I keep reading about problems with the radio not being compatible because the rogers radio is somehow different. What exactly is the radio? I'm betting it doesn't mean my phone will tune in to AM/FM stations....unless it does and makes me love my phone even more...lol
basically the phone radio controls your reception, with a newer radio you will usually get a better reception quality as well as GPS fix is faster.
the radio also controls how fast the camera is and a little bit of the quality(i don't know why i just know it's true
XwXDv8XwX said:
I keep reading about problems with the radio not being compatible because the rogers radio is somehow different. What exactly is the radio? I'm betting it doesn't mean my phone will tune in to AM/FM stations....unless it does and makes me love my phone even more...lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In the context of phone hacking/hardware, the "radio" refers to the part of the phone which communicates with cellular towers. It is so named because the communication is done via radio waves. Specifically when people talk of flashing the radio, they are referring to the baseband processor. In most modern (2G and up) mobile phones, there are actually two processors. One is the application processor, which does all the work involving the operating system and apps. The other is the baseband processor, which actually deals with the GSM or WCDMA air interface (its a lot more complex than just broadcasting ones and zeros into the air).
Why would they use two processors instead of one? There are two main reasons. The first is that in order for cell networks to function properly, timing is key. For example, in the GSM system, each frequency is divided up into several time slots (TDMA means Time Division Multiple Access). The length of these slots are counted in the milliseconds. If a phone starts transmitting just a couple of milliseconds too late, it will overlap into the adjacent time slot and corrupt both its own and the neighboring transmission. Now, have you ever had your phone lag up because it was doing something complex? If the GSM stack ran on the same processor as the application stack, any system lagging introduced by the os/apps could cause the GSM connection to be unstable. The other reason is security. Especially in the age of smartphones, users are able to run code that may not be verified as secure. Separating the two functions prevents malicious code from tampering with the radio operations.
Note however that there are some flavors of Symbian which CAN run both the applications and baseband on the same processor. These are called real-time flavors of Symbian, so noted because the processor will always execute the baseband in real-time, regardless of how high apps are prioritized. This solves the timing problem, but other techniques have to be employed to add additional security.
Related
I was watching the idiot box the other day and it indicated that due to the 911 phone issue and requirement, all mobile phones were required to be able to be located to an address when calling 911, and thus all phones were required to have GPS unit installed, is this correct?
If that is so, are these phones illegal in the US as they dont have one, or do they have one and we dont know about it?
In the UK it is possible to track a mobile phone, and is done with 999 call in certain circumstances a number of ways. But I don't believe they use GPS in any of them yet. the main way is to tri-anglated (spelt sommit like that!) where the signal came from, which pin-points it to a faily small, but not perfect, radius.
The US are normally slightly more advanced with that sort of thing, but probably use a similar system.
Sorry, I just read your post again, the located to an address might be what we in UK do as a Subscriber Check, which is how we locate the owners of mobile phones in the police in UK. It can only be done in certain circumstances again, due to human rights, data protections, etc etc. But does not locate where the phone is when the signal was made, instead informs us who owns and registered the phone, and to what address.
Great if the phone is a contract phone.... But with PAYG it's not always that simple... you can pick these up anywhere now, and some people don't bother registering them...
When you use your mobile phone it can usually communicate with more than 1 base station & pick the nearest, it will also identify which transmitter on the base station has the strongest signal. You may also move between base stations as signal strength varies.
This information along with the amount of time to send & receive a signal can be used to identify the location of the mobile.
If the mobile can only see 1 base station it can be used to identify the location of the mobile in relation to the base station along with the distance.
If it can see 2 or more base stations it can be used to triangulate location.
Hope this helps.
Mike
Operators are required to upgrade their networks to support E911 service and have (I seem to remember) until November 2006 to complete said upgrade. There is presently no provision requiring individual handsets to provide GPS coordinates - or any other location-indicating function. There are several initiatives being explored that, if they come to fruition, would require location-reporting functions to be an integral part of new handsets.
Many of the dumb phones (Motorola etc) do already have some kind of GPS receiver, mostly AGPS (Assisted GPS) where the mobile network provides time, ephemeris and almanach, and the receiver only needs to listen to the sat time.
