Guide - Unlock XT862 for T-mobile/ATT

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blackbuddha

Member
Jun 4, 2010
40
3
London
blackbuddha said:
Also, even though the mobile network type in Settings is HSPA, only 3G icon displays on notification and sometime its colour changes between white and blue (on Steel Droid 4.5).
Cheers!
Click to expand...
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Does it show the same icon on your phone or a proper H?

RWALEY said:
I will have to look over the parameters again but I believe the following are absolutely needed to run the XT883 baseband as is:

ro.build.id
ro.build.version.incremental
ro.build.version.sdk
ro.build.version.codename
ro.build.type
ro.build.user
ro.build.host

The others can be modified to whatever you want it to display.

There may be some build.prop tweaks that could enhance other frequencies reception but since I only have 1900 to work with I am unable to test that out.

However, since your raw signal has not been above -85 it may be something with your particular phone. Do you get the same readings on UMTS and GSM?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

On XT862 using XT883 radio and running Steel Droid 4.5, the readings on GSM are slightly better than UTSM. The signal now records 4 bars and ranges in [-90]-[-80] dBm.

When you mentioned about the frequency, I did a check on the basebands of XT862, XT860 and XT883 on GSMArena. All of them support the same GSM and HSDPA bands. Given that we want XT862 to run on GSM not CDMA, we should have chosen XT860 radio.img as the substitution; thus, I don't quite understand with the choice of XT883. On the same subject, I came across the following threads:
http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1313485
http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=992635
http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1200357
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They all dealt with the tweaking of the baseband in Qualcomm MDM6600 which is also assembled in the Droid 3 family. In overall, their aim is to switch the baseband from USA to Euro settings.

Also, I think my provider Giffgaff, who hijacks the O2 network, operates on the bands 900 for GSM and 2100 for HSDPA. Therefore, could you specify tell which parameters I should look at in build.prop? I'll test them myself.

Cheers.
 
R

RWALEY

Senior Member
Sep 4, 2008
111
74
blackbuddha said:
Does it show the same icon on your phone or a proper H?

On XT862 using XT883 radio and running Steel Droid 4.5, the readings on GSM are slightly better than UTSM. The signal now records 4 bars and ranges in [-90]-[-80] dBm.

When you mentioned about the frequency, I did a check on the basebands of XT862, XT860 and XT883 on GSMArena. All of them support the same GSM and HSDPA bands. Given that we want XT862 to run on GSM not CDMA, we should have chosen XT860 radio.img as the substitution; thus, I don't quite understand with the choice of XT883. On the same subject, I came across the following threads:

They all dealt with the tweaking of the baseband in Qualcomm MDM6600 which is also assembled in the Droid 3 family. In overall, their aim is to switch the baseband from USA to Euro settings.

Also, I think my provider Giffgaff, who hijacks the O2 network, operates on the bands 900 for GSM and 2100 for HSDPA. Therefore, could you specify tell which parameters I should look at in build.prop? I'll test them myself.

Cheers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

I use Eclipse, that ROM only shows 3G. Not to worry about the icon, it is just cosmetic. The phone has the capability to get up to 14.4 HSDPA.

At the bottom of my build.prop, the area marked GSM SIGNAL IMPROVEMENTS, that would be the place to experiment with. I believe those settings are tweaked for 1900MHz. You may want to try some different hsdpa/hsupa categories. I do not know what it would be for 2100. I would probably wait for some other non-US users to chime in and see if they are also experiencing your reception issues.

Also, I am fairly certain flashing the XT860 radio will not work due to a signature mismatch. The XT862/XT883 are the exact same hardware, same signatures and everything. I believe the XT860 does have some differences.

There is a collection of XT860 fastboot SBF files here:
http://sbf.droid-developers.org/umts_solana/list.php

I have contemplated flashing one but I do not want to permanently brick the phone. Perhaps someone else knows if they will work?
 
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blackbuddha

Member
Jun 4, 2010
40
3
London
RWALEY said:
I use Eclipse, that ROM only shows 3G. Not to worry about the icon, it is just cosmetic. The phone has the capability to get up to 14.4 HSDPA.

