Droid Bionic on Straight Talk?

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renegadeone8

Senior Member
Nov 19, 2008
121
41
Not sure but...

I used to be a Verizon Wireless agent (Straight Talk piggy backs on their network.) If I remember right straight talk/net10/verizon's own prepaid phones are limited to 3G devices only. Policies may have changed, or I could potentially be wrong but I am going to guess that you won't be able to get it working on their network because they won't be able to issue you a compatible SIM
 

shadolis

Senior Member
May 24, 2013
51
12
Pittsburgh
You have to edit the build.prop and create a local.prop (it probably doesn't exist). I recently put SlimKat 4.4.4 on my friend's Bionic, and got it working well with Straight Talk (Voice, MMS, Data, etc). Just edit build.prop with:

  • persist.radio.ap.phonetype=1
  • ro.mot.phonemode.vzw4gphone=0
  • ro.mot.phonemode.vzwglobalphone=1
  • ro.telephony.default_network=3
  • ro.telephony.gsm-routes-us-smsc=0
  • telephony.lteOnCdmaDevice=0

Create a local.prop file and add:

ro.telephony.ril.v3=signalstrength

Move this into /data/

Next, go into system/etc/ and get your apns-conf.xml file and delete all the entries you don't need, keeping only the one relevant to Straight Talk. In my friend's case:

Code:
<apns version="7">
  <apn carrier="StraightTalk ATT" mcc="310" mnc="410" apn="tfdata" port="80" mmsc="http://mms-tf.net" mmsproxy="mms3.tracfone.com" mmsport="80" type="default,supl,mms,hipri" />
</apns>

For the novices, to do this last part, you'll need a file manager like ES that can utilize root permissions after enabling in settings.

After this, any 4.3 or 4.4 ROM should let you edit APN settings, etc. You may need to set your radio to GSM (auto PRL) by going into your dialer and hitting *#*#4636#*#* and going into Phone Information then down to network type or whatever. I don't have a Motorola phone in front of me :p If that doesn't work, I've noticed GSM/WCDMA (auto PRL) works for some.

Good luck

Edit: I forgot one crucial thing you must do. You have to use RadioComm to enable GSM/UMTS bands. You can find it with Google. The version I used is 11.12.2. You'll either have a green or purple light on the right side, signifying that your phone is connected. It should show up in the status bar too. Steps:

  1. Ensure you have correct Motorola drivers and that device shows up in device manager (You may need to use Google USB driver, as this has worked with some Motorola phones for me)
  2. Ensure that USB is in PC Tools mode
  3. In Radiocomm go to MA->COMMON->MDM 6x00
  4. Go to the FTM Common1 tab, and wait for purple or green light on side
  5. Toward the top of NVAccess you'll see a select box. Scroll to NV item 1877 NV_RF_BC_CONFIG_I
  6. Click on read value
  7. Once read, replace the first 8 bytes with: 8703E80400000200 (back up original as a .txt file or something)
  8. Write the new value to the device and reboot

There's also a flashable zip that does this, but I've not tested it. Use at your own risk:
http://xdaforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=1048524&d=1336485537

All of the information I presented is from others, but I can't remember all the threads I got this from. I take no responsibility for any bricked phones or the like.
 
Last edited:

gully52

Member
Apr 20, 2008
20
7
OnePlus 7T
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE
You have to edit the build.prop and create a local.prop (it probably doesn't exist). I recently put SlimKat 4.4.4 on my friend's Bionic, and got it working well with Straight Talk (Voice, MMS, Data, etc). Just edit build.prop with:

  • persist.radio.ap.phonetype=1
  • ro.mot.phonemode.vzw4gphone=0
  • ro.mot.phonemode.vzwglobalphone=1
  • ro.telephony.default_network=3
  • ro.telephony.gsm-routes-us-smsc=0
  • telephony.lteOnCdmaDevice=0

Create a local.prop file and add:

ro.telephony.ril.v3=signalstrength

Move this into /data/

Next, go into system/etc/ and get your apns-conf.xml file and delete all the entries you don't need, keeping only the one relevant to Straight Talk. In my friend's case:

Code:
<apns version="7">
  <apn carrier="StraightTalk ATT" mcc="310" mnc="410" apn="tfdata" port="80" mmsc="http://mms-tf.net" mmsproxy="mms3.tracfone.com" mmsport="80" type="default,supl,mms,hipri" />
</apns>

For the novices, to do this last part, you'll need a file manager like ES that can utilize root permissions after enabling in settings.

