Related
To summarize the most commonly asked questions and give rational answers rather than conspiracy theories, I've compiled a list of questions and answers below. These are based off of reading the LG Forum, the T-Mobile forum, their PR twitter feeds and XDA, as well as a little brain work.
What are the known flaws of the G2X?
Below are some commonly encountered issues:
* Rebooting - Random rebooting that is sometimes associated with charging the phone, but can happen at any time. This varies greatly from phone-to-phone and for some it's an infrequent occurrence while others seem to encounter the issue multiple times a day.
* Slow GPS lock - It can take between 30 seconds - 8 minutes for the phone to get your location using GPS satellites. There is no definitive fix, though various workarounds and solutions have helped some users.
* LCD screen bleed - This is a hardware issue where the screen has lighter areas near the corners. This is a fairly common problem among LCDs in general (not just the G2X), though some phones have it worse than others.
* WiFi/Data issues - Sometimes 4G/3G/EDGE will kick in even when WiFi is enabled, resulting in both icons being in the top notification bar, even though the phone is using your mobile data and not the WiFi. This usually resolves itself over time, though rebooting can help.
* Poor battery life - Some users complain that the battery life is exceptionally short. While this has never been my experience personally, others recommend JuiceDefender to help manage battery life.
When is the Gingerbread update coming out?
The short answer is 'nobody knows.' Various estimates have been given out officially (originally T-Mobile said in May, then 'by summer', LG forum mods said to bank on it by the end of June, etc.) but all of these deadlines have been missed. Whether or not they were ever deadlines or PR people running their mouths without knowing the truth, we don't know.
That being said, here's what we do know: the update is obviously in development as we had a very early leak that's full of bugs, so don't waste your time flashing it. At the 2011 E3 convention, G2Xs were seen running a dev version of Gingerbread. LG Forum moderators do have a recent test build that they're running on their phones. Tmonews.com reported that T-Mobile has been prepping for rolling out a test version to employees, allowing them to test for bugs. So, we know that it exists and we know that they're still in their testing phase.
That still doesn't give us a definitive time period, but it seems likely that they're rather far along in their testing phase if lower level T-Mobile employees are going to be able to test the update. It also means a leak will probably happen.
T-Mobile/LG has to be very careful in releasing the update, because if it doesn't fix all of the major issues on most of the phones, almost everyone that can will swap the phone for a different one, causing both T-Mobile and LG to lose large amounts of money.
Based on the information that's available regarding where they are in testing, it's likely we will see the update within the next month or so, though there are no guarantees.
Will the Gingerbread update fix my problems with this phone?
Again, nobody knows. LCD bleed is a hardware issue and that will certainly not be remedied with a software update. From the few snippets of info we have received about the current update, LG knows about the issues listed above and are aiming to fix them with the software update. But, again, if it's in testing it's still a work-in-progress, so there's no telling what the final version will fix.
Why isn't the G2X available for sale on the T-Mobile website?
LG manufactures the phones and then T-Mobile places an order for a set amount. T-Mobile placed an order to LG for the amount of G2Xs they estimated would last them through the next few months; however, people began swapping their phones 3-4 times, which means they blew through their entire inventory in half the time they thought they would, leading to a shortage.
T-Mobile realizes that if they were to place an order for additional phones, they would continue to run into the same problem: people would complain about LCD bleed, software bugs, etc. and continue to swap their phones, causing them to have to order 4x the amount of phones they should actually need and the customer's problems still might not be fixed.
T-Mobile then told LG "we're not ordering anymore G2Xs until you fix the LCD and update the software and we're not releasing any software updates until we're 100% sure that the bugs are worked out." This is why we've heard that LG is switching their LCD manufacturer and also why the giant delay in the GB update—if they screw up this update, there are going to be a LOT of angry customers wanting their money back or swapping to another phone entirely (which we've already seen happening, but if the update doesn't fix people's issues, you can bet almost everyone is going to demand T-Mobile swaps their phone with another model and it will cause a PR nightmare.)
T-Mobile is likely losing a good amount of money on this whole debacle and wants to ensure they minimize the amount of replacements before they put the G2X back up for sale. In the meantime, the stores are able to sell through their remaining stock.
Are you sure it's not being recalled?
If the G2X were being recalled due to hardware flaws, it's very unlikely stores would continue selling through their stock. It's likely that the online stock ran out and T-Mobile refused to order more for the reasons listed above and the price was raised slightly so T-Mobile could recoup the cost of all of the phone swapping.
A T-Mobile Customer Service Representative told me…
These people often know very little and read off of scripts. When they do give you 'inside information', it is almost always baseless speculation. Most of the misinformation about release dates and issues/recalls are due to CSRs giving bad information based on a misunderstanding of the situation.
Should I switch to the Sensation?
If you'd like, but there's no need to post a thread telling everyone you're doing it. By this time, there are plenty of reviews of both phones and there's nothing you can add to the discussion that isn't written somewhere else.
Which custom ROM should I flash?
This is a personal preference, though I would suggest starting with CyanogenMod 7 and Faux123's AOSP Gingerbread ROMs, since they seem to be the most actively developed and supported.
Wow, I'm pretty sure a lot of people will appreciate the fact the you took the time to write this.
Thank you for this, will help stop alot of other repetitive threads
Sent From My Stock G2x
Need to add the
phone goes "dead", heats up, and requires battery pull to reboot
issue.
Curious.. if they are switching LCD manufacturer, should we opt to swap out phones out once they are selling again?
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App
unique77 said:
Curious.. if they are switching LCD manufacturer, should we opt to swap out phones out once they are selling again?
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Keep in mind TMO will most likely still have a large backup of the exisiting G2X's (It's how they are doing swaps now), so there would be no guarantee as to which G2X you would get....
Massive thanks to PulpZilla for letting me have his OP. I will now be able to take care of the updates a lot easier. Mate, this was a nice move. And even though the "Thanks" at the bottom say they where for me, they are still counted to your name. I did not get them from you
-=Introduction=-
This Thread serves as collection and information point for all Data regarding the HOME BUTTON / SCREEN ISSUE or as HTC sometimes likes to call it: HELICOPTERING GLITCH.
It also serves technical and factual discussion in order to maybe find ways to overcome or work around the issue.
For any and all discussion regarding civil, legal or other types of action against HTC we now have a new thread, named:
Operation Rolling Thunder
It is run by Gibarian. Please head over there for discussing actions and options. I would also like to encourage everyone to move discussions of "Buy or not to Buy" this phone over to that thread. So we can keep this clean for rather technical and news things. Apart from that, I would also like to express that i outspokenly support the campaigning as long as it stays civil and serves the sole purpose of raising public awareness and thus creates the necessary pressure on HTC. I would like you to support the current campaign there too to help our issue getting taken more serious. Up till now HTC has delivered nothing but empty promises.
Please refrain from stupid actions/posts/reviews.
Thank you.
Sneakyghost
-=Problem Description=-
Main Symptom:
The capacitive Home Touch Button sometimes likes to press itself. When in an app or the home screen without or with the finger near the home button it seems to get pressed a few quick times in succession without actually being touched.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Additionial symptoms:
- continuous/odd vibration
- multiple screenshots being saved to disk without the user interacting with the phone
- the virtual buttons appear locked/dead/without function [NOTICE] From Base 2.21 onwards, this can turn into the main symptom and the screen switching can disappear.
