Complete loss of signal every few minutes all the time on Australian G300 in UK

[Guest LazyD]

Hello,

 

Had this phone bought in UK a while ago, the vodafone version that was around, I unlocked that and did the OTA upgrade to ICS and it always worked fine on Tesco mobile. Anyway I loved that phone but it got broken.

 

So I couldn't find any in the UK for under £100 but did find one on ebay new and really cheap but it was being sold in Australia, I contacted the seller and asked if I unlocked it will it work here in the UK, he said yes (I don't think he was lying because it does, sort of) so I got it and bought another unlock code which all worked fine. So I put a PAYG O2 sim I had lying around in to test, it seemingly worked but I did notice the signal dropping to nothing regularly (this is before I flashed it with any new ROM).

 

I followed this guide to install a custom ICS ROM (I went for ICS as I figured the OTA upgrade that was running on my old phone was fine so was expecting the same performance again, and I've read lots of problems with the JB roms):

 

http://huaweig300.com/huawei-g300-install-a-custom-jelly-bean-ics-rom-from-scratch/

 

That all worked fine first time and I got to the end of the guide without issue, the custom ICS ROM I installed is Slim v13 "B952-slim-v13". Baseband initially was 109808, after following the above guide it's now 2030.

 

So as before with the original ROM, this phone is always completely losing connection, I mean always and quickly, it loses connection to nothing so "Emergency calls only" within a minute or less of putting it down, sometimes it does it while I am using it but less so. Just as quickly sometimes it comes back but often I have to go into mobile networks and search for carriers again to get the signal back, sometimes not even that works. Basically it can't hold a signal and I'm 98% sure it's nothing to do with signal strength as when it does have signal it's usually full bars. By the way the situation was exactly the same on the intermediate ROM that I installed (for purposes of changing baseband from 109808 to 2030) while following that guide so this exact same issue has been on all three roms so far.

 

It does the same thing on the test O2 sim and my Tesco mobile sim (think both use O2 network anyway but have different APN settings). Both sims have full bars stable connection in a cheap samsung phone in exactly the same location.

 

Can anyone recommend something I should do? Is this phone not going to work in UK because it came from Australia?

 

Thank you.

 

EDIT: Just tried this: "recovery-flash-b944.zip", exact same thing still happening.

Edited January 6, 2014 by LazyD

[Guest dalyer]

Is it a G300+?

I think that this was the Oz model with support for slightly different frequencies than in this part of the world (e.g. UK/Ireland).

That may or may not be relevant.

Or the RIL used may be relevant.

Does it make any difference if you lock onto, say, 2G only or 3G only etc.?

[Guest LazyD]

Thanks for your reply dalyer, when I tick "Use only 2G networks" as you suggested, signal stays perfect constantly! What's going on?

 

Can't see an option to try 3G only.

 

Oh and no I don't think it is a G300+. Under the battery is just says ASCEND G 300, U8815 - 51

Edited January 7, 2014 by LazyD

[Guest dalyer]

Some ROMs have options for 2G only, 3G only, 2G/3G whichever is available etc.

Some only have 2G or 3G (which may mean 2G/3G switching as required).

I don't know if Oz G300s have some hardware difference in terms of the 3G frequencies that they can handle? 

Or if that is a RIL function?

One way or another it sounds like there's something wrong with your phone's handling of 3G?

What is your IMEI SV? It should indicate the last official update.app applied and possibly also the RIL that you have.

 

http://www.modaco.com/topic/366482-help-weak-data-signal/#entry2174412

Edited January 8, 2014 by dalyer

[Guest dalyer]

I just found this in case it's relevant:

 

http://www.modaco.com/topic/363175-g300-unlock-bootloader-brick/#entry2133674

 

I'm not sure how you distinguish a G300+ from a G300 but if you happen to have the former (and coming from Oz I would have assumed so?!) then it would seem that there should be no problem in terms of handling 3G frequencies in this part of the world.

 

You said that even without a custom ROM the signal was dropping?

I wonder if it's simply a problem with the phone?

