Develop Bugs

VZW signal issues and root.

rhinolow said:
So I went back to 4.0.1 and was getting a steady three bars on my phone
Went to 4.0.2 and am getting a steady 2 bars on 4g
Unlocked, and rooted on 4.0.2, and was getting really sporadic signal behavior, including signal loss
All these readings are from the same location in my home.
Then I went back to 4.0.1 and tested all three conditions and got the same results.
I'm no programmer so I can't say why unlocking/rooting would make a difference, but I believe it's making enough of a difference at this point that I'm going to stay stock and locked at 4.0.2 for now.
You guys that are having a lot of problems, are you unlocked or rooted?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now that it's been a few days..... I want others to chime in on this report (no one answered this question in the original thread).
I was having a ton of issues, thought that VZW did something to make it slightly better (which I still believe they did), but stilll... I have issues, although not as bad as the second 12 hours of ownership.
I had made the call to tech support and was then going to return the phone.... when I got home I brought the device back to stock carrier 4.0.1 ROM floating around). Problems were almost completely gone!?! An hour later, the update came and I was worried about the upgrade screwing the radio that was acting better (not that it was perfect by any means!!). So..... after a little thought, I figured I could always go back to 4.0.1 and/or return it. I let the update do it's thing.
There seems to be zero difference between 4.0.1 and 4.0.2, when it comes to the radio.
I was still scared to do much..... I didn't install any apps while I watched the phone for a few hours. Then only Google's apps... the next day the rest of my apps (w/small exceptions, detailed below). Everything ran smoothly.... including the radio. Now it isn't nearly as good as the DX radio in my last phone, BUT..... at least I wasn't constantly with -120dbm and was able to use the phone, as a phone!
So.... I figured after another day that VZW must have fixed something.
Cool, right? Not sure..... I am stock, unlocked, and unrooted. I am afraid to root the phone..... I can't fathom how root could cause a radio issue, but am wondering how many others might have issue with and without root.
Now.... I am still seeing issues, but not nearly as bad. I'll root the phone tonight to see what happens, but would like others input.

Stock Verizon Nexus here and where I normally get full 4g I get maybe 2-3 3g bars. Most of the time I get zero signal where I at least get 3g.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/5254/investigating-the-galaxy-nexus-lte-signal-issue

droid2andyou said:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/5254/investigating-the-galaxy-nexus-lte-signal-issue
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great article. Sure as heck opened my eyes up. Thanks.

Root doesn't touch the radio. All it does it give you admin right over the phone.
-Galaxy Nexus
-Asus Transformer

player911 said:
Root doesn't touch the radio. All it does it give you admin right over the phone.
-Galaxy Nexus
-Asus Transformer
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly right it must have just been the cell towers by the ops area
I'm currently having issues now before and after root

droid2andyou said:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/5254/investigating-the-galaxy-nexus-lte-signal-issue
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just read that earlier today. Lots of great info inside.

The story continues
So, just to follow up. I did return my device for a new GNEX and have not had the same issues. I have been reluctant to root my new phone, but I still don't see any reason why the two would be related. I think I had a bad device. I think there are a substantial number of people that are getting DOA devices, but it doesn't appear to a majority. I'll report back if/when I decide to root and flash anything to my new device.
abendx said:
Now that it's been a few days..... I want others to chime in on this report (no one answered this question in the original thread).
I was having a ton of issues, thought that VZW did something to make it slightly better (which I still believe they did), but stilll... I have issues, although not as bad as the second 12 hours of ownership.
I had made the call to tech support and was then going to return the phone.... when I got home I brought the device back to stock carrier 4.0.1 ROM floating around). Problems were almost completely gone!?! An hour later, the update came and I was worried about the upgrade screwing the radio that was acting better (not that it was perfect by any means!!). So..... after a little thought, I figured I could always go back to 4.0.1 and/or return it. I let the update do it's thing.
There seems to be zero difference between 4.0.1 and 4.0.2, when it comes to the radio.
I was still scared to do much..... I didn't install any apps while I watched the phone for a few hours. Then only Google's apps... the next day the rest of my apps (w/small exceptions, detailed below). Everything ran smoothly.... including the radio. Now it isn't nearly as good as the DX radio in my last phone, BUT..... at least I wasn't constantly with -120dbm and was able to use the phone, as a phone!
So.... I figured after another day that VZW must have fixed something.
Cool, right? Not sure..... I am stock, unlocked, and unrooted. I am afraid to root the phone..... I can't fathom how root could cause a radio issue, but am wondering how many others might have issue with and without root.
Now.... I am still seeing issues, but not nearly as bad. I'll root the phone tonight to see what happens, but would like others input.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

[Q] Is there an external for the SGH-T989 ?

