Database Users

lousy RF?

Anyone else notice the lousy RF the XDA seems to have?
Now I am not referring to the signal meter, cause I know that it isn't very accurate anyway. But I can definately notice the RF fading in and out when in a call, plus the normal signs that the RF is flucuating.
There is VERY good signal throughout my area, and I use the phone from home mainly. My previous phone, which was a Samsung flipphone, the RF was fabulous and never had a problem with it.

chocodough said:
Anyone else notice the lousy RF the XDA seems to have?
Now I am not referring to the signal meter, cause I know that it isn't very accurate anyway. But I can definately notice the RF fading in and out when in a call, plus the normal signs that the RF is flucuating.
There is VERY good signal throughout my area, and I use the phone from home mainly. My previous phone, which was a Samsung flipphone, the RF was fabulous and never had a problem with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm having the same problem. When I first purchased the phone I had awsome reception, now it seems the reception is nowhere... This happened before the ROM upgrade also so I know it wasn't that.

I've got the exact same problem....
At first it was perfect but now it sometimes suddenly sounds mettalic....

I have lots of fading as well, also an inordinate number of disconnects, if I put my sim in another phone it works fine. Having said that, I can live with it.

I just updated my phone ROM to the latest, lets see if that solves the problem!

Better Battery Life

What do you all think of this post I found on Androidforums:
Those with worse battery life with Fresh 2.0b
I found a solution!! If you go to settings->About Phone->Battery->Battery Use It will show what items are using your battery. For me if I tapped on Cell standby, time without a signal was at 50%. It accounted for 73% of my battery usage. (Please note that I am using flipz newest radio also)
Here's how to fix it:
Open the dialer
Dial: *#*#4636#*#*
After a second, the testing menu will show up
Tap Phone information
If you scroll down, the preferred network type was defaulted to GSM auto (PRL)
Change it to CDMA only
Time without a signal should change to 0-1%. Also note that the battery use menu is only updated after unplugging the phone from the charger.

Makes sense. Will try it! Thanks!

I am running damagecontrol, and it was already set correctly to CDMA...figured I would just put this out there.
Let me change that...it says "CDMA auto (PRL)"

Wasney said:
I am running damagecontrol, and it was already set correctly to CDMA...figured I would just put this out there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wasney, what is your time without a signal percent?

noticed 50% without signal with damagecontrol also. just changed to cdma only.
I'll let you know in about 12 hrs what happend!

rjj1976 said:
Wasney, what is your time without a signal percent?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That isn't even listed for me...But then again I reset my phone this morning, an have been in good signal all day.

mine was at 50% with damageless rom. it was set to CDMA auto (PRL) but i changed it to CDMA only and will see what the result is.... just plugged it in and unplugged it to reset the battery stats....

I've noticed 50-56% as well, Damageless1.0 and it is set properly to CDMA auto (PRL).

ill run the CDMA only on my end

so far so good! I'm on DamageControl v1 set it to cdma only and my battery usage to cell has dropped to 28%! i'll update again later.

Good info......

without Auto PRL, wouldn't we not get the latest and most updated cell tower frequencies? i mean for home locations i guess it what wouldn't really matter, but what about in areas without sprint coverage? how would it know which network to roam on?

ajaholic said:
without Auto PRL, wouldn't we not get the latest and most updated cell tower frequencies? i mean for home locations i guess it what wouldn't really matter, but what about in areas without sprint coverage? how would it know which network to roam on?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I would assume this would be the case, but that bat increase is pretty decent. I am going to enable it and use it for a day or so around the city.

update: Noticed after a couple reboots my connected time was back up to 50%... I never left my house and i have good coverage here. What gives?

So is this worth doing?

PRGUY85 said:
So is this worth doing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
not yet. i mean, make sure you're not set for GSM but CDMA Only isn't helping me -- still always at 50%. Weird.
Probably a radio bug in this firmware

feld said:
not yet. i mean, make sure you're not set for GSM but CDMA Only isn't helping me -- still always at 50%. Weird.
Probably a radio bug in this firmware
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you using Flips' Radio file?

So currently mine says CDMA auto (PRL)....I guess I should leave it at that then.

PRGUY85 said:
Are you using Flips' Radio file?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not aware of a Flips radio file? Was this something hidden in that giant Damagecontrol thread?
edit: found it and flashed the radio. Will have to wait to see if this makes any difference. Currently on the suggested "CDMA Only" from this thread.
http://geekfor.me/downloads/radio-241040203/

I'm not notcing any diferent in connect percentage. Still at 50% as others have stated. Battery life seems the same too.
Does anyone else notice that the first day after flashing a rom, the battery life is great? Then the next day it's back to normal. This happens to me with every single rom I upgrade to. Just an observation.