But only the HP iPAQ 6515 and 6915 have a similar chip at the moment, other smartphones or Pocket PC phones (like the Universal) don't have it. With all the hype around LBS it won't take long, maybe two or three generations of devices, until this is standard anyhow.
The E911 compliance has been delayed over and over again, and will be delayed through november. To cite the late Douglas Adams "I like deadlines, especially the swooshing sound they make when they pass by."
I am particularly interested in the wizard, however on a fundamental level WM will most likely operate the same across most models in respect to this issue (or at least that is the theory).
I realize that most GSM boards have processors on them which do things like channel syncing (which is fairly time sensitive since its tdma&fdma), a5, gsm framing, and all that. You more or less connect a sim, speaker and mic, and treat the gsm rf board as a black box.
I am hoping that somewhere someone has unearthed something that allows more direct control over the gsm board on these phones. I am aware of engineering mode, however that is not quite what I wanted.
I would like to be able to at the very least set the call parameters before a call goes out. For example, lets say that I want to disable A5, sinec there are 3 standard levels one being no encryption, and the tower and the phone negotiate and agree upon the highest common, something in the phone somewhere has to say that it supports encryption.
I am just uncertain if all that is burried away in a 'black box' somewhere and its not a software problem from within WM.
If anyone has any ideas I would greatly appreciate it, even if they are pointers to research material that may help me out a bit.
On WinMobile GSM part is isolated from the windows part, like in normal PCs modem hardware is isolated from mainboard. GSM part has its own CPU, RAM, ROM, operating system, and communicates with Windows via COM-port (or USB port in Universal). For example Universal has Qualcomm MSM6250 chip with some proprietary OS. HTC Himalaya had a different chip (I don't remember it now), and OS was based on nucleus RTOS. Anextek SP200 communicator had Siemens MC45 modem inside.
GSM hardware is a black box for WinMobile OS. MS specifies only some recomendations for OEMs, and controlling encryption is not among them. You can control it if GSM vendor supports some AT command, or some other proprietary method (maybe via dev_specific RIL command).
In the case of Universal, its GSM can be controlled from a PC with the usual Qualcomm diagnostic software (QXDM, QPST, etc), when you setup the device as a pass-through bridge between PC and GSM module. But I don't know any methods of doing the same from inside WinMobile.
mamaich said:
GSM hardware is a black box for WinMobile OS.
...
You can control it if GSM vendor supports some AT command, or some other proprietary method (maybe via dev_specific RIL command).
In the case of Universal, its GSM can be controlled from a PC with the usual Qualcomm diagnostic software (QXDM, QPST, etc), when you setup the device as a pass-through bridge between PC and GSM module. But I don't know any methods of doing the same from inside WinMobile.
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Click to collapse
That is what I was afraid of. Most of the GSM radio boards (or individual chips) are set up to act that way, and since its faster and cheaper I really dont know of anyone that hasnt done that in any phone that was made in the last few years.
At any rate, is there any documentation that discusses how to locate which com port or other method is used to access the GSM device within a wizard (or any other htc model, odds are many of them are similar, if not identical with this subcomponent).
Are there any known AT commands? my first project is to write something similar to the gsm engineer mode program, obtaining BTS information. I am unsure if this is obtained only via AT commands or if its something more involved, but welcome any information on this.
Found what appears the be half the answer at http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=RIL While that gives me access to the radio for some stuff (location data app that can work with gsmloc.org for example) it does not appear to enable me to set any parameters for a new call.
So if anyone knows of any tricks that would help say for example disable a5 crypto (on a per call basis idealy) or something similar to the setup of a call I would still appreciate hearing about that.
I know that Typhoon ( spv c500 / i-mate sp3 /Dopod 565) memory block with gsm info data. I am trying to find it in Magican - but no results. I dont know how Typhoon place this info in mem.
Hi
My idea should work like that:
You have 2 devices with installed this, and you can send an sms, do a call etc without connection to tower, just directly to other device.
It has sense, huh?
Also what about emulating an GSM tower with a device (+ additional antenna etc) which can receive common tasks from another devices?
It's a no. You're limited by hardware.
retsam88 said:
It's a no. You're limited by hardware.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why? except firmware limits
Well, think as phone is like 'slave' for 'master' base station. You cannot change from slave into master, also you would need a huge processing power to differentiate between every cell phone. If you wan't more info, read tech pdf's about GSM cell structure.
