Database Users

The Samsung Epic 4G Flashing Guide (for alternative carriers)

The following is a guide I put together over the course of today about flashing the Samsung Epic 4G to both Cricket and Page Plus. This will work with phones that have bad ESN's (at least, Page Plus and Cricket) -- and with phones that are totally fine and saintly, but maybe you want to go to another carrier for a cheaper rate?
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1E4nNITQnzEoEkkVp4j7k_N_yghvNh_SozuKe3az_Nx4/edit?hl=en_US
In the future, as more information becomes available, I'd like to incorporate other carriers that people are flashing (Metro PCS, Boost), as I find out more. The idea is to build a one-source guide for everything you need from start to finish.
The guide takes you from the very beginning to the very end. PRL's, etc, are all inclusive. I've flashed my Epic to both Cricket and Page Plus successfully -- just like Page Plus's coverage/quality better (and cheaper... but hardly any data -- user Wifi). Even if you don't want to flash, it still has useful things like unlocking your phone for use on any carrier that will take it.
Any comments/suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Just as a note, I'm no longer involved in the Epic community. I migrated on to a newer device. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=34802383&postcount=72 If you need any help, I will still be available through PM's to the best of my ability.

The HA/AAA shared secrets for Page Plus are not "vzw", trust me. I'm running with full 3G on Page Plus right now and after many late nights I realized the only way to get it was a temporary clone to a Verizon phone so that I could get the proper keys through OTA programming. Unfortunately posting a guide to that would probably get XDA on my/your ass. With the "vzw" password you will technically get 3G but it will be throttled to 1xRTT speed (about .1 Mbps). I don't know if the same is true for cricket or not...
Nevertheless I'm sure someone out there will very much appreciate the time and effort you put into this; props!

So using this guide i can unlock the epic meaning ill still be on sprint, but if i suddenly wanted metro i can just take it to the store and have em flash it?
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA Premium App

I request a stickey

I haven't flashed to Metro, but if I can find someone that supports all the features I want, I may give it a shot and write a guide. Does Metro support bad ESN's? (Long story short, got scammed by a Samsung Epic on CraigsList, Sprint said ESN was clear, but is still linked to scammer's account, who refuses to remove, etc, and commit insurance fraud... Talked to insurance and he's in jail now, apparently, but phone will probably be forever blacklisted on Sprint).
Currently, I'm trying to find a provider who can give Google Voice support and Data... MMS I'm not so concerned about. Page Plus is my only "good" option now (a step above cricket, but limited data). Any thoughts? Metro PCS apparently doesn't support Houston, TX when I try to find a plan, either.
EDIT: I may try to give Cricket another go. I've been reading a little bit more and have learned a bit about making Cricket work. Would be nice to try the $45 plan on Cricket to save some $$$. I've talked with some people who claim MMS and Google Voice CAN happen, but it's a little more tricky. Will let you know as I figure it out (must wait a month to not lose $30 from PagePlus).

im confused i dont have these MDN and MIN and your guide says i should have gotten them when i got the phone? is this from sprint and am i supposed to call?
also i got the phone replaced by another epic today. the phone kept trying to auto activate. it still is trying to autoactivate. i swapped the epic out for a nexus the other day. what should i do. if you can pm me and talk over the phone that would be great. my mom is going to new york wednesday and i want to pageplus this phone before she leaves.

I've gotten a couple PMs regarding the HA/AAA keys so I'm going to say this. I would gladly provide them for you guys but that's just not how it works. The keys change every time I (re)activate. They are probably tied to the time and the MEID of the phone, possibly more than that. My keys wouldn't do any of you any good.
It sucks, but the only way that I know to get them is to use a Verizon phone.

duh ask from carrier. now i followed all the steps including the manual update because auto won't happen. afterwards i autoupdated but it aint working? or am i supposed to buy airtime now?

not getting any help. please someone
i completed all the instructions and i can't dial out. i have a triangle at the top. when i call pageplus they are asking for a esn. what the heck am i supposed to do

What happens when you try to dial out? Have you bought/activated your service yet?

yesh i just activated a service using crap motorola. the prl on the page gave me a triangle on the bar i switched it to an older modified one for sprint. when i dial out i get the message welcome to verizon wireless your mobile number is not active or ....
---------- Post added at 05:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:04 PM ----------
Poryhack said:
What happens when you try to dial out? Have you bought/activated your service yet?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i switched back to the prl on his thread. i wonder if he switched the prls from cricket to pageplus on accident? this sucks i been working all day got school soon and no help for my mom. ahh

So, the PRL isn't working for you, eh? The PRL for Page Plus is 51--- something -- Cricket is 42700.
Are you sure that your phone is unlocked? Are you sure you're reading from phone to get current settings before writing PRL, phone number, etc, back to the phone? (it should prompt you for your MSL -- which should now be 000000) Then make sure you fill out the data correctly. You should be able to get your MIN/MDN by asking for them from Page Plus. I openly told the rep on the phone I was trying to flash the phone myself and he gave me all of the information (and then a little bit more -- unfortunately, not the HA/AAA secret). I was actually originally using my Motorola Droid and asked them to try putting ONE OTHER phone on, to test it out (my Epic). Long story short, it did.
Page Plus uses Verizon's towers -- so it's OK if you're getting that. My phone apparently "roams" as well, but I have yet to have any issues. It's just what shows up.
I've heard that Cricket (prior carrier) can be configured to work 100% with the Samsung Epic for the $45 plan. When my month of minutes runs out, I'll try swapping back and seeing what all I can do... I learned a lot while working on this, so I think I have a little more expertise on this. Prior, I had never unlocked my device, so auto-activation never worked with Cricket! Eeek!
Anyway I will of course write something up about that.