At the bottom of my build.prop, the area marked GSM SIGNAL IMPROVEMENTS, that would be the place to experiment with. I believe those settings are tweaked for 1900MHz. You may want to try some different hsdpa/hsupa categories. I do not know what it would be for 2100. I would probably wait for some other non-US users to chime in and see if they are also experiencing your reception issues.

Also, I am fairly certain flashing the XT860 radio will not work due to a signature mismatch. The XT862/XT883 are the exact same hardware, same signatures and everything. I believe the XT860 does have some differences.

There is a collection of XT860 fastboot SBF files here:
http://sbf.droid-developers.org/umts_solana/list.php

I have contemplated flashing one but I do not want to permanently brick the phone. Perhaps someone else knows if they will work?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

I've just found a post from The Solutor stating that flashing between XT862 and XT860 was impossible due to signature mismatch. This post was way back to October 2011 but perhaps nobody is interested in this area so there is no development.

A quick look at the section you mentioned in build.prop, did you get the idea from zepplinrox's scripts. If so, I couldn't find any explanation on them as I'm not really a techie myself.

Anyway, I'll call it a night since it's 4.00 AM here. I haven't felt this interested since I first got my old Milestone.

Thanks for your patience. Happy Easter!

P.S: about the icon being cosmetic, do you also think that those notification bars are just for show?
 
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R

RWALEY

Senior Member
Sep 4, 2008
111
74
blackbuddha said:
I've just found a post from The Solutor stating that flashing between XT862 and XT860 was impossible due to signature mismatch. This post was way back to October 2011 but perhaps nobody is interested in this area so there is no development.

A quick look at the section you mentioned in build.prop, did you get the idea from zepplinrox's scripts. If so, I couldn't find any explanation on them as I'm not really a techie myself.

Anyway, I'll call it a night since it's 4.00 AM here. I haven't felt this interested since I first got my old Milestone.

Thanks for your patience. Happy Easter!

P.S: about the icon being cosmetic, do you also think that those notification bars are just for show?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

I got the idea from development on the Droid 2 Global, along with bits and pieces from other build.prop files from the XT862, 860, and 883. That was just a collaboration of many of the little tweaks that were used. It definitely seemed to have helped me, at least for data. I am not certain if there is a known guide for editing, it has mostly been trial and error for me.

The notification bars are also cosmetic. Prior to the build.prop edit for ro.mot.phonemode.vzwglobalphone it was deliberately lowered by Verizon. It has no bearing on phone operation, just a visual representation.

The true way to measure signal strength is the raw dBm data. Anything up to the -115 range should work for voice. Data usually seems to stutter around -105. -75 to -100 is generally the recommended level for stable operation.
 
P

phonephoenix

Member
Feb 21, 2012
40
3
ICS build props don't work, changing telephony to a 3 does nothing. Baseband remains unknown and will not switch in 4636 mode

Such a waste of time. It doesn't work.
 
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phonephoenix

Member
Feb 21, 2012
40
3
Oi positive attitude paid off. Search wouldn't help. No one has said that the radio from page EIGHTEEN was the only method of getting ICS. I think people should know that the first method on the first page does not work. I mean the real directions are all the way on page 18. that is ridiculous.
 
R

RWALEY

Senior Member
Sep 4, 2008
111
74
phonephoenix said:
Oi positive attitude paid off. Search wouldn't help. No one has said that the radio from page EIGHTEEN was the only method of getting ICS. I think people should know that the first method on the first page does not work. I mean the real directions are all the way on page 18. that is ridiculous.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Those instructions are not for ICS, it is just a guide on how to get the most up to date XT883 baseband. In fact, this entire thread is just to enable AT&T/T-Mobile on the XT862 stock, nothing to do with ICS.

For the ICS roms, try flashing ChocolateShein's build.prop, ignore any messages of failure. That is normal, it is only moving a single file, not an entire ROM. If you still have issues then unzip his file and manually place the build.prop in /system using Root Explorer.