External antenna
I activated my phone yesterday and my signal is weak and very spotty. Sometimes I can get as high as 4 bars, most times 1 or none. If I can't get something to boost the signal, I'll have to sell my phone and look for something else. Is there anything sold or any mod I can do to boost my signal? Many thanks, for any help I can get.

ardent_phoenix said:
External antenna
I activated my phone yesterday and my signal is weak and very spotty. Sometimes I can get as high as 4 bars, most times 1 or none. If I can't get something to boost the signal, I'll have to sell my phone and look for something else. Is there anything sold or any mod I can do to boost my signal? Many thanks, for any help I can get.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try a different radio. Mr x just reactivated the links in his thread
Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk

capcanuck said:
Try a different radio. Mr x just reactivated the links in his thread
Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have patience with me. This is my first smartphone. I don't know what a radio is in this context and who and where can I find this Mr x thread?

ok I now know what a radio is, but is a hacked version better than the stock version that came with my phone. I just got it yesterday and I don't want to mess anything up. I don't know enough about this stuff to fool around with it just yet. I am trying to learn so that I can IMPROVE it's functionality. Notice improve, if it will not work better than stock, what's the need to change anything?

ardent_phoenix said:
ok I now know what a radio is, but is a hacked version better than the stock version that came with my phone. I just got it yesterday and I don't want to mess anything up. I don't know enough about this stuff to fool around with it just yet. I am trying to learn so that I can IMPROVE it's functionality. Notice improve, if it will not work better than stock, what's the need to change anything?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Radios give different mileage depending on your location. Which is why the above poster suggested trying different radios because in your particular area you might get better reception with a radio other than stock. You'll need to have your phone rooted in order to flash new radios.

Thank you for the quick reply. If I can't find a hardware solution, I may gather the courage to try a new radio. Is this the software or is it firmware, that I need for the T989?
http://www.androidfilehost.com/.mrx/..._Kj3_radio.zip:)

ardent_phoenix said:
Thank you for the quick reply. If I can't find a hardware solution, I may gather the courage to try a new radio. Is this the software or is it firmware, that I need for the T989?
http://www.androidfilehost.com/.mrx/..._Kj3_radio.zip:)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure what that list of files is but whatever it is, it's not applicable to our phone either way. The galaxy s2 they have listed is the I9100 which is the international version. We are sgh-t989 and any software or firmware is not cross platform.

Ardent are you in the Phoenix area? If so the kl1 modem is the best.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk

capcanuck said:
Ardent are you in the Phoenix area? If so the kl1 modem is the best.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, I am in Appomattox, VA. I live in the county, not the actual town. I know for sure that I am 7 miles from a Novatel tower. I get mostly a signal with 2 to 3 bars, that's between -100 and -92, respectively. I an using a U727 data stick on Ntelos 3G network. It wasn't always that way. I used to get practically no signal, until I cleared all the trees on my property.
I got the link in my last post from the following link:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1426001
and it says at the top of the page that it is for the SGH-T989 series, that would make one believe that our phone is supported by it. I believe that it was derived from the SGH-T989D to be exact.
Someone please chime in, if I'm wrong. I have been getting, what I believe to be a lot of contradictory info here and for a newbie such as myself, that will only impede my progress and send me scurrying post haste to some other "authority" on the subject.
There does not seem to be anyone here who will correct faulty procedures. I understand that no one here is liable for bad advice, but believing that many here are proficient at modifying these devices, people come here to seek advice.
I need to increase my signal, either by hardware or script, can someone please help me resolve this issue?

ardent_phoenix said:
No, I am in Appomattox, VA. I live in the county, not the actual town. I know for sure that I am 7 miles from a Novatel tower. I get mostly a signal with 2 to 3 bars, that's between -100 and -92, respectively. I an using a U727 data stick on Ntelos 3G network. It wasn't always that way. I used to get practically no signal, until I cleared all the trees on my property.
I got the link in my last post from the following link:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1426001
and it says at the top of the page that it is for the SGH-T989 series, that would make one believe that our phone is supported by it. I believe that it was derived from the SGH-T989D to be exact.
Someone please chime in, if I'm wrong. I have been getting, what I believe to be a lot of contradictory info here and for a newbie such as myself, that will only impede my progress and send me scurrying post haste to some other "authority" on the subject.
There does not seem to be anyone here who will correct faulty procedures. I understand that no one here is liable for bad advice, but believing that many here are proficient at modifying these devices, people come here to seek advice.
I need to increase my signal, either by hardware or script, can someone please help me resolve this issue?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you don't really need to because you can always return everything and get out of contract without ETF since you just activated. Just saying you can use it as a trial run and if reception sucks you can go somewhere else. You can try the radios but for what it's worth, might not produce any results.
You can probably safety use any of the ones in the link you have, and I think anything that screws up is recoverable. Any screwup will just mean you get no signal at all. Just flash back to the stock one which you can easily find with search.

