Root poor signal and battery life- should i attempt to change radio?

[davo26]

rooted and changed rom to ARHD quite a while ago now and was happy with how it all performed. kept the same radio, and battery life was sweet.
i then moved from voda to giffgaff, and since then my battery life seems quite poor, and i nearly always have poor signal.

just as an aside, my wife also did the same (moved from voda to giffgaff), had a non-existent signal, so i set up the suggested APN for her in case it was wrong. this did the trick and she now has a good signal.

i tried doing the same, setting up a new APN with the same settings, but things havent improved for me.

worth trying to flash the suggetsed radio for ARHD you reckon? i kept my old radio at the time as i was told if it aint broke dont fix it, but it seems to be a bit more broke since my switch

thanks for any suggestions

 

[D-U-R-X]

Poor signal can be the reason for poor battery life, as the phone is constantly searching for signal.

You could try a radio flash - if you do, be careful to ensure that your phone is fully charged... this is the main reason why phones can be bricked when flashing a new radio

 

[davo26]

Poor signal can be the reason for poor battery life, as the phone is constantly searching for signal.

You could try a radio flash - if you do, be careful to ensure that your phone is fully charged... this is the main reason why phones can be bricked when flashing a new radio

thanks, will do. just been looking and im a bit confused by it really, so not sure if i should go ahead, as this is risky yep?
i followed the xda threads on it, which seem to imply its not 'radio s-off' i need to flash radios, but 'eng s-off'. i then followed the link to see how to do this, which listed the requirements, but no details on how to do it. the 'eng s-off' link just linked back to the original page.

am i too much of a noob to try this really? i need to know what im doing id say

cheers

 

[D-U-R-X]

Getting ENG S-Off is easy... there is a tool... I think that the one on XDA has been taken down, but there is one on a different site - I can find the link for you in a sec.

Flashing a new radio is, by all accounts, relatively straight forward. The problem is that it can brick your phone if you loose power whilst flashing the radio... you just need to ensure that you have full power when you want to do it (the phone will not charge while in bootloader mode).

There is a method for flashing a radio without having to have ENG S-Off, but I am not familiar with it.

Here is a link to a thread about flashing radios and the post I've linked also has a link to where you can download the tool you would need to use to get ENG S-Off. Here is a bit more discussion on the same topic.

Hope this helps a bit... lemme know if you want more info

 

[davo26]

Getting ENG S-Off is easy... there is a tool... I think that the one on XDA has been taken down, but there is one on a different site - I can find the link for you in a sec.

Flashing a new radio is, by all accounts, relatively straight forward. The problem is that it can brick your phone if you loose power whilst flashing the radio... you just need to ensure that you have full power when you want to do it (the phone will not charge while in bootloader mode).

There is a method for flashing a radio without having to have ENG S-Off, but I am not familiar with it.

Here is a link to a thread about flashing radios and the post I've linked also has a link to where you can download the tool you would need to use to get ENG S-Off. Here is a bit more discussion on the same topic.

Hope this helps a bit... lemme know if you want more info

thanks mate, just slowly going through it now, so may ask a few questions before i press the big red button

ive installed sdk and installed the other bits and bobs, including the 'google driver'. im pretty sure i already had usb drivers installed anyway, but just wanted to double check im ok. the device manager lists my phone as 'Android USB devices', and in that it says 'My HTC'. double click that and it lists driver info with HTC being provider and signed by windows etc. that all sound ok so far?

thanks

EDIT: just got a bit further and used command prompt to identify phone. says adb server is out of date and then 'killing...' , but daemon starts successfully and then lists phone. all good?

EDIT EDIT: your link says net framework should be installed, so googled how to check. ended up going to control panel, progs, 'turn windows features on and off' and ticked the boxes under net framework 3.5.1. so thats ticked as well now. still ok so far?

 

[D-U-R-X]

Been a while since I ran the tool - gimme a couple of mins to have a look at stuff

 

[D-U-R-X]

Right... I had a quick look at the links to jog my memory... all I did was install the drivers, tool and .net, then ran the tool. As you are rooted, I guess you are Radio S-Off, so you just tick the "I'm already Radio S-Off" box and let it do it's thing.