- long-press menues coming up randomly (On Stock JellyBean 3.16 this would be Google Now popping up all the time)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Occurrence and reproducibility:
Mainly related to GSM activity, rarely on WCDMA only setting. It seems to be related to low GSM signal (1 to 2 bars), switching between networks, calls coming in or building up, seldom wifi and 3g connections. The occurrence still seems rather random as it is hard to purposely reproduce the situation. The best chance to trigger the misbehaviour or malfunction is if signal coverage is low, 3G/HSDPA (or: WCDMA) is not available, try to build up a call or start a heavy data transmission on edge. A few people report the issue only after the first 2- 4 weeks of use.
Also noteworthy: it seems to hit phones in complete unaltered, stock state as well as heavy customized and unlocked phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
-=Documentations and Discussions=-
Discussion on the Vodafone UK forums: http://forum.vodafone.co.uk/t5/HTC-One-Series/Home-screen-button-problem/td-p/1082393
Discussion on the O2 Germany Forum: http://forum.o2online.de/t5/Software-Firmware/HTC-One-S-Home-Knopf-Problem/td-p/259614
Discussion on the SwissCom Forum: http://supportcommunity.swisscom.ch...onie/HTC-One-S-Home-Knopf-Problem/td-p/121958 (NEW)
Discussion on the Android-Hilfe.de Forum: http://www.android-hilfe.de/htc-one...usgeloest-durch-bestimmte-netzfrequenzen.html
Discussion on the Handy-Faq.de Forum: http://www.handy-faq.de/forum/htc_one_s_forum/251792-display_springt_hin_her_home_ansicht.html
User contributed Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOb1LuWA7N8
User Contributed Video: http://youtu.be/kvPOZsk9I_I
User contributed Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEKwMkuisqE
Disassembly video, bottom Antenna, US Model: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0jGY2N2h1U
Disassembly Video, complete EU Model: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lBT15PgpYw
LeeDroid mention of HTC's own theory: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=26819259&postcount=707
Related:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6xlZFcgPlo (similar issue on Galaxy Nexus) (Thanks to SageKing for pointing this out!)
https://plus.google.com/112413860260589530492/posts/1a4hY7VeqiG (Google Engineer talking about the Galaxy Nexus problem)
http://maps.mobileworldlive.com/ Site to see which operator uses what frequency in which country - cross check against Affected users Spreadsheet!
-=News Articles=- (please send in other articles if you find any as we will pass them on to HTC at some point):
http://www.geeky-gadgets.com/htc-one-s-touch-button-bug-makes-phone-go-crazy-26-06-2012/
http://www.phonearena.com/news/HTC-One-S-touch-button-bug-makes-the-phone-go-crazy-video_id31606/
http://www.chip.de/artikel/HTC-One_S-Handy-Test_55316948.html
http://www.chip.de/news/HTC-One-S-Probleme-HTC-bezieht-Stellung_57834622.html --> Chip cites HTC here, yet no source is given.
-=Attempted fixes=-
- Disabling GSM/EDGE completely (no calls in rural areas, Issue not fixed)
- Setting Accessibility → Touch & Hold delay to medium (reported ineffective by some users starting HERE
- Factory Reset (multiple users had tried this, was recommended by different support agents, did not help at all)
- different Radio (there had been different radios involved, but not all radios seem to be affected. Still needing evidence)
- Exhchange SIM Card. (has been done by several users, did not help at all)
- Root device, Unroot device, flash Custom, flash stock, unlock Bootloader, relock bootloader. (did not help at all)
- Removing bottom cover (Mobile Radio Antenna), cleaning spring contacts, examining hight (make sure contact is made) - Not fixed
- Setting Display illumination to Auto Brightness (did not help at all)
- Run CM9/CM10/MIUI/JB Builds. Did not change anything.
- New Radio 1.06s.50.02.27_2_10.08.50.04L (19th of July 2012) Betters it for most users considerably,did not help all Users
- New Radio 1.06es.50.02.31_10.09a.50.04L (21st of August 2012) Worsens the effects clearly for most users, did help some very few. Upgrade NOT recommended!
- New Radio 1.08es.50.02.21_10.09c.50.04L (14th of September 2012) Some users report failure and behavior similar to the 1.06es radio.
- New Radio 1.08ts.50.02.16_10.08e.50.04L (ca. November 2012) Similar to the 1.08es radio
- New Radio 1.09ts.50.02.04_10.08g.50.04L (ca. November 2012 Only my Test-Results available, which where just as bad as 1.08 based Radios.
- New Radio 1.11.50.05.28_10.27.50.08L (24th of December 2012) Worse than the 1.08 radios, but some users also reported a Fix
-=Working Fix(es)=-
none known
Update 4th July 2012: HTC begins to claim towards some users now, they were soon be rolling out a software fix. 4 weeks later, they still say the same.
Update 21st July 2012: HTC has not officially acknowledged the Issue, but allowed this Info from HTC Elevate moderator Jason Dunn to be shared: "A software based Fix is possible and being worked on. A release date is not available but it will come".
Update end of July 2012: HTC released a new RUU (RUU_Ville_U_ICS_40_S_HTC_Europe_2.21.401.10_Radio_1.06s.50.02.27_2_10.08.50.04L__release_271119_signed.exe) with new Radio. Betters it for most users considerably Semi-FIX. Not good for all.
Update 30th August2012: HTC Released a new RUU (RUU_Ville_U_ICS_40_S_HTC_Europe_2.31.401.5_Radio_1 .06es.50.02.31_10.09a.50.04L_release_275655_signed .exe) This Firmware does not help most users but rather worsens the effects again. Upgrade of Radio not recommended!
Update 14th September 2012: HTC released a new OTA to Vodafone Customers going by the Name of 2.38, containing a new Radio 1.08es, which does not solve anything. Like the previous 2.31 WWE release, it seems to make matters worse again.The other carriers succedingly released their updates with either the 1.06es or the 1.08es radio. Only T-Mobile released a 1.08ts variant. None fixed the Issue.
Update 24th December 2012: HTC finally released JellyBean Firmware 3.16 to their customers. It became obvvious only hours later that it did not fix anything. I myself have a worse HBI problem than on 2.31. Plus, reception and Data-Switching got worse too.
-=Workarounds=-
- Disable Home Button: User Beatnix has found out how to disable the Home button completely. It can then be replaced by the App "Button Savior"Obsolete
- Recommended: Custom ROM allowing button remaps. Viper ROM with Venom Tweaks has given me almost a hassle free Experience during the past month due to its ability to map functions to the buttons that either do nothing or do not disturb too much.
- Recommended: After countless tests with all sorts of Radio/Wifi-Partition/Base Version Combinations it is very obvious that the 1.06s Radio from Base 2.21 is by far the best, least bugged Radio.