terinfire said:
So, the PRL isn't working for you, eh? The PRL for Page Plus is 51--- something
yup its 51529... in short it was shiet
Are you sure that your phone is unlocked? yes
Are you sure you're reading from phone to get current settings before writing PRL, phone number, etc, back to the phone? yup(it should prompt you for your MSL -- which should now be 000000)
Then make sure you fill out the data correctly. You should be able to get your MIN/MDN by asking for them from Page Plus. I openly told the rep on the phone I was trying to flash the phone myself and he gave me all of the information (and then a little bit more -- unfortunately, not the HA/AAA secret). I was actually originally using my Motorola Droid and asked them to try putting ONE OTHER phone on, to test it out (my Epic). Long story short, it did.
Page Plus uses Verizon's towers -- so it's OK if you're getting that. My phone apparently "roams" as well, but I have yet to have any issues. It's just what shows up.
I've heard that Cricket (prior carrier) can be configured to work 100% with the Samsung Epic for the $45 plan. When my month of minutes runs out, I'll try swapping back and seeing what all I can do... I learned a lot while working on this, so I think I have a little more expertise on this. Prior, I had never unlocked my device, so auto-activation never worked with Cricket! Eeek!
Anyway I will of course write something up about that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
cool. i will stick to sero truly duly unlim 4g wimax. anyways. roaming is normal? where did you get the prl? i am using an older prl i found online. i was getting the message you might be charged for roaming prior to each call.

I do not get that message for my PRL. If I remember correctly, PRL's are just how your phone knows which tower to connect to. I've heard they vary based on where you live. In any case, since PP offers nationwide coverage, I'm not thinking I'm roaming and no charges have shown on my phone yet.

terinfire said:
I do not get that message for my PRL. If I remember correctly, PRL's are just how your phone knows which tower to connect to. I've heard they vary based on where you live. In any case, since PP offers nationwide coverage, I'm not thinking I'm roaming and no charges have shown on my phone yet.
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Click to collapse
yeah that's what i am guessing. i flashed different prl's and i still get the same message. can you please check to see if the prl wasn't switched or renamed incorrectly or better yet can you give me the source? prl's get updated and i have an older one. too bad my parents already left for new york i hope everything works out well for them

Poryhack said:
What happens when you try to dial out? Have you bought/activated your service yet?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah its activated. i had your prl when i activated it and i was getting the roaming message per call. there was the roaming signal on the signal bar throughout. i switched the prl and it went away.
can you check the prl out and the source can you pm it?

Newbie question. I have an unactivated sprint epic. I can't seem to get QPST to recognize the phone. The phone shows up as a modem in the device manager but QPST appears to see something connected but doesn't see the phone as modem. I've rebooted and switched USB ports as well. Any ideas on what could be wrong?

Reboot
Keep. Trying its a pain

feihoon said:
Newbie question. I have an unactivated sprint epic. I can't seem to get QPST to recognize the phone. The phone shows up as a modem in the device manager but QPST appears to see something connected but doesn't see the phone as modem. I've rebooted and switched USB ports as well. Any ideas on what could be wrong?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have the drivers for the Samsung Epic 4G installed for sure? What OS? May want to potentially try running as an Administrator, just in case (I don't have this issue, but I know some folks at MS have told me their hardware-heavy programs don't work when they aren't in Admin mode).
Make sure to uncheck the box in QPST about diagnostic/etc ports. Just enable all the ports you can in QPST Configuration and you should hopefully see it.
Are you absolutely sure it shows up as a Samsung Modem?

terinfire said:
Do you have the drivers for the Samsung Epic 4G installed for sure? What OS? May want to potentially try running as an Administrator, just in case (I don't have this issue, but I know some folks at MS have told me their hardware-heavy programs don't work when they aren't in Admin mode).
Make sure to uncheck the box in QPST about diagnostic/etc ports. Just enable all the ports you can in QPST Configuration and you should hopefully see it.
Are you absolutely sure it shows up as a Samsung Modem?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am using XP. Under Device Manager -> Modems, it reads "Samsung Mobile Modem #2". I also installed the drivers from the Samsung support site. For ports, QPST reads "COM5-USB/QC Data Modem" in the "Add New Port" window with the box unchecked. In the "Ports" window it reads "No Phone" under the "Phone" column.
Thanks

[Q] CM11 (Temaseks's) and TW roms???? I'm stumped!

Hi all.
After many months pottering along with, at first, X Note, then Echoe, I was becoming more and more frustrated by the N9005's poor signal performance. As a cabbie who has calls diverted to the mobile, I need a fairly reliable setup. At first my network sent me a new sim card, as these can cause issues (apparently?), but I still had really poor network access. I could stand in the middle of Eastbourne and only recieve 2g or Edge at best! I have tried different modems, FNF, GNG etc but the problem persisted.
Yesterday, the phone nearly ended up spread across the motorway. NO SIGNAL at Gatwick Airport! Sometimes I'd get LTE at Gatwick, but the minute I opened a browser it would go, and I'd be stuck for checking flights etc. After months of putting up with this, I decided to try another providers sim. Same result!:crying:
I arrived home yesterday evening and went hunting for a more permanent cure. The wife persuaded me to ditch the hammer and try and sort it another way.
I downloaded Temasek's CM11, added the OnePlus bits and papyrus, got it up and running and viola!! There has not been a location today where I haven't had a signal. I've even had LTE at full signal, and I could use it!! Even in the darkest depth's of Sussex, I at least got a 2G signal to make and receive calls. My previous blackspots are now useable.
Does anyone know of why there is a reason why this should happen? My baseband has NOT been changed. I was on echoe 18 with GNH1, and I still use that baseband. I'm stumped by this. I can't see O2 turning the knob up to 11 overnight. Is it something to do with touchwiz?
I know the rom is nearly 1gig lighter, but I can't see how that would change things that noticeably? Maybe someone more knowledgable could enlighten me.