8Fishes said:
you don't really need to because you can always return everything and get out of contract without ETF since you just activated. Just saying you can use it as a trial run and if reception sucks you can go somewhere else. You can try the radios but for what it's worth, might not produce any results.
You can probably safety use any of the ones in the link you have, and I think anything that screws up is recoverable. Any screwup will just mean you get no signal at all. Just flash back to the stock one which you can easily find with search.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No I am not in a contract. I would have to sell my phone, which I really like. I am using T-mobile prepaid. I bought the phone on eBay for $500. It has a clean IMIE as verified by T-Mobile Customer Service. I have bought over $125 in accessories also and would lose too much selling everything.
So I prefer to try to resolve my weak signal dilemma before taking such drastic action. Is there anybody out there that can help?

ardent_phoenix said:
No I am not in a contract. I would have to sell my phone, which I really like. I am using T-mobile prepaid. I bought the phone on eBay for $500. It has a clean IMIE as verified by T-Mobile Customer Service. I have bought over $125 in accessories also and would lose too much selling everything.
So I prefer to try to resolve my weak signal dilemma before taking such drastic action. Is there anybody out there that can help?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Still same problem, anybody Please help.

Verizon LTE just quit. Can anyone help diagnose?

Hey everyone...Yesterday, on my stock, 4.0.4 GNex, I noticed I was getting terrible 3G speeds, and no 4G data whatsoever (even though the 4G signal existed). I thought maybe there was a temporary outage, but no dice...VZW support said there were no issues. Today, the issues still remain, and I have no idea what the problem could be. I took some screen shots, so if anyone could offer some advice, I'd really appreciate it. I'd love to try and resolve this myself instead of bringing it to some of the inept VZW techs at the local store. I'm located in Western NY and there is normally a great 4G signal here.
I can post screenshots once I am allowed since I'm a newbie here.
THANKS!
EDIT: I should add, I've experienced the 4G dropping to 3G for a while, and I know this is an ongoing issue with GNex users, but this is completely different.

rms2219 said:
Hey everyone...Yesterday, on my stock, 4.0.4 GNex, I noticed I was getting terrible 3G speeds, and no 4G data whatsoever (even though the 4G signal existed). I thought maybe there was a temporary outage, but no dice...VZW support said there were no issues. Today, the issues still remain, and I have no idea what the problem could be. I took some screen shots, so if anyone could offer some advice, I'd really appreciate it. I'd love to try and resolve this myself instead of bringing it to some of the inept VZW techs at the local store. I'm located in Western NY and there is normally a great 4G signal here.
I can post screenshots once I am allowed since I'm a newbie here.
THANKS!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Another case, same awnser, considering what you said, the device is running the latest official release, and it seems 4g never works at all: return it and get a new one, probably has a bad radio.
If we can get a NYC vzw user as yourself who doesnt have the issues you're describing, i think that would kill it as faulty hardware.
Sent from my i9250

bk201doesntexist said:
...and it seems 4g never works at all: return it and get a new one, probably has a bad radio.
If we can get a NYC vzw user as yourself who doesnt have the issues you're describing, i think that would kill it as faulty hardware.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Meaning the radio just went bad? I've had this since launch day and never experienced a problem until yesterday. Also, I'm far from NYC, so if anyone in Western NY (Rochester/Buffalo area) has the same issue, let me know please.

Well, you said you have a stock phone and it doesn't sound like yourself have made any changes to cause this. So, what is it that you want to do? Flash the radio firmware? Root the phone and try different ROMs? Go through all this so in the end you take it to the store anyway? If your description of the problem is accurate, then it does sound like you have a hardware issue. Just take it in and deal with the inept VZW techs.

netbuzz said:
Well, you said you have a stock phone and it doesn't sound like yourself have made any changes to cause this. So, what is it that you want to do? Flash the radio firmware? Root the phone and try different ROMs? Go through all this so in the end you take it to the store anyway? If your description of the problem is accurate, then it does sound like you have a hardware issue. Just take it in and deal with the inept VZW techs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No I didn't want to do any of the things you listed. I was asking if anyone here could help me diagnose the problem, in other words, see if there's any way to prove it's a hardware issue. I wasn't sure if there were any applications I could get to run diagnostics checks.

rms2219 said:
Meaning the radio just went bad?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you never experienced these issues before, yes.
I would eliminate a few things (simcard, check another 4g capable phone, side by side, see if it works fine) first and do some testing.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

It ended up being the SIM card. They replaced it, and instantly the 4G worked again.