 

[davo26]

just one quick question. say everything is just jack dandy and im ready to do the one click eng s-off. it says once ive started it, i have to click 'i have radio s-off'. i assume my phone needs to be in that state to start with?
if i go to my bootloader, my top line says 'ace pvt ship s-off rl'. so no mention of radio s-off?

thanks

EDIT: we must have been typing at the same time is ship s-off the same as radio s-off?

 

[D-U-R-X]

Ships S-Off means Radio S-Off.

When did you root? Did you use the AAHK? If you did use it to root, then you will have it already

 

[davo26]

Ships S-Off means Radio S-Off.

When did you root? Did you use the AAHK? If you did use it to root, then you will have it already

yeah rooted a few months ago when i got the phone, and yes, used aahk. looks like im all ready to press the big button

off out shortly tho, so will prob try it in the morning now.

thanks a lot

 

[D-U-R-X]

No problem mate

 

[davo26]

couldnt wait, so just tried it

ticked the 'i have radio s-off' then ran the exe, but it only got half way before coming up with 'connection problem' so i had to hit 'finish' :-(

any ideas what might have gone wrong? i seemed to have done everything by the book :-/

 

[D-U-R-X]

Not sure mate... it's quite a while since I actually ran the tool. One of the 2 threads I linked explains how to flash a radio without having ENG S-Off... perhaps it's better to try change the radio the other way?

 

[davo26]

Not sure mate... it's quite a while since I actually ran the tool. One of the 2 threads I linked explains how to flash a radio without having ENG S-Off... perhaps it's better to try change the radio the other way?

just read it, at the end of your first link. unfortunately its doubledutch to me, so....... may just have to leave it :-/

thanks

 

[Mehta23]

Is there an app that logs stuff like network strength etc... similar to how currentwidget logs for battery ...??

 

[davo26]

just been having another look at that link you gave earlier, about flashing radios without being ENG S-OFF. this is what it says.........

yup! jusrt pack up the radios with an android info text document from another ruu(if your s-off,it really doesnt even matter what text document you use) along with the radio and firmware,zip it up,rename PD98IMG and it will flash fine in hboot. just make sure to verify the md5 of the radio images first,if you pack it up yourself,and provide an md5 for the download if youre going to offer it to others.

place on sd card,boot to hboot,and it will flsah the firmware.

you can also use the oem rebootRUU and flash zip commands in fastboot to flash literally any PD98IMG. this is always how i do it,since it doesnt rely on proper sd card format,and proper file name like flashing it in hboot. its alwo faster becasue you dont have to move files on and off the sd card

if anyone can put that into plain english or help me out a bit with it, i may have a go.
im assuming i need to collect some 'stuff', zip it up and rename PD98IMG and place on sd card and flash from recovery again, same as roms? and itll flash a new radio, simple as that?
its just this other 'stuff' that i need help with

thanks

 

[D-U-R-X]

just been having another look at that link you gave earlier, about flashing radios without being ENG S-OFF. this is what it says.........

yup! jusrt pack up the radios with an android info text document from another ruu(if your s-off,it really doesnt even matter what text document you use) along with the radio and firmware,zip it up,rename PD98IMG and it will flash fine in hboot. just make sure to verify the md5 of the radio images first,if you pack it up yourself,and provide an md5 for the download if youre going to offer it to others.

place on sd card,boot to hboot,and it will flsah the firmware.

you can also use the oem rebootRUU and flash zip commands in fastboot to flash literally any PD98IMG. this is always how i do it,since it doesnt rely on proper sd card format,and proper file name like flashing it in hboot. its alwo faster becasue you dont have to move files on and off the sd card

if anyone can put that into plain english or help me out a bit with it, i may have a go.
im assuming i need to collect some 'stuff', zip it up and rename PD98IMG and place on sd card and flash from recovery again, same as roms? and itll flash a new radio, simple as that?
its just this other 'stuff' that i need help with

thanks

Unfortunately, I can't help you... I have never done this. Scotty would be able to give you some advice... I'm pretty sure that he will see this thread - he is in the US though, so won't be up yet... just hang in there

 

[scotty85]

Unfortunately, I can't help you... I have never done this. Scotty would be able to give you some advice... I'm pretty sure that he will see this thread - he is in the US though, so won't be up yet... just hang in there

im up!