After this, any 4.3 or 4.4 ROM should let you edit APN settings, etc. You may need to set your radio to GSM (auto PRL) by going into your dialer and hitting *#*#4636#*#* and going into Phone Information then down to network type or whatever. I don't have a Motorola phone in front of me :p If that doesn't work, I've noticed GSM/WCDMA (auto PRL) works for some.

Good luck

Edit: I forgot one crucial thing you must do. You have to use RadioComm to enable GSM/UMTS bands. You can find it with Google. The version I used is 11.12.2. You'll either have a green or purple light on the right side, signifying that your phone is connected. It should show up in the status bar too. Steps:

  1. Ensure you have correct Motorola drivers and that device shows up in device manager (You may need to use Google USB driver, as this has worked with some Motorola phones for me)
  2. Ensure that USB is in PC Tools mode
  3. In Radiocomm go to MA->COMMON->MDM 6x00
  4. Go to the FTM Common1 tab, and wait for purple or green light on side
  5. Toward the top of NVAccess you'll see a select box. Scroll to NV item 1877 NV_RF_BC_CONFIG_I
  6. Click on read value
  7. Once read, replace the first 8 bytes with: 8703E80400000200 (back up original as a .txt file or something)
  8. Write the new value to the device and reboot

There's also a flashable zip that does this, but I've not tested it. Use at your own risk:
http://xdaforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=1048524&d=1336485537

All of the information I presented is from others, but I can't remember all the threads I got this from. I take no responsibility for any bricked phones or the like.

I'm not sure what the deal is - I'm trying to do the same thing, but with T-Mobile US rather than Straight Talk... Should work fine, but when I make the above changes, I get com.android.phone stopped working over and over. If I follow every step above, but instead of "ro.telephony.default_network=3", I use "ro.telephony.default_network=7", it works fine, I can make calls on T-Mobile, but the signal strength is horrible. I can be where I normally have full 2G/3G signal, and the Bionic barely has one bar if anything. Most of the time it just says "No Service" unless I step outside, whereas my other T-mobile specific phones have no problems with the signal anywhere in my house.

What might I be doing wrong here? I just bought the Bionic as a backup as I've been told it works fine with GSM when you do the above tweaks, but I'm finding it's real-world operability on GSM to be less than stellar.
 

Dailen

Member
Feb 22, 2008
17
7
I'm not sure what the deal is - I'm trying to do the same thing, but with T-Mobile US rather than Straight Talk... Should work fine, but when I make the above changes, I get com.android.phone stopped working over and over. If I follow every step above, but instead of "ro.telephony.default_network=3", I use "ro.telephony.default_network=7", it works fine, I can make calls on T-Mobile, but the signal strength is horrible. I can be where I normally have full 2G/3G signal, and the Bionic barely has one bar if anything. Most of the time it just says "No Service" unless I step outside, whereas my other T-mobile specific phones have no problems with the signal anywhere in my house.

What might I be doing wrong here? I just bought the Bionic as a backup as I've been told it works fine with GSM when you do the above tweaks, but I'm finding it's real-world operability on GSM to be less than stellar.

What rom are you using? I've used this technique on a ridiculous number of bionic roms to make them GSM so hopefully I can help, it's worth noting that I do not create a localprop. I found that most roms have the "ro.telephony.ril.v3" line in the default.prop and I can simply amend them by adding "signalstrength," (note the comma to include the end of the quotes) at the beginning of the entry. You might try wiping the rom and starting over but skip the step changing the radio with the *#*#4636#*#* part



---------- Post added at 11:15 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:10 AM ----------

For the novices, to do this last part, you'll need a file manager like ES that can utilize root permissions after enabling in settings.

After this, any 4.3 or 4.4 ROM should let you edit APN settings, etc. You may need to set your radio to GSM (auto PRL) by going into your dialer and hitting *#*#4636#*#* and going into Phone Information then down to network type or whatever. I don't have a Motorola phone in front of me :p If that doesn't work, I've noticed GSM/WCDMA (auto PRL) works for some.