Note: A "Brick Downgrade[/UL]" might be required, if you are already on or above Firmware Version 1.78, as Radios can only be flashed on lower hboot versions. Here is a [URL="http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1990043"]Tutorial
-=What Now?=-
If you are feeling like getting active i would like to invite you to join Gibarians Operation Rolling Thunder which is designed to make our Issue heard. We feel that we have been quietly waiting for a fix long enough and that waiting any longer will just make HTC believe that they do not need to take any further action, so Gibarian has designed a campaign to make the Issue more public and make it obvious to HTC that there is need for urgent action.
At the time of writing, some People have been waiting 6 month for a fix and had not gotten a replacement, nor any other compensation. They have just been left out in the dark with a nearly unusable phone. So, feel free to make yourself heard! Also, if you just have a story to tell, feel free to add it at Gibarian's Thread "Operation Rolling Thunder". You are warmly invited to share your sufferings there and also discuss recommendations for other (potential) buyers.
-= IMPORTANT: Report your device here if affected =-
PLEASE:
file a report with your vendor (most likely your carrier) and ask for repair/replacement
file a report with HTC. Ask for repair/replacement if your Vendor refuses.
This is very important, as this is the only means by which HTC can tell the severity of the issue!
Jason Dunn of HTC Elevate and Richard Willis of HTC Consumer Communications EMEA encourage everyone to report to HTC.
Please also report here: (For updating your Entry please contact Sneakyghost or Zoesdad70)
[UPDATE 11.10.2012]
Here is a new Report Sheet where everyone with a Serial xx26 and higher can report his FULL serial and Contact Details.
Personal Information: This Sheet can only be accessed by me (the Results page) and is only used to be forwarded to HTC. I kindly ask you to leave contact details for the sole purpose of possible further questions. Your data will remain with me and there will be no abuse.
Thank you.
LINK: http://goo.gl/5gAR8
What do we do that for? I am currently talking with another HTC Digital Consumer Communications Manager for the EMEA region and he is trying to find out about the new devices. If it is a lot of them, HTC wants to fix that in time. To be able to do so, they need to know as early as possible. So, your help is greatly appreciated and in the end, will help all. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
-=Statistical Data of affected users=-
Updated 7.01.2013
Total number of reports:
793
- Areas where this has been reported:
Portugal, Spain, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Great Britain, Ireland, Swiss, Germany, Austria, Denmark, Sweden, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Czech Republic, Russia, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Israel, Malawi, Ethiopia, Niger, Iran, Malaysia, China, Vietnam.
Please pay attention to this! It is mainly northern Europe and Russia. Up till now four reports from the US.
- Serial - Numbers first digits that had been reported as affected:
FA28 (2x)
HT23 (183x)
HT24 (77x)
HT25 (18x)
HT26 (7x)
HT27 (3x)
MB22 (1x)
SH23 (149x)
SH24 (190x)
SH25 (27x)
SH26 (35x)
SH27 (1x)
SH28 (1x)
- Base Versions reported (Entries cleaned up, corrected Base Versions according to reported Radios. This assumes that all reporters used either RUU or OTA).
1.09 (2x)
1.11 (8x)
1.15 (1x) (odd Thailand version - never seen anywhere else)
1.47 (1x)
1.53 (16x)
1.70 (6x)
1.77 (40x)
1.78 (273x)
1.84 (5x)
2.15 (2x)
2.21 (10x)
2.31 (338x)
2.35 (3x)
2.38 (20x)
- Black device count:
577
- Grey device count:
185
- Baseband versions reported:
0.15.31501S.16_3_10.12.31501S.06L
0.15.31501S.19_10.12.31501S.06L
0.15.31501S.19_2_10.13.31501S.06L
0.16.31501S.17_10.23.31501S.10L
0.16.31501S.17_2_10.23.31501S.10L
0.16.31501S.19_2_10.23.31501S.10L
1.06s.50.02.27_2_10.08.50.04L
1.06es.50.02.31_10.09a.50.04L
1.08es.50.02.21_10.09c.50.04L
1.08ts.50.02.16_10.08e.50.04L
1.09es.50.02.07_2_10.09d.50.04L
16.11.20.02U_16.05.20.11_M2
16.12.20.02U_16.05.20.16_M2
16.13.20.02U_16.05.20.24_M
16.13.20.02U_16.05A.20.23_M
Concluding:
All the numbers peak at xx23 and xx24 serials. Base 1.78 and 2.31 are reported most often. My Guess: the March and April devices are worst combined with those two bases.
Source of these figures is the Google Spreadsheet, Anyone wanting to add can do so. Please feel welcome to put in your details via the Form linked in the top left Cell of that table, the top right cell of the table holds another spreadsheet-form for only the newer xx26 and up serials. It is designed so that it remains private because you can put in your contact details so that HTC can contact you. They are currently investigating the newer devices and might need your help.
-=END NOTICE=-
If you came here to find information you were helped hopefully. Please help other people with the same issue by raising your voice and add a report. Please include your Country, your first part of the Serial (“SH23”), Carrier Base, Baseband, Phone color etc. Best is to update the Spreadsheet directly.
Same problem here, although it hasn't happened in a while. I have the phone rooted but even before it was rooted it happened.
interesting. Since you've rooted and changed the ROM it hasn't happened?
Same one here.
I think it has something to do with the gsm-mode. When i'm in an area without HSDPA(only G-Mode, sometimes also in Edge) or when i manually switch the mode to 'only GSM', the switching appeares.
The strange thing is that this is not always the case.
I don't know if this is a hardware error or has something to do with the recent update. I can't compare this because my phone came back from RMA the day the Update was released. On my 'old' phone (before RMA) i never had that problem, but that was before the update.
*edit*: Still on Stock Rom.
Greets,
**Jürgen**
opiswahn said:
Same one here.
I think it has something to do with the gsm-mode. When i'm in an area without HSDPA(only G-Mode, sometimes also in Edge) or when i manually switch the mode to 'only GSM', the switching appeares.
The strange thing is that this is not always the case.
I don't know if this is a hardware error or has something to do with the recent update. I can't compare this because my phone came back from RMA the day the Update was released. On my 'old' phone (before RMA) i never had that problem, but that was before the update.
*edit*: Still on Stock Rom.
Greets,
**Jürgen**
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
funnily enough it seems to happen more when there's less light? also it still happened when i had WiFi on so i'm not exactly sure of the cause. Hopefully it is only a software glitch and something that can be fixed in custom ROMs!
Has someone fixed the problem with a custom rom? Or has that problem with a custom rom?
I'd like to know if i have to RMA ma phone again or if it's a simple software glitch...
after more testing it looks like you're right it seems to happen when the phone is searching for a GSM signal on edge?! really weird...must be others out there having the same issue?
Sure, that problem have more people. I have reported it to HTC this day. The problem is the Edge we think. It can be reproduced if you turn on Gsm.
I hope HTC make a update to solve the problem, but more people must report I think.
P. S. I'm on Trickdroid Rom, this happens on custom Rom to.
Gesendet von meinem HTC One S mit Tapatalk
PulpzillA said:
after more testing it looks like you're right it seems to happen when the phone is searching for a GSM signal on edge?! really weird...must be others out there having the same issue?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A whole bunch of people have this problem over on the UK Vodafone HTC One S forum
I have this problem whenever I try to press space, I end up hitting home. I noticed that if you slide your finger down from the screen onto the touch buttons, it registers as a button press. Whereas on my Desire S, if I was sliding my finger down (i.e. scrolling a list), even if I went past the screen and onto the touch buttons, it would still continue to scroll. Only if I let go of the screen and then touched the buttons again would it press. I'm pretty sure that's how it should be.