just been having another look at that link you gave earlier, about flashing radios without being ENG S-OFF.
im assuming i need to collect some 'stuff', zip it up and rename PD98IMG and place on sd card and flash from recovery again, same as roms? and itll flash a new radio, simple as that?
its just this other 'stuff' that i need help with

thanks

yup,simple as that. the basic stuff you need is an android info text document(you can steal it from pretty much any PD98IMG file),the radio that you want to use. in the rezound and sensation forums,we never flash just a radio-there are other bits of firmware that also affect the radios performance,so you should check the ruu that your radio comes from for these bits of firmware,and include them in your PD98IMG,if you find them in the radios origininal signed RUU(i have checked a couple,and not seen any,but i havent checked them all. the dhd may be too old to have them)

other firmware you should include are images named:
-adsp
-pg2fs_spcustom
-rpm
-sbl1
-sbl2
-sbl3
-tz
-hboot(as it may sometimes be not compatible with the radio)

put any of the above you find,with the radio image,and the android info text document and zip it up,and you have yourself a file flahsable in hboot.

i think the recommendations for an eng hboot likely originated by whomever made the statement were simply because the radios were being flashed with a fastboot command ( fastboot flash radio radioname.img ) wich is not available with standard hboots.

the eng hboot offers numerous commands that the ship hboots do not,but they are really not needed for most typical useres.

this thread goes into a little more detail,i believe:
http://androidforums.com/desire-hd-all-things-root/564128-adb-modifying-splash-screen.html
its actually about splash screens,but most of it applys to radios as well

having said the above,i would prolly reccomend not to just start blindly flashing radios around,as you never know what kind of compatibility issues you might run into with the rest of the phones firmware. ive learned the hard way,that sometimes these incompatibilities can lead to a non-booting phone you do need to be careful when flashing,and espeically mix and matching, different carrier/regional ruus.

the safest way to get a new radio,IMO,is to run the full,signed ruu that contains that radio. you are prolly fairly safe to pull out the system,boot,and recovery images if youre immediately going to flash a rom,but you may want to consider running it stock for a day or 2 to see how things behave.

considering your signal issue,is there an ruu available for the carrier that you switched to? what firmware do you have now? i.e.,if you have never changed it,what did it come with? was it unbranded,or a vodaphone branded device?

heres prolly what i personally would try in your situation:
-pick an ruu. if you were running firmware from a vodaphone branded device,see if an ruu for your new carrier exists. if not,or if you were just on old unbranded firmware,maybe try the newest sense 3.0 unbranded ruu(3.12.405.1),assuming you are also superCIDed.
-run that ruu
-use your phone stock for a couple days,and see how it goes. battery life my not be spectacular,as its a stock,sense roms,but hopefully its better that what you have now. pay attention to your signal strength(you may want to watch it for a couple days before to get a baseline of your poor signal). make sure you watch the db number in settings/about phone/status(shows phone number,carrier,signal strength). dont watch the signal bars,as they can be misleading. keep in mind,the closer the number is to zero,the stronger the signal. -100 or more dBm is a not percievable signal.a strong signal is anywhere from -60 dBm to -80ish dBm.

if you see an improvement,go ahead and re-install your recovery,then restore your backup,or re-install your rom.

for reference,im currently running ice cold sandwich,with the radio/hboot/etc. from the 3.12.405.1 ruu. right now,and it sits beside the computer the signal strength is -85 dBm. this is pretty comparible to what the phone got when running att branded firmware on t mobile,and pretty close to what my t mobile sensation gets,on t mobile firmware. i.e.,i believe the 3.12.405.1 ruu is a good choice,if a carrier branded ruu doesnt exist.

if you dont see any improvements,you could try a different ruu,or we could mull it over and see if we can come up with any other possibilitys

hope that helps

 

[D-U-R-X]

I thought it would be the same as doing the splash screen... it seemed to make sense

Cheers Scotty!!