Mulletmeister said:
Hi all.
After many months pottering along with, at first, X Note, then Echoe, I was becoming more and more frustrated by the N9005's poor signal performance. As a cabbie who has calls diverted to the mobile, I need a fairly reliable setup. At first my network sent me a new sim card, as these can cause issues (apparently?), but I still had really poor network access. I could stand in the middle of Eastbourne and only recieve 2g or Edge at best! I have tried different modems, FNF, GNG etc but the problem persisted.
Yesterday, the phone nearly ended up spread across the motorway. NO SIGNAL at Gatwick Airport! Sometimes I'd get LTE at Gatwick, but the minute I opened a browser it would go, and I'd be stuck for checking flights etc. After months of putting up with this, I decided to try another providers sim. Same result!:crying:
I arrived home yesterday evening and went hunting for a more permanent cure. The wife persuaded me to ditch the hammer and try and sort it another way.
I downloaded Temasek's CM11, added the OnePlus bits and papyrus, got it up and running and viola!! There has not been a location today where I haven't had a signal. I've even had LTE at full signal, and I could use it!! Even in the darkest depth's of Sussex, I at least got a 2G signal to make and receive calls. My previous blackspots are now useable.
Does anyone know of why there is a reason why this should happen? My baseband has NOT been changed. I was on echoe 18 with GNH1, and I still use that baseband. I'm stumped by this. I can't see O2 turning the knob up to 11 overnight. Is it something to do with touchwiz?
I know the rom is nearly 1gig lighter, but I can't see how that would change things that noticeably? Maybe someone more knowledgable could enlighten me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's quite interesting to read, I've never had or noticed any signal discrepancies on TW vs AOSP. It could simply be the APN settings in the TW ROM - with O2 there is three APN's one for pre-pay (pay as you go) - Post-Pay (month-to-month) and Monthly (self explanatory).
It's entirely possible that when you flashed the TW ROM it defaulted to one of the other APN's and not the one you actually need to use. Only logical reason I can think of anyway.

radicalisto said:
That's quite interesting to read, I've never had or noticed any signal discrepancies on TW vs AOSP. It could simply be the APN settings in the TW ROM - with O2 there is three APN's one for pre-pay (pay as you go) - Post-Pay (month-to-month) and Monthly (self explanatory).
It's entirely possible that when you flashed the TW ROM it defaulted to one of the other APN's and not the one you actually need to use. Only logical reason I can think of anyway.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mmmmm, you could be right. At present it's showing mobile.o2....giffgaff and tesco. When I check the 02 one the settings appear to be the same as before. I'll load a backup tw rom and have a nosey around. What ever has happened, I'm loving it! Maybe everything went back to default when I first connected to the network?

Mulletmeister said:
Mmmmm, you could be right. At present it's showing mobile.o2....giffgaff and tesco. When I check the 02 one the settings appear to be the same as before. I'll load a backup tw rom and have a nosey around. What ever has happened, I'm loving it! Maybe everything went back to default when I first connected to the network?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If I recall correctly there is a tiny change in the mobile.o2.co.uk vs one of the others which determines which APN you are on. It's only noticeable once you put all three together and see.
It actually caught me a while back on my HTC ONE on O2 then my Note 3 (initially on 3 but data was fine until I switched to O2) I lost data and couldn't figure out why until I trolled the O2 forums and seen the slight difference. Off the top of my head, I can't remember which one it is, but when you see it you'll be like DOH! haha. But yeah, I think that is the reason why. It is possible the custom TW ROM hasn't got the correct APN's set up. best way to test is reflash it. Delete the O2 APN then set it up yourself (use the O2 forum for 100% compatibility) and see how it goes.

radicalisto said:
If I recall correctly there is a tiny change in the mobile.o2.co.uk vs one of the others which determines which APN you are on. It's only noticeable once you put all three together and see.
It actually caught me a while back on my HTC ONE on O2 then my Note 3 (initially on 3 but data was fine until I switched to O2) I lost data and couldn't figure out why until I trolled the O2 forums and seen the slight difference. Off the top of my head, I can't remember which one it is, but when you see it you'll be like DOH! haha. But yeah, I think that is the reason why. It is possible the custom TW ROM hasn't got the correct APN's set up. best way to test is reflash it. Delete the O2 APN then set it up yourself (use the O2 forum for 100% compatibility) and see how it goes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right, I installed my back up of Echoe 18 and checked. There are MANY different o2's in there! Post Pay, Pre pay, messaging, GiffGaff, tesco pre and post etc.... CM11 has three!! O2 post, GG and Tescos. The O2 post pay shows business, which is what I pay for. Maybe there was a bit of a conflict going on somewhere. I'll run the CM11 for a few days and then try Echoe again with my current settings as I love that rom.