Lamyron said:
Sure, that problem have more people. I have reported it to HTC this day. The problem is the Edge we think. It can be reproduced if you turn on Gsm.
I hope HTC make a update to solve the problem, but more people must report I think.
P. S. I'm on Trickdroid Rom, this happens on custom Rom to.
Gesendet von meinem HTC One S mit Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you wrote a Mail or did you call some support?
*Edit*
Ok, i just had a chat with a support-lady from HTC, she told me HTC knows of this problem and they are working on an update for this. But there is no release-date for this update.
*Edit2*
This doesn't seen to be a hardware problem, thats good news so far. Everyone who has this problem should report to HTC, to increase the pressure for the fix. This was a hint from the support-lady
I had same problem.
I gave my phone at warranty service, they checked it and approved the problem.
I managed to get the phone to seller and exchange to new one, but I know if I would repair it at service, they would replace back cover (had little chipping), battery and MOTHERBOARD.
So I suggest you to bring it to warranty (if the return period is over) and they should fix it...
PulpzillA said:
interesting. Since you've rooted and changed the ROM it hasn't happened?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just to clarify. I have the phone rooted but still on the stock ROM. And yeah, it seems to happen when its not on 3g.
Here is a video of the problem:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEKwMkuisqE
Please post if you are concerned by the problem.
Conditions foir this issue to happen:
No wifi.
EDGE with low signal. numerous siwtch of the phone between 3G and EDGE.
then you shall reproduce the issue.
Thats exactly it. Just report to HTC to increase the awareness of this problem, so the fix comes out faster.
Really annoying now as the phone is barely usable on GSM signal! Gonna have to complain to HTC. This shouldn't happen whatsoever. It's a simple thing to test for?! Can't believe it wasn't picked up...
Don't know if its worth wiping and seeing what happens?
Sent from my HTC One S using xda premium
Guys, I turned off the data roaming sound in the network settings and havnt had this problem since. Though I.only turned it off last night but it hasn't happened since.
Sent from my HTC One S using XDA
Interesting! thanks for the tip. will try this out and see.
shoffobroff said:
Guys, I turned off the data roaming sound in the network settings and havnt had this problem since. Though I.only turned it off last night but it hasn't happened since.
Sent from my HTC One S using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately that didn't work for me.
I sent mail to HTC support to inform them about problem.
They advise me to try new sim card.
I have new sim card now, but problem still exist
I'll send phone back tomorrow, but I think that next one will be affected by the same issue.
This has been getting worse for me. Seems to happen particularly when outside? Otherwise; exactly as described; when switching to and from Edge.
Neither Vodafone nor HTC UK are aware of the problem. HTC global suggested I hard reset. Currently awaiting next useful repair suggestion...
Wow, I'm sorta surprised there's not a USCC-specific thread anywhere yet...unless I just missed it, like I could well have.
Oh well, just thought it'd be nice to have a thread here at XDA, especially since it's so hard to find much of anything about USCC-branded phones in general anyway.
As far as my experience so far, I can't report any real issues beyond the usual so-so signal strength that I've experienced on every US Cellular phone me or my wife have owned ever since moving to my current location in town (yet it was fine at our old house just a few blocks over!). In the six years or so I've had USC, I've never found their phones being notably loaded down in bloatware, and nor is this one, so that's nice I guess. I was hoping I'd find some unlikely, overlooked USCC-specific perk like an unlocked bootloader on their models, but I don't see that happenin'... siiigh.
As for the phone itself independent of US Cellular, eh, I'm no power user, I'm probably not the dude who should make too many hardware-based critiques because the thing's more than powerful enough to ably do anything I'll ever need a phone to do. I will say I briefly owned an S6 Edge (briefly being because it was stolen) and I can't say the S7 seems like a huge upgrade to me, not one worth full retail anyway, but obviously it's a damn nice phone anyhow. (...But I went from my stolen fancy S6E down to an old, cheap Motorola Razr M (aka Electrify M) for a little over a year before getting my S7E and I was, for the most part, totally satisfied with the Motorola's performance despite the huge discrepancy in horsepower, so what the hell do I know?)
So yeah, bring on your USCC-specific guides, thoughts, questions, complaints, opinions, etc etc!
So I'll kick things off with a bit of root discussion/issues...
I rooted my phone maybe a week or so after getting it back in July, taking the chance against my better instincts that the instructions found over in this Verizon thread would work out for USCC phones too. Much to my surprise, not only did it work, I experienced almost none of the many problems that the Verizon users kept encountering in the early weeks of that thread. Why that is, though, I still have no clue. I guess VZW's software is somehow different from USCC's in such a way that we simply weren't affected by whatever kept causing the boot loops, extreme battery-drainage and heat issues for those phones. (Mostly...)
I don't want to steal the work of thread-starter psouza4 or anyone else in that existing Verizon thread so I don't want to try and rewrite every full detail but for any future USCC S7/Edge owners who might wind up here, I guess I'll do a real basic rundown of exactly how I did mine (and also I'll do it so that maybe someone more versed in Android-tinkering than me can tell me where I may have gone wrong on certain steps). The files I used in my root/fix/debloat process are the ones listed in Bold below and all can be found on that thread - I'd link 'em directly here but I don't know how kosher that is - and what isn't there should be in the Play Store.
So, after disabling "Secure Startup" under Settings-->Lock Screen & Security (and ensuring I had the correct drivers and ADB working and such), I...
1). Flashed the Samsung_G935x_QC_Rooted_BOOT.TAR image using the Odin3_v3.12_PrinceComsy.zip variant. The Verizon thread reports that some AT&T users had recommended the Comsy version because they found it prevented boot issues that they were experiencing when flashing with the other "plain" version of Odin that was linked. As for me, I only used the PrinceComsy version because the plain version simply doesn't run on my computer for some reason. I have no idea what the difference is between the two versions, so I've got no idea if the Comsy version may be the better way to go for USCC users as well (or if it even makes a lick of difference for anyone really), but it works.
2). After successful flash and reboot, I installed SuperSU-v.2.76-S7QC.zip via the included root.bat file and waited for another reboot to finish. I can't recall if SuperSU prompted me to download a newer version of the "su" binary upon opening the now-installed SuperSu app (as the original thread indicated it might) or not, but I didn't and neither should you apparently. As of the original post in the other thread on 7/15/2016, the "2.76-S7QC" build was the most recent version for S7 models . Since that's been over a month ago, can anyone verify if the current 2.78 version of SuperSU works with S7s (and/or USCC phones), or if there's a 2.78"-S7QC" version specifically? (I'm guessing no and no, but I lost track of the Verizon thread a while back and haven't seen any specific reference to 2.78 working or not working...)