Wrong stat_sys_signal image files in newer ROMs

I like to alter most of the framework files in the ROMs that I use so that I can make my themes more blue instead of the green in the ginger clones that are out right now. In doing so, I noticed something wrong with the stat_sys_signal image files that will make the phone look like it is getting a better cell signal than what it really is. There are five stat_sys_signal files that are stat_sys_signal_0, stat_sys_signal_1,stat_sys_signal_2, stat_sys_signal_3, stat_sys_signal_4. The trailing number on each file should have a corresponding "bar" image with that number of bars highlighted, indicating your signal strength. So file 0 = 0 bars, file 1 = 1 bar, etc. What I have found in most of the new 2.2.1 ROMs is that these images have been shifted to make the cell signal look stronger (not saying that is intentional). So looking at the attached file, you will see the following:
stat_sys_signal_0 = 0 bars
stat_sys_signal_1 = 2 bars
stat_sys_signal_2 = 3 bars
stat_sys_signal_3 = 4 bars
stat_sys_signal_4 = 4 bars
With this scheme, there is no instance where you would get 1 bar signal and would appear to get 4 bars when you only got 3, 3 bars when you really have 2, etc. You ge the point.
Not intending to flame anyone and without looking at everyone's ROM, I have noticed this same problem in stock Phoenix, P10, Darky, and Doc's ROMs. Also, I've noticed that most of the non-stock themes have it correct and so might would appear that your signal strength dropped once you apply the theme.
I've loved using each of these ROM's but thought I would point it out so it might be corrected and people would know why it looks like the signal dropped. I hope this helps.

Nice Find! I've noticed that some of the newer roms seem to show higher signal strength and now I know its really just being displayed wrong.
Now the question...how to fix it? Preferably with a CWM flashable zip!

When I made my gingerbread theme for the JJ4 I had noticed this as well. I fixed it by taking the gb sys_stat image and resizing and editing it so that you would still see 0-5 signal bars but with the gb shape/color/glow.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=873942

Checked mine, it's fine.

It's a pretty easy fix. I think it's no big deal but the developers may want to update it on their next releases. I'm guessing it was pretty much a cut and paste issue that proliferated it throughout multple ROMs.

Darky used to intentionally do this cause he said he did tests vs other phones right next to the galaxy s and.the galaxy s had a lower signal signal bar strength than other phones with the same exact signal quality going to them both. I haven't personally tested this so I can't say if its right or not or if he even still does that. So maybe other devs followed suit or whatever I just know at one point it was done on purpose, can't say what the reason is now cause im not gonna speak for other devs

Signal bar are always relative... it's impossible to compare them to another phone.

I figured as much. I'm fairly new to my Captivate and XDA, so don't know the background. I see this all the time in product development. As an EE design engineer, I find all the time that people don't know why we do things the way we do, just that it's always been that way and "it works". It's a lot of copy and paste engineering. No one person has time to go through all the details every time a change it made.
When I first saw this, I thought of the infamous "iPhone 4 fix" for their reception probem. Now I know exactly what they did!

[30/09/11] [Q] [DEV] Reception problems during movement and in general

Hello everyone,
Since the beginning of the Android period, I've been experiencing reception problems, as well as a few friends of mine. The phone is continually searching for signal and losses it quickly, jumps from HSDPA to other means, and also has the problem of regaining the signal after going through a tunnel etc.
I am not a developer myself, but was wondering if anyone else was experiencing the same problems and if there is anything to be done about it.
I know there was a slight fix introduced not too long ago in Tytungs kernel, but for me things still pretty suck.
If you have something to say about this, please do. Otherwise, a mod can handle the positioning of this thread. No need to start flaming if you have nothing to say.
All Hail XDA!!
Cheers,
Chovav

Thread reported to forum mod, Why don't you realise even after placing [Q] in the heading that you need the Q&A forums.
As for your concerned problem, i havn't faced that till now except for the fact i have data drops seldomly.

I have the same problem. I've tested several ROM, radios, Magldr clk...
I always use the *#*#4636#*#* trick. But I always have to return to 2G only.
I think that there must be different kind of hardware that avoid getting a decent signal level.
I tried the Probable Hardware Fix For HD2 Poor Signal too. I have better reception but no as solid as with 2G
I love the phone but when I use only 2G I want to cry (almost everytime).
Thanks in advance, Paco

Just something I would like to throw out there, I also have reception issues on ANY rom, but its occurrence seems to be like the original iPhone 4 came out, terrible reception if you squeeze the whole phone with your hand. I prove that theory by doing that in my room, if i dont touch the phone (just the screen) and browse the web, I do it with full bars. But as soon as I pick up the phone and browse, it will drop very quickly to 1 or no bars (from 4). See if you can trial this yourself, put phone down and browse web, and then hold the phone and try it. See if that makes a difference. Does for me.