The settings adjusted in the default.prop permit that you do not need to change the radio. since i started using these particular settings, I've never had to change it and additionally found it to be commonly problematic. I also found that MOST roms do not need you to add the straight talk APN. Cyanogen and Paranoid, I know for fact include them. When you boot the phone for the first time you'll need to go into the settings and select the appropriate Straight Talk APN (mine is the MVNO one).
 
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gully52

Member
Apr 20, 2008
20
7
OnePlus 7T
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE
HW-A vs. HW-C

What rom are you using? I've used this technique on a ridiculous number of bionic roms to make them GSM so hopefully I can help, it's worth noting that I do not create a localprop. I found that most roms have the "ro.telephony.ril.v3" line in the default.prop and I can simply amend them by adding "signalstrength," (note the comma to include the end of the quotes) at the beginning of the entry. You might try wiping the rom and starting over but skip the step changing the radio with the *#*#4636#*#* part.

I've tried with stock JB, as well as CM11 M11 in Slot 1. I've wiped and started over more times than I can count.

What do you mean that you add "signalstrength," at the beginning of the ro.telephony.ril.v3 entry? It's my understanding that the entry should be "ro.telephony.ril.v3=signalstrength". I don't understand what you mean by putting signalstrength at the beginning of the entry. Also, what's up with that comma?

Then again, all my difficulties could be in the fact that I have a "HW C" Bionic. Just got a "HW A" model, and will be tinkering with that soon too. It actually came with original Stock 5.5.886 Gingerbread ROM... Right now, I plan on upgrading to the 232 ICS leak (so I can go back to GB if needed), and see if I can get GSM working on it a little better.

How would you recommend I proceed with a bone stock ICS 6.7.232 ROM?

Thanks a BUNCH for your reply on this old (but fun to tinker with) phone!
Brian
 

Dailen

Member
Feb 22, 2008
17
7
I've tried with stock JB, as well as CM11 M11 in Slot 1. I've wiped and started over more times than I can count.

What do you mean that you add "signalstrength," at the beginning of the ro.telephony.ril.v3 entry? It's my understanding that the entry should be "ro.telephony.ril.v3=signalstrength". I don't understand what you mean by putting signalstrength at the beginning of the entry. Also, what's up with that comma?

Then again, all my difficulties could be in the fact that I have a "HW C" Bionic. Just got a "HW A" model, and will be tinkering with that soon too. It actually came with original Stock 5.5.886 Gingerbread ROM... Right now, I plan on upgrading to the 232 ICS leak (so I can go back to GB if needed), and see if I can get GSM working on it a little better.

How would you recommend I proceed with a bone stock ICS 6.7.232 ROM?

Thanks a BUNCH for your reply on this old (but fun to tinker with) phone!
Brian

Ahhhh yes, i believe you found the root of the issue. The method that was used for Ginger Bread was slightly different which almost certainly why the above may not be working for you. I practically forgot about that, I upgraded mine years ago. I've grown so fond of the bionic I'm on my third :p you can buy them second hand for like $50 to $100. So i Just keep fixing/repairing them haha.

I'm gonna dig through some old book marks and tutorials and find out how I upgraded mine originally and I'll post them up here for you. The timing of this coming up is almost bizarre. I'm actually in the middle of working on a website that lets you point it at a rom, it downloads it, modifies it for GSM, then provides you a link to download it. I'd actually like to make it an Android app because when I download rom updates, I have to make them GSM compatible first.
 

gully52

Member
Apr 20, 2008
20
7
OnePlus 7T
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE
Ahhhh yes, i believe you found the root of the issue. The method that was used for Ginger Bread was slightly different which almost certainly why the above may not be working for you.

As I mentioned above, I just received the phone that's still running Gingerbread on Rev. A Hardware. Haven't even tried to start messing with that phone yet.

The original phone I was having trouble with, prompting the post to this thread, was running stock Jelly Bean on Rev. C hardware.

You say you're on your 3rd Bionic because you like them so much! They are a rugged and capable phone, for sure. What carrier have you been using it with? I've been attempting plain old T-Mobile, but assume making it work for Straight Talk would make it work for T-Mobile as well, aside from APN settings.

How's your signal strength on your bionic compared to an official GSM phone, both for calls and data?
 