Mulletmeister said:
Right, I installed my back up of Echoe 18 and checked. There are MANY different o2's in there! Post Pay, Pre pay, messaging, GiffGaff, tesco pre and post etc.... CM11 has three!! O2 post, GG and Tescos. The O2 post pay shows business, which is what I pay for. Maybe there was a bit of a conflict going on somewhere. I'll run the CM11 for a few days and then try Echoe again with my current settings as I love that rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're using Business you will need to use Monthly/create a monthly one yourself, Not many people use Business and the dev' of the ROM probably didn't think it would affect it (who would?). Thought it may have been that! Least we know the problem now though :good:
HERE is the APN settings for each on O2's support site. Have a tinker
EDIT: Ignore the iPhone sh!t, for some reason O2 seem to think everyone uses a damn iPhizzle.

radicalisto said:
If you're using Business you will need to use Monthly/create a monthly one yourself, Not many people use Business and the dev' of the ROM probably didn't think it would affect it (who would?). Thought it may have been that! Least we know the problem now though :good:
HERE is the APN settings for each on O2's support site. Have a tinker
EDIT: Ignore the iPhone sh!t, for some reason O2 seem to think everyone uses a damn iPhizzle.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have managed to have a word with my friend who works for 02 (that's why I'm with them!! Staff discount LOL). He went through the settings and suggested that everything got 'decluttered' and reset when I went AOSP. Sometimes, when you first log on to network all your settings are refreshed / corrected. So there we go then. A complete spring clean of phone ( bit late I know ) and as he suggested, there must have been a conflict in the settings. He also pointed out that in CM11 the network switching is less complicated. You only get LTE or 3G to pick from and maybe that creates a faster mode switch, although he did say that could be a myth. He's been playing with his One Plus and loves the 'lightness' of the CM rom.
As for iPhones well..... he's had two returned this week. Apparently the large iPhone 6 mega thing can be bent inadvertently! You WILL never see me with an iPhone or iPad, but Macs are the dogs danglies!!

[Q] Verizon apps + Root + Move to TMo

I upgraded my unrooted Galaxy S5 to lollipop and it was bad, slow, freezing a lot. I disabled many Verizon-bloatware apps and lollipop is now a buttery smooth beautiful thing!
What pros & cons would rooting a phone generally give me for an average user's experience?
Most importantly, I'm looking to take & convert this S5 phone (and my daughter's Galaxy S3) to T-Mobile this weekend and want to make it all T-Mobile ready. Any insight, thoughts, suggestions, especially if I wanted to root or factory reset my phone but keep app data (such as Kung Fu Pets )?
I've been told by friends and cell providers these phones are already unlocked and can easily switch networks, no worries of voice or data settings on my part, TMo's WiFi calling will work as if I bought the phone from TMo, etc.
Thanks all!

KCSamerica said:
I upgraded my unrooted Galaxy S5 to lollipop and it was bad, slow, freezing a lot. I disabled many Verizon-bloatware apps and lollipop is now a buttery smooth beautiful thing!
What pros & cons would rooting a phone generally give me for an average user's experience?
Most importantly, I'm looking to take & convert this S5 phone (and my daughter's Galaxy S3) to T-Mobile this weekend and want to make it all T-Mobile ready. Any insight, thoughts, suggestions, especially if I wanted to root or factory reset my phone but keep app data (such as Kung Fu Pets )?
I've been told by friends and cell providers these phones are already unlocked and can easily switch networks, no worries of voice or data settings on my part, TMo's WiFi calling will work as if I bought the phone from TMo, etc.
Thanks all!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is my opinion only, with that being said for the average user there is no advantage to being rooted. The average user is not interested in flashing new roms or freezing apps beyond what Verizon allows. The average user wants to turn on their phone and go on their merry way. If something goes wrong they want to call Verizon and have they fix it for them. They would never touch Odin.
With that being said, because your in this forum your more than the average user. If you wan to freeze or uninstall more Verizon/Samsung bloat you need to be rooted.
As for moving to a different carrier I'll let some one who has done that chime in.

jrv331 said:
This is my opinion only, with that being said for the average user there is no advantage to being rooted. The average user is not interested in flashing new roms or freezing apps beyond what Verizon allows. The average user wants to turn on their phone and go on their merry way. If something goes wrong they want to call Verizon and have they fix it for them. They would never touch Odin.
With that being said, because your in this forum your more than the average user. If you wan to freeze or uninstall more Verizon/Samsung bloat you need to be rooted.
As for moving to a different carrier I'll let some one who has done that chime in.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! It won't be a Verizon phone for long, so I guess with rooting it and installing a known stable release be a good idea to get rid of Verizon's bloatware (and maybe some of Samsung's) while keeping a good, hard-working phone? I noticed a big difference disabling what I'm allowed to with Verizon's apps and maybe that's enough, I don't know - any place to research which Verizon and/or Samsung apps are safe to disable (if rooting it & installing a stable release doesn't already remove them)?
Oh, also, is there where I'll go to get future updates since I'll no longer be part of Verizon, and T-Mobile will probably not update my phone since I didn't buy it from them?
Thanks again!

