My personal theory is that the receiver circuitry is present on the SM-G930F. But I think that it may have been deliberately disabled because the device is marketed in areas of the world where the 88-108 MHz FM broadcast band is not a broadcast band at all, but has instead been allocated for other radio services (such as government communications). However, it may still be true that the receiver hardware is not present for the same reason. Whichever the case, it tends to make some sense that Samsung has rendered the FM broadcast receiver either inoperative (or nonexistent) on the SM-G930F.
Your thoughts on this topic are welcome.

Really bad FM radio reception on G930T

I just picked up a T-Mobile S7 to play around with and, as you all know, the G930T on T-Mobile USA has FM radio enabled.
However I've noticed that the radio reception is absolutely horrible with a lot of static, crosstalk from other stations, and dropouts. I tried two other FM-supporting phones that I have (Verizon Moto G and unlocked Xperia Z5 compact) and they're both clear as day with no issues. Note that this is in the same location, with same headphones, and same station... just a different phone.
Does anyone know of any fixes for this? Is it a chipset issue, build issue, software issue?

redct said:
I just picked up a T-Mobile S7 to play around with and, as you all know, the G930T on T-Mobile USA has FM radio enabled.
However I've noticed that the radio reception is absolutely horrible with a lot of static, crosstalk from other stations, and dropouts. I tried two other FM-supporting phones that I have (Verizon Moto G and unlocked Xperia Z5 compact) and they're both clear as day with no issues. Note that this is in the same location, with same headphones, and same station... just a different phone.
Does anyone know of any fixes for this? Is it a chipset issue, build issue, software issue?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It could be anything from a faulty component -such as a bad rf amplifier circuit- to an implemented chip/circuitry revision, to a change in component suppliers. If you just purchased the S7 and are under warranty I would exchange it for another one to see if the FM broadcast receiver sensitivity is better. I know there was a big problem with the FM receiver sensitivity on the 930U model devices. I went through several of those and they all demonstrated the kind of horrible reception that you've described. Whereas each of the 930Ps and 935Ps (Sprint model) I've used have demonstrated wonderful FM reception.