Dailen

Member
Feb 22, 2008
17
7
As I mentioned above, I just received the phone that's still running Gingerbread on Rev. A Hardware. Haven't even tried to start messing with that phone yet.

The original phone I was having trouble with, prompting the post to this thread, was running stock Jelly Bean on Rev. C hardware.

You say you're on your 3rd Bionic because you like them so much! They are a rugged and capable phone, for sure. What carrier have you been using it with? I've been attempting plain old T-Mobile, but assume making it work for Straight Talk would make it work for T-Mobile as well, aside from APN settings.

How's your signal strength on your bionic compared to an official GSM phone, both for calls and data?

The #1 reason I continue using bionics is because of how cheap parts are if I need them (like when I drop them and break the screen :p) and accessories. Like I have several docks that I've bought for like $7 a piece (retail was like ridiculous $40 or something but just for a dock $7 is dirt cheap). I even got the lapdock that I picked up on ebay for $50. You can't beat it. That thing is awesome. Add to it that you can get a micro HDMI to HDMI cable, hook this thing up to a TV and use it as an entertainment player sorta like a roku and it just keeps getting better. You can then use another android device and run AllCast to turn it into a chromecast wannabe. I've just found endless fun, with this particular model of android.

I personally utilize Straight Talk. No BS, $45 every month, no surprises. Love it. As far as GSM signal goes, it's like any other GSM phone!
 

Dailen

Member
Feb 22, 2008
17
7
As I mentioned above, I just received the phone that's still running Gingerbread on Rev. A Hardware. Haven't even tried to start messing with that phone yet.

The original phone I was having trouble with, prompting the post to this thread, was running stock Jelly Bean on Rev. C hardware.

You say you're on your 3rd Bionic because you like them so much! They are a rugged and capable phone, for sure. What carrier have you been using it with? I've been attempting plain old T-Mobile, but assume making it work for Straight Talk would make it work for T-Mobile as well, aside from APN settings.

How's your signal strength on your bionic compared to an official GSM phone, both for calls and data?

So here's what I would do
1) Update to Jelly Bean (you can do this with official Motorola OTA updates or more info here http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2235946)
2) Power on phone and edit the hex values with Radiocomm see: post 29/30 http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1297714&page=3
- - Be PARTICULARLY picky about this part, I found this to be extraordinarily difficult time and time again. Even though I've done it at least 5 or 6 times, I felt like it never went exactly as it should. After changing the value, you might even disconnect, reconnect, and make sure the hex value has changed.
3) Root the phone (this guide seems a little indepth but it works very well once you get it down compared to other methods http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2256439)

4) At this point you have a choice of either modifying stock rom or use custom ROMS. I HIGHLY recommend custom ROMS, the stock ROM is highly bloated. I have found that AOSP based ROMS like Cyanogen or Paranoid (personal recommendation), work considerably better in general in addition to being more suited for GSM usage.

Should you choose custom roms then here's what I would do next, I have found this is the easiest way to consistently use GSM:
a) You'll want to install SafeStrap or something similar (I've only got experience with SafeStrap personally and understand the developer has suspended his project from future updates but still works for me) http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1391875
b) Once you have that, you can download almost any ROM, extract it to a folder, change the build.prop with the proper GSM configuration you listed, find the line for "ro.telephony.ril.v3" inside build.prop and add "signalstrength," (including punctuation) immediately after the equal sign. Don't bother with local.prop.
c) Re-zip it just like it was before, then install the ROM in a SafeStrap slot (probably want to add GApps)
d) Once it's booted, you can connect to wifi to setup the Google Acct and whatnot, then (this part varies slightly depending on the rom but AOSP roms are all pretty similar) go into the Settings: Mobile Networks: Access Point Names: Select the carrier of your choice (there's literally hundreds preloaded)

Lot of detail but a lot of specifics left out, if I can expound on anything please let me know which areas are too vague.

UPDATE: Here's the ROM I'm currently using. I literally install this thing with safe strap along with the pa gapps modular micro and just use it. No editing files, no thing. Just use it.