Through a couple phone calls, T-Mobile reassured me both my S3 and S5 would work just fine, everything just the same except I'll have to make sure the phone is unlocked. They also said on both calls that their WiFi calling would most definitely work. Verizon, though a half dozen calls, gave me a different "unlock" story each time. So much for trying to be prepared...
Neither the S3 or the S5 work as expected. The S3 uses the far inferior network speeds and takes about 3 minutes just to send a pic text, and that's only if we're using Hangouts - stock Messages or Verizon's Messages+ don't work on the S3. The S5, I get a lot of "Data (Network) connection lost", setting the time errors, I can't access my voicemail or change my voicemail phone number (not sure if that is a new issue).
So with all this in mind:
1) is the S3 using an inferior data speed network due to hardware limitations or settings I can change?
2) would rooting my S3 and S5 alleviate a lot or all of these issues?
3) any way to get TMo WiFi calling to work on a Verizon phone? Would rooting it allow me to install a TMo version Android?
4) how do I go about updating Android on these phones now that they're off Verizon and not officially TMo phones?
5) any suggestions to fix any or all of these other issues?

KCSamerica said:
Through a couple phone calls, T-Mobile reassured me both my S3 and S5 would work just fine, everything just the same except I'll have to make sure the phone is unlocked. They also said on both calls that their WiFi calling would most definitely work. Verizon, though a half dozen calls, gave me a different "unlock" story each time. So much for trying to be prepared...
Neither the S3 or the S5 work as expected. The S3 uses the far inferior network speeds and takes about 3 minutes just to send a pic text, and that's only if we're using Hangouts - stock Messages or Verizon's Messages+ don't work on the S3. The S5, I get a lot of "Data (Network) connection lost", setting the time errors, I can't access my voicemail or change my voicemail phone number (not sure if that is a new issue).
So with all this in mind:
1) is the S3 using an inferior data speed network due to hardware limitations or settings I can change?
2) would rooting my S3 and S5 alleviate a lot or all of these issues?
3) any way to get TMo WiFi calling to work on a Verizon phone? Would rooting it allow me to install a TMo version Android?
4) how do I go about updating Android on these phones now that they're off Verizon and not officially TMo phones?
5) any suggestions to fix any or all of these other issues?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) probably, but I haven't checked the specs.
2) probably not. The APN in your phone needs to be changed to the right settings for your mobile carrier. It's under Settings/More Networks/Mobile Networks. You should be able to google the settings for TMo.
3) The APN may resolve the issue, if the phone allows for it.
4) If you root, you can do it. You may be able to get OTAs with the new sim, but I can't for Consumer Cellular.
5)Again, the APN will solve a lot of issues. The voicemail number needs to be changed to your carrier's voicemail number under Phone Settings.
5)

Rapunzl said:
1) probably, but I haven't checked the specs.
2) probably not. The APN in your phone needs to be changed to the right settings for your mobile carrier. It's under Settings/More Networks/Mobile Networks. You should be able to google the settings for TMo.
3) The APN may resolve the issue, if the phone allows for it.
4) If you root, you can do it. You may be able to get OTAs with the new sim, but I can't for Consumer Cellular.
5)Again, the APN will solve a lot of issues. The voicemail number needs to be changed to your carrier's voicemail number under Phone Settings.
5)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) probably hardware limitations or probably settings I can change?
2 & 3) the APN was already set by the TMo in-store rep, and google search confirms it's the correct setting.
5) voicemail number just won't change! Ug, I've google searched this issue too, no luck, and it seems many Android 5.0 users have this issue unless they factory reset - an option I'm hoping to avoid for a last resort.
I have noticed by disabling Verizon apps, much is working better, but I'm wondering if Verizon made these apps imperative for the system to run properly...?

KCSamerica said:
1) probably hardware limitations or probably settings I can change?
2 & 3) the APN was already set by the TMo in-store rep, and google search confirms it's the correct setting.
5) voicemail number just won't change! Ug, I've google searched this issue too, no luck, and it seems many Android 5.0 users have this issue unless they factory reset - an option I'm hoping to avoid for a last resort.
I have noticed by disabling Verizon apps, much is working better, but I'm wondering if Verizon made these apps imperative for the system to run properly...?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How did you disable the apps? If you used TiBU, there have been discussion of issues in some threads.

Rapunzl said:
How did you disable the apps? If you used TiBU, there have been discussion of issues in some threads.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used the Android's built-in disable feature (since it won't let me uninstall it).

KCSamerica said:
I used the Android's built-in disable feature (since it won't let me uninstall it).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only thing I can think of then, is that one or more of the disabled features are required to make things work properly. I would unfreeze the apps and then freeze them, one-by-one to find out which are causing the issues. Other than that, Kies may be able to repair the install if you don't have luck with unfreezing the apps.

Rapunzl said:
The only thing I can think of then, is that one or more of the disabled features are required to make things work properly. I would unfreeze the apps and then freeze them, one-by-one to find out which are causing the issues. Other than that, Kies may be able to repair the install if you don't have luck with unfreezing the apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Easiest step is to try the enable/disable apps as you suggested. Have you, or anyone out there, tried loading another's stock software onto a phone before doing a factory reset?
See this page: http://www.andromods.com/download-files/tmobile-galaxy-s5-stock-firmware-sm-g900t.html
It gives me the impression all S5's are the same hardware. If that's true, then why can't I install TMo's stock software in the recovery partition, then do a factory reset? (Another worse case scenario, but possibly more of a thorough cure)

KCSamerica said:
Easiest step is to try the enable/disable apps as you suggested. Have you, or anyone out there, tried loading another's stock software onto a phone before doing a factory reset?
See this page: http://www.andromods.com/download-files/tmobile-galaxy-s5-stock-firmware-sm-g900t.html
It gives me the impression all S5's are the same hardware. If that's true, then why can't I install TMo's stock software in the recovery partition, then do a factory reset? (Another worse case scenario, but possibly more of a thorough cure)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you read toward the end of that post, it says:
Before download check your model number and software version, head to Settings -> About. Confirm that you get the correct firmware that match with the model number of your device, and never use a firmware that isn’t built for your S5, downgrade is also not recommended.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've also seen a thread talking about doing this for a TMo user on the Verizon S5, but I'm on Consumer Cellular, so I'm not sure if it would really work. Even if it does, I'm not sure if that would solve your issues, and I hear you're risking bricking your phone attempting it.