3). From there, I downloaded FlashFire (v051, I believe) and flashed the suggested S7_or_S7Edge_Fixes_Debloater_V15.zip file, which aims to, y'know, fix some stuff and debloat the thing. I didn't manually adjust any of the "fixes" applied by the patch, and many of the apps and services killed by the "debloater" part of the script don't even come on USCC-branded versions of the phone. The instructions in the thread go on to say that some users reported problems with a handful of the fixes - Lag issues, Wifi passwords refusing to save, "Unauthorized Actions" pop-ups, and problems with VoLTE icons (the last of which isn't relevant to USC really anyway). While it seemed like the majority of VZW/ATT/other-carrier users in the thread were experiencing at least one of these issues, I didn't. There was some lag, for sure, but sporadically, and the remaining steps mostly knocked it out and I didn't need to do anything extra.
4). Next I installed a couple, but not all (initially) of the programs/settings suggested in the separate . Amplify Premium 3.3.7 and L Speed 3.1.9.7 (though I updated to the current 3.1.9.8 Beta shortly thereafter with no ill effects). Now I thought I followed the thread's suggestions pretty much exactly for these two, but when I looked just now to verify, I found that I hadn't made quite a few of the recommended changes in Amplify after all. (Probably because many of them give warnings when adjusting that the other entries hadn't, and I figured I'd play it safe). Anyway, I went ahead just now and finished everything up so that it does follow that thread's suggestions - I'll report back on it if they seem to make a notable difference. Maybe worth noting here that not all of the recommended changes are valid on US Cellular phones, so no need to worry if you can't find a few of them. As for L-Speed, I did indeed have all of the thread's recommended settings for it set, except for one, "Storage IO Tweaks: Partition Remount - Enabled." Not sure why this wasn't set, guess I just didn't see it the first time. Anyway, I've enabled it now, and since it seems to be there for "giving more permissions to the SD card," it was probably irrelevant to me anyhow since I don't currently use one.
Now, the guide suggests installing Xposed when you do all of this, along with three more apps - Greenify, ForceDoze, and LeanDroid. I decided to hold off on all the above for a while when I did it, but I'd say it's plenty safe to do it all in one go if you choose to. By the time I got around to applying the L-Speed and Amplify settings and rebooting, I had been up and rooted for at least a couple hours altogether, enough to notice that I wasn't seeing the immediate disasters a lot of other posters were finding. The most common problem seemed to be bootloops and random resets, which I hadn't encountered (and still never have really, beyond a couple of unexplained reboots once or twice that had no noticeable effects other than mild annoyance). There were also a lot of complaints about some rather extreme-sounding overheating, terribly reduced battery life, and serious lag problems - these all appeared in some degree, but seemingly nowhere nearly as bad as what people were reporting from their VZW/etc-branded phones in the thread. Plus, after making the L-Speed/Amplify changes, the battery seemed to be holding up a bit better, the phone wasn't running as warm as it had been pre-tweaking, and the lag I had experienced had calmed down from "pretty minor but definitely kinda annoying" to mostly gone. I wondered why I was missing out or getting much milder versions of all the problems mentioned by others, but by that point in the thread people were beginning to suspect Xposed was the cause. Some reported their phones working well up until installing Xposed, after which they'd begin getting bootloops or other problems. Not wanting any of that headache, I decided to just wait it out a few days and see how it held up before risking the install.
The guide also suggests at this point to turn off Wifi Scanning, Bluetooth, Location and Location History. I left the Location stuff alone, but this all seems pretty optional. It's also suggested to turn off the AOD Clock, which I left alone at the time but later disabled (and am now having issues with, but more on that later). I don't think there's any need to do the recommended disabling of all animations in Developer Options either, at least for our phones. I've left those settings at their defaults and speed's been fine.
So, since I basically took a break at this point when I was actually doing all this the first time, I'll take a break here too before getting into the next stuff I did regarding debloating and how my now-rooted-but-not-yet-real-tweaked USCC phone would turn out to actually run over the next few days...
I'm looking for a firmware which has european languages any idea?
Any new news on root and roms for our phones?
HavING trouble unlocking bootloader and flashing custom rom.
Is this possible yet? I've achieved root, But failed to flash twrp or cm. Any help would be appreciated!
lugnut2099 said:
So I'll kick things off with a bit of root discussion/issues...
I rooted my phone maybe a week or so after getting it back in July, taking the chance against my better instincts that the instructions found over in this Verizon thread would work out for USCC phones too. Much to my surprise, not only did it work, I experienced almost none of the many problems that the Verizon users kept encountering in the early weeks of that thread. Why that is, though, I still have no clue. I guess VZW's software is somehow different from USCC's in such a way that we simply weren't affected by whatever kept causing the boot loops, extreme battery-drainage and heat issues for those phones. (Mostly...)
I don't want to steal the work of thread-starter psouza4 or anyone else in that existing Verizon thread so I don't want to try and rewrite every full detail but for any future USCC S7/Edge owners who might wind up here, I guess I'll do a real basic rundown of exactly how I did mine (and also I'll do it so that maybe someone more versed in Android-tinkering than me can tell me where I may have gone wrong on certain steps). The files I used in my root/fix/debloat process are the ones listed in Bold below and all can be found on that thread - I'd link 'em directly here but I don't know how kosher that is - and what isn't there should be in the Play Store.
So, after disabling "Secure Startup" under Settings-->Lock Screen & Security (and ensuring I had the correct drivers and ADB working and such), I...
1). Flashed the Samsung_G935x_QC_Rooted_BOOT.TAR image using the Odin3_v3.12_PrinceComsy.zip variant. The Verizon thread reports that some AT&T users had recommended the Comsy version because they found it prevented boot issues that they were experiencing when flashing with the other "plain" version of Odin that was linked. As for me, I only used the PrinceComsy version because the plain version simply doesn't run on my computer for some reason. I have no idea what the difference is between the two versions, so I've got no idea if the Comsy version may be the better way to go for USCC users as well (or if it even makes a lick of difference for anyone really), but it works.
2). After successful flash and reboot, I installed SuperSU-v.2.76-S7QC.zip via the included root.bat file and waited for another reboot to finish. I can't recall if SuperSU prompted me to download a newer version of the "su" binary upon opening the now-installed SuperSu app (as the original thread indicated it might) or not, but I didn't and neither should you apparently. As of the original post in the other thread on 7/15/2016, the "2.76-S7QC" build was the most recent version for S7 models . Since that's been over a month ago, can anyone verify if the current 2.78 version of SuperSU works with S7s (and/or USCC phones), or if there's a 2.78"-S7QC" version specifically? (I'm guessing no and no, but I lost track of the Verizon thread a while back and haven't seen any specific reference to 2.78 working or not working...)
3). From there, I downloaded FlashFire (v051, I believe) and flashed the suggested S7_or_S7Edge_Fixes_Debloater_V15.zip file, which aims to, y'know, fix some stuff and debloat the thing. I didn't manually adjust any of the "fixes" applied by the patch, and many of the apps and services killed by the "debloater" part of the script don't even come on USCC-branded versions of the phone. The instructions in the thread go on to say that some users reported problems with a handful of the fixes - Lag issues, Wifi passwords refusing to save, "Unauthorized Actions" pop-ups, and problems with VoLTE icons (the last of which isn't relevant to USC really anyway). While it seemed like the majority of VZW/ATT/other-carrier users in the thread were experiencing at least one of these issues, I didn't. There was some lag, for sure, but sporadically, and the remaining steps mostly knocked it out and I didn't need to do anything extra.