 

[davo26]

got to admit, im still a bit baffled by a lot of that. ill try and understand it bit by bit. it seems a lot of work, flashing old RUU, going back to stock for a while etc, just to change the radio, when ive got the radio downloaded and waiting to be flashed now. but..... as i say, i dont really understand enough about it yet.

the 'one click eng s-off' requirements on the thread state i need a stock rom 1.7x, so i assume thats what you mean by an old RUU? im on arhd 6.3.2, android 2.3.5, so im guessing its all a bit too recent for the radio flash?

heres prolly what i personally would try in your situation:
-pick an ruu. if you were running firmware from a vodaphone branded device,see if an ruu for your new carrier exists. if not,or if you were just on old unbranded firmware,maybe try the newest sense 3.0 unbranded ruu(3.12.405.1),assuming you are also superCIDed.

cant remember who the original firmware was as i bought phone from a friend, either voda or O2 i think, but i rooted it and am now with giffgaff if that makes sense? superCID? dont know what that is.

just checked my signal strength. at the mo its -105 dBm 6 asu. just changed to -99 dBm 7 asu. 2 bars showing on signal display. so, according to your advice, not great.

if you see an improvement,go ahead and re-install your recovery,then restore your backup,or re-install your rom.

are you implying the old RUU will change radio too? and if its better, reflash old rom which will keep the new radio? not sure if so, but..... i still wouldnt have the correct radio for ARHD thats waiting to be flashed.

im sure ill have many more questions, so thanks in advance for sticking with me im at work for 5 days from tomorrow, so experimenting will be minimal. but ill be back :-D

thanks

 

[D-U-R-X]

It says build 1.7X OR a custom ROM

Super CID is super Carrier ID - you rooted with the AAHK, so the tool would have given you Super CID.

Basically, if you put the newest RUU (which is for the Sense 3.0 OTA Update) on your phone and find that things are better, then you would be able to re-root your phone and put a custom ROM on there and flash the radio from the Sense 3.0 RUU

EDIT - I'm sure we'll be here when you come back!!

 

[scotty85]

QUOTE=davo
got to admit, im still a bit baffled by a lot of that. ill try and understand it bit by bit. it seems a lot of work, flashing old RUU, going back to stock for a while etc, just to change the radio, when ive got the radio downloaded and waiting to be flashed now. but..... as i say, i dont really understand enough about it yet.
actually,you are misunderstanding. youll want to flash either a newer ruu,wich will contain newer radios and firmware,or you will want to flash a carrier branded for your current carrier ruu,as that radio and firmware are designed forr that carrier,wich will likely give better performance.

the important bits to get from my post were these:
1)there can be more to good performance than simply flashing the radio.
2)not all radios/hboots/other firmware are able to be "mix and matched" wich is why i recomend to flash a whole ruu. that way,everything matches. the concequences of flashing a radio that doesnt get along with yuur current hboot and firmware can be as innocent as poorer performance,but also as extreme as a non-booting phone other fixable issues may arise as well,from bootloops,to the disapearance of your sd card or internal storage.

i do realize flashing a whole ruu is a longer process than just flashing a radio,but keep in mind that,as long as the new radio is better,you only have to do it once. its also important that i recommend the safest way possible,so users dont become fustrated with prollems from things not working,or end up with dead phones.

the 'one click eng s-off' requirements on the thread state i need a stock rom 1.7x, so i assume thats what you mean by an old RUU? im on arhd 6.3.2, android 2.3.5, so im guessing its all a bit too recent for the radio flash?
im not quite sure what youre refering to,here. you are radio s-off,so you dont need to use the AAHK or downgrade your rom again to reroot.

if the ruu/radio you flash is better,all youll need to do is:
-reinstall whatever recovery youre running
-flash whatevr rom you want to run,or restore a backup that you made prior to flashing the new ruu.

again,you want to flash a newer ruu,not an older one.


cant remember who the original firmware was as i bought phone from a friend, either voda or O2 i think, but i rooted it and am now with giffgaff if that makes sense? yes,it makes sense. so you likely are on a different carriers radio,that is possibly fairly outdated.

just checked my signal strength. at the mo its -105 dBm 6 asu. just changed to -99 dBm 7 asu. 2 bars showing on signal display. so, according to your advice, not great. yikes! yeah thats a pretty weak signal,and very likely the reason for your poor battery. as D-U-R-X mentioned,the phone constantly searching for signal is hard on it.


are you implying the old RUU will change radio too? newer ruu,but yes. it will chagne the radio,hboot,etc.and if its better, reflash old rom which will keep the new radio? correct not sure if so, but..... i still wouldnt have the correct radio for ARHD thats waiting to be flashed. is this the rom youre running?
[ROM] Android Revolution HD 7.0.4 | High Quality & Performance | O/C | Legendary - xda-developers ?