For any newbies out there who might be lost in alphabet soup or technical mumbo jumbo... here is a glossary so you can understand what's going on! This is a work-in-progress, of course, so let me know if there's any terms I should add or if there's any definitions I should modify. I am posting this in its unfinished form so I don't lose it, so sorry for any definitions that aren't finished yet! I'll get to it soon!
The Big Friendly Glossary for your Vibrant!
AOSP
Android Open Source Project. This is basically Android as Google intended it, with no interface customizations from the equipment manufacturers (HTC Sense or Samsung Touchwiz).
ADB
Android DeBugger. A program available for Windows/Linux/OSX that is used by programmers to access and control an android phone. The program allows you to open a command prompt to the phone, transfer files back and forth, and tell the phone to reboot normally or into recovery or download mode.
BLN
Back Light Notification. With a supported notification, BLN can be used to turn on the 4 softkey lights at the bottom of the Vibrant as a visual cue of new phone notifications. Since the Vibrant does not have a notification light like many other phones, this serves as a sort-of replacement.
Brick
An electronic device that has completely lost functionality. One of the most misused terms by newbies, so watch out! Bricking a device means that it is no longer recoverable by normal means. It is almost impossible to completely brick a Vibrant; sometimes "software bricks" are encountered while flashing new software, but these can be reliably fixed by getting the phone into download mode and using ODIN.
DAC
Digital-to-Analog Converter. A device that converts digital data into an analog format that may be understandable by humans in the form of audio or video. The Vibrant has a Wolfson WM8994 DAC that has the ability to output extremely high quality audio when paired with a properly modified driver such as Voodoo Sound
Download Mode
A low-level mode that allows for downloading of a ROM via USB. A program such as Heimdall or ODIN must be used to communicate with the phone in this mode. To reach download mode, hold the VOL+ and VOL- buttons and then plug in a USB connection.
Flashing
The process of replacing or upgrading any or all parts of a ROM.
Eclair
Another name for Android 2.1. The Vibrant originally shipped with an Eclair ROM.
FFC
Front-Facing Camera. The Vibrant 4G (Galaxy S 4G) has one, as does the international version of the Vibrant. The original T-Mobile Vibrant may be modified with a front-facing camera.
Froyo
Frozen Yogurt, a delicious dairy dessert, or another name for Android 2.2. Samsung released the official Froyo rom for the Vibrant in January 2011.
Gingerbread
The next iteration of Android after Froyo, or Android 2.3. Gingerbread contains further processor optimizations for the Vibrant which will allow it to run even faster.
GPRS
General Packet Radio Service. The slowest wireless data service available.
GPS
Global Positioning System. A network of satellites in geosynchronous orbit that constantly broadcast beacon information, allowing ground-based devices that can receive the satellites' signals to calculate their position. Some Vibrants have a faulty GPS antenna connection to the mainboard which interferes with proper GPS function.
GSM
Global System for Mobile (Communications), the most commonly used cellular phone service used in the world. In the US, AT&T and T-Mobile are the two major GSM carriers.
Heimdall
A cross-platform flashing program for Galaxy S devices including the Vibrant. Unlike ODIN, this program may be used on Linux and Mac OS X.
HSUPA/HSDPA/HSPA/HSPA+
High Speed (Uplink/Downlink) Protected Access. Together, they are called HSPA. The 3G technology utilized by T-Mobile US that allows for speeds of up to 14.4Mbps down/5.76Mbps up. HSPA+ is an evolution of HSUPA/HSDPA that allows for even higher speeds. T-Mobile calls HSPA+ "4G". These are all telephony protocols that are used over UMTS.
Kernel
The part of a ROM that talks to the hardware directly. Kernels contain drivers for everything from the GPS chip to the filesystem used on the flash chips.
Kies
The official Samsung software for linking computers to their phones. It allows for synchronization of files, music, video, address books, etc. There is also a version of Kies called Kies Mini which only updates ROMs.
Modem
MOdulator/DEModulator. A device that bridges analog and digital transmission mediums, or in this case, the mobile carrier's wireless network (analog radio waves) and the phone (digital). In the context of "flashing a modem," this refers to the software that determines the behavior of the modem hardware with respect to how it reacts to various signal conditions and power needs.