4). Next I installed a couple, but not all (initially) of the programs/settings suggested in the separate . Amplify Premium 3.3.7 and L Speed 3.1.9.7 (though I updated to the current 3.1.9.8 Beta shortly thereafter with no ill effects). Now I thought I followed the thread's suggestions pretty much exactly for these two, but when I looked just now to verify, I found that I hadn't made quite a few of the recommended changes in Amplify after all. (Probably because many of them give warnings when adjusting that the other entries hadn't, and I figured I'd play it safe). Anyway, I went ahead just now and finished everything up so that it does follow that thread's suggestions - I'll report back on it if they seem to make a notable difference. Maybe worth noting here that not all of the recommended changes are valid on US Cellular phones, so no need to worry if you can't find a few of them. As for L-Speed, I did indeed have all of the thread's recommended settings for it set, except for one, "Storage IO Tweaks: Partition Remount - Enabled." Not sure why this wasn't set, guess I just didn't see it the first time. Anyway, I've enabled it now, and since it seems to be there for "giving more permissions to the SD card," it was probably irrelevant to me anyhow since I don't currently use one.
Now, the guide suggests installing Xposed when you do all of this, along with three more apps - Greenify, ForceDoze, and LeanDroid. I decided to hold off on all the above for a while when I did it, but I'd say it's plenty safe to do it all in one go if you choose to. By the time I got around to applying the L-Speed and Amplify settings and rebooting, I had been up and rooted for at least a couple hours altogether, enough to notice that I wasn't seeing the immediate disasters a lot of other posters were finding. The most common problem seemed to be bootloops and random resets, which I hadn't encountered (and still never have really, beyond a couple of unexplained reboots once or twice that had no noticeable effects other than mild annoyance). There were also a lot of complaints about some rather extreme-sounding overheating, terribly reduced battery life, and serious lag problems - these all appeared in some degree, but seemingly nowhere nearly as bad as what people were reporting from their VZW/etc-branded phones in the thread. Plus, after making the L-Speed/Amplify changes, the battery seemed to be holding up a bit better, the phone wasn't running as warm as it had been pre-tweaking, and the lag I had experienced had calmed down from "pretty minor but definitely kinda annoying" to mostly gone. I wondered why I was missing out or getting much milder versions of all the problems mentioned by others, but by that point in the thread people were beginning to suspect Xposed was the cause. Some reported their phones working well up until installing Xposed, after which they'd begin getting bootloops or other problems. Not wanting any of that headache, I decided to just wait it out a few days and see how it held up before risking the install.
The guide also suggests at this point to turn off Wifi Scanning, Bluetooth, Location and Location History. I left the Location stuff alone, but this all seems pretty optional. It's also suggested to turn off the AOD Clock, which I left alone at the time but later disabled (and am now having issues with, but more on that later). I don't think there's any need to do the recommended disabling of all animations in Developer Options either, at least for our phones. I've left those settings at their defaults and speed's been fine.
So, since I basically took a break at this point when I was actually doing all this the first time, I'll take a break here too before getting into the next stuff I did regarding debloating and how my now-rooted-but-not-yet-real-tweaked USCC phone would turn out to actually run over the next few days...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any updates on how this is running on USCC devices.
It's running beautifully for me. I haven't went through the entire guide for the improvements with the extra apps, but root and xposed are perfect. I am using the ForcedDoze app and it does help, without causing any issues.
Sent from my SM-G935R4 using Tapatalk
barndawg76 said:
It's running beautifully for me. I haven't went through the entire guide for the improvements with the extra apps, but root and xposed are perfect. I am using the ForcedDoze app and it does help, without causing any issues.
Sent from my SM-G935R4 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello? I'm new to USC. Want to get one off ebay. Seller says AT&T works on it. Does it mean phone is sim unlocked? Considering USC is CDMA?
I'm not sure about that. Check with the USC guys over at teamuscellular.com It should be possible, but I don't want to steer you wrong.
Sent from my SM-G935R4 using Tapatalk
Yikes, sorry for never finishing that initial post, everyone. Nonetheless, most of it would be outdated by now anyway, and though it ran well-enough for a while after some more tweaks that I never got around to describing here, it was still never a fully satisfying experience just due to the inherent jankiness of the Engboot root. (And it gradually ended abruptly in a softbrick). I haven't kept up with developments on S7 root at all really, though I thought I saw something in regards to a new root method a while back - anybody know on that?
Anyway, here's what I found works much better, though still Engboot-based - the Stang5liter custom ROM found here - https://forum.xda-developers.com/verizon-s7-edge/development/stang5litre-edition-5-0-s7e-t3450208
All of the frequently found issues with Engboot root - heat, lag, battery life, etc. - were pretty much immediately greatly improved when I installed it. "Improved," not "gone" - they do still exist to a degree which some may find unacceptable, but if you don't expect 100% perfection, you shouldn't have any problem with it. The issue I notice most on this ROM is lag, but this tends to happen mostly only when attempting to do a lot of tasks quickly, opposed to just here and there all the time randomly the way it often seemed before I switched to the Stang ROM. Oh, and for whatever reason, it kinda frequently runs crappy while charging, but that's really a minor annoyance. The biggest plus of all, however, is that you don't need to waste hours tinkering with arcane settings like before to create minor improvements in performance - all the tweaks are integrated into the ROM, so you pretty much just install it and forget about it. Overall besides the lag I've been basically problem-free with it, especially in regards to heat, which I always had varying issues with on "plain" Engboot root. It's worth noting too that I'm still using the v1 version of stang5litre - v2 is current and was released a while back, I just never upgraded out of sheer laziness and the "good enough for me" status of v1. I will probably try to upgrade finally this week sometime, so if I do I'll note any improvements/problems here.
The caveat that you may have noticed here is that Stang5litre is a Verizon ROM intended for the SM-935V. The good news is that it runs just fine on our SM-935R4 without any adjustments - I don't think I even had to tinker with the APN. Your phone may exhibit some Verizony characteristics - your phone will identify itself as a Verizon phone, for one - but you should be good. If you want to root, this is the best way to go that I've found, plus it's quick and easy.
(Oh and hey, has USCC pushed Nougat yet?)
No, no nougat. No root for nougat anyway, so no real rush to see it.
Sent from my SM-G935R4 using Tapatalk
Any idea of when nougat will be released for this phone? I'm using one and live in Malaysia. Haven't receive nougat. Really want to have it. Dont really care about rooting, etc
A US Cellular version? In Malaysia? You are in the wrong thread my friend.
Sent from my SM-G935R4 using Tapatalk
Just wanted to let you guys know this works on our variant of the S7 Edge.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3552824
I flashed with Flash Fire and mounted system as read/write without any issues and it definitely makes a big difference in sound output.
Try at your own risk!!, but is working on my rooted US Cellular S7 Edge running PK1 firmware. Gonna try the dual speaker sound mod next and will update here if it works.