Paranoid Android Legacy Original - http://get.aospa.co/legacy/targa
Paranoid Android Legacy GSM Ready - http://dailen.bitnamiapp.com/roms/pa_targa-4.6-BETA5-20141022.GSM.zip
PA Gapps Modular Micro - https://www.androidfilehost.com/?w=files&flid=15801
 
Last edited:

gully52

Member
Apr 20, 2008
20
7
OnePlus 7T
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE
Above and Beyond

Here's the ROM I'm currently using. I literally install this thing with safe strap along with the pa gapps modular micro and just use it. No editing files, no thing. Just use it.

Wow! This is above and beyond! Truly thankful for this guide. I'm fairly familiar with ROMs in general and putting Safestrap on the Bionic... but the fact that you hand-edited the PA ROM and provided a link... I deserve not such service! :)

Will attempt a flash tonight and let you know. Still plan to keep stock 232 ICS leak, since it will never get used once PA is installed! :) Will reply tomorrow if I get everything working!

Thanks again!

---------- Post added at 11:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:28 PM ----------

a) You'll want to install SafeStrap or something similar (I've only got experience with SafeStrap personally and understand the developer has suspended his project from future updates but still works for me)

What version of Safestrap are you running? I installed 3.73, and once installed, my stock ICS 232 gets stuck on the boot animation forever. FXZ back to 905 and then update to 232 to get back into ICS...

I dunno, maybe I'm making a big deal out of wanting to keep the path back to gingerbread. I should probably just bite the bullet and go up to stock JB first as you mentioned...
 
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Dailen

Member
Feb 22, 2008
17
7
Wow! This is above and beyond! Truly thankful for this guide. I'm fairly familiar with ROMs in general and putting Safestrap on the Bionic... but the fact that you hand-edited the PA ROM and provided a link... I deserve not such service! :)

Will attempt a flash tonight and let you know. Still plan to keep stock 232 ICS leak, since it will never get used once PA is installed! :) Will reply tomorrow if I get everything working!

Thanks again!

---------- Post added at 11:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:28 PM ----------



What version of Safestrap are you running? I installed 3.73, and once installed, my stock ICS 232 gets stuck on the boot animation forever. FXZ back to 905 and then update to 232 to get back into ICS...

I dunno, maybe I'm making a big deal out of wanting to keep the path back to gingerbread. I should probably just bite the bullet and go up to stock JB first as you mentioned...

For some reason I distinctly remember their being a link between the stock rom, and those installed in rom slots. I'm currently using 3.7.2. I also THINK I recall that a while back when I wanted to use SafeStrap 3.5 I only could do so if I upgrade to JB. I can't find any documentation to back these up so take it with a grain of salt. Personally, I'm one who upgrades and never looks back so maybe I'm just biased haha

(P.S. your eyes do not deceive you, my username changed from Plasmaleto to Dailen, special request made to XDA webmasters!)
 
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gully52

Member
Apr 20, 2008
20
7
OnePlus 7T
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE
For some reason I distinctly remember their being a link between the stock rom, and those installed in rom slots. I'm currently using 3.7.2. I also THINK I recall that a while back when I wanted to use SafeStrap 3.5 I only could do so if I upgrade to JB. I can't find any documentation to back these up so take it with a grain of salt. Personally, I'm one who upgrades and never looks back so maybe I'm just biased haha

(P.S. your eyes do not deceive you, my username changed from Plasmaleto to Dailen, special request made to XDA webmasters!)

Dailen (the artist formerly known as Plasmaleto),

I took the plunge and updated to stock JB, rooted, installed Safestrap 3.73, then installed your pre-GSM-configured version of Paranoid ROM. Rebooted, connected to wifi, got everything setup. Powered down, inserted my T-Mobile SIM card, and voila! Full HSPA signal! 5.01mb/sec download, 1.22mb/sec upload. Outgoing calls work! Incoming calls work! Data works! Super cool! Thanks again!
 

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gully52

Member
Apr 20, 2008
20
7
OnePlus 7T
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE
I've made a tool to convert Bionic ROMS to GSM ready if anyone would like to give it a shot :) I'm likely to move or relocate this at some point btw

http://dailen.bitnamiapp.com/roms/convert.php

Just trying your tool on the CM11 M11 release. Will let you know how it works. Do you know, if I came across some older ROMs... JB 4.2/4.3, would your tool work for them as well?

Also, since you're a Bionic nut, I don't suppose you have a version of CarbonROM sitting around from before they dropped support for the Bionic? I contacted them and was surprised to learn that they have absolutely ZERO archive of old version downloads.
 