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1560519
 
Alex1123

Alex1123

Senior Member
Sep 12, 2010
611
141
Question, im new to the droid 3 i just rooted it and now i want to have the radio ready before i buy an unlock code, will this make it work with at&t and t-mobile in the US?
Nevermind lol i figured that out but im having issues with cmd saying flashing the radio (moto-fastboot flash radio radio.img) is not a command any help please.
UPDATE figured it out
 
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K

koukobin

Senior Member
Dec 12, 2009
59
3
Arlington, VA
nemiroG1 said:
Which radio are you using? There are now three different one floating through this thread.
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I am using the first radio from the original post. (n_16.18.16s)

The phone i tried it, was running 5.7.905 firmware and i went back to 5.6.890 (Kernel and bootloader remained intact as expected). Then i rooted the phone and flashed the chinese radio. I installed CM9 and then i used the buid.prop from the above link.

I have to say that i had to push manually the build.prop by using Root Explorer. I couldn't flash the zip from the above link.
 
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blackbuddha

Member
Jun 4, 2010
40
3
London
After more than a week using XT860 radio, I've finally settled down with a XT862 using its own radio and running CyanogenMod 7 (I don't know if it's 7.1 or 7.2 though). In spite of RWALEY's instruction, the cumbersome process of flashing XT860 radio did neither show real improvement nor convince me. In the end, the cause might even lie with the provider. I might as well drop a call to customer service to see if they put any restriction, as happened to another member here.
 
P

phonephoenix

Member
Feb 21, 2012
40
3
I agree, And I would say that the first radio seems to be more stable. I have build prop issues or invalid sim issues or force close issues, especially with the newest xt883
 
Alex1123

Alex1123

Senior Member
Sep 12, 2010
611
141
i need some help ive flashed the radio but know when i put in the sim card it doesnt ask me to input the code and in the settings the option to use gsm is gone can someone help me.
 
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    tspx23
    tspx23
    Thought I would share based on my experiences on trying to get this phone to work on t-mobile. It works on ATT 3g/T-mobile Edge, but still a pretty cool phone to have.

    Also another note, this is a mod that will only go through on Windows. You will need ROOT EXPLORER app for this method to work.

    1 - Make sure you are on the stock XT862 ROM, if you aren't flash it via this method found here: http://rootzwiki.com/topic/4370-sbf-droid-3-fastboot-files-55959-and-56890/

    2 - Make sure your phone is rooted, if not download the following and follow the steps found here: http://www.psouza4.com/droid3/

    3 - Unlock the phone. This can be accomplished by purchasing the unlock code, and later entering the code upon insertion of a sim card. (T-mobile ATT sim cards will work, but you will get an error saying UNLOCK FAILED, this is NORMAL do not freak out)

    4 - Download the following files and unzip it to your desktop: http://www.mediafire.com/?y1wjw775v8itsx3

    5 - Click Start and open cmd.

    6 - Type in the following in cmd:
    'cd desktop'
    'cd fastboot'
    'moto-fastboot flash radio radio.img'

    ONCE it flashes, then enter:

    'moto-fastboot reboot'

    7 - Use root explorer to push the build.prop into the system folder

    8 - Reboot, select GSM/UMTS in Network Settings.

    AND BAM now it works. If there is any confusion please let me know.
    View
    13
    L
    leobg
    Nice! Is that the XT883 radio you're flashing or a real unlocked (and signed) XT862 radio?

    Also - change
    Code: 
    ro.mot.phonemode.vzwglobalphone=1
    to
    Code: 
    ro.mot.phonemode.vzwglobalphone=0
    in build.prop to get normal reading on signal strength indicator.

    You can also change
    Code: 
    ro.telephony.default_network=7
    to
    Code: 
    ro.telephony.default_network=3
    so phone starts automatically in GSM/UMTS mode after hard reset.
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    11
    BenSWoodruff
    BenSWoodruff
    In case someone doesn't know how to replace their build.prop with the tweaked one, which goes in your /system folder. What it does is trick your phone into thinking it's an xt883 so it will work with gsm in the US. Be aware that all the links/instructions here are found elsewhere, so you can find this info if you search. If you need more help, search, but ask anyway if you need it. Just be sure to say thanks ;-) Best way to swap build.prop is to do the following:

    1. Download Root Browser, free version from Android Market.

    2. When you are going through the process of following the steps in the original post, you should download a .zip file which should contain the build.prop file that you need, along with the radio.img you should've already flashed using cmd prompt commands on your PC. If you can't find this file, just download the .zip again, unzip and you'll find it there.