Galaxy S3 in midtown NYC and I've been having the same issue for the last day and a half....
bk201doesntexist said:
If you never experienced these issues before, yes.
I would eliminate a few things (simcard, check another 4g capable phone, side by side, see if it works fine) first and do some testing.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

How to Increase Signal in my Apartment?

I recently moved in to a new apartment for college and unfortunately my signal is very poor while inside the building.
This is really the only place on campus that I don't get great signal unless I get close to the window and pray that my phone decides to connect.
I've briefly looked into possible solutions but wanted to see if anyone had any suggestions/opinions on what I should/ could do.
I briefly looked into the Sprint AIRAVE, which I should be able to get. However, unless I can get it for free then I really don't see it as a viable solution, especially since my contract is up soon and I can just move to another carrier.
At this point I see my options being:
1. Get the AIRAVE.
2. Purchase a 3RD party signal booster (If cheaper than Sprint one).
3. Come up with some kind of DIY solution
4. Change some things on my phone in the hope that it improves.
5. Switch to another carrier.
What do you guys suggest doing/ think is the best option?
Are there ay other options I've missed?
Current Setup on my Epic 4g:
Rom: CM9 STABLE build from 8/10
Kernal: Shadow v0.6.3.3
PRL: FC09

I suggest option #1: Call Sprint and throw a fit, and have them provide you an airave

You may be better off with option 5.
The Airave is more of a cop-out solution for Sprint and their craptastic network. However, if it works for you then by all means go with it.
I've been with them for over 10 years now and haven't seen much network improvement in my city in the last 5 years. There are big patches of dead and weak signal spots all over. Hell, I can step outside my office building and find a dead spot in one 5 foot span, then move out of that span and be in a 3-signal strength spot.
I'm waiting a bit longer to see if their network will improve in my area. Otherwise, I will most likely jump carriers.

nikon120 said:
You may be better off with option 5.
The Airave is more of a cop-out solution for Sprint and their craptastic network. However, if it works for you then by all means go with it.
I've been with them for over 10 years now and haven't seen much network improvement in my city in the last 5 years. There are big patches of dead and weak signal spots all over. Hell, I can step outside my office building and find a dead spot in one 5 foot span, then move out of that span and be in a 3-signal strength spot.
I'm waiting a bit longer to see if their network will improve in my area. Otherwise, I will most likely jump carriers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My family has used them for about 10 years total, with a brief break when we lived in england. I've never really had any problems with getting signal where I needed it before now. But yeah, at this point they better make a good offer if they want me to stay with them.

So I called sprint, they wanted me to go through some troubleshooting stuff and ended up asking me if I was rooted.
I had a bunch of back and forth with him and he claimed that being rooted/not on stock caused my phone to show no "vital signs" and that even if I am using the proper PRL it doesn't matter. Everything he said sounded like a bunch of policy stuff and he never gave a clear explanation of why it mattered if I am rooted. Anyways he said I could restore to stock/factory settings and then he would call me back latter and we would troubleshoot stuff.
I am going to be doing the flowing:
1. Backup everything
2. Odin back to stock (non-rooted + update)
3. Go through the troubleshooting, even though I know it won't make a difference.
4. Hopefully get the AIRAVE for free.
5. Go back to my current setup.
I've also noticed that turning 4G on may actually make a difference in signal (Since there is 4G in atlanta).
Does anyone have in thoughts about this?
Am I wrong in saying that being rooted has NO effect on connectivity?

GuidingArrow said:
So I called sprint, they wanted me to go through some troubleshooting stuff and ended up asking me if I was rooted.
I had a bunch of back and forth with him and he claimed that being rooted/not on stock caused my phone to show no "vital signs" and that even if I am using the proper PRL it doesn't matter. Everything he said sounded like a bunch of policy stuff and he never gave a clear explanation of why it mattered if I am rooted. Anyways he said I could restore to stock/factory settings and then he would call me back latter and we would troubleshoot stuff.
I am going to be doing the flowing:
1. Backup everything
2. Odin back to stock (non-rooted + update)
3. Go through the troubleshooting, even though I know it won't make a difference.
4. Hopefully get the AIRAVE for free.
5. Go back to my current setup.
I've also noticed that turning 4G on may actually make a difference in signal (Since there is 4G in atlanta).
Does anyone have in thoughts about this?
Am I wrong in saying that being rooted has NO effect on connectivity?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you do anything with Sprint that involves troubleshooting, you should be on 100% stock. Also, never admit to rooting, even though there is that PDF from internal Sprint mail around these forums saying it's basically okay for customers to be rooted. It's way easier to just get back on stock and step through troubleshooting, than dealing with a script following CSR on the matter.
It takes an experienced flasher all of 3 minutes to get from stock back to previous setup or a new custom setup. So not a big deal.
Turning on 4G is an entirely different radio; hence you would have differing signal strengths from 4G to 3G.