Not sure if I already mentioned, but sadly a couple T-Mobile reps assured me everything would work great. Not. A factory reset did help a lot, but I keep getting these oddities that TMo is now saying I just have to live with, now that my trial period is over. So any ideas and help would be great!
"Data network unavailable" often appears after a phone call and lasts for a few seconds or longer. In that time, I can't get Maps to find anything, among other issues. This error appears at random times otherwise, but most consistently after a phone call.
"SIM error" happens periodically. I'm not sure the pattern yet, but maybe after a couple phone calls in a row, or call swapping. The only way to fix this is to reboot the phone.
The top status bar bounces between "H+" and "3G". I haven't found a pattern as to when or why, but often can't do much with the phone until it settles down, if it settles down.
Everything I've read and originally heard lead me to believe this S5 should work much better than it is, as if some APN or data setting is wrong. I've triple checked and they seem to be set properly, but I don't know anymore...

Dropping calls on Tmo

Hey guys,
I'm here because my Mom recently switched to Tmobile and while things do work, she is having an issue with dropped calls. The APNs are set correctly, she has data service, I've set the "network mode" to LTE/GSM so it shouldn't be trying to connect to the CDMA network. What could be causing this? She's about ready to buy a new phone, but I know there has to be a solution to this. The phone works, and granted it's her phone not mine so I can't say for sure exactly what's going on when it happens but she claims it happens ALL the time (7 dropped calls in a single conversation with someone) and I can't imagine why it would/should happen at all. What's the solution here? I'd like to keep her on stock firmware if possible, but if necessary I can either root and/or flash cyanogenmod.
If it were my phone I'd first root, try that, see how it goes, then try CM, see if that does it... but she's not going to put up with that back and forth and repeated wipes. She's just going to get annoyed and buy a new phone despite the one she has being just fine. It MUST be somewhere in the software. I'm not sure if it's trying to switch to CDMA before realizing it can't, or if maybe it has something to do with VoLTE trying to kick in and connect to Verizon.
I'm pretty proficient with this stuff (been modding my Nexus' for years) so I can follow directions pretty easily, but I do need a pointer in the right direction because I can't figure out what's going on with this custom Verizon crap... Thanks!

Probably a non-issue, but is her cell signal strength really low?
We recently did the same thing - moved Verizon S5 to T-Mobile, but my wife has had no dropped calls. Her signal actually is better on TMO than VZW (hence the switch). Our TMO rep set the APN and network mode like you mentioned, so that shouldn't be your issue.
Verizon VoLTE shouldn't be a problem either since you have a TMO SIM, its not even connection to the CDMA towers.

I cannot get LTE to any APN work right with any custom ROM on the Moto G4 Play. :(

I have the Moto G4 Play (XT1607) (Harpia) and I have decided to flash LineageOS (lineage-14.1-20170131-nightly-harpia-signed.zip) on it using TWRP v3.0.2 r5. After getting it installed I noticed that it was not connecting to my 4g LTE Internet (I have Ting). So I figured I needed to make some changes to the APN settings. So I go to Settings>... More> Cellular Networks and the moment I click on "Cellular networks" I get an error message saying "com.android.phone has stopped". After reflashing and trying again a few times with the same result, I tried using a completely different ROM. AOKP. (aokp_harpia_nougat_nightly_2017-01-31.zip) and I ran into the same exact problem I was having with LineageOS.
I then tried to see if I could force my way into the APN configuration using an app called "Change APN". This worked, but now I see the message "Access Point Name settings are not available for this user". I decided to ignore this and click on the + to create a new APN. After filling the correct info out for Ting APN, I click on "Save"... and it doesn't save at all.
I decided to revert to the stock rom, and everything works perfectly fine with the stock rom. 4G LTE on Ting works fine. Whenever I try using a custom ROM of any kind, I run into the problem I described above. I don't know if I am forgetting to do something, or completely doing something wrong. I could use some help with this guys.

Isn't Ting a Sprint service? I didn't think CDMA-based networks had APN settings to configure. Verizon and US Cellular have always used *22XXX for programming, as far as I can remember.

mkollersms said:
Isn't Ting a Sprint service? I didn't think CDMA-based networks had APN settings to configure. Verizon and US Cellular have always used *22XXX for programming, as far as I can remember.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. Ting is a Sprint service. Well either way LTE isn't working and the 3G keeps randomly turning on and off whenever I use a custom ROM. However, when I use Stock firmware, everything works perfectly fine. I am unsure what is causing the issue.

It seems nearly all custom ROMs at this point are having data connectivity issues. I'm trying to find a nandroid of the original xt1607 rom so I can just go back until its all sorted out.

mkollersms said:
Isn't Ting a Sprint service? I didn't think CDMA-based networks had APN settings to configure. Verizon and US Cellular have always used *22XXX for programming, as far as I can remember.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With Ting you can choose to use Sprint or T-Mobile. I am using the T-Mobile side of Ting and you do need to add Ting's APN settings for it to work. I am still on factory ROM but watching closely to see what others are experiencing with custom ROMs.

n76 said:
With Ting you can choose to use Sprint or T-Mobile. I am using the T-Mobile side of Ting and you do need to add Ting's APN settings for it to work. I am still on factory ROM but watching closely to see what others are experiencing with custom ROMs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't noticed any issue with my GSM ting service on lineage. I get LTE and the WiFi/LTE handoff seems to work. I don't install many apps and don't let them run in the background, so perhaps there's a conflict between them that's shutting down LTE service. This is just a guess.