if,so,it recommends radio 12.65.60.29_26.14.04.28_M,wich is the radio from the 3.12.405.1 ruu i recomended,and the one im currently running,lol. that ruu works well unmodified,and that radio is working fine for me with ice cold sammich,even over here in the states where the gsm signals are prolly a lil differrent.

if you dont want to flash the whole 3.12.405.12 in ints entirety,you can try just flashing the radio. you can pack it up with an android info text document,or i could do that for you if you want.

just keep in mind that flashing it by itself may or may not give as good of performance as flashing the whole ruu.

i hope that helps clear it up for you. i honestly wasnt trying to make it more complicated.

the main point is that you dont need to the eng hboot to flash the radio. i can pack it up and upload it,if you want to go that route.

im sure ill have many more questions, so thanks in advance for sticking with me im at work for 5 days from tomorrow, so experimenting will be minimal. but ill be back :-D

thanks

It says build 1.7X OR a custom ROM

Basically, if you put the newest RUU (which is for the Sense 3.0 OTA Update) on your phone and find that things are better, then you would be able to re-root your phone and put a custom ROM on there and flash the radio from the Sense 3.0 RUU

just one small correction,he wont need to reflash the radio,as long as he doenst flash any other ruus,as the radio and such will still be there after installing recovery and installing the rom

after reading the ARHD post,and seeing it recomends the radio from the sense 3.0 ruu,heres the skinny:

thread reccomends:
-flash radio,flash rom,or vice versa.

my recomendations above net the same results,just a slightly different path
-run full ruu to get radio 12.65.60.29_26.14.04.28_M.
-install recovery,flash rom.

honestly im sure its safe to flash the radio only with whatver hboot and firmware he is running,but being new to this device,i try to recomend th the safest route possible. especially because of some experiences ive had with other devices.

edit:
i downloaded the .rar file from the ARHD thread. looks like it is simply going to launch adb,boot the phone to fastboot,and then enter the "fastboot flash radio" command wich is why its saying you need the eng hboot.

 

[scotty85]

since the .rar file is only instaalling the radio,ill assume its safe with all hboots.

disclaimer: im not responsible if this radio melts your phone into a little puddle of goo

if you wish to try the radio only flash and see if it straigntens things up for you download this:
PD98IMG-12.65.60.29_26.14.04.28_M.zip

make sure the md5= 34126c25d36320647de1a254ac8f830c


rename PD98IMG,place on root of sd card,boot to hboot,and let it flash

 

[davo26]

im not quite sure what youre refering to,here. you are radio s-off,so you dont need to use the AAHK or downgrade your rom again to reroot.

if the ruu/radio you flash is better,all youll need to do is:
-reinstall whatever recovery youre running
-flash whatevr rom you want to run,or restore a backup that you made prior to flashing the new ruu.

again,you want to flash a newer ruu,not an older one.

thats good news about not needing to re-rrot then. i was assuming an RUU basically 'fools' the phone companies into thinking its a non-rooted phone by going back to stock. obviously im mistaken there. once rooted, forever rooted then yep?
with that in mind, why would i need to flash recovery again? do i not need recovery to flash an RUU, and once happy with my new radio and wish to re-flash ARHD say, id need recovery again to do that wouldnt i? how would i flash recovery again, if i dont have recovery to flash it from sd card? apologies for my ignorance.

and flash the backup i made prior to RUU? i assume youll mean a nandroid which i would take just before flashing the RUU? from recovery yep?

and one more thing on that subject, i dont really understand all this EXT4 thing, and partitions. im assuming with my present rom, its partitioned my sd card in some particular way to gain maximum storage, and it also installed a different recovery to clockwork. i actually prefer the new one, but id be happy with either. would the new RUU wipe all of that? or will it leave the sd card exactly as is?
flashing the new RUU will put a stock rom/ radio on, will i lose photos, music etc if it changes my sd card?

can you confirm also that i am now understanding an RUU changes EVERYTHING, rom, radio hboot (i dont know what hboot is or why its important). a rom keeps radio, hboot, its just a different 'operating system'?