There was a thread a while back about this and it showed a screen that you can get to that shows how long you have had signal and I remember looking at it in mine and it showed that I was without signal at least a third of the time the phone was powered on. I don't remember how to get to it any more or I would show you a screen shot of it. I have constant full bars of H where I am and even not moving the phone still shows this same behavior of dropping connection to the towers.
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA App

Common issues and how to test for them?

Off the top of your head, what are some issues that are common with the Axon 7 and how can one test for these issues? I just ordered a new Axon 7 and I want to be sure to check for all issues before my 30 day return window ends. So far I know about signal strength issues, WiFi connectivity issues, slow charging issues and battery life issues.

Issues I have had (on two different Axon 7 devices):
1. microphone does not work at the start of a phone call, until you turn speakerphone on and off.
2. Videos you record (in just 4k on the first phone, but in all resolutions on the second one), have a clicking noise in the background, even in a very quiet room, even in different locations. It's some internal sound the phone generates and is present in recorded videos. I just checked, and it's also there on recorded audio. Basically, this phone has great speakers and total junk for microphones.

7th1rt3en said:
Off the top of your head, what are some issues that are common with the Axon 7 and how can ones test for these issues? I just ordered a new Axon 7 and I want to be sure to check for all issues before my 30 day return window ends. So far I know about signal strength issues, WiFi connectivity issues, slow charging issues and battery life issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OIS, use the camera while moving the device a bit. If it does weird noises then return it

The capacitive buttons can be hard to trigger - they have a small hit box. Once I turned on "vibrate on touch" I was able to use them a lot better. Some people complain that they don't work at all though.
Android Pay might not work - you could get an error like:
Android Pay can't be used on this device. This may be because your device is rooted, has an unlocked bootloader, or is running a custom ROM. As a result, Google can't confirm that your device meets Android Pay's security standards.
I'm in the process of trying to update to the latest system version to see if that resolves the issue.

So far I have only tested for the OIS problem and the ticking in recorded video. No problem with OIS but it DOES have an occasional tick sound in recorded video. I suspect that this is the case with virtually all A7s and not worth doing an RMA over. Luckily it's not too bad and I never record video anyway.

trapezoidalrutebega said:
Android Pay might not work - you could get an error like:
Android Pay can't be used on this device. This may be because your device is rooted, has an unlocked bootloader, or is running a custom ROM. As a result, Google can't confirm that your device meets Android Pay's security standards.
I'm in the process of trying to update to the latest system version to see if that resolves the issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was able to resolve the android pay issue by doing an sdcard update to bring my phone to the most current version - B25. Here's a link to the thread: https://forum.xda-developers.com/axon-7/help/stuck-a2017uv1-0-0b17-sd-card-update-to-t3624389

The reception results from my app have bee very odd, it's either -1 dbm or around -100 using network monitor at my house. Obviously this reading is erroneous. When I look at the KLWP live reading it tends to stay just below 100. I have 5 bars but -100 signal, it does make me think that they fudged the signal strength indicator to give a better impression. To be fair, my previous phone was consistently around -97 so the difference is minor, but at least it gave an indication that reception was low. The old phone also had the excuse of not picking up band 12 (T-Mobile). Time to witch providers for sure. I don't guess there are any ways to improve this? Oh, I also only received the N 7.1.1 B15, not sure what I can do about that.

7th1rt3en said:
The reception results from my app have bee very odd, it's either -1 dbm or around -100 using network monitor at my house. Obviously this reading is erroneous. When I look at the KLWP live reading it tends to stay just below 100. I have 5 bars but -100 signal, it does make me think that they fudged the signal strength indicator to give a better impression. To be fair, my previous phone was consistently around -97 so the difference is minor, but at least it gave an indication that reception was low. The old phone also had the excuse of not picking up band 12 (T-Mobile). Time to witch providers for sure. I don't guess there are any ways to improve this? Oh, I also only received the N 7.1.1 B15, not sure what I can do about that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not like an RMA will magically fix the signal strength issue so that's not really something you should focus on. I usually get 70% LTE coverage on a daily 30km trip in the almost 3rd world country that I live in anyways...
To update, you have to download the official ZIP from the ZTE support page (search "zte usa support" on Google, select the axon 7 unlocked), download it, unzip it if there's another zip inside, put the zip on the root of the internal storage of your phone, go to settings --> Updates