Help New Phone Identification Questions

[premington]

Hi Folks!

New user here... I just received my Motorola Atrix 2 in the mail today and had a few questions. I'm new to smartphones and have been reading a lot over this last weekend, preparing for when the phone arrived. I'm interested in rooting the phone and possibly upgrading the BIOS and kernel, if it might benefit me. It's a bit overwhelming and I'm trying to wrap my arms around a lot of information in a short period of time. I find it confusing, but hope to figure it out with more time and research and perhaps your help.

Here is some information on this phone. I bought it from a vendor that sells them cheap and they come from a variety of different international sources (UAE, China, etc.). This phone appears to be Hong Kong based. Chinese settings were already set and the time zone was set to Hong Kong, China. When I typed, it would bring up Chinese characters I could select from when I typed letters, like a Pin Yin generator. Anyway...

I plugged it in and started it up and it initiated a couple of hefty software updates. It completed its updates and I'm wondering what I have here.

First, I thought it would be packed with AT&T stuff. I see no AT&T anything in the apps section or on the phone face. Second, in the settings, it appears the tethering function is available! It also appears I can enable it, if I choose. I thought this was only available on rooted phones. I'm confused. Do I have a rooted phone already? The phone is unlocked.

Going to About Phone in Settings, I see the following information:

System Version: 67.220.3.ME685.Retail.en.05

Android Version: 4.0.4

Firmware Configuration: GAS_ASIA_EDISONHKTWNGNC_P012

Baseband Version: 2012-08-01 [...lots of other stuff...]

WebTop Version: wt-3.0.0

Kernel Version: 3.0.8-gf784df6 [plus an e-mail address and date and stuff]

AP Flex Version: GAS_ASIA_EDISONHKTWNGNC_P012

Build Number: 6.7.2_GC-220-EDS-3

Can someone help me interpret this? Do I have ICS? Can I benefit from upgrading anything? *Should* I attempt to upgrade anything? Perhaps I'm all set right now?

Curious to hear other experts opinions and knowledge sharing. Sorry for being such a noob... We've all been noobs at one time or another.

Appreciate all of your help,

-Paul

 

[macgiobuin]

You have ICS (Android version 4.0.4) but your system version and Firmware configuration version are Asian-based (ASIA) rather than North American (NA).

I don't know if that will cause you problems with the US Networks or not.

As far as rooting is concerned, asking those questions in the "Everything Root" thread would probably be more helpful.

 

[premington]

Thanks for the reply, Macgiobuin.

I just came from T-Mobile and they were able to setup the phone, but there's a problem. The Honk Kong firmware that came with the phone doesn't support US 3G and 4G operation. So the phone is only capable of running at 2G speeds. At best, I'm getting only about 100Kbps of throughput, which is terrible.

So I need to do some research and find out exactly what I need to do to upgrade the firmware. If anyone knows which firmware I need to use, please post here. I'll start digging and see if I can figure it out.

I know there's the kernel, firmware, and OS. Not sure if ICS replaces all three or if these are three different flashes/installs.

Ironically, I'm not frustrated or ticked... I understood when I bought this phone that it was from an international source, I just didn't know which one. I bought my wife a Samsung Galaxy III and that turned out to be from Europe and has Samsung Orange installed. Aside from T-Mobile not being able to port over contacts from her other phone, it works fine.

Mine is another story...

Any advice or help anyone can provide is much appreciated.

-Paul