    3. Connect your phone to your PC via usb and move the build.prop file to your external sd card (or whichever one you feel comfy with lol), to a folder where you will remember it and access it later from Root Browser.

    4. After moving the file to your sd card, simply go to the folder you placed it in, in Root Browser, then long-press the file and select 'move'. Then navigate to your /system folder which is found in the '/' or root folder. There should be a paste button on screen, or press menu to paste the tweaked build.prop file in /system. This will replace your original build.prop, so you might want to save a copy of it on your sd card, but honestly you don't need it. You can always recover your phone using the fast/easy unbrick tool also found in the dev forum, which will put your phone back to stock.

    5. Once you have moved the tweaked build.prop you downloaded from xda, reboot your phone like normal. If the radio doesn't pick up a signal now, you should go to your settings to change to gsm.

    *Before this next step*
    Be sure that if you see a dialogue box pop up at any time saying "there are no available gsm networks, would you like to switch to global mode?", select 'cancel', because it will just change your phone to the previous settings, which is bad. Global mode doesn't allow gsm, so you don't want it to pick that mode. Do not select the check box, as when you lose signal at times, this box will need to pop up again and you'll need to hit cancel every time. This tells your phone to wait until it finds your correct gsm signal (I believe this is fixed by one of the build.prop edits suggested here in this thread, by making the phone think it is not a verizon global phone...it will pick up signal after every reboot).

    6. In settings, go to wifi & networks>mobile networks>network mode, choose gsm/umts, then tap back button to go back to mobile networks>select network, tap automatic, then go back to mobile networks>operator selection, deselect the checkbox that says 'choose automatically', then tap 'search for networks', choose T-Mobile 2G (or whatever Operator you use (you'll only get edge on T-Mobile)), and go back to mobile networks>Access point names, and if everything else goes well, this should show T-Mobile already selected. If not, google search 'tmobile apn settings' and type in the correct info you find. I can provide the info to type in if it still doesn't work, but it should work with anything you find online. Just type it all in as shown in pretty much any Android related article you find online.

    If you make it this far with no problems, your phone should work just fine. No, nothing done here is very hard, it's just a lengthy process the first time.

    There are more build.prop tweaks you can perform by using the text editor built into Root Browser, which works very well. You can find these tweaks in the same forum as the original tutorial, as a comment from someone. Be sure to be very precise any time you mess with build.prop, as your phone needs this file when it boots up, and screwing up the wrong line will brick your phone. You can always force it to recover using the fastboot (fast/easy) unbrick method I mentioned earlier, so have fun. Also, Root Browser will usually force close after tweaking build.prop, and you need to reboot to make sure you see the full effects of your changes.

    Sorry this is so long, it was a PM to another member who needed it spelled out. Hopefully this will prevent others from having the same issues.

    OP, this would go great in your guide, or maybe a link to it for noobs. I already PMd you about it, but I made some more edits here :)
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    9
    R
    RWALEY
    Also, if anyone is interested:

    I experimented with adding some features from the Bell Canada XT860 build.prop
    The signal strength and speed improved after this modification.

    Speed Test app went from around 1000~2000 to almost 5000 for me.

    However, there is no CDMA support at all.
    Pretty much a hybridization of the XT883 and XT860 build.prop

    File is attached.

    EDIT: New file attached. Think I got rid of the Chinese letters on the am/pm.
    Using Verizon XT862 regional settings so now this is a combination of XT860, 862, & 883 build.props

    Rebooted about 25 times, no sign of the Chinese letters so far.
    View
    7
    R
    RWALEY
    Just an update on some common issues:

    I have converted a bunch of XT862s to be GSM compatible over the last few months. Older SIM cards definitely do cause issues with reception and ability to get data.

    People with Cingular, or older AT&T SIM cards could not get any data, APN info was empty and locked from adding new entries. Voice worked but reception was 5 to 10 dBm worse than phones with newer SIM cards. Obtaining a new SIM fixed the APN issue along with the poor reception issue.

    I encourage anyone running into these problems to just get a new SIM.

    In addition, I have an updated flashable build.prop GSM fix.
    Flashes in recovery and instantly restores the correct build.prop for XT883 radio.
    View

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