Anyone have any information pertaining to this subject? I've searched hours on hours to no avail. I run U.S. Cellular and on the newest RR-5.8.1-OMS after I go to Settings>More>Cellular Networks>Crash. Every time. Resets my radio and picks right back up again. Everything works until I'm in my house, then I'm roaming and there's no way to manage in settings because of the crash.
I looked around in the file system and in /data/data/com.android.phone/ there is no files, no .db files or anything. I don't know of there's supposed to be either. But like OP stated, stock rom is flawless.
Would I be and to copy com.android.phone from stock and restore after flashing? I don't know what to do but this is with every single custom ROM out right now on every release. Data and everything works fine as far as I can tell but just no way to configure the settings. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

[email protected] said:
Anyone have any information pertaining to this subject? I've searched hours on hours to no avail. I run U.S. Cellular and on the newest RR-5.8.1-OMS after I go to Settings>More>Cellular Networks>Crash. Every time. Resets my radio and picks right back up again. Everything works until I'm in my house, then I'm roaming and there's no way to manage in settings because of the crash.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just out of curiosity, have you tried the *22XXX thing yet?
EDIT: Just so we're clear, with you all who have CDMA phones, when you go into "IMEI Information," it does show both an IMEI and an ICCID, right? Because if not, I think I figured out why your LTE isn't working.

I tried, I tried dialing *22999 (guessing that the x stood for the 9 button in T9 language) and pressed the make a call button. Am I wrong about the "XXX" part? Because I did try that when I seen it previously in the thread earlier but had the same thoughts.
So to make that novel a shorter version, what exactly should I dial?

[email protected] said:
I tried, I tried dialing *22999 (guessing that the x stood for the 9 button in T9 language) and pressed the make a call button. Am I wrong about the "XXX" part? Because I did try that when I seen it previously in the thread earlier but had the same thoughts.
So to make that novel a shorter version, what exactly should I dial?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It depends on the carrier and the model of the phone. For most Tracfones, it's *22890. For US Cellular, I've seen it as *228 and *22894. You may have to call your carrier and ask what their phone programming code is.

Aaah ok I got you now. Yes I've tried that on nearly every ROM. Matter of fact I just noticed I posted a little off topic almost, but I'm here for the relevance of com.android.phone crashing EVERY SINGLE TIME I try to open Cellular Networks. The only ROM I will say it doesn't force close on is the Slim Nougat ROM, but I don't run that because instead of Cellular Networks settings making com.android.phone crash its when you place a call and then it force closes the UI part of the call but still carries the call through. I forgot to mention that by the way, whatever it is in Slim that is the making the different reason for force closing com.android.phone could probably be a pretty easy red flag for someone better equipped for this Lind of troubleshooting than myself!
Thank you for the suggestion though on the *22(8 in my case)

[email protected] said:
Aaah ok I got you now. Yes I've tried that on nearly every ROM. Matter of fact I just noticed I posted a little off topic almost, but I'm here for the relevance of com.android.phone crashing EVERY SINGLE TIME I try to open Cellular Networks. The only ROM I will say it doesn't force close on is the Slim Nougat ROM, but I don't run that because instead of Cellular Networks settings making com.android.phone crash its when you place a call and then it force closes the UI part of the call but still carries the call through. I forgot to mention that by the way, whatever it is in Slim that is the making the different reason for force closing com.android.phone could probably be a pretty easy red flag for someone better equipped for this Lind of troubleshooting than myself!
Thank you for the suggestion though on the *22(8 in my case)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After I posted that, I went back to try and see if Lineage was able to pick up my phone's MEID (even though I use a GSM SIM, the MEID is still tied to the phone hardware). For some reason, Lineage is not reading it, and I think all of your problems are being attributed to that fact.
The way CDMA phones work (and god, do I hate this), is your 2G/3G network is tied to the phone MEID, while the LTE SIM is data only. The OS needs to read both the 14-digit MEID (sometimes shows as a 15 digit IMEI where last digit is 0) as well as the 20 digit ICCID (SIM Number). A phone may also use the SIM number itself as an IMEI (BYOP SIMs do this) by dropping the first five digits of the 20 digit SIM number.
If you phone is showing only one 15 digit number in the system settings, then it's either the MEID OR the SIM, not both. So either you have calling and no LTE, or LTE and no calling. You can't program APN settings because the phone has no idea what ID number to tie APN settings to. This is actually a rather serious conundrum.

Ok ok, makes sense. I checked my Status info, every ROM has dual SIM capability by the way so I don't know if that would effect anything for xt-1607, but I looked at SIM slot 1 info and it reads my MEID correctly with 14 digits. I couldn't find anything about ICCID. My head pounding question here though, why in the hell (pardon the language) is everything flawless on stock, but on every ROM this problem occurs? Here's my next killer, everything works like it should for me, LTE, 3G, Calls, SMS/MMS, just can't change any of the settings due to a force close, AND I put my friends Straight Talk SIM in and it fired right up with no force close when going to change Network settings...?!