Dailen

Member
Feb 22, 2008
17
7
Just trying your tool on the CM11 M11 release. Will let you know how it works. Do you know, if I came across some older ROMs... JB 4.2/4.3, would your tool work for them as well?

Also, since you're a Bionic nut, I don't suppose you have a version of CarbonROM sitting around from before they dropped support for the Bionic? I contacted them and was surprised to learn that they have absolutely ZERO archive of old version downloads.

Well in theory the answer is yes. The way my script works, it changes only what it finds. If you can send me a link to one of the roms you'd like to try I'd be happy to take a look at the build.prop and tell you for sure if anything is missing.

Also, I don't recall having the carbonrom sitting around anywhere but I see their github still has the source posted, I suppose I could always try compiling for you. I got a couple ubuntu systems running I could put to some good use. Might take a few days.
 
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meandg5

Senior Member
Feb 18, 2011
107
19
New York
Give it a shot!

Going to give this a shot right now on a friends Bionic. Unfortunately have to wait a few days for the Straight Talk Sim card to arrive:(. I'll report back. ;)
 

meandg5

Senior Member
Feb 18, 2011
107
19
New York
Think I screwed up!

Congrats! Glad that worked for ya! :D

I believe I have screwed up. I tried the radiocomm program last night and everything was green for me but I didn't write to the phone. I installed the pa_targa-4.6-BETA5-20141022.GSM.zip file, and the Gapps for that ROM. When I tried to go into Radiocomm again, it comes up red when I try to read (1877). Do I still need to do that or will the phone be good to go once I pop in an AT&T sim card? Thanks, Howie
 

Dailen

Member
Feb 22, 2008
17
7
I believe I have screwed up. I tried the radiocomm program last night and everything was green for me but I didn't write to the phone. I installed the pa_targa-4.6-BETA5-20141022.GSM.zip file, and the Gapps for that ROM. When I tried to go into Radiocomm again, it comes up red when I try to read (1877). Do I still need to do that or will the phone be good to go once I pop in an AT&T sim card? Thanks, Howie

Radiocomm is EXTREMELY particular and I swear it only works 3 out of 5 times. I seem to recall that when I did it, it wasn't "writing" the settings properly and I had to change the USB connection type. If my current setup is any indicator, it was set to "PST USB Driver". I also recall that one time I uninstalled the bionic drivers and reinstalled them and it started working.

It's probably worth mentioning that I would connect to your phone in Radiocomm while in the stock rom if possible. There's no telling if there's some quirky specific USB driver in the rom that Radiocomm depends on. When in doubt, try a different machine. Be sure to get the Bionic USB drivers working 100% (meaning no device errors in device manager) prior to doing the radiocomm stuff.
 

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    I've made a tool to convert Bionic ROMS to GSM ready if anyone would like to give it a shot :) I'm likely to move or relocate this at some point btw

    http://dailen.bitnamiapp.com/roms/convert.php

    Relocated:
    http://dailen.net/roms/convert.php
    1
    I'm not sure what the deal is - I'm trying to do the same thing, but with T-Mobile US rather than Straight Talk... Should work fine, but when I make the above changes, I get com.android.phone stopped working over and over. If I follow every step above, but instead of "ro.telephony.default_network=3", I use "ro.telephony.default_network=7", it works fine, I can make calls on T-Mobile, but the signal strength is horrible. I can be where I normally have full 2G/3G signal, and the Bionic barely has one bar if anything. Most of the time it just says "No Service" unless I step outside, whereas my other T-mobile specific phones have no problems with the signal anywhere in my house.

    What might I be doing wrong here? I just bought the Bionic as a backup as I've been told it works fine with GSM when you do the above tweaks, but I'm finding it's real-world operability on GSM to be less than stellar.

    What rom are you using? I've used this technique on a ridiculous number of bionic roms to make them GSM so hopefully I can help, it's worth noting that I do not create a localprop. I found that most roms have the "ro.telephony.ril.v3" line in the default.prop and I can simply amend them by adding "signalstrength," (note the comma to include the end of the quotes) at the beginning of the entry. You might try wiping the rom and starting over but skip the step changing the radio with the *#*#4636#*#* part



    ---------- Post added at 11:15 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:10 AM ----------

    For the novices, to do this last part, you'll need a file manager like ES that can utilize root permissions after enabling in settings.