GuidingArrow said:
I recently moved in to a new apartment for college and unfortunately my signal is very poor while inside the building.
This is really the only place on campus that I don't get great signal unless I get close to the window and pray that my phone decides to connect.
I've briefly looked into possible solutions but wanted to see if anyone had any suggestions/opinions on what I should/ could do.
I briefly looked into the Sprint AIRAVE, which I should be able to get. However, unless I can get it for free then I really don't see it as a viable solution, especially since my contract is up soon and I can just move to another carrier.
At this point I see my options being:
1. Get the AIRAVE.
2. Purchase a 3RD party signal booster (If cheaper than Sprint one).
3. Come up with some kind of DIY solution
4. Change some things on my phone in the hope that it improves.
5. Switch to another carrier.
What do you guys suggest doing/ think is the best option?
Are there ay other options I've missed?
Current Setup on my Epic 4g:
Rom: CM9 STABLE build from 8/10
Kernal: Shadow v0.6.3.3
PRL: FC09
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe try the nexus modem and see if that improves signal. Some people say it has and got rid of dropped calls. Samsung is notorious for making awful modems, but Google made the Nexus one, so it is better for me and most people who have tried it.

I know really shouldn't have admitted to being rooted but I think I kind of wanted to argue with him about it, just to see what kind of reasoning they give.
And yeah, flashing back to my previous setup shouldn't be too hard. I already know for a fact that going to stock won't solve the problem,
I'm still testing the 4G thing since I can't really confirm if it is actually boosting the signal or not.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
@xboxfanj: I thought about trying that the other day. I have to be on a CM7 rom to use it, correct?

GuidingArrow said:
I know really shouldn't have admitted to being rooted but I think I kind of wanted to argue with him about it, just to see what kind of reasoning they give.
And yeah, flashing back to my previous setup shouldn't be too hard. I already know for a fact that going to stock won't solve the problem,
I'm still testing the 4G thing since I can't really confirm if it is actually boosting the signal or not.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
@xboxfanj: I thought about trying that the other day. I have to be on a CM7 rom to use it, correct?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now there is a patch for CM10 as well. Nothing yet on stock or CM9.

Yeah I noticed that. I tried switching to PA1.99 and using the nexus modem but it didn't have any kind of effect in my apartment.
So I odined back to stock fc09.
The Sprint rep called me back, I told him it didn't have an effect (because it didn't).
He agreed to send me the AIRAVE at no charge so I should hopefully have it in a week or so.
After I get it all setup I'll update this thread with details as to whether or not it actually solves the problem.
Now time to root my phone again...

xboxfanj said:
Now there is a patch for CM10 as well. Nothing yet on stock or CM9.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Waiting for someone to do a TW stock patch!
Sent from my PantechP4100 using xda premium

kennyglass123 said:
Waiting for someone to do a TW stock patch!
Sent from my PantechP4100 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am dying for the cm9 patch!! So far aokp has given me my best setup (sorry KG, TPR is a very close 2nd!).
Sent from my SPH-D700 using xda premium

kennyglass123 said:
Waiting for someone to do a TW stock patch!
Sent from my PantechP4100 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hopefully it'll be compatible with the touchwiz framework. Does anyone know where I can find the mtd tw device source?
Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk 2

Received the AIRAVE today. Took a little bit of fiddling to get it setup right.
I now get pretty consistent signal, generally 5 full bars, throughout my apartment.
My only real complaint is that it decreases my internet download speed from over 100Mb/s to around 40Mb/s.
The decrease is unavoidable since I have to use the AIRAVE router functionality in order to have it and my computer hooked up.
However it did seem to increase my upload speed by about 5Mb/s once I increased the limit it had set by default.
It also seems to causes me to receive texts twice but that may have just been a one off thing.
Overall it has solved the issue and since it was free I can't really complain.

The double text is an occasional thing and probably will never happen again. I hooked my airave to my router instead of the modem as suggested and it works just fine and does not interfere with my throughputs.

kennyglass123 said:
I hooked my airave to my router instead of the modem as suggested and it works just fine and does not interfere with my throughputs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is how I have mine set up and it works perfect.