The dual speaker mod also worked for me, link below. I am using windows 7 professional 64-bit.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3494412
Here is something else I found that works on the the edge panel to control your music. I only tested with Spotify, as that is the music player I always use.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3365528
Sentm my SM-G935R4 using Tapatalk
Sent from my SM-G935R4 using Tapatalk
huszonnegy said:
I'm looking for a firmware which has european languages any idea?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, did you find a solution?
Anyone taken the Nougat update yet? Just wondering how its running for you, if so.
Sent from my SM-G935R4 using Tapatalk
My wife set the update to install tonight,I have yet update ,liking my rooted mm, will update on how she likes it in a few days.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
Yeah, I'm kinda hiding out for a more stable Nougat root, but I don't thunk we'll see one.
Sent from my SM-G935R4 using Tapatalk
The wife took the update and is really liking her battery usage. Said it is lasting way longer before needing charged(no definitive proof here. just what she said). She is trying to get use to the ui changes. So i decided to go ahead and update mine as the last week or so it has been lagging more than normal and eating battery. So i downloaded our firmware from updato.com and flashed with odin 3.12.3 and used the home.csc so not to lose any apps and data(had everything backed up with titanium in case of issues). All went well and was running fine so i decided might as well root and see how that goes. Rooted using this thread https://forum.xda-developers.com/tm...eres-how-rooted-nougat-s7-edge-g935t-t3567502 and i used the alternative root.bat listed in the op(post #688) i also did the suggested cache wipe and leave the phone for 5-10min, i waited at least 10 watching a youtube video. Have been running all day with no noticeable lag and decided to download Antutu and do a test,pulled a 132374. I know that benchmarks dont mean dudu but to me it verified it is running as fast and smooth as it seems. So far i have no complaints and have not found anything not working properly.
Just an update, the update and root on nougat apparently broke the fingerprint sensor. Only had 1 app I use that on so no biggy for me.
Sent from my SM-G935R4 using Tapatalk
I have a Fold 2 from China, which makes it a game breaker in that it locks the Samsung apps store to China's, including related Samsung gear (like the gear S3 watch or buds), which means I have NO access to any actual useful English apps.
This would solve a world of problems for me.
Crossing fingers...
Spixe1 said:
I have a Fold 2 from China, which makes it a game breaker in that it locks the Samsung apps store to China's, including related Samsung gear (like the gear S3 watch or buds), which means I have NO access to any actual useful English apps.
This would solve a world of problems for me.
Crossing fingers...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You should be able to BUT make sure the model numbers are the same and that the bootloader is unlocked before flashing a ROM (SoC version MUST match or its bricksville). This will also require a CSC change.
This may also require rooting your phone which will nullify any warranties...
I'd make sure you have read up how to do this and REALLY understand the dangers as this can brick your device.
Also have a a stock ROM on hand to flash back if/when things go sideways.
I tend to find the Chinese region locked variants of phones, though a little cheaper to buy, are NOT worth the effort and risk due to the reason you want to reflash. Warranties are also non-existent due to postage and time constraints.
Again, this could be a major drain of time and effort, not to mention hair pulling, to find yourself back at square one or worse.
ultramag69 said:
You should be able to BUT make sure the model numbers are the same and that the bootloader is unlocked before flashing a ROM (SoC version MUST match or its bricksville). This will also require a CSC change.
This may also require rooting your phone which will nullify any warranties...
I'd make sure you have read up how to do this and REALLY understand the dangers as this can brick your device.
Also have a a stock ROM on hand to flash back if/when things go sideways.
I tend to find the Chinese region locked variants of phones, though a little cheaper to buy, are NOT worth the effort and risk due to the reason you want to reflash. Warranties are also non-existent due to postage and time constraints.
Again, this could be a major drain of time and effort, not to mention hair pulling, to find yourself back at square one or worse.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Appreciate the honest reply - hell I just appreciate the reply at all, pretty much thought it'd be ignored. What you said makes sense, from all the reading I've done, just TRYING to find an answer to this question, considering info on flashing to other ROMS is pretty much non-existent, it seemed a risk. You all but confirmed this, and I will most definitely take your advice and just give up the venture. Better having a working phone locked to Chinese apps (arg!) than a bricked phone... barely, ha.
Thanks again for the answers mate, truly appreciated.
Wow. This is crazy. Remote execution vulnerabilities that don't even require user interaction, just your phone number. Google says to either turn off both VoLTE and WiFi Calling or update to March update. Pixel 6 series is screwed until Google gets their update out.
Definitely not a good look for Samsung!
Google: Turn off VoLTE, Wi-Fi calling due to severe Exynos modem vulnerabilities on Pixel 6, more
Google found severe vulnerabilities with Exynos modems used on the Pixel 6 and Samsung phones that warrant disabling VoLTE & Wi-Fi calling...
9to5google.com
funny and crazy
I understand the concern but how many people in the world even know about, or how to actually execute any of these exploits AND has your phone number AND you have the type of phone for it to even work? YMMV
jaseman said:
I understand the concern but how many people in the world even know about, or how to actually execute any of these exploits AND has your phone number AND you have the type of phone for it to even work? YMMV
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If a threat actor wants to exploit this, they just have to start running numbers until they hit matches. It would be pretty trivial because they don't need anything else but for you to have an affected device that has VoLTE or wifi calling enabled. There is a pretty long list of affected devices from both Samsung and Google, including many midrange devices that have a much higher market share, so the potential attack surface is quite high. The oldest chipset on the list, the Exynos 850 (Samsung updated the list since the article was published to add more affected chipsets including this one), is from 2020, and the newest, the Shannon 5300, is the modem in the Pixel 7 series. This exploit covers close to 3 years worth of Samsung phones, that's a crazy amount of vulnerable devices.
If you don't believe there are groups sophisticated enough to pull off these attacks en masse, you haven't been paying attention to all of the breaches over these last years. Something like this would be a dream come true for them because there's no indication you've been breached and exploits like this can be used to disable system updates so it never gets patched. Lets also not forget that many people don't even bother to keep their devices up to date to begin with. My partner's phone is probably a year behind on updates and he leaves his Windows desktop sitting there with the update icon until it forces him to actually do it.
jaseman said:
I understand the concern but how many people in the world even know about, or how to actually execute any of these exploits AND has your phone number AND you have the type of phone for it to even work? YMMV
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is what I often wonder. How bad are all these DOOMSDAY vulnerabilities. I think most are overblown. Possible, but over-hyped.
EtherealRemnant said:
If a threat actor wants to exploit this, they just have to start running numbers until they hit matches. It would be pretty trivial because they don't need anything else but for you to have an affected device that has VoLTE or wifi calling enabled. There is a pretty long list of affected devices from both Samsung and Google, including many midrange devices that have a much higher market share, so the potential attack surface is quite high. The oldest chipset on the list, the Exynos 850 (Samsung updated the list since the article was published to add more affected chipsets including this one), is from 2020, and the newest, the Shannon 5300, is the modem in the Pixel 7 series. This exploit covers close to 3 years worth of Samsung phones, that's a crazy amount of vulnerable devices.