    After this, any 4.3 or 4.4 ROM should let you edit APN settings, etc. You may need to set your radio to GSM (auto PRL) by going into your dialer and hitting *#*#4636#*#* and going into Phone Information then down to network type or whatever. I don't have a Motorola phone in front of me :p If that doesn't work, I've noticed GSM/WCDMA (auto PRL) works for some.

    The settings adjusted in the default.prop permit that you do not need to change the radio. since i started using these particular settings, I've never had to change it and additionally found it to be commonly problematic. I also found that MOST roms do not need you to add the straight talk APN. Cyanogen and Paranoid, I know for fact include them. When you boot the phone for the first time you'll need to go into the settings and select the appropriate Straight Talk APN (mine is the MVNO one).
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    Above and Beyond

    Here's the ROM I'm currently using. I literally install this thing with safe strap along with the pa gapps modular micro and just use it. No editing files, no thing. Just use it.

    Wow! This is above and beyond! Truly thankful for this guide. I'm fairly familiar with ROMs in general and putting Safestrap on the Bionic... but the fact that you hand-edited the PA ROM and provided a link... I deserve not such service! :)

    Will attempt a flash tonight and let you know. Still plan to keep stock 232 ICS leak, since it will never get used once PA is installed! :) Will reply tomorrow if I get everything working!

    Thanks again!

    ---------- Post added at 11:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:28 PM ----------

    a) You'll want to install SafeStrap or something similar (I've only got experience with SafeStrap personally and understand the developer has suspended his project from future updates but still works for me)

    What version of Safestrap are you running? I installed 3.73, and once installed, my stock ICS 232 gets stuck on the boot animation forever. FXZ back to 905 and then update to 232 to get back into ICS...

    I dunno, maybe I'm making a big deal out of wanting to keep the path back to gingerbread. I should probably just bite the bullet and go up to stock JB first as you mentioned...
    1
    Wow! This is above and beyond! Truly thankful for this guide. I'm fairly familiar with ROMs in general and putting Safestrap on the Bionic... but the fact that you hand-edited the PA ROM and provided a link... I deserve not such service! :)

    Will attempt a flash tonight and let you know. Still plan to keep stock 232 ICS leak, since it will never get used once PA is installed! :) Will reply tomorrow if I get everything working!

    Thanks again!

    ---------- Post added at 11:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:28 PM ----------



    What version of Safestrap are you running? I installed 3.73, and once installed, my stock ICS 232 gets stuck on the boot animation forever. FXZ back to 905 and then update to 232 to get back into ICS...

    I dunno, maybe I'm making a big deal out of wanting to keep the path back to gingerbread. I should probably just bite the bullet and go up to stock JB first as you mentioned...

    For some reason I distinctly remember their being a link between the stock rom, and those installed in rom slots. I'm currently using 3.7.2. I also THINK I recall that a while back when I wanted to use SafeStrap 3.5 I only could do so if I upgrade to JB. I can't find any documentation to back these up so take it with a grain of salt. Personally, I'm one who upgrades and never looks back so maybe I'm just biased haha

    (P.S. your eyes do not deceive you, my username changed from Plasmaleto to Dailen, special request made to XDA webmasters!)
    1
    For some reason I distinctly remember their being a link between the stock rom, and those installed in rom slots. I'm currently using 3.7.2. I also THINK I recall that a while back when I wanted to use SafeStrap 3.5 I only could do so if I upgrade to JB. I can't find any documentation to back these up so take it with a grain of salt. Personally, I'm one who upgrades and never looks back so maybe I'm just biased haha

    (P.S. your eyes do not deceive you, my username changed from Plasmaleto to Dailen, special request made to XDA webmasters!)

    Dailen (the artist formerly known as Plasmaleto),

    I took the plunge and updated to stock JB, rooted, installed Safestrap 3.73, then installed your pre-GSM-configured version of Paranoid ROM. Rebooted, connected to wifi, got everything setup. Powered down, inserted my T-Mobile SIM card, and voila! Full HSPA signal! 5.01mb/sec download, 1.22mb/sec upload. Outgoing calls work! Incoming calls work! Data works! Super cool! Thanks again!