Mine is setup so that the AIRAVE connects to the wall and then to my laptop (it's probably hooked to a router/modem somewhere but it's dorm internet so I have no control over that).
It would probably be faster if I hooked it through a separate router but I don't really want to spend the money on one, and would need a pretty decent one since my school has one of the top 10 fastest internet connections in the country (if I had to guess number 3, behind the pentagon and google fiber).

New to Sprint & L900. What's the 411?

Okay, so I've been on Tmobile since taking the dive into the wonderful world of Android. I had the S2 for a few months and thdn after becoming infatuated I went out and got me an S3. Recently I decided to move on to Sprint as the coverage I received at work was, well, nonexistent. So, I am completely new to CDMA and my beautiful new Note 2, and after reading through the forums I've discovered that I am bout back to square one. Well, maybe not entirely, but definitely been knocked back quite a bit. Which when considering I've only been involved in the xda community for about 9 months pretty much leaves me with the feeling that I'm stuck in Paris with no map and no translator. So, I was hoping I could reach out to the wise and informed members of xda and ask a broad, but simple, question. What do I need to know so I don't F up my new mistress? I'm not asking for a tutorial on rooting or flashing, nothing generic. Just some helpful specifics. I saw somewhere that they were talking about resetting Wallet before flashing a new ROM or else it may be blocked on the phone, I guess, forever. I'm also unfamiliar with the modems and the updates yall have gotten. Etc, etc. And as I said, not looking for another, what is the benefit of rooting, what is CWM and TWRP, can I get rid of all the darned Sprint apps baloney. I was just hoping to basically just kinda do a crash course intro, a CDMA and/or L900 101 kinda thing so to speak. Any info you can offer up would be greatly appreciated!
Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 2

Psychotic-Cerebellum said:
Okay, so I've been on Tmobile since taking the dive into the wonderful world of Android. I had the S2 for a few months and thdn after becoming infatuated I went out and got me an S3. Recently I decided to move on to Sprint as the coverage I received at work was, well, nonexistent. So, I am completely new to CDMA and my beautiful new Note 2, and after reading through the forums I've discovered that I am bout back to square one. Well, maybe not entirely, but definitely been knocked back quite a bit. Which when considering I've only been involved in the xda community for about 9 months pretty much leaves me with the feeling that I'm stuck in Paris with no map and no translator. So, I was hoping I could reach out to the wise and informed members of xda and ask a broad, but simple, question. What do I need to know so I don't F up my new mistress? I'm not asking for a tutorial on rooting or flashing, nothing generic. Just some helpful specifics. I saw somewhere that they were talking about resetting Wallet before flashing a new ROM or else it may be blocked on the phone, I guess, forever. I'm also unfamiliar with the modems and the updates yall have gotten. Etc, etc. And as I said, not looking for another, what is the benefit of rooting, what is CWM and TWRP, can I get rid of all the darned Sprint apps baloney. I was just hoping to basically just kinda do a crash course intro, a CDMA and/or L900 101 kinda thing so to speak. Any info you can offer up would be greatly appreciated!
Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 2
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The worst part about the android community, unfortunately, is the fragmentation of general knowledge. The rooting process for a Nexus is probably identical to a Note 2 but the names of everything and builds and versions are all different, so you have to learn new 'words' like it is a new language. Fortunately you have a great community so you just have to learn how to search for things. Check the general section for android development I think there is a sticky that has a glossory of terms that explains all the acronyms.
I've had mine for 3 months but I would still welcome a crash course as well.

Well I prefer twrp as my custom recovery. Depending on your firmware version you can root without your phone ever going to download mode. I did. I used exynos abuse to get root. Then used mobile odin to flash a new rom. Always reset google wallet if you are reseting or flashing a new rom. Its tempermental. I would stay around only the sprint veraion for now. There is a way to use roms from other note 2 variants. I believe its in the dev section. Recovery is standalone. So swirching roms doesnt change it. You cannot talk on the phone and be on the internet at the same time unless you are using wifi or 4glte. If you like to draw or doodle there is sketchbook mobile which is awesome. Btw ma7 is the most current firmware that I know of. Also you can sideload the google wallet apk with no extra work to get it working. Goodluck and read alot.
Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 2