If you don't believe there are groups sophisticated enough to pull off these attacks en masse, you haven't been paying attention to all of the breaches over these last years. Something like this would be a dream come true for them because there's no indication you've been breached and exploits like this can be used to disable system updates so it never gets patched. Lets also not forget that many people don't even bother to keep their devices up to date to begin with. My partner's phone is probably a year behind on updates and he leaves his Windows desktop sitting there with the update icon until it forces him to actually do it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"all of the breaches over these last years"
Are these breaches happening on individual cell phones or on company enterprise computers? I know of nobody that has ever had a breach on their cell phone unless they are accessing very shady web sites themselves. YMMV
jaseman said:
"all of the breaches over these last years"
Are these breaches happening on individual cell phones or on company enterprise computers? I know of nobody that has ever had a breach on their cell phone unless they are accessing very shady web sites themselves. YMMV
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was talking about the sophisticated corporate breaches. That takes much more work than this would really. Having millions of vulnerable devices out there, you can bet they're going to start working on this ASAP. Being able to remotely take over a device with just a phone number is a pipe dream for hackers. Getting in at the baseband level... Yikes.
It's bad enough that recent Pixel 7 builds have completely broken wifi calling and n25.
Samsung and Google treat the modem and /vendor like a playground and afterthought.
Have to run the DP1 modem on DP2 for it to work properly. Now I probably have to use the QPR3 or DP2 modem depending on what the bootloader allows or accept the risk.
LLStarks said:
It's bad enough that recent Pixel 7 builds have completely broken wifi calling and n25.
Samsung and Google treat the modem and /vendor like a playground and afterthought.
Have to run the DP1 modem on DP2 for it to work properly. Now I probably have to use the QPR3 or DP2 modem depending on what the bootloader allows or accept the risk.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I honestly love that Google doesn't just use Samsung's modems but does extensive security tests on them via fuzzing etc. to find these kinds of exploits before others do (NSA, etc.)
kudos to project zero for finding these
what is n25?
and honestly:
"playground and afterthought", really? what is your argument here. that's just flaming and bull****.
Dj_Fex said:
I honestly love that Google doesn't just use Samsung's modems but does extensive security tests on them via fuzzing etc. to find these kinds of exploits before others do (NSA, etc.)
kudos to project zero for finding these
what is n25?
and honestly:
"playground and afterthought", really? what is your argument here. that's just flaming and bull****.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Throughout the Pixel 7's life, the phone has regressed in its phone capabilities.
Recent updates break wifi calling and it's very easy to replicate. It also disabled the n25 5G frequency band for T-Mobile users. It effectively breaks 3CA carrier aggregation for some people with bad spectrum allocations. Until a few months ago, updates had also disabled the ability for a call to use VoNR and be made completely over 5G. I've had to do countless mods and firmware mixes to fix these.
It's a playground because I see the regressions build by build. I've had to raise bug reports for most of them. There is no quality control and these changes are rarely mentioned in release notes.
Sucks, but that stuff will get fixed eventually. it's not one of those issues many people actually notice and most people don't rely on both of these features.
and I think Europe doesn't deploy n25. so less people to report bugs like these. Bugs happen. Google didn't build the baseband. I don't wanna tell you don't blame them, but rather: live with it and don't mark the phone as unusable.
I get it you want to blow some steam
The only two things I experienced so far:
sometimes (very rarely) the screen starts flickering/going black a bit. (not always waking up instantly staying black for some time) like it doesn't get enough power. it might only happen when the battery is close to 0 percent and you then start charging the phone. not sure, it goes away most of the time. (maybe it was fixed by Joe). the other bug is more annoying to me personally: the recents screen breaks every now and then, but a restart fixes that.
broken means: it doesn't list recent apps I opened, but only the ones I used some time ago, opening the activities therefore fails because they were closed by now. I can close all of them but opening the recents screen the same closed activities reappear again.
it's annoying because it breaks my workflow. I can't switch back and forth between apps by swiping the bottom bar of the screen. it just sends me to the home screen since the (wrong) "last" activity was closed already.
jaseman said:
"all of the breaches over these last years"
Are these breaches happening on individual cell phones or on company enterprise computers? I know of nobody that has ever had a breach on their cell phone unless they are accessing very shady web sites themselves. YMMV
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Sophisticated attackers go for anything, the wannacry ransomware was based on Eternalblue which used a vulnerability in smb1 and this caused major problems for organizations.
A vulnerability was found in IOS and to the researcher's surprise websites were sending out this code before the exploit was made public, this video from about 5 minutes in describes it quite well.
Modem is fixed in March update for P7(P)
Look at CVE 24033
for people running custom roms: do they need to flash basebands themselves or can the custom roms do this with their android security patches nowadays? (asking for a friend with a Pixel 6a. Yes, I know the Pixel 6a wasn't patched, yet ^^)
Dj_Fex said:
and most people don't rely on both of these features.
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Seeing how many countries are in the process of getting rid of 2G and 3G, without one of those features enabled, you can't make calls.
danmaman said:
Modem is fixed in March update for P7(P)
Look at CVE 24033
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Click to collapse
I said this in the first post when I was warning people to update to the March update.
Im still running the November update from when I first bought the phone... Rooted and bootloader unlocked TMobile variant, can anybody link me the steps for updating? Unsure if I can jump from November straight to this version?
jake.99x3 said:
Im still running the November update from when I first bought the phone... Rooted and bootloader unlocked TMobile variant, can anybody link me the steps for updating? Unsure if I can jump from November straight to this version?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can by dirty flashing the March security patch.
EtherealRemnant said:
Seeing how many countries are in the process of getting rid of 2G and 3G, without one of those features enabled, you can't make calls.
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Is VoNR the same as VoLTE now? I can take calls just fine. Telekom in Germany has no 3G left and I disabled 2G in the settings and calls work just fine. Just no "HD" for whatever reason. Telekom is an eSIM. "HD" calls work for my other regular Nano Sim though.
So yeah as I said: no calls in 5G is also no deal breaker right now.
edit: I disabled the nano sim and I disabled wifi calling. and calls over lte+ on my Telekom esim still work.
Not_Purgatory said:
You can by dirty flashing the March security patch.
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Did anyone upload a zip on here? I'm fairly certain (from past phones) that OTAs fail once you unlock the Bootloader.
the Telekom sim is definitely using VoLTE. If I disable VoLTE in the settings I can't take calls unless I enable 2G again.
Now I have to find out why HD voice doesn't work
If VoLTE doesn't work for you, then it might not have been allowed for/activated by your carrier for the Pixel 7 devices.
Maybe call your ISP and ask them.
Dj_Fex said:
Is VoNR the same as VoLTE now? I can take calls just fine. Telekom in Germany has no 3G left and I disabled 2G in the settings and calls work just fine. Just no "HD" for whatever reason. Telekom is an eSIM. "HD" calls work for my other regular Nano Sim though.
So yeah as I said: no calls in 5G is also no deal breaker right now.
edit: I disabled the nano sim and I disabled wifi calling. and calls over lte+ on my Telekom esim still work.
Did anyone upload a zip on here? I'm fairly certain (from past phones) that OTAs fail once you unlock the Bootloader.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use the official Pixel Web based flashing tool