if you wish to try the radio only flash and see if it straigntens things up for you download this:
PD98IMG-12.65.60.29_26.14.04.28_M.zip

thanks for that. i havent decided which route to take yet. if i go this route, could i just ask..... i also downloaded that radio from a link. is your link the same, or is it a little package you made up with necessary info files etc? so better than what i downloaded?

thanks a lot for the time youre giving me

is this the rom youre running?
[ROM] Android Revolution HD 7.0.4 | High Quality & Performance | O/C | Legendary - xda-developers ?

its actually ARHD 6.3.2, will that make a difference? same radio?

i also thought, with you mentioning that RUU works fine for you, that doesnt necessarily mean it will for me does it? as ill maybe be using a different network? as i said, im on giffgaff wich uses the O2 network. you reckon that RUU may still be fine?

also, id prefer to keep the phone more or less as it is, as its obviously got all my little tweaks and settings applied. a brand new RUU and rom will obviously mean starting again from scratch. so i suppose that leans towards me trying the short cut :-D

thanks

 

[scotty85]

yep [/COLOR]
with that in mind, why would i need to flash recovery again? the ruu will overwrite your current recovery with the stock one. do i not need recovery to flash an RUU, no,ruus are not flashed with a recovery. they are either flashed in hboot as PD98IMG files,or as .exe utilitys run on your PC and once happy with my new radio and wish to re-flash ARHD say, id need recovery again to do that wouldnt i? correct. youll need your custom recovery back to flash ARHD how would i flash recovery again, if i dont have recovery to flash it from sd card? apologies for my ignorance.
you will flash it in hboot(dont confuse the hboot or fastboot screens with recovery). basically,youll install it just like the radio i described above:
download this:
cwm-5.0.2.7-ace.zip

-rename it PD98IMG
-place on root of sd card
-boot to hboot,it will install.

voila! you have custom recovery again. being s-off the phone doesnt do any signiture or file checks,so you can install literally anything

and flash the backup i made prior to RUU? i assume youll mean a nandroid which i would take just before flashing the RUU? yep from recovery yep? yep

and one more thing on that subject, i dont really understand all this EXT4 thing, and partitions. dont worry,i really dont either EXT 4 is just a different type of file system and ive never used that recovery(even with roms that say to) and ive never used the silly "superwipe" zip they want you to flash,either. im assuming with my present rom, its partitioned my sd card in some particular way to gain maximum storage, and it also installed a different recovery to clockwork. im not really sure on this one. i skimmed the ARHD post and didnt see any mention of partitioning i actually prefer the new one, but id be happy with either. would the new RUU wipe all of that? yees. ruu will wipe,and restore to stock,all partitions on the phone. sd card will not be touched. or will it leave the sd card exactly as is?
flashing the new RUU will put a stock rom/ radio on, will i lose photos, music etc if it changes my sd card? you should not lose anything on the sd. the ruu will wipe everything on the phoneand internal storage,but the removeable sd card should not be touched. go ahead and back it up to your pc if you want,for some piece of mind. its not a bad idea to do this periodically,anyway

can you confirm also that i am now understanding an RUU changes EVERYTHING, rom, radio hboot (i dont know what hboot is or why its important). a rom keeps radio, hboot, its just a different 'operating system'?
correct!



thanks for that. i havent decided which route to take yet. if i go this route, could i just ask..... i also downloaded that radio from a link. is your link the same, or is it a little package you made up with necessary info files etc? so better than what i downloaded? it depends on the link you downloaded from.

if you downloaded the radio from the ARHD thread, its different. the arhd link contains fastboot,adb,and a script that will automatically flash the radio using the fastboot flash radio command. as such,it will require you to install an eng hboot,or it will not work.

the file i linked is very simple: the radio image and an android info text doucment. it is better,simply because you can flash it in hboot without having to install eng hboot:
-rename to PD98IMG
-place on root of SD
-boot to hboot,allow update.

i have to step back for a minute and make this comment. i have always thot the desire crowd to be a very dedicated,and skilled bunch. and i still do-devs get things working on these devices quickly and smoothly.. but it is a lil funny to me some basic fundamentals of how an htc device operates are somewhat ignored... after some poking around it seems not to be much varience in how you skin the cat!

thanks a lot for the time youre giving me
you are quite welcome