Psychotic-Cerebellum said:
what is the benefit of rooting
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You need root to do most modifications to your phone. I find that I need root for everyday stuff too (Titanium backup, Stweaks, Root app delete, etc).
Psychotic-Cerebellum said:
what is CWM and TWRP
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Click to collapse
ClockWork Mod and TeamWin Recovery Project. Both have custom recovery pieces. I personally had some troubles with CWM on this phone and just use Odin now. I head TWRP works better than CWM on the Note 2, but Odin is the Tool Samsung suggests. Note that TWRP is MUCH more feature-rich than Odin. You might choose TWRP (or CWM) if you wanted to flash stuff from your SD card rather than from your PC- good for jumping around between kernels on the fly, for example.
Odin and the other two are all ways to flash stuff to your phone. That's all Odin does; the other two have lots more features.
Psychotic-Cerebellum said:
can I get rid of all the darned Sprint apps baloney
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Heck yeah! Simplest way is to root it and uninstall everything you don't like (Root App Delete from the Play Store seems to work pretty well; be sure you have a backup before you start blowing stuff away).
If you'd like to take it a step further, get a custom ROM that's been debloated; they normally require a full wipe, so bye bye sprint stuff. (Again, root it and back it up first!)

tpeef said:
You need root to do most modifications to your phone. I find that I need root for everyday stuff too (Titanium backup, Stweaks, Root app delete, etc).
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I appreciate you taking the time to go through all that, but I think maybe I didn't explain too well what I was trying to get. I wasn't asking for the general info, just things specific to CDMA and the L900. Like what was replying about. Not trying to be a jerk, but I know there's already a thousand threads on recoverys, ROMs, and rooting. Just didn't wanna do anything to my phone that would be irreversible (i.e. The resetting Google Wallet thing) or something that would cause signal issues (I read stuff on flashing certain ROMs on certain modems may create issues). Stuff like that. Like I said though appreciate the time you took, and any info you may have like that would certainly be appreciated.
Sent from my cellular telephone

Oh I forgot. If you are on ljc expect to not go back to it if you update to ma7. For some reason lots of people have had trouble going back. It would cause slot of problems. Ma7 is just fine for me though. Great battery life and what not. I would say do the update. If you are going custom rom and are currently unrooted just do the ota. Or there is a firmware file around here to flash. I updated firmware before going to ma7. Although I was already rooted using exynos abuse. Ma7 eliminates the exploit. So be prepared to do that before going to ma7. If there is anything I am missing that you still need answers to or don't understand just ask. Its also a good habit to update profile and prl when switching roms or modems.
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patrao_n said:
...If you are going custom rom and are currently unrooted just do the ota. Or there is a firmware file around here to flash. I updated firmware before going to ma7. Although I was already rooted using exynos abuse. Ma7 eliminates the exploit. So be prepared to do that before going to ma7...
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I picked up something along those lines from reading around. It took all of 15 minutes out of the box before I got all rooted with new ROMs being flashed after playing around on stock just to get a baseline with all the ROM hoping that was sure to follow. Needless to say I didn't read up on anything modem wise before doing all this as I, admittedly, jumped the gun a little (I was just so excited to have a whole new community with new dev teams and all these foreign ROMs to explore). I used Max's trusty galaxynote2root site to root (love that guy). And used the GalaxyNote2RootSprint.zip to obtain root. Then, went straight into the original development section and immediately flashed the absolutely amazing Liquid Smooth. Now I should say, I did receive a message saying the was an update to the phone through sprint and I did proceed with the OTA while dling the zip and giving root instructions a quick once over. So, I'm guessing that took care of going to ma7 for me? Cuz I'm definitely using the ma7 modem. Now I did leave my beloved aosp as I did want to see if I would actually use all the S pen features that aosp sadly doesn't offer us. I jumped around from Whapasaurous to Venom Ice a d finally to Macks All Star, but I'm assuming that unless it's totally different from GSM that flashing a new ROM has no effect on your modem (but by all means correct me if I'm wrong). So just wanna make sure I went about things the right way here.
P. S. I did use the zip to revert the sd cards file format when returning from aosp so I didn't have to deal with all that "0" and "legacy" nonsense.
Thanks again!
Sent from my Window to the World

P.P.S. I don't really seem to have any data issues so I'm guessing all is well, but I am having an issue where my wifi keeps turning itself on, like multiple times a day. I thought at first I may have been accidently hitting it, but upon further review, nope, not me. Sounds more like a ROM issue to me though, but as it seems like it may pertain I figured I'd bring it up
Sent from my diminishing marginal utility