OCLF
One Click Lag Fix
Odex/Deodex
Odexed files are packaged in an optimized way that allows for quick loading during the phone's boot cycle. However, they cannot be easily modified and must be deodexed first. Deodexing a file or a ROM allows for changes to the internals to be made, usually involving theming.
Odin
A Windows-only program for flashing all or part of a ROM to a Galaxy S phone such as the Vibrant when it is in download mode.
OTA
Over-The-Air (Update). An update that arrives over the cellular carrier's networks.
RFS
Robust FAT File System. A file system developed by Samsung that adds a journal to Microsoft's popular FAT file system. The file system used by stock Vibrant ROMs, it is criticized as being slow and can be sped up with lagfixes that replace or supplement it with the faster EXT2 and EXT4 file systems.
Recovery
A low-level mode on Android devices such as the Vibrant that allows the user to flash updates and wipe caches and erase user data without booting the entire Android operating system. Stock recovery can be replaced by Clockwork recovery if the phone is rooted, which allows flashing of unsigned packages and creating backups.
ROM
"Read-only memory," this is the core software that comes with the phone that does not get modified in day-to-day use. The Vibrant ROM may consist of a bootloader, kernel, modem, operating system, and system apps. ROMs may be updated and/or replaced using a technique called flashing.
Root/Rooting
Obtaining root access, or rooting, is a method by which restrictions placed by the operating system on the phone's default user account can be bypassed. In UNIX-based systems, 'root' is the name of the superuser/administrator account on a computer. Rooting is a form of software unlocking, which allows users to modify system files to do various tasks, such as backup and restore system applications and settings (such as a list of Wifi access points), or installing programs that would otherwise be restricted (such as a tethering program).
Source Code
The high-level, human-readable version of a program that must be compiled into a binary to be run on a computer.
Stock
Unmodified from official T-Mobile or Samsung releases.
Tethering
Using your phone to pass internet connectivity to another device (such as a laptop computer). Wired tethering uses a USB connection, and wireless tethering can be done over Bluetooth or WiFi. T-Mobile charges extra for tethering, but in most cases you can get away with occasional use.
UMTS
Universal Mobile Telecommunications System. A 3G/4G telecommunications standard describing how radios talk to each other. It is considered the next step up from GSM, and is itself based upon GSM technologies. UMTS is used to send and receive with the HSPA/HSPA+ protocol on the T-Mobile network. It is also sometimes called 3GSM.
Voodoo
A collection of optimizations for the Galaxy S series of phones, including the Vibrant, developed by xda user supercurio. Voodoo Lagfix uses an EXT4 partition to speed up system access. Voodoo Color improves the oversaturation and blue cast of the Vibrant's AMOLED screen. Voodoo Sound improves the performance of the Vibrant's onboard DAC, which improves sound quality, and also adds a headphone amplifier function.
(Reserved)
My htc touch hd was originally on orange but i unlocked it and am using o2 pay as you go sim. however i never get a strong signal, and sometimes when i call people nothing happens when i check my balance sometimes it just says operation failed.
theres nothing wrong with the sim card as i've used it on other phones perfectly, and i've used a vodafone sim on my blackstone and its worked perfectly
also when im using android (problem occurs on all versions e.g. froyo/gingerbread) on my blackstone it says im on bt cellnet whilst im on o2 and so i my o2 sim card is useless on android. Do any other o2 users have this problem?
Should i get a new sim card? and is this with all o2 sim cards on blackstone?
EDIT
yeh still the same problem, signal always seems to be weak, but im gonna try the nandroid rom, my main isssue is that when ive used android on my blackstone from the sd card it says im on bt cellnet- when im on o2 !
while from several clues in your post i assume you are in the UK, it would have been nice to mention that, since o2 exists in several countries with different sim cards, network infrastructures and frequencies.
from a quick search i found that orange uk is operating on the 1800mhz band, while o2 appears to be on the 900mhz band. assuming that while changing your sim card, you did not change the rom or any settings, this might be the solution:
open phone->menu->options
1. ->network, set network selection to automatic.
