Help -problems with 3G sim card -keeps losing signal and resetting.

[judgereinhold]

Hello,

Sorry if this question has been answered elsewhere but I am a noob to this site. I have looked -promise!

Basically I have had an XDA Orbit on O2 UK which I have had for over a year with no problems. Recently I changed contracts but kept the same phone and O2 sent me a new 3G sim card.

Now when using the device for a long time (such as wi-fi, reading a book in Microsoft Reader, making a call) the phone will lose the phone signal and slow down. If left it will sometimes recover and get a signal again, or sometimes it keeps searching for a signal for a few minutes and then resets itself.

Sometimes when it is searching for a signal the top area of the phone gets warm.

I have tried a hard reset but this has not solved the problem. Is this to do with the 3G sim card? Should I try upgrading the ROM of the radio stack? Or would an entirely new ROM help?

The version details at startup are:

IPL 3.04.0001
SPL 3.04.0000
GSM 02.67.90
OS 3.4.0.0

Please help. Thank you.

[Zecanilis]

Try to upgrade your Radio ROM. That can be a good solution.
Cheers

[judgereinhold]

Thanks -I will try that tonight.

[judgereinhold]

Ok I have updated the radio ROM and I still get the same problem. It will be fine for a bit but then the phone will lose signal, keep searching, and eventually reset itself.

Would using an entirely new ROM help or is the fact that this was not fixed by updating the radio ROM indicate that is this more of a hardware problem?

The details at startup now look like this:

IPL 3.04.0001
SPL 1.11.0000
GSM 03.21.90
OS 3.4.0.0

Thank you.

[Zecanilis]

Yes... That looks like a hardware problem to me, since you upgrade your Radio ROM.
But for a last test you can flash a WM6.1 ROM and see if the problem is the same.
If it maintains then is surelly a hardware problem.
Cheers

[waz000000]

I don't usually post on these forums but have been a reader for some time!

There are some things you need to know about 3G before you use this handset with this sim!

it's against your terms and conditions to use a none 3G handset with your sim 3 can and will cut your number off (ive seen it happen)

secondly 3 only have 3G netowrks they use orange's masts for when customers drop out of signal range to 2g. Hence your using orange masts which take it from me are rubbish! they have some of the worst reception in the country and ive only recently stopped selling mobile phones i doubt they changed much in 6 months!

to cut it short you need a 3G phone to go with your 3G sim im afraid this handset is not capable of 3G .

[judgereinhold]

Hi thanks, for your comments.

I am not using a 3 sim card, it is an O2 3G sim card. I have tried today to reflash the O2 UK ROM image with the original settings to see if this helps but it still spends a long time without a signal and resets itself when it cannot get a signal for a while.

Is anyone else using a 3G sim card in this phone?

It worked well enough for me today to ring O2 and ask them if I could be "downgraded" to a 2G sim card. They said that they don't even do 2G sim cards anymore, but they said if I go to O2 store they may have a 2G pay as you go sim, and instead of activating it they could transfer my account details over to it. Anyone heard of that before?

When I went to the shop they said they didn't have any 2G sims and to reset the phone and try to get the settings sent to the phone from O2 online. Which I have done but surprise surprise no luck -not that I really believed the guy in the shop anyway but thought it was worth a try.

Any comments or suggestions?

Thanks.

[judgereinhold]

Just to update, I have tried so many different things to get this fixed but it seems as though the 3G sim card is not the problem, as all fixed now by buying a replacement battery.

Now the phone works fine all of the time -it does not lose signal or anything. The old battery must have been faulty.

I do not know the exact fault but my guess is that when I turned the phone on at startup it was ok, but then as soon as I did anything it was drawing more current/amps from the battery it generated a fault which then made the phone lose signal and eventually reset.

I'm not sure on the science of it all exactly but it buying a new battery on ebay for £7 has certainly fixed the problem.

The Orbit/Artemis works fine with a 3G USIM -they are backwards compatible with a 2G SIM card and this obviously was not the problem.

[nunovsilva]

Hi.
I have a similar problem... my o2 xda orbit for the last few days keeps hanging and reseting. It takes some time for me to be able to turn it on again.
even if i take out the battery and put it back in again...
Is this similar to what happened to you?


Just to update, I have tried so many different things to get this fixed but it seems as though the 3G sim card is not the problem, as all fixed now by buying a replacement battery.

Now the phone works fine all of the time -it does not lose signal or anything. The old battery must have been faulty.

I do not know the exact fault but my guess is that when I turned the phone on at startup it was ok, but then as soon as I did anything it was drawing more current/amps from the battery it generated a fault which then made the phone lose signal and eventually reset.

I'm not sure on the science of it all exactly but it buying a new battery on ebay for £7 has certainly fixed the problem.

The Orbit/Artemis works fine with a 3G USIM -they are backwards compatible with a 2G SIM card and this obviously was not the problem.

[luigug]

I think that I had the same problem but with a normal 2g sim. After an
intensive use over 1,5 years my Artemis p3300 had low signal and frquently resetting. I resolve all these problems changing the battery with a new one. It's important advise all Artemis owners that a lot of problems can be due to an old battery!

[judgereinhold]

Yes that's basically exactly what happened to me. It would lose signal, keep searching then eventually reset. When I turned it back on it would still not have a signal and would take lots of times of turning it on and off before it would settle down again.

I bought a new battery from ebay for £4.95 (+£2.95 p&p) and now everything is working fine and has been for over a couple of weeks.

I had tried changing the ROM and still had the same problem. I would advise you to get a new battery and try that.

[C-R-E-A-T-I-V-E]

Hi, I am from CZ... - P3300 by Vodafone CZ
When I connect to wifi I sometimes lose the signal for phone.. One time I lose signal during the phoning and sometimes I lose signal when I use GPS...
Phone is 1,6 years old...
It is the same problem, isn't it?
It's a pity :-(

Can you give me an advice where I can buy the best battery? Should I buy a battery in CZ (home) or in abroad I can find cheaper and better??

(sorry about my english)

[judgereinhold]

Yes that sounds like the same problem to me, I got a new battery from ebay because I thought it would probably be cheapest.

Try Vodafone first as they will be able to sell you a new battery and it may not be too expensive.