[email protected] said:
Ok ok, makes sense. I checked my Status info, every ROM has dual SIM capability by the way so I don't know if that would effect anything for xt-1607, but I looked at SIM slot 1 info and it reads my MEID correctly with 14 digits. I couldn't find anything about ICCID. My head pounding question here though, why in the hell (pardon the language) is everything flawless on stock, but on every ROM this problem occurs? Here's my next killer, everything works like it should for me, LTE, 3G, Calls, SMS/MMS, just can't change any of the settings due to a force close, AND I put my friends Straight Talk SIM in and it fired right up with no force close when going to change Network settings...?!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you just answered your own question. As stated in PCMag back in 2015, "Nobody makes a Dual-Sim phone compatible with Sprint or Verizon." It legitimately believes your MEID is a GSM-based IMEI, and is attempting to cross the streams, so to speak. And the only way your friend's StraightTalk SIM would work is if it was piggybacking off ATT or TMo's networks (the MEID would have been paired to the other phone causing a mismatch).
If you look at the stock ROM for this phone, you will see a BUNCH of system apps for programming Sprint and Verizon network information. They never made it into the custom ROMs we're using. FWIW, here's my thoughts on the matter. Someone needs to go back and make a single-SIM variant of these ROMs, as well as a flashable ZIP containing the necessary APKs for Android to detect the necessary information correctly. And if that doesn't happen, then everyone who bought an XT-1607 has to ditch their carrier and move to a GSM carrier.

That makes complete and total sense! Because I wasn't thinking this while time of it but I was in Oklahoma at the time where the main towers are AT&T, matter of fact Sprint and U.S. Cellular lose almost all signal right when you hit the county line where I was at. Verizon only gets signal because it's Verizon, lol. Reason I say that is because I was wondering why this whole time I has full signal with LTE coverage and completely list everything when I went hone, because where I live is complete opposite, there is hardly any GSM coverage, we don't even have an AT&T store, just Verizon, Sprint, USC.
So, with that being figured out, my laptop just recently kicked the bucket on me so I'm out for the most part, I do have a trick to swap files in and out of a compressed archive without extracting it in any way! But, it takes a while, not too much longer I guess but nowvi just remembered everything is pretty much .dat files so nevermind that.
Not that this thread isn't the most popular, but where would be the best place to take this request too to get the most attention from it? I mean if I had to go back to stock, so be it, but I'm a little spoiled to the custom life. Lol.

[email protected] said:
Not that this thread isn't the most popular, but where would be the best place to take this request too to get the most attention from it? I mean if I had to go back to stock, so be it, but I'm a little spoiled to the custom life. Lol.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
IIRC, there is a Verizon thread with 80ish replies, but I think a developer like Squid might need to be made aware of this, so I might copy this into the Lineage thread.

A bit of good news. While reflashing all the time that were force closing when opening cellular networks, I looked in /data/data/com.android.phone/ and was looking, now remember to go back to that directory after I say all this, I found that directory was empty, on all of the Roms. Was curious so I flashed back to stock. Went to the same directory, BOOM! com.android.phone was not empty, in that folder I found 2 folders that were now populated with in:
1: (/files/ )I now had a file named carrierconfig-com.android.carrierconfig- (and after the dash was my ICCID number) so for this directory I need /data/data/com.android.phone/files/carrierconfig-com.android.carrierconfig**ICCID** (replace **ICCID** my ICCID number)
2: then there was this /data/data/com.android.phone/shared_prefs/_has_set_default_values.xml
and
phone/shared_prefs/com.android.phone_preferences.xml
These files are missing on all the Roms, I know this doesn't since everything, but I know for almost a fact it's a good chunk of something that needs to be available. Can I copy these files and move them into place, and set permissions how they were? I ran out of time tonight, and am busy all week so this is mainly for reference I guess. More research told me these files can be edited to change what is available to configure in cellular network settings like option to change from 2G, 3G, LTE, APN, and so on. Sorry for the mess, that's all I have for right now.

[email protected] said:
These files are missing on all the Roms, I know this doesn't since everything, but I know for almost a fact it's a good chunk of something that needs to be available. Can I copy these files and move them into place, and set permissions how they were? I ran out of time tonight, and am busy all week so this is mainly for reference I guess. More research told me these files can be edited to change what is available to configure in cellular network settings like option to change from 2G, 3G, LTE, APN, and so on. Sorry for the mess, that's all I have for right now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is definitely a major find! My only concern is even if you do that, there might be further missing components that would cause Dialer to crash on startup or some other wacky side effect. However, if you can make it work, then it's possible the proper APN settings will load by default and you'll no longer need to change them.
If you can, go into the System Apps on the stock ROM and look for any APKs branded by/with Sprint, VZW or USCellular, or anything CDMA related. They might be necessary for reading the SIM's ICCID.

That's what I was thinking too, and sadly for me I don't really know EVERYTHING to look for so it'll be mostly out of trial and error for me to figure it out. I wish they didn't compress Roms into .dat so I could use a root explorer to swap between tabs rather than copy, flash the rom, paste files and then if that didn't work start all over on restoring stock, so on and so forth. I miss my laptop. =(

Updates?
Has anyone looked into this further? I'm experiencing the same problem with the latest LineageOS nightly. US Cellular Prepaid with an XT1607.
I noticed that in my case i had to skip the Insert Sim thing on 1st boot. It never did whatever it wanted to there. (Maybe because I have no signal or weak roaming where I live?)
I'm seriously considering trying it from an area that I have good service in..