Would you consider doing a force update of stock ICS (B952) and see if that helps at all?

As far as I know that would also install the B952 RIL.

 

Alternatively you could try downgrading to the GB bootloader/baseband (http://www.modaco.com/topic/361310-downgrade-upgrade-from-recovery/) and installing a GB ROM (I'd recommend CM7: http://www.modaco.com/topic/365763-gb237-cyanogenmod-7-updated-181113/) and see if that helps at all with 3G? If it does then at least you know it works and can then figure out what ROM to go with?

 

Maybe others have additional suggestions?

 

Edit: OK - a quick Google suggests that U8815-51 is G300 and U8815-71 is G300+ so I guess that you have a G300 and not a G300+ and some of what I have been saying may be irrelevant! Sorry about that... :(

Edited January 8, 2014 by dalyer

[Guest LazyD]

No problem, thanks for your replies.

 

So, considering that I probably have a G300, where do I go from here? Can I still try the "force update of stock ICS (B952)" ? And yes, I will try whatever rom to see if it's possible to get 3G working on this phone. By the I'm away from the phone for tonight but can try other stuff tomorrow and I'll also have access to another one exact same for oz tomorrow that a friend has (I don't think he's using it so may not be aware of the 3G problem, if it is also present on that phone).

 

So how do I do the force update and where do I get the rom?

 

If the GB baseband is 109808 then that didn't make a difference, as that is what the phone was on when I got it and the issue was present then as well. I don't mind trying the GB CM7 rom as well though if it might help (would I have to downgrade the baseband anyway to do that?).

 

I have an IMEI backup.

Thanks.

[Guest dalyer]

So how do I do the force update and where do I get the rom?

 

If the GB baseband is 109808 then that didn't make a difference, as that is what the phone was on when I got it and the issue was present then as well. I don't mind trying the GB CM7 rom as well though if it might help (would I have to downgrade the baseband anyway to do that?).

 

I have an IMEI backup.

Thanks.

 

You can get the B952 stock update.app and force update instructions from the "official bootloader unlock" tutorial thread.

GB baseband is indeed 109808.

IMEI backup should not be important if you avoid messing with the IMEI (which I would recommend since zeroing/changing it can cause problems even after a restore).

It's all very strange - I wonder if you simply have a dodgy phone that cannot use 3G reliably? :(

[Guest denzele]

Hey mate I might be able to help you since I had same problem with 3G dropouts to emergency only ( although this was only with CM's roms ) . At the moment Ascend G300 using Slim Rom v13 which is best for me . Read this tread http://www.modaco.com/topic/362434-recovering-3g-in-the-g300-of-latin-america-and-other-850-mhz-regions/  and give it a go . It helped me . Of course everything is on your own risk so no blame  :blush: . 

Edited January 10, 2014 by denzele

[Guest LazyD]

Tried what you both said. Dalyer, the part where you used the Huawei website to get the unlock code, always says its invalid, tried with the other phone as well, same thing. By the way the other brand new phone does exactly the same thing with 3G signal.

 

Denzele, installed that modem firmware, didn't make a difference, behaves in the same way. Anyway I think I need something else as that sets it from the Australian fequencies, whereas I have an Australian phone that needs to be sorted out for UK networks.

 

I'm almost giving up on this, can't even sell the damn thing if 3G doesn't work...

[Guest dalyer]

Quite a few people had to try several times to get the bootloader unlock code from Huawei.

And a few got incorrect ones and had to try again.

Did you also try the free DC Unlocker way of unlocking the bootloader without the code?

Page 17 of the official unlock tutorial.

But it doesn't work for everybody for some reason.

[Guest paddyponchero]

How old is your sim, some ancient 3g sims are problematic in lots of modern phones.

 

Bootloader was probably patched by previous owner, check if your bootloader is already cracked with fastboot:

 

fastboot oem get-bootinfo

 

If so relock it with the relock guide and see how it works then, if it works ok then you can worry about unlocking it again.

Edited January 30, 2014 by paddyponchero