Psychotic-Cerebellum said:
Okay, so I've been on Tmobile since taking the dive into the wonderful world of Android. I had the S2 for a few months and thdn after becoming infatuated I went out and got me an S3. Recently I decided to move on to Sprint as the coverage I received at work was, well, nonexistent. So, I am completely new to CDMA and my beautiful new Note 2, and after reading through the forums I've discovered that I am bout back to square one. Well, maybe not entirely, but definitely been knocked back quite a bit. Which when considering I've only been involved in the xda community for about 9 months pretty much leaves me with the feeling that I'm stuck in Paris with no map and no translator. So, I was hoping I could reach out to the wise and informed members of xda and ask a broad, but simple, question. What do I need to know so I don't F up my new mistress? I'm not asking for a tutorial on rooting or flashing, nothing generic. Just some helpful specifics. I saw somewhere that they were talking about resetting Wallet before flashing a new ROM or else it may be blocked on the phone, I guess, forever. I'm also unfamiliar with the modems and the updates yall have gotten. Etc, etc. And as I said, not looking for another, what is the benefit of rooting, what is CWM and TWRP, can I get rid of all the darned Sprint apps baloney. I was just hoping to basically just kinda do a crash course intro, a CDMA and/or L900 101 kinda thing so to speak. Any info you can offer up would be greatly appreciated!
Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you should have stayed with Tmobile and there 70 dollar unlimited because in a few months to a year you would have had lte and hspa+42 &21 as a fall back before you went to slow data. Im making the jump slowly but surely. My wife is getting the S4 on Tmobile and when the note3 comes out ill be going as well im sick of cdma amd the slow data when there is no LTE
Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda app-developers app

Psychotic-Cerebellum said:
P.P.S. I don't really seem to have any data issues so I'm guessing all is well, but I am having an issue where my wifi keeps turning itself on, like multiple times a day. I thought at first I may have been accidently hitting it, but upon further review, nope, not me. Sounds more like a ROM issue to me though, but as it seems like it may pertain I figured I'd bring it up
Sent from my diminishing marginal utility
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Click to collapse
Sprint Connection Optimizer will do that
Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 2

Psychotic-Cerebellum said:
P.P.S. I don't really seem to have any data issues so I'm guessing all is well, but I am having an issue where my wifi keeps turning itself on, like multiple times a day. I thought at first I may have been accidently hitting it, but upon further review, nope, not me. Sounds more like a ROM issue to me though, but as it seems like it may pertain I figured I'd bring it up
Sent from my diminishing marginal utility
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Click to collapse
You need to turn off sprint connection optimizer in setting more settings I believe
Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda app-developers app

budde2 said:
I think you should have stayed with Tmobile and there 70 dollar unlimited because in a few months to a year you would have had lte and hspa+42 &21 as a fall back before you went to slow data. Im making the jump slowly but surely. My wife is getting the S4 on Tmobile and when the note3 comes out ill be going as well im sick of cdma amd the slow data when there is no LTE
Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I really only made the move due to the fact that T-mobile is the only service provider that gets absolutely no coverage inside my work, and, unfortunately, I work 12 hour days, 4-5 days a week. So, being as my contract was up, I didn't wanna sign up for 2 more years with lte "coming soon." I know you all with Sprint know how that has the possibility of turning out. Plus, just because they were getting lte doesn't mean I'm going to see any improvement at work. Now I'm getting consistent 3g inside work and I'm loving it. Actually typing this inside, infamously, the worst service area in the entire building and still getting an almost constant connection. Occasionally I am getting 4g, not often, but it's happened. Playing around with modems tonight though. Did end up trying LJC after being on MA7,no problems so far, actually seeing improvement. Thanks for the heads up on the Sprint Connection Optimizer, gonna check that out now. Super annoying, especially as I do work 12 hour shifts and with wifi turning randomly on, don't wanna look to see my battery down to nada. That's just the kinda info I was hoping to get here, thanks again!
Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 2

Psychotic-Cerebellum said:
I really only made the move due to the fact that T-mobile is the only service provider that gets absolutely no coverage inside my work, and, unfortunately, I work 12 hour days, 4-5 days a week. So, being as my contract was up, I didn't wanna sign up for 2 more years with lte "coming soon." I know you all with Sprint know how that has the possibility of turning out. Plus, just because they were getting lte doesn't mean I'm going to see any improvement at work. Now I'm getting consistent 3g inside work and I'm loving it. Actually typing this inside, infamously, the worst service area in the entire building and still getting an almost constant connection. Occasionally I am getting 4g, not often, but it's happened. Playing around with modems tonight though. Did end up trying LJC after being on MA7,no problems so far, actually seeing improvement. Thanks for the heads up on the Sprint Connection Optimizer, gonna check that out now. Super annoying, especially as I do work 12 hour shifts and with wifi turning randomly on, don't wanna look to see my battery down to nada. That's just the kinda info I was hoping to get here, thanks again!
Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 2
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Yeah the wifi thing Will kill your battery. Sprint is not as bad as everyone thinks and says I have great LTE in 90% of where I go. I'm thinking of going to T-Mobile because I'm sick of cdma devices we are always are considered last ro none over GSM. If sprint keeps up the good work with the LtE and 3g ill be saying. Glad you hot it figured out for rh the most part.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app