2. ->band, set network type to automatic and gsm/umts band to automatic
also, depending on your rom, there might be an automatic band selection option in comm manager.
while these are windows mobile settings, it might still affect your android problems as well, since android through haret is based on windows correctly loading hardware drivers.
the settings here are taken from my htc wwe 1.56 stock rom, values or naming might vary.
Chef_Tony said:
while from several clues in your post i assume you are in the UK, it would have been nice to mention that, since o2 exists in several countries with different sim cards, network infrastructures and frequencies.
from a quick search i found that orange uk is operating on the 1800mhz band, while o2 appears to be on the 900mhz band. assuming that while changing your sim card, you did not change the rom or any settings, this might be the solution:
open phone->menu->options
1. ->network, set network selection to automatic.
2. ->band, set network type to automatic and gsm/umts band to automatic
also, depending on your rom, there might be an automatic band selection option in comm manager.
while these are windows mobile settings, it might still affect your android problems as well, since android through haret is based on windows correctly loading hardware drivers.
the settings here are taken from my htc wwe 1.56 stock rom, values or naming might vary.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes from uk
yeh im using a kwbr rom(i think), on all roms ive tried including windows, i get the problem
for my band setting they are both auto, so do i change anything?
on network type its auto, band frequency is auto but i can choose from
auto,gsm(900+1800) + umts (900+1200), gsm(1900+850) or umts (2100)
so do u know how to fix the android problem thats my main concern, if nandroid comes to blackstone will the problem still occur?
you could give it a go with gsm on the top one and gsm(900+1800)+umts(900+2100), since according to my research o2 uk operates on 900mhz for gsm and umts.
i am fairly certain, this issue originates in your windows mobile settings and is therefor also present in haret android. nandroid works in another way. since it is flashed directly in the rom space of the device, it replaces winmo and it will not depend on winmo for the initialization of the hardware. which is why i believe, the issue might not be present there.
also: have you tried other roms and/or other radio roms? the latest radio 1.17.25.09 is known for a generally better performance (which comes with the downside of slightly higher power consumption).
Chef_Tony said:
you could give it a go with gsm on the top one and gsm(900+1800)+umts(900+2100), since according to my research o2 uk operates on 900mhz for gsm and umts.
i am fairly certain, this issue originates in your windows mobile settings and is therefor also present in haret android. nandroid works in another way. since it is flashed directly in the rom space of the device, it replaces winmo and it will not depend on winmo for the initialization of the hardware. which is why i believe, the issue might not be present there.
also: have you tried other roms and/or other radio roms? the latest radio 1.17.25.09 is known for a generally better performance (which comes with the downside of slightly higher power consumption).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nah i havent used other radio roms- i thought they just affected the radio, im not sure of what radio roms do. maybe ill try other radio roms when i've got time
ill change my band settings, will this have an effect on 3g and signal strength or anything?
the radio rom handles all kinds of interactions between the windows mobile operating system and the hardware. this includes the fm radio, but also the camera, bluetooth, speaker, microphone, wi-fi, gps and also wireless communications like gsm and 3g.
so it might help your case. you should perform a hard reset after flashing a radio though, because previously stored bluetooth pairings or stored wi-fi networks might not work afterwards w/o a hard reset.
as mentioned above, the latest version 1.17.25.09 improves performance like quicker gps fix, better wi-fi signal and better gsm signal. also, have a look at this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1111373 and the one linked in there for information on how other people handled their similar signal problems.
Chef_Tony said:
the radio rom handles all kinds of interactions between the windows mobile operating system and the hardware. this includes the fm radio, but also the camera, bluetooth, speaker, microphone, wi-fi, gps and also wireless communications like gsm and 3g.
so it might help your case. you should perform a hard reset after flashing a radio though, because previously stored bluetooth pairings or stored wi-fi networks might not work afterwards w/o a hard reset.
as mentioned above, the latest version 1.17.25.09 improves performance like quicker gps fix, better wi-fi signal and better gsm signal. also, have a look at this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1111373 and the one linked in there for information on how other people handled their similar signal problems.
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Click to collapse
thanks ive read this guide http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=560451
and downloaded the radio u suggested lets see if it works!
EDIT
yeh still the same problem, signal always seems to be weak, but im gonna try the nandroid rom, my main isssue is that when ive used android on my blackstone from the sd card it says im on bt cellnet- when im on o2 !